"A fine job, Batman. You allayed their fears magnificently" said Commissioner Gordon.
"What else could I have done, Commissioner? If I'd told the truth, panic would grip the city" said Batman.
"The truth. Sure. And what is the truth?" said Chief O'Hara.
"A decoy. A strange, anonymous warning that Commodore Schmidlapp is in danger to lure me into a trap" said Batman.
"A fiendish attempt on Batman's life" Commissioner Gordon rephrased.
"You mean, while they were luring you to a watery grave, the commodore's yacht was being hijacked someplace else?" said Chief O'Hara.
"Precisely" said Batman.
"And who behind it? Not a clue" said Commissioner Gordon.
"Tell me, Commissioner. What known super criminals are at large just know?" said Batman.
"I'll check at once, Batman" said Commissioner Gordon.
He flipped a switch on his telephone and spoke into the microphone on it.
"Bonnie, let's have the latest status report on known super criminals at large" he ordered.
"Yes sir" said a woman's voice through the phone's speaker.
"Thank you, Bonnie" said Commissioner Gordon turning off the phone's mic.
He turned to Batman and said "Coming up, Batman, on the closed-circuit TV screen. Come over here".
Batman and Robin did as they were told and Chief O'Hara set up the screen for the status report to appear on.
"Status report. Known super criminals not currently imprisoned" said a voice on the TV.
Four faces were projected onto the screen in the report.
The first one was a fat man in a purple top hat. He also wore a black and white suit with white gloves. He wore a round eyeglass on his right eye. His right hand held an umbrella while his left hand held a cigarette.
"The Penguin!" said Batman
"That pompous waddling master of foul play! Maestro of a million criminal umbrellas" said Commissioner Gordon.
The second criminal was a man with green hair and an ashy white face. His lips were red and the red paint on his mouth made him look like a smiling clown. He wore a suit that consisted of a black tie, a green shirt and a purple jacket and pants.
"The Joker!" Robin gasped.
"Devilish clown price of crime! If I only had a nickel for every time he's baffled us" said Chief O'Hara.
The third face was a skinny man with short brown hair. He wore a skintight green outfit with a fancy looking black question mark on his chest. The waistband on his costume was light purple as were his gloves and mask.
"What? The Riddler loose too?" said Commissioner Gordon.
"So it seems. Loose to plague us with his criminal conundrums" said Batman.
The fourth face was a smiling woman with black hair and cat ears on top of her head. She was dressed all in black and had gold claws on her black gloves.
"Gosh! And Catwoman!" said Robin.
The status report ended there.
"Could be any one of them, but which one? Or... which ones?" said Commissioner Gordon.
Chief O'Hara gasped. It really could have been any one of those criminals unless they were collaborating. But were they?
"Pretty fishy what happened to me on that ladder" said Batman.
"You mean where there's a fish, there could be a Penguin" said Commissioner Gordon.
"But wait! It happened at sea. See? C for Catwoman" said Robin.
"Yet, an exploding shark... was pulling my leg" said Batman.
"The Joker!" said Commissioner Gordon.
"It all adds up to a sinister riddle! Riddle-er... Riddler?" said Chief O'Hara.
"Oh, a thought strikes me... so dreadful, I scarcely dare give it utterance" said Commissioner Gordon.
"The four of them. Their forces combined" said Batman.
"Holy nightmare!" said Robin.
"Batman, could it be?" said Commissioner Gordon.
"I don't know. But I think I know where to find a clue. Come on, Robin. To the Batcave! We haven't one moment to lose!" said Batman.
He and Robin rushed out of the office and hopped into the Batmobile to drive back to the Batcave.
