"So, may I try?" Williams said, "Can you tell what I'm thinking right now?"
Shiller shook his head and said, "I believe, the children's behavior only warrants you one condition. If you want me to read your thoughts now, then I won't help you with what comes after."
"They might end up in jail." Williams emphasized.
"Then, I'll notify Bruce Wayne," Shiller said. "As for the others, they don't look like the type to end up behind bars."
Williams glanced at the interrogation room, he wasn't blind, the likes of the Guardians of the Galaxy, even on the liberal East Coast, were a bit too advanced, obviously influential, and unlikely to be confined in prison.
As for Bruce Wayne's two foster sons, being punished with a few dozen hours of community service would already mean Bruce was looking for an opportunity to teach the children a lesson. If he decided to protect them, this minor issue could not shake the Wayne tree.
Shiller seemed to have already made the decision for him, Williams felt the way Shiller was observing him change, he couldn't quite describe the feeling, but he felt as if he was pinned down, and pierced by something.
A few seconds later, Shiller's eyes drifted away slightly, and he said, "You can go back and think it over. I still have classes, I'll leave first."
He stood up and left without even asking about the kids, Williams almost simultaneously stood up, watching his retreating figure leave the room, his expression somewhat dark and fickle.
Suddenly, his phone rang, he answered the call and his expression changed, roaring into the phone, "Sealed off?! Why has it been sealed off?! My paperwork is legal... I'll head there right away…"
After Williams left, Gordon released the group from the holding room, then warned them, "If anyone asks, just say I bailed you out, the paperwork is here, better not get into any more trouble after you go back."
Dick immediately gave him a hug, then said, "Man, knew you were the best, Uncle Gordon."
As he watched them walk into the summer heatwave, Gordon stood at the entrance of the police station, shaking his head, then a young officer sprinted over, and whispered something in Gordon's ear, which raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely sure, Chief, the place has been sealed, surrounded by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, ah, and not just the FBI, there's also a bunch of guys with purple badges on their clothes, I think they're called... the Federal Emergency Affairs Investigation Bureau?"
Gordon mouthed the name, and after a moment, he said, "Since trouble has arisen on my turf, I can't ignore it. Get the car ready, we'll head over."
The police siren reverberated through the streets and alleys. Gordon had just opened the car door when an overwhelming heatwave almost pushed him back inside.
Shading his eyes with his hand, he mustered the courage to step out of the car and quickly made his way to the nearby shade, followed by his police officers doing the same.
Gordon looked over in the direction of the disturbance and, sure enough, saw some uniforms different from those of the FBI agents. Their chest bore a circular purple badge, resembling a shield.
Then he spotted a familiar figure in the crowd—Amanda Waller.
Amanda was the same as ever, in uniform, high and mighty, and across from her stood an apparently aggravated Williams.
Gordon turned to look at the construction site. The metal wall that had appeared suddenly before had now vanished, there was a trench in the middle of the site, as if the metal wall had been excavated from underneath.
But at that moment the construction site had been completely cordoned off with police tape, to be precise, the whole lake was enclosed.
Seeing the two arguing fiercely, Gordon knew it was time to step in, so he walked over, taking a sharp inhale of air as he approached.
To the right of where they were standing, behind Amanda's official car, within a cordoned-off area, lay all sorts of bones.
From Gordon's vast experience, they were all human bones.
This was interesting, Gordon swore he wasn't enjoying the misfortune, because he had been a firsthand witness to the initial incident; he knew that the lake was mostly filled with clones' bones, those clones had also harmed his subordinates, so naturally, he couldn't feel sorrow.
He edged a little closer, and Williams was indeed in an angry tirade, "I don't care what case you're investigating, my construction site must start on schedule! You can't just seal it off like this..."
"Mr. Williams, I must remind you, even if your construction site started recently, the time you submitted for approval wasn't recent, which means, you're a suspect in the case, and you'll have to cooperate with our investigation later on."
"Are you mad? How could I possibly kill so many people?! This... this... this damn thing involves several dozen people! And more are being fished out! I'm not a terrorist, how could I possibly kill so many?!"
But Amanda was just too good at dealing with these types of people. She airily said, "Yes, you might not be able to kill that many people, but who knows if one or two of them were your doing? Should I overlook it just because it's only one person?"
"You're not even with the Federal Bureau of Investigation!"
"Sorry, my authority is greater than the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Amanda's voice turned colder as she pulled out her credentials, flashed them in front of Williams, and said, "Federal Emergency Affairs Investigation Bureau, you can also call us the Federation Shield. We suspect that the numerous bodies found in the lake may be related to some supernatural occurrences. Therefore, we have been authorized to investigate. Here are my credentials and the search warrant. If you continue to obstruct the investigation, we have the right to arrest you on charges of obstruction of justice and endangering federation security."
Williams had just opened his mouth to say something, but Amanda, leaning forward, lowered her voice and said, "Go away. After we finish our job, you can continue with yours. If you don't leave, by tomorrow, the news that dangerous supernatural events once occurred in this lake will have spread throughout the entire East Coast. Who would dare to come to your resort after it's built?"
Williams's face first turned red with restraint, then from red to purple, from purple to blue, from blue to black.
Now Gordon knew what Shiller's perfect plan was, and if Gordon had to rate this plan, it would definitely be genius.
The means by which Williams acquired the land were legal, even though he did have a tendency for unauthorized construction, but there was no solid evidence before the resort was complete.
However, if a homicide occurred here, especially one where dozens or hundreds of bodies were found, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation would be even more legitimate.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the biggest Mob on this Mainland. With a search warrant in hand, there's no door they fear kicking in. Let alone Williams, even if he changed his name to Donald today, the construction site would still be sealed off.
And while Williams might be shameless, he could never outdo Amanda, who had spent decades honing her craft. Shamelessness may be considered an achievement for a businessman, but for the head of an Agent, it's just the basics.
Indeed, the Clone was created by Amanda, but the past is the past, and now is now. Never mind who created this thing, as long as trouble arises and it's exposed, Amanda has work to do. If she solves this case, it'll mean a hefty sum for the budget.
Shiller's tactic of setting a wolf to chase away a tiger was really his style. Gordon thought, these two are in for a tough fight, but judging by their characters, losing one was as good as losing both. If they could take each other out, it would be a cause for universal rejoicing.
When Jason and Dick returned to Shiller's home, Aisha's investigation had finally made some headway. She had gone through all the surveillance footage available from four years earlier and finally found the image of one of the rented excavators in a corner street camera.
It was a very bright red excavator, with a very noticeable color, making it easier to spot. The last time it was captured by surveillance, it was driving out of Gotham indoor along a road called Pomegranate Street, heading toward a very remote area.
Aisha checked the map and discovered there was a Forest in the area, the largest green Forest around Gotham. However, there were no surveillance cameras installed there, so Aisha didn't know where the final destination of the excavator was.
But this didn't prevent her from directing Robin to investigate the area to see if there were any signs of digging.
After receiving their task, Jason and Dick immediately set out and soon arrived at the edge of the Forest, crossing over hills and controlling drones to take photos of the surroundings.
Soon they found the high school that was close to the Forest and, unsurprisingly, discovered the ruins of the middle and elementary schools that had been thoroughly turned over by Pamela.
The abnormalities here were evident to anyone, and the two of them dug around, finding some fragments of the foundation.
Aisha also found the history of this school in the information database, learning that the middle and elementary schools had been demolished ten years ago.
This actually confirmed her suspicion that the project four years ago had not been a large-scale demolition. Instead, it was likely a supplement to the last demolition project.
But if it had already been demolished once ten years ago, why go back and demolish it again four years ago?
Aisha speculated that the stairs must have been demolished ten years ago but left the foundation intact. Four years ago, six excavators dug out the foundation and covered it with soil again, completely hiding the traces that the middle and elementary schools ever existed.
This means that someone realized there had been flaws in the project ten years ago, hence the remedial work four years later. Following this logic, the original demolition of the middle and elementary schools was likely not due to financial difficulties but because there was something within those buildings that needed to be destroyed.
And whatever it was, it absolutely could not be exposed again, which is why there were two demolitions, one ten years ago and another four years ago.
The answer seemed within reach, but despite how much Jason and Dick dug, they could not find anything else they were looking for – no incriminating evidence; underneath there were just pieces of the foundation, nothing more.
Dick judged from the condition of the soil that someone had recently turned the place over again. They suspected that some of the witnesses from back then had returned, but without a doubt, they did a thorough job, as there was no trace of anything suspicious here.
The trail had gone cold, and the investigation hit a deadlock, but Aisha was not discouraged. She began to investigate from a sociological engineering perspective, starting with the manager known as Bob.
After searching with his photo, Aisha also found a photograph of him with Williams, but she made another discovery: Bob had once been married, and the information database had a photo of him and his wife at a party.
Looking at the picture of the blonde woman holding a wine glass, Aisha felt that she may have found the key to a new lead.