Chapter 161: Party and Umbrella (VIII)

Gordon's head was about to explode from the pain, and Cobblepot had also fallen into a state of doubting life.

His questions at this moment were no less than Gordon's, because he was originally the mastermind behind the whole thing.

Looking at his plan from Cobblepot's perspective, he wanted to break away from the Godfather and accumulate some capital for himself. Simply put, it was to earn some money, paving the way for his future rise.

So he jumped back and forth between Fish and Kevin. Finally, in order to completely get rid of everyone who wanted to control him, he first used Fish to kill Kevin, then used Ma Luoni to kill Fish, and finally wanted to use testifying against Ma Luoni to clear Little Falcone's name, so he could successfully get away.

The previous links were all very smooth, and now it had reached the last step. But Cobblepot never expected that Evans would actually plead guilty???

Then how could his last step of the plan be executed?

Actually, by this point, Cobblepot himself knew that he could actually not execute the last step of the plan.

Because he really had a mental illness, not pretending. Even if he didn't do the last thing for the Godfather, judging from his condition, the Godfather probably wouldn't make things difficult for a minor suffering from schizophrenia.

Even if the Godfather knew Cobblepot was sick, he might even take out a sum of money for him to see a doctor.

The reason the Godfather is the Godfather is because of this. He doesn't have the ruthless behavior of killing people after using them as in many movies. On the contrary, many gang members who retired from the Falcone family received good retirement treatment—those who were sick got treated, those who weren't bought houses and went on vacation, washed their hands of the business, and enjoyed their old age.

Cobblepot knew that in this situation, the Godfather wouldn't make things difficult for him anymore. He also didn't need to rack his brains to pretend to be sick and worry all day about where the Godfather's eyes and ears might be, because he really had a mental illness, confirmed by the attending doctor of Arkham Asylum.

But Cobblepot couldn't accept that his perfect plan had a bad ending. Originally, the fact that his mother had an episode and he had an episode had already caused his plan to have loopholes, making Cobblepot feel like a fishbone in his throat, uncomfortable all over.

For someone who had a pursuit for a criminal career, this was simply like throwing a mouse dropping into a pot of perfect soup.

However, Cobblepot could barely accept it. After all, things like birth, aging, sickness, and death—no one could control them. That he and his mother both had episodes at this time could only be said to be bad luck.

But Evans pleading guilty was clearly another hidden story, not an accident. Cobblepot couldn't tolerate that there was another mastermind in his perfect plan.

Cobblepot couldn't help but think, did he really misjudge the person? Was Little Falcone actually the real mastermind?

Just when Cobblepot was puzzled, Shiler's voice pulled him back. Shiler stared at Cobblepot and said, "You still haven't answered my question. Where on earth did this umbrella come from?"

Gordon and Cobblepot looked at Shiler together. Cobblepot said Gordon's inner thoughts: "Is now the time to talk about this problem? What on earth is important about this?"

Gordon also continued, "My good Professor! Stop obsessing over that broken umbrella of yours!"

"The matter is very serious now! The heir of the Falcone family actually ran to the police station and admitted that he committed murder..."

Gordon pointed his hand outside the door and said, "Just a moment ago, our new police chief had a high blood pressure attack and should already be in the ambulance..."

"I just received 15 consecutive phone calls. The only two supreme court judges in our city said they had made vacation plans two months ago and bought plane tickets overnight to leave Cat Getan..."

"Nine civil servants in the Cat Getan court, five have gastroenteritis, three have high fevers, and one suddenly lost his voice, all going to the hospital to recuperate overnight. Even five cleaners have three who broke their legs and can't come to work tomorrow..."

"Just in the past hour, Cat Getan's judicial system has successfully paralyzed."

After finishing, Gordon was even laughed at by his own anger. He said, "I don't know how many times they rehearsed this. In such an emergency, they could all fall down like dominoes in order from top to bottom in just one hour. It was faster than the court catching fire..."

"What's even more outrageous is that we have already received notices of temporary closure from 12 law firms. Now, you can't find any lawyer in Cat Getan whose phone can be connected..."

Shiler didn't listen to his complaints at all, but picked up the umbrella, poked Cobblepot's injured arm, and Cobblepot screamed in pain and dodged.

He raised his head and glared at Shiler, then looked down at his arm that was still tied to the armrest, as if accepting his fate, and said, "Alright, but I have to figure out what's going on with Evans first. I can't allow..."

Just then, there was a commotion on the balcony of the mental hospital. Batman walked in with a body of cold air and the smell of blood. Shiler turned his head to look at him, and Batman, who walked in, was also stunned. He didn't expect there to be so many people here.

*Xia Shu Ba*

Shiler looked him up and down and said, "Cat Getan's great detective is here. Let's hear what he has to say."

Gordon sniffed and said to Batman, "What did you go do? Why is there such a smell of blood all over you?"

"That's not important." Batman's voice was as cold as ever.

"Ma Luoni told me that it was Evans Falcone who instructed him to kill Fish."

"You're a step late." Gordon put his hands on his hips and said, "Evans has already pleaded guilty himself."

Before Batman could continue to ask Gordon for details, Shiler knocked on the metal guardrail at the foot of the hospital bed with the umbrella, making a loud noise. He raised his voice and said, "I hope you can figure out that this is my office. Let me speak first."

Shiler stood the umbrella up and said, "Answer my question, then leave here and find another place to hold your detective meeting."

"God! It rains every day in Cat Getan, and my umbrella is broken. The umbrella maker who can repair it is dead. How can you be so cold-blooded, without any sympathy?"

The others looked at him silently. Shiler paused, helplessly, and said, "Alright, if you must solve your problems first before answering my question, then you actually don't have to go and ask Evans..."

He put down the umbrella, tapped the floor tiles with the umbrella tip, and then said, "It was I who suggested he do this."

Gordon and Cobblepot stared wide-eyed at the same time. Shiler put down the umbrella, sat behind the desk, and then said, "It seems you have to listen to this version of my story from the beginning again."

Batman, however, stood in a corner of the room with his arms crossed. His expression was as if to say, "I expected this."

Shiler drank some water and then began his own narration.

"About a month ago, Evans came to the psychology clinic of Cat Getan University to confide his troubles to his teacher."

"He and his father had some conflicts. The first half of the story sounded like a teenager's troubles, but the second half wasn't so pleasant, because his father was still the Godfather of Cat Getan."

"We all know that originally, the Old Godfather had planned to retire. He handed over a large piece of industry in the West District to his son, letting him play freely. Although Evans didn't play very well, the Old Godfather wasn't in a hurry. After all, he was still young."

"But later, Cat Getan's reforms began."

"Clearly, the Old Godfather originally wanted to retire not because he was really old, but because he had already reached the top. Even if he worked harder, there wouldn't be any changes."

"However, Cat Getan's reforms brought him new hope, letting him see the possibility of going one step higher. Then, do you think, at this time, he would still hold that mentality of retiring as early as possible?"

Gordon shook his head and said, "I saw the Old Godfather once recently. Although he has always been so spirited, I can feel that his state is a bit different."

"Indeed, Falcone has ruled Cat Getan for forty years. He wanted to end his rule and hand over the position to the next generation, not because he was already powerless, but because he was already high and cold, and besides cultivating the next generation, there was nothing else to do."

"But after the reforms began, everything was different. The Falcone family had too many new possibilities. The logistics industry needed management, town construction also needed watching, there were too many obscure games in the cooperation with Chicago, and the contact with the Imperial City was the same, not to mention the East Coast connection plan that was still on the schedule..."

Shiler knocked on the table and said, "If it were said that the Old Godfather originally treated the entire Cat Getan as a test field for practice and handed it to his son, then now he wouldn't be so rash."

Batman's voice came from the corner of the room: "An emperor who hasn't aged yet has rekindled his ambition, then the prince's status..."

"That's right. Evans was placed in an awkward position. Originally, his father had already handed over quite a few industries to him, and he had the capital to shake the Old Godfather's rule."

"But at this time, his father suddenly didn't intend to retire and seemed to intend to rule Cat Getan for another forty years."

"Then the heir who had already received part of the power, his situation could no longer be called awkward, but could be called dangerous."

"Evans told me these things and came to seek my advice."

Shiler glanced at Gordon and Cobblepot and said, "You should know the Old Godfather better than I do."

Cobblepot was silent for a while and said, "He loves his son very much, but this doesn't mean he will allow his heir to have excessive ambition, and he won't sit idly by while anyone else gains power that might shake his position in advance."

Cobblepot suddenly understood. He looked at Shiler and said, "What advice did you give Little Falcone?"

"I would certainly advise him to retreat while he can."

Shiler stood up and paced slowly around the table, saying, "You should know better than I do that Falcone is generous in some aspects, but he has ruled Cat Getan for forty years, and he didn't rely on just his tolerance and kindness."

"If Evans dared to show any ambition to shake his father's rule at this time, although Falcone wouldn't kill him, it would still be very normal to put Evans under house arrest until he was willing to retire."

Gordon also reacted immediately. He glared at Shiler and said, "So you..."

"The Godfather once let Evans kill Ma Luoni with his own hands. Evans did indeed catch him and could have killed him, but I suggested he make waste useful."

"Of course, what happened afterward was Evans' own genius creation, and it had nothing to do with me."

"Evans first acted very impulsively, had conflicts with various gang bosses when dealing with interpersonal relationships in the Slab, and then instructed Ma Luoni to enter the Slab, letting him go and kill those gang bosses, damaging his own reputation..."

Then he looked at Cobblepot, and Cobblepot said himself: "So Ma Luoni and I hit it off..."

"Just like you said before." Shiler looked at Gordon: "An heir who was reckless and impulsive at first, indecisive when handling things, and then jumped over the wall in a hurry to engage in assassination—he really looks very stupid and has no threat."

"Not to mention, he even looked for the police." Gordon added helplessly.

"More importantly..." Shiler flipped out a medical record from under the table and said, "As expected, upon hearing that Little Falcone wanted to go through the regular trial process, Cat Getan's judicial system paralyzed. Then he could skip the processes of bail, court opening, trial, and imprisonment, and directly fast-forward to medical parole..."

Gordon had an expression like he had eaten shit. He said, "... Then you can meet up here, right? You even prepared the medical record in advance..."

Shiler pointed to the bed next to Cobblepot and said, "That is his bed."

"Medical parole for mental illness, he can not appear before his father for a long time." Batman finally summarized: "This is good for both of them."

"Alright, the story is all told." Shiler turned his gaze to Cobblepot again and said, "Now you should answer my question, right?"

Everyone's gaze, accompanied by Shiler's movements, fell on the umbrella he held up. ===== CHAPTER 162 =====