Harley Quinn Romance 3

Chapter 6: A Triple Murder

Turning around a wide curve of brickwork composing a sizable smokestack, Batwoman touched two fingers to the ear of her cowl to activate the transmitter.

"Southwest corner, upper level," she reported. "I found an office."

"En route," Batman acknowledged.

Deciding to do a little poking around before Batman arrived, she went inside. The office was as run down as the rest of the factory. The carpet was worn to the concrete in most of the high traffic areas. Artificial wood paneling failed to give the office a natural feel as the covering was a plastic material still maintaining a glossy surface in spite of years of dirt. Computers on desks were partially buried under files and notebooks, tree stumps in a forest of paper leaves.

A quick check found no cameras or monitoring electronics to observe her intrusion. Focusing on the first desk, she picked through some of the loose papers but found nothing of apparent significance.

Batman joined her and turned on one of the computers. A security access code blocked entry, but a program on a flash drive produced from his utility belt sliced through the digital defenses in a matter of seconds.

Batwoman opened a drawer and found several leather bound books. She took one out and turned a few pages. The entries were some sort of financial records, but deciphering it was beyond her. She did manage to find a significant entry in the front and took it to Batman.

"It looks as though the company who owns this factory is only a subsidiary," Batwoman told him while pointing out the information.

"Conglomerated Industries," he read from the page. "Copy what you can and put everything back."

Batwoman nodded, taking out a small camera and quickly photographing all of the leather books. She was putting back the last one when she noticed something out the window.

"The signal is up," she told Batman.

"Finished here," Batman announced, extracting the flash drive and powering down the computer.

They locked the front door and left no trace of having ever been there before departing from the factory and heading toward police headquarters where a giant bat emblem was being projected brightly against the clouds.

"With as much leverage as that corporate weasel seemed to have when he came to Wayne Enterprises, it seems unlikely his backers would be based in a dilapidated place like that," Batwoman observed.

"Unless not all of their operations are legitimate," Batman suggested. "Barely used locations are perfect for things you want to deny all knowledge of if you get caught."

"If they were up to something sneaky, wouldn't they have more security, or at least keep their important stuff in a locked drawer?" Batwoman asked.

Batman didn't answer, but he glanced toward her momentarily before returning his gaze to the road.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" Batwoman prompted.

"I'm feeling a bit like a rat in a maze," Batman admitted. "Drexel worked to conceal his employers, but didn't use every method possible to throw us off, and one of the places he led us to had unguarded information, giving us another clue to follow."

"Crumbs on the trail," Batwoman commented.

"Maybe," Batman replied, but his tone was uncommitted.

"I don't think there's cheese waiting at the end of this maze," she warned.

"Trap or not, we'll still need to investigate," Batman decided. "Follow the bait to find the fisherman."

"Finding the fisherman doesn't me we can avoid the net," Batwoman pointed out.

Batman gave no response.

                                                                                      ***

Like most buildings in Gotham, the police department was cold, grey concrete. A flock of gargoyles perched along the edge of the roof and at various floors, looking down on the streets below with unmoving stone eyes.

Batman and Batwoman fired grappling lines up toward the gargoyles on the building next door and were quickly pulled into the air as the handheld devices retracted the cables.

Releasing the grappling hook at the right time was a practiced skill. If released too soon, sufficient momentum wouldn't be achieved to assist in either a proper dismount or launch of a second grappling line. If released too late, the user could end up hanging at the anchor point with no momentum at all. It had taken Batwoman months to learn as she frequently had so much fun rocketing into the air, she forgot to pay attention to the various distances in regards to the timing of her release of the hook.

She got it right this time, achieving a perfect release in tandem with Batman, the duo soaring up beyond the gargoyles they'd snared and firing their lines again to repeat the procedure on the roof of the police station. When they were airborne over the roof, they spread their capes, the specially designed material transforming their trajectory into a graceful arc. Landing together in a half crouch, their capes closed in around them in a concealing embrace.

"You two certainly have a flare for making an entrance," Commissioner Gordon complimented from beside the large spotlight sending the bat emblem into the cloud filled sky. The gray-haired policeman wore a tan overcoat against the chill night air. Wireframe glasses of shiny gold rested on his nose above a neatly trimmed mustache.

"Commissioner," Batman greeted. Batwoman remained silent, watching the interaction between the two men.

"We've had a trio of murders over the last few weeks," the Commissioner explained, handing over a file folder to Batman. "Nothing in common between the victims except matching blade wounds from the murder weapon."

"I'll look into it," Batman promised.

"That isn't why I called you in," Gordon denied. "A security camera caught the killer leaving the last crime scene. A still shot is in the back of the folder."

Batman flipped to the last page and found a slightly grainy image. Despite the poor image quality, it was easy to recognize Batman.

"That's not possible," Batman growled.

"We both know that," Gordon agreed. "However, I can't go by what I know, only what the evidence can prove."

"I understand," Batman said, handing over the file and his utility belt to Batwoman.

"I don't understand," Batwoman protested. "What are you doing?"

"The Commissioner can't show favoritism," Batman explained. "Until any further evidence shows up, he has to put me in custody as the primary suspect."

"How can you do your whole 'World's Greatest Detective' thing from inside a cell?" Batwoman insisted.

"I can't," Batman answered flatly. "Someone else is going to have to solve this."