Bruce arrived rather quickly.
"Good evening, Professor," he said.
Shiller nodded.
"He's unusually early today," Gordon said, handing the cup of hot tea to Bruce and adding, "He hasn't been this proactive in a long time, it seems he's very interested in these cases."
Bruce thought, as expected, Shiller must have known he was going to act, even deducing the exact timing, otherwise, he wouldn't have dropped everything and rushed over immediately.
Meanwhile, Shiller thought, I'm really too eager, rushing all this way just to throw you into chaos. You really think you're some great detective who can call people up at nine o'clock at night on a whim.
Shiller said nothing and turned his head to look at the body.
Bruce also looked at the body, his first reaction being that he certainly hadn't left any traceable clues. Batman is the world's greatest detective, which meant he also had to be the world's most cunning criminal. As long as he didn't want to be found, no one could find any clues at a crime scene he'd handled.
But in reality, ordinary police detective skills were not that sophisticated. The vast majority of serial killers who had managed to evade the law for a long time could avoid leaving clues. That wasn't the point.
"Who do you think the murderer is?" Shiller asked.
Bruce paused internally, swallowing the words that were about to spill out. He hadn't expected Shiller to ask this question first.
Isn't the first question supposed to be about who the deceased was? Even reasoning should follow the basics; who immediately deduces the killer after just two minutes at the crime scene?
This completely disrupted Bruce's rhythm, but befitting Batman, he instantly adjusted his state, saying, "We should start with the victim's identity..."
Shiller nodded, thinking that the long-winded reasoning that usually fills 80% of a comic's pages was still to come. He had never been a fan of this part in his past life; it strained the eyes.
Shiller turned off his brain and skipped it.
When he came back to his senses, Gordon and Bruce were both looking at him. Shiller nodded and said, "But you still haven't answered my question."
He didn't need to look or think to know that the previous segment surely contained no important information; otherwise, Gordon would have definitely chimed in with his banter.
"Now that we know the killer has a tattoo from Mexico, we cannot help but link him to the tragedy that happened on the cruise ship before..."
Skipping ahead.
Soon Shiller regained consciousness, and the two were staring at him again. He continued to nod.
Bruce's heart sank. He really shouldn't have gone into such detail about the cultural background of totems from Mexico; that section was really too long, including the background information and investigation of the Penitent Cartel members.
It was too much to quote the conclusions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Those FBI guys really didn't do anything substantial on a daily basis. To pad their reports, they'd resort to anything necessary.
Bruce even suspected some of the information he had found about the Penitent Cartel might've been fabricated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation just to satisfy their superiors. He knew Shiller was very familiar with the FBI; could it be that he had detected something?
Damn the FBI, if he didn't slash their budget at the arteries next year, he wouldn't be a Wayne.
He had to steer the conversation back on track, to analyze the crime scene. This step had to be carefully considered, Bruce reminded himself internally. No talking about applying for PhDs, lest he rush and give himself away, causing Gordon to slap the cuffs on him.
"Look at the posture of the body," Bruce said with feigned composure. "The killer arranged him this way deliberately; it's not without purpose. This has to do with both the victim's identity and the killer's intent..."
It wasn't that Shiller wanted to continue skipping, but he was genuinely exhausted. God have mercy, it was now past 11 p.m., and as someone who was accustomed to going to bed and rising early, Greed felt he must have left his soul at home.
When he came to again, he realized that his silence might have lasted a bit too long, so there was no way to determine from the state of Gordon and Bruce whether they had discussed any crucial information.
Forget it, might as well keep things simple, Shiller sighed internally. Where do these Gothamites get so many complications from? Right, charging by the hour was the correct decision. New Yorkers contend by the second when talking to him, never beating around the bush.
"The murderer's name." Shiller spoke only these words.
Bruce's heart pounded, almost jumping out of his chest. He couldn't discern any of Shiller's attitude or whether he knew in advance, realized during the process, or had already caught on.
Whatever the case with the kids' studies, as long as they're happy and healthy, that's enough, Bruce thought. Exams really are annoying.
"Amanda Waller," Bruce confessed the name as if resigning to his fate and revealed the critical piece of information, "She called me after she got back, saying the Penitent Cartel has an intricate connection with her parents' death."
Why not say that from the start? Shiller thought helplessly. An agent head kills a member of a drug trafficking organization for personal vengeance. Say that first, and he'd be home asleep by now.
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But Shiller hadn't forgotten what he came here to do. If they found the murderer so easily and closed the case, what kind of disruption would it be?
"Are you sure?" The tone of skepticism was quite evident.
Bruce and Gordon both had a sinking feeling.
"There's an accomplice." Bruce had to throw out another piece and add, "Judging from the crime scene, it wasn't done by one person."
"So who is he?"
Too sharp, Bruce thought. These continuous queries were really hard to deal with. He took a deep breath and said, "There's too little evidence to use for judgment, we need to continue investigating."
"Hmm, proceed."
Just knew it wasn't that simple, Bruce knew he finally had to make use of the well-organized language.
"Without doubt, this person isn't an ordinary criminal, nor a super-criminal. He is a serial killer and a psychopath. He arranged the corpses in this way because he has a unique message he wants to convey."
"Such individuals often communicate with the world in ways that ordinary people find hard to understand. It's clear that this corpse is his channel for communication, and I say communication because the ritualistic atmosphere at the crime scene is quite strong."
"The victim was slaughtered and arranged in a sophisticated manner, placed on a tray for display. It's like a ritual, but the display isn't the focus, because the body isn't facing us. All the organs that could be used to display emotion are facing upwards, indicating that the killer isn't doing it for us to see, but for God."
"He's a theist who believes there are gods above and that the only way to communicate with God is through sacrifice, by presenting the sinners to God for His mercy."
"Nonsense," Shiller commented.
Bruce fell silent.
What a joke, Shiller thought. If I don't interrupt you, how will you be able to appreciate what is truly nonsense?
Shiller began to speak, "Sacrifice is clearly not the theme of this murder. You think so because the murderer made you feel that way. He went to great lengths to set up a scene of sacrifice, to make this look like the result of a deranged believer's actions."
"In reality he's neither devout nor deranged. He is very astute and holds a pessimistic view about the causes and outcomes of this case, a Hegelian pessimism, that is, the belief that all tragedies by nature are the ethical conflict and conciliation."
Gordon was starting to get lost, while Bruce was recalling what Hegel's theory of tragedy was exactly. It was no surprise that he remembered every word, but when combined together, they didn't make much sense.
"The theme of this murder is 'Antigone.' Without a doubt, either the murderer is a fervent adherent of Hegelian aesthetics, or he is actively practicing such ideology."
"What is that?" Gordon asked, looking a bit lost.
"A princess, in disregard of the king's decree, buried her treasonous brother, and was executed by the king. The stubborn and inflexible king also ended up losing his wife and children," Bruce summarized.
But in truth, he failed to see any connection between this murder and the story. He swore that while handling the body, he hadn't thought of Hegel for a moment.
"Tragic conflict has an inevitable necessity and social nature." Shiller threw out another theory and added, "Both parties in the conflict are singly fulfilling their ethical demands. The princess didn't want her brother to die unburied, driven by familial ethics, but burying her brother was clearly against the state's ethics. It is such ethical conflicts that led to this tragedy."
"The tragedy was inevitable because of the princess's character; she was close to those she trusted and would do anything for a proper fate for them, yet she was unyieldingly defiant against power."
"And the king's character was the same, he ruled the country with power and allowed no one to defy him. The king's duty required him to regulate the behavior of his family with his power."
"So, as long as these two existed, the tragedy was bound to happen. In Hegelian aesthetics, necessity is an extremely important attribute, almost representing the entire aesthetic of such tragedy. The beauty of tragedy lies in its occurrence across time and change – what is supposed to happen will always happen, never avoided, never improved."
"Taking all this to a broader level, we come to understand that all this absurdity is sensible because all types of ethics are the result of social development; from a social perspective, it demands to be such."
"Contradictory but rational, this is what Hegelian tragic aesthetics offer as an explanation for the development of individual character and societal ethical demands, both on the microscopic and macroscopic levels."
"So how is this related to this case?" Gordon asked, confused.
Related? Shiller snorted internally. Up to now, the biggest relation that academia recognizes between the two is the call you made to me at nine o'clock at night.
Let it be confusing, that's right, because that theory was something he came up with three seconds before opening his mouth, having nothing to do with the case.
But you should feel fortunate, Shiller thought. You know to ask when you don't understand, and you're only feeling confused. Meanwhile, the detective behind you, considered the greatest in the world, is starting to feel not that my analysis is incorrect, but that he murdered the wrong way.
Yes, Shiller already knew who the murderer was, not through any deduction but by asking Gray Mist directly. Gray Mist had determined that the substance clinging to Bruce was identical to the one flowing in the blood of the corpse.
Shiller thought, don't always look for reasons within Gotham when there's a problem with Gotham. What kind of good person spends three hours late at night gathering people to play a detective game?
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