Agents gathered around Mayor White's corpse, sifting for clues as Bruce looked on from the sidelines with an impassive eye. Shiller, who was standing unmoved at his spot, was also observing the situation dispassionately.
His position was further inside than where the mayor had fallen, so the outward rush of the crowd did not disturb him. He continued to stand at his spot, holding a glass of wine, quietly watching the agents examining the area around the body.
Despite the distance, Shiller had a clear view when the body fell. Therefore, he knew distinctly that Mayor White had been shot in the head. The fall from the ceiling merely made him look like any suicide jumper, with the added trauma of internal organ rupture.
Once he found all communication devices had lost signal, Bruce subtly began to move towards Shiller's direction. However, he noted that the professor shook his head, holding his glass of wine and turned to walk deeper into the hall.
Not just Bruce, but Benjamin also noted Shiller's unusual movement. It was too conspicuous in the entire banquet hall, as Shiller was the only one moving.
Most others were just stealing glances towards Mayor White's body, while Shiller merely stepped over the toppled candlestick on the ground and strode towards the back of the banquet hall.
Seizing a moment when the other agents were pushing the crowd to the wall, Benjamin walked over and intercepted Shiller's path, looked at him coldly, and asked, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to the restroom."
Shiller provided a reason that Benjamin couldn't refute. After all, no one can deny someone a restroom break, even if the sky is falling—this is an unbeatable excuse under any circumstances.
However, at an occasion where the body had just fallen and agents were scouring the entire place, the first one to move surely wasn't ordinary.
Benjamin simply kept on observing Shiller with his unique, cold, scrutinizing gaze that only an agent possesses. Shiller returned his gaze, his face expressionless, as if he were merely stating a simple fact.
"Given the circumstances, please cooperate." Benjamin still didn't make way, and Shiller too showed no intention of stepping back. Their standoff continued until Lionel came over and said to Benjamin with a smile,
"Benjamin, allow me to introduce you. This is Professor Rodriguez. He's a world-renowned psychologist, a master of criminal psychology, who has participated in solving numerous serial murder cases... "
"Moreover, he's my invited guest of honor. I am considering hiring him to be my son's private tutor."
"My son Lex is about to come of age. I originally planned to introduce him to social circles at tonight's banquet. He's waiting upstairs in the reception room. I was thinking about introducing him to Professor Rodriguez. What do you think?"
"Mr. Luthor, I am just dedicated to my duty. The scandal from the last mayoral election in Metropolis was already a bad look. Now that something like this has happened, if we don't investigate thoroughly, do you want the whole world to laugh at us?"
"I know. Of course, I know. Benjamin, haven't you been in Metropolis long enough? We've known each other for months. Don't I know you by now?" Lionel showed no signs of getting offended at Benjamin's cold demeanor. He kept his amiable smile saying,
"But Professor Rodriguez isn't trying to leave this place; he's only going to the restroom. What's wrong with that?"
"If I let him through, in two minutes, everyone here will want to use the restroom."
"I can prove my innocence." Shiller made a startling statement, making Benjamin immediately focus his gaze on him, staring at his face intently.
"Yes, I too can vouch for that." Lionel hurriedly added, "When the body fell, Professor Rodriguez was talking with me. We were standing here in plain sight of everyone. There's no way we could have done it."
"That's not what I meant."
To Lionel's surprise, Shiller rejected Lionel's explanation. He simply looked into Benjamin's eyes, "I guess, by now, you must have used your secret wrist device to send my name to your intelligence agency."
"By now, you should've received my resume on your phone, why don't you check it."
Without moving his gaze, Benjamin silently fetched his phone out of his pocket and looked at a text message on its screen.
Midway through reading it, his fingers slightly paused, then didn't continue. He put the phone back in his pocket, looking at Shiller, "The investigation results will be out within the next five minutes at most. I expect to see you here until then."
"No problem, Mr. Lionel, would you like to join me? This might be a rare opportunity. Who knows, he might not allow anyone else to use the restroom for the rest of the night."
Ignoring both of them, Benjamin turned around and walked away. Lionel hesitated in his spot for a moment before deciding to catch up with Shiller.
"What's in your resume? Why did he agree?" Lionel turned to Shiller, asking.
"Haven't you reviewed my resume as well?"
"Oh, yes…"
"Do you think that if I were to do it, I would just simply put a bullet in his brain?"
Lionel was taken aback temporarily unable to offer a rebuttal. But soon, he remembered the wild details in Shiller's resume. He had to acknowledge that compared to the horrifying murder cases detailed in Shiller's resume, Mayor White's death was downright mediocre.
On their way to the restroom, Shiller began to muse: "A grand banquet full of laughter and merry, a myriad of elites from politics, business, and arts, omnipresent agents with unknown objectives, a corpse that fell from the sky …"
"This setting is too similar to those old-fashioned detective novels. I believe the perpetrator must be a fan of such novels."
Lionel heard Shiller murmuring to himself: "The plot is good, just that the timing is a bit off …"
"Professor Rodriguez, do you think this may be related to the serial killer, who's been active in Metropolis lately?"
Shiller shook his head, "I have not seen the crime scenes of the so-called serial murder cases, therefore, I can't be sure if they were the handiwork of a serial killer."
"What do you mean?" asked Lionel, unclear.
"There's a difference between someone who commits serial murders and a true serial killer. Real serial killers are innate murderers: cold-blooded, ruthless, they kill for enjoyment …"
"As for today…" Shiller quietly stroked his wrist, stopped at the entrance to the restroom, turned his head and said to Lionel, "Today's perpetrator was likely rather a clumsy criminal who killed for some benefit."
"How did you reach this conclusion?" Lionel wanted to know.
"Do you know what I would do if I were the perpetrator?"
Lionel looked at Shiller, "What would you do?"
Shiller turned his gaze away from him and began to speak, "At the commencement of the banquet, an emcee would introduce the key guests, correct?"
"The emcee would announce, 'Please welcome our most respected Mayor—Mr. White!', and then …"
"At that moment, our esteemed Mayor would descend from above."
Shiller turned around, presenting a chilling smile that made Lionel's hair stand on end.
"Precise, humorous, filled with drama."