Batman: Gotham Nights (Volume 1 (Digital)) with a cover date of June, 2020.
Synopsis for "The Scent of Scorn"
Batman is watching the zebras at a sanctuary drinking water, stating how they have to come out at night because of the heat in morning in the current season, despite the risk of predators. The next day, Janet Carlisle's servant Ryan states that she wouldn't need to carry heavy trunks if she simply went to Ghana in an airplane rather than in a ship. As Ryan struggles to lift Carlisle's trunk, he falls and the corpse of Janet's husband Charles Gaynor stumbles out of it. Later, Harvey Bullock suspects whether she might be behind the murder since their marriage was unhappy and she hadn't reported about him even though he was missing for five days.
Gordon suggests they wait for the autopsy instead but starts getting bothered by the flies in the room. As Batman discreetly catches one of them, Gordon notices him but tells Harvey it was nothing. At the Batcave, Bruce examines the fly and tells Alfred that he learnt something interesting from decrypting the banking records, confirming it's about the call he got earlier. He tells him that the fly he's examining is the Umbardi fly which only breeds in the nostrils of three animals - cape buffalo, black wildebeest and the zebra. The only place for them to breed near Gotham is the Carlisle Wildlife Sanctuary forty miles south of Gotham.
At the sanctuary, Bruce causes a panic among the zebras and agitates the lions by doing a roar. This draws out Matt Hogan, the sanctuary's caretaker and Batman takes him down stating he murdered Charles Gaynor after Janet stopped discreetly sending him money through the sanctuary's expense account. His wife Tammy releases two lions to take Batman down, but he subdues one with etorphine and knocks the other into a cage with baboons who start attacking it. He however soon finds himself held at gunpoint by Tammy and notices she's wearing a very expensive perfume. Batman theorizes that Tammy had an affair with Gaynor and he sent her money through the expense account she had access too. This stopped after she dumped him and she murdered him in revenge. She then hid the body in Janet's house to pin the blame on her.
As Matt confronts Tammy about the perfume and freeing the lions, Batman takes advantage of the distraction to take her down. Before leaving, he makes her sign a confession for the police. Later, Janet talks with Bruce and states how he couldn't be of any help after she called him. He however states that he's no Batman who had taken care of the whole situation. She regrets that Charles died and their marriage turned sour, wanting to know why people fall out of love. As Bruce responds they should be more like animals who never stop loving humans if treated correctly, the cat he's petting scratches him.
Appearing in "The Scent of Scorn"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Alfred Pennyworth
- Gotham City Police Department
- Janet Carlisle
- Matt Hogan
Antagonists:
- Tammy Hogan (Flashback and main story)
Other Characters:
- Charles Gaynor (Flashback and main story) (Deceased)
- Ryan
Locations:
- Carlisle Wild Animal Sanctuary
- Gotham City
- Cental Africa (Mentioned only)
- Ghana (Mentioned only)
Items:
Vehicles:
See Also
- Write your own review of this comic!
- Discuss Batman: Gotham Nights Vol 1 10 (Digital) on the forums
- Cover gallery for the Batman: Gotham Nights series