Chapter 4885

"It's like this," Victor explained, "You think about it, when facing this illness, the patient being present, doctors are very likely not to speak plainly. Even if the doctor is an old friend who knows the situation well, I still have to ask carefully before I can rest assured."

"Moreover, Oswald and Xilei Sect had an appointment, he didn't want to miss it, that's why he left early. I had nothing else to do, going back to school I still have to look at those headache-inducing papers, it's better to stay a while longer and get things clear. So I stayed behind."

"So you can prove that when Coppert left, no one had died yet?" Tim asked.

"Yes, at that time everything was normal," Victor nodded and said, "Everyone was going about their business in an orderly manner, no one was murdered."

"Can you tell us in detail what you were doing at that time?" Tim asked again.

Victor showed a hint of recollection: "I first consulted the doctor in detail about Oswald's condition. I had a good talk with him about his past, his mother, and some of his experiences. But the doctor did not change his judgment, still believing Oswald's condition was not serious, the risk of onset was not high. However, he also reminded me to observe closely, as there might be changes later."

"After that I decided to go see Edward," Victor said, "Edward is Oswald's friend, he has always been worried about him. I thought I should also go greet him. His ward is on the third floor, I went up there, but unexpectedly he wasn't there."

"I'm not entirely clear whether he went for a routine check-up or was doing some kind of rehabilitation training or something like that. I originally wanted to wait a bit, but at that time the storm surge had already begun. I realized the situation was wrong, and hurriedly notified the nurses and doctors to evacuate."

"The seawater rose very quickly. When I went down, there was already a lot of water outside. Someone wanted to block the door and run to the rooftop to wait for rescue. But at that time I had brought the freeze gun, as long as the speed was fast enough, I could lay down a road for people to run straight out."

"The nature of Arkham Asylum is somewhat special, there are many mentally ill people inside. Going to the rooftop to wait for rescue might result in some losing control, and some might be stimulated into an onset. So it's better to just run straight out."

"We gathered in the lobby, I used the freeze gun to clear a path, leading them all the way out of the island where the hospital is located, back to Gotham's North District. Then they each went their separate ways, most likely back to the East District, where their homes are."

"Didn't you see anything abnormal in the lobby?" Tim asked, frowning.

"Actually I am the least likely to notice abnormalities," Victor said, "I am standing at the very front, and I also have to create ice layers to pave the road, who has time to worry about whether there is a murder case behind me. And I indeed did not hear any major commotion, no screams or anything like that."

Although Victor said a lot, useful clues were few. He basically saw nothing. However, Tim keenly caught a point, and turned to Coppert asking: "Where is your friend Edward now?"

"He is in another hospital, the same one where my mother is," Coppert said, "His condition is not optimistic, he can only stay in the hospital. After I received him, I immediately sent him to the hospital."

"When did you receive him?"

"Around 9:20," Coppert continued, "It can't even be said that I received him, but rather my assistant did. He received Edward's help call, dispatched someone to pick him up, and then sent him to the hospital. I only learned of this after leaving Professor Xilei's house."

"9:20..." Tim repeated the time.

Evacuation was roughly 8:30~9:00, the alarm call was roughly 9:01, the body was discovered at 9:31. Edward had the opportunity to commit the crime.

But this cannot be considered solid evidence, because Edward could say he was waiting in the North District for a while before contacting Coppert's assistant. This is also normal, after all he is a mentally ill person with poor self-care ability, it took some effort to find someone to contact, which is also quite normal.

But there is a key point: why didn't Victor directly pick up Edward? Tim looked at Victor and asked: "After you brought them to the North District, didn't you think about settling them?"

"They also need me to settle them," Victor said, "Each patient has their own ideas, I can't control them. Moreover, they are not all loners, letting family come to pick them up is naturally the best."

"Then you didn't pay attention to Edward's whereabouts? Was he in the crowd? If so, why didn't you pick him up?"

"Because there wasn't time," Victor said, "I had just sent this group of people to the North District, Nora called me saying the power was out at home. I feared something might happen to my family, so I rushed back as fast as I could, without time to attend to him."

Victor looked guiltily at Coppert and said: "I only realized I hadn't seen Edward after I got home, at that time I really should have brought him along."

"Not seeing him is actually for the best," Coppert said, "Edward is in an onset phase, his medication control is not very good, if you brought him home, you might put your family in danger."

"Could it be Edward?" Ethan asked, "He is also a mentally ill person, and it's possible he could harm someone during an onset."

Obviously, Ethan still doesn't understand Gotham people well, liking to attribute murder to some irresistible force rather than artistic pursuit.

Coppert's face darkened, not because of Ethan, but because he himself could not completely deny this possibility. And Tim again asked the key point: "What exactly is Edward's condition?"

"I'm not entirely clear either," Coppert said, "Edward seems to also have a hereditary mental illness, but it's not schizophrenia, in pathology it's hard to attribute it to a specific illness. If one must say, it's a mental disorder based on the sensory system."

"What are the specific manifestations?"

"Auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, racing thoughts, poor empathy, persecutory delusions," Coppert said, "Additionally it leads to anxiety and paranoia, occasional symptoms of excited mania. The most serious is compulsive behavior, manifested in him as constantly speaking riddles and solving riddles."

Everyone fell somewhat silent, this is practically a compendium of mental illness symptoms. It's also very rare for a person to have so many mental illness symptoms on them, no wonder the doctors can't do anything.

Alberto opened his mouth, for a moment not knowing what to ask. You want to say whether this kind of person can kill someone, of course they can. But after such a person kills someone, what can you do? Still not put him in a mental asylum?

Out of practical considerations, Alberto felt there was no need to continue investigating the killer. Because the possibility of mentally ill patients committing crimes is high, even if found out, it wouldn't change the current situation.

Tim obviously didn't think so. He felt that even if the final verdict might still be treatment in a mental hospital, at least the truth should be given to the deceased and the deceased's family. Although the deceased might not be innocent, legal procedures still need to be followed.

"He... under what circumstances would he kill someone?"

This question is a bit excessive. Because without evidence, one cannot assume anyone is the killer and then conduct leading questions. But obviously this is not a normal situation, because even Coppert knows Edward is not an ordinary person.

The Riddle Man has severe mental disorders, but a bug is a bug, a bunch of bugs can work, his bundle of mental problems combined together actually gives him strong mobility, completely different from traditional mental patients, sometimes even able to make Batman do a somersault.

So Coppert also cannot guarantee that Edward absolutely cannot kill people. He said: "You cannot stimulate him, especially regarding riddles. For example, not letting him solve riddles, or mocking his riddles or the like. But I believe doctors and nurses would not make such mistakes, otherwise he couldn't have stayed here this long."

"What exactly has changed?" Tim asked, "There must be something that broke his usual life state, possibly leading to his onset and killing."

"Have you already assumed him to be the killer?" Ethan asked.

"Just a possibility," Tim shook his head and said. He then turned to Coppert and said: "If you are good friends, why didn't he call you directly, but call your assistant instead?"

"He has my number and the numbers of my two assistants," Coppert said, "To prevent situations where one call doesn't get through. I guess he might have just randomly dialed a phone number, he has done this before."

"Did you later go to the hospital to see him? How was his condition?"

"I left Professor Xilei's house and immediately went to the hospital. When I first saw him, he looked disheveled, as if he had just been caught in the rain. But after a hot shower he felt much better. We chatted for a while, I didn't detect any abnormality in his mental state."

The situation became confusing again. If Edward had an onset, it would be absolutely impossible without abnormalities. This matter also couldn't be concealed by Coppert, after all the assistant sent him over, and certainly hospital staff saw him. The onset state of mental patients is too easy to recognize, just need to check that day's surveillance, lies will collapse on their own.

But if he didn't have an onset, then his motive for killing is really too weak. He could stay in that hospital for so long, which shows the hospital environment and staff are not bad. People who usually interact with him also wouldn't stimulate him, otherwise something would have happened long ago. So why would he kill someone when he's perfectly fine?

"Without an onset, Edward cannot kill people," Coppert said, "First of all he has no motive, he is a congenital mental disorder patient, but he is not that kind of antisocial person who enjoys killing. He only has aggression when his mental state is abnormal, otherwise I wouldn't have become friends with him, I dislike clowns."

"Could it be that by the time you went to see him, he had already recovered?" Victor again proposed a possibility.

"The possibility is very small," Xilei said, "Killing itself is a stimulus, its effects are hard to dissipate within tens of minutes, let alone completely unnoticeable."

"Oswald is right, Edward is not that kind of antisocial lunatic. He indeed is a mentally ill person with pathological mental disorder, such a person has no superb acting skills, also impossible to disguise all his abnormalities in a short time."

In this regard, Xilei is absolutely professional. He made the judgment, others also had no angle to refute. So Edward's suspicion is actually not that great.

After discussing for half a day, still no clue. Tim still wanted to ask Brainiac, whether there are any more detailed clues. But at this time he saw Brainiac's message to him, and looked up saying: "The rain is weakening, Brainiac is preparing to salvage the body."

Tim was about to say something more, when he received another message from Brainiac.

"...... The body is missing? ？？"