EXT. GOTHAM CITY STREETS - NIGHT
The Batmobile races through the streets of Gotham City. Cars pull over as they see it coming, like they would for an ambulance.
INT. BATMOBILE - NIGHT
Batman watches the road as he touches the phone button on his steering wheel. An audible "ding" is heard.
BATMAN
Call Jim Gordon.
The phone dials.
GORDON (V.O.)
Gordon.
BATMAN
I need you to put an APB out on a man by the name of Kenneth deGromm. He's ex-military, probably the Navy or Coast Guard, missing since early this morning.
GORDON (V.O.)
Not necessary.
BATMAN
Why not?
EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT
Commissioner Gordon stands in an alley near a dumpster as a CSI TEAM gathers evidence around the body of a man with his throat slashed. In one hand, Gordon holds a red cell phone. In the other, the dead man's wallet inside of a plastic bag. He reads the name on the man's license: Kenneth H. deGromm.
GORDON
Because I'm looking at Kenneth deGromm right now. He's dead. Someone slashed his throat and dumped him in an alley. Wallet's empty of cash and cards but I take it, since you're looking for him, we can rule out a mugging?
INT. BATMOBILE - NIGHT
Batman thinks.
BATMAN
Where did you find him? What's the address?
GORDON (V.O.)
Couple of uniforms found him at West Ward and Ninth.
BATMAN
That's nowhere near the harbor.
GORDON (V.O.)
You want to say that again?
Batman's eyes widen.
BATMAN
I gotta go.
He calibrates his GPS to home in on the signal of the tracker Robin placed on Randall Simpkins' car and floors it.
EXT. GOTHAM CITY STREETS - NIGHT
The Batmobile races forward, even faster than before.
EXT. PAUL AUMONT GRANDE - NIGHT
Verity is seen handing the keys to her sports car to the VALET outside the Paul Aumont Grande Hotel. Dick Grayson watches from the street as she heads inside, then pulls into the drive and beneath the porte-cochere. A SECOND VALET circles the Rolls Royce as he exits the vehicle.
Grayson pulls a hundred dollar bill from his pocket and slides it into the valet's hand.
GRAYSON
For whatever you know about the lady just before me.
The valet notices the bill is a hundred and is briefly taken aback.
SECOND VALET
With this, I could buy her a drink. Maybe two. Maybe one and a half. At the bar.
Dick nods and hands the valet the keys to the Rolls Royce. He enters the hotel.
INT. LOBBY - PAUL AUMONT GRANDE
Grayson enters the lavish lobby of the up-scale hotel and approaches the front desk. He is greeted by the DESK CLERK.
GRAYSON
I need a room.
He slides a black credit card across the counter.
DESK CLERK
Certainly, sir.
GRAYSON
And where's the bar?
INT. BAR - PAUL AUMONT GRANDE
A dark restaurant and bar where international dignitaries, businessmen, and socialites come to unwind and impress each other with their disposable income. Light piano music plays.
Grayson enters and immediately spots Verity at the far end of the bar, under a wall clock, drinking alone. He sits away from her and orders...
GRAYSON
Bloody Mary, but it's okay if she likes to pretend in front of family.
The bartender mixes Dick's drink.
EXT. ERGO APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT
The tracer on Randall Simpkins' car. We pull back to see that the car is parked outside the building.
We move up to Randall Simpkins' apartment window. In its reflection, we see a black spot grow larger as it gets closer.
A small metal object attaches to the glass and let's out a sonic shriek. The glass shatters just as Batman glides through the air, reaches the window and dives inside.
INT. BEDROOM - RANDALL SIMPKINS' APARTMENT
Batman rolls inside and pops up onto his feet.
BATMAN
Randall Simpkins?
He looks in the closet, the bathroom, then moves out into...
INT. LIVING ROOM - RANDALL SIMPKINS' APARTMENT
Batman runs inside and searches the apartment. No Randall.
BATMAN
Dammit!
He touches his ear piece.
BATMAN
Robin, come in.
INT. BAR - PAUL AUMONT GRANDE
Dick Grayson moves away from the bar and slides into a booth with a view of Verity.
GRAYSON
Yeah?
BATMAN
Randall Simpkins isn't in his apartment. His car is here, but he's not.
GRAYSON
Where the hell did he go?
INT. LIVING ROOM - RANDALL SIMPKINS' APARTMENT
Batman searches the apartment.
BATMAN
I don't know!
He finds a cigarette butt on the floor under the coffee table. He picks it up, puts it in a plastic bag, and then puts the bag in his utility belt.
BATMAN
They must have been waiting for him when he got here. If you had tailed him like I told you, you might have been able to stop them. Now, he could be dead.
Batman looks up at the ceiling and finds a pair of smoke detectors; one by the front door and one by the bedroom door.
INT. BAR - PAUL AUMONT GRANDE
GRAYSON
Why would they kill him if they're trying to hire him to do a job?
BATMAN (V.O.)
Why did they kill Kenneth deGromm?
GRAYSON
... DeGromm's dead?
BATMAN (V.O.)
Yes, and Simpkins might be next. Or they hired him for the job and he's working with them, now. We're in the dark, either way.
GRAYSON
That makes Verity our only link to this group, whoever they are, and our only chance to stop whatever they're planning.
BATMAN (V.O.)
You're not listening to me. I'm pulling you off this case. Send me your location and I'll follow Verity.
GRAYSON
I am listening to you. I made a mistake. Now, I made another. That's why I have to make this right. Dick Grayson can follow her without being noticed. Bruce Wayne, the man with his face plastered all over the tv and this morning's newspaper, cannot. I'll be in touch.
Grayson removes the ear piece from his ear and puts it in his pocket.
He sips his drink and eyes Verity.
INT. BEDROOM - RANDALL SIMPKINS' APARTMENT
Batman runs a finger across the window sill and inspects his finger for dust. He leans out the window and looks down, inspecting the wall.
BATMAN
Robin? Robin?!
He climbs out the window and jumps.
EXT. ERGO APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT
Batman uses his grappler then glides across the street to the roof of a higher building. He removes a pair of binoculars from his utility belt and uses it to scan the outside of the apartment building as well as the surrounding street.
BATMAN'S POV: We see a close-up view of the outside of the building, a few nearby stores, and a traffic camera mounted to the street light at the corner.
He makes note of the camera location as he leaves.
INT. BAR - PAUL AUMONT GRANDE
Later...
The crowd has thinned out a bit, but not by much. Verity still sits alone at the bar. Her emerald eyes drift to the clock on the wall every so often. It's time to move in.
Grayson approaches and sits down at the stool beside her. He motions for the bartender to come over.
GRAYSON
Another for me, and for the lady.
The bartender looks at Verity. She shakes her head no. He mixes one drink for Dick and slides it over.
GRAYSON
If you're finished, we could just go back to my room. Doesn't look like he's coming.
VERITY
Who?
GRAYSON
Whoever stood you up, doll.
VERITY
Maybe I came here to be alone.
GRAYSON
If you had wanted to be alone, you could have picked a more secluded place, in a more secluded dress.
VERITY
But what is more lonely than to sit in a room full of people who know nothing about you and don't care to?
GRAYSON
Oh, I think there are quite a few in this room who would care to know more about you. Or maybe you just enjoy torturing men's souls.
Something catches in Verity's throat. She sips her martini.
VERITY
Maybe they deserve it.
GRAYSON
There's a word for women like you.
Verity looks at him, braces for insult.
GRAYSON
Independent.
She looks him over with renewed interest, then steals another glance up at the clock on the wall. It reads "10:14".
GRAYSON
Unless you're not.
He looks at her.
GRAYSON
Maybe some men's souls deserve a little more torture than others.
She considers the clock.
INT. GRAYSON'S HOTEL ROOM - PAUL AUMONT GRANDE
Verity walks towards the white silk bed, drops her purse on the floor, then turns around to face him.
VERITY
I have to be in my room at midnight exactly, or he'll come looking for me.
Grayson walks towards her, removes his tuxedo jacket.
GRAYSON
We'll have you back before the clock strikes twelve, Cinderella.
From behind, we watch as he walks up to her and slips the sides of her dress over her shoulders. It falls to the floor, revealing even more of her perfect hourglass body. They embrace.
INT. BATCAVE
Alfred waits at attention as the Batmobile pulls to a stop next to Robin's parked motorcycle.
Batman gets out of the Batmobile and motions to the motorcycle as he approaches Alfred.
BATMAN
He's here?
ALFRED
I took the liberty of driving it back via remote, sir.
BATMAN
He left it on the side of a building, again? How's he keeping his tail on Verity? Wait...
He stops, looks at Alfred with stern eyes.
BATMAN
You let him borrow the Rolls?
ALFRED
It was necessary to maintain his cover.
Furious, Batman marches away from Alfred and over to the computer.
BATMAN
I cannot believe that you, of all people, would further enable his behavior.
Batman removes the cigarette he retrieved from Simpkins' apartment and puts it into an evidence receptacle attached to the computer. He initiates a scan.
ALFRED
Yes, sir, if there's anything I'm not it's an enabler impetuous behavior.
Alfred rolls his eyes.
BATMAN
I never should have reinstated him. That's a mistake I won't make again soon.
Batman sits at the computer and reviews the scans of the cigarette.
BATMAN
I found this in Randall Simpkins' apartment, but there were no ashtrays, no ashes on the window sill or burn marks on the wall outside the window from ashes blown back against the building. There were also two working smoke detectors he hadn't tampered with.
ALFRED
Then, Mr. Simpkins isn't a smoker.
BATMAN
And this brand of cigarette isn't common, either. It's Eastern European, not something you're likely to find at the local corner store. How much do you want to bet it's from whoever was waiting for him in his apartment?
ALFRED
You think the poor Mr. Simpkins has met with some unfortunate end?
BATMAN
There were no signs of a struggle, but that doesn't mean anything. They killed Kenneth deGromm, but that could be because they either weren't happy with him for some reason or because he refused their offer. He told his girlfriend he was going for a boat ride, but they didn't find his body anywhere near the water. And if he was afraid of the water, why would he agree to go on one in the first place?
ALFRED
Why does anyone in this unsavory business do anything?
BATMAN
Money. That was my thought as well. So, they kill him to tie up loose ends, but that means they still need an engineer for whatever they're planning. Maybe they found one in Randall Simpkins.
On the computer, the analysis of the cigarette completes; "INCONCLUSIVE"
BATMAN
Looks like the sample is too contaminated to pull DNA or finger prints. But, on the way over, I had Jim grant me access to the traffic camera footage from the nearby traffic light.
He pulls up footage from the traffic camera and fast forwards to a point where he sees a group of four men get out of a black sedan. One of the men is smoking.
BATMAN
There.
The SMOKING MAN drops the cigarette and stomps it out with his foot. He fast forwards the footage to a few minutes later and it shows them exiting the building with Randall Simpkins.
BATMAN
He stomped it out with his foot and didn't realize it stuck to the bottom of his shoe. He tracked it inside Simpkins' apartment. And here they are with Simpkins.
ALFRED
He doesn't appear to be under duress.
BATMAN
No, he doesn't. Now, I isolate their faces.
On the screen, the four thugs' faces are isolated and run through facial recognition software. Batman and Alfred wait for the results of the scan.
BATMAN
Has he contacted you?
ALFRED
Not since his last report.
BATMAN
I don't know what to do. It didn't start out like this. He looked up to me, did what I told him to do, was an effective partner. He's gotten arrogant, thinks he's invincible, thinks he's Superman.
ALFRED
Reminds me of someone I used to know.
BATMAN
If he can't follow orders, he's not going to be useful to me.
ALFRED
Is that why you bestowed upon him the mantle of the Robin? So he could be useful to you? I was under the impression that it was because you cared about the boy and his future.
BATMAN
Of course, I care about him. But if he keeps this up, he's going to get himself killed. It's precisely because I care about him that I need to protect him. He doesn't listen.
ALFRED
He's young. If all young men listened, the job of a parent would be easy. It's precisely because they don't listen that they need encouragement and an example to which they can aspire.
BATMAN
I'm not Dick's father, Alfred.
ALFRED
And I'm not yours, but I haven't slept through the god damn night in 25 years.
Batman is taken aback by Alfred's tone and choice of language. It's not something he's used to hearing from the gentlemanly Mr. Pennyworth.
ALFRED
You think I've agreed with every decision you've made? Been behind every choice? When your parents died, I made a promise to them at the very site of their grave that I would protect you as if you were my own, and lead you into manhood as I imagine they would have wanted. Yet, here we are, and every single night you go out and I hold my breath wondering if tonight is the night I break my promise.
Alfred composes himself.
ALFRED
Never once have I stood in the way of your self-imposed mission to fight crime in this city, despite all that, and do you know the reason why? Because part of this whole bloody thing is not knowing. Not even you can escape that. And if this is the man you choose to be, I'm going to be by your side. I will never leave you alone in the storm.
A tired Bruce removes his cowl.
BRUCE
All right.
The facial recognition software completes its search. The four names are Higgin Foulkes, Victor Zomyaev (Smoking Man), Sammy Slagg, and...
BRUCE
William King, "the Clock King".
Alfred and Bruce focus on the image of the bespectacled mastermind.
-To be Continued...-