Batman: Hero of Gotham

59- Alfred's Absence

Bruce hurried home after he got no call from Alfred which was odd. Usually he would ask how things went. But this time he didn't. Bruce tried calling him several times but it went straight to voicemail. Once Bruce arrived home, he opened the doors to Wayne Manor. Alfred's car was there. "Alfred!" Bruce shouted as the place was quiet. Bruce saw out of the corner of his eye, the entertainment room doors opened all the way as if someone had broke in. Bruce walked in the room and everything was a mess. The door handle was snapped off.  Stools were tipped over and furniture was broken. Bruce called up Lucius. "Lucius, it's Bruce. Alfred's not here. Damn it. I'm going to search for clues."

"Just tell me how I can help." Lucius replied.

"Get over here as fast as you can."

"I'm on my way. We're gonna find him, Bruce."

"I know." Bruce hung up. He still had some time to investigate before Lucius would get there. "I need to focus and figure out what happened here." Bruce sighed. "What happened to you, Al?" 

Bruce started at the door. The handle was broken. Bruce got a closer look. "The lock's been completely destroyed. Alfred must have barricaded himself in here. But they got in anyway." 

Bruce then examined a fire poker which was lodged into the wall. "How the hell did this happen?"

 He then looked at a chair pushed over. "Furniture scattered outwards from a single point." 

There was a scuff mark on the floor. "A scuff mark. I wonder what could have caused this." Bruce analyzed the fireplace. "God, there's ash everywhere." There was a blood stain on above the fireplace. "What did they do to you, Al?" To the right of the fireplace, a shelf was broken. "Something big was thrown against this wall. Or someone." To the right of that there was a smashed vase, tipped over. "This vase was knocked over in the struggle. The fight left nothing untouched." 

A bloody and snapped pool cue was laying on the ground next to the pool table. "This cue was used as a weapon. Swung so hard it broke in two pieces." Blood was splattered on the pool table. "Blood pattern looks like it came off a high velocity hit." Bruce was now ready to link the items to retrieve a solution. 

He first linked the fire poker to the fireplace. "Alfred grabbed the fireplace poker to defend off an attacker. But it was knocked away." 

Bruce then linked the scuff mark to the broken shelf. "Lady Arkham must have used the concussion blast from her staff to try and stop Alfred." 

Bruce linked the pool cue to the blood on the pool table. "Alfred used the pool cue as a weapon. He broke it across his attacker's head. When that didn't stop him, he used the jagged end to stab him, spraying blood across the pool table." Bruce had come up with an story. 

"First, the Children of Arkham broke in. Alfred barricaded himself inside the parlor. He had just enough time to grab a pool cue as a weapon before Lady Arkham blasted the doors open. He broke it across one of their heads and then stabbed him to get away. Another assailant tackled Alfred, knocking over the vase. Alfred almost escaped. But, Lady Arkham then entered the parlor. She used her staff's concussion blast to scatter all the furniture in her path. The blast forced Alfred into the wall by the fireplace. Al grabbed the nearest thing to him that he could use as a weapon to defend himself. Lady Arkham deflected Alfred's attack on her. This caused the fire poker to fly across the room and lodge into the wall. Since there's more blood on the mantle above the fireplace, Lady Arkham must have smashed his face into it, knocking him out." 

Bruce then noticed a picture that looked to be in the wrong spot. "That picture doesn't belong there. Lady Arkham wanted me to find this." Bruce picked up the picture and examined it. He turned it over and found a note. He read it aloud. "The butler did it." Bruce flipped the note over. There was a bunch of numbers and more writing. The numbers were 0278.2392.9630 and the writing said "Password: Reckoning". Bruce was confused for a second. But, he then realized that this must be a code for something. He hurried back to the Batcave, muttering to himself.