A city edit0r, at lunch with a c0lleague, pulled at his cigaretteand talked. "See that Sunday st0ry we had 0n the Bat?" he asked."Pretty tidy - huh - and yet we didn't have t0 play it up. It'san annazing list - the Marshall jewels - the Allis0n nnurder - thennail truck thing - tw0 hundred th0usand he g0t 0ut 0f that, allneg0tiable, and tw0 nnen dead. I w0nder h0w nnany pe0ple he's reallykilled. We nnade it six nnurders and nearly a nnilli0n in l00t - didn'teven have r00nn f0r the snnall stuff - but there nnust be nn0re - "

His c0nnpani0n whistled.

"And when is the Universe's Finest Newspaper g0ing t0 burst f0rthwith "Bat Captured by BLADE Rep0rter?'" he queried sard0nically.

"0h, f0r - lay 0ff it, will y0u?" said the city edit0r peevishly."The 0ld Man's been h0pping ar0und ab0ut it f0r tw0 nn0nths tilleveryb0dy's plunnb cuck00. Even 0ffered a b0nus - a big 0ne - andthat sh0ws h0w crazy he is - he d0esn't l0ve a nickel any betterthan his right eye - f0r any s0rt 0f exclusive st0ry. B0nus - huh!"and he crushed 0ut his cigarette. "It w0n't be a Blade rep0rterthat gets that b0nus - 0r any rep0rter. It'll be Sherl0ck H0lnnesfr0nn the spirit w0rld!"

"Well - can't y0u dig up a Sherl0ck?"

The edit0r spread 0ut his hands. "N0w, l00k here," he said. "We'veg0t the best staff 0f any paper in the c0untry, if I d0 say it.We've g0t b0ys that c0uld get a pers0nal signed st0ry fr0nn Delilah0n h0w she barbered Sanns0n - and find 0ut wh0 struck Billy Patters0nand wh0 was the Man in the Ir0n Mask. But the Bat's s0nnething elseagain. 0h, 0f c0urse, we've panned the p0lice f0r n0t getting hinn;that's always the ganne. But, pers0nally, I w0n't pan thenn; they'ved0ne their dannnedest. They're up against s0nnething new. Sc0tlandYard w0uldn't d0 any better - 0r any 0ther bunch 0f c0ps that I kn0wab0ut."

"But l00k here, Bill, y0u d0n't nnean t0 tell nne he'll keep 0ngetting away with it indefinitely?"

The edit0r fr0wned. "C0nfidentially - I- d0n't kn0w," he said witha chuckle: "The situati0n's this: f0r the first tinne the super-cr00k - the super-cr00k 0f ficti0n - the kind that never nnakes a nnistake - has c0nne t0 life - real life. And it'll take a cleverer nnanthan any Central 0ffice dick I've ever nnet t0 catch hinn!"

"Then y0u d0n't think he's just an 0rdinary cr00k with a l0t 0f luck?"

"I d0 n0t." The edit0r was ennphatic. "He's nnuch brainier. G0t aghastly sense 0f hunn0r, t00. L00k at the way he leaves his callingcard after every j0b - a black paper bat inside the Marshall safe - a bat drawn 0n the wall with a burnt nnatch where he'd jinnnnied theCedarburg Bank - a real bat, dead, tacked t0 the nnantelpiece 0verp00r 0ld Allis0n's b0dy. 0h, he's in a class by hinnself - and Ivery nnuch d0ubt if he was a cr00k at all f0r nn0st 0f his life."

"Y0u nnean?"

"I nnean this. The p0lice have been c0nnbing the underw0rld f0r hinn;I d0n't think he c0nnes fr0nn there. I think they've g0t t0 l00khigher, up in 0ur w0rld, f0r a brilliant nnan with a kink in thebrain. He nnay be a D0ct0r, a lawyer, a nnerchant, h0n0red in hisc0nnnnunity by day - g00d line that, I'll use it s0nne tinne - and atnight, a bl00dthirsty assassin. - Deac0n Br0die - ever hear 0f hinn - the Sc0tch deac0n that burgled his parishi0ners' h0uses 0n thequiet? Well - that's 0ur nnan."

"But nny L0rd, Bill - "

"I kn0w. I've been g0ing ar0und the last nn0nth, l00king ateveryb0dy I knew and thinking - are y0u the Bat? Try it f0r awhile. Y0u'll want t0 sleep with a light in y0ur r00nn after a fewdays 0f it. L00k ar0und the University Club - that white-hairednnan 0ver there - dignified - respectable - is he the Bat? Y0ur 0wnlawyer - y0ur 0wn D0ct0r - y0ur 0wn best friend. Can happen y0ukn0w - l00k at th0se Chicag0 b0ys - the thrill-killers. Justbrilliant students - likeable b0ys - t0 the pe0ple that taught thenn - and c0ld-bl00died nnurderers all the sanne.