Chapter 155: Party and Umbrella (II)

At this time, the sky was near dusk. In the narrow corridor of the Slab, the long, narrow windows could only let in a sliver of light, like a pen dipped in golden paint, drawing a mark on the corridor.

The light pierced sharply into this dark building. Golden lines crossed Batman's body one by one. He traveled through the corridor of the Slab until he reached the crime scene from that time.

Actually, when he discovered this crime scene, his first reaction was certainly not to call the police. Regardless of whether Gordon was a good cop, Batman didn't trust the police from the bottom of his heart.

The reason he did this was that there wasn't just one dead person here, Fish, but also a living person, Oswald Cobblepot. Batman was not illiterate. He saw Cobblepot's delirious speech and limb twitching while unconscious, so he guessed that he might have had a mental illness episode.

To save a life, Batman brought Gordon, and let Gordon bring the psychology expert Shiler. In all of Gotham, only Shiler was professionally qualified.

But now it seemed he had saved the wrong person, Batman thought. This Cobblepot was not an innocent person who had stumbled into the crime scene; it was very likely he was the strategist behind Fish.

Batman certainly investigated Cobblepot's resume easily and figured out that he was the small leader who took power after Kevin died. This wasn't hard to check. In the entire Slab, there were only a handful of people who could read a water meter. Cobblepot had performed excellently in vocational school, so he was certainly one of them, and he happened to appear at the scene of Fish's death. The Slab was so big; it couldn't have been a chance encounter, right?

Walking into the crime scene again, Batman looked around more carefully.

This was a small room in the North District of the Slab. Like all rooms here, the area was narrow and the structure was bizarre. The only window faced west. At this time, the sun, about to set, appeared outside the window frame.

This small room with a window was the living room of the entire suite. With such a small floor plan, there was no need for an entryway. Pushing the door open brought you right into this living room.

On the left side of the living room was a sofa against the wall, stained with a pool of blood. Batman didn't care that the crime scene had been moved. His superb memory allowed him to remember every detail from that time in his mind. In his field of vision, Fish's corpse returned to the sofa.

Her body fell on the sofa, leaning toward the door side, her head resting on the back of the sofa. She was shot in the left temple, blood splattering to the right side of the sofa, and some also dripped onto the floor on the right side. The whole person leaned to the right, clearly killed by a single bullet while sitting on the sofa.

Batman turned his head to look to his right. Cobblepot's figure also appeared in the room, but he fell under the windowsill, his teeth chattering non-stop, his limbs still twitching somewhat.

Batman walked in a bit further and stood in the center of the room. Then, within his field of vision, time in the room began to flow backward. The blood on the floor and the sofa floated up, returning to Fish's head. A bullet flew out of Fish's head, spinning backward. Fish sat up straight, returning to a living state, and the bullet stopped next to her left temple.

Cobblepot also stood up like a marionette, his figure hunched, standing before the window, facing Fish.

Batman stepped over the coffee table, came to Fish's side, and then leaned close to the left side of her cheek, staring at the bullet.

When observing Fish's corpse in the morgue, Batman had discovered that this bullet had shot into Fish's temple very precisely. Judging from the wound, the bullet's entry angle was perpendicular to the temple.

*Heavenly Descent*

In an instant, Fish's figure disappeared. Batman sat on the sofa, and the bullet that killed Fish stopped next to Batman's head.

Time began to flow, the bullet spinning into Batman's temple, blood splashing out, scattering onto the sofa and the floor.

Another Batman stood up from the sofa and knelt to observe the bloodstains. He discovered that this was indeed Fish's first death scene; her corpse had not been moved, and the spray shape and range of the bloodstains were reasonable.

Confirming that this was the death scene, Batman turned, and time returned to one second before Fish was hit. Fish appeared on the sofa again.

Batman walked behind her. From his perspective, Cobblepot in front of the window disappeared.

Suddenly, Batman turned his head to the left and saw Cobblepot standing on Fish's left side, that is, in front of the door leading from the living room to the bedroom, holding a handgun with a ferocious face, aiming at Fish.

In an instant, Batman appeared in Cobblepot's position, holding the handgun that was floating in the air because Cobblepot had disappeared. He muttered to himself, "Wrong."

Because at this moment, Fish turned her head, appearing very surprised and angry.

"In a situation where there were only two people in the room, Cobblepot's actions couldn't have escaped Fish's eyes. Once he raised his gun, Fish would definitely have looked at him."

Batman pulled the trigger, the bullet flew out, hitting Fish's front forehead, not the left temple.

He let go, then returned to the middle of the living room. Cobblepot appeared again. As time flowed backward, the bullet returned to Cobblepot's gun.

Then, Cobblepot's figure retreated a few steps like a movie playing in reverse, retreating into the bedroom. The bedroom door slammed shut with a *bang*.

Batman walked over and opened that door again, and then he discovered that this door opened into the bedroom, with the hinges on the left side.

Batman walked in and stood in Cobblepot's position. The moment he pulled the door handle with his left hand and opened the door, he raised his handgun with his right hand and fired. Fish was completely unaware and didn't turn her head. In an instant, the bullet shot into Fish's temple.

But Batman shook his head again.

The reason this deduction could succeed was that the person firing the gun was him, Batman.

This door opened inward. To open it, one had to hold the door handle and pull inward. To do the two actions of opening the door and firing the gun instantly, it was impossible to hold the gun with both hands.

If the person firing the gun was Batman, then he could indeed manage to pull the door open instantly and use one hand to hold the gun, accurately shooting the bullet into Fish's temple. But that was because he was Batman.

And if the person firing the gun was anyone other than Batman, wanting to hold a gun with one hand, ignore the recoil, and complete the series of actions of aiming, firing, and hitting precisely in an instant was already very difficult.

What's more, the hinges of this door were on the left, opening from the right first. Therefore, the fastest action was to pull the door with the left hand and fire with the right hand the moment the door opened. But Batman had already checked; Cobblepot's right arm was fractured, and it wasn't a new injury.

Such a person, small in stature, without professional training, and with a fractured dominant hand, would find it very difficult to complete the actions of opening the door, raising the gun, aiming, and firing within two seconds.

Even if he could complete it, it would be impossible not to attract Fish's attention at all, at least impossible to leave Fish without any chance to turn her head.

One Batman stood in Cobblepot's position aiming with a gun, another Batman sat on the sofa, and another Batman stood in the center of the room, the fourth stood on the windowsill, the fifth stood in the bedroom looking around, the sixth stood at the door staring at everything...

Countless Batman figures crowded this small crime scene, sometimes standing still, sometimes active in different timelines.

Bullets flew out of guns, creating ripples in the air, soon retreating back into the barrels. The light in the room changed from bright to dark, and from dark to bright. The muzzle flashes flickered again and again. Dark figures left countless afterimages in the room. In this quiet dusk, the solitary Batman held a lively party with himself.

Not long after, almost all traces of activity in this small room had been investigated by Batman. He tried every possibility and then excluded the vast majority of ways the crime could have been committed, such as Cobblepot ambushing in various ways and from various angles, or Fish being drugged, tied up, and having her movement restricted, etc.

Judging from various traces, what could be determined was that Fish walked into this room perfectly sound and then sat on the sofa. Cobblepot followed her in, and it was impossible to ambush her without attracting her attention.

But this didn't mean Cobblepot wasn't the murderer.

Batman let everything return to the starting point. He stood in the center of the living room and looked around.

The entire scene became a room model, placed on a tabletop. A giant hand pinched a model of a black figure and placed it into the bedroom.

Above the entire room model, Batman lowered his head, staring at the entire scene from above with focused attention. Accompanied by his gaze, the room gradually expanded in his field of vision. The Batman standing in the center of the living room walked into the bedroom and looked at the black figure model.

If a third party was added to this murder, then everything became logical.

Time began to flow backward again. The bedroom door was closed. Cobblepot stood opposite Fish, that is, in front of the window.

And Fish was still sitting on the sofa, waving her arms, seemingly scolding Cobblepot very angrily. Cobblepot stood his ground, retorting hysterically. Fish was completely enraged by him.

Fish, whose full attention was attracted by Cobblepot, didn't notice that the bedroom door, which hadn't been closed tightly, was quietly opened. Immediately following, a gunshot rang out, blood splattered, and Fish fell onto the sofa.

No, this wasn't perfect enough, Batman thought. Even if her attention was attracted by Cobblepot, Fish's vigilance wasn't bad; she might not necessarily have failed to notice the bedroom door being opened.

Batman changed his line of thinking. He thought, if he were the murderer, he probably wouldn't formulate such a plan, hoping Fish wouldn't notice the killer and wouldn't resist. This wasn't reliable.

You have to know, Fish was able to reach this position today, certainly not by luck. This woman could fight, reacted quickly, and had accurate aim, which was why she could survive shootout after shootout and become a leader.

Once she resisted, even a professional killer could suffer. Someone who knew Fish wouldn't formulate such a plan.

Then only one possibility remained, Batman said in a low voice, "Accomplice crime."

Batman stood on one side of the room and saw two figures in the room. They were talking to Fish. Originally, they both stood in front of Fish, and neither had weapons in their hands.

Soon, Cobblepot used a few words to attract Fish's attention, while the other black shadow made an excuse to get something and walked to Fish's side.

Cobblepot and Fish had an argument, and Fish's attention was completely attracted by Cobblepot.

In an instant, time stood still. Batman's figure replaced the black shadow standing at Fish's side. He reached into his coat pocket, felt the handgun, drew the gun, raised his hand, and fired. With a *bang*, blood splattered out, and Fish fell as expected.

The distance was very close, the firearm was suitable, so it was very precise.

In an instant, everything returned to reality. Only dried, blackened bloodstains remained on the sofa, and only Batman remained in the room.

He was solitary but didn't feel lonely at all, appearing very relaxed. He sat on the sofa, relaxed his upper body, leaned against the back of the chair, and even closed his eyes, like a happy drunkard who had just returned from a party.

Until the last ray of sunlight fell below the horizon and the entire room became completely dark, darkness swallowed Batman's figure. This bat, who had held a party with himself, disappeared from here at some unknown time. ===== CHAPTER 156 =====