Chapter 1131: Professor (Part 3) (Patreon)

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Schiller re-entered the room, not touching the windowsill with his hands, but instead signalled to Gordon with eye contact. Gordon stepped forward, glanced at the windowsill and said, "The sanitation conditions at Wayne Hospital are commendable, but this is just a regular hospital room; the windowsill is a bit too clean, don't you think?"

Schiller nodded, and Gordon moved in closer, sticking his head out to look down and noticed that the awning below had a frame, although the frame was made of wood, it was nailed into the wall.

Clearly, the awning was constructed during the building's construction process, and any construction by Wayne Enterprises is of very high quality, so even though it's just an awning, it can support the weight of an adult male.

Gordon recalled the process he had just seen, then had a sudden realization and said, "I know why there are no wounds on the arm. Doctor Richard's arm was gripping the window handle and hadn't retracted when the dagger pierced his heart. He wasn't unwilling to fight back; he simply had no chance to."

Schiller nodded and said, "Detective, take another look at his wound, especially the edges, you should find something unusual."

Upon hearing this, Gordon immediately went to the corpse's side, knelt down, put on gloves, and carefully examined the wound, frowning, "The upper part of the edge of the wound seems a bit different, but I'm not very versed in forensic science..."

"You don't need to be an expert in forensic science. Haven't you noticed that the laceration on the upper edge of the wound is deeper than the lower part? Guess why?"

Gordon was still pondering when Bruce spoke up.

"In order not to let too much blood drip onto the windowsill, the murderer didn't pull out the weapon while the victim was facing the window. Instead, he turned the victim around before pulling out the weapon."

"But at that time, the murderer was standing outside the window, and the corpse had already slid down below the windowsill. The murderer had to lean his upper body into the room, reach over the corpse's shoulder with his hand, and then he could pull out the weapon."

"When pulling out the weapon, the force was applied from above and behind the corpse, not directly from the front, which is why the upper edge of the wound was more severely injured."

Gordon shook his head and said, "How do you manage to deduce so much in such a short time?"

Schiller didn't come in, but stood outside the window, looked down at the windowsill, and then said, "Next, we can discuss the murderer's personality."

"You've deduced the murderer's personality?!" Gordon asked in a raised voice.

"From his series of actions, you should see that this was a premeditated murder, the murderer was well-prepared and may have rehearsed it countless times."

"If so, he didn't pull out the weapon immediately, and the action of flipping the corpse was quick enough that blood might not have dripped onto the windowsill, but he still wiped the windowsill thoroughly."

Schiller gently touched the outside of the window frame on the staircase and looked at Bruce, saying, "If the patient hadn't returned so quickly, you would have had a free window cleaner."

Gordon touched the side of his cheek and said, "What does this mean? Does he have OCD?"

"It means he's not confident," Schiller shook his head and said. "It also means he's a novice, and very likely, this was his first time committing a crime."

"Why?" Gordon asked. His thinking was fast enough to understand this somewhat tricky case in such a short time.

But Gordon, as of now, wasn't too adept at surmising criminals' psychology because the majority of cases in Gotham are gang shootouts or revenge killings, with no need to understand complicated psychological twists and turns.

"Detective Gordon, do you think the theoretical knowledge you learned at the police academy is always applicable in reality?" Schiller asked.

Gordon thought for a moment and then said, "In terms of criminal investigation, quite a bit of it is applicable, but in terms of civil mediation, it's almost entirely inapplicable; you have to adapt to the local conditions."

"Then, when you left the police academy, did you recognize the difference between theory and reality?" Schiller asked further.

"At that time, I was quite naive and thought that since I was academically strong, I would be good in practice too." Gordon pondered and said, "I had my doubts, but this is actually common sense, right? Ordinary people know that theory can't be exactly the same as practice."

"This is precisely the murderer's contradiction point," Schiller said, tapping the window frame lightly with the side of his finger. "Murder itself is an act against morality and law,and it is one that many people cannot imagine themselves undertaking, let alone rehearse to perfection. Our murderer, despite his meticulous planning, was not entirely ready to face the reality of taking a life. This dissonance between his theoretical preparations and the actual act resulted in his excessive cleaning of the windowsill. It was an attempt to erase not just the evidence, but also his own lingering fear and guilt."

"Indeed," Gordon mused, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place within his mind. "So you're saying he's an amateur, a first-timer..."

"Precisely," Schiller affirmed with a nod. "An experienced criminal might be more pragmatic, less concerned with leaving a drop or two of blood behind, knowing that time is of the essence and confident in their ability to elude capture. They would also be less likely to engage in such a risky and elaborate scheme, preferring simpler, more direct methods with fewer variables at play."

Bruce, who had been silently observing the exchange, interjected, "Then our suspect list should include those who had the opportunity to rehearse this action, someone with a motive against Doctor Richard, but also someone who would be a novice in the art of murder."

Gordon's eyes narrowed as he considered this. "That could be anyone from a disgruntled patient to a jealous colleague... or even a family member."

Schiller turned from the window and faced Gordon, "Exactly, detective. Now, let's start piecing together Doctor Richard's recent interactions, his work schedule, and any anomalous behavior observed by the hospital staff. It's only through the finer details that we'll catch a glimpse of our phantom window cleaner."

In fact, he could tell that the flip maneuver Schiller had just performed was not very skilled, and one hand had used too much force. If there had indeed been a knife plunged into Bruce's chest, blood would probably have splattered onto the window frame.

Yet there was not a single trace of blood in the crevices of the side window frame, which means that the murderer performed this action perfectly, and without a doubt, this required practice. And with every practice, didn't they ever consider that they would be holding a corpse in their arms?

Forget moral sense, any shred of humanity would feel repulsion, disgust, and fear towards this, as it is a human instinct. However, the murderer still resolutely perfected this maneuver.

"Such a cold, heartless, terrifying person," Gordon exclaimed, and Schiller immediately took up his words, saying, "Or perhaps, we call them 'Born Psychopath.'"

Schiller spat out the last few words, Bruce glanced at him but said nothing, Schiller continued speaking.

"The biggest characteristic of these people is their bloodlessness, they do not feel sorrow for the loss of life, they take pleasure in harming and controlling others, indulging in the thrill of wantonly depriving their own kind of life."

"During the process of practicing a segment of preparation for a murder, they do not feel guilt or fear, on the contrary, the fantasy of depriving others of life provides them with a great deal of pleasure."

Gordon shuddered, as if he could not accept that such humans existed in the world.

Suddenly, Schiller changed the subject and said, "And me saying he's not confident, that is exactly it. He's practiced so many times, yet he still doesn't trust that his perfect actions won't leave any trace on the windowsill."

"Usually, the biggest indicator to judge the level of abnormality of a Born Psychopath is their degree of arrogance. The more arrogant and narcissistic they are, the more delusionally confident they are about their evil acts, beyond anyone's understanding, the tougher they are to deal with."

"I understand," said Gordon after thinking for a moment, "That's why some serial murder case murderers like to return to the scene, to watch the police run around in circles, because they are confident that they will not be discovered."

Schiller shook his head and said, "All murderers who return to the scene are not confident."

Gordon's eyes widened. Schiller's view was contrary to the current mainstream view, as the criminal investigation community still believes that the murderers of serial murder cases return to the scene to mock the police.

"They return to the scene because they are not confident in their methods. They just want to make sure they haven't left any additional clues, just like students who check their answers after an exam because they worry about their scores."

"Or rather, if they do that, it proves that there are flaws in their methods. Just like top students who know they've answered correctly wouldn't check their answers, those uncertain are the ones who lack confidence."

Gordon squinted at Schiller, seemingly not understanding why the Professor described such a brutal murder case as an ordinary exam. The analogy was apt, but the casual tone was chilling.

Schiller smiled, a smile that was somewhat cold and neurotic. Whenever he showed this smile, even Bruce wouldn't make eye contact with him.

Schiller gently touched the windowsill with the tip of his index finger and said, "This murderer is like a student who is not confident in his answer and has added dozens more steps to compensate with quantity like a bad student."

A look of disgust appeared on Schiller's face, and then he continued, "Only mediocrity would think to use the exhaustive method to commit a crime."

Then, Schiller composed himself and looked at Gordon, saying, "Fortunately, he is an unconfident murderer, so as long as you stake out here, you should still be able to see him."

Gordon was about to go out, but Bruce stopped him, saying, "You can't set up a watch outside the hospital room door, otherwise everyone will know the police are here. You pretend to be inspecting the environment inside the hospital first, and I'll keep watch here."

"You're not thinking of installing surveillance cameras, are you?" Schiller directly questioned Bruce for the first time today. Bruce was momentarily taken aback and shook his head, saying, "Even if the murderer is bold, he won't step into this room again. I plan to set up defenses on this entire floor."

"He might be bolder than you think," Schiller suddenly sneered, then said, "I forgot to say, there's also a kind of student, although not confident in their answer, they are very confident in their ranking. They doubt they did well, but they doubt even more that the exam was difficult and that everyone performed poorly."

"So..." Bruce slowly narrowed his eyes.

Just then, a noisy commotion came fromthe hallway; it seemed something had taken place which had stirred up the entire hospital floor. Gordon and Bruce exchanged a quick glance, the unspoken understanding between them clear – something related to their case might be unfolding.

Without a word, Gordon headed towards the commotion, his detective instincts fully engaged, while Bruce remained in the room with Schiller. The air between them felt charged, each man evaluating the other, understanding that the mind of the murderer they were discussing was twisted and complex, capable of actions beyond the grasp of ordinary morality.

Schiller leaned against the windowsill, his gaze following Gordon's departure, but his mind clearly still wrapped around the intricacies of the case. "You see, Bruce," he started, his voice steady and contemplative, "the psychology of a murderer is not unlike a maze—convoluted, with many turns and dead ends. To predict their next move, one must think like them. However, that does not mean succumbing to their darkness; it means understanding it, navigating it, and using it against them."

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 1132: The Professor (4)