Chapter 4

In desperation Jessica heaved on the window with as much strength as she could manage. Eventually with a groan the window opened and Jessica climbed out, closing the window behind her. She stood flatly against the wall of the house, trying to keep her balance. She looked down and saw a branch of an old elm tree sticking out.

Gathering up all of her courage Jessica leapt towards the branch, managing to grasp it as she flew towards the ground. Taking a deep relieved breath, she began to carefully climb down to the ground.

Once her feet were on solid ground Jessica looked around. The garden was quite big and covered in flowers; it was obvious that Mr. Gordon took pride in his garden.

Mr. Gordon; what had happened to him? Was he still in the house? Jessica ran towards the backdoor and tried to open it. Finding it locked she peered through the window. She couldn't see any sign of the Commissioner or the Joker, which left her with the only answer she could think of: the Joker had kidnapped Mr. Gordon.

Sliding to the ground and leaning against the wall of the house, Jessica began to think of what she should do. She didn't know whether the Commissioner was still alive or not but considering that the Joker had taken him gave her a good bet that he was alive; if he were dead then that madman probably would have left him.

Jessica was positive about one thing: she had to rescue the Commissioner no matter what. But how? She began to concentrate. It was obvious that the Joker believed she was dead and it would be best to keep it that way, so how was she going to rescue Mr. Gordon without the Joker realizing who she was?

After several minutes of consideration a slight smile curved her lips; she knew what she needed to do.

Glancing down at her watch she saw that it was almost one-o-clock, she couldn't do anything tonight except ring the police, but that would also mean that she would be alone again and would probably be taken into care which she didn't want.

She had to ring them anonymously. Exiting the backyard she ran to find a phone box.

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Back in the batcave, Batman once again found himself in front of the computer. This time Robin had joined them and they were trying to find out what evil scheme the Joker was trying to pull this time. The only clue they had was that the Riddler-after Batman had knocked him about a bit-had told him that the Joker was planning to do something with the Commissioner but he didn't know what.

After not having much luck Batman turned to Robin. "We're going to go to the Commissioner's house. There might be something there that can help us."

"Fine with me," Robin replied, "let's go." He raced toward the Batmobile with Batman close behind him. Leaping into the vehicle Batman started the engine and they raced out of the cave's secret entrance and towards Gotham city.

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At the GCPD Detective Bullock had just received an anonymous phone call stating that the Commissioner had been kidnapped by the Joker.

"Montoya, Smith, come with me," he ordered. "The Commissioner's been kidnapped!"

The three raced outside to the car park and leapt into their cars. With sirens wailing they raced toward Jim Gordon's house.

When they got there Bullock wasn't surprised but slightly irritated to find the dark knight and Robin already there.

"Hey, you can't touch the evidence!" Bullock yelled at Batman as he entered the house.

As usual Batman ignored him and carried on searching the house. He arrowed his eyes when he saw the spots of blood on the carpet and leading out into the hallway. He followed them and saw the spots of blood leading up the stairs.

He ascended the stairs and found himself in Jim's bathroom where Robin was already searching. He turned to Batman and held up a monitor.

"I've picked up traces of the Joker's laughing gas in here," he explained. "It's not anywhere else. Do you think the Commissioner tried to hide in here and was…?"

"No," Batman interrupted him. "I believe the Commissioner was knocked out in the hallway, probably as soon as he had opened the door. There's a small pool of blood on the hallway floor, and a trail of blood leading from the lounge into the hall and up the stairs, yet there's no evidence of blood leading from the hall into the lounge."

"So whose blood is it?"

"It's probably the Joker's," Batman replied. "He probably tried to defend himself."

"It may not be the Joker's blood," a voice came from behind them. They both turned and found officer Montoya standing about halfway up the stairs.

"What do you mean?" Batman wanted to know.

"Earlier tonight we received a call from a waitress saying that a young girl was wondering the streets alone. The Commissioner agreed that she could stay with him until they could find somewhere suitable for her to stay or something."

"What's this girl like?" Batman asked.

"Brown hair, approximately shoulder length; green eyes; she was about twelve to thirteen years old."

Batman narrowed his eyes as he stared down at the specks of blood. A child; she was just a child. If the Joker had done anything to hurt the girl he was not going to be held responsible for his actions; too many children had already been hurt or killed because of the psycho.

"She was also carrying a sword," Montoya continued.

"A sword?" Robin asked. He turned to Batman, "do you think that might explain the blood?"

"For the girl's sake and the Joker's I hope not," Batman replied. "Come on Robin, we're going back to the cave to see if we can get an analysis from this blood." He shot his grapple out of the window and swung out.

"Right behind you," Robin shouted, swinging out of the window as well. As he swung through the city, Robin glanced around quickly at the skyscrapers and wondered if one of them held the kidnapped Commissioner.

Where was Jim Gordon?

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Jim Gordon groaned slightly as his eyes slowly opened. At first all he could see was…..nothing; it was way too dark, but after blinking a few times he just-but only just-make out his hands in front of his face.

Discovering that he was flat on his back he went to sit up.

THUD, he whacked his on the roof of something. Groaning again he lifted his arm to rub the tender area. As he did so his elbow knocked against the wall. Jim began to try and feel where he was. He slid his hands down the sides and deduced that they were made of wood. Strangely though whatever he was laying on was extremely soft- comfortable even.

It was obvious he was trapped in some kind of box, but what sort? What kind of box had a soft inner base? The Commissioner wracked his brain, and suddenly his eyes widened in terror as a horrible realization struck him.

A coffin; he was trapped in a coffin!