"But what's the use of all these?" Bruce wondered. Batman was now a thing of the past, and whenever he put on the bat suit, he would become everyone's punching-bag.
Even if he wanted to assist people, victims would scream and run away at first sight of him, just like seeing a ghost, making no cooperation whatsoever.
Bruce lowered his head, planning to move forward when he heard the sound of a vase breaking from a room inside the theatre, not far from where he stood.
Bruce instinctively turned his head towards the room where the noise was coming from. The room was emitting a warm, inviting glow, but at the same time, the shadow that blocked the light became incredibly clear.
A silhouette of a woman dressed in formal attire staggered towards the window, gave it a couple of hard knocks, and then slowly dropped on the ground.
Bruce's eyes widened, not wasting a moment to sprint towards the window. As he looked closely at the ground from the base of the wall, he realized that there was blood where the woman had knocked the window, indicating her critical condition.
The room was on the third floor on the east side of the theatre. Bruce quickly started looking for a way to reach the third floor, but the theatre only had one entrance. There was no backdoor. His fastest way would be scaling the wall.
Bruce located a drainpipe in the corner of the wall and climbed up, moseying onto the balcony of the room from the balcony of the easternmost window.
He gave the window a powerful jerk, making a thundering noise. As he looked inside the room, he noticed someone startled by the noise.
However, his eyes hadn't yet adjusted to the ample light in the room. Bruce could just make out the figure frantically moving and heard a faint, almost imperceptible sound of footsteps, but he couldn't determine the person's appearance or gender.
He jolted the window open with one swift jerk, vaulted over the window sill and into the room where he saw a woman in formal attire lying at the center of the room.
Blood was spreading around her chest, staining her outfit red. Not having the time to think, Bruce rushed over to the woman, pressing his hand against the artery on her neck.
Unfortunately, the woman was already dead.
A group of people barged in just as the door swung open; the man in the lead shouted, "What's going on here? What's with all the noise?!"
All of a sudden, a shrill cry echoed across the room. Bruce looked up and in the bright halo of light, he recognized a familiar face screaming, "No! Miss Vicky! What happened to you?!"
She rushed over with an unsteady gait, but took a few steps back due to the strong smell of blood.
A man emerged from the crowd, helped Miss Goth to her feet and turned to Bruce accusingly, "Who are you? What are you doing here? What have you done to Miss Vicky?"
"Oh my God! Mr. Wayne!" Another scream broke out. Lady Goth walked out from the crowd. She seized Mr. Whit by the arm, saying, "Mr. Whit, you might not recognize him. This is Bruce Wayne!"
"Mr. Wayne, what are you doing over there? Come over here! That corpse might...I mean... you should really stay away from all that blood," Lady Goth motioned Bruce over with concern.
Bruce rose to his feet, looking at the group. Nine people were present, Mr. Whit in the center, with Lady Goth and her daughter to the right, and another stout man standing together with them.
Another young man who bore some resemblance to Whit stood on the left, with the owner of Angelica Theatre Troupe by his side.
A large man was pushing his way through the crowd to reach Vicky's side. He cried out, "No! Vicki! What has happened to you? Someone call a doctor! Quick!"
"Alex, stay calm!" An older actor rushed forward, grasping Alex's shoulder.
Bruce saw Alex was an incredibly handsome man with long hair and armor costume on, a clinking sound emanating from the armor as he dropped to his knees.
Two other men were present, one holding a makeup brush, likely a makeup artist for the theatre, the other carrying a notebook, possibly a prop master.
The crowd of ten or so people filled up the entire room, and in a while, the police arrived.
Gordon rubbed his forehead as he saw Bruce. He flicked the hem of his coat behind him with one hand, ran the other over his cheeks, and asked Bruce, "What are you doing here?"
Bruce remained silent, his eyes on the dead body.
Just then, Lady Goth stepped forward and said to Gordon, "Mr. Wayne might have been here out of admiration. After all, every mailbox in our estate received a program from the Angelica Theatre Troupe…"
"Backstage visits are permitted before the performance in East Coast theatre circles. I believe that's Mr. Wayne's reason for being here, just like us."
Lady Goth gave a long explanation on Bruce's behalf. But at this point, Mr. Whit voiced his suspicion. "He was already here when we entered the room. He was the first to touch the body. He's highly suspicious…"
Lady Goth kept casting meaningful glances at Whit, but he ignored her. Miss Goth sobbed on one side, Alex wailing on his knees, others looking in disbelief.
Gordon was irked by the chaotic scenario. He ordered everyone to leave the room, divided them into several groups, and had them wait in separate rooms for questioning.
He first called for Bruce and asked, "So what's your story, anyway? Didn't I already tell you? You should lie low these days. Otherwise, you might actually end up being on a wanted list. Hold on, why aren't you wearing your uniform?"
Only then did it dawn on Gordon that it was Bruce Wayne who was present, not Batman. But how could Bruce Wayne be involved in a murder case?
This situation was beyond anything he had anticipated. There was one principle that Gordon was painfully aware of: if either Batman or Shiller appeared at a murder scene, it spelled trouble for the case.
With a hand pressing his temple, Gordon looked at Bruce and asked, "Alright then, what did you see? Who killed the female lead of the theatre troupe?"
Bruce shook his head and replied, "I don't know."