```
About a day before Nigma was killed, he made a phone call to Edward, and no one knew what they talked about over the phone, but Gordon guessed that Nigma probably provoked Edward on purpose and revealed his location, wanting to lure Edward over.
However, Edward went to see Cobblepot instead, which was likely beyond Nigma's expectations, and together they set a trap for Nigma.
Nigma lured Edward in order to provoke him to harm himself; Edward might indeed have barged in, but he didn't actually harm Nigma—maybe he just knocked him out and made him believe he had been injured.
Then he put the cooling device into his stomach, considering there were no external injuries, it must have been inserted through the esophagus. Considering the size of the device, it was quite possible.
Subsequently, the device froze Nigma, which worked on the same principle as when Victor froze his wife—making a person lose all signs of life with very low body temperature.
So when Nigma was found in the alley, everyone thought he was dead, even professional forensic examiners couldn't detect any signs of life.
However, the abnormal body temperature would soon be discovered by the forensic examiners, who would want to figure out what happened. The process of verifying the cause of death often includes checking the internal organs, which often requires opening up the digestive tract for inspection.
It is highly likely that a forensic examiner would open the stomach for inspection, and once they discovered the cooling device inside Nigma's stomach, they would inevitably take it out for examination. As soon as it was removed, Nigma would gradually defrost and come back to life.
Thinking he was a corpse, the forensic examiner naturally wouldn't hold back while cutting; it would inevitably cause a wound in the abdomen. It wouldn't matter if he were truly dead, but if he suddenly came back to life, of course he'd be rushed to the hospital.
And when Nigma woke up from the resuscitation, he would only know that his stomach had been injured, which matched his belief that his nephew had stabbed him.
But almost the entire police station knew that the wound wasn't inflicted by anyone; he had no injuries when he was brought in, it was the forensic examiner who thought he was dead and opened up his abdomen.
In other words, the nephew stabbing him didn't exist—the facts didn't match his perception. There were only two possible outcomes.
The vast majority of people would think he was lying, accusing him of framing his nephew, because there were no injuries when he was brought in. How could he have been stabbed? All his testimonies against his nephew seemed like deliberate lies, attempts to set up a frame.
But Gordon knew there was a very slim chance that he wasn't lying and truly believed that Edward had stabbed him. To accomplish this, someone had to take action—that would be Doctor Shiller.
Gordon actually knew that hypnosis wasn't that magical, but he also knew it was more mysterious than he thought. Theoretically, it's unlikely to make someone believe they've been stabbed if they're calmly lying in a room.
But if someone actually burst into someone's office with a knife, made a stabbing motion, and the person really felt the pain before losing consciousness, it would be very easy to hypnotize the semi-conscious victim with the belief that someone had stabbed him.
Sometimes, hypnosis isn't even necessary, as unconsciousness itself is the brain's self-protection mechanism, and disoriented memories upon waking are quite normal, just like how forcing a computer to shut down can cause program errors.
Gordon didn't know if Doctor Shiller could do the former, but he was sure he could achieve the latter. A bit of misleading behavior and speech, aided by hypnosis, could easily distort an event that actually occurred—this was a simple task for Shiller.
But this was not a conspiracy, it was an overt scheme. If Nigma really cared for his nephew, he wouldn't have said anything, or he would have only quietly told the responsible police officers, trying not to make a big deal of it.
Now, under the guise of caring, he had publicized that his nephew stabbed him, stepping into a trap himself. Gordon could see it, but he was powerless to stop it.
Could he go to Nigma and say, "You've been duped; the more you shout, the more you look like a fool and a lunatic?"
Moreover, it doesn't add up to claim that his resolute defense of legal justice is clear-eyed because he knows that his nephew is in a mental hospital, not fully competent mentally, and can't face more legal punishment. Upholding legal justice in this matter is moot.
If he truly wanted to fight for justice, he should be troubling the mental hospital, demanding that they strengthen their management—that way, he would be protecting his nephew's interests.
Deciding to do what he is doing now only leaves one possibility: he wishes to make his nephew's violent outburst widely known.
That's why Gordon could guess he deliberately lured Edward there. This isn't victim-blaming; it's just that his behavior is a bit too transparent.
Of course, had he actually come with a knife wound, people would only sympathize with him when he spoke out. But now everyone knew he was unharmed when taken to the police station, and the malice hidden in his suggestive words became too easy to detect.
Indeed, when Gordon went back in, the two young officers left behind were both looking odd, occasionally glancing at the weeping Nigma. Gordon had no doubt that they would share this incident with their colleagues who watched Nigma revive as soon as they returned to the station.
They would also mockingly say that the guy deserved his bad luck, for he was unscathed when brought in, yet sought to frame his nephew.
Though Nigma had been tricked and had no chance of turning the tables, Gordon still conscientiously told him the truth.
"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mention it earlier because you were upset, but according to the medical report... there were no injuries on your body when you were brought to the police station."
This sentence hit Nigma like a sledgehammer to the head; Gordon had witnessed what could be called a diminishing IQ attack, as Nigma seemed completely stupefied.
"Impossible! I clearly passed out from blood loss! If there was no wound, how could I be in the hospital?! And my wound still hurts…"
```
The police in the room all showed embarrassed expressions, and Gordon didn't know how to explain it either, so he had to bring in the attending physician.
It just happened to be time to change the dressings, and the doctor unwrapped the bandage from his abdomen. In that instant, Nigma was stunned.
As everyone knows, a stabbed wound and a cut wound are entirely different. No matter how, a knife could not possibly create such a perfect cross-shaped cut; such precision clearly indicates the work of someone skilled in surgical techniques.
"Impossible... Impossible!" Nigma roared, saying, "You're all lying to me! Has someone bought you off?! You're all speaking for that little bastard!!!"
Now, Gordon felt that this must be the work of Shiller. His work always revealed such a dark humor. Having seen enough of it, Gordon could tell it apart.
Indeed, exposing a hypocrite is very difficult. It's the same for everyone. It's a matter of who holds the discourse. If a person behaves politely and gently in front of anyone, convincing others that they are an abuser is quite challenging. Countless people are tormented by such a plight without relief,
But Shiller had set a perfect trap.
Essentially, it was still a manipulation of information gaps. During the time Nigma was unconscious, he had no idea what the police had done. What the police did just happened to fit his purpose, yet the truth was entirely different from what he expected.
Moreover, after he woke up and found that the situation was exactly as he had imagined, he naturally would think in terms of inertia and disclose what he thought was the truth,
But this truth was far from the facts, and so-called disclosure of the truth became malicious framing.
In this incident alone, Nigma, who fell for it, was the victim. Logically, Gordon should be helping and defending him, but this is where the brilliance of the strategy lay.
If Nigma had no malice, he wouldn't have fallen for it. The fact that he fell for it proved he did indeed have malice, and it was easy for Gordon to see that this malice was the origin of the incident. He had brought it upon himself, and however kind Gordon might be, he could not argue more on his behalf,
And the consequence of this was frightening because, before Gordon arrived, Nigma had possibly met with reporters to create momentum, using the narrative of his nephew stabbing him upon waking up.
But at the time, everyone saw him brought into the police station and then taken out. If it was just an accidental injury case, why would the victim enter the police station?
The reporters squatting at the door of the police station weren't fools. If you were really stabbed by your nephew, what's with the revival from death?
These reporters were born hyenas. Without reason, they'd still stir up trouble, inventing stories out of thin air to display the charm of journalism. Under such apparent contradictions, they wouldn't rest until they dug up the core truth,
And sure enough, as soon as Gordon walked out of the hospital, he was surrounded by a group of reporters, who pointed their microphones at him and asked.
"Director, may I ask if Mr. Nigma insists it was his nephew who hurt him because he suffers from some psychiatric disorder, or is the police department asking him to say so to avoid responsibility?"
"Director Gordon, this has been described as the most severe forensic accident of the century. Does Mr. Nigma's insistence that he was stabbed relate to this? Has the police department put pressure on him?"
"Sir, I am a reporter from the Gotham Medical Journal. Do you think the Nigma family has a hereditary mental disorder? Is Mr. Nigma's memory confusion related to this?"
"Sir, I'm Mary from City News. Do you think Mr. Nigma's mental state is suitable for running for mayor? Does he prefer to retreat to treatment or actively campaign?"
Gordon waved at them and got into the car without answering anything; these were all problems for Nigma to worry about.
Sitting in the car, Gordon couldn't help but think about Shiller's cases. The fate of the victims always signaled what they had done before. Although Nigma hadn't died, was his current predicament also a reflection of his past deeds?
More difficult than exposing a hypocrite is self-proof. While it's often said not to prove oneself, the underlying logic is that self-proof can never establish innocence, no matter how much evidence one has.
Once caught in the whirlpool of self-proof, one would only be relentlessly pursued until hopelessly collapsing.
Did Shiller want Nigma to fall into such a predicament?
In other words, Nigma once caused others to fall into this state, at this very moment, just as in times past.
Gordon thought of Edward Nigma, who had been sent to the psychiatric hospital.
Gordon always felt that sometimes the theory that villains have their own kind of extralegal reprobate justice wasn't entirely without merit. As a police officer like him, even knowing the truth, he could never do anything to mayoral candidate Mr. Nigma, but Shiller could.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, how could that not count as another form of justice outside of justice itself?
Gordon added to himself in his mind — "You must be Batman's mentor."