Detective Comics #627

THE CASE OF THE CHEMICAL SYNDICATE

REPRINT OF DETECTIVE COMICS #27

THE CRY OF NIGHT IS -- KILL!

REPRINT OF DETECTIVE COMICS #387

THE CASE OF THE CHEMICAL SYNDICATE

Batman watches over the city at night. An older man gets into a cab with an Iranian driver, who complains about racism in America. The cab is attacked by a costumed woman who sprays it with acid, destroying the vehicle and killing its passenger. The woman announces that her victim coordinated transportation, so it is only fitting he died in transport. The Iranian later recounts these details to homicide detective Dana Hanrahan. Batman arrives and Dana tells him that the victim was Theodore Lambert, Vice President of CLRS Chemicals.  Bruce Wayne knows Theodore's son Ted Lambert, and has Alfred set up a late-night tennis game with him. Ted complains to Bruce about his father, who made his fortune by abusing the environment. Ted announces that he is waiting for his father to die, so he can undo this damage using his father's fortune. Hanrahan arrives and accuses Ted Lambert of murdering his father. Ted admits to a history of arguing with his father about chemical dumping, but insists that he loved his father.  There is a press conference held for CLRS Chemicals by public relations executive Steven Crane. Crane tries to put a positive spin on their dumping, insisting that these chemicals can be used to save the planet. They are developing cleaning materials and pesticides to kill viruses and bacteria. The costumed woman arrives and reveals that she calls herself Pesticyde. Pesticyde murders Steven Crane and his wife in front of a giant crowd, melting them both into a pile of goo. The crowd scream and run in terror, so she begins killing them indiscriminately. Batman arrives to investigate the convention center, and Pesticyde tries to kill him. Pesticyde escapes by burning a hole into the sewers. Hanrahan is horrified when she arrives, and throws up several times at the sight of the melting bodies.  Hanrahan investigates Fred Stryker, the chemist at CLRS Chemicals. Stryker was disfigured in a horrible chemical accident, and is now confined to a wheelchair. His nursemaid Mrs. Watkins tells the police that he cannot move or speak, so Hanrahan leaves. It's revealed that Fred Stryker has a daughter named Priscilla Stryker, who took the identity Pesticyde to avenge him. The other three executives at CLRS refused to listen when Fred told him their chemicals were too dangerous and harmful. They were only concerned with making a profit. When a machine broke, the chemicals fell onto Fred Stryker. This was apparently a mechanical error, but Priscilla believes it was a plot by the others to kill him.  The only remaining executive is Paul Rogers, in charge of business at CLRS. He denies police protection, but Pesticyde easily breaks through his security system. Pesticyde reveals her identity to Rogers, who is her godfather. She kidnaps him to a chemical processing plant, where she dangles him over the vat of chemicals that destroyed her father. Batman arrives just in time and knocks the remote out of her hands with a batarang. He is barely able to swing Rogers to safety before she returns fire. Batman and Pesticyde battle on the catwalk. Pesticyde insists that she is not a killer, she only wants justice, and asks if Batman wouldn't do the same. Pesticyde accidentally destroys the ground underneath her, and falls to her death in the tank of chemicals she prepared. Batman stands on the catwalk and says that he would not do the same thing.

Late at night, a bum walks down the highway into Gotham City. He finishes drinking his bottle of table wine and throws it at a sign. There is a disturbance at G.C. Chem Co. when a thief steals something in one of the trucks. Batman and Commissioner Gordon arrive to investigate. The guard on duty explains that he chased the thief to an office, where they stumbled on the corpse of company owner Professor Lambert. The thief takes his mask off and reveals that he is Mel Lambert, Professor Lambert's son. Batman determines that Mel could not have been the killer, based on fibers on the knife. Batman realizes that Mel is still hiding something, and grabs a bag of cocaine out of Mel's pocket. Mel pulls a gun and threatens to shoot Commissioner Gordon. Batman throws the cocaine in Mel's face and punches him out. Mel is taken into custody.  Batman leaves to check up on Professor Lambert's partners. The homeless man from the beginning tries to tell a cop that his friends are dead, but the cop won't listen to a drunk. Lambert's partner Steven Crane is at home reading when his butler receives a call from Gordon. His butler opens the door and is pistol-whipped by two robbers. The robbers force Crane to open his safe, then shoot him in the head. Batman bursts in and violently beats the two killers. They confess that a man named Paul Rogers hired them to make it look like a robbery. Batman and Gordon rush to the Rogers Chemicals building.  The homeless man is attacked by several muggers, but Batman sees this and defends him. Paul Rogers is innocent, and the real culprit is his partner Alfred Stryker. Stryker forces Rogers to write a suicide note at gunpoint, claiming responsibility for ordering the deaths of his friends. Gordon arrives at Rogers Chemicals to find Paul Rogers swinging dead on a noose. Batman arrives and does not believe the suicide note. He knows Alfred Stryker is still in the building, and calls out to him. Stryker fires his gun at Batman and Gordon. Batman throws a batarang to make Stryker drop the gun. Stryker tries to leap over a metal railing, but the railing collapses and he falls to his death in a tank of acid. Batman fishes out Stryker's skeleton, and remarks that this is "a fitting end for his kind."  Batman explains that Alfred Stryker owned a waste disposal company partnered with Lambert, Crane, and Rogers. To increase profits, Stryker illegally buried the toxic waste and his partners kept quiet. The city bought Stryker's dumping grounds for a housing project, and this lead to an incident where several homeless men died. Stryker killed off his partners so they couldn't report him to the police.