He waves his hand at the man. "Finish writing your letters, then." Snappish and a bit dismissive, before he settles back and continues to watch, just with a bit less overt curiosity.

The desire to help is a very easy thing to leverage over the course of a year. As is whatever's made him willing to leave his son.. End goal? Sure. It can be finding out what those connections are and how to turn the man himself into leverage. There's something more there.

He truly isn't an idiot.

...Helping Gotham is still not a terrible thing. He still wants to know more for the sake of knowing and because something about that level of audacity is compelling.

His end goal is still what works, here.