BATMAN: CRIME, CRIME EVERYWHERE
By Bruce Wayne
DISCLAIMER: Most of the characters portrayed in this story are copyright by DC Comics, an AOL/Time/Warner company. They are used without permission for entertainment without profit by the author.
CHAPTER 5 - SOLVING A RIDDLE
Though most people knew Gotham City as the crime capital of America, the city was also indisputably the diamond center of the United States. Gotham polishing factories produced large stones, fancy cut, pear shape, marquises, oval, emerald cut, triangle, and others. Most of the rough and polished diamonds that were imported into the United States passed through Gotham's Diamond District. The Gotham Diamond Bourse Building was the most important trading building in America.
The Diamond District was smaller than most people thought. It really spanned only four large blocks that were situated near Gotham's main railway station. There were no less than 2,500 seperate companies connected in one way or another with diamonds in the district.
Workshops, buying and selling offices, banking and insurance companies employed thousands of people. More than seventy percent of the imported diamonds to enter the U.S. were traded in a highly secretive and secure environment in the district.
The unique infrastructure of the diamond district, which comprised of four seperate exhanges, meant that the choice was huge to potential buyers. Roughly twelve billion dollars worth of diamonds passed through Gotham on a yearly rate. More than eighty-five percent of the rough diamonds, fifty percent of the cut diamonds, and forty percent of industrial diamonds to enter the U.S. were traded in Gotham City.
Upon entering one of the companies in the diamond district, rough stones would be sorted for size, color and shape and then they would begin the long process of cutting and polishing. Large and small factories produced the finished diamonds.
If one were to visit a diamond company office in Gotham City, a broker would ask what sizes a buyer would like to begin with. The broker would then open his small case with hundreds of packets or parcels of diamonds. Each may contain fifty or hundreds of carats of diamonds. The buyer would begin to check the grades by using a loupe and tweezers. If the cutting quality, color or clarity was substandard, the parcel would be usually rejected.
While going through an interesting parcel, a buyer might decide which diamonds make or break grade. Sometimes it might take a buyer a few days and looking at thousands and thousands of carats to fill a shopping list.
When the buyer and seller agree after negotiating a price for the deal, they shook hands -- a diamond industry tradition. The diamonds are weighed and prepared through the Gotham Diamond Bank. Once the diamonds arrived at a retail shop, they were usually set into various pieces in a design studio.
***
At the loft above the Benbow Tavern, the criminals were plotting their crime.
"You know Mr. Joker," the Penguin said, "if we pull this caper off, it will be called the most spectacular diamond robbery in the history of the world. I estimate we might be able to steal more than $100 million in diamonds."
The Joker laughed with delight. "It will be the heist of the century, my dear Pengy!"
The Riddler was studying their recently acquired book -- "The Secret Subterranean Architecture Of Gotham City" -- intently. Ever since they took the book from the Gotham library, he had hardly put it down.
"I'm not so sure about this avenue of entry, my fine, fellow cohorts," the Riddler said. "From what I understand, the Gotham Diamond Bourse Building is constantly monitored by police and dozens of cameras. Special passes are required to gain access to the building and guards protect our targeted room with the vaults twenty-four hours a day."
"It does sound like a tough cookie to crack," admitted the Penguin. "We need a plan that is a piece of genius in its simplicity. I wish we could get Catwoman to analyze the security system."
"Bah!" spat out the Joker. "You know that you can never trust a cat, Pengy."
"Yes, but you must admit she is the best, Mr Joker," Riddler added.
The Joker turned away from the table to think. He then turned back to face his two nefarious colleagues. "Do you think our initial plan will work, Riddler?"
Without taking his eyes off a set of blueprints, the Riddler contemplated the question. "I'm not sure I like it as much as I once did, Mr Joker. Entering from the sewer system and then passing through this maze of secret entrances -- that may or may not be there after all these years -- seems to be too much work. Too much work adds up to more chances of something going wrong. Batman is on to us now, as you well know."
The Joker laughed again. "Yes, those Caped Cabbageheads are always in our way it seems. Riddler, aren't you supposed to have a plan to try to get rid of them?"
"Yes! That takes place tonight! For once and for all we will finally rid ourselves of their constant interference if they can solve the clue," he said ending with a giggle.
"How many times have we heard that before?" the Penguin growled.
The Riddler took offense at the statement and jumped in front of the Penguin to confront his intended insult.
"Listen you, blubbering sack of fish sticks, I'll get ..."
The Joker stepped in between the two. "Friends! Remember what I said earlier? Why should we fight each other? We're stronger if we work together!"
He looked his two companions in the eyes. "Here, lets all shake on it, shall we?"
The Joker stuck out his left hand. The Penguin placed his hand on top of the Joker's. Then after taking just a short moment to decide, the Riddler placed his hand on top of the Penguin's in a symbolic gesture of unity. The Joker then placed his right hand on the very top and suddenly the group felt a jolt of electricty going through their bodies.
The Riddler and the Penguin screamed in pain from the shock.
The Joker laughed hysterically as he showed that the palm of his hand contained a joy buzzer. "Oh, thank heavens for my delicious sense of humor!"
***
Barbara Gordon was Oracle, the premier information broker, hacker and on- line detective for Gotham's crimefighting community. Barbara had been Batgirl for a long time. One day, the Joker came knocking on her door and shattered her spine with a gunshot.
The Joker's bullet would forever define Barbara. Paralyzed from the waist down, the once high-flying Batgirl refused to let a wheelchair confine her. Gifted with eidetic memory -- almost total recall of everything she had ever read or seen -- Barbara was once the administrator of the Gotham City Public Library.
The building known as The Clocktower was Oracle's base of operations. Her workstation was comprised of six Yale super-computers sequenced through a fifth-generation interface slaved to her voice-patterns. A sophisticated video-computer room was equipped with holographic heads-up displays that provided her with real-time simulations of any location in her database.
At the moment, Barbara was still trying to crack the Riddler's last riddle. "In four days, it was a great day because it was 'V' Day," she said out loud to herself. "It makes no sense."
She snickered. "Since when does the Riddler make sense?"
Turning back to her computer workstation, Barbara stroked some keys to try a new avenue of approach to the riddle. The trouble was -- after nearly four days of working on the question, there really were no new avenues to employ to solve it.
"It must mean that the answer has no logical meaning," she whispered to herself. "A computer can only deal with logic."
Still hoping her computers could come up with a solution, she aimlessly reviewed some files she had downloaded. Most of the files were old World War Two video clips.
"I know my history, dammit!" she murmurred. "But this just doesn't make any sense. The Riddler has such a twisted mind. This should have something to do with history."
She stopped and stared into space, letting her mind wander -- trying to get into the Riddler's mind.
Suddenly, as if a lightbulb went on in her head, Barbara's eyes widened and a slight smile crossed her lips. Nodding to herself, she punched a key on her keyboard.
"Before I call Batman, I know someone else who might be interested in this," the former Batgirl said to herself. "This requires a certain expertise."
***
It was a hot Tuesday evening in Gotham City. During the day, the temperature had reached nintey-three degrees. But in the fabulous Batcave, it was a comfortable sixty-eight degrees. Batman, Robin, Nightwing and Alfred were brainstorming and throwing ideas at one another in an effort to figure out the Riddler's riddle of four days ago.
On a blackboard, the riddle had been written in large letters: "In four days it was a great day because it was V day."
"I'm beginning to think the Riddler has finally stumped us," Robin pointed out.
Nightwing said, "Maybe it's not a riddle. Maybe we're thinking of the wrong 'V Day.' Perhaps he's not alluding to the famous World War II date."
"It's the only historical 'V Day' that I can think of, Master Dick." Alfred said.
Batman asked, "What is the meaning of 'V Day?'"
"It's just a historical date," answered Robin.
Batman said, "History? The only thing in Gotham City ... I've got it! At the Gotham Museum of History there is an exhibit of recently uncovered paintings that were thought to had been lost during the Nazi era. They were recently discovered in France. They're worth millions!"
"And it's been four days since he told us that riddle!" added Nightwing.
"Good show, sir! I agree!" Alfred congratulated Batman.
Robin yelled, "Let's go! We may already be too late!"
The heroes raced to the Batmobile and took off toward the Gotham Museum of History.
To be continued ...
By Bruce Wayne
DISCLAIMER: Most of the characters portrayed in this story are copyright by DC Comics, an AOL/Time/Warner company. They are used without permission for entertainment without profit by the author.
CHAPTER 5 - SOLVING A RIDDLE
Though most people knew Gotham City as the crime capital of America, the city was also indisputably the diamond center of the United States. Gotham polishing factories produced large stones, fancy cut, pear shape, marquises, oval, emerald cut, triangle, and others. Most of the rough and polished diamonds that were imported into the United States passed through Gotham's Diamond District. The Gotham Diamond Bourse Building was the most important trading building in America.
The Diamond District was smaller than most people thought. It really spanned only four large blocks that were situated near Gotham's main railway station. There were no less than 2,500 seperate companies connected in one way or another with diamonds in the district.
Workshops, buying and selling offices, banking and insurance companies employed thousands of people. More than seventy percent of the imported diamonds to enter the U.S. were traded in a highly secretive and secure environment in the district.
The unique infrastructure of the diamond district, which comprised of four seperate exhanges, meant that the choice was huge to potential buyers. Roughly twelve billion dollars worth of diamonds passed through Gotham on a yearly rate. More than eighty-five percent of the rough diamonds, fifty percent of the cut diamonds, and forty percent of industrial diamonds to enter the U.S. were traded in Gotham City.
Upon entering one of the companies in the diamond district, rough stones would be sorted for size, color and shape and then they would begin the long process of cutting and polishing. Large and small factories produced the finished diamonds.
If one were to visit a diamond company office in Gotham City, a broker would ask what sizes a buyer would like to begin with. The broker would then open his small case with hundreds of packets or parcels of diamonds. Each may contain fifty or hundreds of carats of diamonds. The buyer would begin to check the grades by using a loupe and tweezers. If the cutting quality, color or clarity was substandard, the parcel would be usually rejected.
While going through an interesting parcel, a buyer might decide which diamonds make or break grade. Sometimes it might take a buyer a few days and looking at thousands and thousands of carats to fill a shopping list.
When the buyer and seller agree after negotiating a price for the deal, they shook hands -- a diamond industry tradition. The diamonds are weighed and prepared through the Gotham Diamond Bank. Once the diamonds arrived at a retail shop, they were usually set into various pieces in a design studio.
***
At the loft above the Benbow Tavern, the criminals were plotting their crime.
"You know Mr. Joker," the Penguin said, "if we pull this caper off, it will be called the most spectacular diamond robbery in the history of the world. I estimate we might be able to steal more than $100 million in diamonds."
The Joker laughed with delight. "It will be the heist of the century, my dear Pengy!"
The Riddler was studying their recently acquired book -- "The Secret Subterranean Architecture Of Gotham City" -- intently. Ever since they took the book from the Gotham library, he had hardly put it down.
"I'm not so sure about this avenue of entry, my fine, fellow cohorts," the Riddler said. "From what I understand, the Gotham Diamond Bourse Building is constantly monitored by police and dozens of cameras. Special passes are required to gain access to the building and guards protect our targeted room with the vaults twenty-four hours a day."
"It does sound like a tough cookie to crack," admitted the Penguin. "We need a plan that is a piece of genius in its simplicity. I wish we could get Catwoman to analyze the security system."
"Bah!" spat out the Joker. "You know that you can never trust a cat, Pengy."
"Yes, but you must admit she is the best, Mr Joker," Riddler added.
The Joker turned away from the table to think. He then turned back to face his two nefarious colleagues. "Do you think our initial plan will work, Riddler?"
Without taking his eyes off a set of blueprints, the Riddler contemplated the question. "I'm not sure I like it as much as I once did, Mr Joker. Entering from the sewer system and then passing through this maze of secret entrances -- that may or may not be there after all these years -- seems to be too much work. Too much work adds up to more chances of something going wrong. Batman is on to us now, as you well know."
The Joker laughed again. "Yes, those Caped Cabbageheads are always in our way it seems. Riddler, aren't you supposed to have a plan to try to get rid of them?"
"Yes! That takes place tonight! For once and for all we will finally rid ourselves of their constant interference if they can solve the clue," he said ending with a giggle.
"How many times have we heard that before?" the Penguin growled.
The Riddler took offense at the statement and jumped in front of the Penguin to confront his intended insult.
"Listen you, blubbering sack of fish sticks, I'll get ..."
The Joker stepped in between the two. "Friends! Remember what I said earlier? Why should we fight each other? We're stronger if we work together!"
He looked his two companions in the eyes. "Here, lets all shake on it, shall we?"
The Joker stuck out his left hand. The Penguin placed his hand on top of the Joker's. Then after taking just a short moment to decide, the Riddler placed his hand on top of the Penguin's in a symbolic gesture of unity. The Joker then placed his right hand on the very top and suddenly the group felt a jolt of electricty going through their bodies.
The Riddler and the Penguin screamed in pain from the shock.
The Joker laughed hysterically as he showed that the palm of his hand contained a joy buzzer. "Oh, thank heavens for my delicious sense of humor!"
***
Barbara Gordon was Oracle, the premier information broker, hacker and on- line detective for Gotham's crimefighting community. Barbara had been Batgirl for a long time. One day, the Joker came knocking on her door and shattered her spine with a gunshot.
The Joker's bullet would forever define Barbara. Paralyzed from the waist down, the once high-flying Batgirl refused to let a wheelchair confine her. Gifted with eidetic memory -- almost total recall of everything she had ever read or seen -- Barbara was once the administrator of the Gotham City Public Library.
The building known as The Clocktower was Oracle's base of operations. Her workstation was comprised of six Yale super-computers sequenced through a fifth-generation interface slaved to her voice-patterns. A sophisticated video-computer room was equipped with holographic heads-up displays that provided her with real-time simulations of any location in her database.
At the moment, Barbara was still trying to crack the Riddler's last riddle. "In four days, it was a great day because it was 'V' Day," she said out loud to herself. "It makes no sense."
She snickered. "Since when does the Riddler make sense?"
Turning back to her computer workstation, Barbara stroked some keys to try a new avenue of approach to the riddle. The trouble was -- after nearly four days of working on the question, there really were no new avenues to employ to solve it.
"It must mean that the answer has no logical meaning," she whispered to herself. "A computer can only deal with logic."
Still hoping her computers could come up with a solution, she aimlessly reviewed some files she had downloaded. Most of the files were old World War Two video clips.
"I know my history, dammit!" she murmurred. "But this just doesn't make any sense. The Riddler has such a twisted mind. This should have something to do with history."
She stopped and stared into space, letting her mind wander -- trying to get into the Riddler's mind.
Suddenly, as if a lightbulb went on in her head, Barbara's eyes widened and a slight smile crossed her lips. Nodding to herself, she punched a key on her keyboard.
"Before I call Batman, I know someone else who might be interested in this," the former Batgirl said to herself. "This requires a certain expertise."
***
It was a hot Tuesday evening in Gotham City. During the day, the temperature had reached nintey-three degrees. But in the fabulous Batcave, it was a comfortable sixty-eight degrees. Batman, Robin, Nightwing and Alfred were brainstorming and throwing ideas at one another in an effort to figure out the Riddler's riddle of four days ago.
On a blackboard, the riddle had been written in large letters: "In four days it was a great day because it was V day."
"I'm beginning to think the Riddler has finally stumped us," Robin pointed out.
Nightwing said, "Maybe it's not a riddle. Maybe we're thinking of the wrong 'V Day.' Perhaps he's not alluding to the famous World War II date."
"It's the only historical 'V Day' that I can think of, Master Dick." Alfred said.
Batman asked, "What is the meaning of 'V Day?'"
"It's just a historical date," answered Robin.
Batman said, "History? The only thing in Gotham City ... I've got it! At the Gotham Museum of History there is an exhibit of recently uncovered paintings that were thought to had been lost during the Nazi era. They were recently discovered in France. They're worth millions!"
"And it's been four days since he told us that riddle!" added Nightwing.
"Good show, sir! I agree!" Alfred congratulated Batman.
Robin yelled, "Let's go! We may already be too late!"
The heroes raced to the Batmobile and took off toward the Gotham Museum of History.
To be continued ...