Chapter Two
"He had knifes in every room of the house, in drawers, in cupboards, even in the bathroom cabinet. In addition to forty knives, we've found twelve guns, nine hand grenades, three unassembled pipe bombs, and four gallons of gasoline hidden behind his couch. This guy had more weapons than an army brigade."
Despite the heavy mask the Batman wore, Lieutenant Jim Gordon still clearly saw the frown on his face. The masked man reached out a hand, as heavily gloved as his face was masked, and turned over one of the knives laid out on the kitchen counter. He turned to Gordon: "Even if this man has every type of weapon the Joker used, we still won't be able to convince the public that this man was him."
Gordon leaned on the kitchen counter and closed his eyes a moment. He steadied his breathing and listened to the sounds around him: detectives sifting through drawers and cabinets; a CSI team scanning the walls for any hidden enclaves; a woman from his unit taking a statement from the landlady. Had it really been just an hour since he had arrived here?
Gordon spoke without opening his eyes. "That's not the only thing we have to go on. We've found several diaries that indicate this man," Gordon nodded to the living room, where the baffling body lay, "was in a state of extreme mental agitation and anguish around the times of the Jokers exploits. They're all very confusing, he obviously wasn't coherent when he wrote in it."
"Yeah, he definitely had issues," said a cadet from Gordon's unit passing through the kitchen.
"What about the Jokers clothes? They're easily recognized, if we had some of them we may be able to prove this man was the Joker."
Gordon opened his eyes and looked at Batman. A rare smile crossed his face. "We're luck on that count. One of my boys found a receipt from a dry cleaner for a tailored purple suit, along with this." Gordon handed Batman an evidence bag containing a well worn business card. Batman frowned at it for a moment, then looked back at Gordon. "A tannery?" Even though Batman's voice was disguised, Gordon didn't miss the skepticism.
"Not just any tannery," Gordon replied. He whipped out his phone and showed Batman the open internet browser. "I looked them up on the web. They're the only place in the Gotham that tailors purple kid gloves."
Dick crouched in the shadow of the electric box, listening as the footsteps crossed the roof. This was not what he had come up here for.
He was beginning to regret ever coming along tonight- Bruce wouldn't even let him into the crime scene, and Dick wasn't even sure why they were here. Bruce had been very touchy lately, and Dick was feeling more like a tagalong than a sidekick.
So here he was, on top of the building where the Joker had supposedly been living, watching a unidentified figure looking over the edge of the roof. He couldn't be sure, but Dick had an inkling that whoever it was was one of the Jokers men- or even the Joker himself, come back to play more of his sick mind games.
The figure turned around suddenly, and Dick ducked back behind the electric box.
It would by just like him, Dick thought, to set up his own death scene, only to come back from the dead to scare the living souls out of everyone. He had nearly thrown the city into complete anarchy during his nine-month reign of terror three years ago, and it would be silly to think that the thrill of chaos had simply worn off over time.
Risking a glance from behind the box, Dick leaned around the corner. While he wasn't looking, the figure had turned to sit on the roof, back facing the city. Though the face was half-hidden by soaked, stringy hair, and shadowed by the clouds, it clearly belonged to a girl. She was about Dick's age, eighteen or nineteen, and she was crying and smiling at the same time- tears of joy.
The girl looked up suddenly and Dick whipped back behind the electric box.
But he wasn't fast enough. The girl's shoes scraped on the gravel roof as she stood. "You can come out from behind there, Robin, I saw you."
"It just doesn't add up- if this guy was the Joker- and at the moment, it seems likely- how did he live here all this time without anyone realizing what he was?" Gordon sighed. "Even if we gather conclusive evidence from inside this apartment, it will still take months, if not years, to convince the powers that be that the Joker really is dead." He sat down on the kitchen floor, utterly exhausted.
The Batman flipped through the witness reports on the clipboard. He frowned. "Always paid rent on time, never noisy or disruptive,- 'a model tenant'?" He took no pains to hide the disbelief in his voice at this last comment.
"That would be the landlady- according to her, he was the best tenant she'd ever had. The neighbors, on the other hand, have mixed opinions of him. According to them, he never said more than 'good morning' to anyone but the landlady." Gordon frowned- should he tell the Batman his suspicion?
He rose with a swiftness that surprised him. "Come into the bedroom with me, there's something I think you should see."
Gordon pointed to the bed. "See? There were clearly two people living here. The neighbors, the landlady- they only ever mentioned one person- the dead man- living here."
The Batman nodded. "So you suspected it, too. I wondered if you had noticed. I first suspected there were two people living here when I saw that there were two depressions in the mattress, instead of just one."
Gordon felt the excitement rising in him. "Me too. I checked the bathroom cabinet after finding that, and found lady's razors and deodorant, as well as tampons. There was also a hairbrush with light brown hair in it. And Mr. Comedian out there"- Gordon again jerked his head toward the front room- "is blonde."
"But why?" The Batman shook his head in disbelief. "Why give up terrorizing Gotham to be live with his woman? It's completely out of character for the Joker. There is something we're missing."
"My thoughts exactly- giving up wreaking chaos on Gotham to live the good life with his sweetheart? Didn't sound like the Joker to me, either." The smirk faded from Gordon's face, and he looked suddenly grave. "Then I checked the rent records- this guys been living here for three years- he moved in only days before the Joker disappeared from public view. And the apartment is listed as having only one resident." Gordon drew a breath. "Since no one else knew about the woman living here, I believe that the Joker had a hostage. He abandoned torturing the masses to torture his captive."
"Instead of unhinging the collective psyche, he decided to unhinge just one- I can see the attraction it would hold for him, having that kind of power at his fingertips all the time." The Batman nodded, clearly agreeing with Gordon. "Do we have any other clues to her identity?"
"Not at the moment, but my boys will dust the whole place down for fingerprints and- WHERE did you come from!?" Gordon jolted as a second costumed phantasm appeared at his side.
"Sorry, commissioner." Robin turned to Batman. "We got a situation on the roof."
"I'll have some of my boys there right away." Now, Gordon was all business.
"No," Robin said firmly. "It's best if you don't get involved with this."
"I am getting involved with this, I am done listening to a hormonal teenager in a costu-"
But Jim Gordon was alone in the room; the caped crusaders were already headed for the roof.