Chapter 3007

While Bruce was driving toward the hospital, he received a call from James Gordon. He heard Gordon say over the phone.

"You're finally back, Bruce. Come to the police station immediately. There's a strange case here, and you need to come take a look."

"Come on, Gordon, I've only just returned... Alright, how strange is it?"

"A prisoner we caught earlier died a miserable death in the prison transport vehicle on the way to court. Someone left a line of strange characters on the wall of the vehicle. We lack an expert proficient in code-breaking here, so you'd better come take a look."

Bruce turned the steering wheel with some helplessness and drove toward the police station.

After he arrived, the young officer at the entrance tried to stop him, but the veteran officer waved his hand and let him through. He walked all the way to the spacious backyard of the police station and found a prison transport vehicle with court markings parked there, with Gordon and his subordinates standing by.

"God, you're finally here," Gordon said, wiping his forehead. "You don't know how much pressure I've been under having to go find Schiller every time a case occurred while you were away; even little Jenny couldn't soothe my heart."

"I haven't congratulated you on your new daughter yet," Bruce walked up and hugged Gordon, then said, "I'll have the 20 sets of children's slides I prepared for Aisha sent over to you; she'll always find a use for them."

Then Bruce turned his gaze to the prison vehicle. As soon as the door opened, he smelled a rich, bloody stench. The body had obviously already been taken away for an autopsy, but there were no markers indicating where the body had been.

"It's hard for me to explain to you where the body was located," Gordon shook his head and said. "If I had to say, it was basically everywhere in this vehicle. The head was placed on the left seat, the two arms were hanging over here, the two legs were placed over there, and the abdominal and thoracic cavities were scattered on the floor."

"It's a work of art, right?"

"You could say that," Gordon said after thinking carefully. "But it doesn't feel like it has any special meaning. If I had to say, it has a kind of naive, morbid humor, like throwing toy parts around randomly."

"I feel like you're about to become a group leader," Bruce said.

"Then may I ask why I'm so knowledgeable about serial killers?" Gordon said irritably. "What possible reason is there for them to insist on placing their works of art around the police station and the court?!"

"If it were before, I might have viewed this as a provocation, but this case is different. I can't see the specifics either; you might have to give Schiller a call."

"I've already sent him the photos and such, but he's hospitalized, and I don't want to disturb him too much. I hope he can send back good news from there. I mainly asked you here for this."

Gordon pointed to the side of the prison vehicle. Bruce had already seen it; a line of characters was written on it in fresh blood. It wasn't very long, only 6 letters, but there was no pattern to it.

However, what was more peculiar was that at the end of this line of letters, an Arabic numeral 4 was written, and it was larger than the other letters. It looked like it should be a hint.

"I've never heard of such a serial killer in Cat Getan. It's possible they are an outsider, or perhaps a new generation."

"Are you saying there will be similar cases later?"

Bruce nodded. After a moment of thought, Gordon said, "I don't know if you're aware, but this guy was the mastermind behind the child abuse case a while ago. His name is Nigma, and he was also a candidate for mayor."

"A popular one?"

"Before, he was as hot as the summer weather, but later, because of certain events, the media felt he had symptoms of mental derangement, and he wasn't trusted by the public anymore. It wasn't until he was arrested that he completely lost his eligibility to run for mayor."

"Does he have talent in finance?"

"Yes, and I'm not sure who is behind him. It could be a Jewish consortium, but it could also be those families from the West."

After thinking carefully, Bruce said, "The clue he left isn't complete. If nothing goes wrong, there should be three more cases. These letters will collectively form a string of code, and only then will I be able to know what this code points to."

"Can we catch the killer?"

"I'm afraid it's difficult. I'm more inclined to believe this is a fledgling genius. Although the technique is still slightly immature, it's not something ordinary police can deal with."

"Then let me ask it another way: does he have the intention to go to jail?"

Bruce looked at Gordon with some surprise. Gordon shook his head and said, "Don't look at me like that. Many of the serial killers I've caught before turned themselves in. To avoid capture by the FBI, they would rather come to Cat Getan to go to jail."

"As of now, it doesn't look like it, so you'd better take advantage of the fact that the FBI hasn't left yet and dump this case on them."

"How do you know I won't pursue this to the end?"

"Because this guy clearly deserves his crimes, and if I'm not mistaken, the next few victims should be similar. Out of moral considerations, you hope they can go to jail, but out of personal feelings, you hope they can receive a punishment more powerful than jail."

"Your behavioral analysis is getting better and better."

"Don't say that when I'm about to go see Professor Schiller."

The two smiled at each other. Just then, Gordon's phone rang. After he answered the call, his expression was slightly serious.

After hanging up the phone, he said to Bruce, "You guessed right. Two cases were discovered at the same time. Both scenes had 6 letters left behind, but no numbers. Do you want to go see the crime scenes?"

"No need. I need the victims' profiles, activity trajectories, and social circles. Otherwise, no matter how many times I look, it's useless. Send me the remaining 12 letters, and I will crack the code as soon as possible."

Gordon didn't stop him from leaving, because he also knew that for Batman to solve a case, he needed evidence. Behavioral analysis is a discipline of the past; one must synthesize past clues to get the current answer. Fresh crime scenes can provide inspiration, but not much. When it comes to wild guessing, one still has to look to Schiller.

Gordon arranged for the photos of the crime scenes to be sent to Schiller. Although the photos didn't have such strong psychic abilities, seeing a few clues was enough. Then he had someone send the photos of the letters and the various data of the victims to Bruce. With the master and apprentice, who are proficient in psychoanalysis and behavioral analysis respectively, working together, he believed there would be results soon.

Schiller was sitting by the bed looking at photos. The ultraviolet lamp above his head kept his body temperature at a relatively comfortable level, but he still needed to sunbathe for nearly 4 hours every day to have enough energy to be active.

He placed the photos of the three victims in three corners of the table to compare them one by one. After looking for a while, he dialed Gordon's phone and said to him.

"Nigma's body was divided into many parts, but the process of dismemberment did not contain emotions of anger. He was very rational and was using this behavior to express a meaning."

"What do you think that is?"

"There was once a person who divided him like this, making him feel as if his spirit had been torn apart, just like Nigma's body—a piece here and a piece there, unable to be pieced back together. He felt pain and confusion."

"And then?"

"The second person, the one who was stuffed into an oil drum and roasted, signifies the aggregation of certain things. Some people built a framework for him and squeezed his spirit inward."

"Is this good?"

"Yes, because in the first case, he expressed that he felt his spirit was torn apart. This squeezing is benign. Although the process is not without pain, he still feels that he is being pieced together. Some people are desperately trying to make him return to normal."

"At the same time, the fire is not just expressing warmth; I would rather call it rebirth. He believes his soul has been reignited once. In this process, he abandoned all previous relationships and chose his own family."

"Damn, how can you tell that?"

"Do you want me to explain it to you?"

"No, no, no, you should just continue."

"Alright, but I still have to explain a little, in case you don't understand the third one. Most people hate crowding and like larger houses and more spacious cars. When humans are in a normal mental state, they tend to prefer spacious environments, but sometimes they fear emptiness without cover."

"This stems from the instincts of our ancestors. The original intention of building houses was to shelter from wind and rain and to ward off wild beasts. Therefore, for living space, a moderate size is the best. Being too large and empty, or too small and crowded, will make people feel uncomfortable."

"But once a human's mental state becomes abnormal, it will be reflected in their change in attitude toward living conditions. Some people start to yearn for the wilderness, wanting to be under the sky and on the ground, pursuing an emptiness without obstruction to soothe their body and mind."

"When a patient expresses this desire, I understand that their spirit has been squeezed. Various invisible pressures are constantly squeezing their spirit inward, causing the thoughts in their brain to generate huge friction in an extremely small space. This friction consumes their spirit, so they start to pursue having their body in a more spacious space."

"There are others who start wanting to hide in extremely narrow gaps, wanting to have a secret base, or even wanting to crawl under the covers and never come out."

"This situation is more common in some children, and their mental state has one thing in common: overexposure."

"Parents with an extremely strong desire for control make them feel like they are being monitored. Their spirit is flattened and pressed until every detail is exposed in front of others. This makes them start to seek physical shelter, hoping for a space that can completely cover and seal them off, pursuing a space where they are the only one."

"Therefore, stuffing a body into a narrow oil drum proves that the killer also had a past of being mentally overexposed. He has always wanted to hide in a space similar to an oil drum, not wanting to be monitored by others anymore, not wanting his spirit to have nowhere to hide."

"Professional psychotherapy for this situation will give the patient a certain amount of mental pressure, making their overly scattered attention concentrate again. This is a completely different treatment method from the first type of patient, which will break many people's stereotypes about psychotherapy."

"Yes," Gordon replied. "I always thought psychotherapy was just a psychologist letting people imagine a field, imagining themselves flying freely on a beautiful grassland."

"For the first type of patient, perhaps so, but for the second, such an empty environment will only make them feel even more panicked."

"Then do you let them imagine dark and crowded environments?"

"Guiding patients to imagine and observing their reactions is a testing method, not a treatment method. For mental illnesses that cannot be self-regulated, medication is the first choice. Secondly, if it were me, I would choose to provide the second type of patient with something that can concentrate their attention."

"For example, doing crafts, painting, or knitting. The patient must have a certain interest in it themselves. Most importantly, let them make a schedule, but the specific content of the schedule is entirely decided by them."

"They might even use two months to prepare materials and then use one day to complete the work. For an artist, this is completely out of balance, because it doesn't take two months to prepare materials at all; most of the time might be wasted, and completing the work in one day is too rushed, and the effect of the work might not be satisfactory."

"But in psychotherapy, one must constantly emphasize the sense of control to the patient. Let them understand that they can completely do this. How they formulate the schedule depends entirely on what they want, not what the doctor, nurse, or bystanders want."

"I think I'm starting to understand. This might let them understand that if they choose not to finish, it's just a choice, not a failure."

"Yes, because in the vast majority of their past, no matter what choice they made, it was viewed by others as a failure. Returning the choice to its original meaning is the best way to enhance the sense of self-control."

"But what if the work they make doesn't satisfy them?"

"That is the next step. They need to completely discard the standards set by others for them in the past and find their own perspective again."