Chapter 579: All Sewn Up (Part 1)

When Thomas finished shouting this sentence, Batman and Cobblepot were both stunned.

Batman was stunned because he hadn't reacted to what Thomas was saying for a moment, while Cobblepot was completely unaware of the murder case that had just occurred, thinking that the serial killer Thomas was talking about was actually Lex.

Thomas panted heavily and said in a hysterical voice: "This is beyond my plan! I didn't commit that case; things shouldn't be like this. I had clearly planned it all..."

Seeing Thomas's somewhat collapsing emotions, Batman realized that this might be a good time to ask for the truth. So, he looked at Thomas and asked: "You said your fiancée is in danger, and there's a serial killer—what's going on?"

Thomas's voice trembled slightly. He seemed extremely reluctant, but he also knew that only Batman could stop this now. So he spoke:

"I killed Doris. I borrowed a javelin from the sports equipment room, pierced her chest, and killed her. But my goal wasn't to kill her; I just wanted to use this case to..."

"... to create an alibi for myself." Batman interrupted him in a calm and composed tone. Batman continued: "You got yourself into prison, and then let your accomplice kill the Elliot couple to create an alibi for you, and then find a way to clear your name. That way, you could innocently get out of prison and inherit the Elliot family."

"And your method of clearing your name was to have your accomplice continue to commit murders outside similar to the Doris case, turning it into a serial murder case. That way, it could be proven that the person who killed Doris wasn't you."

Thomas was stunned, but then a hateful expression appeared on his face, gritting his teeth, but it soon turned into a complex emotion. He said: "Batman... Batman... you really are a genius. I should be too, I should..."

"Then what about what you said, your fiancée and the serial murder case?" Batman asked.

"Yes... yes! You guys hurry and find Belena! She might be in danger now! Someone is targeting her..."

Thomas's arm trembled, and he said: "The second cheerleader member who was a victim was indeed done by me, because as long as the serial murder case continues, it means that I, who am locked in prison, am innocent..."

"But, but the third case wasn't me... there's another killer! His next target is my fiancée Belena!"

What Thomas said was a bit incoherent. Batman didn't hear any logic; he only heard Thomas admit that he had killed the first and second victims, but denied that the third victim's case was done by him.

Logically speaking, if he admitted to killing two people to his face, then he wouldn't deny the third victim. With things developing to this stage, no matter what, Thomas couldn't escape guilt, so he had no need to insist that the third victim wasn't his doing.

"First, you have to tell me, who is your accomplice? How did you commit the crimes?" Batman ignored Thomas's anxious emotions. He wouldn't fall for such a trick, because regardless of whether Thomas was acting or not, he had to figure out what was going on.

Thomas seemed to have given up on everything as well, and he confessed everything: "Just, just about two weeks ago, because of my anxiety disorder, I wanted to find a doctor. It might have been at that time that I left my phone number. Not long after, a psychiatrist calling himself Dr. Hugo called me..."

"He said he was very experienced in this area and could help me with treatment. And I didn't want my parents to know that I had a mental illness, so I couldn't go to a regular hospital for treatment. He said he had experience in treatment, so I planned to go and see."

"After I arrived at the agreed location, I found that there was no psychiatric clinic there. Later, I discovered that they were hiding in the sewers of Cat Getan."

"There was a frozen warehouse that had been excavated there, but it was abandoned for some reason, so they were hiding there."

"At that time, I wanted to leave, but the person called Dr. Hugo stopped me. We chatted for a while, and I felt that he was indeed an excellent psychiatrist, perhaps because he had fallen on hard times for some reason, so I expressed my willingness to sponsor him, but on the condition that he must cure my anxiety disorder."

"He talked to me a lot, and I revealed many secrets in my heart to him. He said that my anxiety and pressure came from my parents, and as long as there was no source of pressure, my anxiety disorder would naturally get better."

"He instigated you to kill your parents?" Batman narrowed his eyes and asked.

"That's right." Thomas swallowed and said: "He formulated a series of plans. He said as long as I followed the plan, it would be fine. But now, this is simply not in our plan!"

"He said that after I went to prison, he would kill my parents, and then commit another case, choosing a girl with the same identity as Doris, and commit a similar case at the same location, making it into a serial murder case. That way, it could clear my name and let me leave prison."

"He said he would only commit one more case, but later, I heard there was a third case. So, I tried every means to contact my lawyer and contacted Dr. Hugo again, but he told me that the third case wasn't done by him."

"Just at this time, my fiancée Belena called me. On the other end of the phone, she was crying very hard, appearing very sad and fearful. She said someone threatened her with emails and notes, saying they were going to kill her..."

Cobblepot, who had been listening on the side, said: "Belena? I think I know her. She is a student at the School of Environment. She indeed hasn't come to the lab these past few days. Originally, the project she was responsible for often had to borrow this lab, but I haven't seen her for several days."

"That's why I came here to find her!" Thomas roared: "I know she does experiments here. The handbag she left at my house has the keys to this place, as well as special gloves and protective clothing. I knew at a glance that it was for the low-temperature laboratory..."

"So, that's how you were able to open the door to this laboratory?" Cobblepot looked at Thomas's hands. He was indeed wearing a glove, but because this kind of special glove was an extremely thin glove that fit the hand very well, it wasn't easy to be discovered.

"She must have gone missing!" Thomas's emotions began to become more and more agitated. He said: "It's even very likely that she has already been murdered. I want to find her!"

As Thomas's emotions became more and more unstable, the arm he was using to choke Lex became tighter and tighter. Lex was choked by him until he couldn't breathe, his face flushed, and his lips even began to turn purple.

In any case, Lex's physical fitness was really too poor. Let alone a tall and strong adult male like Thomas, even Cobblepot, who was very thin but held a weapon, could force him to retreat step by step. Being choked by Thomas, he had no room to resist at all.

No matter how genius his brain was, he couldn't convert intelligence into force in this situation. His genius brain had even fallen into a light coma due to hypoxia.

Batman clearly observed this situation as well. He took two steps forward, wanting to put pressure on Thomas, but Thomas did not retreat, because he knew that further back was the window, and there was no room to retreat. He had to give himself more depth to deal with the attack that might come from Batman.

So, he retreated to his left rear, which was the side further away from Cobblepot and Batman.

In that direction was the interior of the laboratory with more space. Batman pressed forward step by step, and Thomas retreated step by step, until he leaned his back against the largest instrument in the center of the entire room.

It had been mentioned before that it was a very huge machine, overall cylindrical, connecting two floors. In addition to the surrounding control console and fixing devices, inside was a cylindrical liquid storage device. What was inside was the raw material Victor used to make super ice.

Because of certain material science reasons, this thing couldn't be stored in a solid state and could only be placed in a special cabin in liquid form. Moreover, it needed to be constantly stirred, and another chemical agent was needed to maintain its stability.

At this moment, inside the cylindrical liquid storage device that Thomas was leaning his back against, the blue liquid kept surging, like beautiful sea waves, and also like an unpredictable nebula. The cold light shone on his back, but because of the good sealing, no chill leaked out.

Facts proved that necessary stimulation might increase a person's vigilance against a dangerous item, just like when a person's hand touches a boiling kettle, they will instinctively shrink back. And now, because Thomas didn't feel any abnormality from the thing he was leaning his back against, he didn't realize how dangerous a thing he was approaching.

Batman's attention was entirely on Lex, or rather, no matter who Thomas was holding hostage, Batman's primary goal was to rescue the hostage.

At this time, because the pressure Batman gave was too great, Thomas seemed to be collapsing. He began to fiercely pinch Lex's neck with his hand, saying: "You are all the same! You group of... ha, geniuses? Geniuses? Do you think you are geniuses?!"

"Why are you born superior? Why can't I?! Answer me! Is this fair?!"

"Bruce Wayne!" Thomas suddenly raised his tone and said: "Do you think I don't know who you are? Batman! I have been investigating for a long time. From the moment Batman appeared, I started investigating..."

"I saw through your tricks! You are not some superhero in the dark! You damn hypocrite! You are just relying on your extraordinary talent and wealth. Now, I am going to have all of this too..."

However, the scene Thomas expected, where Batman would be shocked because his identity was exposed, did not appear. He even had no reaction to this scene.

But this was not strange. According to the current timeline, in the plot changed by Schiller, almost everyone knew Batman's true identity. Schiller knew, Gordon knew, Victor knew, Constantine knew, and Hal knew too.

When they gathered privately, no matter what clothes Bruce was wearing, no matter if he was wearing ordinary hoodies and jeans, or that cool Batman suit, these people would just say "Bruce" when they opened their mouths.

Although Bruce had emphasized to them many times that they should call him Batman when he was wearing the Batman suit, those people seemed to be coaxing a child. If they were in a good mood, they would go along with him, and if they had serious business, they wouldn't remember it even if they wanted to.

So, Batman belonged to the "real-name surfing" category in the circle of Cat Getan's oddities. After a long time, he was too lazy to correct it. If they wanted to call him Bruce, let them call him Bruce. Forcibly correcting the way of address, besides getting mocked, wouldn't change anything. Let them be. It counted as successful desensitization therapy.

Seeing Batman had no reaction, Thomas became even more hysterical, and the force in his hand became greater. At this time, Batman knew he had to take action, otherwise Lex would be in danger of his life.

And just at this moment, a figure was faster than him. The thin and small Cobblepot darted to Thomas's side with an extremely swift speed and raised the sharp knife in his hand. Thomas dodged to the side.

At this time, two "whoosh" sounds rang out, and two Batarangs flew past Thomas's neck.

In order to avoid the pincer attack from front and back, Thomas had to find cover. The control console next to him was a good choice. But to flash over there, he couldn't hold Lex; he was too much of a hindrance.

Thomas threw Lex to the side and then rolled, hiding behind the control console. But just at this moment, the two Batarangs thrown by Batman didn't stop, but hit the glass of the liquid storage device straight on.

Batman had considered that it might cause damage to the things behind Thomas, so the force he used was very light. The sound of the Batarangs hitting the glass was very, very light, and then they fell to the ground, seemingly not causing any damage.

However, a subtle crack quietly bloomed from the place of contact. Just at this moment, Batman and Cobblepot retreated rapidly. With a "bang," the liquid storage device exploded.

Batman and Cobblepot, who had already hidden on the other side of the room, were not affected, only feeling a bone-chilling cold. However, Thomas, who was hiding behind the control console and didn't have time to escape, and Lex, who had been thrown to the side by Thomas, were directly submerged by the blue liquid that sprayed out. ===== CHAPTER 580 =====