Chapter 24: Mastering the Clues
Wayne Manor
Outskirts of Gotham City
2010
December 10th
Jason is 11
Cass is 9
Tim is 8
Stephanie is 7
Robin is 13
Batgirl is 14
Batman is 30
Bruce and all the kids were surrounding a single note sitting in front of them on one of the work tables. It was the third such thing they'd found in almost as many weeks. They'd been graffitied on roofs and delivered to the GCPD. And in their experience, only a few villains ever gave voluntary hints to what was happening. They'd just caught Riddler last month and he was still in Arkham, and no one had heard from Cluemaster in over a year and a half. Either there was someone new or something they hadn't figured out.
"It could be Cluemaster though," Jason pointed out. "He's not in jail anymore."
"But this isn't in his style. He and Riddler leave different types of clues, and though this is closer to Cluemaster's it's still not as advanced."
Bruce turned away to sit at the computer. "Both of you are right."
With a few taps, he pulled up pictures of similar notes and clues on the screen displaying them to the kids. Then he pulled up a picture of the more recent ones to put side by side. "What do you see?"
"It's definitely a different person."
"A copycat," Dick reasoned.
"Cat?" Cass signed.
"Someone who copies someone else," Dick explained.
"The syntax is different," Tim hummed. "And the writing, it's weird. Not like something we'd usually see."
They all agreed something didn't feel right. After a little longer contemplating the note Bruce stopped the theories to point out the most important part of the messages. "We know somethings happening."
"And a where."
"Barbara, you, Cass and Dick can monitor the situation. I want constant surveillance there for the next few weeks. I'll take Tim on patrol with me to help look for more of these 'clues.'"
Jason frowned but didn't protest. He'd been grounded for sneaking out on his own for a different mission in Crime Alley against some new gangs rising up. He'd done pretty well before Bruce had discovered he was sneaking out and then finished the mission himself. Though Jason still had a big head about all the things he'd uncovered and what Bruce would do. Now though, he would be punished with the part of casework he hated most, sitting in the cave and staring at things until he figured something out.
The others suited up to head out on patrol and the allotted destinations. Dick and Barbara went straight to the warehouse, near the place in Crime Alley Jason had just been sneaking out too. Cass took a little time looking around before joining them. Meanwhile, Bruce and Tim patrolled the city as usual. Nothing was out of the ordinary, at least not for Gotham.
Still, Tim's brain was working hard as he thought about the things he'd seen. The way the clues were written, Cluemaster may not be leaving clues personally but it was definitely tied to him. There was something else too it though…. it reminded him more of something he'd see in school, not a plan by a villain mastermind. Until he was sure, he wouldn't say a thing. That was good detective work, getting proof and making sure the puzzle was put together before you acted.
He started with camera footage. Cluemaster was already in their system, with all his information including names of family, friends and previous addresses. From there it was easy to set up a way to track all of them. He did it on the computer he'd put together with Barbara, not ready to show Bruce just yet. Especially once he started to figure out what was happening.
He left after school, going with Harper and Cullen, presumably for a sleepover. He toted his bag into their small apartment and stayed for a few hours, enjoying his time with his friends. The entire time, even while he was watching movies and eating pizza, he was going over the plan in his head.
Right before the sibling's mother came to usher them to bed, Tim pretended to have been called home on his cell. After assuring them Alfred was already downstairs he left the apartment and walked up the stairs instead towards the roof. Finding a discreet spot with no CCTV nearby he changed into his uniform and took off to track his target.
He found her a block away from her home, dressed in the purple sweatsuit and old burglar mask he'd seen her in on his surveillance several times. As she went from place to place, fire escape, to roof to stairwells, he followed her. They were closer to downtown when she stopped, climbing down from the roof of the movie theater to the overhead displaying the movies playing at the moment.
There was the sound of a spray paint can shaking then a hand leaning over to graffiti the sign below. She painted over the sign for the movie, Black Swan in a rusty orange like that of Cluemaster's costume. 'Tchaikovsky didn't make every ballet on this ETA.'
As soon as she was done she took off again. Tim mapped her trajectory in his mind and chose a rooftop to wait as she moved from one place to another. He sat in the shadows, trying to be like Batman, hiding in the corners of the roof's wall. It took nearly fifteen minutes for her to arrive, traveling in the inefficient way she was. The second the heavy fall of the pad's of her feet happened, and she started to run across the roof, he was out, barring her with the bow staff he took from home.
She fell back, eyes widening. "Who are you?"
"The question is, Stephanie, who are you?"
She stood up and huffed pulling back her hood and mask. "That's just creepy. And weird. How do you know who I am?"
"Clues."
"Mine?"
"Not the ones you left intentionally."
"What?" she asked confused.
"On purpose."
Her eyes narrowed again. "Who are you? And why are you here?"
"I'll tell you once you tell me why you're leaving clues."
She sat down cross-legged on the floor, hesitantly he joined her while she put her face in her hands and sighed. "I mean, really? If this was like a movie you would have figured that out too. You should have anyway. You know who I am and that's the hard part."
"Not really," he shrugged, collapsing the bow-staff and lying it into his lap. "I knew about your dad and how he left clues. And the clues you left are close but not close enough, they're just a little different, probably because you're younger and a woman."
"Hey!"
"Not a bad thing," he assured her. "It's just the way our speech develops. So then it was detective work finding the people closest to your dad and I saw you on the cameras."
"Cameras?"
He pointed to several of the surrounding buildings and blocks. "They're everywhere. And Batman plants even more extra ones. I don't even know where those all are."
"Who are you?" She demanded again. "You're a kid, but you're not Robin. A copycat?"
"Are you copying your dad?"
"What? No!" Stephanie declared offended. "I'm stopping him. I'm Spoiler, and I'm going to spoil all his plans."
Red Robin laughed. "Spoiler?"
"I have a costume and everything. Even if it's not as good as yours."
"It's not a costume. It's a uniform. And that's a purple pair of sweatpants and a uniform," he pointed to her legs as one of his mask lenses widened as if he was quirking his eyebrow.
"It's eggplant, not purple. And it's still a good disguise! Dad doesn't know a thing."
"Does anyone?" Red Robin asked curiously with a tilt of the head.
"You."
"What about your mom?"
"She's always sad, or on drugs. Or at work. That's where she gets the drugs."
"From the hospital." Red Robin put it together as he remembered Crystal Brown's profession as a nurse. "So she doesn't know?"
"Not about me. She knows Dad is a bad guy. I mean he just got back to Gotham a few months ago, and that was after breaking out of Belle Reve. And it's not like he tries to keep it secret. He leaves clues!"
"But not anymore."
"Yeah. So I'm doing it for him. He has meetings right in front of me. I mean, he promised when he got back, he said he'd be good this time."
Tim sighed and thought about everyone he knew whose parents were like that, horrible and promising to be better only to revert back to old habits. That's were a lot of heroes came from after all, like Dick's teammate Artemis, and Jason.
"Then he joined a gang or something and they're planning something big. And one of the reasons Mom is so sad is because of him, so I thought if I stopped him, maybe…. Well…"
"So you've been sneaking out while he's with his gang and she's at work or drugged up," Red Robin reasoned. He looked closely at her for a minute and sighed. "I know you want to help, but Batman's not going to like this."
"Why? I'm helping him!" Steph shouted and frowned at him challengingly. "And why do you care? Won't he be mad about you?"
For a moment he didn't answer, unmoving as she tried to intimidate him with her stare. He considered whether or not to tell her anything and how mad Batman would be if he found out. But then she was trustworthy. She wasn't great at lying or sneaking about, but she was good and trying to help. And she needed help too. "Probably. He's my dad and I'm not supposed to be here either."
Stephanie's jaw dropped. It was a few minutes before she repeated his statement. "He's your dad?"
"Yes. And he will be mad that you're out here right now."
Both kids turned from where they sat to see Robin standing over them frowning. Red Robin turned a little pink, looking away. On the opposite hand, Stephanie couldn't seem to look anywhere but right at him, eyes getting wider than before.
"Red Robin, your friend's mom called to check you got back. Should've thought of that. Still took a while to find you," Robin smirked. "But congrats. You've snuck out from BMan for the first time. Join the club."
Stephanie threw her head back and laughed. Red Robin turned red and glared at his brother. "I'm working on a case."
"Seems like you're visiting your girlfriend," Robin teased. "Everyone's gonna be so happy to hear about this."
"She's not my girlfriend."
"I barely know him!"
"She should be. She thought I was funny."
"That's really all it takes for him to like someone," Red Robin rolled his eyes. "Not that he doesn't like everyone."
"Now you sound like Hood. Either way, Batman is still looking. So you better be ready to explain this to him."
Red Robin groaned and Stephanie lit up. "Batman? Coming here?"
"Yes. So you better go home," Robin said pointedly.
"No way! The whole reason I'm here is to help. You need me."
Robin chuckled again. "Wow. You got yourself your own Batgirl."
"Thanks! Hey, are you and Batgirl dating?" Stephanie asked.
Now it was Robin's turn to become red as he shook his head and denied that profusely. When he recollected himself with a frown he looked between the two younger kids. "I'm comming Bats now. Don't move."
Both of them watched him walking to the other end of the roof as he called Batman and explained the situation. Stephanie was following his every move as Red Robin watched hers. Finally, she noticed him staring. "Maybe you do want to date me."
"No! I'm just trying to figure you out."
"I guess to work with Batman you really have to like puzzles."
He met her eyes. "I mean, yeah, kind of. But it's more than that. And some of us like that part more than others. I'm not as good at fighting yet, but I found you."
"How many of you are there? If Batman's your Dad, is Robin's your brother, and Batgirl your sister? It makes sense cause he's not dating her."
He paused for a moment before explaining he had two brothers and a sister, though Batgirl was very much like a sister as well. Stephanie listened to it all entranced. Until Robin walked back over and interrupted them again. Both kids stood up to look at him.
"Seriously, Baby Bird, not that I'm not proud of you for sneaking out—"
Stephanie snickered.
"Because you've completed a traditional rite done by your brothers, but that also means there's the bad part coming."
"I'm in trouble," Red Robin groaned.
"A lot of it," agreed Batman as he landed next to Robin. He looked at the scene before him and the little girl next to his youngest son. "Now, explain. Who is she and why did you sneak out?"
"I'm Spoiler," Stephanie grinned sticking her hand out.
"Stephanie Brown."
"Hey! Secret identity."
"I don't want to get in more trouble. And it's part of the case," Red Robin said to reason with her.
"Cluemaster's daughter."
Both the older heroes looked again between the two kids starting to put it together in their minds. Batman frowned harshly when Robin finally asked why Stephanie was dressed like that a few minutes later.
"You were leaving the clues."
"Duh! I'm spoiling his plans. That's where the name comes from."
"So you know his plans."
It wasn't a question. Stephanie nodded pulling a little notebook from one of her pockets and flipping it open to give to Batman. Then she looked at Robin and Red Robin stubbornly. "I'm helping, see? I mean you needed me or you wouldn't know anything."
"Your father tells you this stuff?" Robin said taking a peek at the notebook. "We saw the latest clue."
"One of the bars on 7th and Heath Street. The night of the Nutcracker premiere. You put Tchaikovsky's name over the Black Swan. A movie about ballet. Tchaikovsky wrote famous ballets but the most well known are Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Nutcracker. It's nearing the Holidays when Nutcracker is usually performed. And ETA can indicate a time and the original story was written by an E.T.A. Hoffman. Impressive."
"We had a book about ballet lying around. I read it when Mom forgot to pick me up again. From there and gymnastics."
Batman looked at her carefully, then Red Robin. "Tell me everything."
The two kids took a while explaining Stephanie's life at home, especially once her father returned, and why she decided to act. Then Red Robin took off explaining proudly how he figured it all out pretending he didn't see the full-blown grin on Robin's face and the twitch in the corner of Batman's mouth. Once they finished there was quiet for a few moments. Batman looked at Robin who shrugged, before turning back to the two younger kids.
"Go home."
"What?"
"We'll be watching. If he acts before we'll know. But we need to get them in the act to do something. For now, go on like everything's normal. We'll get your father."
"But he's a bad guy!" Red Robin protested.
"B's right. We need proof. And we'll keep an eye on Stephanie-"
"Spoiler," she corrected.
"-Spoiler. If something's really wrong then hang your sweatshirt by the window. Got it?"
Stephanie nodded profusely. Then frowned again. "You really can't do anything before then?"
"It's just a week," Batman told her. "You and your mother will be fine. No more clues or anything."
"But I helped!"
"And now we have the information. But it's too dangerous. Robin, take her home. Red Robin and I will be going back now to talk about his punishment."
Both kids looked at each other sadly as Red Robin went into the Batmobile with his dad and Steph got onto Robin's back. A check to make sure she was secure and she was gone, grappling away with Robin. Tim stared as the Batmobile started and raced away, leaving him looking behind the entire time.