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"At least, that's his public image," the commissioner agreed. "We haven't been able to
find out anything about his private self, or his past before he came to Gotham City. At the
very least, he's dishonest. Did Batman tell you about Thompson?"
"A little bit. He was the rookie who disappeared?"
Gordon nodded. "From the face of the earth. Once you get in there, don't trust
anybody."
Nightwing stood. "Actually, Commissioner, I came here to talk about more than the
Church of Perpetual Happiness."
"Batman?" Gordon asked.
It was Nightwing's turn to nod. "That's the real reason I came to work on this case. I've
never seen Batman like this before."
"Nor have I," Gordon agreed. "He seems to be obsessed."
Nightwing thought about the strained exchange they had had on the phone that morning.
Batman could talk about the case with him, but nothing else.
"He blames himself for everything."
"Everything?" Gordon considered. "Whatever's going on inside his head isn't healthy."
He paused, as if gauging what else he could say. "Well, now I guess we can both watch
him. But don't let your worry about your old partner make you ignore the dangers of what
you're about to do."
"Don't worry, sir," Nightwing replied. "I won't let you down. Batman trained me
well."
Nightwing, and Dick Grayson, only hoped that Batman would remember his own
training.
The signal had started to work again.
It had been close to sunset, and Bruce Wayne had been eating a light dinner. Batman
was due to leave soon, in order to discreetly guard Winter at that Church of Perpetual
Happiness function. Bruce had rigged his computer system to let him know if there was a
signal or other unusual electronic activity, and had heard the telltale chime as he sipped his
decaffeinated coffee.
He left Alfred to remove his dinner as he quickly descended to the Batcave to investigate.
One look at his main color monitor told him it looked like the same signal, coming from
more-or-less the same place. He couldn't tell any more until he got much closer to the
current location of the device.
It only took a moment for Batman and the Batmobile to return to the road. The signal
didn't waver. It seemed to be coming from the same place he had lost it the night before.
But what could have interfered with it? There was always the possibility of a defect in the
tracking device itself, but if it had shut off, why had it started working again? Big Mike
could have passed behind lead shielding or even bedrock of sufficient thickness to cut off
the signal, too. That was certainly possible, although Batman knew of no natural or
man-made obstacle of that sort in all of Gotham City.
There was a third possibility as well. The device could have been tampered with. If
that was the case, the signal had been set off again as a sort of invitation, and Batman might
be speeding into a trap.
For the first time in weeks, Batman smiled. He'd look forward to a trap.
Gordon met a very nervous Steven Winter around the corner from the Church of
Perpetual Happiness. The mayor's assistant seemed very surprised to see Gordon by
himself.
"Where's Batman?" Winter asked.
"I'm sure he's around here somewhere," Gordon reassured the other man. "In cases like
this, Batman is good at staying in the shadows. Besides, we'll have seven other men inside
the building with you at all times, including six detectives under my direct control."
"Seven?" Winter pushed his hands in his pockets, even though the night wasn't very
cold. "Who's the seventh?"
"That's right. I didn't have a chance to tell you about our important volunteer.
Nightwing will be coming to our little party, too---incognito, of course."
"Nightwing?" Winter asked.
"He used to work with Batman. Now he's out on his own---except for the occasional
special favor."
Winter laughed nervously. "Well, if you see him, tell him thanks from me."
"Oh, I imagine we'll both see him," Gordon tried to answer cheerfully. "We just won't
know who he is."
There was a burst of static on his car radio.
"Seven-four-seven," a voice said. "We're all ready."
"Good," Gordon said to the radio. "Seven-four-seven out." He turned back to Winter.
"The men are in position---three outside, three inside. I'm going to run things from here.
I'm afraid my face is a little too well known for me to do any close-up undercover work."
"So," Winter said as he took his hands out of his pockets, "I guess I take it from here."
"Good luck, Steve." Gordon held out his hand. "This is a high-profile event. They're
using your presence here for publicity value, so I don't think you're in any real danger.
Unless, I suppose, you stumble onto something they don't want you to see. Even then, I
think we can protect you. But find out what you can. Any information you can get may
be vital in helping us to close down this church and maybe find the missing police officer."
Gordon watched Winter walk up the street and around the corner. He didn't like the fact
that he had to lie to the mayor's assistant. On this sort of case, Batman would generally
make his presence known, to Gordon at the very least. For some reason, Batman hadn't
shown.
Gordon had to admit it. He was worried, and not particularly about what would happen
to Winter. He figured that his men could handle almost anything that might happen. But
to see no sign of Batman---he hadn't even sent a message---that could be serious.
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