Hearing the certainty in Jameson's tone, Chief George looked again at the newspaper in his hand, then asked Jameson, "Mr. Jameson, you mentioned that the victim contributed articles to the Daily Bugle. What kind of articles did he mainly publish?"
At this point, Jameson had an embarrassed expression. Rubbing his hands, he said, "I won't lie to you, Chief George, there were some disagreements between Hugie and me. As a result, we ended our collaboration half a year ago because I disagreed with some views he expressed in his submissions."
Jameson pulled George over to a quieter corner of the crime scene, away from the passing bystanders. Still, he lowered his voice and said,
"Hugie originally covered political campaign profiles. He'd been in the political news industry for over a decade. However, one day he approached me, saying he found some of my published articles about Spider-Man in the Daily Bugle interesting."
"We spent an afternoon chatting and found many similarities in our views about superheroes. Therefore, I invited him to write an article about superheroes for the Daily Bugle."
"Surprisingly, he also focused on Spider-Man and wrote a sequel to 'Hugie Reveals Spider-Man's Dirty Secrets'. He brought it to my office and hoped I could feature it on the front page of the Daily Bugle."
"His first installment focused on how Spider-Man disrupts the existing law enforcement order, causing trouble for police and panic amongst the public. I thought it was an excellent perspective. So we polished the article together and published it in the Daily Bugle."
George nodded in agreement and said, "Spider-Man sure gets involved in a lot of this chaos. Sometimes our police officers are conducting their duties according to regulations, and he descends from the sky just to play the hero."
"During Spider-Man's early days, one of my officers caught a thief. He was waiting for his colleagues to transport both the thief and the victimized store owner back to the station for statements."
"The thief was trying to struggle free, and our officer was about to subdue him. But then Spider-Man swooped in and knocked the thief out with a single punch."
"The thief's nasal bone was broken, and he was admitted to the hospital. After being discharged, he accused the police of using excessive force. Of course, he could only lodge a complaint against the police because Spider-Man was masked and unidentifiable."
"That's exactly the point I was about to make." Jameson emphasized, "No matter what fancy attire he wears, if he hides behind a mask, it means he is trying to evade responsibility for his actions."
As if struck by a thought, George patted Jameson on the shoulder and said, "The true danger of Spider-Man to society lies in the precedent he sets. Appearing masked, while seemingly doing good deeds, actually sends a message to the public that as long as they hide their faces, they can do whatever they want."
"Spider-Man might have done some good things, but what if others follow suit and misuse this principle to do bad things? What if everyone thinks that as long as they hide their face, they will not be held accountable for their actions? Then how many more victims, like your girlfriend, will there be?"
"I've always believed that the deterrent power of police lies in deterring those who wish to challenge the boundaries of societal order. We might not be able to cover every case, but when deterrents are present, offenders would think twice before disrupting order because of fear."
"However, if someone steps outside these boundaries, claiming that the police have no authority over them, the deterrent effect of the police is weakened."
"Potential criminals who are still undecided may think that, by following Spider-Man's example of hiding their faces, the police will leave them alone. The consequences of social disorder caused by this are far greater than a few good deeds by Spider-Man--This is my opinion of all superheroes."
Jameson gave a deep sigh, then took out a notebook and pen from his trench coat pocket. "Chief George, can I quote your words in our 'Mysterious Personality Interview' section next week? Don't worry, your name won't appear."
"If you wish." George patted Jameson's arm again. "Let's discuss the victim a bit more. Since you two initially agreed, why did you part ways?"
Jameson glanced down at the newspaper George was holding. Understanding his intention, George handed it over. Looking at certain remarks, Jameson said,
"In the first three exposés, Hugie discussed societal and philosophical dangers posed by superheroes. I thought these discussions were beneficial, offering the public a rational perspective on superheroes."
"However, in the fourth piece, Hugie alleged that Spider-Man frequently visited adult entertainment venues, casinos, and underground boxing ring in Hell's Kitchen during his early days. Therefore, Hugie portrayed Spider-Man as a patron of prostitution, a gambler, possibly even controlling underground fighters for personal gain, and further speculated that he might be involved in drug use and criminal organizations."
Upon hearing this, Chief George frowned almost imperceptibly. Observing his expression, Jameson knew that the seasoned detective had arrived at the correct judgment. As expected George said,
"Based on my experience dealing with criminals over the years, Spider-Man doesn't seem to have any vice. It's not about his superpowers that give him such a robust appearance. If you've really seen as many gamblers and clients of prostitutes as I have, you'd know that Spider-Man and they are completely different."
Jameson nodded and said, "I thought the same, so I tactfully proposed this part of the speculation. There was no substantial evidence to support it, so we couldn't publish it temporarily. Hugie was very dissatisfied."
"After two days, he suddenly found me and said that he had found evidence. He let me listen to a recording from a black market boxing gym in Hell's Kitchen. One of the waitstaff there said that Spider-Man started out there. Apparently, he was a black boxer."
"Chief George, you probably know better than me what kind of people black boxers are. Hugie seemed to have gotten a terribly precious treasure, insisting on releasing this recording, and then publishing his speculations in the newspaper."
George's expression immediately turned serious, whereas Jameson stroked his chin and said, "I noticed a problem at that time: where did Hugie get these clues?"
"I feel ashamed, but I have been paying attention to Spider-Man since he first came into prominence in New York. Hell's Kitchen is full of different types of people, not something that minor characters like us can understand. The mysterious background and identity of Spider-Man, who emerged from there, but Hugie was able to turn up crucial clues there in just two days."
"My intuition told me something was off, so I tactfully declined his publication request. As a result, Hugie understood that the evidence was not enough, which is why it did not sway me."
"Two days later, he came up with evidence that Spider-Man had appeared in the New York Sewer, and it was very detailed and professional. He even got a hold of the spider silk samples that were left behind."
"I was stunned at the time. I don't need to say how complex New York's sewer network is. When the underground network was being renovated, dozens of reporters from the Daily Bugle went down there and didn't make a single splash—can Hugie perform bilocation?
"Being able to produce such evidence in such a short time proves that he is not a simple news editor. Either he has enough manpower to carry out a carpet search, or he has been plotting for a long time and has already obtained many clues about Spider-Man and only now has he given them to me."
"I increasingly felt that something was wrong, so I proposed to end cooperation with him completely. Hugie seemed very angry, so I had to soothe his emotions first and then sent him away."
"Unexpectedly, not a week passed when he found new partners. Not only one, but about six or seven newspapers and more than a dozen online media. They began to publicize all over the evidence that Hugie found."
"The death of the first generation Spider-Man was dug up and specially written about, some of the outrageous behaviors of Spider-Man II were magnified by the media again, and the real identity and address of the existing third-generation Spider-Man began to be dug up."
"The more noise there was, the more outrageous the rumors became. Some of the news published in regular newspapers was false news that had been passed down several hands. Some of the news about Spider-Man that the Daily Bugle had reported earlier was also distorted, or quoted out of context. I quickly asked the editors to issue clarifications."
"On several occasions, I published articles explaining the real meanings of those earlier pieces, and incidentally released reliable evidence from my hands, such as how he started out very young so it was unlikely he had illegitimate children, how healthy his body was, how regular his schedule was, how unlikely his chances of drug use were, etc. But..."
Jameson hesitated for a moment, George could see that he had reservations, so he took Jameson into an empty room next to the crime scene, closed the door, and said, "Say whatever it is, Mr. Jameson. If the situation is serious, I can apply for witness protection for you."
Jameson pushed his glasses up, shook his head and said, "It's not that serious, but within a week of my clarification articles being published, I found that my house might have been searched, and I noticed people following me on my way to work..."
George's brow immediately furrowed. Jameson, seemingly aware of what he wanted to ask, said, "There's no use in calling the police. The other side is quite professional, and they don't seem like news practitioners who want to investigate and gather evidence. They are more like..."
"Law enforcement officials?"
Jameson nodded and said, "Of course this is my personal speculation, but I've been in this industry for so many years and I know many people, I immediately realized that I might have gotten involved in big trouble, so I immediately put out the fire and took a vacation on the West Coast, and the Daily Bugle was also temporarily suspended."
"So you say that Spider-Man might be the prime suspect in the Hugie murder case..."
"He might be retaliating." Jameson looked towards the door, lowered his voice even further, and said, "Because I've dealt with Spider-Man so much, I know that he is not the kind of fool who only knows how to throw punches—he is incredibly smart."
"Hugie and his people behind him organized large-scale smear campaigns against Spider-Man. I could even sense the signs, so there is no way he could not perceive that. Do you think a young and aggressive young hero could stand someone slandering him like this?"
George's brow furrowed deeply.