Somehow, Fish found the core of Hell Water Purifier, but Batman, who patrols regularly, stumbled upon Fish scheming around the system. He knocked out the investigators Fish had sent, and then added a security system to the water purifier putting an end to her plan.
At the time, Batman didn't give it any thought, but now retrospectively, it didn't seem like a plan that could come from an uneducated mob boss. Most of the living Hell residents didn't even know about the existence of the purifier.
Even if she could come up with that plan, how did she actually execute it? How did she find out where the core of the water purifier was?
Batman had found Fish's file at Gordon's previously and had observed her for some time. He was pretty certain this woman was semi-literate, the kind of person who'd mix up long words. He didn't think she could manoeuvre through such complex pipelines and find the most critical part of the purification equipment.
In fact, not many people from living Hell could do that. Batman speculated that there should be someone constantly advising her.
The death of Black Hand Kevin, Fish's plan to sabotage the water purifier, the subordinate succeeding Kevin after his death.
These incidents rapidly connected and formed a line in Batman's mind.
The biggest coincidence was that Fish came up with a plan to destroy the water purifier, something she couldn't possibly think of on her own. And the subordinate who took over after Kevin's death, happened to be the previous head of the water management system in the North District. This didn't seem like just a mere coincidence. After all, very few people in living Hell understood the water supply system, the chance that these two identities overlap was pretty high.
In Batman's deduction, this small boss was either originally working for Fish or had betrayed his own boss to seek refuge with Fish.
He helped Fish in plotting, while she helped him eliminate his direct superior, allowing him a chance to come forward. And who knows, maybe they'd work from both sides using this small boss's knowledge to attack the remaining mob bosses.
Were they in a partnership before? Would Fish's death have anything to do with this person? Batman fell into deep thought once again, but he felt there are still some things unexplained. It's not that simple.
On the fourth floor of Arkham Mental Hospital, Gordon and Victor stood outside a patient's room. Gordon pitifully commented, "This kid isn't having much luck. Surviving a murder, suffering from unpredictable mental illness, and now his kin is kidnapped. Even in Gotham, it's hard to find someone with such miserable fortunes."
Victor sighed and stated, "Actually, he's a smart kid, quick learner, but that's just Gotham... a gifted person always runs into all kinds of troubles and then descends down into the wrong path."
"I believe Professor Rodriguez can cure him. Like he always insists, he isn't a quack."
Victor's gaze fell upon the view of the room through the door window. Moving his sight along, Shiller circled around the bed from one side to the other, while Cobblepot lay on the bed. He wasn't struggling, seeming numb. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.
"Did you sleep well last night, Mr. Kopot? Do you still feel uncontrollable muscle movements?" Shiller, in his white coat, stood beside the bed, writing in a medical record book while he asked.
Cobblepot didn't answer, just laid there like a stiff, pale puppet in a weird position. He didn't react to external sounds.
"It seems that you're not doing well." Shiller stayed in his place and said, "Most patients after an excessive dosage of tranquilizers become somewhat slow in reacting. I don't believe you are among them. Your mind should be quite alert by now; the phase of the attack should have passed."
"Why are you unwilling to answer me? Is it because some of your plans aren't going on well?"
Cobblepot suddenly turned his head and eyed Shiller with his eyes sunken deep within their sockets. The look could be terrifying, appearing numb and cold, but Shiller remained unaffected.
"Unfortunately, I can't really hypnotize you like in the movies to have you spill everything. Whether in psychology or psychiatric treatments, if the patient is unwilling to cooperate, hypnosis would have zero effect."
"Likewise, if you don't cooperate in treatments, no amount of medicine would work. I'm a doctor, not God. If you refuse to answer anything, not even God can cure you."
Cobblepot moved his head a bit, and a hoarse voice like a saw grinding wood emerged from his throat. He asked, "Cure...Can be cured?"
Shiller put down the medical records book and looked at him surprisingly, "If it couldn't be treated, you'd be in crematorium by now."
Cobblepot's mouth slowly opened as if he wanted to say something, but didn't after all. Shiller seemed to have thought of something and said, "Oh, I forgot, you didn't even attend college."
He puts his hand on his forehead in slight frustration, "I know, a lot of undereducated people call mental illness madness, an incurable fatal disease. But it's not really like that."
"Many people don't understand mental illnesses, hence the fear and avoidance. Especially inherited mental disorders which during attacks may cause extreme excitement and aggression are often considered horrifying insanity."
"But in fact, this is just a symptom of schizophrenia. According to your previous diagnosis, you should belong to catatonic schizophrenia, having periodic attacks, stiffening during them then becoming hyperactive, behaving violent. But after a few hours, it can alleviate itself."
Shiller explained patiently to Cobblepot, "This kind of schizophrenia belongs to the better-prognosis type. As it can alleviate itself, the treatment effect is quite good, the primary issue is usually bringing down the hyperactive behavior. But as you can see, tranquilizers work perfectly fine."
Cobblepot had his eyes fixed on Shiller the entire time. Shiller's expression stayed unchanged. He was telling the truth.
In reality, this wasn't a rare difficult condition, it's quite common even in schizophrenics. Thus he kept his tone serene. But it seemed to have ignited some life into Cobblepot. He straightened his tilted neck and awkwardly adjusted his position in the bed. Then he asked, "...can be treated... right?"
Shiller nodded his head, "While it cannot be guaranteed to be completely cured, most of the time living normally shouldn't be a problem."