Investigating a case in 1989 was a very troublesome affair, because at that time, many technical means were not so developed. Even though Metropolis was one of the most advanced cities in the world, the number of cameras and dash cams here was less than 1% of what it would be in the 21st century.
This led to the surveillance footage that could provide direct clues were mostly insignificant.
And due to the consistently good public security in Metropolis, many cameras were not put to use, no one bothered to maintain them. Lex had just taken over the Luthor Family not long ago, he did not have the time, like Bruce, to install cameras at every corner of Gotham, and then spend even more time maintaining them.
This resulted in their investigation methods leaning more towards being primitive detectives, that is, conducting field investigations, interrogating witnesses, narrowing down suspect range, and finally assembling them for individual interrogations, to find clues from testimonies.
While Bruce was conducting on-site investigations at three companies, Lex went to the Metropolitan Police Department. In the surveillance room, he witnessed the professional interrogation of the suspects.
Among them were three cleaners, a bank employee, a security guard from the Parlo Company, and a security guard near the banker's villa. This group includes all the final witnesses and the first eyewitnesses at the crime scene.
The Metropolitan Police Department was much more spacious and brighter, and there were not those faded stains on the walls. Even the interrogation expert was relatively friendly. Using his professional knowledge learned from school, he repeated certain questions in order, helping the subjects recall more details.
In the backstage surveillance room, with the police chief, Lex turned to the chief and said: "This damned killer caused the Luther Group to lose a big order. As soon as the bank president took my money, he died. I will not let this murderer go."
"Mr. Luthor, rest assured, such a vicious case in Metropolis must have attracted the attention of Congress by now, and more professional personnel will be assigned to handle this matter."
"I just want results," Lex said expressionlessly. "Luther Group expects a return every minute invested, if not..."
Lex turned his head to the police chief, who knew what he was saying. He had also taken money from the Luther Group. If he couldn't help Luther Group to smooth things out, Lex had his ways to make him regret it.
Just then, a series of urgent footsteps came from outside. The footsteps were very steady, and the intervals between each step were very even, showing that the comer was well-trained.
"Knock, knock, knock." The door was knocked. The officer standing by the door opened it. A female police officer with a heroic posture walked in. She first shook hands with the police chief, who introduced Angela Dodgson, a detective, to Lex with a smile. "She's a local Metropolis, has been transferred around various police stations, and has cracked several serial murder cases. She's a powerful assistant I specifically asked for."
Seeing Lex, the female detective known as Angela frowned. Lex's appearance was that of a teenager; he didn't seem like he should be here. The police chief quickly introduced, "This is Mr. Luthor, who has contributed a lot to the work of the Metropolitan Police Department."
"The victim of this bank president is his friend. They have business cooperations, so he is very worried and wants to come and see..."
"You should know that the backstage of the police station's interrogation room is not a place anyone can enter, right?" Angela showed no mercy. She turned to look at the police chief, but the latter retreated half a step, laughing a bit awkwardly, saying, "I'll take him out."
After taking Lex outside, he sighed, rolled his eyes, and Lex asked him, "Why are you so afraid of her? You're the chief, and she's just a detective. What can she do to you?"
The police chief quickly looked around and signaled Lex to lower his voice. He said, "You don't know how tough this female detective is. She's a well-known detective specializing in pursuing serial killers."
"Star City, Rushing City, Central City... all major cases over the years have involved her. Wherever there is a serious case, she'll be asked to go."
The chief sighed and said, "Mr. Luthor, I know you have high hopes for me, but Metropolis has been peaceful for too long. My subordinates and I are clueless facing this serious case. If we don't get a professional, I don't know when we can crack this case."
Lex also sighed and talked to the chief as they walked out, "This deal is the most important one since I took over Luther Group. Now with this blow, the pressure I'm facing is also huge."
The police chief patted his shoulder, and thenLex asked again, "I heard that the second victim was the female boss of the Parlo Company. I've heard about this company. Their family specializes in producing raw materials for cleaning agents. What's the story? What is her connection with the bank president?"
The police chief shook his head and said, "It's still that issue with the new chemical factory, didn't you hear about it before? Snow Mountain Company, as well as many cleaning companies around Metropolis, have placed large orders with Parlo Company. But as the orders increased, the production capacity became insufficient. So, Parlo Company planned to build a chemical factory in the western suburbs of Metropolis."
"You know that place, right? It used to be a psychiatric hospital. Parlo Company bought that piece of land, and the loan has been approved, ready for renovation at any time. But who knew that the owner would face a sudden disaster..."
The police chief shook his head, seemingly regretful, Lex quietly noted down this information. After leaving the police station, he returned to the laboratory under Luthor Manor. At this time, Bruce was already waiting for him in the manor.
Bruce inserted a data storage device into the computer's port. It contained the clues he obtained from his investigation.
As he played these images and texts, Bruce explained, "I first went to Snow Mountain Cleaning Company. The defense system of this company was extremely lax. The entire company only had three cameras, two of which were broken. The surveillance room was practically just for show."
"Moreover, among the nearly 2,000 employees of their company, more than half are cleaners. Because there are too many people, they are not familiar with each other. Moreover, when working, they are divided into indoor working groups and outdoor working groups, those with high-altitude operation qualifications and those without qualifications do not work together. There are also many outsourced technical personnel. The personnel management is in a mess."
"So, if a stranger infiltrates, they won't be detected?" Lex asked.
Bruce nodded and said, "Their drivers and technicians, and so on, all wear the same uniform. It's even simpler pretending to be a driver or technician because these two types of workers do not have fixed teams. They don't know each other at all."
"Snow Mountain Company isn't much of an issue. I've looked into their accounts and the finances of their leadership. Everything seems normal," Bruce finally summarised.
"As for Parlo Company…" Bruce paused before adding, "like anywhere else, they don't have a single camera. There's no way to examine how the murderer moved the body onto the roof before throwing it down."
"However, when I investigated their finances, I noticed that their orders had increased drastically of late. Many cleaning companies, represented by Snow Mountain Company, have been purchasing cleaning solvent ingredients from them."
"To this end, they applied for a loan from Central Bank to renovate the West Suburb Psychiatric Hospital in Metropolis and convert it into a new chemical plant," Lex continued Bruce's explanation.
Both men paused before Bruce spoke again, "All the leads point back to the bank's transaction with Parlo Company and Snow Mountain Company, which in turn points to the proposed chemical factory. The factory points towards the mental hospital."
"If the murderer is trying to lure us to this mental hospital, then what exactly could be there?" questioned Lex.
"Grab your stuff. Let's go and see. I'm guessing there might be some secret hidden there. A secret for which the murderer is willing to repeatedly take high risks."
The car sped through the night in Metropolis, passing under the bright lights before heading towards the dark outskirts of the city.
A faint sound of braking echoed as Bruce alighted from the car and remarked, "Your car is incredibly shoddy."
Lex also got out of the car and glanced at his luxury vehicle, recalling the Batmobile that Bruce had once driven.
Uncharacteristically, rather than arguing with Bruce, Lex decided that he too needed to get a car like the Batmobile. His luxury car may have been impressive, but it had nothing on the Batmobile in terms of practicality.
Batman walked ahead and looked at the damp ground beneath him. The soil was unusually wet, perhaps due to the abundant underground water near the coastline.
Ahead lay the psychiatric hospital in their line of sight. The relatively newly built hospital was lit in a few places, but most windows were pitch dark.
As they approached, Bruce noticed something unusual. He haltingly prevented Lex from moving and pointed out, "Look there, armed guards… That's not normal."
"Why would a remote psychiatric hospital have more security measures than banks and corporate buildings in the city centre?" Bruce squinted towards the mental hospital and said to Lex, "Let's go. We will sneak in through the side door."
Simultaneously, Angela, a policewoman monitoring the interrogation room, heard a string of hurried footsteps outside the room. With a bang, the door flew open, and a cop rushed in yelling, "Third... the third murder... Snow Mountain Company…Quick!"
Angela immediately reached for her sidearm. After loading her gun, she sprinted out of the police station, hopped into a patrol car and, followed by flashing blue lights and the shrill whistle of a siren, pulled up in front of the Snow Mountain building.
At that moment, a figure sat in the middle of the road. His arms were missing, and he was strapped to the back of a chair with wire.
As the police poured out of the car, they secured the area around the body. Angela stepped out of the car and briskly approached when suddenly, the body twitched.
Angela immediately froze and took aim. She moved slowly towards the body, and by the time she reached the stairs of the entrance, she saw that the armless man bound to the chair was still alive.
His mouth and throat were stretched to the limit, stuffed full with something, his lips sewn shut with wire.
He was turning blue-green, seemingly choking, his abdomen stretched high as if something were moving inside.
The man writhed in unimaginable agony, emitting faint sounds of choked breaths. Angela, chancing a rescue, closed the distance but when she was about a meter from the man, his stomach exploded.
Blood and flesh splattered around, falling less than ten centimeters before Angela. The perpetrator's control over the distance was enormously precise, keeping her untouched by any blood splatter.
When the man's stomach burst, Angela could clearly see rodents crawling amidst the gory mess. His distended abdomen had been stuffed full with rats.