Riddle me this.

“7”

Your mind races. Selina needs medical attention and you have to figure out something that will appease this crazy Riddler thug to at least stall his count down.”

“6”

“5”

“4”

“3”

“What does an occultist, physicist and a maker of baseball cards have in common?”

“What?!” The Riddler stops his countdown.

“The Crowley Necklace.” You answer, hoping your opponent's curiosity matches his arrogance.

“I love riddles Dr. Anderson,” The man in green chambers a round in his gun, “but I hate games. Explain yourself.”

“According to the public record the notorious occultist Aleister Crowley,” you begin your ploy with real history, “claimed to have found a meteor with unique almost magical properties that was supposedly discovered by the sorcerer John Dee just before his **** in 1608. In 1914 Crowley got the noted physicist Henry Moseley to test it. Moseley quickly rejected it as mere glass. Crowley, was incensed with Moseley's conclusions, and went to his grave never again being able to find any other reputable scientist to prove his crazy story."

“I know all this.” The Riddler answers unimpressed.

Now comes the subterfuge, you hope it works. “But do you know that Moseley actually thought the gem might not be glass? At least according to his private Oxford notes which have only recently been discovered. He didn't want to encourage the unstable Crowley and planned to buy the gem through a third party at a latter point. Unfortunately, World War I intervened and Moseley was killed at the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915.”

The Riddler hesitates, “Go on.” He then commands.

“Crowley did find one other scientist to examine the gem. The German-American chemist, Henry Gottlieb Eckstein, of the Rueckheim Bros. & Eckstein Company, the creator of a dust, germ and moisture resistant foil. Like Moseley, he didn't want to encourage the delusional Crowley, but unlike Moseley who was a patriotic Brit, Eckstein tried to inform his home country of Imperial Germany. The FBI got wind of Eckstein so he had to publish his findings secretly. For those in the know, his data could be found on the back of baseball cards.”

“That's absurd!”

“Really?” You pray this story is crazy enough that he might just buy it. “Do you not know that Rueckheim Bros. & Eckstein is more famously known for its most noted product? Cracker Jacks?”

“Yes.” Riddle answers, “They changed the name in 1922, everyone knows that.”

“Do you have a better answer for why baseball card collectors have puzzled why Cracker Jack's made so many errors on publishing the players' stats?”

“Umm.” The Riddler halters. Fortunately, he hasn't memorized the back of Deadball Era baseball cards.

“Because it was code for the atomic formulas and calculations for the new element Eckstein has found.”

“Do you have any proof?!” Nygma demands.

“Then riddle me this.” You make your final play. “Why did I bring a 1914 Cracker Jack baseball card to the Athenaeum this night? It's in my jacket pocket.”