Batgirl: The Vampyre Caper Ch. 07

This story is the seventh in an ongoing series of Batgirl adventures, mainly based on characters in the early Batman comics and that wonderful '60s TV series but with the timeline brought up to the present.

Warning! This fictional story contains strictly ADULT content and is ONLY intended for mature readers and for personal consumption. No copyright infringement is intended.

The Adventures Of Batgirl

Batgirl: The Vampyre Caper

Chapter 7: A Cunning Ploy

The unmarked police car parked up on the tree-lined avenue and the two detectives got out and walked up the paved pathway to the front entrance of the brownstone house. The woman officer pressed the bell push and she and her male partner waited, impatiently.

A few seconds later, there was the sound of scurrying feet and a timid female voice called out, "Who is it?"

"Police ma'am. We're responding to a call from this address, concerning a possible homicide on the premises," replied the female detective, in a no-nonsense tone.

There was the sound of a latch chain being unfastened and a lock being released, then the door swung inward, to reveal a gawky, plain featured young woman with long brown hair and frightened eyes. "Thank goodness you're here!" she exclaimed in obvious relief, giving the officers a tremulous smile.

The slim but shapely brunette flashed her police badge, as she stepped over the threshold. "I'm Police Detective Renee Montoya of the GCPD and this is my partner, Detective Harvey Bullock," the thirty-something year old quietly informed the girl. Her partner was a scruffy, considerably overweight individual, with a near permanent scowl on his podgy face. "And you are...?"

The young woman colored slightly. "I'm Lisa Ewing, the doctor's receptionist... or at least I was the doctor's receptionist," she corrected herself, tears glistening in her grey-blue eyes.

"Was it you who made the phone call, Ms. Ewing?"

The girl nodded. "Yes," she replied, almost inaudibly.

"Tell us what happened," the female detective prompted.

The receptionist took a deep breath and nodded. "Well, I arrived here about eight-thirty this morning, as usual, and when I walked into Dr. Macintyre's office, I found him there... lying dead on the floor, pale as a ghost! I immediately dialed 911 and informed the police of a suspicious death. Then I kinda hung around for maybe ten minutes, until you guys turned up."

"Could we see the body, Miss?" growled Bullock, speaking for the first time.

"Yes, yes of course, officer. It's this way." Lisa escorted the two detectives into the doctor's office.

The dead man was lying sprawled out on his back, the front of his pants open and his penis in plain view. His impressive appendage looked like a huge dead slug and still glistened with the evidence of recent sexual congress. His body seemed shrunken somehow, and his skin had a ghastly white pallor.

"Did you touch anything, Miss?" Harvey asked the receptionist.

The girl dragged her gaze away from her late employer's corpse. "N-No," she stuttered, shaking her head, forcefully, "I couldn't... I wouldn't!" The look of disgust on the girl's face, added further confirmation to her words, as if any were needed.

Harvey nodded, then stepped over to the dead man and eased his head to one side with the toe of one of his size twelves, revealed two neat puncture wounds in the side of the doctor's neck. "Same as all the others," he growled, casting a meaningful look at Montoya.

"Looks like it," his younger partner agreed, before turning back to the girl. "Were you the last person to see Doctor, um..."

"Doctor Macintyre," prompted the receptionist.

"Yes, Dr. Macintyre. Were you the last one to see him alive?"

"Yes, I mean, no! I left at just after 5:30 last night, but the doctor was still here with his final patient of the day."

"Interesting. Would you happen to know the name of this patient by any chance?" the brunette enquired, raising a neatly plucked eyebrow.

"Of course! It was a woman in her twenties. Her details are in the appointment book."

They all stepped out into reception and Lisa thumbed through the pages of the appointment book, to the final entry for the previous day. "Here it is: Barbara Gordon, 5:30 pm. Ms. Gordon was a long standing patient of the doctor's, I believe."

Both detectives tried not to show their surprise. "Would that be the same Barbara Gordon who happens to be the daughter of Police Commissioner Jim Gordon?" Renee enquired, straight-faced.

"I believe so," the receptionist confirmed, with a slight smile. "She seemed such a nice person. It was the first time I'd had an opportunity to meet her. I've only been working for Dr. Macintyre for about eight months, you see and she wasn't a frequent patient."

"Do you happen to know the reason why Ms. Gordon came to see Dr. Macintyre, yesterday evening?" enquired Harvey, a little abruptly.

The girl colored slightly. "I don't know whether I should tell you. It could be regarded as a breach of patient/doctor confidentiality."

"Well, you're NOT a doctor and this IS a murder enquiry," the scruffy detective reminded her, somewhat forcefully.

The receptionist blinked, owlishly. "In that case, I think it was just for a general medical examination."

"So, you don't know what time Ms. Gordon left, or whether the doctor saw anyone else after her?"

"N-No, sorry, but the poor man certainly had no other appointments booked after Ms. Gordon. I fully expected him to lock up and go home to his wife."

"The doctor didn't live on the premises then?" enquired the female officer.

"No! Should I phone his wife, she's probably worried out of her mind by now?"

"No, no, leave all that sort of thing to the police. Do you happen to have the doctor's home address and telephone number?"

"Of course." The young woman opened the top drawer of her desk and handed the slim brunette the printed business card that she took from within it. "That lists both his home and business numbers," she confirmed.

"Hmm? Well, thank you for your co-operation Ms. Ewing. Please don't enter the doctor's office again. It is now an official crime scene. We shall phone our findings through to headquarter and the forensics boys should be around shortly. I'm afraid the place will soon be swarming with police officers and you will, no doubt, be questioned again. The body will only be removed to the morgue once the police doctor and official photographer have finished the initial examination."

Lisa swallowed hard and nodded, miserably.

-oOo-

"What the hell has Gordon's kid got to do with these vampire deaths?" Harvey muttered, as the two detectives made there way back to their unmarked police vehicle. The sidewalk was still doted with shallow pools of water from the previous night's heavy rainstorm.

"Search me?" replied Renee with a shrug of her broad shoulders. "Perhaps Barbara can put us in the picture. Let's head over to her place and ask her," she added, as she slid her ass into the front passenger seat and her partner squeezed his considerable bulk behind the steering wheel.

Both officers were familiar with Ms. Gordon's place of residence and, on the journey over there, Detective Montoya tried Barbara's home telephone number several times, only to get the answering machine on each occasion. Cursing softly, under her breath, she then put in a call to the Central Library, only to be informed by the young woman who answered, that Ms. Gordon hadn't yet turned up for work.

-oOo-

When they arrived at the luxury apartment block, the detectives were frustrated to discover that none of the other residents had seen the pretty redhead since early the previous evening. Neither officer was willing to risk a search of her apartment, without first obtaining a search warrant from a judge, so they left.

"Could the Gordon dame have killed the doc and then made a run for it?" suggested Harvey, with a puzzled frown, as they strolled back to the car.

"Barbara Gordon... a vampire? You gotta be loosing your marbles, ol' buddy," the sexy brunette retorted, with an amused twist to her mouth. "Maybe she's gone shopping, or got a date with the boyfriend?" They decided to head back to GCPD headquarters and an awkward debriefing with the Commissioner of Police.

-oOo-

"Commissioner Gordon on the Batphone, sir," Alfred murmured, handing over the cordless red telephone.

Bruce laid his morning paper to one side and nodded his thanks. "Batman speaking. Yes, Commissioner Gordon?"

"Batman? Thank goodness," exclaimed the unmistakable voice of Gotham's most senor policeman. "There's been another vampire victim. The death actually occurred late yesterday afternoon, but the corpse was only discovered early this morning."

Bruce Wayne's expression became grim. "Do we know who the victim is, Jim?"

"That's the strange thing, Caped Crusader, it's the Gordon's family doctor, John Macintyre."

"Merely a coincidence, Jim," Bruce assured him.

"Is it? Well, here's another one. According to the detectives who first attended the crime scene, it looks like the last person to see him alive, was Barbara."

Bruce's eyes widened in surprise. "Barbara! What, your daughter, Barbara?"

"Yes!"

"Tell me everything you've learned so far, Jim."

"Well, apparently Barbara paid a visit to Dr. Macintyre for a checkup, at 5:30 yesterday afternoon. This was after the finish of normal consulting hours. You don't think my daughter might have gotten herself pregnant or something, do you, Batman? She's still very naïve in certain aspects, old friend."

"I'm sure that isn't the case, Jim."

"Anyway, the female receptionist left them to it and went on home. That same receptionist found his corpse in his office, around 8:30 this morning, shortly after she arrived."

"With the characteristic symptoms?" Bruce prompted.

"Yes, drained of blood and with the usual twin puncture marks in his neck. He had been having sex, immediately prior to his death. Also, no-one's been able to contact my daughter since yesterday's visit, Caped Crusader and I'm worried sick. What if she's become yet another victim of this blood-sucking monster?"

"Leave everything to Robin and myself, Commissioner. I'm sure we'll soon find Barbara safe and sound and finally get to the bottom of this mystery."

"Thank you, old friend. I... I can't express... just how... how grateful I am," Jim finished, in a faltering voice. There was a click as the Commissioner abruptly ended the call.

"The Commissioner sounded as if he was ready to burst into tears," mused the multi-millionaire, sympathetically.

Bruce pulled the napkin from his shirt collar and abruptly rose to his feet before turning to the hovering butler. "No time for breakfast this morning, old friend, there's urgent work for Batman and Robin. Do you mind going up and tipping Dick out of his bed? That boy would sleep his life away, given half a chance. I shall be down in the Bat-cave."

"Certainly, Sir," Alfred replied, knowing that his employer would put him fully in the picture, when he was good and ready.

-oOo-

The Dynamic Duo, were sitting on the couch opposite Jennifer, in her comfortable but compact apartment. The pretty blue-eyed blonde had opened the door to them, wearing just a skimpy matching lacy bra and panties set, but had subsequently pulled on a short silk kimono to cover herself and spare the Caped Crusaders any further blushes. This had done nothing to prevent them ogling her long, shapely, primly-crossed legs. Batman had just finished bringing her up to date on the vampire case.

"This latest death must've occurred sometime BEFORE Batgirl arrived in the Bat-cave and attacked you, Batman?" Jenny queried, just for clarification.

The Caped Crusader nodded, glumly.

"And, it's not gonna take long before someone figures out that Barbara and the vampire, are one and the same," she added, with a frown. "And, the way things are going, pretty soon someone's gonna find out that Batgirl has turned into a vampiress and..."

"Puts two and two together and figures out that Barbara must also be the Batgirl," exclaimed Robin. "Holy Revelations!"

"Exactly, Boy Wonder," Jenny replied. "If that particular secret ever got out, it would effectively put an end to her crime-fighting career. She would be totally vulnerable to revenge attacks from criminals that she had helped put behind bars, or any of their underworld associates for that matter."

"Hmm, so, not only do we need to catch our Voluptuous Vampire before she strikes again, we also need to divert suspicion away from Barbara," muttered the Caped Crusader, frowning in concentration.

Jennifer's face suddenly lit up. "I've just had an idea. What if I go to the Commissioner and tell him that Barbara had really gone to see Dr. Macintyre, to arrange a private checkup for her friend, Batgirl, rather than for herself. Her father already knows that Barbara is a friend of the Dark Angel. I could tell him that she was worried about Batgirl's recent erratic behavior, and that she had convinced the Dark Angel to visit a doctor for a medical examination. Batgirl couldn't just go to any old doctor, now could she? She would need one who she could trust, someone who was willing to remain silent about her visit, or any revelations she might make during the consultation."

"Hmm?" Batman nodded his head. "That just might work, Jennifer," he conceded, grudgingly. "You do that."

"In the meantime, how do we manage to hunt down Batgirl?" Robin asked, dragging his eyes away from his girlfriend's gorgeous legs.

"I think we need to dangle some bait," the Dark Knight replied, looking over at Jennifer, intently.

"What, who, me?" she gasped, blue eyes widening in alarm.

"Yes YOU, Sparrow," he replied, deliberately using the name of her alternate identity. "You are, after all, Barbara's closest friend, as well as her crime-fighting partner. I want you to call her on her cellphone and arrange a meeting with her. Batgirl's bound to answer, when she sees who the caller is. Tell her you're very worried about her and need to speak with her urgently, face to face. Let her choose the time and place to avoid suspicion, then we can arrange a little reception committee."

"Well, the part about being very worried about her, is perfectly true," Jenny admitted. She stared at each of her companions in turn. Her boyfriend didn't seem to keen on Batman's idea, but made no comment.

Finally, she let out a sigh of resignation. "Okay, I'll do it!"

-oOo-

"Are you the young woman, Jennifer Goodbody, who phoned the Police Commissioner earlier today, claiming to have information about the Macintyre murder case?" enquired Police Detective Montoya, after first flashing her police badge to confirm her identity.

Jennifer looked up at the slim plain clothed policewoman. She was seated behind her desk at the library. "That's right, Detective...?"

"Montoya, Renee Montoya, and this is my partner, Detective Harvey Bullock."

Jenny nodded a curt acknowledgement to the older half of the partnership. She had recognized both police officers from an earlier caper, but since she'd been in costume at the time, she couldn't admit that she knew them, not without arousing their suspicions.

The scruffy, overweight individual standing beside Renee, doffed his crumpled homburg and grunted something unintelligible in response, before pulling out a notebook and stubby pencil to take notes.

"According to Commissioner Gordon, you are a close friend of Ms. Gordon's, as well as her research assistant here at the library?" Montoya continued.

Jenny nodded. "That is essentially correct."

"And you informed the Commissioner that you had overheard Ms. Gordon on the phone, yesterday afternoon, arranging a five-thirty appointment with Dr. Macintyre?"

"Y-Yes that's right, but she told me afterwards that she was really making the appointment for her friend, Batgirl. Apparently, Batgirl has been acting rather strangely, over the last couple of days."

Montoya's eyes narrowed. "How 'strangely' exactly?"

Jenny shrugged her shoulders. "How would I know, Batgirl is Barbara's friend, not mine. I didn't press her on the subject."

"Would you happen to know how we could get in touch with Batgirl?"

The young blonde shook her head. "No, sorry officer."

"Haven't I seen you in the Spearmint Warthog, that gentleman's club that's opened in town, recently?" interrupted Harvey, with a smirk on his podgy features.

"Possibly," Jennifer acknowledged, grudgingly, blushing slightly and squirming her ass on her chair seat, under his close scrutiny. It felt as if the middle-aged cop was trying to undress her with his eyes.

He nodded. "I thought so, but you wuz wearing a whole lot less clothes than you are now... if my memory serves me right," he added, with a gruff chuckle.

Jenny opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She was at a loss for words.

Montoya gave her partner a dirty look before proceeding with the questioning. "So, as far as you're aware of, there was nothing wrong with Ms. Gordon's health?"

"That's right, officer."

"She hadn't complained about feeling strange or unwell?"

"No."

"Don't you think it's a little strange that Ms. Gordon has failed to turn up for work today, Ms. Goodbody?"

"Yeah I do, actually. Barbara's usually very punctual. I phoned her place a short time ago, but all I got was the answering machine."

"Hmm? Well, if you can think of anything else that might be of relevance to this investigation, Ms. Goodbody... Oh, by the way, how did you learn about Dr. Macintyre's untimely death?"

Jennifer picked up the copy of the noonday edition of the Gotham Daily Gazette from off her desk and tossed it over to the woman detective, who deftly caught it. "It's plastered all over the front page," she replied, with a grin.

Montoya ran her gaze over the front page. The banner headline read: 'Prominent Local Doctor Murdered'.

Luckily, the vampire aspect of the case had not yet been uncovered by the reporter, as there was no mention of the corpse being drained of blood or the neck wounds. This wasn't surprising, since it had been Jennifer who had phoned the story in to the news desk, anonymously of course.

Montoya cursed under her breath. They had been hoping to keep this case under wraps for a while longer yet. The last thing she wanted was someone from the media sniffing around.

"Well, thank you for your co-operation, Ms. Goodbody. We may be in touch with you again later."

"You're welcome," the blue-eyed blonde replied, fluttering her long eyelashes and smiling at both of the police officers in turn. "My number's in the phone directory, if either one of you feel an overpowering urge to get in touch with me."

With that, she deliberately crossed her long shapely legs, allowing her already short skirt to ride up sufficiently to give them both a tantalizing glimpse of lacy stocking top.

"Little prickteaser," Harvey muttered, under his breath, as he dragged his eyes off the blonde's long shapely legs and hurried after his partner, through the door leading into the section of the library that was open to the general public.

-oOo-

"What was that all about?" whispered Montoya, as they made their way along the broad corridor, leading to the library's main entrance and the city streets beyond.

"All what?" asked Detective Bullock, feigning ignorance and pretending to be interested in some old oil paintings that were hanging from the hallway walls.

"That stuff about the Spearmint Warthog."

"Oh, that! Well, it turns out that little Miss 'butter wouldn't melt in her mouth' Goodbody, has an evening job there, as a pole dancer and believe me, Montoya, that dame's act don't leave much to your imagination. The kid has a spectacular body."

Renee felt her panties growing damp, at the thought of Jennifer entwined around a dance pole, wearing little more than a g-string. Sexy females always turned her on. She cleared her throat, self-consciously. "Harumph! That's, ah, all very interesting detective, but it's got nothing to do with this case. It looks as if we should be looking for the Dark Damsel, as well as Jim Gordon's daughter, assuming they are still alive of course."