Chapter 301: Preaching and Teaching

"Let's look at the second case again. In fact, your judgment has had problems since this case. Do you think the person who took action in the first case and the second case is the same?"

Batman thought for a while and said: "If according to this theory, there are indeed some problems. If he could use anesthetic when killing Lawrence, then he could also use anesthetic when killing Hawk. But judging from the ligature marks on Hawk's corpse, he was awake when he was tied to the chair, and could even struggle."

"What do you think this explains?"

Batman also began to pace in the room. He said: "In the autopsy report of the coroner, the anesthetic in Lawrence's body was inhaled through the mouth and nose first, and then injected into the body. Therefore, the murderer's method of subduing Lawrence might be: walk into his bedroom, then cover his mouth and nose with a towel soaked in anesthetic, and then give him another injection of anesthetic, then drag him to the ground, and nail his body with long nails..."

Following his description, the scene in the room began to change constantly. Ricci's corpse on the ground disappeared, the walls and floor changed colors, a bed fell from mid-air, Lawrence was lying on the bed covered with a quilt, clearly sleeping, and at this time, a black shadow walked to his bedside, pressing the towel soaked in anesthetic on his mouth and nose.

And then, he dragged the unconscious Lawrence off the bed, gave him an injection of anesthetic, and then took out a long nail and nailed it on his body, setting him in a cross posture with his head facing the window.

"And the process of subduing Hawk should be simpler. The murderer walked into his study, strangled him from behind, and tied him to the chair."

Speaking of this, Batman paused. Schiller continued: "I think you should have already seen that the murderer didn't intend to talk to Lawrence at all. He killed Lawrence after subduing him."

"But in the Hawk case, the murderer tied Hawk up after subduing him, and waited for him to wake up. The ligature marks left by his struggle that you mentioned are the evidence..."

Following Schiller's description, the scene in the room changed again. The bed sank into the floor, Lawrence's corpse disappeared, a desk stretched out layer by layer from the wall, Hawk sat on the chair and slid in front of the desk, and at this time, a black shadow stood behind him, strangling him with his arm. When Hawk woke up, he found himself tied to the chair.

Looking from outside the window, the standing black shadow and the sitting Hawk were talking about something, but finally, Hawk's head rolled down, and blood erupted.

"The murderer didn't communicate with Lawrence, but talked to Hawk. Why is this?" Schiller asked.

Batman fell into deep thought. He felt this was a very useful train of thought. After a while, he asked: "If it were you, would you talk to the victim?"

Schiller shook his head and said: "This cannot be generalized, but depends on what kind of crime it is. I'll give an example..."

Schiller knocked on the floor with his walking stick again and said: "If I only need a victim who meets the conditions, then I won't communicate with the victim, because he is just a raw material, just like you won't talk to broccoli when you are stir-frying."

"But in some special circumstances, communication before death is necessary, such as in some murder cases with a judgmental nature, the communication of listening to the victim's thoughts before death is necessary."

"Because this prey about to welcome death is my partner, I am certainly willing to chat with him about my creative ideas."

"Just like you said before, if this is the theme of the Seven Deadly Sins, then the prey I choose must have committed one of the seven deadly sins. And before taking action, I will tell them that they will die because of a certain sin. Their reactions are also part of the creation. Those surging guilt, anger, fear, are the most wonderful parts of this murder case."

"As for the topic of the Twelve Disciples, I think there is no need to communicate with the victim. Do you expect a gang leader to chat with you about the Gospel or something? Do you expect them to have any unique insights into this kind of religious story?"

"That's why I said the murderer is just a clumsy imit

"His behavior, if one must use a metaphor, is like that single piece of rat droppings in a pot of rat soup..."

Schiller clearly did not approve of this approach at all. He paused for a moment, then continued: "Looking at the third case, I actually don't really want to evaluate it, because it truly lacks any aesthetic appeal."

"It might seem incredible, but in reality, the kind of pleasure that serial killers pursue from killing their own kind, compared to killing someone like Richie..."

Schiller paused and said: "... the emotion, which lies somewhere between the impatience of wanting to get off work and the joy of enjoying violent torture, is completely different."

"I am more inclined to believe that these three cases were actually committed by three different people." Schiller touched the corner of his eyebrow.

"If you want me to evaluate it, the killer who murdered Lawrence was indeed copying the crime. His theme might indeed be, as you said, Jesus and his twelve disciples. He restored the crucifixion method as much as possible, and although the imitation was a complete mess, he could be considered to have tried."

"As for the second person, I would rather call him an imitator of an imitator. If the first killer was copying the correct answer but got it wrong, then the second killer copied the first killer's answer, and the mistake was even more outrageous."

"As for the third killer, he might have really wanted to leave the exam room, but due to pressure from teachers and parents, he had to write something down. He looked left and right, saw the wrong answers of the first two people, but felt that these wrong answers were too complicated, so he simply copied a single 'Solution'..."

Schiller's metaphor was quite strange, but Batman understood it completely. In this instant, his brainwaves synced with Schiller's.

"As for what is actually going on with this matter, I think the key clue should be with the fourth victim."

"I am investigating these things precisely to prevent the appearance of a fourth victim."

"This is what I said: a good detective should actually be simpler when facing a real serial killer. If I were the one committing these crimes, you could completely follow the standards of the first three victims to find my next target and protect him."

"But now, these three cases might have two or three killers. Their criteria for choosing targets, the time and place of their actions, and the process and results of their actions are all completely random, which actually increases the difficulty."

"Who do you think the next victim is?"

Schiller shook his head and said: "It wasn't me who did it, so how would I know? But I think the relationship between these few killers should be quite interesting. Why did the second killer go to copy the first killer's answer? And why was the third killer too lazy to even copy the answer?"

"Does the first killer even know that his answer was copied? If he knows, will he continue? If he doesn't know, then what if the other two killers kill his original second target ahead of time? Wouldn't that be very awkward?"

"Right now, the gang leaders are all fearing for their own lives. They are hiding in their own estates, just like the Falcone family's castle. Every one of them has a safe house in their base. Now that they have become vigilant, I don't think that killer will succeed so easily."

"But the emotion of suspicion has already begun to spread, hasn't it?" Schiller snapped his fingers, and the dream scene returned to the room in the estate.

Schiller sat back behind the table. He picked up the globe and reached out to press it. The moment the globe stopped spinning, both of them woke up and returned to the real world.

Conceiving the crime scene consumed a lot of Batman's energy, and the effects of the Crazy Wine were still surging in his brain. Schiller picked up his glass, drank the remaining bit of wine, and then rummaged through the desk drawer to find a box of cigars.

While lighting a cigar, he said: "Right now, the Twelve Families must all be fearing for their lives. They don't know who is behind this, but there is no doubt that the Godfather will not sit idly by."

"Once the Godfather starts investigating, a purge will begin. You want to protect the fourth victim, but they might not appreciate your favor. More likely, the Godfather will not allow you, an outsider, to participate in this matter. So if you want to continue the investigation, you must change your perspective."

"Change my perspective? You mean..."

"As far as I know, Alberto has already finished building his house. Now that his personality and spirit have stabilized, he can replace Yin Wensi at any time and control his body. In other words, the Godfather has a successor in the true sense."

Bai Alliance Book

"Even if the Godfather is unwilling to admit it, Alberto is his only choice. With something like this happening, it is very likely that Alberto will step forward on behalf of the Godfather to investigate."

"Alberto doesn't have many people he can use around him. The personality Yin Wensi previously displayed was somewhat weak and wavering, which led to the people gathered around him being a bunch of ambitious opportunists. Alberto will not use these people, so right now, he should be very short of helpers."

"Are you trying to get me to work for him? But the identity of Bruce is that of an ignorant playboy. How am I supposed to explain that I became proficient in various detective skills overnight?"

"I certainly didn't mean for you to get involved personally. I have discovered that you still maintain some of the arrogance of a young master of the Wayne family, completely ignoring some small characters. But sometimes, these small characters can play a very strong role, for example, that thin and small Cobblepot."

"Alberto also has the same mentality as you. He might not notice the boy who used to be an umbrella boy, but in reality, I think highly of his potential."

"If you recommend him to Alberto, you can learn about all the progress of the case through him, or exert influence on Alberto from the sidelines. He should also be very grateful for your recommendation."

"You said before that Cobblepot should be working for the Godfather, and in the last incident, he wanted to leave the Godfather and didn't want to participate in these things anymore."

"But don't forget the reason he did that: because he couldn't see any hope in Yin Wensi. Yin Wensi's personality is not suitable to be the Godfather, but Alberto is different."

"Right now, the awkward thing for Cobblepot is that Alberto inherited Yin Wensi's memories. He knows that Cobblepot once had a plan to leave the Godfather, and Cobblepot clearly knows this too. If he goes back to find Alberto now, this kind of flip-flopping behavior won't look very honorable. Perhaps a suitable introducer could alleviate this situation..."

"If you feel you can't find a good time, then tomorrow I can take you and Yin Wensi to the vocational school for an internship..."

Batman narrowed his eyes and said: "You should know what I am suspecting..."

"You think there is a killer among the two of them?"

"Cobblepot has a criminal record, and so does Alberto."

"Then that makes it even simpler. You keep an eye on both of them; that is much simpler than you going to protect that fourth victim whose identity is still unknown..."

---Side note---

Late again today, but very happy:)