AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hard to believe that I have been working on this story for a year now! Here's the next chapter…
Chapter 18
"Bruce?"
Turning away from his desk, Bruce Wayne looks at his ward.
"Yes, Dick?" Placing the paperwork on his desk, Bruce gives his ward his full attention. "What is it?"
"You said that a DNA test has been run on all known criminals?" asks the boy, pacing the office in the manor.
"Yes," as the voice of the man deepens.
"And finger prints were checked also?" asks the boy, stopping in front of the desk, before sitting down in one of the two chairs in front of the desk.
"Yes," comes the reply again. "What are you getting at?"
"I was looking through the files…"
"I believe I told you that you weren't to do it alone," says Bruce, slipping even further into the Batman persona.
"Alfred was down there," says Dick, waving it off. "What I noticed is, only criminal files were checked, right?"
"The police assumed that the crime had to have been committed by someone familiar with that side of life. Being able to break in and enter this mansion could not have been easy," replies Bruce.
"It's not like you assume anything, Bruce," says Dick, cocking his head to the side and glancing at his mentor. "Criminals aren't the only ones who are fingerprinted."
"Of course, Dick. Teacher, childcare providers, police, security would also need to have their fingerprints done before entering the workplace. What is your point?" asks Bruce, trying to figure out where the boy was taking the conversation.
"You said it had to be someone familiar with crime. I was just thinking that, maybe, the knowledge comes from the other side of the law. Maybe the person was a police officer who turned sour…" starts Dick, but stops when he notices Bruce shaking his head.
"But what would a police officer have to do with me? I think we both know that the individual behind this is doing it for my benefit…"
"Someone you pissed off?" suggests Dick. "A police officer who lost his job because of something he did or didn't do involving you? Or maybe it's not you personally, but Wayne Corp?"
"Would you like me to run a background check on every person who has ever had to be fingerprinted? Criminal or not?" asks the older man.
"No…" says the boy, shaking his head and then smiling a little. "I started the check before I came up here. It was an idea and I thought I would mention it to you while the 'computer was checking it out for me."
Getting up from his chair, Dick walks across the floor and heads out of the office door.
"Want to see if anything came up?" comes the call from the hallway.
Without waiting for further comment, Bruce leaves his office behind to follow the boy into the Batcave.
