Esther Valestra
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Real Identity: Esther Valestra
Affiliations: Valestra Mob
Appearances (BTAC Comics): Muscle Out and The Offer Part Three
Skills: Organized Crime
Esther Valestra is the daughter of the late Sal Valestra and the matriarch of the oldest crime family in Gotham City. Oscar Delgado was once her main man and was hired for a string of mob hits. After Delgado, now the Muscle, was arrested, Valestra was one of many mob figures who pooled their resources to hire the likes of Killer Croc to silence Delgado in Blackgate Penitentiary but Batman intervened. On March 27, Janet Van Dorn offered him a deal to help bring down Valestra in exchange for a reduced sentence or a transfer to a safer facility. He refused. That evening, Black Mask, Penguin, and Rupert Thorne gathered at Esther Valestra's home to discuss the Muscle. Valestra presented pasta with her late father's secret sauce. Thorne could not believe the size of the meatballs. Valestra teased he better be talking about dinner. Penguin complimented her and she revealed she made calamari fritti just for him. Mask had enough of the pleasantries and blamed her for making their collective problem even worse.
Thorne agreed if the Muscle testified, they would be screwed. Penguin shared a rumor he heard that the Muscle was being moved to a safe house soon. Valestra revealed it would be the next night at 8:15 then boasted she knew everything going on at Stonegate Penitentiary. Mask asked what they were going to do. Valestra hinted she had the perfect guy to make sure he never made it to his destination. She suddenly stabbed several meatballs violently and proclaimed the Muscle would be all tied and skewered. Using her Stonegate contact, Reverend Justus Matthews, she sent Lock-Up to end Muscle. Batman again intervened and Muscle survived. Despite no longer having any deal, he still testified against Valestra and the others. She later went into hiding. In reality, she was one of the criminals kidnapped by Ra's al Ghul's Talons and kept in a prison under the city. Esther Valestra became irate at the sight of Batman. Penguin tried to calm her down and pointed out Catwoman was with him and they may have misconstrued the situation.
Black Mask demanded their release. Batman realized Ra's al Ghul had most of the major criminals of Gotham taken prisoner in order to later convince him crime-fighting was no longer needed in the city. Catwoman later found the control to release everyone. Penguin torched one. Valestra ripped the head off one. They admired each other's handiwork. On the surface, Penguin milked the sympathy routine with reporters while Valestra conmforted March Hare as the police took them into custody.