Chapter 3502: A Study of Cats and Dogs (61)

Schiller stood in place, sighed lightly, and said, "Officer, the top priority now is to figure out who committed the missing persons case and the murder case, and bring the real murderer to justice. Only in this way can more tragedies be avoided. You and I both know this."

"You can think I am a suspect, but in fact, a person like me can barely be called a professional in this small town. I can provide help in professional aspects."

"More importantly, most people here don't want to really find the real murderer, they just want to muddle through this matter. But you and I are not, we both want to find out the truth. This means that cooperating with me is much more useful than locking me here."

Schiller began to pace in the room, continuing, "Think about it, Betty and her mother appeared in Tan Da's cellar, which means he is likely the murderer of the missing persons case. But Tan Da is already dead."

"Tan Da's parents might not want to find out the truth, they will want to desperately cover up this matter. Then the tragedy of Tan Da's little sister might happen again, because of the strong protest of Tan Da's parents, the whole thing will be left unsettled again."

"Our time is limited. Once Tan Da's parents return, they will definitely affect the investigation, and by then, I'm afraid we'll have to give up even if we don't want to."

"And within a limited time, counting on the city to send manpower, or waiting for professional analysis reports is too late. They will probably return tonight at the earliest, if we can't produce conclusive evidence before then, I'm afraid you will get administrative leave tonight."

"If most technical means cannot be used, then almost no physical evidence can be found. The only breakthrough is eyewitness testimony. However, the seemingly useful confessions currently come from two children."

"Betty is a victim, and Aisha is not a direct eyewitness, it is even more difficult to get clues from them and investigate the murderer. And what is even more difficult is how to get as much useful information as possible from them without harming them."

"Therefore, I said I can help. Interrogation techniques for adults cannot be used on children, but I can use some psychological means to ask for more clues from them, ensuring that no harm is caused."

"If you are willing, just let me spend some time with them, it only takes about half an hour. I believe you have such prestige, Mr. John."

John stood silently in place. Schiller's words moved with emotion and reasoned with logic, saying everything that could be said, and he seemed to have nothing to say.

He knew Schiller was right. Tan Da's parents and the police chief of Middleton were close friends, and the matter of their little daughter last time was suppressed by them relying on their friendship, and this time it is probably the same.

The breakthrough now is the two little girls, but none of the police officers present have experience in questioning children, and he doesn't either. Schiller, this professional, has become the only choice.

It seems there is no problem, but will all this be too coincidental?

Thinking for tens of seconds, John made a decision. In any case, he needs to know the truth, which at least allows him to give Catherine an explanation next time he goes to church.

"I can give you half an hour," John said, "but you'd better be able to get useful information, otherwise even I can't convince the chief."

Schiller nodded. He certainly has confidence. The moment he killed Tan Da, he envisioned the current situation.

Betty is the key. Although she is just an ordinary little girl, she touches John's heart. John will pay extra attention to her various conditions, and may even break principles for her. In this case, with Betty's help, Schiller can uncover the tip of the iceberg of Ma'alefa'ak's conspiracy to John.

At that time, he won't need to find a way to deal with Ma'alefa'ak himself, the Martian Manhunter J'onn will let him know what an older brother's iron fist is.

Schiller was taken by the police to Betty's room. Betty was still the same: a bit distracted, with scattered attention. Whoever said anything to her, she would only repeat those few sentences.

Although in Schiller's view, this brainwashed performance was already very obvious, and even ordinary police officers felt she was a bit wrong, non-professionals had no way to find a suitable reason to explain all this. Schiller needed to give this reason from a professional perspective.

After the door closed, Schiller began to repeatedly ask Betty some questions, basically details about her meeting Tan Da. And Betty would only say the same thing, asking back and forth, it was just those few sentences.

Schiller didn't want to get any earth-shattering secrets from her; what he wanted was Betty's abnormal performance, the more abnormal the better.

After all, telepathy is the innate talent of Martians, just like their arms. If a palm print of a human with five fingers suddenly appeared on a planet full of tentacle monsters, any human would find it very eye-catching.

Humans have no telepathic ability, so they can't explain Betty's current situation; but Martians understand this naturally, and they understand it all at a glance.

After the time was up, Schiller left the room and closed the door lightly. He knew John should have seen the situation in the room through the surveillance camera.

But he still sighed with some worry and said, "Betty's mental state is very bad. Although I can't be completely sure, I think she might have been hypnotized by someone."

John's face was terrifyingly gloomy at this time. He said in a deep voice, "Are you sure? Who hypnotized her?"

"I'm just a psychologist, not God. I can only tell you the result through Betty's state, but I have no way to trace the source," Schiller shook his head lightly, "I can only tell you that the person who brainwashed her was very rough, and the level of brainwashing was very deep, and I don't have a very good way."

"If there is enough time, perhaps I can go back to the East Coast to find my teacher and classmates for a consultation, but obviously not now. If there is no way to break through the brainwashing, I'm afraid we can't find the traces of the real murderer covered up."

Schiller's helpless performance hadn't been performed halfway, and John walked past him, opened the door, and entered the room.

Schiller followed closely and walked in. After all, although he had great confidence that the current John was the real Martian Manhunter, before the answer was announced, it was better to be cautious.

After Schiller walked in, he saw John squatting in front of Betty, reaching out to rub her head, and also asked her a few questions. As expected, he got the same answer.

Betty's entire state now is like an automatic reply program set with answers: as long as it involves a murder case, her reply is just those few sentences, and it is the same from any angle.

And apart from this automatic reply program, her other programs didn't seem to be working. She neither showed anxiety and tension about the current situation, nor did she cry and make a scene like an ordinary child, always sitting there distracted.

John just wanted to say something, but the door was knocked. He was called out by another police officer, and when he came back, his face looked even worse.

Schiller could roughly guess what he had encountered. In order to prevent the situation from expanding, the police station should intend to shrink the scope of the investigation and minimize the impact of this matter as much as possible.

Seeing John's eyes, Schiller knew that he should have made a decision. So he left the room, closed the door, and went to another room to find Aisha.

The female police officer from before was playing with Aisha. Seeing Schiller come over, Aisha rushed over. Schiller rubbed her head and nodded to the female police officer. The female police officer smiled and left.

Schiller and Aisha sat down together. Aisha glanced at the room where Betty was, lowered her voice and said, "If she recovers her memory and reports you, what should we do?"

Schiller shook his head and said nothing.

This is actually the last checkpoint to test whether John is the real Martian Manhunter.

If the Martian Manhunter J'onn breaks his principles and uses the Martian's telepathic ability, he will naturally discover: in fact, Schiller had already rescued Betty from the cellar long ago.

This means that Schiller is not as ignorant as he said, and he also has enough reasons to have a conflict with Tan Da, and also has a motive for murder.

With this, John is enough to convince the police chief to investigate Schiller. Because Schiller is an outsider, if he really committed the crime, then it can't be blamed on the police chief's poor management, and it won't affect Tan Da's family's reputation, which is a happy ending for everyone.

But the premise is that Betty must stand up and identify Schiller.

To let Betty stand up and identify Schiller, her memory must be restored. If it were Ma'alefa'ak, he would definitely do so.

Ma'alefa'ak is not stupid; he had seen Schiller when he invaded Gotham University. Although Schiller didn't show anything special at that time, now that he saw him here again, he must know that he is not a simple character.

Being able to use this matter to find trouble for Schiller, I think he would be very willing.

But J'onn wouldn't do that.

Her mother being killed in front of her, and she herself staying with the corpse for several days, this kind of memory is a devastating disaster for any child.

Fortunately, someone hypnotized her, letting her enter a dazed automatic reply mode, which kept her safe for the time being. But once this mode is lifted and the real memory returns, her spirit and personality might collapse in an instant.

Not everyone can build a high tower with fragments. Betty is just an ordinary little girl, and such an experience is enough to make her spend the rest of her life in a mental hospital.

J'onn would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen; setting aside his daughter, he is also an upright good person, full of sympathy and empathy, and will not sit idly by and watch such a tragedy.

The real Martian Manhunter, after reading the truth from Betty's memory, has only one choice: that is to help her erase this memory.

It can be said that if the John who comes out of the door next doesn't point a gun directly at Schiller, then he must be the Martian Manhunter.

For Schiller, the indifference and cruelty in the hearts of the ruthless are like bright lights in the darkness, even from a distance, they can always be easily seen and distinguished by simple means.

People often say "the sentimental are always troubled by the ruthless," and it seems that it is always the more evil and ruthless people who can go further—"despicability is the passport of the despicable, nobility is the epitaph of the noble."

But in fact, psychopaths will attract and cannibalize each other, just like one greedy anglerfish after another, both using the light on their heads to attract other prey, and following the light themselves, until they meet another stronger monster, are swallowed by it, and then digested completely.

This may be the main reason why human society has not moved toward extinction early under the leadership of this group of lunatics. This is like the Creator's mercy, but it is more like the immune system evolved by the human group itself. From both sociological and psychological perspectives, it is a miracle with infinite mysteries.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 3503 =====