Chapter 4889

"That's certainly possible," Victor said. "Actually, after discovering your memory loss, I occasionally wondered whether you might have lost even more, with additional mental issues I hadn't noticed, which is why I rushed you to see a doctor."

"Did the doctor say you're fine?" Alberto looked at Coppert and said, "Perhaps you should see another one..."

He trailed off, glancing at Shiler. It's unlikely any psychiatrist could be more professional than Shiler. But Shiler never showed serious anxiety, even worrying more about him and Evans than about Coppert, which proves Coppert really isn't in bad shape.

"I think we shouldn't keep speculating about how mentally ill people think," Tim said. "Just looking at the outcome, he doesn't trust you much—possibly because of something you did on the day of the incident, which could lead him to distrust, even harm, others for that reason."

"We need to figure out what triggered him," Tim paused, then continued, "Did you do anything in public? Or say anything?"

"There was no public setting," Coppert said. "I hold shares in a publicly traded company—if people found out I saw a psychiatrist, the group's stock would surely plummet, so we met privately with acquaintances; no one should know."

"Not necessarily," Ethan said. "The other doctors and nurses in the hospital aren't blind; if they're off duty, they'd definitely notice."

"But how would Edward find out? He's been staying in the ward; doctors and nurses shouldn't be telling him this."

"Unless he was already watching that place," Tim said. "This proves the person he sees as an enemy, most likely to trigger him, is very likely a doctor working in that office—possibly even the one you went to see."

Coppert startled, then said: "Impossible—I saw Edward's attending physician, Dr. Brand."

Tim frowned. Coppert said: "The condition I might have is also hereditary and pathological, and Dr. Brand happens to be a pathology expert; he treated Edward effectively, and Edward likes him, so I chose him. If he provoked Edward's hostility, he couldn't have remained Edward's attending physician."

Tim couldn't refute it either. He said: "Then it should be one of Brand's colleagues, someone who shares his office and gets along well with him."

Coppert seemed to be mentally searching for candidates, saying: "Then the number is too large—Brand's office has eight doctors, and Arkham Asylum rotates rounds, so everyone has contacted Edward, any of whom could have provoked his hostility."

"Then let's try contacting those eight doctors," Ethan's solution remained plain and simple—"Narrowing the target to eight is already easy to investigate; if someone goes missing, they're very likely the victim."

"But the nurse station is also nearby," Coppert added, "and nurses interact more easily with Edward and could also provoke his hostility."

Ethan rubbed his temples, saying: "I feel our current reasoning is pointless, since there's no evidence proving Edward killed anyone, yet we're investigating hypothetical assumptions."

"There's no better direction either," Tim said. "At least Edward's disappearance is genuinely suspicious—it can't be unrelated to the case; he really is a breakthrough. Let's start with the doctors, Brainiac."

Brainiac quickly went to contact those eight doctors, but this obviously takes time, since the storm outside hasn't ceased—it's intensified. Hurricane season is always hard to endure, and this time is no exception.

The reasoning has reached this point, almost entirely baseless, with no substantive evidence. Guessing Edward's condition is already like grasping for straws; continuing further would be meaningless.

But if we just wait here, we'll only get more bored. Ethan asked the question he'd long wondered: "What exactly is your grudge against each other?"

He looked at Tim and Alberto. Undoubtedly, these two have been at odds since they entered, seeming to share some history.

"I studied in Italy," Tim said without hiding anything. "At an art exhibition, I met Evans—I can't really say we met; it's more like a reunion after long separation. I'd seen him before, but I was young then, so my impression wasn't deep."

"He's very passionate about art, understands opera and painting, and I happened to be studying frescoes in Florence, so we got along well. Later we even attended other exhibitions and opera performances together."

"But one day he suddenly told me he couldn't come, because his brother had something to attend to. I knew they shared one body, so I could understand. After that, I didn't see him for a long time, and when I did, I found his state very poor—he'd lost many memories."

"I was worried about him and suspected his brother had tampered with him..."

"Wait a minute," Ethan interrupted him, "How could you suspect that? Why would a brother harm his own brother?"

"Alberto doesn't like me," Tim said. "He thinks I'm a deliberate pervert who approached his brother."

Ethan opened his mouth, looking at Alberto. Alberto stared at Tim and said: "Whether I deliberately approached him, I have no evidence, but can you say you're not a mental pervert?"

"If you're referring to the murder case at the Florence Cathedral, I merely did what a detective should do. I admit I seemed cold when focused on the case, but I was only doing the right thing."

"Hold on," Ethan interrupted again, looking at Alberto, "So you saw him investigating, thought he liked playing with corpses like a mental pervert, and thus disliked him."

Then he looked at Tim: "Because he dislikes you, you think he tampered with your and Evans's memories, blocking your social interaction."

"Not only that," Tim said, "After he resurfaced following his long absence, Evans returned in poor condition—I don't believe he didn't know, yet he kept monopolizing the body."

"This isn't even your reason for attacking me," Alberto threw out another bombshell, "Which just detective would, in the name of meeting my brother, trick me out, knock me unconscious, and try to hypnotize me?"

"Don't flatter yourself—I never intended to hypnotize you," Tim said without lifting his eyelids, "I needed to check Evans's condition, confirm whether he truly faced disappearance risk. The situation isn't optimistic—I told you that."

"'Telling' would've been better without pointing a gun at my head."

Shiler couldn't help glancing at Tim. Tim coldly snorted: "When you let the mafia search my house, didn't you notice I had a gun?"

"Wait," Victor also interrupted him, "Are you two living in some world I don't know, one without Brainiac? How would he allow you two to do this?"

"I also don't allow you to leave the protection zone without permission, don't allow you to participate in murder cases, don't allow you to dump corpses in the lake to pollute water, don't allow you to summon outer gods on the cliff edge—but in reality?" Brainiac also coldly snorted.

Victor rubbed his nose. Brainiac also didn't allow him to give ice to Coppert, yet he gave it anyway. He's also picked up some tricks on how to violate Brainiac's rules without getting blamed.

The fact is, good people are always held at gunpoint. But in the process of playing games with madmen, Brainiac is actually the good one, while this bunch has countless ways to bypass his barriers. Human imagination in how to freely go mad always surpasses anyone's expectations.

"He blocked it, just unsuccessfully," Alberto said, "Now Italy has no mafia—just a group of enthusiastic uncles and aunts helping me."

"Alright," Ethan said, "Your original intentions were both for Evans's good—why turn it into this? With all this mutual antagonism, you might have found a way to save him by now."

Both fell silent, the atmosphere grew heavy again. Shiler looked at Tim. Under Batman's near absence of interference, Tim Drake grew up completely free, and precisely because of that, it proves the part of him resembling Batman isn't imitation—it's innate.

Someone who actively sought out Batman at age ten or so to join his ranks couldn't possibly be ordinary. Rather than saying the life-or-death dangers he experienced with Batman made him more aggressive, it's more like the training with Batman suppressed his arrogance and wildness, bringing him back on track—making him more like Holmes than Moriarty.

And clearly, this universe's Tim hasn't cultivated self-restraint. In Gotham he's more restrained, because there are still people he cares about here; only after leaving Gotham does true freedom to roam the skies begin. His days in Italy probably aren't as warm and peaceful as he and others shared. Dare to wrestle with the mafia there—how could that not count as snagging the biggest piece of the cape?

Alberto's concern isn't unreasonable, but the Holiday Killer really has no standing to condemn little Batman. Their standoff is fated, and it makes up for Bruce's missing debut battle.

"Do you have any idea?" Victor looked at Ethan and asked.

"I'm not sure Professor X would help," Ethan thought, then said, "At least in our universe, he can do many things—even backing up people's souls in his mental world, so as long as there's a body, they can be revived anytime. Have you considered letting you two separate?"

Alberto nodded, saying: "We should indeed have independent bodies, but the problem now is that Evans is weak—he might not be able to control an independent body, which could be a burden for him; otherwise I'd have gone to find the professor long ago."

"So you want to first nourish his spirit," Shiler said, "Even then, you could come to me."

"It's a burden," Alberto said, frowning, "Carrying another person's spirit, helping him repair damage, possibly even compensating for innate deficiencies—it requires enormous energy, not a matter of your willingness, but his."

After saying that, Alberto looked at Shiler and said: "He especially doesn't want to see you."

Shiler sighed: "Does he still remember I'm his home tutor? He's my student—I naturally should be responsible for him. Can I see him?"

"Of course I'd like to, but if he doesn't come up himself, I can't force him," Alberto frowned, looking troubled, "I can't forcibly make him take control of the body—that's the key."

"You don't need to make him come up," Shiler said, "I'll go find him."

That sounds somewhat chilling coming from Shiler to anyone—next might be a crime scene. But Alberto relaxed, saying: "Evans has always greatly admired you, Professor; his unwillingness to see you might also stem from feeling he's accomplished nothing, not knowing how to report back."

Shiler smiled faintly: "You know, he'll never be last."

Everyone clearly thought of something, the atmosphere lightened—until Brainiac's one sentence ended this warm, cheerful mood, louder than the thunder outside.

"The victim is Dr. Brand."

"Who?!" Victor jumped up with a shout.

"He is the only one of the eight doctors who cannot be reached. Furthermore, the DNA analysis results from the water show — the victim is Arlen Brand, attending physician of Arkham Asylum."

"Ah-ha! Didn't expect that, did you!"