Alfred, who had been dozing off, suddenly woke with a start. He was getting on in years, and his mental stamina was not what it used to be.
Unlike young people, he could not stay up all night. There was nothing he could do about occasionally nodding off, though he had never let it delay anything.
Alfred looked at the coat draped over him. He remembered it hanging in the living room, so how had it ended up on him?
Right, the apple pie. The young master would like that sort of dessert. It would make a fine late-night snack... no, a breakfast treat.
Alfred got up, hung the coat on the wall, and headed for the kitchen. He remembered it was still being kept warm in the oven...
Uh, the oven was empty...
Alfred doubted his memory for a moment, but considering the coat on him, he seemed to realize something.
He hurried to the living room and pulled a candlestick switch on the wall. The broad old-fashioned fireplace slowly slid aside.
It revealed the newly installed elevator behind it. Even the LexCorp label on it had not yet been peeled off.
Alfred took the elevator down.
In the Batcave, Alfred stepped out of the elevator with an expression that said, "Just as I thought."
Because the apple pie he had prepared was sitting on the table.
And Batman, who had just returned from his night patrol, stood beside it, staring at the empty plate.
"I'm glad you have such an appetite. I added just a little honey to make the flavor richer. How was it?"
Alfred walked over happily as he spoke. Bruce usually did not have such a good appetite.
He had encountered too many things in one night—possibly dismembered corpses, abused children, charred bodies burned by