The conservatory looked like something out of a fairy tale The display inside the huge greenhouse was sure to be just as wonderful Tim cleared his throat to let Bruce know he was ready to go in Sorry Tim Bruce smiled at the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder I thought I smelled something
At the end of a red carpet waitstaff carrying trays of glasses and appetizers
welcomed the pair through double doors Inside the conservatory the air was warm and damp perfect for growing plants A fountain burbled in the corner while the city’s richest patrons nibbled and sipped Mr Wayne Tim’s chaperone was immediately surrounded by social elites His wealth and power rarely went unnoticed Everyone wanted his attention If they only knew his true identity Luckily Tim did not draw as much attention Nobody noticed as the teenage boy slipped away from the crowd to get a look at what he had really come to see All around the room rare plants were on display The unusual specimens had been collected from rainforests the world over Tim found them fascinating and slowly studied each one Some varieties had extraordinary adaptations and many were carnivorous The nepenthes commonly called pitcher plants captured his attention first The meat-eating flowers looked like rearing snakes with deep cuplike hollows When an insect or small mammal fell inside the hollow it would be caught in sticky liquid While trapped at the bottom of the large open chamber it would slowly be digested Beside the pitcher plants were large Venus flytraps The flytraps had hinged jaws made up of two leaf-like structures that snapped shut on flying insects And next to the flytraps were more insect-eating plants that grew sweet smelling sticky paths to lead bugs to their doom As Tim walked over to look at a display of rare vines he noticed that most of the party guests were clustered in one area They were flocked around a beautiful raven haired woman dressed all in emerald green who seemed to have captured everyone’s attention Even Bruce Wayne’s But the plants were what had captured Tim’s imagination As he approached the next exhibit Tim thought he saw one of the enormous ferns unfurl before his eyes It looked like it was reaching out to touch the guests Beside it another plant also appeared to be moving Tim rubbed his eyes and looked again He scanned the room to see if anyone else saw what he saw But everyone in the crowd was staring intently at the dark-haired woman in green The woman was telling them about one of her favorite flowers She held a special
variety in her hand She moved it slowly past each of the admiring faces in the crowd so everyone could get a close look Mmm isn’t the scent divine she asked She breathed in deeply encouraging her captive audience to do the same Then she let her breath out with a sigh and a mysterious smile Tim wondered briefly who the woman could be Her long black hair cascaded over half her face making it difficult to see her eyes Could she be the botanist in charge He didn’t have much time to ponder before something else caught his eye Above the gathered guests he spied more moving plants Several hanging shrubs appeared to be sending down sticky tendrils Pushing past a man in a dark suit Tim tried to get a closer look But the people were packed in too closely Nobody would budge Nobody wanted to step away from the woman and her captivating flower Tim ducked behind a patron in a red gown trying to spot Bruce Wayne in the crowd Something felt off and he didn’t like it The harder he tried to get to Bruce the more the crowd seemed to push in tighter Tim could not get through I give up Tim said to himself But then he had a brilliant idea Tim stepped outside and took a deep breath of the cool clear air He turned around to look at the building he’d just left Though the glass was a bit fogged Tim had a better view of what was happening in the greenhouse from the outside And what he saw was shocking Tim had been right about the plants They were moving In fact they were making a move The fern frond he’d seen uncurling earlier was now stretching toward a short man’s suit pocket The long tendrils dropping down from the hanging baskets were winding themselves onto expensive necklaces and other jewels Not only that they were unclasping them While Tim looked on the plants withdrew taking wallets and jewelry with them The guests were being pick-pocketed by plants Tim knocked loudly on the glass walls to alert Gotham City’s wealthiest patrons that they were being robbed He yelled and pointed frantically but nobody paid any attention It was as if the guests were all in some sort of trance Tim pounded again searching the crowd trying to find Bruce Wayne Surely
