"Hey, Barbara, got a lead on Two-Face?"
Tim asked urgently, leaning closer to the screen.
"Wow, won't even pretend to properly greet a friend, huh?" Barbara chuckled, and Tim rubbed his head with slight embarrassment.
"No, since you called, I thought you had a lead..."
"Heh. I do have a lead, but it's not about Two-Face. It's about Kaitou Kid. He's issued a new Notice. You probably haven't seen the news yet, have you?"
It turned out that a few hours earlier, the printing presses of major media outlets across Gotham had mysteriously started up at the same time, churning out Kaitou Kid's Notice.
News like that, practically delivered on a silver platter, immediately dominated the evening broadcasts. Headlines flashed across every channel, social media feeds exploded, and even the late-night talk shows paused to discuss the phantom thief's latest move.
"Kaitou Kid…"
Disappointment showed in Tim's eyes.
"Even though I really want to catch Kaitou Kid, Two-Face is more important right now. Besides, Kaitou Kid always returns what he steals, so I'll ignore him this time."
"Don't be disappointed just yet, Tim. If I'm not mistaken, Kaitou Kid is probably targeting Two-Face this time."
"What!?" Under Tim's startled gaze, Barbara sent over Kaitou Kid's latest Notice.
♦—The twins who lost themselves fall into darkness,
Carrying out a hypocritical trial upon the world.
When the gavel of fate falls for the seventh time,
Silver white wings shall descend with the moonlight,
Bringing redemption to that tainted soul.
Sincerely,
—Kaitou Kid—♦
As soon as Tim finished reading it, he felt that something was wrong.
"Twins who lost themselves and fell into darkness, hypocritically judging the world… This can only be referring to…"
"Who else could it be but Harvey Dent, who fell from Gotham's rising star to a crazed killer with two personalities in one body?"
Barbara confirmed it.
"But why? Why would Kaitou Kid take the initiative to go after Two-Face? Two-Face doesn't carry any valuable gems with him. Even though he robbed a jewelry store at a mall last week, I don't think anything from that store would catch Kaitou Kid's interest."
Tim asked, completely baffled.
"Who knows? Just like we don't know why Kaitou Kid throws away priceless treasures as if they were trash after stealing them."
At that moment, Tim recalled the scene at Miller Port, when he had been trapped by the Riddler and rescued by Kaitou Kid.
"Why do I need a reason to save someone? I save them because I want to."
He remembered Kaitou Kid saying those words to him.
"So this time, going after Two-Face, is it also something you're doing simply because you feel like it?"
Tim fell into deep thought.
"Kaitou Kid… I really can't figure him out."
"It does seem a bit strange."
Just then, Alfred, who had been standing beside Tim with a tray still in hand, spoke up.
"What is it, Alf?"
Tim snapped out of his thoughts and asked.
"In the past, the location of the gems Kaitou Kid announced in his Notices was known from the very beginning. That's why it made sense for him to state the time and place of his move in advance. But this time, how could he possibly know when and where Two-Face will appear?"
The moment Alfred said that, Tim's expression changed.
"That's right. If Kaitou Kid were just passively waiting for Two-Face to show up like we are, it would be impossible for him to issue a Notice ahead of time. There are simply too many variables. So that means Kaitou Kid already knows where Two-Face is."
"Or at the very least, he has clues that can lead him to Two-Face."
"That's what I thought as well, which is why I contacted you as soon as I got the news."
On the screen, Barbara nodded.
"So the question is, how do we figure out what clues Kaitou Kid has?"
Tim rested a hand on his chin, deep in thought.
"This Notice doesn't feel very Riddler-like. The meaning is actually quite straightforward."
"The first two lines seem to suggest that Two-Face is preparing to hold a trial against someone, or some group. In that private court, when the gavel falls for the seventh time, Kaitou Kid will appear to carry out his so-called redemption…"
"…Of Two-Face's soul?"
"It's just not clear whether the 'gavel struck seven times' and 'redeeming the soul' are meant literally or are some kind of metaphor."
"Especially 'redeeming the soul.' How would that even work? Is Kaitou Kid planning to give Two-Face some kind of psychological therapy and turn him back into the old Harvey? Is that even possible?"
Tim was completely at a loss.
"It's also possible that Kaitou Kid intends to kill Two-Face. In a sense, that could also be considered redemption."
Alfred offered his own view.
"Hm… to be honest, I don't really believe Kaitou Kid would kill," Tim said, shaking his head.
"From his very first crime until now, let alone taking a life, there hasn't even been a single case of him injuring someone."
He did not agree with that assessment.
"Let's put the soul part aside for now. I do have some thoughts about the gavel."
Barbara spoke up. "Two-Face is accustomed to using a coin to decide his actions, treating it as the will of fate. So I think the 'gavel struck for the seventh time' refers to Two-Face flipping his coin for the seventh time."
"Interesting. But how would Kaitou Kid know how many times Two-Face has flipped his coin? Unless he's monitoring Two-Face every moment of the day—"
Tim suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
"Come to think of it… that's not entirely impossible."
His expression turned serious.
"Uh… thinking about it this way, it seems we really have no choice but to wait?"
Alfred summed it up.
Tim: "…"
Barbara: "…"
No objections there. They could only wait.
"At least we know Two-Face isn't hiding somewhere completely unreachable," Barbara said, trying to lift the mood. "Maybe we can't find his location right away, but isn't that also true for Kaitou Kid?"
"I don't believe my intelligence network is inferior to Kaitou Kid's," she continued. "Since neither you nor I can find any leads on Two-Face, Kaitou Kid probably didn't track him down on his own either. He must have another source of information. We might be able to start there."
While the Batcave was still discussing the direction of their next investigation, Two-Face had already made his next move.
...
In Gotham's Baileys District, bordering the Audisburg District, at a lavishly decorated high-end nightclub.
A gaudily dressed man staggered out, clearly drunk, and climbed into his sedan.
"Let's go. Home."
Reeking of alcohol, he gave the driver the order and closed his eyes to doze off.
After a while, the car still had not moved.
"What's going on? Drive."
The man opened his eyes in irritation.
Then he saw a face as horrifying as a demon, sitting in the driver's seat.
"Ah! Harvey Dent!"
The man screamed in terror.
"Good evening, Mr. Gohn," Two-Face said with a grin. "I hope you've been well."
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