Chapter 1785

On the road at the entrance of Cat Getan Central Hospital, three police cars flashed their lights to clear the way, their sirens mixing with the wailing of the ambulance behind them. Residents of the surrounding buildings couldn't help but poke their heads out, wanting to see which fool had provoked the Cat Getan Police Department.

Ever since the Cat Getan Police Department updated its equipment, the piercing sirens had regained their deterrent power. Aside from the Twelve Families, no gang members dared to sound their horns in salute when passing the station as they once did, lest they be blown to pieces by grenade launchers.

After Gordon took office, he became deeply intertwined with the Twelve Families both physically and mentally, becoming a guest of honor for the Godfather. Consequently, the Cat Getan Police Department became the most intimidating gang organization in Cat Getan; once the sirens wailed, the two sides who were about to beat each other's brains out would immediately stop.

Even for deterring major gangs, two armed police cars would suffice, but today there were three just for clearing the way, and two logistics police cars followed behind the ambulance. Residents observed from their windows for a long time, and finally obtained the inside scoop from an officer who fired a warning shot: the head of the Lawrence family was dead.

Ever since the situation in Cat Getan stabilized, the Twelve Families had basically been working together to make money. The internal chaos had vanished without a trace, and the farce of changing leaders three times in two months hadn't happened for a long time.

Rumors spread like ripples on a lake. From the leaders of the major gangs under the Twelve Families down to street thugs, and even small business owners involved in gang affairs, everyone was speculating about who had taken out that unlucky bastard, old Lawrence.

The Lawrence family had many young people, probably eleven or twelve, among whom five or six were quite outstanding. His second son, Baden, was almost a shoo-in as the heir. His relationship with his eldest daughter wasn't exactly good, but they had lived in peace for many years without any major conflicts.

Some said it was a heart attack, some said it was a shooting, and others with better sources said that the mysterious "Summer Killer" had started acting again.

"Summer Killer" was the nickname Gothamites gave to the perpetrator of this series of murders. It wasn't particularly cruel, but perhaps that was also because so little was known.

And clearly, the situation this time was more severe than ever before; old Lawrence was in the prime of his life, and he was still twenty or thirty years away from handing over power.

Baden couldn't accept that his father had died just like that. He hadn't fully grasped the family business yet, and it was foreseeable that the assets that hadn't been handed over would certainly be encroached upon by other families. What was even harder to accept for him was the Godfather, Falcone; this was already the third case in two months.

Gordon and Cobblepot sat in the commissioner's office upstairs at the police station, at their wits' end. They had both been given a death order: if they couldn't find the killer this time, the Godfather would definitely make them pay.

Actually, there was no need for Falcone to say it; no one wanted to find the murderer more than Gordon. The problem was that he had investigated everything he could. Cobblepot had even preferred to kill a thousand innocent people rather than let one go, rushing to a magician's gathering to kill a group of people, and then chasing the remaining survivors all over Cat Getan, but in the end, he still hadn't found any decisive evidence.

The name of the Summer Killer spread wider and wider in Cat Getan, even beginning to shake the prestige of the gangs and affecting Cat Getan's tourism industry. This time, it was Mayor Luo Yin who came to find Schiller.

"Professor Schiller, of course, I'm not saying that you must do something for us, but the current situation is not optimistic. If we let this killer continue to be so arrogant, the stable situation we built before will all be in vain."

Schiller, who was sitting on the sofa wiping Aisha's hands, sighed and said, "Gordon just called me. He hopes that no matter what, I will go take a look at Lawrence's body. I promised him, but I hope he doesn't hold out too much hope."

Luo Yin immediately became nervous. He looked at Schiller and said, "Professor, you aren't saying that even you can't do anything about this killer, are you?"

Schiller also sighed, looked at Luo Yin, and said, "You must understand that deduction is not magic. There must be clues to have a result. Even the most subtle traces have room for analysis, but the reason I am not at the police station or the morgue right now is because there isn't a single clue."

Luo Yin hammered his head with his hand, unable to figure it out. He said, "How could the killer not leave a single trace? This is completely unscientific!"

"I believe Gordon and the others have already called Bruce over. After all, he is the greatest detective in the world. But judging by the tone of their call to me just now, I'm afraid there is still no progress. This suggests that this matter might be even more bizarre than we imagined."

Luo Yin only felt a headache now, so he didn't hear some of the hints in Schiller's tone. Therefore, Schiller went a step further and said, "This world is fair. Nothing can truly come and go without a trace, leaving no clues and having no weaknesses. Perhaps we should wait for a while, until the situation becomes clearer."

"But we don't have that much time. The opening ceremony of the music festival is in a week. Now the whole city is shrouded in the shadow of murder. Even the tourists going to the beach to sunbathe have decreased. If the opening ceremony is a flop, the funds for the supporting promotional activities will all go down the drain."

Schiller looked up at the calendar hanging by the window. Today was the Wednesday of the last week of summer. According to the calendar, autumn would officially begin next week, and the temperature had dropped significantly recently. Although it couldn't be called cool yet, it was no longer as scorching hot.

Schiller stood up, walked to the door to pick up his umbrella, and Luo Yin took his hat from Merkel and also opened his umbrella.

Schiller stood by the door and glanced at the weather outside. It had just been another thunderstorm. Under artificial intervention, Cat Getan's rainy days had changed their temperament; they were no longer light drizzles that lasted for days, but either didn't rain at all, or were torrential downpours accompanied by rumbling thunder.

The two got into the car, and Schiller turned his head slightly to ask Luo Yin in the back seat, "Have you looked at the weather forecast for the past few days?"

"No, I've been driven crazy with work lately." Luo Yin sighed wearily, rubbed his temples, and said, "Several beach maintenance companies have taken a fancy to Cat Getan's newly developed beach tourism industry and want to reach an agreement with us to let them be responsible for beach maintenance. I've been negotiating business lately."

"Thank you for your hard work." Schiller turned his head back, staring at the damp mist gathering on the glass window due to the cooling at night, appearing lost in thought.

After arriving at the morgue of the central hospital, sure enough, Gordon, Cobblepot, and Bruce had already arrived. The forensic doctor had just withdrawn from the room, and the three of them were huddled around the body, whispering about something.

Seeing Schiller and Luo Yin walk in, Gordon hurried to greet them. Schiller saw Bruce frowning and staring at the bloated body at first glance, his expression very serious.

Bruce was saying that he wanted to test some tissue samples, but this would have to wait until the forensic autopsy was completed. And now, the descendants of the Lawrence family and some other gang members didn't trust the forensic doctor's level of skill.

Cobblepot sighed deeply and said, "I don't know who spread it, but they said that the reason no clues could be found on the bodies in the previous two cases was because the forensic doctor didn't have enough experience."

"And what is the truth?" Schiller asked.

"It can't be said that they are completely wrong." Gordon shook his head and said, "Cat Getan's forensic doctors have little autopsy experience because there were almost no murders in the past that allowed them to perform autopsies. If I have to say, they are more experienced in dealing with patients with sudden acute illnesses or gunshot wounds. Poisoning? Gothamites rarely use such a civilized method of murder."

"The first two bodies had their digestive systems carefully analyzed, but no usable clues were found. Blood analysis was also done, and the test report was abnormal, but the cause couldn't be found."

"Send the person to Arkham." Schiller decisively pointed at the ground with the tip of his umbrella and said, "Bruce, you go call Lex and Pamela. I'll go notify Jonathan, Professor Pyg, and the Puppet Master. Gordon, you make a call to Constantine and Zatanna."

"If such a large-scale tripartite consultation still can't find a result, I suggest we wait for a while. Even the best killer will show their flaws."

Schiller's decisiveness was beyond everyone's expectations, but when the others thought about it carefully, they had no objections to this arrangement. Cat Getan University, Arkham Asylum, and the Cat Getan Academy of Magic basically gathered all the top-tier talent in this city. If a consultation of this scale still couldn't find any clues, then there was no other way except to wait.

Cobblepot breathed a sigh of relief and gave Schiller a grateful look. Actually, it didn't matter if a few gang members died. Back then, changing gang leaders several times in three months didn't matter either; the Godfather just wanted an attitude.

In other words, with all the scientists and magicians in Cat Getan serving your Lawrence family, even if they couldn't find the problem, wouldn't you still have to hand over a cigarette and smile politely?

Schiller, Luo Yin, and Cobblepot got into the same car, and the car carried the three of them toward Arkham. On the way, Luo Yin spoke up, "Schiller, stop keeping us in suspense. You must already have an idea, right?"

"Sometimes the truth of a problem is much simpler than you imagine, but the method to solve the problem may not be, and then the truth is not that important." Schiller shook his head and said.

The car drove all the way through the darkness to the island where Arkham Asylum was located. Gordon led the police escort team to protect the body and followed closely behind. The patients who received the news were already ready and waiting in the laboratory.

With a "bang," old Lawrence's body was lifted onto the autopsy table. The shadowless lamp was turned to maximum power, but it wasn't as bright as the light of wisdom in this room.

There were about seven or eight people gathered in front of the autopsy table, each with three doctoral degrees, teaching experience in medical school, and surgical licenses and prescription rights. The dozen or so apprentices gathered behind were basically students from Cat Getan University.

Mrs. Miller led the nurses to make preparations. An autopsy was performed from the evening until the middle of the next night. The gang family members outside the door changed three times. It wasn't until Cobblepot couldn't hold on anymore that the thick autopsy report was handed to the analysis team.

Bruce, Lex, Jonathan, Victor, Pamela, and so on—anyone who had even a little bit of medical, biological, or chemical knowledge was dragged over. Because arrogance had surfaced at this time, the psychologist couldn't help much, so he just sat in his office and waited.

But Schiller knew very well that there probably wouldn't be any results from the analysis. If there were any clues worth noting, Batman would have discovered them the first time he came into contact with the body.

Sure enough, the analysis meeting lasted for another six hours or so. The sky on the third day was already dawning. Scientists and magicians jointly reached a conclusion: this was a toxin that specifically attacked the kidneys. As for its specific properties, chemical composition, method of poisoning, and how to prepare the antidote, they knew nothing.

Jonathan was racing against time to study the antidote, which greatly aroused his interest and gave him something to do for a long time to come. Meanwhile, Bruce and Lex were studying how to catch the killer.

The key lay in the only survivor.

Bruce and Lex found Victor's student, the boy named Guy. They tried every trick in the book to ask him for a long time, even treating him as a hypothetical suspect for interrogation, but they didn't get any coherent clues.

The first case in history that made Batman scratch his head appeared, and at this time, Schiller was rebuilding his garden in the manor.