As soon as Shiller saw the car chasing the Batmobile, he knew who was inside.
Because, this car, was one of the two that had chased him on the ring highway for several hours.
Sure enough, the one who crawled out of the overturned car was Hush, his face entirely wrapped in bandages.
The vehicle explosion had nearly killed him, leaving him covered in soot. Fortunately, the sturdy wings of the angel statue that had crashed into the car bore the brunt of the explosion. Otherwise, he would probably be dead by now.
However, the bloodstains on the bandages wrapped around his face weren't recent. In the places where the bandages had been scorched and fallen off, very fresh, unhealed knife wounds could still be seen.
Everyone knows that reconstructive surgery can only be performed once in a lifetime. The direction of humans' facial muscles is extremely complex. If you want to change one part, you have to change everything. Modifying one's appearance comes at a considerable cost, let alone converting oneself into another person.
The first thing Hush did after escaping from Dick's school was not to seek revenge but to rush to maintain his physical health.
His prosthetic limb was initially connected via bone conduction, attached to his leg. Falling from the building severely impacted his leg bones. He had had to first protect his leg to avoid becoming bedridden.
Even after replacing his prosthetic limb with a new one, Hush could not act immediately as he needed to attend to his face.
When he had fallen from the building, he had hit his lower jaw, causing the prosthetic implanted in his chin to shift. He needed to adjust its position.
Just then, Bruce was called to the police station. Dick, having regained some consciousness, recalled his ordeal to Tim and Jason, who were at Wayne Manor at the time.
"You're saying you were given a pair of pig ears branded with the letter V?" Tim squinted as if he had thought of something. He looked at Dick and asked, "Branded, on the left ear or the right ear?"
Dick, who was lying in the bed, tried to recall, "The left ear."
"Willard." Tim immediately said. A burst of wisdom shone in his eyes as he said, "That fake driver, Willard. When he worked at my family's manor, I found that one of his ears had hearing problems—it was probably deaf."
"After noticing this, I paid special attention to his ears. I found a peculiar tattoo hidden behind his ear, under his hair. It appeared to be the initial of a word, V."
Dick and Jason turned to Tim just as he immediately stood up and said, "Perfect, if he dares to attack me, he's doomed!"
Having said that, he turned and walked away. Jason followed him, asking, "Where are you going?"
"Clearly, to seek revenge," Tim answered.
"But where are you going to find him?" Jason asked again.
"Aren't the clues obvious enough?" Tim walked down the stairs as he talked, rapidly analyzing the situation.
"Willard infiltrated Drake Manor, using my father's driver's identity to conceal his actions. On the surface he was the Drake family's driver, but in reality, he was secretly creating those terrible puppets in his base."
"In order to gain the Drake family's trust, he staged accidents to strengthen his identity. He even arranged for his puppet to attack his own house, intending to attract me and Batman as eyewitnesses to attest to his story."
"However, when I exposed him, he lost his social status and had to hide in his base. Moreover, it appears that he encountered other complications and was unable to properly manufacture his puppets anymore."
"How did you figure it out?" asked Jason.
"Didn't you notice? Last night, Alfred disposed of something in the garden. I saw his actions from the window, so during the day, I pretended to play with Aisha and dug up that plot of soil…"
Jason widened his eyes, quickened his pace to walk alongside Tim, and looked at him in astonishment. "You're playing a dangerous game with Alfred. Do you have a death wish?"
In an instant, it seemed Jason had revealed something he should not have. Tim glanced at him and said, "The first time I met Alfred, I knew he wasn't ordinary. He was either a spy or an agent—Batman must also be aware of this."
"The butler can access all the master's secrets. Since Batman doesn't mind, it proves that Alfred is not a threat. I concede it's a bit of a gamble, but I'm confident about my deduction."
Jason shook his head. Even from the perspective of Gotham's King of Children, Tim's actions were a bit too reckless.
"On the night I was attacked, I had carefully observed the puppet. After digging up the soil, I also saw them. I found very notable differences between the two puppets."
"The puppet that attacked me had very fresh limbs." Hearing the adjective he used, Jason went pale, looking at Tim, whose eyes held nothing but logic and calm.
Upon seeing Jason's reaction, Tim added, "Alright, perhaps I shouldn't have used that word, but it's the truth. The victims comprising the puppet must have died very recently."
"However, the puppet that Alfred had buried in the garden was so decayed, it was almost beyond use. If I was him, I would not use these ruined things unless absolutely necessary."