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chemistry, and art. He made a thoughtful noise at the back of his throat.  Chemistry?
He flipped to a photo of Jack Napier, then glanced up at his butler.
 Let s go shopping, Alfred.
PANIC GRIPS GOTHAM! the Globe headline read. CONTAMINATED PRODUCTS CLAIM 13
LIVES! WHO IS THE MYSTERIOUS  JOKER ?
An anchorwoman looked out of the TV screen. Her complexion wasn t very good, was it? And look
at those bags under her eyes.
  six new deaths, she was saying,  with no clues as to the Joker s deadly weapon.
The camera shifted to an anchorman, one with a big, ugly zit on his nose.
 And what is the pattern? he added,  beauty and hygiene products, cologne, mouthwash, underarm
deodorant 
The camera was back on the anchorwoman. My, she didn t look very good at all. Her hair was all
frizzy. She didn t have any eyebrows. You could see every wrinkle on her middle-aged face!
 Or worse yet, she said,  there may be no pattern. The search goes on through Gotham s shopping
nightmare.
Gotham s shopping nightmare? My, those newspeople certainly had a way with words, even if they
did look like death warmed over. The Joker clapped his hands. This was getting better and better with
every passing day!
Gordon couldn t believe the mayor had called him in here. Gotham City was under siege!
Harvey Dent was still on the phone. The mayor started talking anyway.
 We re having this festival if I have to carry a shotgun and get people there myself!
Dent hung up the phone as the mayor rattled on.
 Do you hear the words coming out of my mouth, Dent? The festival is on! You find out what this
madman is poisoning us with, and fast! Do I make myself clear?
Dent glanced over at Gordon with a If-you-don t-kill-him-I-will look.
 We re working on it, he replied.
Bruce Wayne wandered into his personal armory. Alfred looked up from where he was oiling a
blowgun.
 Oh, sir, did you see the message from Miss Vale? the butler asked.  She ll be ten minutes late in
meeting you at the museum.
Museum? Miss Vale?
 Am I I m meeting her?
Alfred nodded in that efficient way he had.
Bruce had forgotten all about it. He hadn t been thinking about anything at all for the past day and a
half except this chemistry problem. Was he becoming too obsessed with Napier? But how could you be
too obsessed with someone who wanted to kill all of Gotham City?
Still, he had his own life to lead. Apparently, he had promised to meet Vicki at the museum. She was
going to be ten minutes late? He was afraid he was going to be even later.
He wondered if Alfred had any idea what time he had been supposed to meet her in the first place.
Oh, he was a clever Joker!
He d already rinsed his hair a very attractive shade of black. Now he had to cover his white skin with
the flesh-tone makeup again. There was no use frightening Vicki Vale too quickly, especially after all
the trouble he d gone to. First, impersonating Bruce Wayne s butler to make the date with the lovely
Miss Vale, then getting Alicia after he d sobered her up a bit to call that selfsame butler to
impersonate Vicki and make the date on the other end. It probably wasn t necessary to have invited
Wayne, but the tidiness of all of it appealed to the Joker. After all, why not kill that millionaire playboy
now and get the competition out of the way?
He smiled at his reflection as he put the finishing touches on his face. True, this was all a lot of
trouble, but you had to look your best on a first date.
 Jack? Alicia s slurred voice interrupted his toilet.  Where are you going?
She staggered into the room, half-closed eyes staring through that white porcelain mask she always
wore these days. Such a shame. What could he tell her that her poor, drug-numbed mind could
understand? The Joker shook his head. It just proved what too much high living could do to you.
He stood with a flourish, admiring his countenance in the vanity mirror. Was there anything he had
missed any last-minute touch to make the total effect even more devastating? Ah, yes. He placed a
very special flower in his lapel. Alicia stumbled back a step.
 I m going to the Fleugelheim Museum, he announced.  Daddy s going to make some art.
It was hard to pull himself away from the mirror. But he could hardly keep Miss Vale waiting
especially now, when he was perfect.
CHAPTER TEN
Vicki glanced at her watch. She d been waiting here for twenty minutes! And she was getting angrier
with every extra minute that passed. How could she confront Bruce Wayne if Bruce refused to appear?
Why was Bruce Wayne so important to her all of a sudden? They had had only that one night together
 they hadn t made any commitment at all, except for the one that might be in her head.
She didn t know what to think anymore. Ever since the other day, when those two models died right
in front of her eyes . . . It was like Corto Maltese all over again, a world full of violence and arbitrary
death a world where you could trust no one and nothing could be taken for granted. She found herself
in the middle of a brand-new war, a war where the Joker made up the rules. Except, this time, instead of
a war started by a hand grenade or an assassin s bullet, this battle had begun when the two women
laughed themselves to death the Joker s little touch.
Vicki stared down at the gin and tonic on the pastel-blue tabletop. The café here was very nice, on a
balcony overlooking all of the Fleugelheim. And yet, it all seemed so unreal here in the museum, her
surroundings like a bright, polite coat of paint on the oil-soaked, half-broken machine that was Gotham
City. A machine that was about to explode.
It was the fault of Corto Maltese, she supposed. After you ve lived in a war zone, you can never quite
trust the peace of everyday life. She had lived the last couple of years wandering close to the edge. This [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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