When Shiller returned to the forest, the person he had knocked out hadn't woken up. He dressed the unconscious person in the clothes he had taken off and turned their empty pockets inside out.
This would lead the person to believe they were merely a victim of a robbery, that the purpose was to rifle through their pockets, not a change of clothes. Robberies like this were now commonplace—nonviolent, no theft of large amounts of money. Most people would just chalk it up to bad luck, as reporting it and cooperating with the investigation wasn't guaranteed to yield results and would only disrupt their work. Nothing was more valuable than a job nowadays.
Perhaps upon awakening, the person would even feel relieved that they had been cautious, not keeping any valuables in their work clothes, leaving the would-be thief empty-handed.
Besides, ordinary people don't have the ability to check their clothes for signs of being taken off by looking at the wrinkles.
By the time Shiller got back to the clothing section, Raven had already picked out three outfits and seemed to have completely forgotten about the things left in the trunk, only remembering them upon seeing Shiller.
She became a bit embarrassed and turned her gaze to the empty space beside her, avoiding looking at the skirt she was wearing.
The sales assistant had picked out a light-colored floral print skirt paired with a beige knit jacket for her. It would be a bit cold to wear outside this season, but just right for the office.
The other two outfits—one a formal dress and the other casual sportswear—showed that Raven had a good eye. Both suited her well.
Shiller was about to pay with his card when Raven stopped him and said, "I think I can pay for myself, or I can pay you back later."
"Wait until you've paid your rent," Shiller said.
The price of the clothes was much lower than Shiller had expected, or perhaps clothes weren't that expensive in general, and it was just his custom suits that were outrageously pricey.
After buying the clothes and walking on, Raven was still uneasy. She wore the new sportswear, which should have been youthful and energetic, but with no smile on her face, either worried or cold and serious, she looked very awkward.
"I've taken care of it," Shiller said. "Later, I'll call Pamela to help with the rest."
Raven knew what Shiller meant by the 'rest.' They had packed several boxes, but not all were loaded onto the car; two small boxes were left in the room.
It wasn't until they got home that Shiller opened the two small boxes, which contained fingers, toes, genitals, and hair.
Seeing these items now, Raven felt hardly any disturbance in her heart. She looked at Shiller and asked, "Why are these kept separately here?"
"Because they are small and have distinctive features," Shiller explained. "These are the parts that differ most significantly from hooved animals, the livestock we commonly eat. Many careless criminals have been caught because parts of finger bones or strands of hair were discovered."
Raven nodded. She had seen reports on major cases in shows before, often hearing about someone's finger found in a sewer or strands of hair near someone's sink. She had never heard of a thigh bone discovery leading to the capture of a criminal.
It made sense to her. Even in panic, a murderer would remember to cut off an entire leg during dismemberment since it's not feasible to carry such a large object openly in the street.
However, small items like fingers or hairs could easily be discarded in a bag, and many wouldn't bother with the extra effort to dispose of them properly, instead just throwing them all away together.
But, as it happened, fingers were the most crucial part in identifying human remains, distinctly different from any other animal. An experienced detective could immediately tell from a glimpse of a finger or a joint that it was human tissue, not that of livestock.
Pamela arrived shortly after, and when Shiller opened the box for her, she showed not even a hint of surprise.
She sat down on the sofa and, looking up at Shiller, asked, "So where will I see your artwork tomorrow?"
"There's no artwork, miss. I've already taken care of the body."
Pamela slightly furrowed her brow and asked Shiller, "Taken care of? How so? And you actually use the word 'taken care of'?"
Shiller appeared somewhat helpless and had to pass a look to Raven to explain, as she had a lot on her mind.
That morning had been an enormous mental shock for her. If she didn't talk to someone about it, she felt she might go insane.
Therefore, she began to recount to Pamela at an unprecedentedly rapid pace and with an extremely agitated, almost frenetic emotion, everything she had experienced from last night to this morning.
Raven no longer wanted to conceal her desire to investigate the fridge, and when Pamela heard about her staying up late, restless with the thought of checking the freezer, Pamela gave her a peculiar look.
Upon learning that they had taken the dismembered parts of a human to the supermarket and Raven was incredibly worried, to the point of near insanity, Pamela's expression grew even more peculiar.
Pamela thought to herself, hoping the girl wouldn't find her father's remains in the refrigerator's freezer section. Oh my, she must have heard too many hellish jokes that day. It was too hellish.
Pamela whispered a prayer in her heart, then shifted her attention to the matter at hand. She looked at Shiller and said, "I have to say, Professor, what in Hell's name are you doing? You actually committed murder and dismemberment?!"
"What? Wasn't he like this before?!" Raven was even more surprised than Pamela. She sprang to her feet and rushed over to Shiller, looking him up and down as if to see if he had been bewitched by a demon.
"What I mean is, you wouldn't treat a body like those incompetent killers, how did you kill him?"
Shiller pointed to the statue on the plastic tarp beside him.
"Just like this?" Pamela was even more incredulous, she looked at Shiller as if she didn't recognize him, sizing him up from head to toe.
Shiller briefly explained the causes and consequences, and added the reasons for his actions. He said, "I told you I want to be an ordinary person, isn't this how ordinary people dismember bodies when they murder?"
"How could an ordinary person murder and dismember a body?!" Raven raised her voice as she spoke.
"Ordinary people wouldn't, but ordinary Gothamites would," Pamela said, stroking her chin. "If he intended to attack you, then it's completely understandable as self-defense. And if he truly was a targeted drug dealer, it's hard to judge whether he wanted to kill to prevent exposure or was specifically coming after you. So, it seems this murder doesn't exceed the norm for an ordinary person."
Raven's shocked gaze turned towards Pamela's face.
Pamela gestured for her to calm down and said, "Don't look at me with those eyes, young lady. If someone with ill-intent came to your home, and you had already noticed they were carrying a weapon, what would you do?"
"Hmm, call the police?"
"But now it's the middle of the night, and the local station won't send someone so quickly, while he's about to make a move."
After a moment of inner conflict, Raven still said, "I have Magic, so I could just knock him out without injury, but I know ordinary people might not be able to do that. They might have to fight before one person comes out alive."
"Exactly," Shiller nodded. "He was too careless, thinking that carrying work tools would make me lower my guard, and overly arrogant, believing that with a Cold Weapon he could subdue me. He lost the bet."
"Alright," Pamela said. "Such things are common in Gotham, it's just that it involves a drug trafficker from an international organization, so we should be more cautious. I guess it won't be long before the Penitent Cartel and the Gotham Police Department make a move."
"That's why I asked for your help," Shiller looked at Pamela. "I don't know if the process is right, but this is what ordinary people would do, isn't it? If you take care of these things for me, you won't have to pay back the money you owe."
Pamela's eyes lit up instantly, she gave Shiller a thumbs up. "That's right, that's how social exchanges work. Don't worry, I'll find a nice flowerpot for them."
Pamela left cheerfully with the box in her arms. Raven had a nagging feeling that something was off, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. She suspected the problem might be what was inside the box.
If it were just regular trash, the whole process would be too tender, a kind-hearted Professor going out of his way to help a financially struggling diligent student by giving her a small, not-so-difficult task to absolve her of past debt, so she could focus on her studies.
But the moment she thought about the box containing pieces of the Human race, the whole process seemed bizarre, ludicrous, and eerie. The Professor had committed murder and dismemberment, the student was disposing of the body, yet they were determined to represent it all as an ordinary social interaction.
Raven felt her head was about to smoke again.
Having not slept well the previous night and having been through too much during the day, Shiller urged her to go upstairs for an afternoon nap. After all, they still had to make final preparations for Joe's housewarming party that afternoon, the party was tomorrow night.
And just as Pamela had predicted, a series of reactions came faster than Shiller had anticipated.
The missing postal worker was discovered by his colleagues quite swiftly; Shiller came to this realization when he went to retrieve the invitation RSVPs. This young man known as Hernandez seemed to be a model employee, never late for work, and when he didn't show up this morning, his colleagues began to buzz.
Shiller pretended to chat casually with the window clerk about his own housewarming party, and since the clerk wasn't busy, they shared their moving experiences with Shiller.
This allowed Shiller to linger a bit longer at the post office; before long, he noticed the flashing police lights outside.
It seemed that Hernandez was quite liked; typically, someone wouldn't report a disappearance for such a short duration, but it's also possible that Gotham police now held a lot of clout such that residents believed in reporting anything and everything just to try their luck.
Indeed, once the police arrived, they didn't hurry to search but instead took some notes, and told them to call back if the young man hadn't returned by nightfall.
If they waited until dark to start the search, it would surely yield no clues before his party was over. There might be some noise generated, but it would just add spice to the topics for his party.
But Shiller didn't even make it home before he heard the grating sound of police sirens.
As he drove around a bend, he only saw the brightly-colored barricade tape, police cars, and officers swimming through like a school of fish.