"Seriously, why drag me along to your meeting at Central Headquarters? I'm no good at schmoozing." Li Jie stared at the Gotham Police Department parking lot just ahead and the endless line of traffic, his left hand hanging out the window as he idly slapped the car door.
"Don't sell yourself short, Jay. You left Falcone speechless last time." Bob lowered his window halfway and lit another cigarette. "And stop banging on the door. This is my car."
"Yeah, yeah." Li Jie pulled his hand back inside and joined the other drivers in a barrage of protesting honks.
"What's this meeting about? Black Mask?"
"Yeah." Bob nodded. "But that doesn't necessarily mean anything good."
"Huh? How so?"
Li Jie poked his head out for a look. Traffic ahead seemed to be loosening up.
"That guy Barnes used to work at the Ethics Office and Ethics Committee, directly under City Hall."
"What?" Li Jie froze. "Gotham actually has departments like that?"
"Of course. You still have to keep up appearances." Bob rolled his eyes at him. "Their job is to oversee government officials' professional ethics and conduct. Very high standing. But they have no investigative authority and barely any budget. Even their annual assessment reports are marked 'for reference only.'"
"So they sound completely useless?"
Horns blared outside. Li Jie hit the gas, blocking a Ford that was trying to cut into their lane, and the traffic slowly began crawling forward.
"Of course they are. A bunch of troublemakers who keep shouting about 'due process' and 'rooting out entrenched corruption in the system,' convinced they're the moral standard for all humanity." Bob sneered. "In reality, whenever they run into trouble, all they can do is churn out reports and hold meetings. They can't even get their annual funding review sorted out."