Chapter 45: Suspicion. In his bedroom

at Wayne Manor

, Jason sat at his desk, absentmindedly scrolling through Twitter.

His mind kept replaying a recent conversation with the orphan.

"I'm looking for my friend, his name is—Jack Napier."

Jason's first thought was someone he knew, but then he thought—"Jack Napier" was too common a name, perhaps a coincidence.

So he asked, "What does your friend look like?"

The orphan thoughtfully said, "There's a picture of him online; you can search. Jack Napier, the famous actor, Bruce Wayne's boyfriend, recently disappeared."

At that moment, Jason was stunned.

"That's impossible," he thought.

Just yesterday, he had messaged Jack, asking for help with his homework. Jack had refused, but instead sent him several online tutoring courses.

So he tried to confirm: "Are you sure? How do you know he's missing?"

The orphan explained his theory.

"I've known him for a long time. We often chat online, and we're close. Yesterday, I discovered it wasn't him using his Discord account."

Jason instinctively wanted to ask for more details, but then, realizing it might involve their alter ego, he swallowed the words back.

Fortunately, the orphan wasn't shy about sharing more information.

"I shared photos of food from a new dessert shop with him, and he replied, 'Looks great! I'll try it soon. The mint chocolate chip ice cream on the sign looks so tempting!'"

The orphan paused, then calmly concluded, "That's enough to confirm it wasn't him—his previous comment on mint-flavored food was, 'I sneeze after a second of sniffing it. I never want to touch anything minty in my life.'"

She glanced over, her eyes sharp, and pointed out,

"Your reaction to that name is unusual. Do you know him, Robin?"

Jason chuckled dryly, trying to smooth over his overreaction.

"No, no, I just knew him—a famous actor with ties to Gotham's wealthy. I never thought it would be him who disappeared."

The orphan paid no further attention to Jason's behavior. After Jason promised to help her find the man, they briefly shared some experiences in crime-fighting.

Then she left.

...

For the next few days, Jason pondered this matter—Jack's suspected "disappearance"—what could have happened?

He first went to Jack's apartment and found it truly empty. The room was bare, and some daily necessities were missing, as if no one had lived there in a long time.

Then he began to review his previous chats with Jack. They didn't talk much, just occasional small talk. Before the homework, there were only a few game invites.

On those occasions, Jack had performed well and not let him down—

but something seemed amiss...

As he looked, he occasionally noticed subtle differences in the wording, but he wasn't sure if it was his own imagination or a real problem.

Out of caution, he didn't message Jack directly.

Jason remembered the last time he'd seen Jack was in Bruce's Batmobile, so he decided to ask Bruce directly.

It was the end of a night patrol, and they were alone in the Batcave.

"Bruce, where has Jack been these past few days? No one's at the apartment."

"On a business trip. He's in England as a representative of his troupe, sort of an exchange program between troupes. He probably won't be back for a month."

"Which troupe is he with?"

"He didn't say."

Bruce didn't even turn around, focused on his computer work.

"Oh..." Jason didn't doubt it, but breathed a sigh of relief. "He never told me about this before. I was looking forward to playing the new game with him—" But

Bruce suddenly interrupted, his voice sounding a little stern.

"I think you should finish your homework first, Jason. You can't let it get in the way of your studies."

Of course, he would, Jason thought. The tutorial video Jack sent him last time was very useful. It should help him...

...

A flash of inspiration struck him.

A strange suspicion suddenly formed in his mind.

Wait…

The thought was so bizarre, so unbelievable, Jason's first instinct was denial. He jerked his head away, forcing himself to stop his horrified gaze from darting towards Bruce.

No, no, it couldn't be possible…

Bruce wouldn't do that… How could it be possible?

How could I have such a thought?

But he was the last person to come into contact with Jack…

Jason thought back to the day he'd seen Jack sleeping in Bruce's car, his hands bandaged…

He knew how the injuries had come; Bruce had explained the attack on their date that day. It just struck him—

with injuries like that, why would the troupe let him participate in the exchange program?

He was suspicious for a moment, but then he resented himself for doubting his family. He wanted to share information about the orphans with Bruce, but he couldn't let go of that strange suspicion.

He told himself these were all unfounded speculations.

…

Jason sighed, put his phone down, and rubbed his temples.

He'd just been checking to see if there were any new activities from theatre companies in England. He'd recently followed dozens of famous British theatre groups on various social media platforms, but he hadn't seen any news related to Jack—

perhaps not so soon, he consoled himself.

Just then, he heard the roar of a car.

He looked out the window.

The door of the Batmobile opened, and a man in just shorts stepped out, his hair disheveled and his expression weary.

Jason was stunned.

…

A minute later, Jason leaned against the railing, watching Bruce ascend the stairs.

"What happened?" he asked. "What's got you rushing out?"

"Something personal," Bruce glanced at him, continuing upstairs. "It's settled."

Personal?

So urgent?

Even driving the Batmobile in broad daylight?

Bruce's strange attitude made him suspicious.

But Jason said nothing. He stepped aside to let Bruce pass, then returned to his room and sat down at his computer.

He opened Twitter and typed:

#Batmobile #Batman #Photo

Filter: Sort by time

In the social media age, eyes are everywhere.

In about five minutes, he found the few photos he wanted to see, and even a video -

the Batmobile in the video was so fast that only a black afterimage was left. He could hear the screams of the person who took the video, and someone was shouting Batman in the background.

There was a familiar tower in the background of the video.

Jason held his breath and looked at these photos and the background of the video over and over again.

This track was familiar -

there was a safe house near the end.