The mood on the drive back was rather grim. Alfred drove without saying a word.
William sat on pins and needles in the passenger seat. After casting yet another concerned glance at Batman in the back, he finally worked up the courage to speak.
"Mr. Pennyworth, if I understood correctly, Bruce has been through something like this before?"
"Yes, so please don't worry."
"Then..."
"My boy, I would advise you not to ask any further. Strictly speaking, you shouldn't even know about this."
For a moment, William considered throwing out his last Beacon to read Alfred's mind, but since it could only read his thoughts in real time, he ultimately decided to investigate for himself.
"Let's talk about you instead. What happened to you tonight?"
Alfred glanced at the blood on William's collar.
"Well... it all started last night. Casey's younger sister came to me."
William recalled the emergency call he had received from Kate the night before.
He had been about to take his officers out on patrol. Just as he picked up his hat from the desk, the phone rang.
On the other end, Casey kept her voice low, but it trembled badly.
"Gotham Theater... William, help me! My coworkers killed someone, and now... they're disposing of the body..."
Before she could finish, a violent pounding on the door came from the other end.
The call cut off abruptly, leaving nothing but a busy signal in the receiver.
William dropped the receiver and grabbed the keys from his desk.
"Guys, we've got a big one!"
The two young officers were visibly excited.
With Gotham's recent stability, they had only been handling petty thefts. But almost every rookie went through a phase of inflated confidence, dreaming of doing something that would make waves throughout the profession.
Especially when