Money!

Li Jie climbed back into the police car, floored the accelerator, and raced back to the Police Department.

Just as he had expected, the Police Department was still ablaze with lights. When he stepped into the lobby, he discovered that not a single one of the veteran detectives had managed to escape. They all sat slumped at their desks, making a show of studying case files. Even the back-office staff were carrying stacks of documents, constantly coming and going. The Chief stood in the middle of the room, holding a photograph and speaking at length to a female reporter and a cameraman shouldering a heavy camera.

"I've always emphasized that crimes against children must never be tolerated or excused, and that we must pay greater attention to remote, impoverished areas. This time, it was..."

So every last one of these guys knew how to spout this self-congratulatory boilerplate?

Li Jie suddenly felt a lot less pleased with his own speech. He was about to sneak past along the wall when Bob, who had already spotted him, called out.

"Look, our officer on the scene is back. He's the one who discovered those two poor children, who were nearly starving to death, during a follow-up visit."

Every gaze in the room swung onto Li Jie like a searchlight. Most carried the deep resentment known as overtime, enough to send even demons fleeing. The tiny remainder held a little curiosity, admiration, and professional scrutiny.

"You're Officer Li Jie, the one Chief Bob mentioned? I'm Vicki Vale, a special correspondent for the Gotham Gazette and Gotham TV. Where are the two children now, and how are they doing? How did you find them?"

"They're in very poor condition, and I've already taken them to a clinic. Since this involves minors' privacy, we can't disclose too many details at the moment."

He was eager to get together with Bob and get their stories straight, but Vale had no intention of leaving it there. "If the children's condition had become this serious before you noticed, doesn't that indicate a grave dereliction of duty in your routine work?"

All right, you asked for it...

Li Jie cleared his throat. "Not at all. We strictly adhere to the Chief's two commitments and two priorities: a commitment to on-site visits, a commitment to long-term observation, priority attention to community conditions, and priority attention to resource allocation. We've also taken the following measures..."

Li Jie droned on for over fifteen minutes. Even the camera on the cameraman's shoulder began to tilt involuntarily. By the time he reached "Nineteenth, strengthening operational guidance and reinforcing the development of future personnel," even Vale could take no more and hastily cut him off.

"Okay, hold on a moment, Officer. I think... we should go to the clinic and check on the two children first. We'll interview you again when we get the chance. Goodbye!" With that, she led the cameraman out at a run, jumped into their news van, and vanished into the night.

"All right, anyone who's off duty can go." Bob waved a hand, and a whole crowd immediately stood up and headed out, grumbling all the way. He called Li Jie into his office, closed the door, and asked, "What are you up to now? One afternoon showing two rookies around, and you manage to make the news?"

"Originally, I was just worried those two kids really would starve to death at home. But then I had an idea." Li Jie looked up at the ceiling, reviewing his plan. "Of the biggest hot-button issues right now, high-level sex scandals, international affairs, AIDS, racial divisions, and so on aren't things we can get involved in. But crimes against children almost always draw attention, and taking a stand against them automatically puts you in the right."

He looked at Bob with some uncertainty. "If we could take over... at least part of the follow-up care, the boost to your reputation and the Police Department's would be immeasurable."

"You're right, but it's not that easy." Bob thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "Child Protective Services won't give up such a lucrative racket. You'd be undermining their foundation."

"That's why I want to give it a try with these two kids. I took them straight from their home to Doctor Thompkins's clinic. She'll provide documentation."

"Once in a while, perhaps. As a long-term arrangement, absolutely not."

Bob got up, walked to the door, and checked the lock again. Then he glanced outside and pulled the curtains shut.

"Kid, you may have been born in Gotham, but you're still young. People my age all know a nursery rhyme that's been passed down for generations in this city."

Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time.

Watching Gotham City from the shadows, behind low walls and in attics.

They are with you in your home, they are with you in your bed.

Never speak their name, or the Talons will come for your head.

His voice grew quieter as he spoke the final words, and an involuntary shudder ran through him.

"So..." Li Jie asked, puzzled. "CPS is backed by this... Court of Owls? Do you have any evidence?"

"No, it's just a guess. But what if they are?" Bob's expression returned to normal. "I might be overreacting a little. My grandfather used that rhyme to scare me when I was a kid, after all."

He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. "This city has had plenty of unsolved mysteries. People tend to connect things they can't explain with those old, bizarre legends. There's no evidence, but my attitude is that it's better to believe they exist than assume they don't."

Huh?

Before transmigrating, Li Jie had read a little about the Court of Owls. All he remembered was a bunch of mysterious people in glasses, with a pack of Talons under them who weren't particularly bright or socially adept. They apparently also worshipped some Cosmic Dark God.

But... teaming up with CPS to traffic people? Wasn't that a little too low-rent for them?

He shook his head. "That's impossible."

Before Bob could ask why, he pulled a blank sheet of paper from the desk and began working out the numbers.

"For each abused child, they can fraudulently claim between forty-five hundred and six thousand dollars in placement subsidies. Let's use the upper limit of six thousand. An exceptionally rare, highly sought-after child sold into prostitution might fetch three thousand dollars. A child sold into slavery might only fetch three hundred. The average sale price would be roughly five hundred dollars per child. Over the past five years, CPS has lost track of about twelve hundred children. Even if every single one was sold and every subsidy fraudulently claimed, with no expenses deducted, the total profit would be 7.8 million dollars, or 1.56 million a year."

He twirled the pen rapidly between his fingers. "A good real estate agent in Gotham City often earns over a million a year. The best can make several million, or even tens of millions. If what you're saying is true, Gotham's oldest and most terrifying organization probably earns less than a decent real estate agent."

He dropped the pen and spread his hands at Bob. "Boss, maybe the Court of Owls helped you buy that little villa in the Diamond District and charged you a commission."

"Hiss!"

Bob sucked in a sharp breath. "You worked all that out in an instant? You Chinese and your damned math skills! So CPS actually has nothing at all to do with the Court of Owls?"

"Of course not. In reality, CPS probably has nothing bigger than a few corrupt officials backing them. If you don't want to play hardball, they can pay people off, and so can we."

"We can pay people off too? You're not thinking of selling the children yourself, are you? Or..." His expression suddenly changed. "You want me to pay again?"

"Don't get worked up, Boss." Li Jie flipped the paper over and wrote a large 1 on it.

"Step one, we gather evidence and expose CPS's corruption, so people understand and support the Police Department taking over. Step two, our existing fund is for the families of officers killed or injured in the line of duty. That stays as it is. Once those payments go out, we start a collection among the officers for these two kids. It's only two for now, so we won't need much money." He wrote a three on the paper.

"Step three, we contact the newspapers and radio stations and invite them to oversee the whole process, including how the money is spent. You know the public and reporters love that sort of thing. Next, we use the momentum to announce an expanded program that takes in more abused children. Of course, we can't take everyone, just the worst cases who have nowhere to go. We keep it to around ten or twenty."

"Once we get that far, some foundations and philanthropists will donate, and we'll thank the donors lavishly in the papers. The public might not remember who got thanked, but they'll remember perfectly well who didn't pay up. Those people will support you like crazy to bring in funding. Once everyone has donated, they'll try to get their hands in and control where the money goes so they can profit. And then..."

Li Jie chuckled. "Let them explain themselves to the media."

Bob said nothing until he had finished the entire cigarette. Then he nodded. "If it's just CPS, there's nothing much to be afraid of. But we'll have to watch them and get solid evidence before we can do this aboveboard." He opened a drawer, took out an official letter, quickly wrote a few lines, and stamped it.

"Tomorrow, go to the parking lot first and meet the Equipment Division's mechanics, the brothers Fatty and Skinny. They're the ones who modified your car. Bring a bottle of good liquor and five hundred in cash. Then go get that friend of yours out. It's time he did his part."

By the time he reached the parking lot, dark clouds had gathered along the horizon. He decided to buy two sandwiches and head back into the Police Department. He would only be alone if he went home anyway. He might as well make do with the break room for the night and save himself the trip.

As he passed through the lobby, he grabbed a morning newspaper from someone else's desk to pass the time. But after finishing his dinner, just as he was about to relax with some free coffee, he noticed that this time the front page wasn't about the deeds of the philanthropist Falcone. It featured another familiar name instead.

"Wayne Enterprises CEO Bruce Wayne returns after years missing! First public appearance to be at City Hall's charity welcome gala!"

Holy shit! He jolted upright.

That walking disaster was back?

He remembered that before Batman appeared, Gotham's worst criminals had been the gangs. After Batman appeared, every freak and monster came to join the fun. Things that had been dormant, sealed away, or dead for years started crawling out of the ground in one crop after another, like chives.

Sigh...

Li Jie let out a long sigh. Just as he was lamenting the hardships of life, his phone suddenly trilled. He checked the number. It was Clark Kent.

Huh?

"Hi, Clark," he asked cautiously. "Did something happen?"

"Hi, Jay. Uh... it's good news." Clark's gentle voice came through the phone. "Whelan signed a temporary contract with the team today for the rest of this season. If he plays all the remaining games, he can earn a hundred and eighty thousand dollars. If he performs well, he has a chance of landing a five-year contract worth over ten million dollars in next year's draft."

"How much?!"

Li Jie jumped three feet into the air, his voice cracking. The second figure was so unexpected that he completely lost interest in the hundred and eighty thousand mentioned first.

He had earned ten thousand by braving a hail of bullets. A seasoned operator like Bob had to rack his brains to skim a few hundred thousand. Yet the poor kid he had sent off could casually rake in...

Over ten million!!!

Over ten million!!!

Over ten million!!!

He clamped a hand over the phone and viciously shouted the number several times.

Guys, I'm losing it!

"...Mr. Danees thinks he'll become a superstar too. Hello? Hello? Jay? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing! It's just raining here." Li Jie slumped against the window as though all the strength had been drained from him. Watching a stark white flash of lightning streak across the sky, he answered weakly, "All right. Thank you, Clark. Sorry for the trouble."

"Oh, it's no trouble. Whelan also asked me to check whether he could call you. Apparently you told him not to contact you?"

"Tell him to focus on training. I'll go to Metropolis to see him when I have time. I'm hanging up now. I need some peace and quiet!"

"All right. Call me if anything comes up. Goodbye."

Clark's final farewell was swallowed by an explosive clap of thunder. Li Jie stared numbly out the window, his thoughts churning like the ink-black clouds on the horizon.

Was that thunder? That was the sound of my heart breaking...