𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭. 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚗

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     The Ghost hid in plain sight. Huddling under a polite strangers umbrella or walking the streets offering tight lipped smiles. She needn't worry about being noticed or recognised, for few knew her face and fewer knew her name. Unlike Batman, the Ghost fought from behind the scenes, out of public observation. They knew the vigilante had a cohort, but little was known about her.

     From atop the Bank of Gotham, Ghost could see the four boys clasping cans of paint in their hands. They moved swiftly, not knowing what lurked in the shadows. She watched the skies, waiting for the ever-present signal. The signal that struck fear into the very souls of criminals, and adrenaline into the Ghost. Flattening her back against the roof, she let out a giddy chuckle as a helicopter flew past.

     Ghost slid down the fire escape and followed the source of the signal. Gordon stood, awaiting his black caped crusader, but was met with the dark grey cloak of the Ghost.

     "Where is it?" was all she said. He eyed her skeptically before she spoke up, "I'm going to find him, Lieutenant, don't worry." Her voice was an eerily hollow whisper that unsettled even the toughest of criminals.

     Gordon sighed. "Mayor Mitchell's home." And Ghost was gone. She knew where Batman was, she could see it on her wrist. Rolling through her landing at the train station, Ghost crept through the small building. She heard the tell-tale sounds of a fight and waited until a group of ten men limped past her shouting and groaning. 

     Batman turned the corner and she grabbed his arm, barely ducking fast enough to miss a right hook. Batman straightened and brushed himself off, looking at Ghost's hooded face. "Gordon needs you. It's the mayor," she whispered.

     Ghost pulled her hood down and took a few deep breaths, wiping her forehead. She pulled it back over her head and took to the rooftops again. Roof to roof she jumped, swift and silent. She made it there before her counterpart, so she waited, looking through the windows she could see the body lying in a chair with tape across the face. The words scrawled in red were indistinct, but Ghost couldn't help the curiosity that gnawed at her stomach.

     She heard his bike before she even saw him. Then she could hear the silent footsteps, alerting her that he was over her shoulder. "You're shadowing, Vengeance." Ghost could feel his breath on the back of her neck. She turned to face him and whispered, "It was a murder." He nodded and the two descended the rooftop, going inside.

     The body lay in an armchair, facing the street. The tape across its face read 'NO MORE LIES'. Ghost observed the scene, noting blood spattered across the floor. She overheard Gordon telling Batman it was blunt force head trauma.

     "The murder weapon?" she whispered. 

     Gordon looked at her with confusion. "Where's the weapon?" Batman said, voice gravelly. Gordon turned to look around before grabbing an oddly shaped tool covered in blood. Ghost reached out with a delicately gloved hand and observed it closely. 

     Batman was again looking at the body. His eyes met hers and he said, "He was still alive when they cut off his thumb." The woman tilted her cloaked head in question. "Ecchymosis," he said, "around the wound." Ghost sat the weapon down and looked at the victim's hand. He was right. The thumb had indeed been cut while Mitchell was alive.

     "We, uh, found this too," Gordon spoke up. He held an envelope with the words 'To the Batman' scribbled out. Ghost watched as his gloved hands deftly opened the card. It was a greeting card of sorts, albeit a bit twisted, reading "From your secret friend. Whoo?" He opened the card to reveal the words "What does a LIAR do when he's DEAD? There were indistinct markings on the other side Ghost couldn't understand.

     Ghost racked her brain for a solution. "What does a liar do when he's dead?" her hollow whisper turned heads. She walked to the body, searching. Her eyes caught on the tape. "He lies still," she breathed. She looked at Gordon and his men. "He lies, still."

     With that, she left quietly. She waited for Batman outside, perched on the fire escape. When he exited the building, she jumped down, startling the man. "Ghost, any ideas?" he asked, stepping closer to her. She scanned the streets for people and saw a few dropheads cowering in an alley.

     "When we get back." She whispered, hopping on the back of his bike. He climbed on in front of her and they sped off into Gotham.
03/07/22