amaotonovel Chapter 3853 The Nameless Bat (23)
Chapter 3853 The Nameless Bat (23)
Chapter 3853 The Nameless Bat (Twenty-Three)
Schiller stood before the desk in the Forensic Science Division office at the CIA Gotham base, staring at the report before him. Natasha stood to his side, her forearms crossed and resting on the desk, awaiting Schiller's conclusion.
“That’s right,” Schiller said. “The 26 cameras in the banquet hall that took the photos of you and the president showed 1.3 times more wear and tear from being rotated than all the cameras in the surrounding rooms in the week before the incident. This corroborates the conclusion you got from your psychiatrist—that the other party had no idea what would happen between the two of you, so they even adjusted the cameras in the nooks and crannies.”
“If the killer is an electronic life form, then everything makes sense,” Natasha said. “No email information can be traced, not even a trace of activity, no understanding of human sexual psychology, plus the ability to recognize me… Could it be Ultron from some universe?”
“It’s not impossible,” Schiller said, resting his hands on the edge of the table. “The question is, how did he get here?”
“That’s easy,” Natasha said. “He just needs to convince a player in the Battlegrounds to bring over a sub-server. These electronic life forms will spread across the network as quickly as cockroaches.”
"No, if that's the case, he won't target you, but me. Because my reputation in the fighting world is greater, the person who cooperates with him will definitely remind him to pay attention to me. Even if he doesn't know who Moon Knight is, he can at least recognize me by my face. There's no reason for him to ignore me and target you."
Natasha frowned, not because she disagreed, but quite the opposite. She thought Schiller made sense, which only made the identity of the mastermind seem more mysterious.
“There’s another problem,” Schiller said. “If the mastermind is determined to take pictures of the two of you, he won’t just use Wayne Enterprises’ cameras.”
"what do you mean……"
"Electronic life forms understand the importance of having sufficient redundancy. While 26 fixed cameras in a banquet hall is a lot, there are still blind spots. He probably wouldn't hack into Batman's private cameras, as that would easily increase the risk of exposure. So there's only one possibility left—that the people attending the banquet also have cameras controlled by him."
“Who could it be?” Natasha asked. “It can’t be me, because then I wouldn’t be able to appear on screen. It can’t be you or Moon Knight either, and it’s unlikely that superheroes like Superman and Wonder Woman would be involved.”
“Arkham Knight,” Schiller said. “Although he wasn’t wearing his full suit that day, he was wearing a belt with a camera on it, and because of their past enmity, he wasn’t on the same system as Batman. He might have been using the Oracle’s system.”
"'Prophet'? Whose code name is that?"
“Barbara Gordon,” Schiller exclaimed, his eyes wide. “Quickly, send men to the clock tower to protect Barbara Gordon!”
Schiller quickly donned his parka, but instead of rushing out with Natasha and the CIA agents, he hurried to the interrogation room. The Arkham Knight was speaking with the agents at the door.
"So I can leave now? Seriously, you've locked me up here for so many days for such a small thing. I'm starting to think I'm a spy."
“I’m sorry, Mr. Todd. You must remain here to cooperate with the investigation until we completely clear the main suspect of suspicion. However, now that the main suspect has been released, you can leave. If you have any objections, you can choose to file a lawsuit or complain to the relevant authorities, but I really can’t give you any explanation beyond my duties.”
"Fine, I won't make things difficult for you little minions, but don't let me run into you causing trouble in Gotham..."
"Jason!"
Schiller's voice made the Arkham Knight stumble back more than two meters. He stood there shouting at Schiller, "Don't move! Don't move!!!"
Schiller had to stop a few meters away from him and then said, "The mastermind behind the sabotage of diplomatic relations between the United States and Amazonia, and the creation of the scandal involving the president and Mrs. Romanov, is very likely an electronic life form capable of manipulating electronic devices. On the day of the banquet, which system did the cameras on the equipment you carried belong to?"
These words were so overwhelming that Arkham Knight's brain momentarily went blank, but he quickly recovered and exclaimed, "'Prophet'! Barbara is in danger!"
The Arkham Knight sped away, but Schiller didn't chase after him. Instead, he pressed his earpiece and said, "Stop Jason Todd."
The Arkham Knight didn't even get downstairs before he was stopped by heavily armed agents. He turned to Schiller and said, "Let me out. I need to find Barbara!"
“The CIA has already gone.” Schiller walked up to him quickly and said, “Given the way the mastermind has done things before, I have reason to suspect that this was a trap to lure you there. Now, go to the medical center and find Batman. Leave the rest to us.”
The Arkham Knight clenched his fist, standing motionless. Schiller walked towards him, and he took two steps back. Schiller opened his hand with a hint of exasperation; in his hand was a Bluetooth headset.
Arkham Knight cautiously approached, picked up the earpiece, and then darted back. He placed the earpiece to his ear, and the deep voice of Arkham Batman came through:
“Come here, Jason, I need to talk to you.”
The Arkham Knight swallowed hard, but still had to head towards the medical center, turning back as he went to say, "You'll keep Barbara safe, right?"
“We will do our best,” Schiller said.
In fact, after the Arkham Knight left, Schiller told the person in the headset: "Be vigilant. Barbara Gordon may not be an enemy. She can do anything that cyber life forms can do."
Natasha had already reached the entrance of the Clock Tower base. Hearing the words coming through the earpiece, she narrowed her eyes slightly, reviewing the whole incident again. Aside from the conclusion drawn by greed, the other suspect profiles perfectly matched the image of a 'skilled hacker.' If Barbara Gordon was a hacker comparable to Batman, then the elusive emails and the manipulated cameras could very well be her doing.
Holding her guns in both hands, Natasha gave her subordinates a signal, and the assault team moved to the door and began ramming it. The old door didn't hold for long, and it was smashed open in two blows. After everyone rushed inside, there was no one in the base.
The old room was slightly damp from the recent rain. The calendar on the wall had stopped a few months ago, and there were only some expired documents on the table. The computer screen and case were cold and unused; no one had used them for at least a few hours, and there was no sign of Barbara Gordon.
Natasha searched the room but found nothing unusual. Then she turned on her flashlight and searched carefully, finally finding a red hair at the edge of the carpet. It certainly wasn't her hair; it was more likely Barbara Gordon's.
Half an hour later, in the technical department office, Schiller picked up the hair with his gloved hands. In that instant, a sudden inspiration struck him:
"Is Abidonis's lover a redhead?"
Natasha and Schiller exchanged a glance.
Natasha turned to her subordinates and said, "Go and investigate thoroughly what's going on with Abedonis's lover. If possible, detain him."
The subordinate went out to carry out the order, but returned shortly afterward. He said, "All the information we received about Mr. Abedonis's mistress came from Mrs. Abedonis. She said she had seen her a few times from afar, but..."
"but what?"
"Apart from that, there is no information. Mr. Abedonis himself is dead, his colleagues and friends have never seen this mysterious lover, and no surveillance footage of her was found at the location where Mrs. Abedonis was seen."
Even if they've been dating for several years?
“No,” the subordinate said, “that mysterious redhead is just one of his many lovers. Abidonis has other lovers, so the length of his history of infidelity is not consistent with the length of his relationship with the redhead. It is not possible to determine at the moment when he and the redhead began their relationship.”
"Bang!" Natasha slammed her fist on the table. "What am I supposed to do if you can't even confirm anything?"
The room fell silent for a moment. The subordinate realized he might have given a misleading report, so he quickly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "Barbara Gordon is disabled; she cannot walk normally and is confined to a wheelchair. However, according to Mrs. Abedonis's eyewitness report, the redhead lover can walk freely and has no leg problems."
Natasha did not respond; she was simply thinking: Lady Abedonis killed Abedonis and attacked her as she went to the scene of the crime, and she claimed it was because she resembled one of Mr. Abedonis's lovers.
Upon first hearing the above facts, people would naturally assume that Mrs. Abedonis attacked her because she hated her husband's infidelity and was jealous of Mr. Abedonis's mistress.
But what if the motivation is different?
Lady Abedonis wanted to kill herself because she mistook her for her lover, but her real motive wasn't about feelings; she had another reason—she had a compelling reason to kill her lover.
Or perhaps the affair between Abedonis and the red-haired woman was fabricated. They may have met, and Lady Abedonis may have seen them, but their relationship was not romantic; rather, it was something else entirely.
Even though Abedonis was dead, Lady Abedonis could not tell the truth and could only cover it up by citing personal feelings.
This aligns with what their daughter said—their previous arguments weren't due to feelings, but rather to certain interests. This red-haired woman may also have been involved in their conflict of interest.
Could it be Barbara Gordon?
“No, that’s not right,” Schiller suddenly said. “It’s not Barbara Gordon.”
"You can read minds too?" Natasha couldn't help but ask, because the above deductions were all in her mind, and Schiller just happened to answer her question.
“That doesn’t matter,” Schiller added. “This so-called redheaded lover of Abedonis is not Barbara Gordon, but some people want us to think she is.”
“How come you see?”
“Don’t rush,” Schiller said. “Have your men collected footprint samples inside the bell tower?”
Natasha nodded and said, "The technical staff have already gone there, and we should have results soon."
Soon, there was a knock on the door of the technical department office. A technician came in with a report and said, "We found six unfamiliar footprints at the scene, arranged in a walking pattern, and the footprints belong to Barbara Gordon."