amaotonovel Chapter 4481 The Darkest Night (9)
Chapter 4481 The Darkest Night (9)
Chapter 4481 The Darkest Night (Part 9)
"It's a logical deduction, but it still leaves me feeling somewhat bewildered. Like dawn, when the sky is just breaking, some people can't adjust to the light and instead find the deep darkness more reassuring. Rodriguez doesn't seem to think that way; he adapted quickly, but perhaps, in those dark times, he was more deeply involved than I was. Those thrilling events that could fill a memoir have vanished, and when I talk to him about them, it's all just a joke, leaving only a few traces in fragments. Could this be the reason he treats the case with such calmness and indifference? Nobody knows. Even if we could be considered friends, I can't say for sure. This solitary gentleman is like the morning mist of Gotham, obscure and unfathomable."
“I’ll have Milos and Perlotta interrogated,” Gordon said. “With Brainiac around, they won’t get away. But don’t get your hopes up for their confessions. Brainiac forbids torture, not even soft torture. We don’t have much room to maneuver; it’s best to get some solid evidence to get them to talk.”
“This is a real pain,” Jonathan said. “If we take the security cameras out of the Gotham Police Department’s ventilation system maintenance room, we’ll have the answer tonight.”
“Then you can forget about ever leaving your nature reserve again,” Schiller said coldly, “Brainiac.”
Brainiac beeped twice, acknowledging his statement. Jonathan rolled his eyes, looked Schiller up and down, and said, "Alright, great detective Rodriguez, I'd like to see what you can deduce."
“I’m sorry, but you’re not my assistant, Mr. Frith. Let’s go back to the office; I need to think about this.”
With that, he turned and left. Victor quickly followed. Soon they were back in Schiller's office. Victor looked him up and down, and Schiller asked, "What are you looking for?"
“I think this is missing a felt board,” Victor said, pointing to the wall next to the desk. “Detectives all have a board like this, where they pin all sorts of photos and draw lines in the middle.”
"What photo?"
"Uh, all sorts of clues and evidence."
"Do you think I need these?" Schiller asked, looking up at him as he took off his coat.
"I couldn't help but pat my forehead. I guess the night's hectic pace had left me a bit dizzy. I know it's incredible; no one would believe it if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes. But our Mr. Rodriguez possesses a rather peculiar reasoning ability. He calls it 'psychoanalysis,' which he claims is a method he developed himself and that only he can use freely. After truly witnessing the power of this method, I have to admit that this aloof gentleman is not the eccentric genius that the general public perceives him to be."
Victor read aloud what he had written. Schiller sighed and said, "Does it have to be compared to 'deductive reasoning' like this? Who told you that psychoanalysis was my own creation and that only I can use it?"
“I’m referring to your psychoanalysis,” Victor said. “Honestly, I’ve met so many psychology students, including the genius Jenna you always talk about, but no one can compare to your psychic abilities.”
"I'll take that as a compliment." Schiller sat down at his desk and stared at the white wall without the felt panel for a while.
He turned and met Victor's intrigued gaze. Schiller cleared his throat, and just as Victor thought he was about to begin his deduction... a psychic reading, Schiller said, "Mr. Frith, what are your thoughts on this case?"
Victor was taken aback. He said, "I'm deducing?"
"How long has it been since you've really used your brain?" Schiller asked.
“I use my brain every day, okay? It’s not just getting involved in a murder case and becoming a detective or suspect that counts as mental work. That’s a complete stereotype about Gotham people!”
"A haven of gentle pleasures, a graveyard for heroes..."
“Alright, alright, I can't just reason it out, can I? Just don't let Nora hear this.” Victor sat down opposite Schiller. He thought for a moment, then said, “I don’t know anything about psychoanalysis; I can only work based on the existing clues and evidence. I think the key issue is the timeline you mentioned earlier.”
"Around 2 a.m., Gordon called to tell me that Chick was dead. I arrived around 2:10 a.m. and froze the body. Although I don't have much experience in this area, I could tell that Chick had been dead for a short time, probably around 1 a.m."
“Gotham University isn’t far from that villa in the South District, and there’s no traffic at night, so the round trip should be quick. Let’s ignore the time for now. In other words, the killer must have killed Chick around 1 a.m.
"But this raises a problem: Milos, the prime suspect, was in his school dormitory around 1 a.m., and Brainiac did not photograph him leaving. This is the most crucial piece of evidence in his favor—evidence that is almost an alibi provided by Brainiac."
“Assuming Milos is indeed the murderer, then Chik shouldn’t have died around 1 a.m. Of course, it’s impossible for him to have died later, because we would have arrived by then, and I was certain he was dead when I froze him. So it must be earlier, and his time of death should be earlier than 1 a.m..”
"Because the Christmas ball is approaching, the students are practicing dancing until very late. The activity room closes at midnight, and many people practice until just before closing time before returning to their dorms. That's when the most people leave the classroom and return to their dorms. Milos should be among them. Only then is it convenient for him to go out and make his move without being caught on camera by Brainiac."
"So how exactly did they manage to go out and make their move before midnight, only to have someone die after 1 a.m.? The key must lie in what you mentioned, Chick's peculiar way of dying."
"I suspect that he used a rope to create some kind of mechanism to suspend Chik, but instead of killing him immediately, he slowly lowered him. He was already hanging outside before midnight, and was only strangled around 1 a.m. This way, the time of death could be faked."
"As for how he got to Chick's house and successfully returned to school without being discovered by Brainiac, he either hitchhiked or used a snowplow. I don't have a map of the snowplow's route, but I've observed Gotham University's snowplows. They're operated automatically by Brainiac and run 24/7, without any security cameras. Brainiac doesn't need such a rudimentary method as visual images to judge obstacles. So if he were hiding in the snowplow, it might actually be a case of being blind to one's own danger."
“However, snowplows are very slow, so the round trip time can’t be ignored, and it might not match the time we agreed on before.” Victor sighed and said, “I don’t understand that either. Anyway, I’m still not very good at murder cases. After all, I don’t need such complicated methods to kill people, and I don’t even think about these things.”
“Yes, you just need to be a good shot,” Schiller said. “Oh no, you don’t need to be a good shot. You also have a large-scale cryogenic device.”
“You still need to be a good shot. I’ll go practice tomorrow,” Victor said. “After all, a detective needs a skilled assistant. If you’re not a good shot, then I’ll have to do it.”
Seeing Schiller's rather helpless expression, Victor laughed. He said, "Maybe I can actually make a small fortune from your collection of detective stories."
“Alright, let’s get serious,” Schiller said. “The reasoning about time makes a lot of sense. But the biggest problem is how to get out of Brainiac’s sight.”
"Moreover, the shared villa was crowded and full of people. Although it was late at night, the fact that they discovered the body so quickly, instead of waiting until the next morning, shows that some of them had irregular sleep schedules. But that's not surprising, as some manual laborers work night shifts. Under these circumstances, it would be very difficult to sneak in and kill someone."
"Also, the small area that Chick's family fenced off was divided into two rooms. He lived on the side by the window, and his mother lived on the other side. Although it was called two rooms, it wasn't very soundproof. If someone really broke in and killed someone, Chick's mother would probably have heard it."
“When I arrived, Chick’s mother had already been taken to the police station. She was too emotionally unstable and even tried to attack the police. Gordon had no choice but to take her back first. This proves that there must have been no warning beforehand, and she didn’t hear anything.”
Schiller nodded and said, "So, avoiding Brainiac's sight and rushing straight into Chick's house to hang him is something a normal person couldn't do. But Milos shouldn't be a superhuman; his behavior doesn't seem like it."
"How to say?"
"He dumped Chik, but he's blaming you. That's not right. Usually, a confident person wouldn't dump someone and then have to come up with an excuse. And the fact that he's blaming you instead of Chik makes it seem like you're easier to bully than Chik."
“That’s true,” Schiller interrupted Victor’s rebuttal, saying directly, “He shifted the blame onto you, and you couldn’t do anything about it. But if he dared to shift the blame onto Chick, Chick would definitely make a scene. He’s clearly afraid of Chick’s tantrums and threats. That’s not like the behavior of a superhuman.”
Victor nodded; that made some sense. The main reason was that Brainiac now placed great importance on people with superpowers. Victor himself was an ordinary person, only distinguished by his achievements in low-temperature physics, yet he received unimaginable care and preferential treatment. Brainiac would find a way to solve almost any problems he encountered in his life. If Chick had gone too far, Brainiac would definitely stop him. It was precisely because of this murder case that Brainiac valued it so much, preventing Victor from easily extricating himself. If it was still a fake suicide, Chick would be the one suffering.
If Milos truly is a superhuman, he has the means to do as he pleases. While hurting others' feelings is wrong, if Chick becomes overly persistent, Brainiac will find a way to smooth things over for him. Milos has no need to shirk responsibility. His evasive behavior is itself a sign of insecurity.
"How did he do that?" Victor asked.
“He doesn’t need to do it himself.” Schiller seemed ready to reveal the answer. He said, “While Chick doesn’t seem suicidal in front of us, he might be in a different situation with his ex-boyfriend. With a little verbal manipulation and some suicide techniques, he might actually commit suicide.”
"You mean, Milos induced Chick to commit suicide?"
Schiller nodded and said, "Since we managed to keep it from Brainiac, it couldn't have been through internet communication. The problem must lie in the time between Chick leaving us and him going home. If we can prove that the two of them met during that period, the probability of it being a induced suicide is very high."
Victor immediately perked up, saying, "Yes, as long as we can prove they met during this period, Milos is the prime suspect. We can use that to test him..."
Victor and Schiller stood up, grabbed their coats, and headed to the Gotham Police Department. Just as they were leaving, Schiller glanced at his watch, then at the sky outside, and frowned slightly.
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