In the car, Detective Gordon looked pale. Five murders had occurred within a few days, and all the victims were high-profile figures. Beyond that, their methods of death were unusually flashy, causing Gordon to feel an immense amount of pressure.
Unlike Batman, Gordon was indeed just an ordinary man. Depleting his energy thinking, staying up late, and busying himself for these past few days had left him exhausted. By the time he was in the car, his voice had already become hoarse from exhaustion.
As the raindrops hit the car window, Shiller, who was in the passenger seat, looked back at Gordon's pale face, suggesting, "Detective, maybe you should go home and rest first."
Gordon managed a strained smile and said, "I've been telling Batman the same thing a few days ago. Now it seems it's my turn. But like his answer, I think I'm fine; at least I can hold on till today's dawn..."
Just as Shiller was about to say something else, Batman interrupted, "We have arrived."
He seemed somewhat in a hurry because the boarding school before them was the one that Dick was attending. Dick had just started school two days ago, and today was supposed to be his first day of class. With such an incident occurring, Batman was worried. After all, it was at his insistence that Dick had come to study here.
Batman was the first to walk into the gate, but as soon as he did, a man grabbed Detective Gordon first, saying, "You're Detective Gordon, aren't you? I was the one who called for the police. Please hurry to the seventh floor. Lady Sanchez, she... she..."
The man was an old and somewhat hunched figure clad in a common black robe seen in boarding schools. Gordon reassured him and then asked, "Are you a teacher at this school? Can you tell us what happened here?"
The old man led them into the school, explaining as he walked, "I'm not a teacher. I'm just a keykeeper. I am tasked with locking major rooms after the students have gone to sleep."
"Just now, when I intended to check the seventh floor to see if the doors were safely locked, I saw... I don't know, but in God's name..."
"Have you seen any suspicious people?" Detective Gordon proceeded with his routine questioning. The old man shook his head, replying, "This school has tight security. Ordinary people are not allowed to enter. The teachers retreat to their rooms after class, and students are strictly forbidden from wandering about at night..."
"This is how all boarding schools are. The children here are especially obedient—they have never caused any trouble."
Batman wanted to ask about Dick's situation, but he didn't want to expose the relationship between Dick and Batman. Noticing Batman's concern, Shiller asked the old man, "Is there a child named Dick in your school?"
"Dick? We have at least five or six Dicks here. Which one are you asking about?"
"Dick Grayson, do you know where he is now?"
The old man shook his head, "There are too many boys named Dick here. I'm old, and I don't remember who's who."
Shiller didn't press further and instead asked, "Can you tell us where exactly Lady Sanchez's room is? We will go there on our own."
The old man shook his head slowly, "The stairs here are quite tricky. I will lead you to the seventh floor, and then you can go in on your own."
With that, the old man guided them up two more floors to the seventh floor of the boarding school. As soon as he reached the floor, he turned and left. As soon as Detective Gordon stepped onto the seventh floor, he shivered, asking, "Why does it feel colder here?"
Shiller too felt a menacing cold presence permeating the hallway. He told Detective Gordon, "Detective, you're not in good shape. Stay here. Batman and I will go in."
Gordon didn't argue, truly feeling unwell. He took a few steps back, opened the window of the stairwell, leaned against the wall, and began to feel a bit better. He waved his hand at them to signal that they should go ahead. Shiller and Batman proceeded down the dark hallway.
Once they stepped into the darkness, Shiller's eyes immediately paused on a black mark in a corner of the wall. He knelt down for a closer look, saying, "It seems that the incident here is also related to supernatural forces."
"If it really is that so-called demon, do we have any way to deal with it?"
"According to mystical theories, there are many things that can deal with demons, such as the cross, holy water, the blessed virgin statue, and so on. But I don't think we'll encounter a real demon here."
As he spoke, they had already arrived at the door of the second room. Without any hesitation, Shiller pushed open the door and stepped inside. The scene inside wasn't bloody, but it was suspicious.
A mummified corpse stood in the middle of the room, charred and shriveled yet standing stiffly on the spot. Surrounding it was a pattern resembling a magic array. Batman walked over and said, "This pattern is different from the previous one, and even the drawing techniques are different."
"However, they seem to have used the same element, namely the hexagram symbolizing the demon. Plus, these small patterns also bear some resemblance…"
Shiller circled around the mummy, approaching a table at the back. The tabletop was a mess with all sorts of items. The first shelf housed numerous bottles and jars, underneath which laid a pile of waste paper. On the left, a box contained an assortment of herbs. The table pad was also engraved with unrecognizable characters.