Hearing Gordon mention how politicians could "change faces," Karl suddenly felt a little uneasy.
He glanced blankly at Harvey Dent, who was standing onstage heaping praise upon Loeb, and immediately lost some of his confidence.
According to the original course of events, Harvey was supposed to have his face horribly scarred by acid in a courtroom and eventually become Gotham's next notorious criminal, Two-Face.
Because of Karl's interference, however, Harvey had never been disfigured.
And yet, the passionate, idealistic young man Karl had once known seemed to be slowly disappearing anyway.
"Don't think too much about it. This is actually a good thing."
Gordon gave a bitter laugh and offered Karl a cigarette.
"If you're as straightforward as I am, you'll never get anywhere in politics."
He lowered his voice.
"What interests me more is Falcone."
"Last night, he suddenly announced that he was leaving Gotham City for good. He was gone before the night was even over."
Karl's expression didn't change in the slightest when he heard that the Mafia emperor nicknamed "The Roman" had left so decisively.
Falcone truly knew when to move.
Even if his enemies figured out what he intended to do, they wouldn't have enough time to prepare.
All they could do was watch him leave.
Loeb, on the other hand, had dragged out his so-called farewell ceremony for as long as possible.
It was almost as if he were afraid his enemies wouldn't have enough time to prepare for him.
Karl didn't even need to guess how many pairs of eyes would be following the former Gotham Police Commissioner on his way home once the ceremony ended.
Karl himself had already sent men to prepare another farewell along Loeb's likely route.
The only difference was that the final destination of this one would be Hell.
"Oh? Falcone already retired?"
Karl responded dryly.
"Then congratulations are in order. He controlled this city for far too long."
There wasn't the slightest genuine enthusiasm in his voice.
For once, Gordon ignored Karl's obvious evasiveness and continued quietly.
"But I heard you were at Falcone's private hospital last night."
"Does that have anything to do with the fact that, not long after you left, the head of Gotham's underworld suddenly announced that he was leaving the city?"
"Who knows?"
Karl remained perfectly calm.
"I was only visiting an elderly man on behalf of my fellow officers."
"I even brought him a bouquet of flowers. That's all."
"If you don't believe me, I can show you the receipt later. It's in my car."
Of course, the flowers had actually been picked straight from the roadside and hadn't cost him anything.
Seeing Karl blatantly play dumb, Gordon smiled.
He glanced toward the stage, where Loeb was already struggling through the ceremony, then reached out and patted Karl on the shoulder.
His expression became serious.
"Whether you want to hear this or not, there's something I want you to know."
"Thank you."
After saying that, Gordon turned around and walked away.
Karl watched his retreating figure with mixed emotions.
In theory, among all the people in Gotham, the veteran cop who had just walked away might have been the only person who genuinely wanted the city to become a better place.
Perhaps Batman, currently lying injured somewhere, could also be counted.
Karl himself was different.
His actions against Falcone and Loeb had been motivated entirely by his own interests.
There had been nothing noble about them.
Receiving such sincere gratitude despite that inevitably left him feeling somewhat ashamed.
The evidence documenting decades of corruption and illegal activity within the Gotham City Police Department had been Loeb's primary means of keeping people under his control.
In other words, whoever obtained that leverage would effectively become the true power behind the GCPD.
"How's the progress?"
Karl quietly spoke into his phone.
"Don't worry, Chief!"
Captain Boomerang spoke with a toothpick hanging from his mouth.
"I haven't screwed anything up!"
"I've got twenty men heading toward the target location at full speed right now."
"There isn't even another car on the road."
"I'm sure we'll find what you're looking for soon."
"The only thing I'm worried about is whether that old bastard Falcone lied to us!"
"Don't worry about that."
Karl spoke casually.
"As long as I have enough leverage over him, he won't dare cause trouble."
Karl already knew that Loeb owned a private residence somewhere outside the city.
What he hadn't known was its exact location.
Falcone had filled in that missing information.
Karl had no reason to believe he was lying.
"By the way."
Karl asked almost absentmindedly as he headed toward Loeb's office.
"What happened with Batman?"
According to Falcone, a small portion of Loeb's evidence was still hidden there.
That was Karl's real destination.
"You mean him?"
Captain Boomerang replied.
"According to the information Jason gave us, we found the Batmobile hidden underneath a cardboard box."
"Then Batman opened the door himself, got inside, and drove away."
"I have no idea what happened after that."
"A guy with a broken back can still drive?"
"Incredible."
Karl understood perfectly well what had happened.
The Batmobile was equipped with an automatic navigation system.
As long as Batman managed to get inside, the vehicle could take him to his destination on its own.
Karl suspected that Bruce Wayne was already lying inside Wayne Manor while Alfred personally tended to his injuries and helped him recover.
"You didn't get a chance to see what he looks like under the mask, did you?"
Karl asked calmly.
"Absolutely not!"
Captain Boomerang answered with complete confidence.
"Following your orders, I strictly forbade my men from trying to see Batman's face."
"I guarantee nobody saw him!"
"Good."
Karl nodded.
"Think about it. People who spend all their time running around in masks usually have issues."
"If they saw his face, he might start coming after you every day."
"Maybe he'd kill you."
"Maybe he'd marry you."
"Either way, it'd be a nightmare."
Karl delivered the nonsense with complete conviction and even hummed a ridiculously dramatic heroic battle theme afterward.
Captain Boomerang felt a chill run down his spine.
For a moment, he wondered whether Batman really was the mentally unstable one here.
After hanging up, Karl arrived at Loeb's office.
Looking around the luxurious and comfortable room, he couldn't help remembering the first time he had been brought here.
Back then, surrounded by frightened people, Loeb had dumped the responsibility of dealing with the media onto him.
So much time had passed since then.
Everything felt different now.
Once Karl entered the office, finding the legendary hidden door was easy.
With magic, there was no need to search for some elaborate opening mechanism.
Karl simply snapped his fingers.
The concealed door inside the study slowly swung open before him.
(End of Chapter)
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