As the searchlight blazed against the night sky in the distance, a black car screeched around the corner. Startled from their slumber in a nearby doorway, two homeless men stared after it.

“Was that Him?”

“It must have been. No one else has a ride like that.”

Behind the wheel of the car sat a man dressed in black, his face, shrouded in a black cowl, set in a determined grimace. It had been three minutes since he’d first spotted the signal and it would be another two before he arrived at its source in the city center. Eyes alert for obstacles, he reviewed his planned course and decided he could save precious seconds by avoiding the new roadwork in front of the courthouse.

Arriving at his destination, he bounded from the car and with his cape billowing around him, ran toward the uniformed man standing in front of the spotlight.

“Officer! What’s the emergency?”

“Emergency? There’s no emergency sir.”

“But the signal….” His eyes falling to the man’s uniform, a sense of deep foreboding overcame him. “You’re not a police officer, are you?”

“No sir, I’m with Gotham Security, Ltd.”

“But the signal?”

“It’s the grand opening for the new supermarket, sir. The searchlights are meant to draw people’s attention to the new store.”

Returning to the car, Batman slumped behind the wheel and not for the first time wished he’d thought of a more distinctive way for the police to signal him.