This story is an item of fan fiction, written for entertainment and is not intended to infringe anyone's copy right.
Past Mistakes
By
Whistling Fish
Bruce Wayne accompanied Dexter Gough out of the headquarters of Gough Holding in Blündhaven. Talks on a possible take over by Wayne Industries had gone very well. Dexter was now in his eighties and not in the best of health. With no family to take over the business he'd decided to sell. But his conditions were strict. Gough Holdings was a family business and prided itself on all the staff being part of the family. Therefore the last member of the Gough dynasty was more concerned about ensuring the jobs of his staff and the continued used of the Gough name rather than a high monetary return. Because of these restrictions many possible buyers interested in asset stripping the firm had pulled out. Only Wayne Industries remained as a possible buyer and their price to ensure the continuation of the firm had been fair even if it was only half of what some had offered. But with the guarantees given by Bruce Wayne himself Dexter was happy to accept.
"Bruce, a pleasure doing business with you! I'll get my attorney busy with the papers and hopefully we can have everything signed by tomorrow." The old man smiled at Bruce. "My car's here let me drop you at your hotel." Bruce had been about to refuse until he glanced up at the chauffeur holding the door open. He swallowed several times to hide his shock, and then mutely nodded his acceptance.
Dexter climbed into the back of the car. Bruce glanced up at the uniformed man holding the door open. A pair of cold blue eyes stared back. There was no sign of recognition or friendliness in them. Bruce bit back the greeting he had been about to give his old friend. That cold look had hit Bruce harder than a slap in the face.
"Alfred, Mr. Wayne will require dropping at the Hilton, you can then run me to my luncheon appointment at the factory."
"Very good sir." The familiar English voice answered. Without giving Bruce a second look Alfred got back in the drivers seat and smoothly maneuvered the large, sleek car into the traffic.
Dexter was talking but Bruce wasn't listening. He was looking intently at his old friend through the glass partition that separated the driver and front seat passenger from the back of the car. This was the first time he'd seen him since he'd quit his job and walked out of Wayne Manor three months ago.
"Bruce, are you unwell?" Dexter asked worried.
"What? No, sorry Dexter, just thinking, you were saying?"
"I was just commenting on how lucky I'd been to acquire a new driver at short notice. My previous driver quit on me with no warning. The agency sent this man and he seems excellent. I know nothing about his background but he had references from the ex-commission of police in Gotham. Jim Gordon, do you know him?"
Bruce just nodded. "I know both Jim and Alfred," he added after a pause. "Both good men. You have indeed gained an excellent chauffeur."
Dexter looked at Bruce closely. Bruce noted Dexter's look and prompted by it said "Alfred used to be my...driver until he got fed up with my stupid life style. He walked out after I'd taken him for granted once too often. It was one hell of a loss to me." Bruce looked the man driving the car "A bit like losing a father!" he muttered. "You see Alfred, helped raise me, after my parents were killed."
Dexter touched his arm. "Bruce I am sorry I didn't know."
"Please drop me here Dexter, I need a walk to clear my head."
The old man pressed the intercom button and gave Alfred instructions to pull over.
Alfred got out of the car and opened the rear door. As Bruce alighted Alfred glanced at the young man he'd cared for most of his life and was shocked to see him upset.
"Ma... Mr. Wayne, are you all right Sir?" a worried voice asked.
"Fine Alfred, just wishing I could turn back the clock and do lots of things differently. That I could say something, to put things right between us. Something that would make you come home." He turned away abruptly and headed towards the hotel across the park. Alfred stood rooted to the spot for a moment before remembering his employer. Closing the rear door he walked slowly around the car and got back into the driving seat. Before he set off Alfred heard the partition open.
"You'll need this." Dexter said handing Alfred a card. "It's got Bruce's hotel room phone number on it. I'll be sorry to lose you Alfred."
The chauffeur nodded, "It's been a pleasure working for you Mr. Gough. Be assured Sir, I will work my notice."
Dexter smiled. "I can see where Bruce learnt to honor his word."
Bruce had been very shaken to see his old friend working for someone else. It was even less likely now that Alfred would return home. Not if he was settled into a new job. Bruce removed his jacket and lay on the bed. Well, no matter whether Alfred returned to the manor or not Bruce would make sure he got to have a proper talk to the man before he left Blündhaven. Dick would know how to contact Alfred.
The telephone at the side of the bed bleeping woke Bruce up with a start. He grabbed the receiver. "Bruce Wayne" He snapped.
"Oh, Bruce, thank goodness your ok", came the relieved voice of Lucius Fox. "For a terrible moment there we thought you might have been the man killed when Dexter Gough's car was blown up!"
"Dexter Gough's CAR!" Bruce repeated in disbelief.
"It's ok Bruce, Dexter's only slightly hurt, but they said one man had been killed and for a horrible moment we wondered if..." No more was heard because Bruce had dropped the receiver and was quickly scanning the local TV news reports. None of the news channels had the full story. All were just confirming one dead and the fact that Dexter Gough had been only slightly injured. Pictures from the scene showed a badly damage car and a body covered with a sheet. The most heart stopping part of the scene, as far as Bruce was concerned, was the chauffeur's hat on the floor next to the body.
The cab managed to get Bruce within half a block of the crime scene. It took time to work his way through to the front of the crowed. Ignoring the police officer on duty he crossed the police lines and was stood looking down at the body. He vaguely heard shouts and felt someone trying to pull him away, but he easily shook them off. Despite the police officers protest he bent down to pick up the chauffeur's hat. He held it close, at least he had sort of said sorry to Alfred. Bruce was now ringed by three police officers. But he refused to move, he just stood holding the hat trying hard not lose control of his temper, as they tried to move him away from the body of his friend.
"Master Bruce, I think it would be wise to do as these gentlemen ask. I'll take the hat young man, thank you." A familiar voice said gently.
Bruce turned around and looked at his friend, dazed and bewildered. "I thought..." Bruce's voice gave out as he gripped the old man's arm tightly as if to assure himself that Alfred was really there.
"Bruce, go easy, Alfred has a fairly nasty burn on his right arm, which he got when he dragged Mr. Gough out of the car." Officer Dick Grayson said to his friend. "By rights he should be getting patched up at the hospital, but we saw you getting yourself into trouble here."
Dick had to smile at the sight of his surrogate, father and grandfather quietly arguing about the need for the older man to be taken to the hospital for treatment that he didn't want. The number of times he'd watched the same argument when it was Bruce in need of treatment couldn't be counted. In the end it was settled when Alfred agreed to travel to hospital in Dick's Patrol car while giving a statement to the police.
Bruce was sat next to Dick as he drove them towards the hospital. Dick saw him glancing back at Alfred as he gave his statement to Dick's partner. Dick knew Bruce was taking in every detail.
While Alfred was in the treatment room Bruce and Dick were sat in the waiting area. Bruce was silent and brooding.
"Hey Bruce, he's Ok." Dick assured his friend.
Bruce nodded. "I know, but for a while there I thought ..."
"Me too, I imagined the worst when I heard it over the radio. I knew he was driving Mr. Gough today. He'd been stopping at my place until he got himself sorted. He took a room down the hall from me when one became vacant." Dick looked at his surrogate father closely. "So what happened between you two?" Dick noticed how Bruce's took a deep breath. "Alfred didn't say, all he said was he needed a change."
Bruce shook his head. "I screwed up with Fiona Bell, then left Alfred to take the flack. But she stormed passed him and walked in on me just seconds after I'd managed to close the secret door to the cave. I had a blazing row with her, and then tore a strip off Alfred, for letting her into the house. I didn't know until later she'd pushed him to the floor." Bruce stopped and looked at Dick. "It was only later when Alfred had gone and I checked the security tapes I knew the whole story. I tried to get in touch with Alfred but got no joy. Then today I saw him driving Dexter Gough's car. When I heard the news I thought..."
"Alfred's ok, Bruce, so is Mr. Gough. It was the plant security guard who took the brunt of the blast. Poor guy was stood right at the side of the car when the bomb went off. Who ever planted the device was either inept or it..."
"..it was a warning" Bruce finished the young man's sentence for him.
Dick dropped Alfred and Bruce at his apartment and arranged to meet them at the end of his shift.
"Hi Honey", Dick greeted Oracle as her image appeared on the large monitor in Nightwing's HQ. "Have you got the preliminary police report yet?"
"Just downloaded it five minutes ago, a copy should be printing out for you there as we speak."
Bruce was scanning the pages as they were being printed.
"Semtex" Bruce muttered, "Not the substance of choice for an amateur. So I think you're right Dick, the bomb was meant as a warning. But warning about what.?"
"Maybe Mr. Gough is involved in something illegal!" Dick suggested.
Alfred frowned and shook his head. "I don't think Mr. Gough is the type of gentleman to be involved in anything unlawful. I've been driving him for nearly two weeks now. Ever since his last driver quit and I've observed nothing faintly underhand".
"What was the story on the last guy quitting?" Bruce asked.
Alfred shook his head "I'm not sure, I was sent by the agency as an emergency replacement. All I know is the last guy quit without giving notice. I believe he'd been with Mr. Gough about eighteen months."
"Had he and Mr. Gough had problems?" Dick asked.
"No quite the opposite." Alfred replied, "Mr. Gough was quite puzzled by the man's actions. The driver's was called Charles Ridley, he enjoyed the job by all accounts, and he was always telling the other drivers at the agency how good a number it was. Mr. Gough is a very pleasant employer, an easy gentleman to work for. His habits are regular, he is courteous and he doesn't make unreasonable demands on his staff."
"Wow that must have made a pleasant change for you Alfred." Dick said with a wink.
Bruce glared at his adopted son. But Alfred just tactfully ignored the remark.
"I think we need to find this driver and discover why he gave up such an easy job. Also we need to take a close look at Dexter Gough, there is some reason someone want to get his attention." Bruce said.
"I'm working on that now!" Oracle informed them. "So far Dexter Gough and his companies are squeaky clean."
"No skeletons in his personal life?" Dick asked.
"It doesn't seem so! He married later, at 52 years old to a young woman of 23. Her name was Maggie Wright, a charity worker for the Gotham orphanage. They seemed to be happy until his wife's accidental death three years later."
"How'd she die?" Batman asked.
"Fell from a second story window while hanging drapes. Police investigation found it to be an accident. The tragedy was she was pregnant at the time. Dexter was devastated, ended up in a clinic for a few months with sever depression."
"No other personal attachments?"
"No nothing before or since! The usual odd speculation by the media, but nothing came of any of those."
"There has got to be a reason! Dexter is in the hospital under sedation. So there's no way we can interview him today. So let's find the missing Mr. Ridley and see what he's got to say!" Dick said as he prepared to change into his Nightwing costume."
Alfred handed over a card with the driver employment agency's details and using that information Oracle was able to come up with an address for Charles Ridley.
The one bed tenement apartment on the East side of the railway freight yard was deserted. Although the room was seedy it did have a state of the art entertainment system, a laptop computer and a new reclining chair. Batman was going through the pile of papers on the table when Nightwing alerted him of a figure approaching the apartment. Footsteps stopped outside the door and a key was finally inserted into the lock after several failed attempts. The man staggered into the room, turned on the light, saw the looming figure of Batman and promptly fainted.
Sat in the reclining chair Charles Ridley was sobering up fast. The two costumed figures had more to do with his recovery than the black coffee.
"Why did I quit?" The man stammered. "Well, I got an advance for my book, and the agent said they were expecting me to have the sequel done in the next 6 weeks. And I..."
"Book?" Batman interrupted.
"Yep book,' My Life at the Wheel' by Charles Ridley." The man said proudly. "I got a 10000 advance for it, plus 1000 for starting the sequels. The publisher reckoned the agency could be funny if they knew I'd written a book about work, so they told me to quit and not tell anyone. So then I wouldn't be bound by the confidentiality clause in my employment contract.
"And who's publishing you book?" Nightwing asked.
"One of the biggest publishing houses in the world, Penguin's Books!" the man said with evident pride.
"Penguin or Penguin's?" Batman asked
Charles blinked. "Is there a difference?" he asked confused. "Mr. Cobblepot the executive director for the company is handling my book. He said it was a un-put-a-down able read! He said it was "so informative."
Batman and Nightwing looked at each other knowingly.
"What made you decide to write a book?" Nightwing asked.
"Well it was this flyer for the Penguin's Home Writing Course that I was sent through the mail. I've always wanted to be a writer, all my workmates just laughed at the idea. But I was their star pupil." Charles boasted. "Mr. Cobblepot himself, saw my work and said he recognized raw talent when he saw it. He reckoned I could be the next Shakespeare. Who would have thought it and me a high school drop out!" he said amazed. "He encouraged me to write about my life driving the rich and famous. He said I should start at the present, giving a day-to-day insight of life as a driver. Well I wrote my book in a month and sent it off and Mr. Cobblepot was over the moon with it." Hey, do you want a draft copy! I'll sign it for you, who shall I make it out to?"
Batman just snatched the thin volume and left, Nightwing following closely on his heels.
"Man, this is the worst book ever written. Alfred's shopping lists have more plot and the style! As for punctuation and grammar they are none existent." Nightwing exclaimed as he read through the book while drinking a cup of hot chocolate Alfred had waiting for them back at Nightwing HQ.
"That's as maybe, but it gives an excellent itinerary of Mr. Gough's usual working week." Alfred commented.
"But what reason does Penguin have for attacking Dexter Gough?" Batman asked. "What's he hoping to gain?"
Oracle's image appeared on the large screen in Nightwing's HQ. "Dexter Gough has just been snatched from his hospital bed. Police lost all trace of the kidnappers at East River and West. According to the officers in the pursuit car they just turned a corner and found the van abandoned. No sign of Dexter or the kidnappers. They had just vanished."
Nightwing called maps of the area up on the computer screen.
"What's that there?" Batman asked pointing to a dotted line on the schematics.
Nightwing zoomed in on the spot Batman had indicated.
"Looks like an old subway service tunnel. A lot of the subway in that area was abandoned after the Earthquake in 1912. This tunnel looks like it goes under the river." Nightwing brought up old city survey files. "Yep it links to the old East River station, that was abandoned after the quake when it was deemed unsafe." He logged into the Subway companies records. "They still pump this old section of subway tunnel out, so it doesn't flood the rest of the system. Last survey they had least 3ft of water down there. There's still access to the station thought, through that service shaft near to where they found the van."
"Water and dark subterranean places an ideal Penguin lair." Batman muttered.
"So we have a good idea where he is, lets get out there an find out what this is all about." Nightwing said heading for the exit.
The large iron grate at the back of the old Majestic Cinema gave workers access to the tunnel system. Batman scanned the area for concealed surveillance devices. "No cameras" he muttered.
"The grate has an alarm trip fitted." Nightwing said checking the large, round, cast iron cover thoroughly."
Batman reached into his utility belt and brought out a small electronic device. He placed it in the center of the grating. "That will jam the trigger mechanisms of any devices within a hundred yards."
Nightwing swung the lid up exposing a dark shaft with an iron ladder leading down into the blackness blow. The night star lenses incorporated into both of their costumes made it easy for the two crime fighters to see perfectly.
They climbed down the 30ft iron ladder to the tunnel below. They could see rats scurrying about, they could also make out a faint spot of light in the distance. "Someone's down here, Batman. What's the betting it's our webbed footed friend!" Nightwing muttered.
Nightwing made to move forward but Batman stopped him. "Wait a minute Nightwing, this has been too easy; there's got to be some surveillance system. After all this is Penguin and you know how he loves gadgets." Batman touched a switch on the side of his cowl to activate a filter within the Star sight lenses and the whole tunnel became criss-crossed with red and yellow beams of light. "Thought so, lasers and the latest in motion detectors."
"New gadget?" Nightwing asked nodding towards the goggles.
"Yes, Wayne Tec have been developing it for anti-terrorist operations, it very new and very secret I'll send you a copy of the prototype as soon as this case is sorted. For now all you need to know is the lowest trip beam is 18 inches off the floor. Obviously whoever design the system didn't want the local 4 legged vermin setting the alarms off all the time."
The two young men crawled along the floor towards the light at the end of the tunnel. 20 yards from the door Batman signaled it was safe to stand and much to both young men's relief the got to their feet. Voices could be heard from the tunnel leading off to the left.
Looking around the corner of the wall they could see the seedy remains of the old subway station. Old news posters, tattered with age, proclaimed the a victory for a long forgotten City Mayor. Advertising posters for obsolete product had turned brown and were crumbling on their hording. Long empty vending machines hung disused and rusting. Water could be heard dripping. Yet for all that it still had the air of a typical subway station. The main difference was where the tracks lay a river flowed, it's oil covered murky waters lapped at the edge of the platform. Pumps hummed in the background, obviously working hard to keep the water at a manageable level.
In the midst of this decay penguin was holding court. A large chair stood under a ventilation shaft. It was festooned with balloons, so many that the chair would have lifted off the floor if it hadn't been tied to a ring bolted at the edge of the platform. Dexter Gough looking frail and ill was fastened to the chair by restraints, as Penguin paced up and down in front of him. Penguin's goons were stood round listening as their boss ranted on.
Batman signaled to Nightwing that they should move towards the group keeping in the shadows.
"Well Daddy dear aren't you happy to see your son? Don't you recognized me, it's little Oswald? Surely you recognized me, Daddy!" Penguin squawked.
"Don't call me that!" Dexter growled "You stinking, little, murdering swine!"
Penguin mocked a shocked expression. "Now Daddy, whatever do you mean!"
"I saw you, you pushed my Maggie off those steps. The police and everyone else assumed I was mistaken, or just overwrought. But I saw you do it you murdering BAS..."
A resounding slap across the face from one of Penguin's goons stopped Dexter in mid sentence.
"Now, now boys no need for violence? Its just Daddy doesn't understand why Oswald needed to get rid of Mummy or at least the little bundle of joy she was expecting!"
"Oh I understand, you little monster, you're just evil. What was there to gain from killing such a sweet loving woman as my Maggie? Your position in the family wasn't threatened, we promised you the adoption would go through as planned. The only thing that changed was you would have a little brother or sister. SO WHY? WHAT WAS THERE TO GAIN?"
Penguin smirked "There was everything to gain!" He squawked. "Daddy Dexter wouldn't be making little Oswald sole beneficiary of his billions if there was a baby around, the fruit of his loins. The best Oswald would get would be half.."
"Money, you killed her for money," Dexter laughed loudly and mockingly, "well, you made a mistake, I saw you push her, I told the police and the welfare, they didn't believe me but I told them to get you out of my house. They should have locked you away ins..."
"Instead of putting my back in the orphanage!" Penguin squawked. "Do you know what a living hell that place was for me? The little fat kid, the one who looked like a penguin? Oh believe me prison couldn't have been any worse."
Dexter laughed. "I'm glad to hear that, I've always wanted to know you were punished for your crimes. You never got a red cent from me after you killed Maggie, and believe me no matter what you have planned for me you aren't getting one now!"
Penguin laughed nastily "Oh don't count on it. You don't know what I've got planned for you. Look at the balloons above your chair, well they are going to carry you up to through the ventilation shaft all the way up to the top of the East River Bridge. Then you'll just float up above the river, when you get to 200ft the restraints will release and the balloons will explode causing you will fall into the river. When they fish your body out of the river then it'll be poor Dexter, so distraught after the bomb attack he jumps off the bridge to end it all. But not before he remember his poor, nearly adopted son. The one that he so seriously let down. But daddy Dexter is going to make amends by leaving a will giving poor Oswald all his money and control of Gough Holdings."
"Over my dead body!" Dexter growled.
"That's the essence of the plan; you'll be dead, I'd thought I'd made that abundantly clear." Penguin laughed. "And the will, well, it's already signed sealed and delivered. You attorney will confirm you visited him last week to make changes to it. He's a very competent man your attorney, it cost a lot of money to get him to agree to help, but then good legal advice is farcically expensive, don't you think. But seeing as his firm would be in financial straights if their biggest account was terminated by the sale of Gough Holdings he was eager to assist. So you see daddy dear it makes sense if I, take over, it is good for everyone, especially me." Penguin chuckled!
Dexter roared his anger and struggled to get at Penguin who was stood laughing. With a click, a knife shot out of the feral of Penguin's umbrella. He slashed the rope anchoring the chair to the floor. "Enjoy the ride Daddy" Penguin's squawking laughter could be heard as the chair started to lift off the ground.
Suddenly two batarangs skimmed out of the darkness and sliced trough the ropes that held the balloons. The chair dropped six inches back to platform and the balloons released from the weight of the chair shot off up the ventilation shaft.
With a cry of rage Penguin turned towards where the batarangs had come from. Seeing his costumed Nemesis Penguin turned and ran, shouting orders to his men to hold them off. Nightwing landed gracefully in front of Dexter chair. Batman swung, feet extended in front of his body, scything a path through Penguin's henchmen. Nightwing was expertly dispatching those left standing with. Batman had one target, Penguin! As he swung near the absurdly obese little man who waddled down the platform he let go of the rope.
Penguin was feeling a mixture of panic and rage as he waddled down the platform heading for the emergency exit. Batman! Why was it always Batman! It wasn't fair this was Blündhaven, Batman was supposed to be in Gotham. He was always telling crooks to leave Gotham and here he damn well was making life hard for good, honest, criminals in another township. He was breathing hard, but escape was just another 100 yards away. From the corner of his eye Penguin saw Batman swooping towards him. He turned, pointing his trusty umbrella at his enemy.
Batman knew being at the wrong end of this fiend's umbrella wasn't a good idea. He dropped to the hard concrete floor and rolled toward a metal trashcan. He heard bullet spitting out of Penguin umbrella, an arc of bullets followed him, and the last few rattled of the metal of the trashcan close to his head.
As the umbrella spat out its last bullet penguin Squawked in frustration and panic. Blast Batman, it was cat's that were supposed to have nine lives not bats. Penguin's hand closed over the handle of the door that led to the old luggage elevator, he was almost home safe. Then he was tumbling to the ground as one of Batman's tethers was wrapping itself around his legs.
As Penguin fell Batman was on him. Within seconds the little man was handcuffed. "This is nothing to do with you Batman, this is family business! My family" Penguin protested. "And it's Blündhaven, not Gotham. So why are you interfering?"
Batman smirked "Because it's personal and involves my family, and no one messes with my family!
"I never touched your family!" Penguin argued. "Dexter isn't your family, is he?" Penguin asked confused.
"That's for me to know and you to wonder about." Batman replied.
Police arrived within minutes, they escorted Penguin and his Men to jail and Dexter back to hospital while Batman and Nightwing watched from the shadows.
Later a concerned Bruce Wayne visited Dexter. "So let me get this straight, did you adopt Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin, when he was a boy?" Bruce asked
"No! Never! My late wife worked at the Gotham orphanage. Maggie was a lovely sweet woman who only saw the good in people. She felt sorry for the funny looking little boy who was always being shunned by the other children. We'd been trying for a child of our own for years but it looked like it would never happen so I finally relented and said yes to her bringing Oswald home for a few days. Well those few days turned to weeks and Maggie begged me to have us adopt him."
"So how come you didn't?" Bruce asked.
"As I said, Maggie only saw the best in everyone, but I could see through that little monster's act. He was proud of his weird looks and as for being bullied... he was the bully. He manipulated people, I watched his plotting and scheming.
"So why didn't you send him back to the orphanage?"
"Because Maggie wanted us to adopt him and I couldn't say no to whatever she wanted." Dexter had tears in his eyes. "God how many times have I wished I'd insisted he was sent packing before that terrible day."
"So what happened?" Bruce asked
"When we found out that Maggie was pregnant we were so happy. But Oswald was furious, he just became more and more sullen. Maggie said it was because he thought we'd now reject him and send him back to the orphanage. She convinced me to agree to adopt Oswald. I mean how could I say no! Maggie and I told him we were going to adopt him and how he'd be a brother for the baby. Maggie took him shopping to choose new bedding and furniture for his room. When they came back they went up to Oswald's room, I was in my office in the opposite wing of the house. I could see right into Oswald's room. I looked across and saw Maggie on some steps holding up the drapes. The next thing I saw was Oswald run and push the steps, Maggie stood no chance she crashed straight through the window... I couldn't believe it." The old man said his voice still thick with pain as he recalled the events of that day. "The sheriff's dept. deemed it an accident. I knew it wasn't, I saw him looking down at Maggie's broken body and smiling at his handy work. Well that was it. I told them to take him away. Oh they begged me not to. They kept telling me it had been an accident and to consider Oswald's feelings. For year's after they kept trying to get me to either take him back or at least finance his education. They kept telling me how badly Oswald felt about the accident. The only thing he felt bad about was I'd seen him and he'd murdered Maggie for nothing. I just thank God Batman was there to stop the little freaks plan this time. The thought he mighty finally have succeeded and have inherited my fortune doesn't bear thinking about."
"Well the sales gone through, I hope the attorneys I put you onto were ok!" Bruce said.
"Fine, just fine. I've also tied the proceeds of the sale up in a trust. It'll pay for college scholarships for employee's children and for local orphans. I've called it the Maggie Gough's Brighter Future Fund. I think she'd have liked that."
"I'm sure she would," Bruce said. "Wayne Industries will donate 10 of the annual profits from Gough Holding's to the fund."
"Bruce that would be wonderful! Just knowing Penguin will be going to Jail for this little scheme is enough reward for me. It's a pity they can't charge him with murdering Maggie, but he was too young at the time to be charged, but he knew full well what he was doing."
"Well, he will be charged with the security guard's murder. So that's one good thing." Bruce said. "You take care Dexter."
"You too Bruce, and thank Alfred for his card. I hope you two have a safe journey home."