Disclaimer

The characters in this story are the property of DC Comics and Warner bros I used them in this story which is entirely a product of my own imagination.

Chap 31

Perhaps it was a bad idea to drive, for Bruce was too preoccupied to see the sharp turn ahead of him. Before he could realize what was happening, he had hit a sturdy tree and the rear of the car jumped at the impact. Bruce's head would've slammed against the glass if it wasn't for the hi-tech safety mechanism operating the seat belt, which fastened itself tightly against his chest and pulled him back. The force was good enough to restrain him, but if it wasn't for his muscular build, it would've broken a rib or too.

Bruce was shocked by the unforeseen, but wasn't unconscious. He slowly made his way out of the car, for his nimble legs wouldn't cooperate that easily. Once out of the car, he realized that it was that tree which stood between himself and a certain death, for the car would've easily made its way into the valley if it wasn't for the tree, thus breaking him into pieces.

"Clarke might've been able to find my remains!" he said to himself and shook his head, when all of a sudden, realization dawned upon him. His eyes widened and his fists clenched. The expression on his face transformed from utter astonishment to that of exuberance. He shouted - I KNEW IT! I JUST KNEW IT!, punching into thin air.

-

Hawk Girl set out to Metropolis on a call from Batman. Little did she know that despite her efforts to keep her trip a secret, GL was following her. They met after they entered the earth's atmosphere.

"Secret mission?" GL asked.

"No longer a secret, I guess!" Hawk Girl sighed.

"Care to fill me in?" GL said, crossing her path.

"All right!" she said, "Batman called me in. He asked me to meet a certain Bruce Wayne in Metropolis."

"Bruce Wayne in Metropolis?" GL frowned, "Bruce Wayne lives in Gotham!"

"I know that! I have seen him once. For some reason, he is in Metropolis, and he believes that he has something that can prove Diana's innocence." Hawk Girl said.

"Diana's innocence! And Bruce Wayne! Comm'on, Diana confessed that she was responsible for everything." GL said.

"Not everything," Hawk Girl retorted, "she confessed that she killed Mark. That's all!"

"Isn't that all. Now that Mark is gone, there is no one to convict for the children's hospital and death of !" GL said.

"Then perhaps Diana did not kill Mark!" hawk girl said.

"You still think she's innocent!" GL frowned.

"I do!" Hawk girl said, "And if you don't, there is no point of your following me!"

GL paused to ponder, while Hawk Girl continued her journey.

-
At Lisa's apartment

"All right, Mr. Wayne…what have you…" Hawk girl did not get to complete her sentence. It wasn't Bruce Wayne, it was Batman.

"There has been a last moment change of plan. I thought it wasn't wise to expose Wayne to this." Batman said coldly. He was at the computer.

"Why call me?" Hawk Girl frowned.

"Superman doesn't want to work with me anymore!" he said, browsing pictures.

Hawk Girl opened her mouth to say something, but her eyes were caught by the monitor.
"So, you did see my report!" hawk Girl said, seating herself beside him.

"I'm happy that there is at least one person in the league who cares to follow my instructions." Batman said.

"I'm glad you acknowledged, but why did this interest you?" Hawk Girl asked.

"Ever heard of steganography" Batman said.

Hawk Girl frowned. "You mean, hiding plain text inside files of other formats?"

"Usually audio and videos files, and images." Batman nodded, "It uses some clever algorithms to encrypt data inside large files, without visible distortion."

"And that was your first guess when I told you about the pictures we found." Hawk girl remarked.

"May be not! I must say I haven't been working to my full potential these days. I thought the pictures would relate to some story, a timeline of events. But you were right, they make no sense at all!" Batman remarked.

"And…" Hawk girl encouraged him to continue.

"As you see, this folder has been most recently modified on the day you visited the apartment." Batman said.

"Hey! That last picture, it wasn't there when we last went through this folder!" Hawk Girl pointed to one of the pictures.

"Precisely! The perpetrator, though smart, couldn't get away with this one. This is an accidental clue. And if you see, this one is same as 50 other pictures in this folder, 49 of which appear at one place when we arrange these icons by 'date-modified'. And if you see here, the last-but-one picture is similar to 20 pictures edited before that. If I am right, this last picture was actually supposed to be similar to the other 20, but for some reason, the perpetrator made the mistake of using a previous picture."

"Have you been able to decipher the messages, then?" Hawk girl asked.

"Yes, it was absurdly simple. The software was in the computer itself." Batman said, pointing to an icon on the screen. He then maximized a window and hawk Girl could read.

"TIME TO SPELL END FOR MARK!…Oh, my god!" Hawk girl gasped.

"Just one day before his death!" Batman remarked.

Hawk Girl pondered. Her excitement dissolved quickly.

"That still doesn't prove that Diana is innocent. In fact, it strengthens the case against Diana!" she said.

"Not exactly, all though this doesn't leave Diana off the hook. You people can swear that she had been with you all the time and did not touch the computer. This change was made while you were on your way to the Touser's house."

Hawk girl recollected. "Yes, of course!", she almost smiled, but did not. "But then Diana left the place all of a sudden and I believe this change was made during the time," she took another look at the timestamp, "Well,I'm not sure. It is sometime between when we left for tousers and when Diana left the place. I still can't be sure!"

"But at least you can be sure that it can't be Diana!" Batman pressed, "If per se, it happened after Diana left you, this picture shows that the murder was planned. It is absurd to think that Diana would fly all the way to this place and update her plan, before actually going ahead and executing it."

"Yes, she did fly straight to that one spot where she stayed. She did not touch any other location, I can be sure of that. We ran the monitoring command on her remotely and checked with the results once we went to the watch tower." Hawk Girl said in excitement, "So it wasn't Diana! I knew it wasn't Diana! I'm going to go ahead and tell everyone!"

"Are you satisfied now, GL?" Batman said, and hawk Girl turned around swiftly. GL!

"Let's just say, I know some shortcuts!" GL said as an answer to an unasked question from her.

"So…" Batman said, raising from the chair.

"We know that Diana did not update it. But we do not know that Diana did not do it, not as of now! It might've happened that the planner is not the executer." GL said. Hawk Girl frowned and clenched her club.

"He's right!" Batman said, nudging Hawk Girl back gently. "This evidence is not sufficient to prove that Diana is innocent. But there is one more angle to this case, which I add. I believe that it wasn't Mark who was responsible for Touser's death!"

GL frowned, "That is a far-fetched reasoning!"

"No, not exactly. In fact…well, ok let me get this cleared first! Did Superman tell you guys anything about our investigation?" Batman asked.

"Your investigation" GL frowned.

"That's all right! I've got my answer! I thought he'd at least have bragged about his findings!"

"Nope, he said nothing, except that he knew that Diana is the culprit!" Hawk Girl said.

"I should've known!" Batman sighed, "but never mind! The point is, the advertisement about Lisa's death was a hoax!"

"Oh, that! Well, I know that!" Hawk girl said, "Superman did mention that!"

Batman frowned, "Anything else he mentioned"

"Yes, the fact that Diana gave that ad! Superman believes that Diana never had a sister. It was Diana - all the time!" GL added.

"And that strengthens the case against Diana." Hawk girl remarked.

"Well, I don't blame him for reaching such a conclusion, but I assure you, Lisa was there, and as a matter of fact, I believe she is there!" Batman stressed.

"IS!" GL gasped. Batman's statement struck him.

"Where is she? Who is she? If we can get her…" Hawk Girl clenched her club, ready to take flight.

"I don't know!" Batman replied. Hawk Girl's expression dissolved into a stare.

"But I have a hunch!" Batman let a tiny smile escape, "And I believe that I'm right!"