Truth always comes unexpectedly, yet when the veil of mystery is lifted, people must learn to accept it, no matter how hard it is to accept.
Gordon looked at Barbara, who was bound, with a worried expression. She was his daughter, and after so many years as father and daughter, even if she really had become a vampire, or even the King of Vampires, he couldn't easily let go of his feelings for her.
At that moment, Shiller stepped forward, patted his shoulder, gave Dick a look to take the True Barbara upstairs, and then took the somewhat disoriented Gordon to the back porch of the manor. Alfred watched over Fake Barbara, while the other members of the Batman Family returned to rest and prepare for the imminent tough battle.
Gordon, with trembling hands, took out a cigarette and after taking a deep drag, sat on the railing of the porch, elbows on knees, head bowed in silence.
Shiller sat beside him and said, "You're thinking about those videos."
"Yes," Gordon answered in a bitter voice, "but all my professional experience is telling me that the videos are real, that Barbara did this."
"Yes, Barbara did this," Shiller agreed. "She herself admitted it. She remembers doing these things."
Gordon gave Shiller a glance because the man seemed not to be repeating what he had said but emphasizing something.
But Gordon's mind was blank; he had no clues and couldn't ignore the evidence to blindly defend Barbara.
"What about the things she doesn't remember?" Shiller reminded him. "There are some things only you remember. Aren't you going to think about them?"
That's when Gordon realized Shiller meant the things about Barbara when she was a baby, but that was too long ago, and he couldn't remember clearly.
"I don't know when they switched the baby," Gordon said. "They had too many opportunities, just bribing or controlling a nurse would have been enough..."
Gordon was in pain, but what caused him pain was the fact that he couldn't ignore the truth; the truth was that in the face of vampire magic, even the seemingly strict procedures of the modern medical system were nothing, someone could easily infiltrate and swap a baby.
"Do you think you're special?" asked Shiller.
Gordon didn't understand what he meant but shook his head anyway. Although he didn't feel inferior, he also wasn't arrogant enough to interact with these superheroes every day and still think himself special.
Even compared to Shiller, he wasn't special, and his pain at losing his daughter was very ordinary.
"What about your wife? Was she an ordinary human?"
This triggered another memory for Gordon. Not knowing how long he pondered, he finally nodded and said, "Compared to you all, of course, she was an ordinary human."
"Then why can Barbara's blood make vampires immune to sunlight?"
Gordon stiffened for a moment, then, with a hint of helplessness, shook his head, "I don't understand these things, but maybe it's related to her birth date? Her blood type? Maybe it's even related to something she ate one day?"
"Actually, you understand mysticism quite well," Shiller said. "It's often like this; the mystical attributes displayed by humans don't follow any pattern and aren't altered by human will, often manifesting themselves in unexpected places."
"Maybe the True Barbara just didn't want Dick to suffer from hunger because she liked him, so she let him drink her blood."
"Sorry, sir," Gordon said with some difficulty, shaking his head, "just speak plainly; I really don't have the energy for riddles right now."
"I should apologize; it's just professional habit," Shiller said with a smile. "If she let Dick drink her blood because she liked him, thereby giving Dick the ability to be immune to sunlight, then what about Zan?"
"Who's Zan? ... The kid in the purple outfit who was bitten later?" Gordon wasn't familiar with the Magic Twins, or he might have met them before but couldn't remember now. He used the process of elimination since he recognized Dick and The Flash.
"Is he also immune to sunlight?" Gordon asked, eyes tightly closed; under the influence of nicotine, his headache eased a bit.
Shiller handed him a painkiller, and to calm his thoughts, Gordon still took it and swallowed it.
"Not just that. I and another professional Mage have both discovered a force within him, a force that makes him immune to the sunlight's judgment. Where do you think such power comes from?"
"Who knows," Gordon shook his head, "Maybe there are many people who can grant vampires sunlight immunity, and he bit one of them."
But Gordon realized even he couldn't convince himself of this reason; if such people were truly numerous, then most vampires would be immune to sunlight, and the disaster would be tens of times more terrible than it was now.
"Maybe Barbara out of compassion let that boy named Zan drink her blood too," Shiller suggested. "Then, this boy showed up in another squad arranged by Batman, and left me this."
Shiller gently pointed to a scar on his cheekbone, which he received when Zan ambushed them, a wound inflicted while escaping a blood strike.
Gordon finally put these fragmented clues together, "Someone gave Zan the power of sunlight immunity, and right after, he attacked you. This power was prepared specifically for the attack."
"The likelihood of it being a coincidence is not great," Shiller said, still maintaining his tactful tone.
He and the arrogant ones had completely different styles; he never stated any definitive conclusions but deliberately voiced some wrong answers as guesses, guiding others to the right conclusions.
If Gordon were in his normal state, he would have reacted faster, but considering his current mood, Shiller decided to be more explicit.
"The vampire tide has subsided, and thus the King of Vampires was captured. Don't you think all this went a bit too smoothly?"
Gordon finally turned and stared at him, while Shiller shook his head gently and said, "I'm afraid we're not the only ones who can manipulate time."
His heart seemed to beat again as he looked at Shiller and said, "Are you suggesting that the truth isn't what it seems, but Barbara did indeed..."
"Yes, she is indeed the King of Vampires, indeed she bit three people and caused such a commotion. But what if things weren't really like this?"
Gordon was again a bit dizzy from Shiller's words. Shiller continued, "We thought this was a disaster long planned by vampires, but now it seems that they might have been forced to react passively."
"For the human race, the bad news is that this wasn't their level of preparedness. The good news is, without being prepared, the level is too poor."
"Because they can't handle the current situation, they must make sure this matter settles down smoothly. When you can't handle a case, what do you do?"
"I believe there is no such thing as an unsolvable case. I would strive to find the truth, even with the case of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne, I have never given up."
"I'm sorry, you are a good cop. What about those corrupt officers in your station who are only there in body and not in spirit?"
After a slight pause, Gordon said, "Classify it as suicide."
Then he connected all of Shiller's previous words. He said, "So, this disaster was also a disaster for vampires, and they didn't wish for today's outcome either."
"They regret not the war, but failing to win the war," Shiller said.
"Yes, but they are equally cowardly. Realizing they can't control the situation anymore, they want to quickly end this whole affair. The way to do it is to make it all look like a 'suicide'..."
Gordon stood up abruptly and said, "If the King of Vampires is one of the Batman Family, then Batman must clean up this mess and provide an explanation for everyone. He has the power to end the war."
"Barbara is his good assistant. They have supported each other emotionally before. Even if it's just to save Barbara, he wouldn't allow the situation to escalate any further, and the vampires could timely cut their losses."
"And assuming that The Flash, who can travel through time, is also on their side, then they could easily travel to the past and have someone else take the place of the supposed King of Vampires."
Gordon turned sharply and looked at Shiller, "Did you know all along?!"
Shiller shook his head, "If the true Barbara doesn't show up, then everything will make sense. Even with my doubts, I wouldn't have evidence, and it wouldn't be my duty to investigate."
"It's just..." Shiller lowered his gaze, but Gordon could see his face darken, his years of experience giving him a sense of unprecedented danger emanating from Shiller.
"Have you ever encountered a type of criminal who has the habit of returning to the scene, even enjoying chatting with the police who come to investigate, just to see their confused faces?"
Gordon's mind flashed through many faces, and he said with complex emotions, "I've hardly seen a few who don't enjoy doing that... I mean, it's Gotham, you know."
Then he realized what Shiller was hinting at, and said with suspicion, "Are you saying that the person who claims to be my biological daughter is one of those criminals who enjoy returning to the scene and getting a sense of superiority over police officers?"
"She is confident that her scheme is flawless."
"To some extent, yes." Gordon's voice sank again. He had concrete evidence of Barbara's crimes on video, indisputable even by Batman. Though the story of a baby being swapped at birth sounded like TV drama, it was not impossible in reality.
"Moreover, if, as you say, they have gone back in time and tampered with the past, then such an odd event might indeed be possible. If The Flash went back to switch the children, who could stop him?"
"Yes." Shiller did not deny it, "If you don't consider magical factors, it's a reasonable explanation."
"An evil organization, to create a suitable environment for their experiment, could have stolen a normal human girl and replaced her with their own creation."
"They thought keeping the normal girl would be useful, so they didn't kill her, but it backfired when she escaped. Following the old clues, she found the enemy who took her place and had been lurking around them, waiting for the chance to take revenge."
"When the experiment finally revealed her vicious fangs, she would step out and expose her true identity, reclaim her own, and live in the open light."
"It does sound like a TV drama," Gordon said as he sat back down. "But reality is less logical than television dramas, and if reality is engineered by someone, such development wouldn't be surprising."
"The only problem is that she came back." There was a faint sarcasm in Shiller's tone as he said, "She has confidence that she could take the place of your daughter and receive the love of all the Batman Family members."
"She can't," Gordon said. "Barbara is one of a kind."
"More importantly, she wants to perform such a dance in front of Batman... and in front of me, too."