Chapter 2325: Cat Getan Music Festival (73)

Bruce looked back at Schiller, who was resting with his eyes closed in the backseat. He guessed that a message had come through the communication system of the Battleworld, and it was highly likely from the Batman of the main universe.

He had gone to such great lengths to find a legitimate reason to throw the main universe's Batman, Green Lantern, and Superman into the Dark Universe governed by Barbatos; this was related to his subsequent plans.

The situation in the Dark Universe was indeed complex, and direct communication was almost impossible. Perhaps they had encountered some trouble and were seeking Schiller's advice.

Bruce speculated on the possible situation in his mind as the car slowed to a stop. The night was already very deep, so the traffic congestion on the latter half of the journey had eased. As the three of them stepped out of the car, a cool, misty rain began to drift in the air.

Schiller sighed in his heart. The atmosphere of this city was always like this; after any commotion, the emptiness and loneliness left behind were enough to hollow out a person's heart.

Not far from the crime scene was a motel, its huge neon sign blurring into flickering light amidst the rain and mist. Every breath of air inhaled into the lungs was mixed with the smell of tire rubber, cigarette smoke, and the decaying scent of abandoned fishing boats from the nearby harbor.

"Play some cheerful music," Schiller said to the Gray Fog in his heart. "The atmosphere here is truly deadly. I'm afraid that apart from Pride, no one could stay in a place like this for long."

Schiller tightened his suit jacket and quickened his pace, entering the crime scene first. The corpse was still in its original place, but the blood had long since congealed and turned black, as if it had smashed a giant hole into the ground.

Schiller surveyed the surroundings. This was indeed a gift shop, but not the high-end kind found in commercial centers; it was more like a small shop for daily necessities. The wooden house was packed with many old cabinets, making one feel as if they had returned to a medieval shop overnight.

The corpse was hung between the two cabinets in the very center. It was headless and appeared to be a woman in the prime of her life.

That was enough. Schiller finished his observation, passed through the other two cabinets, and sat down at the counter, preparing to watch the deduction performance of Batman and Gordon from there.

Bruce was indeed already immersed in it. He examined the surrounding environment and the posture of the corpse, seemingly having already discovered something.

Schiller picked up the newspaper at hand and began to read. He was taken aback the moment he picked it up; this was not a local Cat Getan newspaper, but one from Metropolis. Moreover, the front-page content was about the situation in Mexico, which was quite rare. The owner of such a small shop did not look like someone who cared about international affairs.

Schiller originally wanted to see what was written on the front page of the newspaper, but he discovered that even newspapers from Metropolis could not survive in Cat Getan. The ink used for this newspaper could not withstand Cat Getan's humidity and had already blurred into a mess.

Flipping a few pages inside was better, but unfortunately, there were no important sections in the middle of the newspaper. Apart from jokes and advertisements, the jokes in this newspaper were truly too cold. After reading a few, Schiller flipped past them.

Bruce began to discuss the case with Gordon.

"So you're saying this woman is the shop owner, she was killed in her own shop, and because the house was flooded due to a leaking pipe the day before, all the cameras just happened to stop working."

The officer assigned to investigate alongside Gordon said, "That's right, sir. We also discovered an anomaly; we found this lady's half-packed suitcase in the bedroom upstairs."

"So the situation might be like this: she discovered danger, ran upstairs to pack her luggage to leave, but the killer had already chased her into the shop. She wanted to go downstairs to drive them away, but met a tragic end."

Bruce shook his head, completely denying this speculation, and said, "If she had immediately sensed danger, the first thing she would have done was climb out a window to escape, not pack her luggage."

"If she still wanted to pack her luggage, it means she felt that although some annoying guys had come, the situation wasn't very urgent, and important things still had to be taken. However, regarding the last point, you are right; she miscalculated, and the killer came straight to the door."

"Regarding the hanging upside down..." Gordon suggested.

Bruce frowned and looked at Schiller.

Schiller sensed his gaze, looked up from the newspaper, and said, "Deduce it yourself. Call me when you're done."

He was studying an interesting cereal advertisement in the newspaper; some of the adjectives used to describe the aroma were very strange, but quite apt.

"Alright, if even this professor couldn't see any aesthetic beauty in this scene, then it means there truly isn't any," Gordon said. "If it wasn't for some sense of ritual..."

"Then it proves she might indeed have had a ritual to perform." Bruce began to wander around, observing the dripping blood, the wound where the head was severed, and the state of the bloodstains on the surrounding bookshelves.

Schiller saw the advertisement on the second page. Until Bruce began asking the officer if there was a basement here, he silently put away the newspaper. As Gordon and Bruce both walked toward the basement entrance, he lit a fire and burned the newspaper.

There was nothing in the basement, but that was precisely the abnormal part. Schiller followed behind everyone, watching Bruce pace in the basement and point to the ground.

"Judging by the level of humidity, two machines were just moved away from here. And here, there should have been some cleaning tools that were often very damp. There is a shelf over here, which should also have held some metal utensils, and there are traces of lubricating oil dripping on the side."

Bruce stepped back two paces and said, "If the victim was truly an ordinary shop owner, then this place should be piled with all kinds of miscellaneous items, because she couldn't possibly have kept the shop above so full while keeping the basement spotless."

"But if she wasn't an ordinary shop owner, what was she doing here?"

Bruce then looked at the ground and said, "If the victim died in the morning, then someone must have come here after her death, and more than one person. They emptied the machines here. Why?"

Bruce looked at Schiller again. He saw Schiller looking up at the ceiling. Bruce also looked up and discovered that the light above the basement had also been removed.

Because the flashlight of the officer behind was too bright, Bruce hadn't noticed that there were no lights in this room for a moment. Now that he realized it, he had the police bring a ladder to look at the interface.

The wires had been cut, and quite carefully. The other party's disassembly wasn't particularly professional, but their attitude was quite cautious.

This was interesting. There was a dead person right above their heads; the corpse could be discovered at any time, and the police could arrive at any time, yet this group of people who came later still very carefully removed the light fixture.

A scene appeared in Bruce's mind: the headless female corpse was hung up, two figures sneaked into the basement, and the first target they moved away wasn't some large machine, but the light overhead.

They carefully removed the light, and only then began to move the two large machines. The scene gradually became clear: what left the damp traces on the ground wasn't some high-tech machine, but simply planting trays with one pot of plants after another.

"The shop owner might have been growing poppies," Bruce said. "Some of her business offended people who shouldn't have been offended, and beheading is also a common execution method for drug traffickers and terrorists."

Very good. Schiller almost applauded Bruce again, while the Gray Fog complained in his heart, "There's too much stuff, we can't carry it all. We need to quickly find a place to throw away those two broken lights."

"Let's go further away before throwing them," Schiller coaxed. "Or you can just dismantle them and flush them down the sewer."

"The Penitence Cartel?" Gordon repeated the name Bruce had mentioned. He touched his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "I've heard a little about them, a transnational drug trafficking organization, right? You think it was this shop owner's actions that affected their business, which is why she invited retaliation?"

"Hmm." Bruce frowned slightly, but he still said, "There are two corpses, right? I think we can go to the crime scene of the other one to take a look. There are many suspicious points in this, and I need more evidence to be sure."

While walking upstairs, Bruce looked back at Schiller and said, "Were you just reading the newspaper, Professor?"

Schiller nodded and said, "The advertisements in the newspaper are more interesting than this."

Bruce felt relieved. If this were truly a high-level serial killer, Schiller wouldn't have made such an evaluation. It was highly likely that it was indeed a drug-related vendetta.

Bruce repeated the name of the Penitence Cartel in his heart again. This damn drug trafficking organization had appeared in his ears too many times recently, and the mere thought of them wanting to transport large quantities of drugs into Cat Getan already made Bruce very unhappy.

It seemed he had to find a way to cause them some trouble. Bruce calculated in his heart, hoping that Amanda was telling the truth and that there was a way to evade the joint pursuit of the FBI and the Cat Getan police.

In fact, only after Amanda proved her ability in this way did she have the qualifications to cooperate with Bruce. After all, having lost the position of FBI team leader, she had no capital to cooperate with Bruce Wei En.

Because everyone was thinking about their own affairs, there was no conversation on the way to the second crime scene.

The second crime scene was at the pier. Although it was also by the sea, it could be said to be worlds apart from the first crime scene. By the time they arrived, it was already the pitch-black dead of night.

The few lonely lights lit up on the pier were completely insufficient to illuminate the situation inside the building. The officers had to turn on their flashlights again, carefully observing the details on the exterior of this dilapidated building.

This should be the oldest building in Cat Getan. Unfortunately, it wasn't just European nobles who landed here earliest. Because of Cat Getan's geographical reasons, stone was relatively scarce, and many old houses at the pier were wooden. After so many years, they had long since become dangerous buildings unfit for habitation.

It stood to reason that these houses should have been renovated as a priority, but in reality, no one had lived in these houses for over a decade. Moreover, the Wei En Group had limited funds, and they often prioritized solving the problems of houses with residents, which led to this place never being repaired.

Standing at the entrance, Gordon was somewhat hesitant. This house really looked too much like a haunted house. Was it really okay for them to just walk in like this?

Bruce, however, seemed to have already made a decision. At any time, Batman would never let go of clues that might be close at hand.

Bruce lifted his foot to walk inside.

Boom!

The house collapsed.