Chapter 13
"Foxhunting"
"Why a fox?" Essen asked the young woman across from her in the interview room. She held up the Halloween fox mask in an evidence bag.
Wendy Lawford tossed some of her red hair behind an ear casually. "Seemed to fit. I am a fox, after all."
But Essen wasn't amused. Lawford and two of her gal pals had snuck into police HQ, blown open the door to the holding cells, and shot up the place, killing two officers, several prisoners in custody, and even one of their own, Gretchen Hardwick.
The Commissioner had taken out the remaining two, Lawford and Amanda Lydecker, badly wounding both. Lydecker was still recovering in hospital under guard, but Lawford had suffered relatively less. Her arm was in a sling now, but no permanent damage had been done. Not by Gordon anyway, though Lawford had tried to slit her own wrists in her cell, hence why she had been put under observation.
Essen continued her questioning. "The bullets you used were coated with heparin, an anticoagulant. Prevents blood clotting, so wounds bleed longer. There were also traces of phosphoric acid on the bullets, which would have really stung. You wanted your victims to suffer. Why?"
Lawford glared at her. "Because Black Mask demanded it. He says pain is truth. Black Mask must be obeyed."
"Who is this Black Mask?"
"He leads the False Face Society."
This gelled with what the Red Hoods had told police. This False Face Society were some big new gang, and Black Mask was their leader, but so far, they had kept to the shadows, their intentions unknown.
"What do they want?" Essen asked. "The 'False Face Society'?"
Lawford's youthful, heavily made-up features hardened. "To rule this city."
Essen doubted that Lawford or Lydecker knew anything important about the Society's operations. Their use as assassins for the Red Hoods showed that they were considered expendable, as Hardwick had unfortunately discovered. Whoever this Black Mask was, he inspired either great loyalty in his followers… or great fear, to make them shoot each other and attempt suicide.
She knew that Lawford, Hardwick and Lydecker were dubbed the "Terrible Trio" in the society papers, infamous for being seen and causing scenes across town. Their fathers all owned big corporations and employed the services of the law firm of Fisk, Shackley and Volper, well known for getting the rich and powerful out of trouble.
"Why would a trio of well-off, carefree girls like you three want anything to do with a crime gang?" Essen asked.
Lawford shrugged, wincing slightly from her wounded arm. "For fun."
"For fun?"
"Yeah. We were bored. We'd tried all the usual stuff – windsurfing, skydiving, rock-climbing – but it's so passé now. We needed something new. So, when Black Mask came to us, we're thought 'why not?' Murder, mayhem, secret societies. It was all so cool!"
Essen let her disgust show. Lawford showed absolutely no empathy for others. Was she that far removed from a normal life? Had wealth desensitised her? Or was she just a sociopath deep down?
She was prevented from hurling the same questions at the younger woman when the door opened behind her. It was Lawford's expensive, sharp-suited lawyer. Or, rather, her father's expensive, sharp-suited lawyer.
"That's enough questions, Captain Essen," the lawyer said. He put a piece of paper down on the table in front of Essen. "Following her suicide attempt, my client has been transferred to Arkham Asylum for a mental health review."
"What?" Essen stood, outraged. "You can't do this. I still have questions. What does she know about the False Face Society? How did she and her friends get into police headquarters?"
"Well, you'll have to wait under after Miss Lawford's psychological evaluation is complete."
Essen wanted to wipe the smile off Lawford's face right now. "You need a psychiatric consultant's approval before transferring to Arkham," she said.
"Oh, but he does, Captain," said Hugo Strange, making a dramatic entrance.
"Strange," Essen said, venom in her voice.
He grinned smugly. "I think Miss Lawford will benefit greatly from being under my care…"
As soon as the sun had set, Batman made his way to the Sionis Steel Mill in the Industrial District on the edge of the city.
Racing through the streets on the Bat-pod, he heard Alfred's voice over his earpiece. "Sir, Mister Fox sent me over the information you requested on the Wayne Enterprises board vote. He also informed me that John Fredericks' wife called this evening – he did not return home."
Fredericks was another board member. This didn't bode well. "Did Fredericks vote against Sionis?" he asked, raising his voice against the roaring air.
"He did. And, of the remaining board members who voted against the merger, there's only one more who is both still alive and still in Gotham…"
"Who is it?"
"Sir, it's Lucius Fox."
This was even more alarming. "Get Lucius to safety, right away. Take him to the Bunker. Then send this information to Gordon, tell him to get a unit to the steel mill too."
"Right away, sir." Alfred hung up.
Batman pushed on the throttle.
Gordon met Essen storming up the corridor towards MCU, where he was also heading. She looked furious, as ever.
"Captain, I've just received an anonymous tip. Black Mask may be hiding out at the old Sionis Steel Mill. Get a team over to the Industrial District and-"
Essen snapped at him. "And I've just been told that we've received a different anonymous call on the official tip-line, Commissioner, advising that Black Mask is elsewhere across town. You'll excuse me if I pay more attention to that."
Gordon blinked. His info had come from Batman, of course, but who had sent this other tip-off? Could Batman be wrong? Gordon couldn't take the chance that he was.
"Send teams to both locations."
But Essen still didn't seem pleased with this order.
"Pain is truth," Black Mask told John Fredericks, who lay strapped to the table before him. "It reveals who we really are. Our true face."
Surrounding him, the False Face Society began whispering "False Face… False Face… False Face…" in the cold, dark emptiness of the abandoned steel mill. The dust and flakes of rust drifting down from the high ceiling, and the long-silent machinery and old steel girders lying around, all contributed to the eerie atmosphere that the Mask revelled in.
"Please…" Fredericks said, terrified. "Don't do this."
Black Mask leaned in close to the old man's face, his voice low, stinging. "You must be punished for your crimes, Mr. Fredericks."
"W-What crimes?" Fredericks asked.
The Mask placed the metal poker into the small electric furnace, getting it ready for cauterisation, and picked up a scalpel from the tray of tools beside him. He always loved starting with the scalpel. So delicate and precise.
"The crimes against my family. My legacy. But I will retake what should be mine and punish those responsible. My work is almost complete. And I do so enjoy my work…"
He leaned in, his followers continuing to chant, and savoured the fear in Fredericks' eyes.
Then the main doors to the mill burst open and Batman came roaring in on his high-tech motorcycle, straight for the assembled group in the middle of the factory floor.
Black Mask hissed in frustration. He knew an encounter with Gotham's Dark Knight was inevitable as he made his way through the underworld, but he had hoped to have more of his plan completed before then. The traitorous Red Hoods had already revealed his existence to the police a lot sooner than he would have liked, and that moronic trio he sent to eliminate the Hoods had got themselves captured, probably also blabbing about him. He'd take care of them eventually too.
For now, he needed to escape to his secondary hideout. His followers also knew to assemble there in the event the mill was compromised.
"Protect me!" he commanded his Society, who formed a human barricade. He turned to his two most loyal followers, clad in all black, including their faceless masks. "With me." They all fled to the rear exit.
Batman's thermal lenses had detected multiple heat signatures in the steel mill as he approached, and he concluded it must be the False Face Society. He blazed through the large metal doors and found about fifty of them gathered around John Fredericks, tied to a bed.
As he headed straight for them, he saw someone in a black skull mask. This had to be the Black Mask himself, but he was escaping.
Batman rode the 'pod straight into the throng of bodies, knocking some of them down, but others grabbed at him, pulling him and preventing him from pursuing their leader. All were chanting "False Face" in hushed tones.
He took out a few with well-aimed hits, cracking their ridiculous masks, but they kept piling on him. Some had taken sharp tools from the tray beside Fredericks and were trying to stab and hack at him. One managed to slice at his elbow, slipping a blade in where his armour plates met at the joint, and making him grunt in pain. He needed to end this.
Then he remembered he was in a steel mill.
Activating the electromagnet on his belt, he tossed it at one of the further away Society members, and it latched onto the bone saw he carried. When it ramped up its power, it pulled all the steel girders within range right towards it, along with various tools and other debris. The resulting rapid conglomeration of heavy metals knocked out several of his attackers as they rushed together before the magnet gave out. That took some of them out of the equation.
With the magnet deactivated, Batman threw a couple of shrapnel grenades into the crowd, taking care not to get them near Fredericks. Shielding himself with his cape, he let them rain tranquiliser-tipped shards down on the Society, taking a few more out.
The rest, he easily dispatched with punches and kicks. They were dedicated, but no fighters.
Black Mask was gone though. Several more of his followers had fled during the fight too.
Batman ran over to Fredericks. He didn't look like he'd been hurt, but he was staring wide-eyed at the Batman, terrified.
"Please don't hurt me," Fredericks begged.
Batman felt some regret that this man, one of his father's oldest friends, looked on him with such fear. The innocent should not be afraid of him, although that was the persona he had to now cultivate.
Through the dirty windows of the mill, Batman saw flashing red and blue lights appear. "The police are here," he told Fredericks. "You'll be safe."
He returned to the Bat-pod and drove it out the rear exit, in search of Black Mask.
There was no trace though. Batman scoured the surrounding area for several minutes, but there found nothing, and he couldn't stay too long without attracting police attention. He still strongly suspected that Roman Sionis was the Black Mask, and that meant, with him still at large, Lucius was in danger.
He pulled over behind an adjacent factory and called his faithful butler. "Alfred, I saw Black Mask but he got away. Is Lucius safe?"
Alfred sounded panicked. "Sir, I'm at Mr. Fox's house, but he's not answering, and I can't get a hold of him on the phone."
Batman felt his aching body chill all over. Had Roman already gotten to Lucius?
Suddenly he received a security alert on his phone. His penthouse had been breached.
"Police!" Essen shouted as she kicked open the doors to Bruce Wayne's penthouse apartment.
While she had sent a team to the old steel mill, as per Gordon's instructions, she had followed up the other anonymous tip herself, leading a second team. The fact that this tip had come through official channels, and not Gordon's "friend" bode well. She refused to let the Batman dictate police policy. Gordon may have reluctantly conceded to his uses, but she wouldn't.
It was surprising, however, to be led to Wayne's place, where they'd be told they'd find Black Mask. Could Wayne be involved with this False Face Society terrorising the city? She'd find out, one way or another.
What was more surprising was what she found behind the front door. There in the lobby, lying in a pool of blood on the floor, was a man she recognised after following up leads on the previous tortured murder victims.
Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox.
She quickly knelt beside the old man, checking his pulse. It was there, but very faint. He was still alive.
"Call an ambulance!" she shouted to Merkel, who immediately did so. To her other officers, she instructed, "Search this place, every room." They needed to find the person responsible for this. The person who was Black Mask.
"Find Bruce Wayne."
