Batman landed gently on the narrow ledge of the GCPD building, facing the window into Commissioner McGuinness' office. Reaching into the lining of his left glove, he took out a glasscutter, and began cutting out the window. He finished, and removing the glass, placed it carefully on McGuinness' desk, not wanting to risk someone hearing the sound of it breaking.
Running to the door, he turned the lock. Then he searched, hurriedly but thoroughly, and soon found what he was looking for. He was flipping through the document when he heard someone trying to turn the doorknob. He put the document under his arm, and ran to the window.
Acting Commissioner Luke McGuinness put the key in the lock, wondering who locked up his office, and then opened the door. He walked in, and in very short order noticed the pane of glass sitting on his desk. Looking to the window, he realized what happened. He turned back to his desk, trying to figure out if anything was moved or misplaced. After a few moments, he realized what it was that the burglar had come for.
He picked up the phone and began dialing. He looked again to the window, and then did a double take. It seemed, as he looked, that something was moving in the sky. It looked something, in the dark, like a giant bat.
"Hello?" The voice on the other end said, with consternation.
"Boss, this is McGuinness. Somebody broke in to my office."
"And?" Zucco prodded, knowing there was a greater reason for the call.
"He took the file on the Gordon investigation."
"There's nothing incriminating in there, right?" Zucco asked, his voice rising.
"No, of course. But whoever took that file must be interested in clearing Gordon,"
"Which would flush Atkins down the toilet."
"Yeah. What do we do?"
"Speed things up a little," Zucco answered.
"I'll call the judge and get the warrant. You get some "witnesses" to testify against Gordon. And make their stories good. Just because we're moving quicker doesn't
mean we're being careless."
"Yes, of course, Sir."
"No mistakes, McGuinness. No mistakes."
Zucco hung up the phone, and promptly dialed another number.
"Hello, Judge, this is Zucco."
"Yes, Sir, what do you need?"
"I need a warrant for the arrest of James Gordon, on Criminal Misconduct charges."
"I'll do it right away, Sir," the judge said meekly.
"Good. You know what happens if you don't."
Alfred Pennyworth walked through the Study of Wayne Manor, toward the clock that hid the entrance to the Bat-cave. Just as he was about to open it, he heard Bruce's Aunt Harriet walk in the room.
"Alfred," she asked, "What are you doing up so late?"
With
a magician's dexterity he produced a dust cloth. "Just a little cleaning and dusting, Ms. Cooper."
"Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"I could ask the same of you," Alfred said lightly as he began to dust the grandfather clock.
"Well,
you know how I get when I'm reading a good book," Harriet said, dropping onto a
chair. "I just can't put this one
down. And the furniture in this room is
so comfortable, I thought this would be the perfect place to finish it."
"Well, don't let me get in your way, Ma'am."
Later…
Batman looked up as Alfred entered the cave.
"I've been waiting for you," Batman said, his voice echoing through the cavern.
"Awfully sorry, Sir. It was your Aunt Harriet once again; she insisted on reading in the very Study where the entrance to this cave is. I thought she would never finish that book."
"Well, anyway," Bruce said, turning back to the file he had taken from the Commissioner's office, "I got this document on the case against Assistant Commissioner Gordon."
"I'm sure it was delightful reading, Sir."
"Quite, at least when you compare it to information on the Atkins case."
"Pardon me, Master Bruce, but I'm not quite up to speed on that case either."
"Nick Atkins is a hitman," Batman explained. "He made a hit on someone, who the police think had been working for Tony Zucco. Zucco probably hired Atkins to kill the guy because he crossed Zucco. Atkins shot him with a sniper rifle. The police investigating the scene of the crime found the bullet, and when they raided Atkins home, they found a sniper rifle of the same caliber. Ballistics tests prove that the bullet was fired from Atkins' gun."
"Ah, I see. I believe I am up to speed now, Sir. Please continue."
"Okay, so what McGuinness is saying is that the bullet found at the scene was not even from the same type of gun, and police had no reason for arresting Atkins. Further, says McGuinness, there was no ballistics testing done at all."
"But wouldn't a lot of people on the police force have been privy to those tests?"
"That's where it really gets wild. McGuinness is saying that Gordon is at the helm of a large conspiracy to take revenge on Atkins, a former policeman. Everybody who was involved in the tests, he claims is a part of the conspiracy."
Of course there's a conspiracy going on, but Gordon isn't the one behind it. Next issue, James Gordon has his first meeting with the Batman.
[I hope you liked this story. Please feel free to review; I accept criticism. Also read my work on FictionPress.com.]
