Protector Chapter 4

      Robin glared at the strand of white hair he held in his palm. Identical. He didn't need his equipment to tell him it would be the exact same as the hair he had been pondering over not 19 hours ago. Just great.

      “You’re wasting your time, kid. PD went over this place with a magnifying glass,” the woman in a police uniform behind him folded her arms. “You should leave this sort of thing to the professionals anyway.” Robin sighed and stood. That was one thing to be said in favor of the police back in Gotham: A cape comes around, people listen. Even if you were a high school junior. Here, you were fought every step of the way, especially when dealing with Captain Amy Rohrbach.

      “I am a professional, ma’am,” he gave the captain his most winning smile. “I’m not here to step on your investigation. I’m merely verifying any evidence here with some I’ve collected elsewhere.” He pulled a tube from his belt and placed the hair strand in it. His sharp eyes saw something in the dirt on the floor. A shoe impression?

      “If you have any evidence relating to this crime, you need to turn it over to us.”

      Robin clenched a fist, relaxing it again instantly. Rohrback really knew how to be annoying. Talking while he was looking. I mean, come on, show a little respect.

      Never losing his train of thought, he kept his eyes on the disturbed dirt, “My evidence has nothing to do with this incident, captain. Should I find anything here, I’ll let you know.”

      “I’m not leaving you alone at a crime scene,” she frowned. Well, at least she got the hint. Proved she had some brains.

      “Of course not,” Robin turned back to her, smiling and switching tactics. “You have to follow protocol as much as possible in this situation. I understand. I just mean to assure you that if…when…I find something, I will not keep you in the dark. Such as this shoe print.”

      “WHAT?!” The Blüdhaven captain shoved Robin aside and dropped to her hands and feet. The Boy Wonder mockingly brushed the area Amy had touched. Cops were so amusing.

      “How did we miss this?!”

      “In all fairness,” Robin continued glancing around for clues, “it isn’t an entire print, more like a scuff. Certainly nothing defined enough to use in court. And my lenses pick up detail much easier than the naked eye.”

      Amy scowled at him over her shoulder, “Somehow I doubt that would make much of a difference with you.”

      “True. I was trying to be nice.”

      “You’re a regular Boy Scout.” The captain got back to her feet, “So now what? You gonna take a digitally enhanced photo with a mini cam in your glove finger and tell me every manufacturer for this style shoe after thirty seconds?”

      “Actually it’s a boot,” the boy had moved to the base of the crucifix, “thick sole, light weight. Looks like a military brand, or a knock-off of. Very common. Won’t narrow your search by any significant number.” He looked up to find the woman staring at him shocked. He grinned and winked.

      “Told you I’m a professional. And I don’t have a camera in my glove. It’s in my mask.”

      Amy frowned again, “I was being facetious.”

      “Well, you got me. I shall forever be shamed. The dirt there is far too little for a soil sample. It can only tell us how the killer operated.”

      “Which was…?”

      “Interesting, but not important right now. I’m just collecting the facts. Did BPD dust or analyze the base of this crucifix?”

      “Yes. There were no DNA traces.”

      “Well, there wouldn’t be, now would there?”

      “There were also no traces of fibers anywhere around the base.”

      Robin paused, surprised. No fibers? But that doesn’t make any sense...He paced, thinking.

      Minutes ticked by, but the church remained silent. The police captain sat in one of the pews, allowing her young ‘partner’ in a black cape and domino mask to think. Was it sad she was getting used to the idea? She lightly shook her head and rolled her eyes. I don’t even like kids, she thought.

      Robin stopped pacing and stared at the base where he must have seen something. Amy could see nothing. Shocking. The kid was like a bloodhound. How could he see that shoe print and instantly tell it didn’t belong to any of the BPD? It wasn’t even a full print, for crying out loud. She sighed and glanced out the window to the steady drizzle outside. Great. Yet another dreary night for Blüdhaven. She looked back to where Robin had been standing.

      He was gone.


      Robin didn’t mind the rain. His insulated suit and cape kept him from getting cold, and he didn’t care about the wet. He grinned as he brushed back his black hair, remembering how often Dick would mess with his long hair when it was wet. Steph used to say he was worse than a girl.

      …Steph…

      He irritably shook his head. Not now.

      Robin turned his gaze to the street below his perch on the church’s steeple roof. Captain Rohrback stood outside the double doors now. She glanced around, up and across the street. Finally, she stepped back in her parked car and headed east. Probably back to the station, an embarrassing four blocks from the murder scene.

      Rohrback was a good cop, really, Robin mused. One of those By-the-Books types, which would explain her obsession with his age and apparent lack of well being.

      He clutched his grappling line and quickly swung back through the window he had exited from. As he passed through, Robin flipped around, tugging the hook from its foundation and back to his side. He landed lightly at the base of the crucifix statue and he straightened, his cape falling gently over his green and red uniform. Enough thinking, he had work to do.