CHAPTER 1 MIDNIGHT IN THE MUSEUM Batman stood as still as a statue All around him the real statues were shadowy shapes in the museum The Dark Knight blended right in The Caped Crusader did not move a muscle He had trained himself to stay in one spot for as long as it took to catch a criminal If he had an itch he did not scratch it If he had to sneeze he suppressed it If he had to breathe he inhaled as quietly as a bat There was a reason Batman stood in the midnight shadows of the Gotham City Museum of
Natural History There was a very special exhibit of rare and valuable fossils on display that were worth millions of dollars The money was a temptation for any of the super-villains in Gotham City but one of the fossils was extra special a skeleton of a prehistoric penguin The skeleton was the only one known to exist Batman knew this was an irresistible lure to the master criminal known as the Penguin The short and stout villain had a special liking for anything to do with the portly birds He dressed in a tuxedo to imitate an Emperor penguin His nose was long and pointed just like a penguin’s beak Even his laugh sounded like a penguin squawking WAAUK came a sound at the entrance of the exhibit hall Batman shifted his eyes but not his head in that direction He saw four dark shapes moving into the hall One of the shapes was very short
It waddled on stubby legs and was supported by an umbrella WAAUK WAAUK The Penguin cried There it is Oh it’s such a wonderful sight The villain’s attention was focused on a fossilized skeleton He rushed right past the hidden Batman The Penguin looked at the ancient bones with admiration in his eyes CLAP CLAP CLAP He clapped his hands together in delight There it is a Waimanu manneringi the Penguin said It’s the oldest known penguin in Earth’s history The plump villain sighed in appreciation It dates from the Middle Paleocene period at least sixty million years ago Isn’t it beautiful One of the Penguin’s helpers tilted his head
