Chapter 108: Both Cases Solved

Obtaining the hospital's surveillance footage was no difficulty for Batman; even if the doctors were unlikely to cooperate with his investigation, the Batman Decrypter Lu Lu Xiusi had prepared was sufficiently effective.

At this time, Batman was still somewhat young; once he evolved a bit further, he would think to install a backdoor in the hospital's servers for remote monitoring.

Fortunately, Gotham Hospital had not deleted the surveillance data from last November regarding Harvey. Since Gotham City was inherently a special place, the hospital backed up all video footage related to major malignant events within ten days, including controversial surveillance clips; Greta's hospitalization record met both criteria.

As for who implemented and funded this measure—it was, of course, also Bruce Wayne.

The district attorney's home was bombed, the Holiday Killer committed crimes, and the district attorney caused a scene demanding to view the surveillance; these three factors combined ensured that the footage from that day was preserved.

After copying the video and playing it at triple speed in the Batcave, Batman breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the curtain separating the bed cubicle was drawn, revealing only a small portion of the bed's edge, Harvey's figure was within that small area, present the entire night; even when he lay down to sleep, a part of his back remained slightly exposed.

However, this video was not without its oddities; the entire night's footage contained two instances of blank screens.

The first was the static-filled screen lasting over ten seconds; this period seemed to have no apparent cause, appearing to be a simple malfunction.

The second occurred when the hospital experienced a power outage; however, Gotham Hospital had backup power, so the power supply system switched over in less than a minute, resulting in the second blank segment in the surveillance footage.

Gotham is a place where it rains often, so thunderstorms are hardly unusual; occasionally, lightning causes power issues in the hospital, which is precisely why the backup emergency power system was installed.

But Batman did not believe in coincidences—if someone wanted to cause a short circuit and trip the breakers at Gotham Hospital, they only needed to conduct research and understand the hospital's specific conditions.

Ordinary people would not undertake such thankless work, because the backup power system and the main power system are difficult to target simultaneously; anyone capable of targeting both could simply bribe a nurse or hire a few assassins—which also led Gotham Hospital to pay less attention to routine electrical safety.

"Two blank segments, seemingly two different methods: the first interfered with the camera, the second cut the power."

Thinking this, he felt a slight stirring in his heart; tonight's reflections and this surveillance footage had given him inspiration—two people's pasts were worth investigating.

A few days later, at Ma Ma Zhaodi's home.

"I told you to use the door; do you never listen to what people say?"

Ma Ma Zhaodi sat on the bed, protesting against the bat-creature who had suddenly appeared by the window.

"You were involved in the bombing case, and you also blocked Harvey's surveillance signal—you understand technical methods."

"And then?"

"You deleted the hospital's surveillance footage."

Ma Ma Zhaodi raised an eyebrow; he had originally thought the minor details of this case would no longer be questioned.

"I went to retrieve a cross; that one can ensure safety."

"The power outage was not your doing."

"What power outage?"

"After you left the hospital at that time, did anyone follow you?"

Ma Ma Zhaodi froze.

Suddenly, a chilling sensation surged from the depths of his heart, goosebumps crawling up his spine; for an ordinary person, such a scenario was truly terrifying.

"Are you suggesting that after I left the hospital, someone took advantage of the missing surveillance to exit with me?"

"An assassin followed you out," Batman's voice was calm: "From that very ward, right behind you."

"He retrieved his coat and gun; you retrieved your Cornucopia; both of you heard the Irish Mob's celebration outside the Astoria Tower Hotel."

"..." Ma Ma Zhaodi swallowed hard, then looked at Batman again; his face remained expressionless, revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Are you certain it was him? Did he commit the subsequent cases as well?"

"Not him, but her; only this one case."

"Greta killed the Irish Mob?"

Ma Ma Zhaodi's train of thought suddenly cleared.

"She committed a copycat crime... What about the first case?"

"Greta's logic can also be applied to this case; Richard had a girlfriend named Heidi, who was once one of Johnny Vitti's former girlfriends."

Ma Ma Zhaodi dared to bet that the word he had just thought of was "mistress."

"So she knew where Johnny lived, knew Johnny's habits and room layout, knew how to infiltrate his home; she recognized Johnny on the street, yet Johnny didn't remember her at all and killed Richard in public—she did it to avenge Richard's death. Then, how did Greta return to the hospital?"

"She was once a nurse at Gotham Hospital."

"She knew the hospital's security vulnerabilities..." Ma Ma Zhaodi sighed: "She read the Anjianjuan Sect case files Harvey brought home, knowing how to mimic the crime; she might not have found the Irish Mob otherwise, but they laughed too loudly; her marksmanship was excellent, allowing her to unexpectedly kill five men who couldn't draw their guns."

"For your marksmanship, everyone is 'excellent'."

Ma Ma Zhaodi clenched his fists but still restrained the urge to strike, after all, he couldn't win.

"If it weren't for me, she would have directly deleted that night's surveillance instead of causing a power outage, correct?"

This question received no answer; Batman's figure had long since vanished from the room.

Ma Ma Zhaodi couldn't hold back, ran to the window, and shouted a sentence in a raised voice.

"Some crimes are beyond the reach of the law; therefore, to a certain extent, private vengeance is justified!"

He could do no more, only hoping that DC's greatest detective could accept the viewpoint of another greatest detective.

The case seemed to have made a breakthrough, yet also seemed to have made no progress. On one hand, the speculation was reasonable, but evidence was hard to find; on the other hand, Gotham's judicial system was indeed disappointing.

Let alone Johnny Vitti, who was the Roman's nephew and had been sued countless times without ever being convicted; and the Irish Mob could quickly be released from prison under the godfather's protection—if the evidence were handed to the court, who could return justice to Heidi and Greta?

For the following period, Batman was busy rushing between various shooting ranges and private ranges; he had plenty of means to obtain membership lists and the names of prodigious marksmen, it just required some time and money.

"Young Master, you should rest."

Alfred placed a steaming cup of black tea and a Batman sandwich beside Batman: "You have been staring at these dozens—perhaps hundreds—of lists and information for a long time."

"I know, Alf." Batman casually took the tea, his eyes still rapidly scanning the names on the list, yet even after flipping through the high-score records from the Falcone family's shooting range, he still could not find the name he sought.

"Alf," he suddenly spoke: "I must take a long trip."

(End of Chapter)