Let's Solve Riddles

"The construction of this maze is different from what I remember. It must have been modified. Be careful—Nygma definitely set up plenty of traps," Bruce said.

"You didn't need to tell me. It's here."

As Jude spoke, a buzzing sound came from the fork ahead. A shadow flashed across the wall—it was a small drone.

"Move!"

Bruce shoved Jude hard at the shoulder, and both of them slammed into the wall.

At the same time, two gun barrels suddenly extended from the drone's sides. A dense barrage of bullets carved two scorched lines into the floor.

Whoosh!

Two Batarangs flew out, tracing strange arcs as they sliced the drone's gun barrels in half. Then a laser shot followed, blasting the little thing into pieces.

The two continued forward and arrived at the fork.

Jude frowned. "Three paths, but there are only two of us. How do we choose?"

"Don't worry. Knowing Nygma, there must be a riddle hidden here," Bruce said.

Sure enough, as they approached, they found a sentence engraved into the ground at each of the three entrances.

Left: Gordon is here.

Middle: Gordon is not here.

Right: Gordon is not on the left.

Only one of the three paths was correct, and only one of the three statements was true.

Jude nearly laughed when he saw the question. For them, this elementary logic puzzle did not even count as beginner level. A little hypothetical reasoning was enough to find the answer.

First, if the statement on the left was true, then the middle one was false. "Gordon is not here" would become "Gordon is here," creating a contradiction between the left and middle paths. So it could be ruled out.

Second, if the statement in the middle was true, then the left one was false. "Gordon is here" would become "Gordon is not here," while the statement on the right, "Gordon is not on the left," would become "Gordon is on the left." That created a contradiction between left and right, so it could be ruled out as well.

But if the statement on the right was true, then the one on the left was false. "Gordon is here" became "Gordon is not here," which was not contradictory. The middle statement, "Gordon is not here," became "Gordon is here." It fit perfectly.

"Middle path!"

Jude and Bruce spoke at the same time. They exchanged a glance, then continued down the middle passage.

In the Batcave, Alfred wrote the words "Spade K" on a piece of paper, then grabbed at his already thin, shedding hair as he racked his brain.

"What are you doing, Alfred?" Batgirl Stephanie Brown asked as she walked over after treating her wounds.

"Oh, Miss Brown. It's wonderful that you're here. Come help me solve a riddle."

Stephanie looked puzzled. "A riddle? This isn't the time to play games!"

"No, it isn't a game. It's a clue left by the Riddler. Master just told me that there's another conspiracy behind these villains, and the answer is hidden within Spade K."

Hearing that, Stephanie did not dare delay. She immediately looked at the words "Spade K" on the paper, but she was just as baffled.

"Alfred, has a gang called Spade K appeared in Gotham City recently?"

Butler-Man shook his head. "No. Or perhaps there is one, but it certainly has fewer than ten members. Otherwise, I would know about it."

"Then is there any place called Spade K? Maybe it was a codename from a long time ago. You've seen a lot—think about it."

Butler-Man shook his head again. "I am certain. There is no such place."

"What about a person? Does anyone use Spade K as a codename?"

Alfred still shook his head.

Stephanie rubbed her chin in confusion. "It's not a person's name, not a place name, and not a gang name. Then what does it mean?"

"Perhaps we need a deck of playing cards."

"Do we really? Playing cards always make me think of the Joker."

"We have no other choice."

Inside the maze, Jude froze a suddenly attacking serrated wheel with a single shot, then kicked it apart. The two arrived at another fork, where a line of text had been carved above the middle of the path.

The moment he saw it, Jude's head began to ache. It was not written in English, but in an unfamiliar language.

"Bruce, do you understand alien languages?"

"This is Hindi. I don't understand it, but I can translate it."

As he spoke, he activated the miniature computer embedded in his gauntlet. A beam of light shot out and scanned the words. The computer instantly translated them into English: "Which path leads to the cafeteria?"

"Your armor really has a lot of functions. It'd be even better if it could solve riddles too. Follow me—it's the right path."

"You didn't need to tell me. Indians traditionally eat with their right hands and use their left hands in the bathroom."

Sure enough, after entering the right-hand passage, they encountered no traps. At that moment, the Riddler's projection appeared again.

"I admit it, Invisible Man. I underestimated you. Your progress has exceeded my expectations. The next riddles will be harder. Also, every wrong answer will deduct fifteen minutes from Gordon's time. Do your best."

"Nygma, you're cheating!"

"Cheating? Hahaha! I made the rules. What I say goes. Get ready to keep solving riddles."

In the Batcave, Stephanie spread a deck of playing cards across the table, arranging the suits in order.

"Do you see anything?"

A few minutes later, Alfred shook his head. "No."

Stephanie pulled out the Spade K and set it aside. "How about now?"

Butler-Man picked up the card and studied it carefully for a while. "Still no. I told you, I truly am not good at riddles."

"Hey, I'm back. Alfred, why are you holding King David?" Nightwing and Damian walked in.

"What?"

"Spade K represents King David. Looks like you don't enjoy playing cards."

Stephanie hurriedly asked, "What place in Gotham City is named after David?"

Nightwing did not understand what she meant, but he still answered, "There isn't anywhere named after David, but there's a statue of him at Central Plaza. Would that work?"

"That's right, Central Plaza is the target. Let's go!"

Nightwing was completely bewildered. He hurriedly grabbed Stephanie. "Wait, you have to tell me what's going on first."

Alfred quickly explained the situation. Nightwing did not dare take it lightly and immediately put on his mask, ready to leave.

"Wait, I don't think it's there," Damian suddenly called out.

"Spade K has another interpretation. K stands for King, meaning ruler. And Gotham's rulers are the four great families: Wayne, Elliot, Kane, and Cobblepot. They correspond exactly to the Kings of the four suits."

"And if the suits are ranked by order, spades are the highest. That represents the strongest of the four great families."

Alfred cried out, "Wayne Tower! The target is Wayne Tower!"

Damian nodded. Early that morning, when Jude mentioned the Court of Owls, he had also casually brought up the four great families. Damian had not expected that offhand remark to trigger this realization.

Stephanie frowned. "But what if it's Central Plaza? There are a lot of people there."

"No. I'm certain it's Wayne Tower!"

It's the first day of recommendations—please give me some motivation so I can make it through the first round of PK. Thank you...