You Ought to Smile More

The Joker slept most of the day and I tried to busy myself around the mansion. I mainly stuck around Doc because I didn’t trust any of the other guys. Especially Happy. He was way too happy and rubbed me the wrong way.

Once I got bored of being around Doc, I went back into The Joker’s room and looked around. For a criminal, he kept his room tidy enough. I was about the leave so I didn’t wake The Joker up, but something on the wall caught my eye.

I tiptoed over to it and saw that part of the wall jutted out just a little bit than the rest of the wall. Curiosity got the better of me and I pushed against it. The wall moved aside almost like a hidden door and revealed a safe looking door.

“It’s a tornado shelter.” I turned around and saw The Joker yawning.

“Did I wake you?” I asked feeling embarrassed that I got caught snooping.

“Yeah you did.” That was blunt. I pushed the wall back into place and watched the Joker cringe as he stretched. I’ve never been shot so I can only imagine how bad it feels.

“Can I check it please?” The Joker eyed me before nodding. I walked over to him and check to make sure he hadn’t bled through the bandages.

“Before you got back, I saw the news. You guys really beat up my car. I liked that one too,” I mumbled.

“I’ll get you an even better car, Doll Face,” he joked and then pulled on a white v-neck shirt once I was done inspecting him. He walked over to his desk and sat down. Here comes boredom all over again. I sat down on the bed and just stared at The Joker while he worked.

“Will you stop staring at me?” he grumbled but kept writing.

“There’s nothing else to do. I’m dead to Gotham and I'm stuck in a mansion full of wanted criminals…” I replied. The Joker sighed and put his pen down.

“Why don’t you do something productive?”

“Like…?”

“I don’t know Caprice! Wait you’re Italian right? Can you speak Italian?” he asked.

“I know enough, but I’m not quite fluent. What are you getting at?” I asked scooting away from him on the bed. The Joker rolled his eyes and motioned for me to come closer to his desk.

I walked over to him and he handed me a tape recorder and a pen and piece of paper.

“Maroni sent a message to some of his dealers and it’s in Italian. It will take me too long to translate it so you do it. Now leave me alone.” he shooed me away so I went back to the bed.

“La nuova spedizione sarà sul quindicesimo così lei deve incontrare la nave dai bacini quella notte. La parola in codice è Mary Jane. Il nome del primo uomo è Paul e le darà le chiavi al camion che tiene le droghe. Restituire il camion al quartier generale e la pagherò poi.” I rolled my eyes.

“He has a shipment of marijuana coming on the 15th.” The Joker raised his eyebrows and made me read him the translation.

“The new shipment will be on the fifteenth so you need to meet the ship by the docks that night. The code word is Mary Jane. The lead man's name is Paul and he will give you the keys to the truck holding the drugs. Bring the truck back to headquarters and I'll pay you then.” The Joker started scribbling more notes onto his legal pad and smiled evilly.

“Should I be worried?” I asked curious.

“No, Doll Face. I’m just going to get a little payback. Maroni will think twice before trying to take me out again.” I gave him the translation and the recorder before jumping back onto the bed.

“Where did you learn Italian?”

“My parents were fluent and spoke Italian as their first language at home. I picked up most of it. But they died a few years back so I'm a little rusty.”

“Hmm interesting.”

~*~

Gordan stood by the Batman signal light on the top of the police building and waited for the caped crusader to make his appearance.

“Gordan.” The large bat walked out from behind the shadows and stood in front of the new commissioner. Gordan jumped slightly.

“Thanks for coming. You’ve heard about Ms. Mateo’s death correct?” Batman nodded once.

“I’m beginning to think that it was staged. The body in her car was unidentifiable because of the fire and how severe the damage was. Caprice was always a safe driver…

“Not to mention we just found out that The Joker had some kind of control over her. Don’t you find it weird? My theory is that The Joker wanted her away from us so he staged the wreck and took her with him into hiding.”

“Let’s not jump into conclusions, but I’ll check into it.” Batman stepped back and disappeared from Gordan’s sight. Once he was sure he was out of hearing range, he pulled out his cell phone and called Alfred on his way back to the old train cargo units.

“What can I do for you Master Wayne?”

“I need you to check security cameras for me. Pull up the ones closest to Caprice’s office and then cameras on the outskirts of town. I think I might know what’s going on. Have them ready when I get there.” Bruce hung up and went into the train unit that held all his Batman things.

“Here you go Master Wayne.” Alfred stood up from the large computer system. Bruce thanked him and removed his suit and put on casual clothes.

“What’s this all about Master Wayne?” Bruce took a seat and studied the taped for any clues.

“Gordan and I both think that Caprice is still alive, but we don’t know where she is. Our best bet is that The Joker has taken her with him and I think that’s on the outskirts of the city.” Alfred stood behind Bruce and watched him switch back and forth between multiple cameras.

The hours passed and Bruce was beginning to think that maybe he was wrong about where The Joker would take Caprice, but then he found it. He almost jumped out of his seat and rewound the tape to make sure his eyes weren’t playing with him.

A black F250 was driving alone on an old highway and a camera positioned on a street light caught a view of the front windshield. Bruce saw The Joker driving and Caprice staring out the side window.

She wasn’t tied up and it didn’t look like she was hurt. This caught Bruce off guard. Did she go willingly with him? He couldn’t focus on that now. He needed to find out where they were going and then he needed to see if there was any way to get Caprice out of the clown’s clutches.