Bruce was driving to the hospital when he received a call from James Gordon. He heard Gordon say on the phone,
"You're finally back, Bruce. Come to the police station quickly; there's a strange case here that you need to see."
"Come on, Gordon, I just got back... Alright, how strange is it?"
"A prisoner we previously arrested died tragically on the way to court, in the prison van. Someone left a line of strange characters on the wall of the van. We lack experts proficient in code-breaking here; you'd better come and take a look."
Bruce turned the steering wheel reluctantly and headed towards the police station.
Upon his arrival, a young officer at the door wanted to stop him, but an older officer waved at him and let him through; he proceeded to the spacious backyard of the police station where he found a prison van marked with court insignias. Gordon and his subordinates were standing there.
"God, you're finally here," Gordon said, wiping his forehead, "You don't know how stressful it has been to seek out Professor Shearer every time a case pops up during your absence. Even Little Jenny can't soothe my heart."
"I haven't even congratulated you on your new daughter," Bruce walked up and hugged Gordon, then said, "I will send over the 20 children's slides I was preparing for Aisha. She'll surely use them."
Then Bruce turned his eyes to the prison van. As soon as the door opened, he smelled a strong scent of blood. The body had clearly been taken for autopsy already, but there were no markers to indicate the position of the body.
"It's hard to explain where the body was," Gordon shook his head and said, "If I have to say, it was basically all over this vehicle. The head was placed on the left seat, two arms hung here, two legs there, the abdominal and chest cavities scattered across the floor."
"A piece of art, right?"
"Sort of," Gordon thought carefully and then said, "but it seems to have no special meaning, if anything, it's a kind of naive malevolence, like scattering toy parts everywhere."
"I think you could almost start a group chat," Bruce said.
"So, why do I seem to understand serial killers so well?" Gordon said irritably, "Why do they have to place their 'art' near police stations and courts?!"
"In the past, I might have seen this as a provocation, but this case is different; I can't see the specifics either, perhaps you'd better call Shearer."
"I've already sent him the photos and such, but he's in the hospital. I don't want to bother him too much, hoping he can send back good news. Mainly, I wanted you here for this," Gordon said.
Gordon pointed towards one side of the van, which Bruce had already noticed. There was a line of characters written in blood, not very long, only six letters, but without any apparent pattern.
However, what was peculiar was that at the end of this line of letters, there was an Arabic numeral 4, somewhat larger than the other letters, seeming like a hint.
"I haven't heard of such a serial killer in Gotham before, could be an outsider, maybe a new generation."
"You mean there'll be more cases like this?"
Bruce nodded, and after a moment of thought, Gordon said, "I don't know if you are aware, but this guy was the mastermind behind the recent child abuse case, his name is Nigma, a candidate in the mayoral race, too."
"Popular?"
"He was as hot as the summer weather initially, but then due to some issues, the media thought he exhibited signs of mental disorder and wasn't trusted much by the public any longer, until his arrest which completely disqualified him from running for mayor," Gordon replied.
"Does he have financial skills?"
"Yes, I'm also unsure who's behind him, could be the Jews' consortium, but it might also be those families from the west."
After a moment of contemplation, Bruce said, "The clue he left isn't complete; if nothing odd happens, there should still be three cases to come. These letters will together form a code, and only then will I know what this code points to."
"Can we catch the culprit?"
"I'm afraid it's going to be difficult. I tend to think this is a prodigy just starting out. Although the technique is slightly immature, it's not something ordinary police can handle."
"Then let me ask differently, does he intend to go to jail?"
Bruce looked at Gordon somewhat surprised, and Gordon shook his head, "Don't look at me like that. Many of the serial killers I've caught turned themselves in to avoid FBI arrest; they'd rather serve time in Gotham."
"As of now, that doesn't seem to be the case, so it'd be best if you let the Federal Bureau of Investigation handle this case before they leave."
"How do you know I won't pursue it to the end?"
"Because it's clear he deserves his fate, and if I'm not mistaken, the upcoming victims will likely be similar. In terms of morals, you'd want them to serve time, but due to personal feelings, you'd want them to face a punishment far stronger than imprisonment," Gordon said.
"Your behavioral analysis is getting better and better."
"Don't bring this up when I'm about to meet Professor Shearer," Gordon said.
The two shared a smile, and just then, Gordon's phone rang. He answered, and his expression became slightly more serious.
After hanging up, he said to Bruce, "You guessed right, two more cases were discovered simultaneously, with six letters left at each scene, but no numbers. Want to go check out the crime scenes?"