Chapter Five

The Knight of Gotham

Batman was a strange figure among the vigilante group he belonged to, he had more influence than a lot of the members of the Justice League of America. His approach was somewhat unorthodox and brutal towards handling crime opposite to Batman and Princess Diana aka Wonder Woman.

While waiting in the Gotham Police Department for Commissioner Gordon, Joel noticed there were some masked criminals and some members of the mafia that he recognized from photos of different newspapers such as The Penguin who seemed to be bruised but not to the point where he would be left for dead.

Joel was surprised by Commissioner Gordon, his surprise came that he was relative young, roughly in his 40's and he had thick red hair and beard that covered his face, he didn't looked like the preconceived idea of a law enforcement officer as Joel was thinking more of Dick Tracy-esque type of characters, he had a 16 years old daughter Barbara who shared custody with his ex-wife Barbara senior. The guy seemed to have his life sorted, but the aspect that got Joel's attention was that someone who followed the code of conduct of the police was associated with Batman who was the antithesis of law and order.

"Commissioner" Said Joel while standing up and greeting Gordon with a smile. "Is a pleasure to meet you" He said while standing from his chair in the waiting room that had no proper ventilation system.

The inside of the headquarters were in an art deco style, a lot of wood panels and very little painting among the walls which gave a heavy industrial feel to the main floor of the building, there were fans on the ceiling but they weren't enough to cool down the inside that was already within 75 F degrees. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well Mr. Figueroa; common, let's go to my office, I have a small air conditioner there that can make this time better" Commissioner Gordon replied while greeting Joel.

The second floor was a lot cooler than the main floor, there were paintings against the wall and each door was carefully crafted. Commissioner Gordon's office was small, the window led to a view of the main street, it wasn't spectacular but it gave a charm to the office.

"What brought you here is to do an interview with Batman, as you mentioned in your letter?" Gordon asked. "Yes, I have been assembling this book that chronicles key players of The Event and the ascension of masked vigilantes and super villains as what the popular media calls them" Joel replied. "Commissioner, you don't mind if I interview you as well?" He asked. "Why Mr. Figueroa?" "You seem to have a connection with one of the most intriguing figures that is out there, which makes you also interesting" "You have a way with words Mr. Figueroa".

Joel took out his Polaroid and took a photo of Commissioner Gordon, he marked the date and name, after that he pulled out from his tote his recorder and sat down with the Commissioner.

"How did you and Batman meet?" Joel asked.

"We found a common denominator after he helped us in a cold case involving the murders of John and Martha Wayne back in 1919. He has helped the police force with a lot of cold cases over the years" Gordon replied. "You will meet him tonight, be around 8PM and meet me at the entrance of the building, I will escort you to the upper levels" Gordon mentioned while drinking a bottle of water.

Their conversation lasted for 20 minutes, not as long as waiting but he was so close to getting his interview with the knight of the night. He went to his hotel, checked that everything was charging and that he had extra recording tape and his camera was fully loaded as Batman didn't give proper interviews or even appear in press handles.

Joel was happy that the hotel had a centralized air conditioning system, he had around 5 hours before going to meet Batman, and opted to take a quick nap before leaving for a once in a lifetime opportunity.