Riddle 028: What always comes too late? Answer - Regret (Backdated to the Day After Port West)

[puzzlerprince]

[A - 726 Anderson Lane - Family / Neighbors / Stalkers

Edward’s back from Port West. Not that he feels any more comforted by this abrupt return back home. Sure, he isn’t trapped in the basement any longer, but he’s not exactly ready to come to terms with what he’s done. And what he tried to do.

So, of course, Eddie’s got to head out. Try and leave

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c

[strike_you_out]

[It's been nearly two days since Slugger has last seen his "father". The note left in the kitchen was the only sign Edward had been there at all. Slugger, being terrible at deciphering riddles, was successfully thrown by the clue.

Leaves? Branches? There were plenty of those in the park especially now that it had become a jungle overnight. So Slugger had been looking there for most of the day. Then, realizing that the answer to the riddle may have had more to do with books than with plants, he searched the comic book store followed by the library. But by that time, Edward had long since left. He gave up for a while after that until he spotted a strange, green vehicle decorated with Edward's favorite punctuation mark parked outside the diner. Now there was a clue he couldn't miss.

As Edward sits at his table in the diner contemplating his puzzle, the chair across from him creaks lightly. Someone has joined him.]

Found you.[Slugger grins. The shadows beneath his cap's visor seem unusually dark for this time of day and in this type of

[strike_you_out]

Does he tell jokes that kill?

[puzzlerprince]

In a manner of speaking. His crimes are the sort that make sense only to him.

[strike_you_out]

Then what was so funny?

[puzzlerprince]

He... has a way of making people laugh. There's a weapon he uses that goes by many names: Smilex. Perma-Smile. Joker Venom. It's a toxin that induces uncontrollable laughter upon its victims. They'll keep laughing and laughing until they die.

...I had been hallucinating that night. I had imagined that he was right there with me. That the venom had sunk into my lungs. And I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop myself from...

[strike_you_out]

[This must have been the 'funny gas' Harley was talking about. Looking thoughtful, he straightens up in his seat.]

...

Did they want you to kill her?

[puzzlerprince]

[He nods quietly. Ashamed.]

[strike_you_out]

[Slugger regards him silently before turning his attention elsewhere. What else can he say?]

It could've been worse...

[puzzlerprince]

[True. He could have succeeded. He would have succeeded if Slugger hadn't swooped in.]

...thank you. For stopping me.

[strike_you_out]

[Now it's Slugger's turn to nod silently. When he speaks again, it's about something entirely different.]

It was 'library', right? The answer to the riddle.

[puzzlerprince]

[He nods.]

It was. Though it looks like you were still able to catch up to me, even after I'd left.

[strike_you_out]

I saw a 'clue' in the lot.

[Any guesses on what that might be? It's a pretty big one and hard to miss.]

What books did you look for?

[puzzlerprince]

[It's the car, isn't it? Sticks out like a big, green sore thumb.]

Biographies.

[Of sorts.]

[strike_you_out]

[Just like its owner.]

About who?

[puzzlerprince]

About---[Wait. Wait. He... he said something to Susan and Slugger, didn't he? About Batman's true identity. His eyes narrow as it starts to come back to him.]

...I said something to you just before I passed out in the basement that night. What was it?

[strike_you_out]

...

You mentioned shadows. You called Susan Batman and an impostor.