Batman gave the alley a final sweeping glance before striding over to Commissioner Gordon. "There's something off," he growled.
"What're you thinking?" said Gordon, taking a long drag from his cigar.
"This doesn't look like one of our usual players' work," frowned Bruce, "but it looks more sophisticated than…"
"...your typical mugging, I know," Gordon supplied. The Bat glanced back at the body, narrowing his eyes at the clean incisions on the victim's abdomen before two rookies could cover the body with a white sheet.
Bruce was thoughtful for a moment. "Let's hope it remains an isolated incident. I'll do the best I can, Jim."
Gordon gave a humorless smile. "Always do, Bats. Thanks for your help." He turned away to bark more orders to his men as Batman climbed into the Batmobile.
"Tt." The brightly dressed pre-teen in the passenger seat tried giving his most scathing look of displeasure. "Are you finished, Father? I'm not quite sure how I couldn't assist you, seeing as all you did was inspect a cadaver."
Bruce's lips twitched for a moment. "Robin, in case you've forgotten," he levelled Damian with an amused glance, "you broke your wrist earlier on patrol. And unless you want me to tell the others how you-"
"Yes, yes!" Damian interrupted, noticeably flustered. "That won't be necessary, of course. If you wouldn't mind telling Drake to inspect my grappling gun to avoid future malfunctions…"
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "So we're calling it a malfunction now?" Damian shrunk a little, his cheeks rosy. "Of course, I'm sure that cat had nothing to do with this malfunction?" The tips of Robin's ears had turned scarlet as he began grumbling unintelligibly. Satisfied, Bruce turned his eyes back to the road as they pulled into the Cave.
Seconds after the screeching tires halted, Damian had already hopped out and scampered halfway up the stairs. Batman followed him over to the Batcomputer at a much more leisurely pace and began typing out the details of the latest case, scowl growing with each new addition.
"I do hope you intend on resting, Master Bruce," called a voice from the stairs. At the anticipated lack of reply, Alfred approached his eldest charge and set a tray of cookies on the edge of Batman's desk. "Master Bruce?" As a form of response, Bruce only glowered more fiercely at the screen.
"Something's not adding up, Alfred." Bruce hesitated before pulling down his cowl and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Gordon called in a homicide at the end of patrol. It's nothing new, but look here." He indicated a row of neat cuts on the torso of the victim. "Someone clearly knew what they were doing. They've managed to remove essential organs like the liver, kidneys, and even a lung. Although why they left the other is beyond me." Bruce zoomed in closer on the image. "Not only that, but what do you make of this mark?" The enhanced image depicted a minuscule circle branded directly behind the victim's ear.
"Well, it looks a tad like an owl, sir," said Alfred slowly.
Bruce nodded grimly. "I'm worried there's a new player on the streets."
Alfred side-eyed him for a long, suffering minute. "And what, pray tell," he sighed, "are you suggesting, Master Bruce?" Bruce's gaze was assessing the computer screen once more.
"For now? Nothing."
That's a wrap folks. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.