Chapter 3851: The Nameless Bat (Part 32) [3851

"CIA Special Investigation Unit Agent Natasha Romanoff." In the Cat Getan Police Department office, Natasha showed her credentials to James Gordon. Gordon's brow furrowed deeply, and he said, "CIA? This isn't within your jurisdiction, is it? Or is this 'Eden Killer' actually a spy?"

"Even if he were a spy, the CIA wouldn't have the authority to arrest him. That's the FBI's job. However, I am from a special investigation unit, and also the only unit with internal law enforcement authority. You might not have heard of us, but that's okay; we are a secret force to begin with. If it weren't for Batman's invitation, I wouldn't have come here."

Watching the sudden realization on Gordon's face, Natasha smiled to herself. A secret force indeed, just one that was established half an hour ago. Although the Batman of this universe is not the President, he clearly has people in Congress and law enforcement agencies, and it's not difficult for him to fabricate a law enforcement agency out of thin air and prepare sufficient materials.

"Tell me about the 'Eden Killer'," Natasha said. "I want to see all the photos of the crime scenes and the autopsy reports. It would be best if I could interrogate a few important eyewitnesses."

Gordon nodded and soon went to arrange it. He accepted Natasha's bossy attitude well, because the FBI agents who came before had worse tempers, looked down on the Cat Getan Police Department entirely, had big opinions about Cat Getan, or were just slacking off on the job, wishing they could grease their heels and run away the next second.

Although Natasha's name was a bit suspicious and she was a bit too pretty, at least judging by her attitude and handling measures, she was still relatively professional. This was already an unexpected joy.

"Oh, right," Gordon said as if he had just remembered. "Because this case is indeed a bit tricky, I found a friend to consult. He will keep it completely confidential, but he might have indeed seen something."

Natasha frowned and said, "That's not very professional, Commissioner. Do you know you have a responsibility for the mental state of civilians? I'm afraid the crime scenes of serial murders won't appear very peaceful, right?"

"He can't be considered a civilian. In fact, he was previously a special consultant for the FBI—a criminal psychology lecturer."

Natasha breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you for not involving innocent people. I knew Batman's friends weren't bad."

Gordon opened his mouth, hesitating until Natasha started looking at him with that probing gaze again. He swallowed and said, "However, there is also a 14-year-old child with him."

Natasha's expression changed immediately, and she said, "They went to the crime scene together?"

"Yes. But there were no bodies in the first few."

"Which means there were in the last one?"

"The most recent case was the Mayor being killed. This is very important, and that little girl has unparalleled talent in this regard, so..."

"Unbelievable," Natasha said. "Do you think that because I'm CIA, I'll accept this well?"

"There is authorization from Batman."

"Then you are both sinners."

Gordon sighed and said, "Mnemosyne's psychiatrist told me that this wouldn't cause any harm to her mental state, and I choose to believe in his professional judgment, ma'am. Although it sounds like shirking responsibility, the fact is—if we can't get more clues, more people will die."

"You don't have to explain to me, as long as you can live with your conscience." Natasha shook her head and walked out the door.

This remark was clearly more uncomfortable for him than scolding Gordon. He stood in the office speechless for a long time, and Natasha, who walked out of the room, was no better off. She really wasn't used to the style of this universe.

In the universe she was from, even though the lives of superheroes were magnificent and wonderful, the bottom line for everyone who could be called a hero, a suspected hero, or even an anti-hero was not to involve civilians. Even Magneto, a recognized terrorist, attacked US military bases, not civilian flights or subways, even if the latter might cause a more sensational effect.

Over there, if any policeman dragged a 14-year-old girl to a crime scene, and went to more than one, and saw more than one corpse, he would probably receive Iron Man's rocket launcher, Captain America's shield, and Spider-Man's uppercut all at once. No legitimate reason would work, not even for Schiller.

But people here seem to be used to it. When Gordon said this, he also wanted to emphasize the little girl's talent, and might even be hinting to Natasha that if there was anything she didn't understand, she should go find her.

God. Natasha began to sympathize with Batman more and more. If this world really followed the principle of evil having evil retribution, then it was very likely that Congress and the military were doing the evil, and then it was all being visited upon Batman. He was truly an unlucky bastard.

Calming her mood, Natasha began to look at the files, then went to the forensic department to look at the autopsy reports, and finally even went to the hospital to see the female killer. Unfortunately, the other party had not yet woken up from her coma and could not provide any input.

Natasha was not a great detective; she wasn't that good at deduction. However, since Batman had already hinted to her that the killer might not be a carbon-based lifeform that he could catch, what she needed to do now wasn't actually to bring the killer to justice, but to stabilize the situation.

Although the panic of the upper class all stemmed from this "Eden Killer," catching the other party was the best way to calm the panic, but since that couldn't be done for the time being, she could only take some agent measures.

"How many heinous people are there in the city?" Natasha asked the policeman next to her.

The other party was clearly stunned for a moment, then said, "You should ask how many people are not."

"Then how many people are not?"

"About... one?"

"If you want to say Jesus, get out of here."

"No, but it's about the same. It's Batman."

"Oh, I should have guessed." Natasha rubbed her forehead and said, "Then who do you think is the worst among them? The kind of bad guy that whenever something bad happens, everyone subconsciously thinks it's him?"

"Batman."

"What?"

"Whenever something bad happens, everyone thinks it's Batman's doing. Because they think it's impossible for anyone to be that good." The young officer was very honest, saying, "So no matter what bad thing happens, everyone thinks it must be Batman revealing his true nature."

Natasha felt her head start to ache. She said, "Besides Batman? I mean, the kind that looks very bad, and that we can catch?"

"Are you trying to catch someone to take the fall? Then you can just ask who doesn't have a backer." The young officer thought for a moment and said, "There aren't actually many such people, especially after the Cat Getan gangs took control of this city."

"Then, the Joker?" Natasha said a name. She had vaguely heard stories about Batman and the Joker.

"Ah, that won't work. No one can catch him except Batman." The officer shook his head and said, "And if Batman doesn't show up, he won't show up. If you can convince Batman to cooperate with your plan, it might be possible to trick him out, although there's nothing to be proud of in bullying a mentally ill person."

"Then the Penguin." Natasha said another name she seemed to have some impression of. She remembered seeing it in Spider-Man's "Cat Getan Travelogue."

"Doing that would make people suspect you are the 'Eden Killer,' because the Penguin is the real mayor." The other party said, "It's a good thing his informant in the police station is locked up, otherwise, if what we said today reached his ears, we would be hunted down."

Natasha sighed deeply. She didn't know much about the super-criminals here, and even if she met them in the Battleworld, she couldn't tell who was who, because their performances were all very similar—the kind of lunatics who could make Nick pay a greedy salary for eighty thousand years into the future.

Natasha had no interest in the inner worlds of this group of people, didn't understand what was different about their crazy claims, and didn't have a particularly deep impression of any one of them, so she really couldn't think of anyone for a moment.

"Alright, there's only one last trick." Natasha said, "Do you have any famous Russians here?"

"Uh, does a TV host count? Antonio, the host of the 8 PM talk show. I actually quite like him."

"Then it's him. Just claim he is the 'Eden Killer,' and then deport him back on charges of espionage and terrorism. I'll go pull his files."

Natasha went to Gordon to ask for the files. Gordon didn't understand why she wanted the files of a TV host, but he gave them to her anyway.

Natasha pressed the button on her earpiece and said, "All units prepare, the arrest operation for the 'Eden Killer' Antonio will begin at 7 PM tonight. Contact our people on the Russian side and have them prepare to receive him."

Gordon slowly widened his eyes and looked at Natasha, saying, "How did you know he was the 'Eden Killer'? Good heavens, you're even better than Mnemosyne!"

Natasha really couldn't help it, rolled her eyes, and said, "He's not a killer. Which Russian killer uses a small knife to kill? I just need an 'Eden Killer' to appease the panic of the upper class—don't you always think the KGB is right by my side?"

"But this is framing someone." Gordon said.

"Is he a good person who has never committed a crime?"

"Uh, you know there's no such person. That TV host seems to have been exposed before for smuggling drugs and pimping... but that's not important, the sentencing for murder and drug trafficking is different..."

"So he's not being charged with murder, but with espionage. That way he can be exchanged back. Don't worry, he won't die, at most he'll spend a few days in a padded cell. I'm familiar with Moscow."

Gordon opened his mouth: "You're familiar?"

"I'm not just suspicious in name."

"Alright, Miss Romanoff."

"Mrs., thank you."

"Okay, Mrs. Romanoff. You can't arrest him."

"Why?"

"He is one of the media mouthpieces promoted after the Penguin took power, and also the younger brother of the city's biggest Russian gang boss. Otherwise, how could he be a prime-time host with a name even more suspicious than yours and a St. Petersburg accent?"

Natasha looked down at the file—this guy's full name was Antonio Ivanovich Kuznetsov. He didn't even want to use a pseudonym like David or Peter; he was even more arrogant than her.

"Alright, this person won't work either. Do you have any other candidates?"

"There aren't many Russians in Cat Getan." Gordon said, "We have quite a few Irish and British people here, won't they work?"

"No chance, they'd be assassinated by MI6 during extradition. I'm also very familiar with London."

"Aren't you a Russian?"

"I am a Soviet."

"Then that's not surprising."