"Quick! Get your gas masks on and search inside for any survivors!"
Outside the restaurant, Gordon finally arrived on the scene.
Looking at the restaurant filled with laughing gas, his face turned a deep shade of worry. He immediately ordered his officers to begin searching and rescuing.
During a brief moment of respite, Gordon glanced at the people who had already been rescued, but the more he looked, the more uneasy he became.
'No...'
His wife wasn't among the rescued.
"I'm late... Sarah, you must be late too, right?"
With trembling hands, Gordon dialed his wife's number. However, he soon heard the sound of a phone ringing from within the restaurant.
"Get out of my way!"
The moment he heard the ringing, Gordon could no longer sit still. Without even grabbing his gas mask, he shoved past the officers in front of him and rushed into the restaurant.
"Captain Gordon, the gas mask!"
His subordinates, worried about him, didn't want him to do something reckless, not out of personal affection, but because Gordon couldn't die like this. They immediately grabbed gas masks and followed him inside.
When they rushed into the restaurant, what they saw was Gordon kneeling on the ground, laughing uncontrollably.
"Haha! Why!! Haha!! Why!!!"
Naturally, Gordon wasn't laughing willingly; the laughing gas had already taken effect in his system.
His subordinates were immediately alarmed. They couldn't let Gordon laugh himself to death, so they rushed forward and quickly put a gas mask on him.
At that moment, they also noticed the body in Gordon's arms.
Or rather, the corpse — the only one in the entire restaurant.
Sarah.
Others may not have recognized her, but Gordon certainly could never forget his wife's dress.
But now, what had happened to his wife?
Her skin appeared to have been corroded by some sort of strong acid, exposing the red muscle tissues underneath, and in some places, the bones were visible.
Even in death, Sarah still bore the marks of the laughing gas torment, her face frozen in a terrifying smile.
It was the Joker. Gordon immediately realized that the Joker had been in the restaurant, and that his wife, Sarah, must have tried to stop him in an attempt to protect the others, which led to her death.
Her death, Gordon knew, was a sacrifice made to protect others from the Joker.
Gradually, it seemed the mask prevented Gordon from inhaling any more laughing gas, and its effects slowly faded. He no longer laughed uncontrollably, but his sorrow deepened.
"Joker!!!"
Outside the restaurant, now among the rescued, Reid had reverted to his Alfred persona, standing in place with an empty suitcase in hand.
Regarding Gordon's grief, Reid was unmoved. The event had already occurred, and he would never regret it. He was someone from another world with a system, and to survive, all he could do was trust in his actions.
...
As one of the survivors and an important source of information, Reid, along with the other survivors, was taken to the Gotham City Police Department for questioning. It wasn't an interrogation, but an attempt to gather information from their accounts.
However, Reid's questioning was placed last in line, and the officer conducting it was none other than Gordon.
"Hello, Mr. Pennyworth."
In Gotham City, Alfred was not well-known, at least not compared to ordinary people.
As the butler of the Wayne family, one of Gotham's four prominent families, Alfred's identity was well-known among anyone with a little influence. Therefore, Gordon did not waste time asking irrelevant questions.
"May I ask, Mr. Pennyworth, why did you visit the restaurant tonight? Were you meeting with someone?"
"As the butler of the Wayne family, I carry important documents related to Wayne Enterprises. I went to the restaurant tonight to discuss important matters with Mr. Earle, one of the executives at Wayne Enterprises."
Reid did not explain everything, and Gordon, being a sensible man, did not press further. After all, he was just a police captain, and he had no right to pry into the secrets of Wayne Enterprises.
"According to a witness, after the laughing gas was released, the Joker appeared at the scene. Before Officer Sarah stepped forward, the Joker had been threatening two men in expensive suits. Do you think one of them was Mr. Earle and his consultant?"
At the mention of Sarah, a trace of sadness appeared in Gordon's eyes. However, thinking about the need to capture the Joker and avenge Sarah, Gordon steeled himself.
"You're joking, officer. Not to boast, but anyone who dines at a Wayne family restaurant probably has a suit of fine quality." Reid replied.
Bullseye!
Gordon felt as though his already fragile heart had taken a direct hit. Who doesn't have a fine suit? Well, that must only apply to the hardworking police couple. A meal at that restaurant would cost him at least half a year's salary—who has money for high-end suits? He's just a police captain. How could he afford such expenses?
At the same time, Reid continued continued.
"However, if Mr. Earle and his consultant were not found at the scene, it's highly probable that the Joker was targeting them."
"Is that so? So you think the same?"
Gordon nodded. He had already deduced that the Joker was likely after the Wayne Enterprises executives, which is why he had Alfred brought in for questioning personally at last.
Alfred, as the butler of the Wayne family and someone with connections to Earle, was involved in the leadership conflict within Wayne Enterprises. Even as a lowly police captain, Gordon could make an educated guess about the situation.
"The Joker really timed his actions perfectly, right when you invited Mr. Earle to dinner. What do you think the reason for this was, Mr. Pennyworth? Do you have any insight?"
Despite the question, Reid continued to smile, but his tone carried a hint of distance, perfectly embodying Alfred's dignified presence.
"Well, that's not something a mere butler like myself can judge, is it, Captain Gordon?"
...
Reid left without giving Gordon any substantial clues. No matter how much Gordon suspected, he had no proof. After all, the idea that a 70-something-year-old man was secretly the Joker terrorizing Gotham seemed too far-fetched, even for Gordon to fully believe.
Still, with a "better to believe it than not" approach, Gordon instructed his team.
"Look into Alfred's financial transactions."
"Understood!"
The officer breathed a sigh of relief after realizing they weren't dealing with a mafia investigation and immediately set off to carry out the order.
After all, in the current situation where the entire Wayne family had disappeared, Alfred's status in Gotham, while respected by most on the surface, was not something anyone truly feared.
**
**
**
To read extra chapters and support me, you can vist my patreon.
Patreon.com/SilverShark769
Every bit of support is greatly appreciated.