Shiller went to see Edward again, but before he saw Edward, he first met with Cobblepot, who told him the news about the nurse.
The situation described by the nurse mostly matched the timeline that Shiller had investigated: signs were noticed ten years ago, the worker went to the construction site four years ago, and then was unfortunately murdered.
However, the nurse provided an additional piece of information, that the worker had investigated and found out about Edward, and had instructed his wife to protect Edward.
How did he know that Edward could possibly be a witness?
Their life trajectories shouldn't have had any intersection… No, Edward later went to study at Bolokin Community's high school, and at that time the worker should have been alive, so did they intersect during this period?
Shiller felt that it was possible that Edward took the initiative to find the worker.
Back then, he could force his uncle into a corner just by observation, compelling him to destroy the body and erase all traces. It was not impossible that he noticed something off about the worker and used him for some purpose.
Four years ago, when the worker went to the ruins of the elementary and junior high school, could it have been under Edward's instigation?
Now, having come full circle, the problem returned to the starting point. It was possible that Edward knew more than everyone else, even more than Shiller who had investigated the whole circle.
Shiller even suspected that Edward was also using him for something, as after the hypnosis, Edward's behavior seemed to be hinting at this.
When Shiller saw Edward again, Edward appeared as cheerful as ever, sitting on the bed by the window, motionlessly watching the sea outside. The sea could only be made out by a dim glimmer, appearing especially serene and mysterious.
Seeing Shiller come over, he smiled and said, "You're here."
Shiller sat opposite him, looking into his eyes. Edward suddenly turned his head, gazing at Shiller with sparkling eyes and said, "You must have many questions for me, but I don't want to solve riddles now, I want to give you one instead."
Shiller really disliked the Riddler, but he felt Edward wasn't like that, as an overly clever boy, he should know what was most beneficial for himself.
He heard Edward say, "It raises high mountains, it dries up rivers, it destroys civilizations, it rejuvenates plants, it enlightens the human race, it confounds the human race, it doesn't exist, and it's everywhere, what is the answer to the riddle?"
On the way out, Shiller kept thinking about the riddle. He didn't believe it was a word puzzle, but rather that it described something.
But the problem was, Edward's perspective was different from his own. What Edward described with such words might not seem the same from his perspective, and he had to put himself in Edward's shoes to figure out the solution to the riddle.
The imagery of the mountains and rivers was interesting. Shiller felt it could literally mean the forest that was up on the mountain, while the destruction of civilization might refer to the demolition of the junior and elementary school buildings. Regrowth of plants could indicate the vegetation that had grown back over the ruins.
Enlightening and confounding the human race could mean that some had learned the truth while others had gone mad. It not existing could refer to the truth not being revealed, and it being everywhere might indicate that the crime indeed took place.
In this light, the answer to the riddle seemed to be the culprits, but Shiller felt it wasn't that simple. Edward might be using the riddle to hint at the murderer behind the culprits.
So, the riddle needed to be understood on another level; one must abandon sticking to the facts and interpret it from a more philosophical standpoint. Who could achieve all the above?
As Shiller drove to the last suspect, Nigma's residence, an outline of the answer suddenly formed in his mind.
He turned the steering wheel abruptly, steering the car in the completely opposite direction, and half an hour later, Shiller reappeared at the foot of the mountain.
The crematorium had no lights left, and the dense forest in the mountains cast thick shadows, the profound darkness before dawn nearly swallowing everything.
Shiller followed the small path by the crematorium to the entrance of the bomb shelter. The door opened, and the dark cave yawned like a gaping maw ready to devour. Shiller slowly walked in.
"That's how it is, we found a lot of bones in there, I panicked a bit, so I didn't bring them all out, but I think these should be enough, Chief, you must..."
"Don't worry, ma'am, so many bones are enough for us to open an investigation. Do you have any other clues to tell us? Be as detailed as possible and mention every person you suspect."
The Gotham Police Department was ablaze with lights, Wanda, Jarvis, Tim, Aisha, Helen, and the New Warriors Team along with the Guardians of the Galaxy all stood in the lobby, opposite Gordon.
"We've uncovered a lot," Jarvis began. "All the clues match up."
After speaking, he handed a thick stack of files to Gordon and said, "Tim has done a genetic comparison on most of the bones, linked it to the files of the missing children's case from years ago, but we can't access the police system's records, that's up to you, Chief."
"No problem, just wait a moment. As soon as I get the results, I'll let you know immediately and, right now, I'm going to apply for a search warrant to deal with Williams's problem first. You're saying you saw bodies at his resort construction site?"
"Yes," Nebula stepped forward and said, "I saw it very clearly and even took a few photos. I didn't capture the corpse's face, but you can tell it's an adult, and definitely dead."
"That's regrettable, ma'am. Please submit the photos to us. As soon as the warrant arrives, we'll immediately move to arrest."
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About fifteen minutes later, officers in blue uniforms surged out of the building like a school of fish, police sirens blaring as they encircled and blockaded every major intersection at top speed.
Reporters, reacting swiftly to the lookout, arrived at the crime scene in record time, only to be stopped outside the security perimeter established by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, upon seeing Gordon, nodded at him. Gordon flashed his search warrant and said, "I know the case of the body in the lake is important to you, but a more serious crime has occurred. We now suspect that the construction site owner is connected to over a hundred child disappearance cases..."
The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, warily eyeing the reporters beyond the police line, did not want to shoulder the blame of being an accomplice to the child disappearance cases. He had no choice but to let his subordinates step aside.
The officers filed in, leaving no stone unturned, and soon, someone came to report to Gordon.
"Boss, we found something. A male body was buried about three meters deep. It's badly decomposed now. Should we call the medical examiner?"
"Get all medical examiners here, and keep looking for more," Gordon commanded.
Gordon was about to give further orders when his phone rang. He answered the call, and with a frown, said, "What? Who reported it? Nigma?!"
Half an hour later, Gordon returned to the Gotham Police Department, facing the sunrise. Nigma, pale from recent hospitalization, was sitting on a chair. Seeing Gordon approach, he struggled to stand.
Gordon quickly urged him to sit down, "Don't die on me."
"Sorry, Chief, but I had to come now. I have a lead on a child abuse case, I must tell you now..."
Gordon's expression became more serious as he said, "Let's go inside to talk in detail."
Soon he and Nigma were in the reception room. Nigma began, "This all started when I was a principal in the Bolokin Community. Yes, you must be surprised, but I truly was a principal there, in charge of the instructional management of the middle and elementary schools."
"The reason I was transferred is because I uncovered a secret. It's not that I didn't want to call the police, but at that time, Gotham was truly..."
"Of course, I'm not saying there was a problem with the police. You're already doing as well as you can, but just as you were powerless against the Mob back then, I was equally helpless and terrified facing these vicious criminals."
"That's why I can only reveal the truth now. About ten years ago, I noticed that students from my school frequently disappeared off-campus. The number of disappearances was unnaturally high."
"I was constantly organizing activities and courses at the school to raise awareness, but for some reason, nothing improved until one day, a student told me that a group of people were loitering outside the school..."
Through Nigma's narrative, Gordon heard a different version of the story. Essentially, as a principal, he'd noticed the issue of child disappearances early on and was diligently investigating it.
Then, because he drew the attention of a criminal gang, he lost his job and experienced several assassination attempts, all of which he narrowly evaded. Fearful for his own life, he had not dared to expose their crimes until the issue had escalated to the point where he felt emboldened to come forward.
Theoretically, this logic had no problem—considering how corrupt Gotham used to be, if these people had any connection with the Mob, being too scared to come forward made perfect sense.
Coming forward now wasn't wrong, after all, investigations need leads and evidence. As long as he provided useful information and was willing to testify in court, he would be considered a valuable witness and credited for contributing to the case's solution.
When Gordon started to ask for specific evidence, Nigma mentioned the crematorium, claiming there were several urns of ashes there which were evidence of the killers trying to destroy the bodies. If they could identify who the ashes belonged to and track their last known whereabouts, they might find the real culprits.
But Gordon already had the ashes. Andre had delivered the samples to him, and they had started comparing them a few hours ago; the results were almost in.
Nigma then suggested that there might be a body buried at the old middle and elementary school sites, a victim of the Behind-the-scenes Manipulator, but the police had already excavated the body, and any further search would yield nothing.
Nigma finally mentioned that the resort built by Williams was suspect, possibly for destroying evidence and dumping bodies in the lake.
By then, the male body excavated from the resort had just been brought to the police station. As for the bodies in the lake, they fell under Amanda's Federation Shield jurisdiction, and all the recovered remains were not of recent deaths.
After realizing all the leads he'd provided were worthless, Nigma clenched his teeth and said, "I also know someone, the sister of the wife of the manager of the Wardle Engineering Team. She might know her brother-in-law's secrets. Maybe you can go..."
He noticed that the grave and serious expression on Gordon's face across from him had vanished, revealing only scorn and mockery.
Suddenly, Nigma realized he might have been deceived.
He persisted, "I also know that Williams wants to commit Bob's sister-in-law to a mental institution to invalidate her testimony. He has set his sights on Gotham's most famous psychologist, Schiller Rodriguez. Williams must have already approached him."
"If you can get ahold of this psychologist, you'll know that what I'm saying is all true!"
Gordon thought of every sorrowful thing in his life to keep his emotions in check, barely stopping himself from laughing on the spot.
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