The Scene Before That - The Darkest Knight
Commissioner Atkins shivered and rubbed his hands. Damn the man and his ridiculous methods of communication. Did the police in Metropolis have to sit for half an hour in the freezing cold next to a ludicrous signal device to talk to their resident hero? And for god's sake, he wanted to talk to him about something that pertained directly to the man's own activities. He was trying to help the damn Bat, curse his soul, and…
"What's wrong?"
He jumped two inches into the air and spun around. A shadowy shape detached itself from the nearby darkness and walked towards him. Good lord, how did he do that?
"Do you have to do that?"
"A good surprise gets the blood pumping." The voice held not a trace of humour.
"How wonderful."
"I'm not here for small talk…"
"No, you're not. In actual fact I need to talk to you about a fairly serious and… distasteful matter…"
"Really?" He didn't sound at all curious. But then, it was really impossible to tell what the man was thinking.
"I tried to contact you yesterday about a different problem, several murders connected with an arson case."
"I was… unavailable."
"Out of town? Working with the Justice League?"
"Why would I want to do that?"
"I heard about that problem in Ohio…"
"I think the Justice League is perfectly capable of dealing with 'problems in Ohio' themselves."
"You don't really expect me to think…"
"You're wasting my time, Commissioner. Do you have something to say to me or not?"
Fine then. He'd been trying to put this off, ridiculously, but…
"I'm afraid I do. I… My officers have been investigating a murder and they came across some… unusual evidence."
"Unusual?"
He took a deep breath. "Yes. It was a costume, in fact. And we believe the victim may well have been one of your allies."
***
Commissioner Atkins shivered and rubbed his hands. Damn the man and his ridiculous methods of communication. Did the police in Metropolis have to sit for half an hour in the freezing cold next to a ludicrous signal device to talk to their resident hero? And for god's sake, he wanted to talk to him about something that pertained directly to the man's own activities. He was trying to help the damn Bat, curse his soul, and…
"What's wrong?"
He jumped two inches into the air and spun around. A shadowy shape detached itself from the nearby darkness and walked towards him. Good lord, how did he do that?
"Do you have to do that?"
"A good surprise gets the blood pumping." The voice held not a trace of humour.
"How wonderful."
"I'm not here for small talk…"
"No, you're not. In actual fact I need to talk to you about a fairly serious and… distasteful matter…"
"Really?" He didn't sound at all curious. But then, it was really impossible to tell what the man was thinking.
"I tried to contact you yesterday about a different problem, several murders connected with an arson case."
"I was… unavailable."
"Out of town? Working with the Justice League?"
"Why would I want to do that?"
"I heard about that problem in Ohio…"
"I think the Justice League is perfectly capable of dealing with 'problems in Ohio' themselves."
"You don't really expect me to think…"
"You're wasting my time, Commissioner. Do you have something to say to me or not?"
Fine then. He'd been trying to put this off, ridiculously, but…
"I'm afraid I do. I… My officers have been investigating a murder and they came across some… unusual evidence."
"Unusual?"
He took a deep breath. "Yes. It was a costume, in fact. And we believe the victim may well have been one of your allies."
***