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Chapter 26: A Challenge to the Phantom Thief
At the same moment, the Riddler's video hijacked every major public screen across Gotham.
In the city center square, Darren stood amidst the crowd, his expression grim as he watched the broadcast. He had originally come out to test the authenticity of a new Chinese restaurant, only to stumble upon this massive "surprise."
"Listen closely, everyone watching. You had better not miss a single word, because I will only say this once."
On the screen, the Riddler finally reached the main topic.
"The dead salesman hears the call of the waves. He will be buried at the place where three tilted crossroads overlap. And there, before his tombstone, the vile murderer smiles with abandon."
"Come now, try to guess where the answer lies. Save this innocent girl's life."
The Riddler stared intensely into the camera lens, as if piercing through the screen to lock eyes with Darren.
"Phantom Thief Kid, I know you are watching. I have left a grand gift for you. Of course, you can choose to be a coward. You can let this nameless, pitiful girl die because of you, revealing your cold, heartless true face to all of Gotham."
"When that happens, the cheers and adulation you enjoy will burst like bubbles, gone forever."
The video cut to black.
The Riddler's resurgence and the kidnapping of a young girl sent immediate shockwaves through the crowd.
"Dammit! The Riddler escaped from Arkham? God knows what he's planning this time!"
Panic was written on every face in the square. Darren, having no mood to listen to their fearful chatter, turned silently and vanished into the throng.
GCPD Headquarters.
Gordon and his team had just finished analyzing the video delivered by the Riddler.
"Commissioner, do you get the feeling that... Riddler is issuing a letter of challenge specifically to Phantom Thief Kid?" a member of the Bomb Squad asked uncertainly.
"Not entirely. He mentioned Batman and us as well. I think he wants to challenge the whole city," a Hazmat officer countered.
"But he clearly emphasized Kid. Everyone else was mentioned in passing, even Batman."
"Don't you find it strange? Riddler has been in Arkham. He shouldn't know Kid at all. Yet, just because Kid used a few riddles in his heist notes, Nygma kidnaps a girl and threatens to kill her? Why go to such extremes?"
"Strange? Of course not. It's Arkham. It would be strange if those lunatics didn't do something crazy. The day you understand their logic is the day you should worry."
"Rule number one of Gotham policing: stop asking 'why'."
Gordon, who had been silent since the video ended, suddenly spoke up.
"The girl... why did she have the necklace?"
The room fell silent.
It was true. Riddler kidnapped her because she was wearing the stolen necklace. But why was it on her?
Could she be an associate of Kid? Did Kid give it to her? Is that why he never returned it?
But if that were the case, Riddler would leverage her as a hostage against Kid directly, rather than calling her an "innocent girl who will die because of you." And knowing Riddler, he would have tortured her for information. If he still referred to her as innocent, she likely had no connection to the thief.
"Commissioner!"
An officer sprinted down the hall, shouting. "Commissioner! Someone just came in to report a crime. He claims the girl Riddler kidnapped is his daughter!"
"What?!" Gordon's expression darkened. "Take me to him."
Moments later, in the reception room, Gordon met a weeping middle-aged man.
"I am Commissioner Jim Gordon. You are..."
"I'm Brendan Lawson. Commissioner, please, you have to save my daughter, Janice!" Lawson pleaded the moment he saw Gordon.
The girl was Janice Lawson. She hadn't returned home since yesterday afternoon. Her father assumed she was staying with friends, as she often did. It wasn't until he saw the broadcast on the street that he realized the victim was his child.
He didn't care about the riddle. He only knew his daughter had three days to live.
"We will do everything in our power," Gordon assured him. "Please, calm down. I need to ask you some questions to help us find her."
"I... I'm sorry. She is my everything. Ask anything, Commissioner."
"First, I need to know: where did the necklace come from?" Gordon asked the critical question.
"That..." Lawson hesitated, then confessed. "I found it in the river five days ago while fishing. I thought it was beautiful, so I gave it to Janice as a gift."
"You found it in the river? Five days ago?" Gordon frowned. "That is the stolen Vanaver necklace. Why didn't you turn it in?"
"I didn't think... I just thought she would like it..." Lawson broke down in regret. If he had known it would bring this calamity, he would have thrown it back. "Commissioner, arrest me if you want, but please save her! Riddler is a demon!"
"You won't be arrested, Mr. Lawson. I promise you, we will save her."
"When you say 'everything in your power'..." Lawson looked up with hope. "Does that mean you'll call Batman?"
Gordon's face twitched slightly. He had worked hard to improve the GCPD's independence. Yet, whenever disaster struck, the city—and even Gordon himself—looked to the Bat.
"I'm sorry, I don't know who you're talking about," Gordon said flatly. He could never publicly admit to the alliance.
"Please, Commissioner. Call him. I know you can."
Gordon remained silent, simply nodding once.
After gathering details on where Janice might have been taken, Gordon mobilized the force. One team focused on the riddle; another traced Janice's movements.
Gotham Clock Tower.
Tim and Barbara were dividing the labor similarly.
"I'm hacking the city's surveillance grid to track the girl. You focus on cracking Nygma's riddle," Barbara said, typing furiously. "We have three days, technically. But Nygma is a sore loser. If he thinks he's losing, he might cut the time short. We realistically have two days."
"Maybe we should call Batman," Tim suggested.
"Too late. He's in Markovia with the Outsiders. Relations are tense there. Distracting him now would be dangerous," Barbara shook her head.
Batman was Riddler's natural predator. But timing was everything, and the timing was terrible.
"Barbara... do you think Kid will accept the challenge?" Tim asked hesitantly.
"Kid? Doubtful," Barbara replied without pausing. "He has no connection to the girl or the necklace. He's a criminal, Tim. Why would he risk his life?"
"...Catwoman does good things sometimes," Tim countered. "And Azrael turned around."
"Maybe Kid isn't pure evil, but I hope he doesn't take the bait. It's a trap."
"Yeah. You're right."
Tim turned his attention back to the riddle.
The dead salesman hears the call of the waves. He will be buried at the place where three tilted crossroads overlap...
"This is why I hate Riddler," Tim groaned, scratching his head. "Kid's riddles have a logic you can follow. This? This is just gibberish."
Night, Gotham City Square.
Hours had passed since the broadcast, but the crowd hadn't dispersed. In fact, it had grown.
"Oh my god, I can't believe it!"
"Kid is so cool! Even his text is stylish!"
The giant screen that had played Riddler's threat was now entirely black and white. Bold text dominated the display:
[Edward Nygma, I accept your challenge!]
[When Nyx extinguishes the last torch, I shall come to take the hand of the Princess of Troy.]
[—Phantom Thief Kid]
Next to the text was Kid's signature caricature face.
It was a reply. And a new Heist Notice. Only this time, he wasn't stealing a gem. He was stealing the hostage.
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