The GCPD’s Major Crimes Unit is investigating two ongoing and completely unrelated cases: A young girl was murdered before a fake ransom note was sent to make it look like a kidnapping, and a nobody costumed criminal called Firebug has been committing random acts of arson around Gotham City.

This issue opens with Detectives Chandler and Driver talking to the guy who lives in the park and who had some kind of friendship with the murdered girl. He says that she would lend him library books and join in his complaints about the annoying yuppie jerks taking over the city, but, on the night she died, she never showed up to get the book he was supposed to return — meaning she didn’t make it through the park after her babysitting gig at the nearby Combs house. Hmm!

Meanwhile, the other detectives talk to Joe Rigger, the original Firebug, who broke his arms and a leg while running from the cops in the last issue. As it turns out, he sold off all of his costumed criminal gear in an underground auction (as collectible memorabilia, of course). He doesn’t know who bought it, just that it was a rich guy, but he promises that he can ID the buyer.

So the last person to see the murdered girl was rich white guy Harlan Combs, and the person who bought the Firebug gear was a rich white guy… What are the odds it’s the same guy?!

Very good, actually! Driver and Chandler bring in Combs for some ostensibly routine questioning, all so he can casually walk past Joe Rigger and get a positive ID. At the same time, the cops get a warrant to search his house and find his hidden supervillain stash, setting off an alarm on his pager (remember pagers?) and confirming for Driver and Chandler that he is, indeed, both the Firebug and the murderer. The girl was snooping and found the stashed costume while babysitting, causing the alarm to go off on his pager, so he hurried home and killed her.

The cops enjoy some well-earned downtime, but Driver is nowhere to be seen. It turns out he’s on the roof of GCPD HQ, turning on the Bat-Signal. Batman swoops in and Driver points out that it was he and the other detectives, not Batman, who caught Firebug and solved the murder. Batman’s response: Cool, thanks. Also, the Bat-Signal is not a toy. (It’s just now occurring to me that Gotham Central’s version of the Dark Knight isn’t too far off from Lego Batman. I could see him saying “Darkness! No parents!”)

Not wholly satisfying for Driver, but he’s content. He then has a little moment with Detective Chandler, which is bad because we know that one of the other detectives has a crush on her. Uh-oh!

Thus concludes Ed Brubaker’s “Motive” story arc! Things start fresh in the next issue with Rucka taking over main writing duties for a storyline involving fan-favorite GCPD cop (and future Question-asker, though that doesn’t happen until after Gotham Central) Renee Montoya.

The Untitled Comic Book Newsletter Book Society continues next week with the sixth issue of Gotham Central. Read along at home! Email me your questions or comments if you can find my email!