Chapter 571: The Black Sun and Bat-Signal (Part 2) (Patreon)

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With a crowd swarming the area, Schiller opted not to use blink (Schiller has this short-distance teleportation). Instead, he sprinted up the staircase, reaching the third floor of the building where the power distribution room was located.

This space used to be the old canteen, but it had been converted into a storage room after the construction of a new canteen. Teaching materials, office supplies, and sports equipment were now stored here. Schiller arrived at the room stacked with teaching materials. A young woman lay on the floor, covered in blood.

Approaching her, Schiller noticed that she was still breathing. Just then, Gordon and Victor rushed over, relieved to find the victim alive. They quickly made a call for an ambulance. While waiting for it to arrive, Schiller examined the girl's wounds.

She had been stabbed twice in the abdomen with small, probably a fruit knife-like blade. Her mouth was cut, and there were bruises on the side of her nose. Schiller surmised that someone had attacked her from behind, covering her mouth with one hand and thrusting the fruit knife into her abdomen with the other.

Schiller turned his head to Gordon and asked, "Is the crime scene from the previous incident in the gym's lounge still intact?"

"Somebody's cleaning it up. Do you want to check it out? I can make a call to have them temporarily stop."

"I'll take a look." Schiller glanced back at the injured girl, who was currently being attended to by paramedics. Her normally radiant face was now pallid, trembling with pain, rendering her unable to speak.

Schiller walked briskly towards the gym, and Victor followed. Though Schiller's expression remained hidden, Victor understood him well. He patted Schiller's shoulder and said, "Don't get frustrated. We'll bring the perpetrator to justice."

Schiller remained silent, continuing forward. At that moment, ominous clouds loomed over Gotham's skies, making it impossible to discern whether morning had already passed. Soon, thick clouds shrouded the city again, and Gotham was once more bathed in rain.

Upon arriving at the gym, the weeping members of the dance troupe had been evacuated to the back of the seating area. Two officers stood guard at the lounge entrance, evidently familiar with Schiller. As he entered the room, the corpse was still in its original place, but everything around it had been moved.

The cause of death was easily identifiable, as the only conspicuous injury on the victim's body was a fatal one on her neck. Schiller approached, conducted a brief examination, and then glanced at the belt preserved in an evidence bag.

It was an ornamental belt, likely worn by members of the dance troupe during performances. It was made of metal chains, explaining the prominent neck injury on the victim.

No fingerprints, no footprints, hardly any traces left behind, and no apparent motive. There were no bystanders, no locked room; this was completely contrary to the typical murder cases that had occurred previously.

Standing in the center of the room, Victor wore a solemn expression. It was evident to him that the lack of evidence would make the investigation exceedingly difficult. However, Schiller seemed lost in thought. Victor saw his contemplative look and asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

"Perhaps I should have mentioned earlier that the serial murder case's perpetrator seems to enjoy deliberately creating connections," Schiller began.

"They select a theme and arrange the victims' identities, the timing of the attacks, and the crime scenes accordingly. Some killers with compulsive behavior even dictate how the corpses are found, the timing, and the identities of witnesses."

"Creating connections, guiding the gaze, that's their specialty. They like leading the investigators with the clues and evidence they leave behind, inching them closer to the answers. It gives them a sense of accomplishment, a sense of killing their own kind, toying with them."

"Among the serial murder cases I've encountered, it's not necessarily the brutality of the methods or the scarcity of evidence that makes a killer dangerous. Sometimes, it's quite the opposite."

"They may commit each individual crime quite ordinarily, but when you link them together, there's an inscrutable theme. They might leave behind a heap of clues at the scene, then watch with delight as the investigators are sent spinning in circles."

Schiller's words hung in the air as he and Victor pondered the perplexing nature of the case.

"In summary, their goal isn't merely to kill someone; it's to tread the line between breaking the law and avoiding consequences. They use themselves as a stake to observe the reactions of the entire society. That's why they kill."

"So, even though these cases exhibit some elements of a serial murder case, such as all of them occurring within Gotham University and the victims being female, it still doesn't constitute a serial murder case."

"Because the perpetrator isn't creating connections. On the contrary, they're desperately erasing any connections. They want each case to appear entirely unrelated, minimizing the commonalities between each incident."

"Another piece of evidence is that they meticulously eliminate evidence at the crime scenes, making the perpetrator vanish without a trace, leaving the police clueless and unable to find anything."

"For serial murder case perpetrators, this would be too dull. They want to control and guide the investigators, leading them on a tour based on their instructions, rather than watching them stumble blindly in their carefully crafted exhibition."

"And from this conclusion, we can deduce that the goal of this case's perpetrator is the opposite of that of serial murder case perpetrators. In other words, if the goal of serial murder case perpetrators isn't to kill, then this perpetrator's goal is precisely to kill."

Victor held up an umbrella, shielding himself from the rain. He saw Schiller's face shrouded beneath the umbrella's shadow, making it impossible to discern any expression. But whenever Schiller spoke about his past experiences related to these matters, there was an eerie detachment in his demeanor, as if he had an innate resonance with the twisted murderers and madmen he described.

When he adopted the perspective of an observer and used this empathy to scrutinize cases, searching for the true culprits, it was as if he were a dark sun suspended in the sky, casting chaos upon all and illuminating nothing.

The rain continued to pour, and the shadow of death enveloped one of the few remaining sanctuaries in Gotham. Life at Gotham University was no longer as peaceful as it used to be. The sharp sirens and the lingering scent of blood in the air made it seem as though the city had been seized by an abyss, just like the rest of Gotham, dragged into endless darkness.

Upon returning to the office, the lights had been restored, but now, the pristine light bulbs couldn't provide a sense of security. Because no one knew when the lights might go out again, and nobody knew if, during the next blackout, there would be another scream and another corpse.

Shortly after returning to the office, Gordon's phone rang. He said, "The girl who was attacked in the storage room is out of danger. I conducted a preliminary interview with her, but as expected, she didn't see her assailant."

"According to her recollection, the attacker should be a male, physically strong, and swift. Therefore, the victim couldn't resist."

After hanging up the phone, Schiller sat at his desk, deep in thought. Then he picked up the phone and made calls first to Bruce and then to Lex, inviting them both to his office.

At that moment, Bruce received the call while dealing with another matter. On the second day of Thomas Elliott's imprisonment, the current head of the Elliott family and his wife were murdered.

They were found dead in a nearby alley not far from Gotham Cathedral, both killed with two gunshots to the chest, one of which hit the heart, causing instant death.

The reason Bruce knew about these cases before the police did was because Batman was still active in Gotham City that night, but someone had managed to elude his surveillance and commit the crime. By the time Batman arrived at the scene, there was nothing left but the corpses.

Facing a tragedy that felt all too familiar, Batman couldn't remain indifferent. He had known Thomas since childhood, and while they weren't inseparable friends, they were old acquaintances. Batman felt he had to investigate this case.

There were, of course, suspects to consider, and one of them was the Godfather, Carmine Falcone.

Thomas had committed a murder within Gotham University, which would undoubtedly displease the Godfather. He had issued a stern warning that no one was allowed to commit crimes within Gotham University, but Thomas, as the only son of the Elliott family, deliberately violated this rule. The Godfather might view this as a challenge.

On the day Thomas was imprisoned, tensions had escalated between the Elliott family and the Falcone Family. The Elliott couple firmly believed their son was innocent and had vehemently confronted the Gotham Police Department, which was under the control of the Godfather. Their audacity had infuriated Falcone, who had subsequently imposed sanctions on a portion of the Elliott family's industry in Gotham. He had even invited the Elliott couple to Falcone Manor for a discussion. However, on their way to the North District, they were killed.

With all these factors in mind, Batman couldn't help but suspect Falcone as the prime candidate.

Therefore, Batman began delving into past materials to gain a better understanding of Falcone as a person, hoping to find his vulnerabilities.

And then, he discovered an utterly absurd fact.

Carmine Falcone, the Godfather who had ruled Gotham for decades, had never killed a single person.

He was innocent.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, without ads and support the work.]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 572: The Dark Sun and the Bat-Signal (Part 3)