Chapter 753: Bat Night Talk (Middle)

Schiller snapped his fingers, and the lights dimmed again; he stood face to face with Gordon, who turned around, and Schiller drove a sword through his chest.

The subsequent process was identical to the previous deduction, but they repeated it to determine under what circumstances the victim would turn his back.

"From my experience, in nearly all cases of murder by ambush from behind, the killer is someone the victim knew." Schiller crossed his arms and said: "A stranger or someone met for the first time is unlikely to be in a fully exposed back position; a person only turns their back on someone they deeply trust."

Gordon nodded and said: "Indeed. In face-to-face confrontations, victims are most often shot in the chest—common in gang turf wars."

"Conversely, when members of the same gang vie for power—especially between father and son or brothers—the wounds from sudden attacks are often on the back."

"If the killer is someone familiar, that suggests the murderer may be from the theater troupe—who do you suspect most?" Schiller asked.

Gordon paced in place, thinking: "It's hard to say—both love triangle and revenge killings are possible. Though the troupe owner says Vicki was well-liked, you can't know a person's heart; no one knows what others truly think."

"The problem now is the weapon's location," Bruce stepped forward and said: "A wound this clean and penetrating isn't possible with ordinary blades; to achieve full penetration, the blade must be at least two to three feet long."

"On the market, even the longest daggers or long knives don't exceed one foot," Schiller said: "Based on my examination of the wound profile, the weapon was straight, long, about three fingers wide, and nearly uniform in width from tip to hilt."

"A longsword," Bruce replied: "Only a longsword resembling those used by medieval knights fits these characteristics."

"It's reasonable for a theater troupe to have such a sword," Gordon said, then called over an officer: "Go find the troupe owner and bring the prop master—ask if anything is missing from the props."

After a while, the troupe owner entered with the prop master, a young woman in her early twenties.

Before anyone could speak, the troupe owner introduced: "This is Miss Molly, prop master of the Angelica Troupe. Originally, her aunt held this position, but recently her aunt fell ill, so Molly took over."

Molly looked shy and timid, hesitant to answer; Gordon stepped forward and asked: "Have you checked the prop inventory? Did you notice anything missing?"

"Y-yes," Molly nodded, her face fearful; the troupe owner glared at her, and she shifted sideways, saying: "Just now, while counting props in the storage room, I found the sword meant to accompany the knight's armor is gone."

"What are you doing?" the troupe owner snapped: "Didn't I tell you to watch the prop room? How could something be stolen under your watch?"

Schiller raised a hand to calm the troupe owner, then turned to Molly: "Do you know when the sword disappeared?"

Molly shook her head: "I… I don't know. But that armor set is worn by Macbeth at the start of the performance."

"Does Macbeth wear armor at the start?" Schiller frowned.

Then the troupe owner spoke: "We've made minor revisions to all four tragedies—no changes to the plot, only redesigned sets and costumes to alleviate audience fatigue with classic plays."

"To emphasize Macbeth's heroic image early on, we designed a full suit of armor—oh yes, it's currently on Alex's body," the owner suddenly remembered, turning to Molly: "Quick, go get Alex and ask if he took the longsword."

After a while, Alex entered, clad in armor, dazed and hollow-eyed; Schiller examined him and saw the armor was newly forged, with minimal wear, its metal surfaces gleaming.

"Alex, where is the longsword that came with this armor? Do you know?" the troupe owner asked.

Alex hesitated, then shook his head: "No… I didn't see it…"

"Didn't you have the sword when you put on the armor?" the owner pressed.

"I… I don't remember… at the time…" Alex closed his eyes, struggling to shake off his grief, his voice low:

"When rehearsal started today, I arrived late. It was the first full-prop rehearsal, so I rushed backstage to change."

"Molly told me Macbeth had new armor and to pick it up from the prop room. When I entered, I saw the new armor and decided to wear it."

"But putting it on was complicated, and I was in a hurry—I couldn't manage it. Then the makeup artist happened to pass by the prop room door and helped me get dressed."

"As for the sword… I'd never worn this outfit before. I didn't even know a sword was required," Alex said, dazed.

"Makeup artist?" Gordon crossed his arms and turned to the troupe owner: "Then please bring the makeup artist here."

Soon after, the makeup artist arrived—a man in a pink jacket. He entered, crossed his arms, and sneered: "I didn't see any longsword in the prop room. Probably Molly was careless and misplaced it."

Molly stammered, silent, seemingly afraid of the makeup artist, yet she shook her head vigorously, denying his claim.

Schiller stood aside, watching them shift blame: Molly claimed Alex was the last to leave the prop room, so he must know where the sword was; Alex said Molly never told him about the sword, so he didn't notice; the makeup artist insisted there was no sword in the room—Molly must have lost it.

Then Bruce stepped forward and said: "If you're saying this, the play must be postponed. I was planning to invite some friends to watch—now, I think I'll skip it."

He shook his head and turned to leave; the troupe owner hurried to block him, wiping sweat from his brow: "No, Mr. Wayne, the play will proceed as scheduled. Vicki's absence from Macbeth won't affect the rest of the performance…"

"Forget it!" Bruce raised his voice: "You've been here a few days and already one lead actor is dead—who knows if there's a murderer hiding in your troupe? If I come to watch, will I die too?"

He sneered, walking out: "I'll have my butler tell everyone else's butlers—don't dare come to this dangerous place. If someone gets killed… hmm…"

The troupe owner's face visibly paled—he knew full well who Bruce Wayne was.

In today's world, where film and TV dominate, traditional theater has become the hobby of a tiny minority—and most of them are wealthy, especially those who've been rich for decades.

The Wayne family leads this circle; if Bruce Wayne spreads bad rumors about your troupe, you'll be permanently exiled from this world.

"Molly! Didn't I tell you a hundred times? Every prop must be logged upon entry! Where's your logbook?!" the troupe owner glared at Molly.

"I…" Molly's face twisted in terror; the troupe owner pressed closer: "If you can't produce the logbook, you took the sword yourself! Officer, you must take her to the station—don't let her endanger our safety!"

Before Molly could speak, the owner rushed on: "Don't think I don't know—you've always been jealous of Vicki, jealous she gets to be the leading lady while you're stuck behind the scenes as a prop master!"

Molly's face grew paler; Gordon moved forward to ask what was happening, but Molly, thinking he was coming to arrest her, spun and bolted for the door.

Her flight confirmed her guilt—two officers at the door immediately rushed in and pinned her down.

Molly was a slight girl, powerless to resist, yet she screamed in hysterics: "Andover! You monster! You're the one who wanted to kill Vicki! Because she wanted to leave the troupe and go to Hollywood!"

【Honestly, lately I've been reading on Yeguo Reading for updates—easy source switching, multiple voice options, works on Android and iOS.】

"You told me to bring you the longsword! You burned the prop logbook! You even hinted to Alex to wear the armor to frame him! You heartless bastard! Murderer!"

"Officer, she's lying!" the troupe owner rushed forward: "She's trying to escape blame by pinning it on someone else! How could I kill Vicki? She's our leading lady!"

"It's you! It's you!" Molly shouted: "You overheard Vicki and Alex whispering—she didn't just want to go to Hollywood herself, she wanted to take Alex with her! You hated her for it, so you killed her!"

"Officer, you must believe me—hasn't the Angelica Troupe's decades-long reputation been enough to vouch for me?"

The troupe owner was clearly panicking; he stepped beside Gordon and said: "Our family has run this troupe for generations—we've dealt with countless celebrities. They all know I could never do something like this…"

This was clearly pressure on the Gotham Police Department—but it only exposed his guilt. At that moment, Bruce stopped walking and turned to Gordon: "I trust this owner more. What do you think?"

Gordon didn't understand, but seeing Bruce's expression, he nodded and waved to the officers: "Take this young lady to the station. Put her in interrogation."

Schiller gave Bruce a glance and said: "Now, the most important thing is to find the weapon."

Bruce left the room; before departing, he said: "It's late. I'm going to rest. You can keep investigating."

Then Schiller turned to the troupe owner: "Don't mind him, sir. Please go get the other actors who rehearsed with Vicki—we need to ask them some details."

The troupe owner said nothing and immediately left the room.

Three minutes later, the troupe owner was pinned face-down on the second-floor floor, a longsword stained with fresh blood in his hand.