Bats and Family

The same day...

In the Wayne Manor, Batcave...

Many screens were lined up and in front of it sat a brooding figure with a black armored suit, cowl and cape with a bat symbol on his chest. He was typing something on the keyboard when the cave's entrance door opened and a butler appeared with food.

"Master Bruce, It's time for Breakfast." said butler Alfred.

Behind Alfred an 18 year old boy and a 9 year old boy appeared. They were none other than Dick Grayson, the Nightwing and Tim, the present Robin.

"I'll be there in a minute Alfred." replied Batman.

"So, are you still trying to track down the person who killed Joker, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter and Riddler?" asked Nightwing.

Batman just gave a nod reading the forensic report again. 

"Did you find any lead?" asked Tim.

"No. Justice League Dark has declared that this kind of supernatural even has never occurred before and has no clues about it. I've been trying to find suspects who might have suffered due to these 4 rogues but there is no link." said Batman.

Batman rubbed his eyes and went to the breakfast plate and applied Jam and butter on bread. He began eating the food when Tim went near the computer.

He saw that two rogues had their hands pierced and two had their thighs pierced by a sword. No other lethal wounds on the bodies. He opened the report provided by JLD where they deduced that their souls have disappeared from their bodies.

He could not find any footage of suspects entering the asylum due to cameras being fried. The guards in the asylum reported a fog around the asylum and they went to sleep after that.

"Bruce, how did fog appear at the asylum when the entire Gotham was sunny that day?" asked Tim.

Batman who has finished the tea was startled by the words of Tim. He did find it strange when guards talked about it but pushed it aside due to asylum quite near the river and having time to time fogs.

Batman came near the computer and saw the report. "The suspect has took all the necessary precautions before executing their operation. He might be a magical quiet experienced in his field. Though artificial fog can be created, this fog has caused sleep that means there is a chance that fog was something like a sleeping gas.

How did I miss this? It is too late now since all the traces of spell might have disappeared now since it has already been more than a month." said Batman.

"What should we do now? There is no lead to go on." asked Dick.

"I don't think so. There is something far more suspicious. The death of Falcone and Black Mask. Though it seemed like they died because of their heart stopping, the abnormality was still there.

Zatanna did perform her magic and she was able to found that both of their bodies were under a curse which drained their life." said Batman.

"So, we have a rogue magical running around in Gotham, now?" asked Tim.

"Or there is someone using the rogue magicals to kill criminals." suggested Batman.

Batman started typing and details came out. "Catherine Todd. She owns the Todd Financials and many other companies. She was the one who brought many properties under both of the crime lords. She is the most likely suspect." said Batman.

"Yeah, but our suspicions are more likely to fall apart because her son Jason Todd is the most talked person nowadays." said Dick.

Both Batman and Tim looked at Dick with curious eyes. "Explain." said Bruce.

"Jason Peter Todd, son of Catherine Todd is a prodigy. At age of 7 he passed his high school and at the age of 11 he has attained a dual degree in Business and Literature from Gotham University.

During his college days itself he has used his mothers publishing company to publish two novels "The Red Phoenix" and "The Star Journey". They both became popular among both literature circles and the public. Recently he released a third novel which became even more popular.

He became a famous author at a young age and since a week the news channels have been buzzing about him." said Dick.

Batman kept a stoic expression while Tim had an astonished look. Batman searched for information and found about the two hotels, real estate and construction company, Medical Hospital and Child Care center.

"Very quick success in short time. It looks suspicious to my eye." said Tim.

"Yeah. We can't take any chances in this case because there are no proper leads that point towards a proper suspect. Even our suspicions against Catherine Todd are only based on that she brought the crime lord's properties. The Police can't do anything about it since there is no conclusive evidence against her.

That only leaves with the option that I confront her as the Batman or acquire evidence some other way." replied Batman.

"Are you sure, Bruce? If she finds out that you searched her house or confront her as Batman there is a high chance that she will not keep quiet." said Nightwing.

Batman did think about it. If it had been normal criminals or rogue of Arkham the things would have been easy. He always had problems dealing with suspects who had money and power even using Batman persona. 

Seeing Batman in dilemma, Alfred who had been calm until now said "How about we put her under observation before making any move?"

Batman's face brightened after hearing those words. "That would be better than confronting her without proper evidence." said Dick.

"Very well. We'll observe her during this month and decide our next course of action." said Batman.

The 4 of them didn't even know that they were being watched and it was none other than Catherine. After killing the 4 rogues, she used her Animagus eagle form to track down Batman's place and found out the Batcave.

She used her eagle form to plant a small camera in the right upper portion of the cave. She kept observing their actions and the current conversation was also leaked to her.

"You're good, Bat but a pathetic fool who clings onto the memories of worst criminals. I'll make sure that those rogues names are forgotten forever and you will not find even a piece of evidence to link me and my son." said Catherine with eyes burning with anger while watching from her computer.

"You'll not lay a hand on my son or my family. If you do that I'll burn your entire family before killing you." growled Catherine in her office room.

She closed the camera and continued doing her work. She has already warded her house and caste many protective charms over her pent house.