(Written by my friend Minervadeannabond)

Upstairs in her spacious guest room, Jessica was in over her head, all right – in thoughts about Batman. Although she had previously dismissed the idea of his showing up at the library as "nonsense," his sudden (and timely) appearance to dispatch the Bookworm had piqued her interest. Who exactly was this man who, under the guise of a bat and the darkness of night, provided vigilante justice to a city infested with crime? Was he an attention-seeker, as some claimed? Jessica doubted that was the case. If he were indeed such an egoist, he wouldn't wear such an elaborate disguise, nor would he be so elusive.

Was he a lunatic? Again, Jessica had her doubts, although Seth seemed to subscribe to this particular theory. The Gotham Globe had certainly painted him as a loon in the past, which was only one reason why Jessica had asked Alfred to provide her with as many previous copies of the newspaper as he could. Apparently, the butler kept several on hand, which gave Jessica cause to wonder if he himself was a follower of Batman's actions.

A knock on the door interrupted Jessica's wondering. She opened the door to reveal Alfred standing on the threshold, his arms laden with a pile of newspapers. "Oh, Alfred, thank you," she said, as the butler made his way into the room with his burden. "These will be such a help in my research."

"It's no trouble at all, Mrs. Fletcher," Alfred replied, depositing the papers on a teakwood table in the corner. "Although, I must say, I was pleasantly surprised when you asked for all copies of the Globe that reported news of Batman. Am I correct in assuming that his appearance at the library has aroused your curiosity?"

Jessica smiled. "Absolutely. There's something about him that appeals to the writer in me."

"The detective as well?"

Jessica's grin only widened at the sparkle in the butler's eyes. "Alfred, how is it possible that you've only known me for a day, and yet you already know me so well?"

"I have followed your career for quite some time, Mrs. Fletcher. Not only are you a gifted writer, but you have an attention to detail and an intuition that is quite remarkable. In your own way..." Alfred suddenly smiled. "You remind me of Batman."

"Really?" Jessica's eyebrows quirked upward. "Alfred, I can't exactly picture myself donning a mask and bat wings and swooping around town searching for criminals. If I did that in Cabot Cove, my friends would have me committed."

Alfred chuckled warmly. "No, I can't picture that either. You're the kind of lady who enters a room in a sparkling gown and lights it up with her smile." Jessica blushed at his sudden forthrightness – as did Alfred himself, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Anyway. You remind me of Batman because of your dedication to pursuing justice. You operate on your own, separate from the police, very much in the same fashion, and you always seem to know exactly how and why a crime was committed. You put the pieces of the puzzle together in order to capture a murderer, just as Batman does whenever he rids Gotham of a particularly nasty villain."

Jessica was quiet for a moment, contemplating these facts. Alfred's observations were definitely on point, but was it a compliment to be compared to such a mysterious figure? "Some call him a vigilante, you know."

"If I may be frank, Mrs. Fletcher, are you not also a vigilante of sorts? I imagine there have been plenty of times when the police have told you to stay out of official business, but you have performed your own investigations nonetheless. Is that true?"

Jessica was tempted to ask Alfred if he was at all related to Seth. No one else but Seth understood her that well, but Alfred seemed to. Well, he does know Michael. Perhaps Michael told him a little more than necessary about me. "Yes, it is. Since you put it that way, I suppose my brand of crime-solving can indeed be called vigilante justice. Although, I don't need to hide behind a mask to conceal my true identity."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Mrs. Fletcher. We all hide behind one mask or another. It's just human nature."

Jessica marveled at this man's wisdom, and wondered if he was speaking from personal experience. After all, he was the man who had raised Bruce after Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered. "You would know a lot about masks, wouldn't you?"

For a moment, Alfred seemed to stiffen, although his expression remained stoic. "How do you mean?"

"Raising Bruce all these years. Losing one's parents at such a young age must have been traumatizing for him. I imagine he must have learned to conceal his pain behind a mask in public, and only when he's alone, when he confides in you, can he be his true self." Jessica raised her eyes to meet Alfred's. "I can sense that about him. Bruce is the kind of man who wears a mask to hide who he really is."

Something flickered across Alfred's brown eyes. "Your perception serves you well, Mrs. Fletcher." A silence passed between them before the butler spoke again. "Well... I should go and check on Dr. Hazlitt before I return to my duties. If there is anything else you require, please don't hesitate to ring for me."

"Of course." Jessica smiled. "Thank you so much for all your help, Alfred."

Alfred bowed at the waist. "My pleasure, Mrs. Fletcher. Good night."

"Good night." After the door closed behind Alfred, Jessica turned to the stack of papers. Sorting through the pile, she eventually came upon a headline that blared Winged Freak Terrorizes Gotham's Gangland. Her eyes scanned the article, written by one Alexander Knox – the reporter who, if memory served, had made it his business to report on every Batman sighting. According to this report, Batman had broken up a raid on Axis Chemicals nearly one year ago. This raid had actually made headline news in many major publications, for Axis was responsible for the production and distribution of several cosmetics and cleaning products. Rumor had it that Axis was also tied into criminal dealings, which turned out to be true once the news broke. Jack Napier, right-hand man to Gotham crime boss Carl Grissom, was dropped into a vat of chemical waste during a tussle with Batman – the primary reason the story was so sensational. With half of Grissom's underlings scattered to the four winds after the exposé and Napier presumed dead, Knox had put out a report that was both intriguing and scandalous.

Had either Knox or the Gotham Police Department been a little more thorough in their investigations, though, they would have discovered an even greater scandal brewing. Napier, as it turned out, had survived his chemical bath, only to reemerge as a white-skinned, green-haired, scarlet-lipped horror with a permanent grisly smile. From then on, the Joker was the scourge of Gotham, until he met his maker in a fall from Gotham Cathedral – again, at Batman's hands.

Jessica devoured the entire story, moving on to others involving both Batman and the Joker. The elements of the tale included details about Napier's past, the little information the public knew about Batman, and a flood of beauty and cleaning products tainted with a toxic gas called Smilex. The papers, however, did not reveal the contents of the gas; rather, they focused heavily on its effects. When certain products were combined, the Smilex caused its victim to laugh uncontrollably, eventually causing seizures and death. In death, the victim's face would be stretched into a carbon copy of the Joker's hideous grin. One copy of the Globe included pictures of models Candy Walker and Amanda Keeler, both of whom sported Joker smiles. Jessica fought a shiver at the ugly sight. "That's horrible," she murmured.

"What's horrible?"

Jessica jumped a mile and spun in her chair. There stood Seth, clad in his pajamas and robe. "For heaven's sake, Seth, you scared me!" she cried, a hand over her heart. "How did you get in without my hearing you?"

"Simple. I opened the door and walked in. I knocked, but apparently, you were too busy reading every newspaper in Gotham to hear. So, I came in to see if you were all right." Seth crossed the room to examine the papers strewn over the table. "You're reading headlines about Batman and the Joker? Don't tell me you're planning on basing your next book on that story."

"No, of course not. Alexander Knox would have a fit if I dared steal what he claims is his story to write. Ever since Batman saved our lives earlier tonight, I've been intrigued. His battle with the Joker made national news, you know. I want to know what makes him tick. There have been a lot of vigilantes in literature, all of them hiding behind some form of mask. Batman's really no different. Likewise, the Joker is no different than many of the greatest villains in film and print. Every story has an origin, Seth. We know the origins of the Joker. I want to know what the origin of Batman was."

"Keep diggin', woman, and you might get more than you bargained for. Batman may have saved our lives, but he's still a vigilante, and you know how dangerous vigilante justice can be."

"As opposed to what I do, which is child's play?" Jessica asked wryly.

Seth flushed a shade of pink. "You, a vigilante? Jess, I never thought I'd hear you call yourself that, of all things."

Jessica smiled. "Alfred pointed it out to me when he brought me the newspapers. I had never considered it myself, but he's right. He said that Batman and I are more alike than most people would realize, given our shared penchant for tracking down criminals and seeing justice served."

"Hmm." Seth grunted in acknowledgment. "I can't picture you in a black catsuit and a mask, though. You always dress like a lady, no matter how dirty the case you're solvin'."

Batman and I might be a great deal alike, Seth, but you and Alfred are also more alike than you think, Jessica thought, as her best friend echoed Alfred's earlier statement – albeit, without the same sentimental touch. "Alfred said the same thing."

"Smart fella." Seth picked up a nearby Globe and perused the headline. "Duel of the Freaks," he read aloud. "I remember hearin' about Batman's fight with the Joker. Did Batman really kill that monster?"

"According to the report, yes. There have been rumors since that the Joker's body disappeared from the Gotham City Morgue, but if the rumors are true, the press is keeping the fact well hidden."

"It wouldn't surprise me if someone stole the body. You know how nutty some people can get about that stuff."

"Well, Seth, we're dealing with a pretty nutty situation here. The Joker may or may not be dead, Batman is performing vigilante justice in Gotham, and we also have to deal with a possible threat in Max Shreck."

"Shreck? That crater-faced buffoon we met at the library? Jess, what makes you think he's a threat?"

"Don't you remember what he said to Vicki? 'Shreck Industries is going to topple Wayne's empire.' It certainly sounded like a threat to me."

"Ayuh. A threat made purely to impress Vicki. You saw the way Shreck looked at her. She is a beautiful young lady and arrived at the party on the arm of the most influential man in Gotham. It's no wonder Shreck was actin' like such a blowhard; he was probably jealous. I don't think we have anything to worry about from him, Jess. Nor do we have to worry about the Joker bein' alive. He's dead, and that's it."

A gnawing in Jessica's gut, however, told her otherwise. It was the same gnaw that riddled her whenever she was on the trail of a killer, and it was rarely wrong. Something was going to happen soon. What, though, she couldn't say.