Compared with Shiller, Jonathan seemed to be even more of a good person. He was slender with long limbs, unkempt curls, and wore a pair of oversized black-framed glasses. His eyes were always circled with dark rings, making him appear rather frail, like a real homebody.
His character at school was very much like a pushover, all Gotham University students knew that Jonathan was lenient and his exams were easy to pass. Even when there were absences or lateness, he would just adjust his glasses and let those students sit down without reprimanding them.
He looked every inch the nerd, whereas compared to him, Shiller, the newly arrived psychology professor, looked like a senior member of Arkham Insane Asylum.
Shiller appeared somewhat mixed race, with black hair and grey eyes, while the owner himself also seemed straight-laced. All of his clothes were either black or grey.
Moreover, most of his wardrobe consisted of coats, scarves, and formal work clothes. Shiller had never bought any clothes, thus he still maintained the original owner's dressing style. With Gotham frequently raining these days, Shiller always carried a black umbrella.
His image seemed as if, unless he's the ultimate villain in a TV drama, he would let down the audience.
Moreover, Shiller had only been here for a few days when his students discovered he was actually a very strict professor. His teaching level was indeed high, just that he had zero tolerance for those students who came late or left early. Also, every few classes there would be a pop-quiz, and he directly stated in class that at least thirty percent of the students would fail, which made everyone tense.
Despite their families being well-off, among the students in Gotham University there were still those who would defy authority. No college student would like such a professor. At the beginning, there were several troublemakers in Shiller's class, but soon, someone gossiped about Shiller's curriculum vitae, and the students in Shiller's class suddenly became as docile as lambs.
After all, no ordinary person would be associated with so many serial murder cases. Soon, Shiller became the thing of legend within the campus of Gotham University.
Some said that their professor was actually the culprit behind these serial murder cases. Some suggested that he carried some kind of unfortunate curse, which led to dreadful cases occurring wherever he went. There were even those with an active imagination who fabricated a tragic backstory for Shiller, suggesting that his involvement in investigating so many murder cases was actually for the purposes of getting revenge.
With each passing version of the story, there would be one that resonated with the students' inner expectations. These bizarre and slightly horrifying stories always spread incredibly quickly among the students. In a few days, majority of the students were aware of Shiller's past.
When Shiller went out to buy breakfast, there was always no one at the window where he stood. Students all watched him from afar. In his classes, all the homework he assigned was meticulously completed — no professor has ever accomplished this before.
Ever since their confrontation that night, Shiller often felt that Bruce was following him, even during the daytime on campus. Luckily, he had his Spider-sense, and so all of Bruce's attempts to install cameras in his bedroom, counseling room, and lecture podium failed.
But this gave Shiller some inspiration.
It seemed that the young Batman was not clear on his motives yet. But, he noticed that Bruce seemed to have reached some agreement with Gordon. Shiller visited Morson district a few more times at night and found that they seemed to be collaborating.
Finally, one day, when it was nearing bedtime, the sky in Gotham had already turned as dark as ink.
Shiller did not plan to go out tonight, he wanted to have a good night's sleep. Teaching in the university was not as easy as he had imagined. The psychological therapy would occasionally attract students who truly needed psychological counseling. Whether it was stress relief, depression alleviation, or providing psychological advice, these tasks were all very exhausting. Hence, he planned to have a good sleep.
But things didn't go as planned. Jonathan, who usually only came out during the later half of the night, left the campus unexpectedly early in the first half. Shiller knew he was probably going hunting for new experimental subjects.
Indeed, lately, with Gordon and Bruce always present in Morson district, Jonathan knew he could not win against the police. Once he was caught, he definitely would be locked up.
His physical fitness was even inferior to Shiller's. He could not even consistently aim when spraying the fear gas. After Batman took down the Gutter Gang and a few other minor mobs in Morson district, he had started to gain some fame. People knew that there was a vigilante battling the mobs and Jonathan had not dared to show his face for a few nights.
However, his fear gas was about to make a breakthrough. No experiment fanatic could accept failures during this critical moment of their experiment. His subjects had all been used up, he needed to capture new ones.
Although he was not physically strong, capturing experimental subjects was simple for him. He just needed to find a house with a window open, insert a tube, spray a large amount of anesthetic, and then pry open their door to drag people out.
Shiller saw him leaving the campus. Even though he didn't harbor any saintly mentality, and had no intention of becoming a superhero savior, he would take care of any tragic incident that occurred in front of him.
More importantly, if Jonathan was allowed to continue creating a mess, there wouldn't be many people left in Morson district and Batman's debut journey would be a failure. Anyway, the Scarecrow would eventually be caught by Batman. Why wait for another day when it could be today?
In addition, Shiller used a little trick, planning to teach Batman a lesson and make him snap out of his arrogant mindset.
Currently, Batman still had room for mistakes because the Joker was still only a circus performer. Shiller didn't dare to think about how devastating it would be if the Joker was already present before the young Batman.
Although Batman was young, he had weaknesses. However, one had to admit that the travels and studies he completed in different countries were not in vain.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was not a meticulous criminal. He did not have special training or anti-investigation consciousness, so lots of his clues were discovered by Batman and Gordon.
The two of them collaborated and located a cathedral basement, where they found Jonathan's lab. It was not a sophisticated lab, in fact, it greatly resembled a black-hearted enterprise.
Dark, cramped, and with a distinct unpleasant odor, Batman looked at the drainpipe in the basement and said, "I think I might know where those people went."
Gordon came over with his pistol, saying, "As much as I don't want to ask, I have to include the truth in my operational report."
"Aqua regia. Not only can it dissolve metal, but it can also dissolve the hardest parts of the human body."
"Okay, I get it, you don't have to explain further. I do not want to hear the details." Gordon said.
They investigated the small laboratory, and suddenly, Gordon found a trace under a disused crate. It was some withered leaves.
"North American red pine," Batman said, "I see its seed leaves."
"Damn it, where in entire Gotham are there any pine trees? Otherwise, the weather here wouldn't be like this," Gordon said.
"I think there is a place with these plants..." said Batman.
"Gotham University, the best-greened area in all of Gotham City. On the widest pedestrian pathway there, both sides are adorned with these plants."
Gordon squatted down, looking at the traces and said,
"It seems the killer stepped on these leaves with his boots. There is mud on them too. Apparently, the heavy rains these past few days must have caused him some inconvenience. After he got here, the stains fell off unintentionally, and he didn't bother to clean."
Gordon looked up and said, "So, the killer is a student at Gotham University?"
"Or maybe a teacher," Batman suggested.
"The one you threatened the other day?" asked Gordon.
"I wasn't threatening him," Batman replied.
"But you slashed his throat with a dart and made him bleed a lot. Such a long wound would undoubtedly leave a scar," Gordon said.
"Are you sympathizing with a criminal?" Batman asked.
"He is not a criminal, at least not until he's been tried."
"Trial..." Batman sneered.
Gordon noticed Batman's lack of trust in the judicial system. He didn't stubbornly refute him. He had been a police officer in Gotham for a long time. The judicial system here indeed did not inspire confidence, or rather, the entire order system was not trustworthy.
"But in my view, you holding a dangerous weapon, harming an unarmed man, that's threatening," Gordon said.
"Unarmed..." Batman said.
He suddenly realized that he couldn't refute Gordon. According to what he knew, Shiller indeed didn't seem to have received any professional combat training. Batman was sure he could take him down with one punch.
But he had been troubled by this man for many days now with no solution in sight. He suddenly remembered a phrase he had heard on his travels - words are mightier than fists.
But that's about it, Batman thought.
The killer is from Gotham University, there seems to be no second answer to this. Isn't this evidence conclusive enough? Maybe it's time to send that mad professor to prison.
Looking at the stained drainpipe underfoot, where the souls of over forty people had disappeared, surely some of them were someone's parents.
Many years ago, his parents' lives were lost in an alley, and no one paid the price they should.
But now it was different. With him around, these criminals would all end up where they belong, not one would escape.