Commissioner Gordon sat at his desk, the paperwork atop it piling up faster than he could finish it. He opened up one of his desk drawers, removed a bottle from it, and took a few swigs from it before placing it back in the drawer.
"Gordon, the city needs your awareness. Alcohol won't help the situation."
"Well, I need it regardless of what the city needs right now," replied Gordon swiveling in his chair to see Batman standing there barely out of the shadows. "It's the only thing stopping me from having a complete emotional breakdown. I've never seen such horrors in my life. The Mad Hatter is more insane than we thought possible."
"I heard what he did to the new victim, Alice Mellone."
"He choked her with bread," cried Gordon as he threw his arms in the air. "It was disgusting. Her face twisted in fear and pain as she asphyxiated on garlic bread. I'll never eat Italian again. Not after seeing that. The tears. Her purple skin. The way her eyes strained just to get one more breath of-"
"Gordon. We have a job to do. As horrible as it is, we have to catch this madman before he causes more damage. I know that what you've seen will leave a bad impression upon you, but you need to set it aside for now. We have to stop him."
"I know what you're saying makes sense, Batman, but…the Mad Hatter…what is he trying to accomplish. I mean, before it was about love or revenge. There's no motive here. He just kills. And he kills brutally."
"So do others, Gordon." Batman walked over and put a gloved hand on the Commissioner's shoulder trying to reassure him. "The Mad Hatter has failed in the past to accomplish his goals, and he's maybe just trying something new."
"Well, it's working!" yelled Gordon. He opened the desk drawer again and uncorked the bottle.
"We'll get him."
Gordon looked at the bottle. His eyes welled up with tears. "We better." He threw the open bottle at the trash can across the room. It landed in the bottom with a smashing sound. "We better."