Chapter 104: Mother's Day

"When does a killer stop killing?"

Reverse that question, and you get this one—

"When does a killer kill?"

"Hatred, profit." Ma Ma Zhaodi summarized: "Even that bunch of psychopaths known as super-villains have their own reasons for killing. Even pure chaotic madness like the Joker's was just to get into Harvey's house to eliminate the Holiday Killer."

"Whether it's the thrill of killing, showing off one's ability, or simply wanting to kill, it all boils down to a single 'want'. But for him to 'not want' to kill me proves the Riddler has nothing to do with either of those points."

"Or rather, he actively avoided those two points."

"He has no connection with the Holiday Killer, so there is no hatred. But today, the Godfather asked him to uncover the Holiday Killer's identity—that would absolutely infringe upon the Holiday Killer's interests."

"He didn't kill the Riddler because the Riddler caused him no financial harm. He deliberately avoided revealing the Holiday Killer's true identity, so the Holiday Killer, coinciding with the April Fool's Day holiday pattern, also chose not to kill him."

No shouting, no crying for help, leaning actively against the wall, tensing the body—this prevents being hit by bullets due to erratic movement. Staring at the gun muzzle is to ensure the Holiday Killer doesn't truly develop a killing intent, preserving the strength to resist.

The Riddler might not know who the Holiday Killer is, but he absolutely knows who the Holiday Killer is not. He survived the pincer attack between the Godfather and the Holiday Killer, and even managed to escape successfully.

"Batman suspects Harvey." Ma Ma Zhaodi thought: "That's not a good thing, but fortunately, on Valentine's Day, I did something."

"I called Harvey when the bombing attack ended. That call probably dragged on for about ten minutes, and he only left the Wayne residence after finishing the call."

I am his alibi, Ma Ma Zhaodi thought. Even if Alfred didn't check the watch at that time, simply verifying the time of that call with me and Chief Gordon, along with the time of the incident, would allow Batman to rule out Harvey's suspicion for that night.

The question is, after removing these people, who exactly remains?

Ma Ma Zhaodi's head throbbed with pain. When using the process of elimination, he could still think of a few things, but when trying to expand on associations, his thoughts became too complicated, with too many possibilities: copycat crimes, multiple perpetrators, male-female cooperation, even the Godfather, Maroni, or a split personality awakening to commit several cases each, or even the possibility of an anti-hero coming to Gotham City. Once the train of thought opened up, he realized the clues he had access to were still too few.

In this chaotic and mad city, he dared not be certain he was the one who was sane.

Perhaps he should urge that jinx, Batman, to go find the Riddler?

Time passed quickly. Due to the Holiday Killer's indiscriminate attacks, the Romanos and the Maroni family seemed to have calmed down somewhat. Ma Ma Zhaodi remained in a suspended state, and some members of the Falcone family seemed somewhat dissatisfied with keeping such a disaster weapon that couldn't fire and didn't belong to the family.

The only thing worth celebrating was that the Supervisor hadn't said to cancel the sixty thousand dollars he was scheduled to call him for in April.

Putting aside the asset points that couldn't really be saved no matter how much he tried, the cash in Ma Ma Zhaodi's account had accumulated to a quite considerable amount. After deducting expenses, there was still nearly two hundred thousand left.

As for the not-so-worth-celebrating matter, the Riddler was really good at hiding. With Batman having little energy left since he wasn't causing trouble and wanted to stay alive, Batman hadn't been able to find him for the time being.

His main focus was concentrated on dealing with Harvey Dent.

"That kid Vernon really did have dealings with Maroni; he is untrustworthy."

"But this file from the Juan Sect is indeed real, Gordon."

"Are you sure you want to keep doing this?"

"Arresting one of Gotham City's most famous citizens?" Harvey shook his head, looking at Batman beside him: "No."

"But if Bruce Wayne is truly helping the Romanos' empire—then whatever happens next is deserved by him."

Batman stood aside, feeling a bit numb.

If tonight wasn't about finding Gordon to verify the time of the Valentine's Day incident, he might not have heard this conversation at all.

"Bruce Wayne has kept his distance from the Romanos for many years," he said. "Without him, the Gotham Bank would have already cooperated with the Romanos."

"Now that he is here, the bank still passed the cooperation resolution." Harvey shook his head: "I originally thought Bruce was a good man, but now..."

Batman felt even more numb.

He couldn't mention Poison Ivy because he hadn't locked her back up in Arkham—her control abilities were too dangerous. Batman had specially built a private prison for her and was planning to add an identical single cell in Arkham Asylum as well.

Regarding the topic of the private prison, the group had discussed it many times but could never reach an agreement. After all, his private prison indeed lacked proper procedures and supervision; in other words, even calling it illegal imprisonment would be no problem.

I need to find time to talk to Harvey properly, using another identity... he thought. Fortunately, things haven't reached the worst point yet. Tonight's meeting, at least, I did not miss.

Batman was held back by his teammate; no one expected this situation. As a result, amidst this sticky atmosphere, May arrived.

【You have a new gig available, please check and receive】

"Hmm?" Ma Ma Zhaodi raised an eyebrow as he looked at the mission panel; this mission seemed unusually easy.

"You know a lot—tell me everything you know."

"Let me out, let me go, and then I will stop his killing. Mother's Day is here."

One black, one white; one outside, one inside. Batman and Calendar Man stared at each other through thick bulletproof glass; one wanted the truth, the other wanted freedom.

"Every son has a mother." Calendar Man's face wore a smile that wasn't quite a smile: "Even you are the same."

"Do you want to have blood on your hands on Mother's Day?"

That's right. Although the Riddler was hard to find, Calendar Man was locked up in Arkham Asylum. Batman wouldn't miss any opportunity to gather intelligence, and besides, today was Mother's Day—as Calendar Man said, he truly didn't want to see anyone die on this day.

But things don't always go as people wish.

"Bat-Batman, help..."

A stumbling guard collapsed onto the ground, panting, his face filled with fear, his voice intermittent: "Escaped, fourth floor."

He hadn't finished a single complete sentence before crashing to the ground with a thud, curling up his body, completely plunged into panic.

Only one person could do such a thing.

Batman sprinted, rushing into the darkness at top speed. When he appeared again, he had already reached the fourth floor, in front of a half-opened large door.

Jonathan Crane. That was the name of the prisoner held behind this door.

PS: Indeed, there's nothing left; this time it's truly nothing left.

(End of Chapter)