Chapter 20

Night has fallen and Gotham's protector has taken to the city in search of the man behind his ward's attacks. Now that there is a focus, a name, for the case, Batman knows it won't be long till he knows where the man is and justice, whether the police kind or Batman kind, is found.

Crashing through the window of an apartment building, Batman shakes the glass shards from his cape. Storming around the room, he knocks things over in his search for information.

"A bull in a china shop won't help right now," comes a comment from behind him.

Ignoring the comment, Batman continues in his ruthless search of the apartment.

"Batman…we have time to look," says Robin, setting up in front of Batman. "No one is here."

"I want this done," replies the Dark Knight. "I want to find him now!"

"And you think I don't?" demands the boy, throwing his arms out. "I know better what this case is all about then you!"

Taking a moment, Batman tries to reign himself in. Taking a couple of slow breaths, Batman glances around the apartment. Though he has seen (and lived in) better places, the apartment wasn't trashy either. A single bedroom apartment, Batman can see the bedroom door from where he is standing. Glancing in the opposite direction, he notices the doors to the bathroom and kitchen.

"It's a nice apartment," says Robin, also glancing around the place.

"Wayne pays well," comes the reply.

"But the guy hasn't been employed for just over two weeks. Wouldn't the money have dried up by now?"

"Yarsmith could have afforded better than this. He was the Assistant Chief of Security," replies Batman. "Most likely trying to save money by living in a lower rent apartment."

"Well, let's see what we can find," says Robin, as he heads for the first doorway, leading to the bedroom. "He still is living in the military world. I bet I could bounce a quarter off of this bed, it's made that well."

Not saying anything, Batman just searches the living room that he is currently in, listening to Robin as the boy searches the bedroom.

Walking over to the desk, Batman glances at the computer on it. Most likely the computer has a password. Pausing, Batman finds that he no longer hears Robin moving around in the bedroom.

"Robin?"

Not getting a response, the Detective strides over to the bedroom door and looks in.

"Robin?" asks Batman, staring at his partner. "What is it?"

Showing the book in his hands to Batman, Robin walks over to the older man and hands him the book.

"It's a journal," replies the boy quietly. "It's dated around the time he retired from the military. It's current."

Opening the book to the last entry, Batman quietly reads over the last entry.

Thursday, April 28th

I surprised Wayne's boy at school today.

It was so easy to get to the fucking brat.

The school and Wayne thought the boy

was so safe, but I had canvassed the

school earlier and knew where all the

cameras were. I knew how to get in.

Tried to pretend like nothing happen, but

he knew…he knew when he saw me. I

could see how scared Wayne's kid was.

Continuing to read the entry, Batman feels disgusted and dirty by reading what the man thought about his attack on Wayne's ward.

"He's wrote about the attack at the school," says the boy. "If he bragged about that, maybe he mentioned the first assault also."

Nodding, Batman flips through the journal some more. "We should turn this over to Gordan, but I want to take it back to the 'cave and get copies of it to work with."

Seeing motion, Batman glances up from the journal and watches as Robin rubs his arms with his gloved hands.

"If you want to leave, there's no shame in it," says the older man, closing the journal and tucking it into his belt.

"No, I need to finish this," replies Robin, walking over to the closet and opening the door.

Looking through the closet, Robin studies how the clothing is hanging. "Most of the empty hangers are off to the side, but there are four hangers that are mixed in with the clothing and one on the floor."

"He must have deserted this apartment. Yarsmith is smart. He knows it would only be a matter of time before someone made his prints," replies Batman.

Seeing the brave face that his partner was trying to keep, Batman knew that Robin was approaching a breaking point and wanted to get the boy out of the apartment.

"There's nothing here," says the Dark Knight, knowing that he would come back alone to finish his examination of the apartment later. "We'll take the journal and see what we can get out of it."

"Batman, you realize that a man as thorough as this one wouldn't have accidentally left the journal behind," says Robin, as he walks out of the bedroom. "He wanted it to be found."

"I know," replies the older man, as he also exits the bedroom and strides over to the broken window. "Let's go."