Part 5
"Hi. I'm Al."
I was sitting on the floor, cross-legged, when Robin showed up.
"I bet." I muttered sarcastically.
He tilted his head, and stared at me like I had three eyes. "What do you mean?" Backward psychology. Pretending he didn't know what I was talking about so I would think that I was the one who made a mistake. Like I wouldn't spot that. I'm from a mob family, remember. A kid who stole cookies from the counter when his mom wasn't looking might use that kind of trick. I thought this was the guy who figured out who BatMan really was?
No point in arguing now. "Hi, Al. Dylan." We shook hands. He knew that I knew that his real name wasn't Al. He also knew that I knew that he knew that I knew that his real name wasn't Al. So we both went on pretending that his real name was Al.
It started out pretty simple. He gave me different puzzles, and riddles. He had mentioned about how BatMan really had to think about one of them. That one took me two days of guesswork. It went much easier after a week or so. I would notice the patterns and similarities in some of the puzzles, which went together to form an even bigger puzzle, where I would have to start all over again. Luckily, each file all had similarities. Words that were being used more than needed meant something. Puns and phrases gave way to separate puzzles.
We also did a week of forensics, and scientific evidence gathering. Fingerprints, mostly; gathering and deciphering, matching and comparing. I also studied blood testing and chemical experiments.
He also made me read and memorize detailed profiles on people he had worked with, fought, or anyone else that had ever been involved in helping him and BatMan. It was a lot to learn. I went over the files day and night for nearly two weeks until I was able to memorize them all. I also had to review all major crimes that had taken place in Gotham City and the surrounding areas in the last ten years. That took me close to a month. Luckily, I never had to take a memorization quiz.
With three days left of training with him, Al gave me my final assignment: it was to solve a crime that the GCPD had taken. The case was a few years old, so I assumed that Al, Dick, or maybe BatMan himself had already figured it out.
The facts were as follows: A BlackGate Prison Guard was found tied and gagged outside the cell of Lester Buchinsky, Arthur Brown, Titus Czonka, and Avery Twombey. Inside Simpson Flanders, a psychiatrist at the prison, was found sitting in a chair, singing. Four guns were also reported missing from the guard headquarters.
After checking profiles of the inmates, I found that Twombey, also known as Cypher, had the ability to hypnotize and control people's actions. Since Dr. Flanders had a clean background, I assumed that Twombey had convinced Flanders to retrieve guns for the inmates.
"Your assumption is correct," said Al. He handed me another file. "Here's your next clue."
Early the next morning, Twombey was found in the prison's main sewer tunnel, dead. He was shot, with bullets that matched those used by the stolen guns. I checked prison blueprints of the sewer section of the prison and discovered that they could have gotten to the harbor through the end of the sewer system, easily.
"Here," Al handed me a stack of papers that was two inches thick. "Police reports for the next month. The rest is your job. You have all the reports in there except any that give away the answer. You'll need to find the 'Who, What, Where, When and How.' And sorry, but you get no help from me, until you're done."
I made a checklist of all the 'W's, that I would fill out as the information came.
The top file was a misdemeanor by a construction worker who got rowdy on the picket line. Most were small crimes. Speeding tickets, teen drug busts, a robbery or two. Mostly irrelevant to the case. Until I came to a report that was filed by an officer Montoya. Evidence of the three prisoners' escape had been found in the south harbors of the Tinanciai Sector of Gotham. They had made a raft out of milk jugs, and floated through the current. There was nothing more in the report.
I spent the night reading through reports, looking for anything related to the three escapees. It was about 1:00 in the morning when I found a report from county Sheriff Smith. It was reported that Lester Buchinsky, now as the Electrocutioner, had attacked an employee at a motel, outside of town. Smith also made a note about city cops moving in on his jurisdiction. Supposedly, Detectives Bullock and Montoya thought that it was their case, too.
'Great,' I thought. 'Two jurisdictions working on the same case. Getting in each others way, the whole time.'
Sure enough, the next report was from Detective Bullock, with evidence for the same case. They had received, above all else, a clue delivered to the Police Department. There was a photocopy of the clue stapled to the report. It was a cartoon drawing of a dollar sign, with legs, arms and a face of an old man. The man was carrying a cane.
"Old money," I said out loud.
Al turned his head, then went back to watching TV.
Bullock reported that there was no evidence of the drawing at the motel. He also noted that Sheriff Smith kicked them out before they could finish their search, even though they had a county warrant.
I put down the reports and made a list of what "Old Money" might mean. Rich businessmen. Some of whom were retiring at the time. I noticed the richest guy on the list. Bruce Wayne. Papers had reported that he was away on a trip. Business, most likely, or maybe just a vacation. But I wondered if he could be involved somehow.
I shrugged away the idea. The guy isn't even that old at all, anyway. Hell, the guy was rich enough to not need to steal anything. Chances are, he already owned it, anyway.
That's when an idea popped into my head. My mob family had used the term 'Old Money' once. They had stolen a bank delivery truck that had old and damaged bills that were being taken out of rotation. Could that be what Brown, Buchinsky and Czonka were planning. Definitely a big possibility.
I made a note of my idea, and a reminder to check bank records and dates the next day. I looked at the clock. 2:36. I went to sleep, hoping that Al wouldn't show up too early the next. I needed the sleep.
* * *
"Dylan," something nudged my side. "Come on, wakeup time." It was Dick. Stupid creatures of the night. Think they're so cool just because they don't need sleep.
"Time?" I mumbled.
"8:30," Dick said. "Get up, Al is here." Even half asleep, I still noticed his smirk at Robin's fake name.
I crawled out of bed and threw on some jeans and a T-shirt. I went to the kitchen and made breakfast. A bagel with cream cheese and OJ.
"You want anything?" I asked Al.
"No," he said. "I ate before I came over. So how do you think you're coming along with the case?"
"Hard to say," I told him. I pushed away some files to make room for my breakfast on the coffee table, and sat down on the couch. "I'm going at a good speed, I guess. Making good progress."
"Well," Al said. "Just pick up where you left off, yesterday."
I opened up the folder of files, and saw my 'W' list, and my reminder to check bank dates of bill transferring.
Sure enough, every two months an armored car goes to all the banks in the city, and picks up worn-out or soiled bills. There was a pickup scheduled for the end of that week. I checked the date again, just to be sure. Yep, this was in the middle of holiday shopping.
I filled out the Who, What and the When. Still didn't know the Where or the How.
Then I saw two more clues. They weren't police reports, just notes. The first was a newspaper article about building construction at Ellsworth Plaza was stopped because of a worker's strike. I wrote down 'Ellsworth Plaza for the Where. After a second thought, I put down a question mark next to it.
I looked at the second clue. It was a phone conversation with a 911 operator and someone who seemed to be a motel manager. The motel manager had, after giving a room to them days before, recognized Brown, Buchinsky and Czonka.
If the cops knew where they were, there was no way they wouldn't have tried to arrest them. But, knowing the relationship between the county and city cops, it probably ended in a mess.
I knew I was close to finishing this. I just needed a little more information. I read through different police reports for an hour. I looked for anything related to banks, motels, or even the Plaza construction site. But there was nothing.
I was just about to give up, and show Al only what I had come up with so far, when I noticed a paper that wasn't a report. Another clue thrown in. It had to be relevant, somehow, I hoped.
It was a distress call from an armored car picking up damaged bills.
I nearly pissed myself.
I checked the date of the message. It was the same as the 911 call. It was also made two hours earlier. I wondered why it would be so later on in the pile of reports. They were supposed to be in order by date.
I put all of the events of the night into order.
The cops from the armored car made their distress call at midnight, and said that the car was stolen three hours before. So Brown, Buchinsky and Czonka stole the truck at about 9:00.
I looked back at the newspaper article, and hoped I was right with my guess.
They took the armored car to the construction site of Ellsworth Plaza. They hid it, and got back to their motel at 2:00, at the latest. The motel manager called the cops at about 2:00, after seeing them, and recognizing their faces from the news. I pulled out a map of Gotham. It would have taken the cops 45 minutes, at least, to get the motel, from the city. County, however, would probably make it there in less than 20. But there was no way some officers from the 'burbs would be able to take on the ClueMaster, Czonk, and the Electrocutioner. I was positive that that ended in a mess.
So Brown, Buchinsky and Czonka get away from the motel, and end up going back to the Plaza, to pick up the money and make a run for it.
That was it. They hide it in the construction site, because nobody would be around, and come back for the money later. Probably days later, when the heat dies off.
I filled out the 'W's, and collected all the reports I had used and handed them to Al. He turned his head from MTV2, and read through the sheet, and flipped through the reports, seeing which ones I used. He nodded, went back to the 'W's sheet, and nodded again.
He stood up, and I stood up next to him. "Nice job, he said, shaking my hand. "Took you less than a day. Not bad at all."
"I have a question, Al," I said.
"It's Tim, actually. It's okay that I told you, Dick shouldn't care;" he said. "Go ahead."
I starred at him for a moment, then shrugged it off. "Why was the distress call out of order with the rest of the files? It should have been right before the 911 call from the motel manager."
"Oh that," he said. "Yeah, I just moved that one to make it a bit harder. The clues aren't always gonna be right in front of you. You really have to look sometimes."
I would have punched him in the face right there, but I hadn't learned enough combat, yet, to take on Robin. Or Tim. Or even Al.
-To Be Continued-
"Hi. I'm Al."
I was sitting on the floor, cross-legged, when Robin showed up.
"I bet." I muttered sarcastically.
He tilted his head, and stared at me like I had three eyes. "What do you mean?" Backward psychology. Pretending he didn't know what I was talking about so I would think that I was the one who made a mistake. Like I wouldn't spot that. I'm from a mob family, remember. A kid who stole cookies from the counter when his mom wasn't looking might use that kind of trick. I thought this was the guy who figured out who BatMan really was?
No point in arguing now. "Hi, Al. Dylan." We shook hands. He knew that I knew that his real name wasn't Al. He also knew that I knew that he knew that I knew that his real name wasn't Al. So we both went on pretending that his real name was Al.
It started out pretty simple. He gave me different puzzles, and riddles. He had mentioned about how BatMan really had to think about one of them. That one took me two days of guesswork. It went much easier after a week or so. I would notice the patterns and similarities in some of the puzzles, which went together to form an even bigger puzzle, where I would have to start all over again. Luckily, each file all had similarities. Words that were being used more than needed meant something. Puns and phrases gave way to separate puzzles.
We also did a week of forensics, and scientific evidence gathering. Fingerprints, mostly; gathering and deciphering, matching and comparing. I also studied blood testing and chemical experiments.
He also made me read and memorize detailed profiles on people he had worked with, fought, or anyone else that had ever been involved in helping him and BatMan. It was a lot to learn. I went over the files day and night for nearly two weeks until I was able to memorize them all. I also had to review all major crimes that had taken place in Gotham City and the surrounding areas in the last ten years. That took me close to a month. Luckily, I never had to take a memorization quiz.
With three days left of training with him, Al gave me my final assignment: it was to solve a crime that the GCPD had taken. The case was a few years old, so I assumed that Al, Dick, or maybe BatMan himself had already figured it out.
The facts were as follows: A BlackGate Prison Guard was found tied and gagged outside the cell of Lester Buchinsky, Arthur Brown, Titus Czonka, and Avery Twombey. Inside Simpson Flanders, a psychiatrist at the prison, was found sitting in a chair, singing. Four guns were also reported missing from the guard headquarters.
After checking profiles of the inmates, I found that Twombey, also known as Cypher, had the ability to hypnotize and control people's actions. Since Dr. Flanders had a clean background, I assumed that Twombey had convinced Flanders to retrieve guns for the inmates.
"Your assumption is correct," said Al. He handed me another file. "Here's your next clue."
Early the next morning, Twombey was found in the prison's main sewer tunnel, dead. He was shot, with bullets that matched those used by the stolen guns. I checked prison blueprints of the sewer section of the prison and discovered that they could have gotten to the harbor through the end of the sewer system, easily.
"Here," Al handed me a stack of papers that was two inches thick. "Police reports for the next month. The rest is your job. You have all the reports in there except any that give away the answer. You'll need to find the 'Who, What, Where, When and How.' And sorry, but you get no help from me, until you're done."
I made a checklist of all the 'W's, that I would fill out as the information came.
The top file was a misdemeanor by a construction worker who got rowdy on the picket line. Most were small crimes. Speeding tickets, teen drug busts, a robbery or two. Mostly irrelevant to the case. Until I came to a report that was filed by an officer Montoya. Evidence of the three prisoners' escape had been found in the south harbors of the Tinanciai Sector of Gotham. They had made a raft out of milk jugs, and floated through the current. There was nothing more in the report.
I spent the night reading through reports, looking for anything related to the three escapees. It was about 1:00 in the morning when I found a report from county Sheriff Smith. It was reported that Lester Buchinsky, now as the Electrocutioner, had attacked an employee at a motel, outside of town. Smith also made a note about city cops moving in on his jurisdiction. Supposedly, Detectives Bullock and Montoya thought that it was their case, too.
'Great,' I thought. 'Two jurisdictions working on the same case. Getting in each others way, the whole time.'
Sure enough, the next report was from Detective Bullock, with evidence for the same case. They had received, above all else, a clue delivered to the Police Department. There was a photocopy of the clue stapled to the report. It was a cartoon drawing of a dollar sign, with legs, arms and a face of an old man. The man was carrying a cane.
"Old money," I said out loud.
Al turned his head, then went back to watching TV.
Bullock reported that there was no evidence of the drawing at the motel. He also noted that Sheriff Smith kicked them out before they could finish their search, even though they had a county warrant.
I put down the reports and made a list of what "Old Money" might mean. Rich businessmen. Some of whom were retiring at the time. I noticed the richest guy on the list. Bruce Wayne. Papers had reported that he was away on a trip. Business, most likely, or maybe just a vacation. But I wondered if he could be involved somehow.
I shrugged away the idea. The guy isn't even that old at all, anyway. Hell, the guy was rich enough to not need to steal anything. Chances are, he already owned it, anyway.
That's when an idea popped into my head. My mob family had used the term 'Old Money' once. They had stolen a bank delivery truck that had old and damaged bills that were being taken out of rotation. Could that be what Brown, Buchinsky and Czonka were planning. Definitely a big possibility.
I made a note of my idea, and a reminder to check bank records and dates the next day. I looked at the clock. 2:36. I went to sleep, hoping that Al wouldn't show up too early the next. I needed the sleep.
* * *
"Dylan," something nudged my side. "Come on, wakeup time." It was Dick. Stupid creatures of the night. Think they're so cool just because they don't need sleep.
"Time?" I mumbled.
"8:30," Dick said. "Get up, Al is here." Even half asleep, I still noticed his smirk at Robin's fake name.
I crawled out of bed and threw on some jeans and a T-shirt. I went to the kitchen and made breakfast. A bagel with cream cheese and OJ.
"You want anything?" I asked Al.
"No," he said. "I ate before I came over. So how do you think you're coming along with the case?"
"Hard to say," I told him. I pushed away some files to make room for my breakfast on the coffee table, and sat down on the couch. "I'm going at a good speed, I guess. Making good progress."
"Well," Al said. "Just pick up where you left off, yesterday."
I opened up the folder of files, and saw my 'W' list, and my reminder to check bank dates of bill transferring.
Sure enough, every two months an armored car goes to all the banks in the city, and picks up worn-out or soiled bills. There was a pickup scheduled for the end of that week. I checked the date again, just to be sure. Yep, this was in the middle of holiday shopping.
I filled out the Who, What and the When. Still didn't know the Where or the How.
Then I saw two more clues. They weren't police reports, just notes. The first was a newspaper article about building construction at Ellsworth Plaza was stopped because of a worker's strike. I wrote down 'Ellsworth Plaza for the Where. After a second thought, I put down a question mark next to it.
I looked at the second clue. It was a phone conversation with a 911 operator and someone who seemed to be a motel manager. The motel manager had, after giving a room to them days before, recognized Brown, Buchinsky and Czonka.
If the cops knew where they were, there was no way they wouldn't have tried to arrest them. But, knowing the relationship between the county and city cops, it probably ended in a mess.
I knew I was close to finishing this. I just needed a little more information. I read through different police reports for an hour. I looked for anything related to banks, motels, or even the Plaza construction site. But there was nothing.
I was just about to give up, and show Al only what I had come up with so far, when I noticed a paper that wasn't a report. Another clue thrown in. It had to be relevant, somehow, I hoped.
It was a distress call from an armored car picking up damaged bills.
I nearly pissed myself.
I checked the date of the message. It was the same as the 911 call. It was also made two hours earlier. I wondered why it would be so later on in the pile of reports. They were supposed to be in order by date.
I put all of the events of the night into order.
The cops from the armored car made their distress call at midnight, and said that the car was stolen three hours before. So Brown, Buchinsky and Czonka stole the truck at about 9:00.
I looked back at the newspaper article, and hoped I was right with my guess.
They took the armored car to the construction site of Ellsworth Plaza. They hid it, and got back to their motel at 2:00, at the latest. The motel manager called the cops at about 2:00, after seeing them, and recognizing their faces from the news. I pulled out a map of Gotham. It would have taken the cops 45 minutes, at least, to get the motel, from the city. County, however, would probably make it there in less than 20. But there was no way some officers from the 'burbs would be able to take on the ClueMaster, Czonk, and the Electrocutioner. I was positive that that ended in a mess.
So Brown, Buchinsky and Czonka get away from the motel, and end up going back to the Plaza, to pick up the money and make a run for it.
That was it. They hide it in the construction site, because nobody would be around, and come back for the money later. Probably days later, when the heat dies off.
I filled out the 'W's, and collected all the reports I had used and handed them to Al. He turned his head from MTV2, and read through the sheet, and flipped through the reports, seeing which ones I used. He nodded, went back to the 'W's sheet, and nodded again.
He stood up, and I stood up next to him. "Nice job, he said, shaking my hand. "Took you less than a day. Not bad at all."
"I have a question, Al," I said.
"It's Tim, actually. It's okay that I told you, Dick shouldn't care;" he said. "Go ahead."
I starred at him for a moment, then shrugged it off. "Why was the distress call out of order with the rest of the files? It should have been right before the 911 call from the motel manager."
"Oh that," he said. "Yeah, I just moved that one to make it a bit harder. The clues aren't always gonna be right in front of you. You really have to look sometimes."
I would have punched him in the face right there, but I hadn't learned enough combat, yet, to take on Robin. Or Tim. Or even Al.
-To Be Continued-