Richard Stone was a high-level member of the KTMJ accounting firm and member of the criminal team. Unknown to most, he was on the payroll of the Falcone Crime Syndicate and helped cover up their operations. Stone was one of the first targets for the Riddler, though this would not be publicly known during his attacks on Gotham.
Biography[]
Stone was an influential member of KTMJ, working in its legal section. Unknown to most employees, he was on the payroll of Carmine Falcone through the Gotham Renewal Program, helping cover-up and manage his financial activities in Gotham. Stone was also directly involved in Drops operations after its takeover from Maroni, managing distribution in the Tricorner district of Gotham. He also had a family who were unaware of his activities.[1]
The Riddler: Year One[]
New Beginnings Brush[]
Around the first year of Batman's operations, Stone was given files by Zach Morely which indicated their money laundering operations at the New Beginnings Animal Rescue. Recognizing it as a font used by Falcone, Stone was able to convince Zach these were likely mistakes and were not going to find anything. He then invited Zach for lunch to discuss his future at the company, later promoting him afterwards.
After finishing for the day, Stone visited the Corner Diner in the Tricorner area of Gotham. Whilst he ordered, he was greeted by Edward Nashton, a KTMJ employee who'd discovered the information. As he confronted him on the irregularity, Stone deduced Edward had followed him and tried to convince him with the same excuses as Zach. When this failed, he instead suggested that he'd broken rank and would likely get into trouble if he continued investigations. Stone also suggested that his following constituted as inappropriate behavior, suggesting he could lose his job if this continued.
The following night, Stone took Zach to the Iceberg Lounge to celebrate his promotion. Prior to his arrival, he arranged for them to meet a woman named Ani, who "looked after" Zach that night.[2]
Confrontation with Joon[]
A few days later, Stone noticed that the money from Drops operations at New Beginnings were being skimmed from the files Edward had given him. Deciding to keep an eye on Nashton, he invited him to a meeting at his office to discuss his help in a potential case. During it, Stone asked him about a conflict of interest with Wayne Enterprises. When Nashton indicated he didn't, Stone asked him to investigate the companies accounts for what he claimed to be a suing case.
A few nights later, Stone visited New Beginnings and confronted Joon at his office. As Joon settled down, he revealed that he'd had to look at the company's books after Edward's discoveries and noticed that someone had been skimming from their operation. Having acquired evidence that he'd been giving money to his daughter, he confronted him on the contents. Despite Joon's protests that he'd been using his own earnings, Stone wasn't convinced and left him to be executed by Higgins.[3]
Work with Nashton[]
Stone continued to watch Edward as he investigated Wayne Enterprises, though expected him to discover something. After several weeks, Nashton asked Stone to gain access to further files, claiming he'd discovered some anomalies related to Bruce Wayne's accounts. Stone complied, though unknowingly gave Edward clues to where they kept files related to the Gotham Renewal Program.[4]
Death[]
On Halloween, Stone was contacted by a member of the Syndicate after an incident at New Beginnings that morning. He learned that Higgins had been killed by the alligator they kept in the building and that the disturbance had led a neighbor to call the GCPD. As Stone and the associate talked, Stone discovered someone had logged into his computer and left files revealing his connection to the Syndicate on it. He was then contacted by the perpetrator, who revealed an audio recording of him ordering Joon's execution and possibly that Higgins was the true culprit of the skim. The hacker then gave Stone the option of sending the file to either Falcone or his family.
Possibly fear the consequences or suspecting that the message was rigged to send it to both, Stone waited until everyone had left KTMJ before he could decide. As most his employees left to celebrate the holiday, he wrote a message to his family asking them to remember him for the man they knew and not who he really was, implying he chose to send the evidence to them. Stone committed suicide by hanging himself from his office's ceiling, with his body possibly discovered at a later time.[5]