Once the Bat-Wing landed, the two exited the vehicle and were greeted by Alfred.
"Back already sir? I assumed you two would be at Lacey Towers." Alfred said, confused as to why they were there.
"We need something from the cave before we go there, do you still have the lens from the prototype suit?" Batman asked.
"The first ones you made? Of course sir, but may I ask what would you need them for?"
"I'll need Spider-Man's help to investigate the crime scene," Batman explained. "Since his suit doesn't use a scanner to recreate crime scenes, I figured the lens from the prototype should fit him perfectly."
"Ah, I see. This way sir, they should be on the workbench." Alfred said, gesturing towards Spider-Man.
He led him down the steps to the left where the workbench was stationed. There on the table were big white lenses that were too small for Peter's eye lenses.
"I'm gonna have to do some rewiring here," Spider-Man asked as he looked over the lenses.
"Will they be able to fit?" Batman said, ignoring his comment.
"Yeah, they should be able to work. But I might need to take off my mask to get them on." Spider-Man tells him.
"Don't worry sir, we shall give you some privacy," Alfred said before turning around and returning to the Batcomputer.
"Meet me by the Batwing when you're done," Batman added before walking off as well.
A few minutes pass by as Peter was now working on combining the Detective Lenses with his own mask. It was a slow process, but it wasn't too long before Spider-Man is finally able to put them in his mask. He tests them out by expanding and closing the lenses to see if they work. Peter was tapping it on and off, getting used to the whole thing as it was kinda hard to get used to, being able to scan and read vitals, and other things in the surrounding area.
"Have you finished yet sir?" Spider-Man heard Alfred call out.
"Yeah, just finished."
"Ah good, so how do they fit? Hope that they meet your needs."
"So far they work pretty well."
"Very good. Master B-, I mean Batman is waiting by the Batwing for you. Best not to keep him waiting." Alfred said.
Spider-Man nodded his head and made his way toward the Batwing. As Batman saw him approach, he asked "Are you ready to go now?" Spider-Man responded with a quick nod as Batman activated the Batwing. They both hopped in before the Batwing sped off to Lacey Towers.
"Wow. This is what you look at all day? No wonder you're nocturnal." Spider-Man scoffed.
"Alfred. Get GCPD to take a look at the Final Offer, moored at Dixon Docks." Batman said as they headed for the Batplane. "They'll find Slade Wilson tied up and waiting for them, along with some of Penguin's illegally obtained weapons."
"Another anonymous tip? Will do, sir." Alfred said in an annoyed tone.
Once the two heroes left the Cave and leaped into the city once again. They were now making their way for Lacey Tower,
"So, which way is it to Lacey Towers?" Spider-Man asked Batman once he landed.
"We can't go there yet. First, we'll need to take out the police in the area. The cops investigating this crime should have a relay station set up. It will look like a mobile satellite dish, probably on a rooftop."
"Oh, you mean like right there?" Spider-Man said while gesturing towards a rooftop nearby that was surrounded by three police guards.
Batman then glided down and kicked the nearby guard and sent him flying toward the other guards. Spider-Man then landed on one other the other guards before webbing down to the roof. Batman then quickly knocked out the last two guards before taking out his Cryptographic Sequencer.
"What are you doing?" Spider-Man asked as he walked up to him.
"Hacking into the satellite to listen to the GCPD broadcast." He answered.
"Rubio, what's your twenty?" Came a voice through Batman's device.
"On the balcony for a smoke with Jimenez."
The two then spotted two SWAT guards walking out of the nearby building toward the balcony.
"Those men on the balcony, that could be our way in," Batman stated.
As the heroes began to position themselves above the guards, they heard them discussing the murder. Spider-Man was quick to land on a water tower while Batman landed on a gargoyle from above.
"Open and shut case. Penguin murdered Black Mask and his lady friend. I mean we found the bastard's stubby-like fingerprints right by the bodies."
"Yeah, we got Penguin now. I like to see him squirm outta this one. Fingerprints. Two dead bodies. He's 'bout to do some time."
"Yeah, 'cept Forensics'll take all the credit, and I'm the one who found the prints."
"That's why we're called first response. First pickin's on the loot, but none of the glory. Me? I'd take the loot over the glory any day."
Those were the last words spoken before both Batman and Spider-Man jumped down on top of them and knocked them out. Since there were only the two of them, the two were able to make quick work of the situation.
"After you," Spider-Man said in an upper-class accent as he opened the door for Batman.
Batman just scowled at him before entering with Spider-Man behind him. "It's going to be a long night."
"Well, only if you look at it like that," Spider-Man said as he followed him.
Once the heroes entered the room, they were met with a horrific sight. Two dead bodies, one hung up on a chandelier and the other one was on the ground, a broken glass table, and burn marks on the ground. Spider-Man felt a wave of anger and sadness wash over him. He should have been here, he should've stopped this. He clenched his fist till he could feel his knuckles turn white.
Batman saw his hand and could see that this was eating him up inside. He could tell what he was thinking. "There's nothing you could have done to stop this."
"But-"
"Listen, you can't always save everyone." Batman brought him back to the reality of the situation. "All we can do now is find out who did this and stop them from claiming any more victims. Are you going to be able to do that?"
Spider-Man looked at the ground and sighed before looking back at Batman. "Yeah, I can do that."
"Good," Batman said as he started to look around the area. "Now, The police believe Penguin murdered Black Mask, but why would he send us here if he was the killer? It doesn't add up."
Batman then turned on his Detective Mode and began to scan the fingerprints of the victim on the floor.
Once Batman finished scanning the victim's fingerprints he said, "This crime took place days ago. The fire and the exposure to the elements make identifying the victims difficult. The male victim is wearing a black mask, but I can't positively identify him as Roman Sionis without a DNA analysis, something I can't do in the field."
Batman turned around and was about to scan the female victim but saw that Spider-Man was one step ahead of him. He was facing the victim while hanging upside down from a web that was attached to the ceiling.
Alright how do I work th- Spider-Man cut off his train of thought when he felt his lenses zoom in on the hand of the victim and the scanner began to, well, scan the fingerprints.
Once the results from the scan appeared in his vision, he turned his head to Batman
"Looks like the female victim is Tiffany Ambrose. Roman Sionis' girlfriend, or one of them, at least. She was many things, but an angel wasn't one of them. A long list of priors. But nothing to indicate that she was the target here."
Batman turned towards the burnt area on the ground and began scanning the traces of fire. "The fire spread as a result of a Molotov cocktail thrown into the room. It may have been intended to destroy evidence." He said that a recreation of the crime scene showed a man throwing a Molotov. Not only was Batman able to see this, but Spider-Man could as well.
Batman then turns around and scans the victim. "The shallow trajectory of the bullet suggests the shooter could be someone of Penguin's height'." Batman states as the recreation shows Penguin shooting the victim.
"True, but the grooves on the floor suggest that the victim was killed by someone leaning back in a chair," Spider-Man concludes as the recreation changes to show someone sitting in a chair and shooting the victim.
Once the recreation ends, Spider-Man looks up and scans the other victim. "This bullet was fired from a revolver. Ballistics analysis indicates a low angle of trajectory. The shooter could have been Penguin or someone of his height." He says as the recreation shows Penguin once more.
"Hmm, but the pattern in the gunpowder residue suggests the bullet was actually fired by someone lying on the ground," Batman responds as the recreation replaces Penguin and instead shows two men on the floor and one of them firing a gun at Tiffany.
Batman sees a handprint on the wall next to the body and scans it. "These fingerprints are a match for the Penguin. But they're on top of the soot from the fire. The cops were right, Penguin was in the room. But these prints prove he was here AFTER the murders were committed. If he didn't kill Black Mask, who did…? The only thing we know for certain is that Tiffany's shooter was lying on the floor. But why?"
"Hang on, I got something here," Spider-Man says crouching down.
"What?"
"These white streaks are shoe polish. Whoever shot Tiffany was being dragged along the floor," he says, turning his head toward Batman.
"So, besides the victims, there were two other people in the room: Tiffany's shooter, and whoever was dragging the shooter. The location from which the male victim was shot may tell us more." Batman says as he moves towards the broken table. Once he's close enough, he spots the blood on the floor and begins scanning it.
"The DNA here doesn't belong to either of the victims," Spider-Man commented. "Maybe it belongs to the shooters?"
The recreation shows one man tackling another through the table and beginning a fight. "Could be. Hmm." Batman says as the recreation plays again. "The fight broke out when someone startled the shooter. It's not clear who won the fight. It could have been either one of them. We should review the evidence to see if we can learn anything more about either the intruder or the shooter."
As the two rewind the scene before them, Batman noticed a piece of fabric sticking out from the edge of the door that led to the balcony. He quickly scanned it for analysis and told Spider-Man the results.
"Fabric analysis indicates the intruder was wearing a white suit or sports jacket. This fabric swatch could help identify the intruder, but I still can't identify the male victim's shooter. There's one impact area we haven't checked for clues."
"I'm on it," Spider-Man said as he searched the kitchen area for clues until coming across blood on the counter.
As the scene played out in front of them, Spider-Man began reading off the analysis.
"This DNA is from the Tiffany. The looks of things, I had to guess it has been here for several days." Spider-Man told his partner.
"If we review the evidence, we may be able to find out what she was doing when she was attacked," Batman said as the reenactment ended.
Batman once again reminded the scene. When they watched it again, Batman saw a phone had been knocked to the floor next to him.
"What did you find?" Spider-Man asked after Batman had stayed silent for a few seconds.
"She was sending text messages to Roman Sionis, about someone named 'The Joker.'" Batman tells him
"Uh, who?" Spider-Man asked.
"Never heard of him." Batman shrugged. "And that has me worried."
"You look worried?" Spider-Man joked.
Batman ignored his comment as he began piecing together what happened. "Someone killed Black Mask, but this crime took place several days ago, and we saw Black Mask earlier tonight. The only answers I have raise more questions: Who is 'the Joker'? Was he the killer here? Or is he one of the assassins? We have a body, an unknown shooter, and an unknown assailant who attacked the shooter. I need to match the DNA samples against the records in the National Criminal Database to identify who was in the room."
After he finished speaking, Batman quickly contacted Alfred. "Alfred, we need access to the National Criminal database."
"Well, the only way to do that would be to infiltrate the Gotham City Police Department."
"Then that's where we're going." Batman stated.
"Sirs. You two need to physically hack into their servers. If you insist on doing something that foolish you'll need a powerful nonlethal weapon. I recommend using your concussion detonator. It is in the Batplane, sir."
"Not a bad idea," Batman said.
Once Batman ended the transmission, Spider-Man decided to add his thoughts to the plan. "You're not serious about breaking into the GCPD, are you?" He asked, hoping that he wasn't serious. He was answered with silence as Batman left the room. "Oh, I hope Yuri doesn't have contacts at GCPD."
As soon as Spider-Man was able to catch up to Batman, he saw Batman leaping on top of a SWAT officer who thought that bringing a shield to fight the vigilantes was a good idea. Once Batman knocked him out, the two quickly left the building. Once outside, Batman called in the Batwing to pick them up. As soon as it was above their heads, they quickly grappled/webbed up to it and made their way across the city towards the GCPD.