| abstract | - When a loan shark working for the Russian mobster named Perun shows up dead at the Gotham City Dock, Batman takes on his alter ego of Gary Peterson, forensic analyst to get a look at the scene first hand. The loan shark (a man by the name of Donny Lucido) is the third victim to be killed by being burnt alive after having a piece of his face sliced away. The newspapers have dubbed Gotham's newest serial killer Grotesk and Batman is unable to find any connection to the two previous murders - an employee for Omnimed (a medical research facility) named Jaqui Tremayne and an upper middle class business man named Georg Williamson. Batman departs from the crime scene and orders an analysis of the victim's backgrounds from the Bat-Computer. In the meantime he heads to Dr. Thompkin's former clinic (now being run by a Dr. Nancy Stavrides). It appears as though some thugs had been causing trouble at the clinic. The thugs, who are also working for the Russian mobster Perun, are looking to collect money from Dr. Amina Franklin whose brother recently died before he was able to pay the mobsters back for a loan he took out. The thugs arrive at the clinic for a second shake-down just as Batman does and the Dark Knight confronts them about their plans. Batman attempts to take the thugs down but before he can finish, he is interrupted by the serial killer Grotesk, a hunch-backed man with a flame thrower attached to his hand. Although, Grotesk is seeking to take out the mobsters, Batman cannot allow him to use lethal force so he tries to take out the hunch-backed killer but is stopped when Grotesk causes a diversion by engulfing a civilian's car in flames. Grotesk escapes into the night while Batman ponders exactly what Grotesk's connection is to Amina Franklin. Bruce returns to the Bat-Cave to look up data on Wayne Franklin's death. Franklin had been working on an experimental robotic arm capable of performing complex surgical procedures by remote control when he was killed in a warehouse explosion down by the docks two months prior. Shortly after his death, Omnmimed (the company which one of the previous victims, Jaqui Tremayne worked for) came out with a product similar to Franklin's prototype. Bruce thinks back to his only memory of meeting Franklin and recalls seeing Franklin at a party with the victim Jaqui Fremayne shortly before he passed. Bruce also looks back on his short lived relationship with Dr. Amina Franklin (whom he met at the same party). While a large snow storm begins rolling over Gotham City, Batman heads back into the night towards Omnimed headquarters looking for answers.
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