Early that morning, in an office at Gotham University, Schiller was holding a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper when Victor arrived. He asked Schiller, "Have you seen the reports about the fire on the commercial street?"
"I was just reading that part."
Schiller gave the newspaper a shake, then his gaze fell on the Gotham Daily's front-page headline. An entire page had been devoted to the fire in the central commercial district, but the accompanying photo was not of the damaged street. It showed the back of a black-clad figure walking away.
The bold headline read: "Batman—A Vigilante Saving Gotham, or a Hypocritical Actor Putting on a Show?"
Though the headline was phrased as a question, the article had already provided its answer. It vividly described how a reporter arriving at the scene during the fire saw Batman merely glance down from a rooftop at the disaster before hurriedly leaving.
According to the reporter, Batman had looked upon the burning commercial street below without the slightest reaction. He had turned and left without hesitation, as though he had only appeared briefly from beginning to end and had never intended to save anyone.
Combined with the photo of Batman walking away from the fire, the account was highly convincing. When Bruce put down the newspaper, he pressed a hand to his temple and let out a deep sigh.
When Aisha had summoned her father, Bruce had just changed into his Batman suit. Thus, he had appeared before the two children as Batman, and Dick had learned that Bruce was Batman.
Dick had seen the newspaper report as well. Indignant, he said, "You saved so many people, and they actually said you were a coward who fled because you were afraid of helping? How could they..."
"All right, Dick. Have