Chapter 102: Carmine Falcone?

"No, no." Ma Ma Zhaodi shook his head again: "Richard's resignation isn't necessarily Maroni's doing. Moreover, Alberto has no connection to the Falcone family business; killing him would only make the Godfather's retaliation more insane. Finally, during the two recent holidays, the number of dead Maroni family members was more than ten times the total of all the people who died in the Falcone family combined before—how could a self-inflicted wound scheme turn into genuine self-weakening, strengthening the enemy? Maroni is a crime boss, not a stupid madman."

【Mission Status: In Progress (2/3)】

The Riddler's turn followed immediately:

"Question: Why did the killer shoot Alberto Falcone?"

"Answer: Because he could."

Hearing this self-questioning and self-answering, which was nothing short of the classic mindset of a psychotic murderer, the figure sitting beside the Riddler immediately leaned forward, clenching his fists. Then, his action of standing up was pressed down by a burly shadow.

Hearing the voice, the Riddler turned around and saw Falcone, sitting in the shadows, with veins bulging on his forehead, the three claw marks on his face looking even more hideous due to his anger, while the mountain-like figure behind him was about to pierce the Riddler with his cold gaze.

The Riddler's face immediately showed an awkward and nervous forced smile: "I, uh... I just wanted to say, Alberto wasn't involved in the family business."

"The question that follows is, could all these killings be due to personal grudges?"

Ma Ma Zhaodi scratched his head: "A grudge killing of Alberto? This person would have to hold a deep hatred against the Falcone family, a deep hatred against the Maroni family, and be willing to kill Alberto, who isn't involved in the underworld."

"Carla Vitti, Mr. Falcone's sister."

"Her son, Johnny Vitti, was supposed to testify against Mr. Falcone to the jury—how the Romans tried to find someone to stab a knife between his nephew's ribs is no longer a secret."

"Could Carla Vitti do something unimaginable? Could this mother kill her own son just to hide her identity? Now, her crimes are covered by her fury; she can attack anyone at will because no one will suspect her anymore."

"She was there during the incident on New Year's Eve, too. Who else could approach Alberto without arousing his suspicion?"

"In that regard, this sounds more like a son—no, a son."

"A while later, she runs back to the scene to cover her tracks."

Ma Ma Zhaodi looked at the screen, holding a bowl of popcorn, thought for a moment, and still shook his head: "Killing her own son, then taking revenge on Falcone—this logic is too abstract—unless her son was killed by someone hired by Falcone."

"Reasonable." Ma Ma Zhaodi nodded: "If Falcone hired someone to kill his nephew, and Carla Vitti took revenge for her son, then the logic chain is very complete—but this still can't explain the deaths of the Irish Mob, nor can it explain why the Holiday Killer later started attacking the Maronis. After completing the revenge for the murderer of her son, Carla had absolutely no need to continue helping Falcone eliminate his opponents."

"Besides, would the Godfather really do such a thing? When Johnny was about to confess to the court, he didn't use such extreme measures; instead, he killed him after Johnny turned to his side? This doesn't seem like the Godfather's caliber."

"Most importantly, he is an old relic—an old relic wouldn't come up with such a novel, such a psychotic method of killing. A shot to the head, then leaving directly, is the cautious style of old-school gangsters."

【Mission Status: In Progress (3/3)】

【Reward Obtained: Advanced Acting Mastery】

Two crisp prompts sounded; the April Fool's day gig reward had arrived, but the system screen did not immediately go black.

Ma Ma Zhaodi, not understanding why, grabbed a handful of popcorn and continued to huddle on the sofa, watching the screen.

"If I may interrupt, Young Master."

The old man holding the teacup suddenly spoke: "In all your deductions, one person has been completely overlooked."

Batman's voice was steady: "Julian Day."

"But according to Arkham Asylum's records—although they might have been tampered with, I believe Calendar Man is still under their custody."

"The person I want to mention is not him."

At this moment, Batman seemed to realize something, turned his head, but said nothing.

"I just want to point out that on the path of seeking justice—I have seen some rational people like you..."

Ma Ma Zhaodi's mouth twitched.

"... and they would also do the most unexpected things."

Batman remained silent for a moment before answering Alfred's question.

"Captain Gordon told me that he also came home late on the night of New Year's Eve."

"He met up with himself outside Wayne Manor on Valentine's Day; by then it was already dark, and the news of the attack on Maroni's restaurant came right after the two of them met."

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

"What do you plan to do now, Young Master?"

"Pray that I am wrong, pray that my surveillance had the intended effect on Harvey Dent."

"It shouldn't be Harvey," Ma Ma Zhaodi scratched his head: "I've done so much; on Christmas Day, the Holiday Killer didn't continue committing crimes, which shows we've had some effect."

"The only thing a bit strange is, why did the Holiday Killer continue to kill on a large scale afterwards?"

No one responded; the system's gig had ended, and Ma Ma Zhaodi couldn't even judge from the panel whether his thoughts were right or wrong.

"Mr. Nygma, people tell me there is no riddle in the world you cannot solve." The Godfather's expression was cold: "And now, you are just placing one 'guess' after another, piling them up. But you haven't found any more certain hypothesis from them."

"Uh..."

The Riddler, sweating profusely, looked somewhat terrified. Because he felt a big hand take the green hat off his head, and then two big hands pressed onto his temples.

"If your life depends on this—and indeed it does."

As the Godfather spoke, those iron hands began to exert force. The Riddler felt excruciating pain in his head; his skull and facial features were being squeezed by a terrifying, monstrous force, as if about to be kneaded into a lump of plasticine; blood gradually flowed from his mouth and nose.

And the Godfather continued speaking calmly: "Tell me—who is the Holiday Killer?"

"Uh..."

Cold sweat and blood almost covered the Riddler's face. At this moment, he truly felt the fear of death; if he didn't give a satisfactory answer, he might not have another chance to solve riddles in the future.

So, he trembled and spoke a name.

"Carmine Falcone?"

(End of Chapter)