Lyle had never been more pleased to see any of the inmates, as he was when he saw Jonathan again, being dragged back to Arkham by Batman. He had never felt more angrier, either.
Jonathan begged and begged not to be taken back. He felt renewed fear as he looked up. There, on the top of the stairs, was the chief.
Lyle walked down the steps.
"I'll take it from here, Batman." he said, and introduced himself, showing his identification.
It was the least he could do, after all. He had failed in his duty to protect the citizens of Gotham from this. He couldn't look him in the eye. He had allowed Jonathan to escape.
"Congratulations, Professor Crane, you're the very first inmate to escape Arkham under my charge." he continued.
He grabbed the trembling Jonathan.
"You're also the last! I won't let you and the people of Gotham down again, Batman." he promised this more to himself.
He was quite ashamed, and felt angry. Angry at Jonathan who had escaped. Angry at himself for having allowed him to escape. But that would not happen, he promised himself.
Lyle dragged Jonathan up the steps, and shut and locked the door behind them. He had added a few more locks and security measures to this door as well as the others.
Lyle had said that Jonathan would be the last inmate to escape, and he was determined that it would be so. After the escape, he had been determined to make the others pay for Jonathan's having escaped. But after he made an example of this, none of the others would even think about escaping.
Life at Arkham had grown increasingly terrifying since Jonathan's escape. The chief had been so furious. It was so quiet now, as no one dared to make a sound. They could hear footsteps. It was a sound that terrified anyone, as they could only be one person's.
As they heard them approaching, most of the inmates cowered, and tried to make themselves as invisible, as unnoticeable as possible, terrified that they would be chosen next to spend who knew how much time in solitary.
But the chief wasn't alone. He was dragging Jonathan, who was now back. No one had ever seen the chief look so livid. Much more so than any of them had ever seen him before, if that was possible.