Who is Holiday?

This post is referring to the ending of The Long Halloween. If you plan on reading it and don't want spoilers, skip this post entirely.

Read if you want to know who Holiday is.

Who is Holiday? The big question in the book and believe it or not, the big question left with readers by the end. An interesting essay on the theory can be found here. But for now, here's Deanpool's theory that does stem a lot from the essay found from the link. Gilda Dent? Harvey Dent? Alberto Falcone? In this post, we'll discuss each theory under the assumption that the particular theory we're analyzing is fact.

It all starts with how each time the Calendar Man is consulted by Batman and Jim Gordon, he switches the pronouns between "he" and "she" when referring to the Holiday killer. Throughout the story, the reader is now led to believe that there may be two killers conspiring to be Holiday. We're also led to believe that the Calendar Man knows who the true identity of the killer. However, he feels threatened that someone else may become an even more well-known killer related to calendar events... He's kind of named Calendar Man because his crimes are related to the days he's committed. Even his name Julian Gregory Day is a twist on the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Anyways, while he could've been a clear suspect throughout the whole book, Batman and Jim Gordon were assured that Day was kept in his cell the whole time. But that doesn't mean he can't have some type of apprentice or copycat killer right? Then why would he feel threatened? He even offered to reveal the identity (if he really knew who it was) of Holiday in exchange for his release. Nevertheless, Deanpool starts with Calendar Man because he may be the only reason we may be convinced there were really two killers.

Let's also keep in mind the few suspects that even Batman suspected throughout the book. Of course as a reader, we'd trust whatever the world's greatest detective can deduce. Catwoman, Carla Vitti (sister of The Roman), Sal Maroni. Catwoman broke into Falcone's safe early in the book and was a prime suspect with the information gained from the safe. She was also suspiciously very involved in following/spying on Falcone. In fact, it's noted in a Catwoman story When In Rome that she was in fact very interested in Falcone because she wanted to prove he was her father. Throughout the book she helps Batman (and Bruce Wayne), but is seen at the end with group of villains that Two-Face Harvey broke out of the asylum. Carla Vitti, the sister, was already a farfetched idea since the first murder was her own son. She was seen at times with a .22 pistol as well too, though her plan was to eventually use it against Holiday if she were to ever find him/her. She was ruled out when the Holiday killer got to her first. Sal Maroni was suspected early and throughout the book. The chief rival to The Roman for complete control of the city (in a mobster sense of course), Sal had the most to gain with members of the Falcone family being taken out, and eventually The Roman himself. Though after New Year there's a shift in the murders as some of Maroni's own men and family were murdered. He also becomes Holiday's final victim.

[Catwoman; Sal Maroni; Carla Vitti; Harvey Dent, in that order.]
The Noir-ish style compliments the mystery style of the book.

Now how about the actual suspects?

Alberto Falcone- The son of Carmine Falcone, and supposedly the victim of Holiday on New Year's Eve. Yeah, he faked his death. The quiet son shown at every meeting we see with The Roman attempted to kill Sal Maroni (actually he was successful) on Labor Day. This is in fact the only successful murder we see that's clearly Alberto. Deanpool supposes you could count his own faked death as a second if you want. But what if Alberto was just the brawn? Carmine Falcone could've easily been the brains. Keeps his hands clean. Alberto would be able to get close enough to members of the Falcone family without drawing a lot of suspicion. Is it safe to assume that as a member of the mob family he knows how to use a gun too? Sure why not. The murders after his fake death was the coroner, the gun dealer, and members of Maroni's family. Eliminate the coroner that could identify that the body found isn't actually Alberto's. Sounds like a smart strategy to me. Tie up the loose end of where you bought the .22 pistol, classic mob move. Take out members of your father's chief rival's family? Couldn't that be the whole reasoning for starting the Holiday killing spree? Next question might be why hit members of his own family? The nephew, the murder that started it all, threatened to testify against The Roman. Seems like a target worth taking out. The assassins that were supposed to take out Harvey Dent. Could Falcone somehow had intel that Dent survived and ordered Alberto to take them out? It's also not hard to believe that it was simply a means of tying up any loose ends that may connect Falcone with Harvey's attempted assassination. Lastly, The Roman's bodyguard. Falcone could be cynical enough to have a member close to him killed in order to draw suspicion away. Also, Joker broke into the penthouse, Batman and Catwoman broke into the safe. Maybe Falcone didn't believe his bodyguard could keep him safe anymore? There's also the nice timing that his daughter Gigante came into the picture and filled the role essentially. What if The Roman was looking to thin out and cut down the weaknesses within his family? Carla Vitti died when snooping around the coroner's files, perhaps learning the truth of Alberto's death. Again, loose ends tied. Even when Riddler was hypothesizing who Holiday might be... he came to a conclusion that it must be Carmine Falcone... It's kind of awesome if you think about it. After Riddler goes through suspecting Carla Vitti and Catwoman, he actually comes around to logically guessing it's in fact The Roman. Of course The Roman laughs and has to throw him out. Even uses him as a sort of bait. Holiday, who for this purpose we're suspecting is Alberto, is conveniently waiting for Riddler as he is thrown out of The Roman's house. Appropriately for the April Fool's holiday, Riddler is left alive but was the intended Holiday victim. A message to the world that Falcone is looking for the identity of Holiday, enlisting the Riddler for help. This is a good way to draw away suspicion, and Alberto could've simply been following his father's orders to spare Riddler to get their message out. It doesn't help that Alberto admits to all the murders and is conveniently placed in a cell across from Calendar Man. They even have a "Holiday-off" where they go back and forth listing holidays. Sounds boring, but it was quite funny to see.

Means- .22 pistol, baby bottle nipple as suppressor
Motive- Tie up loose ends, hit Maroni family, eliminate weaknesses within own family, Personal: Make a name of himself as a new breed of Gotham villains begin to rise.
Opportunity- Alberto is close enough with the mob family to get close to anyone of these people. Also being known as the quiet one not involved with the family's business, not many would feel intimidated by him.

Harvey Dent aka Two-Face- Jim Gordon believed it. Batman suspected it. After his escape from the hospital, police found the ledger containing information on the Falcone family and a .22 pistol in Dent's basement. Batman even at the end says that he may be Holiday due to the murders he committed on the second Halloween, where The Roman and Gigante died. For those counting, only Alberto is left in terms of the Falcone family (at least out of the ones mentioned in the book). Perhaps Batman's theory of Harvey being Holiday sums up his opportunities best. His late arrival to his wife's New Year's celebration with his hair wet could suggest that he swam out to Falcone's boat to perform the hit on Alberto. Wait didn't Alberto survive that and/or fake his death? There's no way we could even theorize that the two worked together. As much as Harvey wanted to take down Falcone, it's not plausible that he could believe a connection with the son would be very useful. If so, what does he gain from killing the coroner? Or even Carla Vitti? She dies after digging around the coroner's files, possibly finding out about the truth of Alberto's death. And there's still the whole death of Sal Maroni, which is clearly performed by Alberto. The only way that Two-Face/Harvey Dent play a role as Holiday is in the death of Carmine Falcone (and the assistant, Fields). Although he uses the .22 pistol, there's no Halloween type trinket left at the scene. However he does leave his trademark coin.

Means- .22 pistol
Motive- Revenge for blowing up his house and putting his wife in danger. Tie up loose ends. However, Alberto, the coroner, and the apparent switch to killing Maroni's men after New Year's doesn't make much sense.
Opportunity- the ledger provided by Batman contained all the information Harvey needed to track down the mob members.

Gilda Dent- The last couple pages of The Long Halloween allude to this theory that Harvey's wife was actually the other Holiday killer. We see her burning evidence of her crimes, including the noticeable hat and coat that are commonly shown over the silhouette of the Holiday killer. She admits that she is responsible for the first 3 killings with the motive being that she wanted to lessen Harvey's workload so that he'd come home and they can finally start a family. Deanpool thinks this doesn't make any sense whatsoever but nevertheless that's her reasoning. However, she believes that on New Year's Harvey picks up on the murders and commits them himself from then on. Believing that Harvey will finish the job, she takes a more passive role and lets Harvey be the sole Holiday killer. So she admits to killing Johnny Vitti, the Irish gang, and the Roman's bodyguard. Uh wasn't she in a hospital on Thanksgiving? She was barely walking by Christmas. She can shoot a gun? She confesses that Harvey brings home a lot of evidence from work so she had access to the same resources: .22 pistol and a ledger of information on the Falcone family. But then why would she be surprised when she catches Harvey working at home with evidence from work on some page that Deanpool can't remember and is too lazy to look up? It could be a front to draw suspicion away, to look like she had no idea those resources were there. But what Deanpool can't ignore is the poetic nature of using a baby bottle nipple as a suppressor. She admits to reading in some files how to take off the serial numbers of a gun and how a baby bottle nipple can be used a suppressor. Deanpool would not put it past a crazy lady who is trying desperately to start a family and have a child to have a bunch of baby supplies around the house that are just waiting to be used. It's evident that Harvey and Gilda have tried for a baby before, perhaps they prepared for a baby before and these are simply items that they've kept over in hopes to try again. Or after giving it a quick look, it may have been left behind by the Gordon's from whenever they visited and brought their baby along. And the trinkets left at the scenes of the crime, sounds like something someone more family-oriented would be keen to do. Holidays are times for coming together with family, if Gilda is delusional enough to go kill mobsters to get her husband to come home, she might be delusional enough to leave themed trinkets in memory of what she could have been doing if she had a family. BUT, there are still the holes in her story like how she'd be able to get close enough to these people to kill them. Don't think you can pick up that much just from reading files. And it's hard to speculate how she would've performed another hit on New Year's Eve if she didn't suspect Harvey to pick up as the Holiday killer. Fun Fact: in Dark Victory, the sequel to The Long Halloween, there's a conversation between Calendar Man and Two-Face that alludes to Gilda being the true identity of Holiday. Doesn't mean it's true. But it's there. We can rule out that she's the sole Holiday killer because readers clearly see Alberto be the one to murder Sal Maroni and Two-Face murders The Roman and Fields. However, the books forces to believe in just two killers, so if we assume Gilda as one of them we'd have to omit the Two-Face and the second Halloween as part of the Holiday spree.

Means- .22 pistol w/ baby bottle nipple as suppressor.
Motive- Lighten Harvey's workload so he'd come home and give her a baby. <-- Deanpool's words, not mine
Opportunity- None really. But she did have access to the ledger since Harvey was bringing his work home. So she'd have access to the information and locations to the Falcone crime family. But she was near-crippled for 2/3 of the murders she confesses to. Unless it was a front to draw away suspicion. In that case, damn she's good.

Let's investigate into the idea presented that there are two killers.

Gilda/Alberto- Probably one of the most popular theories. Let's say Gilda actually performed the murders she confessed to, the first three (somehow while being bedridden). She falsely believes that Harvey is responsible for Alberto's death and decides to take a backseat as the Holiday killer. And every following major holiday she continues to believe Harvey is out performing these killings and further pushes her delusions that he'll one day return to her and be a loving husband and they can start a family. In reality, Alberto fakes his death and starts performing hits as a copycat to the original Holiday. Continuing to use the baby bottle nipple suppressor and leaving appropriately themed trinkets. But wait, how would Alberto know that Gilda, or the other Holiday killer in general, wouldn't kill that night as well? In the scenes where there are multiple bodies at a murder, they're usually found together: the Irish, Maroni's men, even The Roman and Fields were nearby each other. Deanpool guesses it doesn't matter too much if there happened to be multiple deaths, but that doesn't matter. Alberto continues as Holiday for the reasons mentioned above, most importantly kill off members of Maroni's family. Is it coincidence that there's a shift from Falcone's family being killed before New Year's (thanks to Gilda?) to Maroni's family after New Year's. A key issue that the blogger in the link above had was the use of the same gun. There's no way it could have been the same gun if it were these two particular characters. But if it were different guns, don't you think the world's greatest detective would've been able to determine that early? No two guns are the same, and scratched off serial numbers wouldn't change that. Add the fact that Calendar Man kept switching between "he" and "she" when talking about Holiday, suggesting that there are two and their of opposite gender. Or he could be full of crap, and he didn't know for himself. By the end we see no connection with Calendar Man or any of the suspects so how could he possibly know if he was in his cell the whole book. Also, the first time Batman and Gordon go to him for help, it's before New Year's Eve and he's already mentioning "he" and "she" or hinting at two killers. Before NYE, we're led to believe it was only one killer: Gilda. Also begs the question if Harvey knew his wife was Holiday? Why leave Calendar Man in his cell when he broke out all the other major villains? Most say because he left it up to the flip of a coin, but what if he knew that Calendar Man knew about Gilda? Why else would Harvey be so cryptic about there being 2 Holiday killers after he turns himself in? If he was referring to himself wouldn't he say, "Guess there's two Holiday killers," (or something of that nature) rather than simply telling them, "There are two Holiday killers." Even Batman and Gordon were left wondering what he meant by that. Then again, that'd be kind of a dick move to rat out your wife after you get busted right? But never mind that, let's stick to assuming this particular theory. A bigger question: Why would Alberto confess to all the murders and claim to solely be Holiday? His father put up a front about his son not being involved in the family business, and this was widely recognized to everyone in the mob world. This was Alberto's chance to make his own legacy, create his own story and his own name outside the shadow of his father's. A new breed of bad guys were taking over Gotham, Alberto was smart enough to know to adapt to survive. So Gilda starts off the killings believing it'll somehow bring her a family and Alberto picks up where she leaves off while performing his father's hit orders.
Verdict: Possible, popular theory for good reason;

Gilda/Harvey- Not likely, but this idea is given to us from Gilda's confession. As mentioned earlier, we all clearly saw Alberto be the one to kill Maroni. And to the reader's knowledge, no other murders occurred on that day. Though this is the time, the characters in the story start suspecting Harvey, it simply doesn't add up. But let's play along. Gilda performs the first three hits. Maybe Harvey learns it was her, or even knew the whole time? Put her up to it? Okay doubt that last one. Let's go with, he found out what she was doing and then he wanted to relieve her of this burden... but at the same time continue her work. Could've been using the same bottle nipple. So then what's the deal with Alberto? Did Alberto simply survive and stay hidden by his father? But then why choose Sal Maroni as the opportune time to come back from the death? Would Harvey really have continued his work as Holiday after the acid incident? Imagine if Batman was able to stop Alberto from killing Sal, how would Harvey have continued as Holiday? Would Gilda have made a comeback as Holiday? It's fun to think that Two-Face left Calendar Man in his cell if Calendar Man knew all along his main competitor for date-related murders were Harvey & Gilda Dent. Deanpool would rather believe the "Harvey Dent only as Holiday" theory before believing this one. Harvey killing all of them is more credible than the both of them. But again, how does Alberto killing Sal Maroni go into all of this.
Verdict: Gilda is as crazy and broken as her husband has become. This idea only exists in her imagination, along with the one of Harvey being cured and them finally starting a family.

Harvey/Alberto- We have to discuss this one. Frikin Batman concluded this one. This theory is essentially "Alberto only" + Two-Face's murder on the second Halloween. Alberto performs hits according to his father's wishes. He gets caught after killing Sal Maroni, then gets beaten to a pulp by Batman. He admits to committing all the murders as Holiday, which in this case makes sense because it's all true in this theory. However, a year later from the first murder, on Halloween, Two-Face rids Gotham of its most dangerous Falcone and murders Carmine Falcone, along with his ex-assistant. As a murderer on a holiday, maybe Harvey saw the irony and viewed himself as the second Holiday killer. Why would Alberto use the bottle nipple? Deanpool has no idea. You'd think someone in the mob with the resources like The Roman could get a legit suppressor. Or it's just Loeb messing with the readers. With this theory we'd have to conclude that Gilda's confession was simply a delusional fantasy. Husband was never home and when he was, he engulfed himself in his work. Not hard to believe that when he wasn't home, she would go through the files and fantasize how she could've been the one to commit the murders if it would help her husband. And then those delusions could easily grow into her husband carrying out the kills himself with hopes that he'd do anything to finish his work and spend more time at home.
Verdict: Can't argue against the world's greatest detective, Deanpool sure isn't going to. It's straightforward, and the only two Holiday murderers that the reader actually sees: Alberto hits Maroni, Two-Face hits Falcone.

Gilda/Harvey/Alberto?- We're limited into hypothesizing only 2 killers thanks to Two-Face. But what if they're all killers? Gilda starts the kills, Harvey picks them up but stops after the acid incident, Alberto all of a sudden becomes the killer. Check this timeline: Gilda takes out 3 of Falcone's men, this takes us up to New Year's Eve. Gilda stops, Harvey maybe realizes Holiday has been Gilda, Alberto fakes his death for whatever reason. For example, The Roman may be worried that his son's death may be the next Holiday victim, so he fakes his son's death to protect him. With his son being the only one he trusts, it's plausible that The Roman would go to such lengths to do something such as this. Post-NYE Harvey changes to targets of interest toward Maroni's men, perhaps to change suspicions to Falcone as the possible identity behind Holiday. On April Fools he leaves the Riddler alive. This leaves the message that Falcone is in fact looking for the Holiday killer as well. So leaving Riddler alive resets all theories as to who Holiday is, but members of both crime families have taken big hits. Next, Harvey starts cleaning up the loose ends that tie Holiday to Gilda and himself, because he's such a good husband right? Takes out gunsmith. But why would he kill the coroner and Maroni's father? Should we theorize that Alberto came into the picture at this point? Consider this, after the death of Sal Maroni's father, he finally decided to testify against Falcone. It's a bit of a stretch to think that Harvey could've known that that would get Maroni to testify. As for the coroner... again the only one who makes sense for that one is Alberto in order to keep his secret that he's actually alive. With Maroni testifying, it's a feasible time for Alberto to come out of hiding to help out his father, but doing whatever it took to try to stay "dead." The rest plays out as explained countless times: kills Carla to protect his secret; kills Maroni to prevent him from testifying/giving his father full control of Gotham streets; Two-Face kills The Roman. Two-Face then mentions that there are TWO killers, perhaps drawing attention away from Gilda still and keeping the blame on Alberto and himself. Three killers, all in some way knowing of the other's doings. But in this theory, only Harvey would know the existence of Holiday the entire time. Alberto would just simply think it's some crazy killer as he just plays as a copycat when he fakes his death and performs hits on holidays as well. He would even go on to fully accept himself as the real Holiday killer, despite being responsible for just a couple. Gilda believes it was Harvey picking up after her run as Holiday and Alberto's confession was a lie. Harvey knew about Gilda and would've heard about Alberto taking up the Holiday name and his confession, though he'd be content as long as it wasn't Gilda. Maybe Deanpool should give this theory another chance, there are a few holes but it's definitely a more dynamic one to speculate about. Did we mention this was a great book?

Go read The Long Halloween for yourself and find out for yourself who Holiday is!!!