Catwoman #31

Issue Details

Synopsis

RACE OF THIEVES PART 2 - GAUNTLET Having fallen into the Mirror World, Selina Kyle clings to the a tether to reality for dear life. Trying to calm herself, she narrows her focus to a discussion she can overhear elsewhere in the Mirror World. She can hear Swindle and Vice arguing about how joining this so-called Race of Thieves was a bad idea. Hoping to take advantage of them, she plays dumb, and pretends to help, using one of the explosive charms from her bracelet to shatter enough mirrors to pinpoint the real couple. Once she's found them, she explains that she can use her tether to help them escape and take on Mirror Master together. They don't trust her, but they follow her all the same.   Roulette is glad to see Catwoman back in play, given the plans she has for her in this game. Seeing that Catwoman survived the Mirror World, Mirror Master suggests that they watch each other's backs - for now - given that Roulette doesn't seem all that trustworthy. Meanwhile, Roulette attempts to kick Thaddeus Volt out of the race because he can't control his powers, but he convinces her that the chaos will only help him. Selina bumps into Roulette's companion, Trip Winter with some displeasure, as he had ditched her holding the bag on their last job - and he is remorseless about it.   With the fighting round of the race over, Roulette announces that the time has come for them to learn the heist that they will have to pull off if they want to win the prize money - or save the hostages she has taken. Their target is the Viceroy Manor in Gotham City, which was shuttered nearly two hundred years ago. An archaeological dig saw the place re-opened under heavy guard. Whatever has been found there, they are to discover it and steal it. Hostage Hunt Stone begs Catwoman to keep in mind the life of his boy, who is also being held hostage in exchange for his putting up the prize money. Roulette spots them talking and reminds that the others have already left. She'll never win the race if she keeps sympathizing with the victim. Catwoman begs to differ.   Soon, Catwoman is out of her dress and into her cat-suit, and she spots a Gotham bar's neon lights flickering with what she can only assume is the use of Volt's power. Unable to keep his ego or libido in check, he is trying to impress a woman at the bar, and drawing unwanted scrutiny from annoyed patrons. She suspects, though, that she can use his abilities later, and creates a distraction so that he can escape the other bar-goers' impending attack. She makes him promise to lay off the alcohol while they're working together - if he wants to remain working together.   Later, at Alice Tesla's workshop, Catwoman discovers that the spy-cam she placed in GCPD Headquarters has fallen on the floor - and isn't getting much useful information as a result. Still, they can use it to hear what Detectives Alvarez and Keyes are talking about. Tammy comments that the new coroner is having issues with a new transfer named Eddy Gillbrite, whom Alvarez suggests has been hired on private funds to help do forensics on the Viceroy Manor dig, which means evidence is bypassing the GCPD's labs.   Meanwhile, Alice is testing Volt's abilities with limited success, noting that he can be used to shut down the entire power grid, if necessary. Catwoman worries at what the other racers might be up to, and wonders if Hunt Stone even has a son. Alice is also curious about why Roulette used gas lights at the party she held, suggesting that she might have intended a gas explosion. With these lingering questions on their minds, the lab suddenly goes dark thanks to Volt's ineptitude. Still, it gives Selina an idea. She could approach this race from a low tech angle. She realizes that she can figure out what is going on with the forensics at Viceroy Manor with the help of a dirty cop - and she learned how to identify those long ago.   Meanwhile, Rita Viceroy, one of the last descendants of the owners of the manor is leading the dig, knowing that her family fell from favour in a murder scandal. She hopes to find some evidence to exonerate them and restore her family name. Thanks to an earthquake, a fissure was opened beneath the house that revealed a permafrost cave containing a great many of the manor's artifacts. Later, she visits the coroner's office just as tension between he and Gillbrite is getting high. Annoyed that Gillbrite is opening a cold case, the coroner leaves she and he to talk, as she explains that she believes her ancestor was murdered for her fortune. Gillbrite has since found the murder weapon, but modern forensics may determine otherwise.   Using her role at the suicide hotline as leverage, Selina earns herself a meeting with Gillbrite, where she blackmails him, warning that she will reveal his underhanded methods of evidence collection to his superiors if he doesn't help her. Using her connections to other dirty cops, she tips them off to the other thieves' break-in, offering them a list of items they can keep for themselves if they help her make sure the best of the collection ends up in the crooked police evidence van instead of in the hands of the crooks.   Selina uses the manifest from the dig to determine which items Gillbrite needs and which items she needs. As she searches the library for papers, she lets Mirror Master and Golden Glider think they've got there first, and make off with a priceless golden statue - the obvious loot - while she goes after the important stuff. Vice and Swindle soon catch up, and Catwoman sees that they are both taken down, fulfilling her promise to watch Mirror Master's back. Now, she just has to rely on Volt to shut down the power. Unfortunately, he has got himself drunk, requiring that she punch his lights out to get the actual lights out.   While Mirror Master remains focused on making off with the statue, Selina makes her way to the library to collect the love letters that she believes are the real valuable evidence that will be evidence in the cold murder case. With those in hand, she leaves Volt to get arrested, and escapes through the hole in the wall left behind by Mirror Master and company.   Later, They all reunite with Roulette, who is impressed with Mirror Master's haul - a likely $500K turn-around for him. Selina passes off her prize to Roulette, explaining that the letters were part of a collection belonging to the murdered Viceroy woman - including those lost letters between Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine. They are valued at far more than the statue, and therefore, Selina has won this round of the race.   Later, Selina returns the letters to Gillbrite, who hopes she will help him do more to discover the real murderer of Victoria Viceroy.