Chapter 52: A World Where Only the Romans Suffer

A. 22 caliber clipper pistol with its serial number filed off, eleven gleaming metal shell casings, a broken baby pacifier, and a cornucopia of red and blue abundance on the table.

The turkey on the dining table remained uncut; delicious dishes lay overturned, high-grade red wine spilled onto the floor, mixing with viscous blood to appear even more vivid.

Finally, there were the five bodies lying around the table, cold and clad in suits and leather.

The same method, the same signature, the same weapon, bringing the same death; looking at the five people on the newspaper with wild imaginations, Gordon sank into deep contemplation.

"Ding-ling-ling—"

The phone's ringing woke Harvey Dent, who was slumped by the window; he rubbed his sleepy eyes, walked out of the room with tired steps, and answered the call.

"Harvey? Where are you?"

"Gordon? I'm at the hospital; Gilda just woke up this morning."

"You've been guarding there all night? Sigh, anyway, thank God, at least there's finally some good news this morning."

Harvey heard something unusual in Chief Gordon's voice on the phone, so he asked directly: "Did something happen?"

"Five men from the Irish Mob went to a private room at the Astoria Tower Hotel last night to feast and carouse, then had their brains blown out by the 'Holiday Killer'."

"Holiday Killer." Harvey's gaze suddenly froze, because he saw Gilda's smooth neck in the room.

There was no cross necklace there.

"Those five had money to carouse at the Astoria Tower Hotel, which means they made a sum of money—earned from me."

"That's right."

"So that's why you asked where I was last night."

"Harvey, I just wanted to rule out your possibility."

"Gordon, we are old acquaintances; I won't hold a grudge against you over this, but to be honest, I can't help but want to cheer for whoever did this—"

"Harvey Dent." Gordon interrupted Harvey's speech: "You are the District Attorney of Gotham City; you represent law and justice."

Powerless justice.

Harvey couldn't help but think, but immediately shook his head hard, casting the thought behind him.

I am the District Attorney of Gotham City; I must represent law and justice.

"Gordon, I can only tell you that I guarded by Gilda's side all night; she never woke up, and I slept by the hospital bed all night as well."

"I'm sorry, Harvey; rest well. If you need it, I can take leave to watch Gilda for you for a day, and you can find a place to sleep."

"No need, Gordon; you handle your business." Harvey refused Gordon's proposal: "I still have some things to investigate."

He hung up the phone, confirmed that Gilda was not asleep yet, then pulled back the curtain to look at the several beds in the next room.

There was originally another patient and another family member here last night, but their bed has now been cleared out; obviously, they were discharged either this morning or last night.

Could it be this patient?

He thought for a moment, turned his head, and went to find a nurse.

"Hello, I am Harvey Dent, District Attorney of Gotham City; I want to request hospital administration to retrieve surveillance footage from my wife's ward. Yes, this may be related to an important case."

Ma Ma Zhaodi's recent days have been going quite well.

Living expenses have decreased further thanks to the Cornucopia of Abundance; usually, cooking only requires buying some meat, and even a purely vegetarian banquet is fine—the ingredients produced in the Cornucopia of Abundance are of such high quality that even eaten raw, they are far more delicious than many improperly cooked hot meals.

Now he grabs a fruit every day and munches away because it really tastes good.

The phrase "improperly cooked" is now irrelevant to him; after completing the "Blockage is worse than Dredging" task, Culinary Mastery has become the only advanced skill he currently possesses; combined with the Cornucopia of Abundance, even if every meal is made into a full vegetarian banquet, there is no possibility of getting tired of eating it.

"With this culinary skill, maybe I can directly apply to become Falcone Family's head chef? Wouldn't that salary take off for me?"

Thinking of his bright future, he couldn't help but munch on fruit and hum softly.

"Ah, wait, I suddenly remembered, there's one more thing I haven't explained."

The moment he saw the surveillance screen turn to static, Harvey's fist tightened a bit.

Although the whole sequence lasted only a dozen seconds, he could be certain that only during this time period was it possible for someone to enter his room and take the necklace from Gilda's neck, because whenever others entered the room and approached the hospital bed, he himself was in a state of wakefulness.

Only those dozen seconds were missing, and the patient and family member in the adjacent bed were also sleeping soundly in the surveillance footage; they simply didn't see who did it.

This person also possesses a certain level of hacking ability, Harvey thought silently; he precisely blocked out the dozen seconds during which he appeared on the surveillance, and also knew that the hospital corridor surveillance did not cover the area right outside his ward door.

"Ding-ling-ling—"

The phone rang again, but the caller ID showed no name; Harvey raised an eyebrow, and his mind immediately became alert.

"District Attorney Harvey, congratulations on surviving."

"What exactly do you want to do?"

"Splitting the loot, Mr. Harvey; now is the time to split the loot. Falcone's bounty is quite substantial; rather than letting it go to the Irish Mob, why not use it as compensation for your losses? What do you think?"

"You stole their bounty?"

"That's right, and I have already used it to anonymously pay for the repair costs of your house; however, it's clear that Falcone really wants you dead, so a large sum of the bounty remains."

"You can do whatever you want with it; anyway, this sum of money would seem somewhat illegal even if confiscated through proper legal procedures, and if you follow my suggestion—since it's all your blood money, taking it is perfectly reasonable; Falcone's kind of person's US dollars, leaving them with him would only turn into criminal funds, wouldn't it?"

"A very persuasive argument." Harvey remained noncommittal on this.

"In any case, I spent nine thousand US dollars, so I only took nine thousand US dollars, and the remaining portion is buried in your basement; how to handle it is entirely up to you."

"There is one more thing; the five men from the Irish Mob were not killed by me."

"If we are lucky, we will never meet again, District Attorney Harvey."

"Beep—beep—beep—"

Harvey Dent hung up the phone, his thoughts in his mind somewhat complicated.

This person holds no malice toward him, has no greed for money, and seems to have no reason to lie, because he could have simply chosen not to contact him.

Then, if it wasn't him, who exactly killed the five men from the Irish Mob? Who is the Holiday Killer?

Also, how exactly should he handle that bounty money in his basement?

Morning light shone through the window into the room, falling on the hospital bed; Gilda's eyelids trembled slightly, then slowly opened, seeing Harvey with furrowed brows by the bedside.

At this moment, she reached out and held his hand, and his brows gently relaxed.

PS: A friend mentioned wanting to see the original image, so I've posted it below (you still need the Qidian mobile app to view it; remember to upgrade to the latest version. The scene is slightly bloody; if you don't want to see it, feel free to skip it.)

(End of this chapter)