Chapter 2
A light flashed across the stone of the small room. "He escaped sometime between ten last night and eight this morning," said one of the Gotham police in the cell at the asylum. "The attendant for this place checked on all inmates last night at around ten, and he verifies that Tetch was in his cell then. He recited some poem."
"Tetch's style," replied Commissioner Gordon. Cameras were flashing all over the cell as the scene was investigated. "Most likely from Alice. He is the Mad Hatter, after all."
"Yeah. Well, that's what we had on file. I definitely didn't remember him, though. Not with all the crazies in this town. I once had a close encounter with the Penguin, you know, chief. The guy almost killed me with one of those exploding umbrellas. I wouldn't have made it if-"
"Yeah, I know. If Batman hadn't been there. It seems we call on him more than ever nowadays."
"I am here to help you, Gordon," came a deep voice behind the Commissioner. Gordon would have jumped if Batman didn't always appear out of nowhere. He was used to it by now.
"I was wondering when you'd get here, Batman. The Mad Hatter has escaped this time. And he left a message for us all." Gordon pointed to the wall of the asylum cell where a message was scrawled in a red substance that Batman immediately recognized as blood.
nO rOoM! nO RoOm!
Batman walked up to the message scribbled on the wall and grazed his fingers over the blood. Nothing came off the message. "It's dry. He must have escaped late last night. How did he get out?"
The Commissioner sighed. "One of the nurses must have left a nail file in his room one day. He used it on the bars," he said, pointing to the only window leaving the room. "He must have worked on it for days. And then last night, he just removed the bars and scrambled out. We found the file outside the room. He knew he wouldn't need it anymore. But no trace of where he went. Tetch could be anywhere in Gotham right now. We'll never find him unless he makes a move first."
"He will," said Batman darkly. "They always do."
"You'd better watch this one, though. I've never known him to take such drastic measures. I mean, cutting himself to leave a mess-," Gordon stopped and looked around. Batman had disappeared. "I hate it when he does that."