Detective Comics #854

Issue Details

Synopsis

ELEGY PART 1 - AGITATO Over a year ago, Kate Kane was stabbed in the chest by a crazed religious sect that was obsessed with carving out her heart. The memory of the event seems to haunt her - lingering on the periphery of her subconscious.  But she can't think that now. She can't afford to. That same Religion of Crime seems to have found a new leader and the activity of all thirteen covens within Gotham City has gone into hyper-drive in anticipation of their new leader's arrival in town. Given their expressed obsession with her, Kate only sees fit that she be there to greet the new leader and put a stop to her activity once and for all.   A child of certain privilege, Kate lives in a nice large studio apartment littered with music memorabilia and workout equipment. In a hidden section of the apartment is where she keeps her 'cave' of sorts. Large metal walls surround a giant tree which grows in the center of the command hub and are lined with scores of military grade crime fighting paraphernalia - most likely supplied by her father, a military Colonel. His latest gift is a specialized super-silent short range pistol of sorts left over from some top secret covert ops mission somewhere in the Middle East. Perfect, Kate realizes, for the hunt she's about to embark on. Aside from providing his daughter with her equipment, the Colonel also oversees her operation, listening to hours of playback from a recording device placed on her person during her nighttime capers.   She trains obsessively and her father worries that she's pushing herself too far. And perhaps she is. A few reps is all it takes to begin testing her pain tolerance. Not to mention the fact that her late hours and unaccountability seems to have just cost her her latest relationship with her most recent partner, a lawyer named Anna. Nevertheless the job does have its perks. Her unavailability makes for the perfect excuse so that she can duck out of a dinner with her step-mother.   On the other side of a set of large bay doors, she climbs upon her cycle and sets out through a tunnel which connects to an unassuming warehouse letting her out onto the streets. Hitting each coven one by one Kate finally gets to meet with the new leader of the Religion of Crime face to face. A woman dressed like a psychedelic Alice in Wonderland with skin so powder white she almost appears to be glowing stands before her in the dimly lit chapel. But Kate isn't here to visit. She draws her newly gifted pistol, aims it at Alice and fires. PIPELINE: CHAPTER 1 PART 1 From their base of operations in the lighthouse, Renee Montoya and Tot Rodor begin filtering through the close to eighty emails they've received overnight. Sometime ago, Renee opened up a website for The Question - an online haven where anyone with questions and seeking answers can look for help. Given the inherent jocular nature of the net, most of the replies they get are trivial in nature. But one email in particular catches both their attentions and Renee decides to act.   Two years ago a man by the name of Hector Soliz came into this country illegally. He was fleeing his home country of Culiacan - a place where drug and gang violence reigns supreme and leaving behind his mother, father and seventeen year old little sister Louisa. When his parents were murdered in a cross-fire last January he sought out the coyote who brought him here, a man named Varga, and asked him to bring his sister here as well. She never arrived. Varga said she never made the trip. But then a letter came in the mail from Louisa saying that she would be in California soon - enclosed was a picture of her with Vega. When Hector tried to find out what happened to his sister he was beaten by Varga's goons and told to forget about his little sister. She was gone.   Naturally the first place Renee starts to look is Varga's place. Inside she finds an ominous scene - a filthy and stained mattress with a pair of handcuffs attached to the headboard. Nearby, a tripod mounted camera stands to document any and all the repulsive scenes that may have taken place. Moving on to Vega's bedroom she opens up his drawer to find it full of discarded foreign drivers licenses - one of them is Louisa Soliz's. Renee now knows for sure that Louisa made it to America - but where is she now?   Preparing to leave Varga's place she steps outside to find that the Varga and his boys have just arrived back home... and they don't look happy to see her.