Free Batman by Alex Irvine Page A

question was the one Alfred was first to articulate.
    “Who on Earth could pull one of Killer Croc’s teeth?”
    The answer was simple.
    “Nobody, Alfred—not if Croc was in a position to stop them.” It was possible that someone might have tranquilized Croc, but that was much easier said than done, and would have yielded serious collateral damage.
    His mind raced. Why go to so much trouble? And why involve so volatile an element as Jones? What role could he play that another meta-human—a more reliable one—could not? No answer suggested itself, and that sense of frustration escalated. He would have to get the information straight from the Croc’s mouth, so to speak.
    That meant finding a monster that made a habit of hiding out in the subterranean wilderness beneath the streets of Gotham City.
Once more unto the breach.
And Croc wouldn’t be the only threat down there—there was Solomon Grundy, as well. Gotham City’s underground was vast, however, and even though Bruce knew some of Croc’s preferred hidey-holes, he couldn’t just expect to take a quick trip down into a subway spur or sewer pipe—especially not if Croc didn’t want to be found.
    Ironically, his best bet was the Riddler.
    He would provide the answer, or at least a clue. He had let Batman know who his target would be. Now Bruce had to figure out what clue the Riddler had left that would lead him in the right direction.
    Was one of the murders a clue?
    Bruce glanced over at the app timer. 00:22:31.
    The victims had been a software engineer and the contractor who had built the Ace Chemical factory, later adapted by the Joker into one of his favorite hideouts. Killer Croc wasn’t much of a computer user, to say the least, and Ace Chemical wasn’t a place he was likely to go—
especially
when the Clown Prince was still alive. No, his preferred methods were limited to pure physical brutality.
    On the other hand, the Joker’s absence had sent shock waves through the whole Gotham City underworld. They had operated for years with the Joker as the lead architect of their schemes, and they might well be carrying on as if the Joker were still alive and in control. It wasn’t easy to shrug off years of status quo. In a strange way, the Joker’s death had probably affected Gotham City more profoundly than any other single death could have.
    None of that, however, got him any closer to figuring out where Croc might be. Maybe a fresh perspective…
    “What’s your guess, Alfred?” he asked. “Is Killer Croc hiding out in the Ace Chemical plant?”
    “I shouldn’t think so,” Alfred said. “What would he do there?”
    “Nothing that makes any sense,” he replied, glad of the confirmation. “If nothing else, Edward Nigma is all about making sense. So where, then?”
    “Dare I suggest that Master Tim might be able to shed some light?”
    Bruce nodded, and pinged Robin, but got no answer. With a deep frown, he hoped it was Tim’s independent streak causing him not to respond—that Tim was right, and Riddler wasn’t prepared to kill him and be done with it.
    He started to shrug out of the shredded and singed suit he was wearing.
    “I’m going to get a change of clothes, and then go find out.”
     

EYE ON GOTHAM NEWS
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Filed by Vicki Vale
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    “We’re starting to learn more about the identities of the two men killed this morning—exactly one hour apart—on the streets of Gotham City.
    “One, Lucas Angelo, was a software engineer with no known criminal record or associations. He was murdered by an arrow fired from the top of a nearby building. Gotham City police have that arrow and it is being analyzed at their crime lab at this moment. They have issued no statement, but unconfirmed reports suggest that a message of some kind was written on the shaft of the arrow. One witness at the scene said the word was ‘Tick-Tock.’ As in a clock, as in time ticking down.
    “Normally we wouldn’t run with a single source on a bit of