"Oswald Cobblepot, you can also call me Penguin." The intruder said expressionlessly, "Nice to meet you, Professor Rodriguez. I heard you used to be a professor for the Special Agent Organization. Is that title acceptable?"
Shiller nodded and looked at Penguin, saying, "I heard you were once a mayor, so can I call you Mr. Mayor?"
"That was a long time ago." Penguin walked further in expressionlessly, gazing at the interior decor and saying, "I only served for one term and quickly stepped down, just a failed candidate."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Shiller sat down on the sofa and said, "Gotham returned to the Mafia era, most people would've elected you, yet you mysteriously lost. And after you, none of the next three mayors served their full terms. Why do you think that is?"
"You didn't come to me for this, did you?"
"I want to know who that damned Eden Killer is, and where he is now. You're friends with Batman and have been to the crime scene, you can give me an answer, can't you?"
"Can I ask why you're looking for him?"
"If he was only killing those johns and whores, I wouldn't care. But he shouldn't touch the mayor. Everyone who dies in that position deserves it; they must live until judgment day. If anyone can just kill them, Gotham will fall into chaos."
"You became mayor only to find the role was not as easy as you thought. You had too much to do, too many dangers to face, so you chose another path: to retire and hide, pushing a scapegoat to the front. Are you running out of scapegoats?"
"Tell me, where is the Eden Killer?"
"Give me the camera." Shiller said.
Penguin glanced at him and waved to his subordinates. A bodyguard took out a small camera and placed it in Shiller's hand.
"Thanks to this young lady, we have roughly figured out the truth about this serial murder case. In short, the one who targeted the mayor is not the Eden Killer, but a mimic."
"A mimic?"
"Yes, someone is imitating the Eden Killer's crimes."
"Do you think he was deliberately targeting the mayor, or did the mayor happen to be a whoremonger, so he fell within his crime range?"
"Of course, it's the former." Shiller looked at the group and said, "If the selection criteria were that simple, it wouldn't be the mayor's turn even after a few years. It means he specifically targeted the mayor."
"But why would he do that?"
"Targeting the mayor means targeting you. He must want to disturb you, distracting you and causing you headaches over the ensuing chaotic political situation after the mayor's death. As for the rest, I don't know."
"You still haven't told me where he is."
"You want the whereabouts of the Eden Killer. All I can tell you is that the Eden Killer is not just one person; technically speaking, he manipulated two people. One is now in the intensive care unit, and one is already dead. As for his real whereabouts, no one knows, and I don't either."
"Then what about the mimic who killed the murderer?"
"Nemocine." Shiller turned and looked at Nemocine, saying, "Tell this gentleman what you saw."
Nemocine still hadn't recovered because, at the moment Shiller opened the door and Penguin appeared, she realized her actions were entirely under Shiller's control. It was she who orchestrated the current situation.
Why did Penguin show up?
Because he wanted to know the information from the crime scene.
Why did Penguin want to know the crime scene information?
Because the mayor is dead, and he has that camera that can serve as evidence. He wants to find the murderer who killed the mayor.
Where did the camera come from?
He got it from Ross.
Why did he go to Ross?
Because of myself. Because I suggested telling Penguin about Ross' whereabouts, hoping they'd destroy each other.
The reason Penguin was investigating the mayor's case was at its root that he didn't know the specifics about the Eden Killer and didn't know Covens was dead.
So why didn't he know?
Because his informant in the police department was controlled.
Why was the informant controlled?
Again because of myself. Because I told Gordon that someone would take the camera off Covens, allowing him to lay an ambush in advance, giving Ross the chance to frame the big guy informant, leading Penguin's informant to be captured, hence he couldn't find out about the internal situation in the police department.
In other words, now that Penguin was here, it was entirely because of her own two suggestions.
But now, Nemocine realized that those deductions she thought were successful and her suggestions were not from her own mind at all. She was so easily guided and manipulated by Shiller.
She realized the issue with the surveillance camera because Shiller told her a ridiculous conclusion through some kind of spiritual analysis, and then let her deduce from that conclusion. She wanted Penguin Man to drive a tiger to swallow a wolf because Shiller suggested that Gordon send the police to protect Ross, which led her to this logic.
The one who truly wanted Penguin Man to come over was Shiller, but Shiller did nothing to make it all seem like a coincidence.
And now, she's making herself hypothesize about the copycat in front of Penguin Man, knowing full well she can't say anything because if the envelope knife issue comes up, Shiller would undoubtedly be a suspect. If Penguin Man suspects he is the copycat, what would they do?
Nemocine felt it was a trap, even if she told Penguin Man the truth, he wouldn't be able to do anything to Shiller, and she would end up being the one in trouble. She could only choose to conceal.
Nemocine provided Penguin Man with physical characteristics identical to the information given to Gordon, omitting anything related to the envelope knife, and then Penguin Man left.
Nemocine was completely puzzled. Why did Shiller call Penguin Man over? They didn't make a deal, discuss terms, or talk about any secrets; Penguin Man just left.
No, they did make a deal. Nemocine looked at Shiller, who was holding a small surveillance camera. So, Shiller just wanted to get that camera?
Nemocine couldn't help but feel it was absurd. For a moment, she even thought Shiller was the Eden Killer, wanting to gain pleasure from the murder scenes captured by the camera, but she knew that wasn't the case. So why did Shiller want the camera?
And Penguin Man, it seemed that he wanted to trouble the copycat, not to threaten him to kill but just didn't want big figures like the mayor to die again. What the hell, since when did this mob boss become so righteous?
"Sit down, miss. You must be very curious about Penguin Man, right?"
Nemocine actually wanted to say she was more curious about Shiller, but considering the current situation, she said nothing and just sat down opposite Shiller, wanting to hear what he had to say.
"Being the mayor of Gotham City is not that easy. Penguin Man realized this shortly after becoming mayor. He seems to be very glamorous, but in fact, constant assassinations and terrorist attacks abound, so he chose to go underground, putting up a few puppets to help him solve this problem, and the current mayor is one of them."
"Until now, apart from the current mayor, each of his puppets lived until they were no longer needed. But the copycat murderer killed the current mayor and might kill other big figures. Among them are also Penguin Man's puppets, and Penguin Man doesn't want to see such things happen, so he must solve this copycat."
Nemocine easily understood. She thought Penguin Man was an eager mob boss, but in fact, he was the uncrowned king of Gotham, and these two types of people have different behavioral logic.
New generations seek opportunities to ascend, while rulers just want stability. If Penguin Man is the latter, then the reason he stops the killer is only that he doesn't want chaos in Gotham. Only stability can extend his rule.
So he didn't care about that camera at all; he's not Batman, needing evidence to sentence someone to death. As long as he finds the exact location, he definitely won't let that killer walk out alive, so he handed the camera to Shiller effortlessly in exchange for some clues about the killer.
Any deduction has limitations, primarily from the deducer's amount of knowledge and insight. Facing the same matter, even with the same IQ, the truth a primary school student deduces can be entirely different from Batman's, just because the former and the latter have tremendous differences in their knowledge reserves.
So this is still the lack of knowledge reserve. Nemocine sighed in her heart. She is just an orphan abandoned by a foster family, where would she go to know Penguin Man's real status?
No, Nemocine thought, she could actually know, just by asking James Gordon. This commissioner has been dominating Gotham for decades, even Penguin Man can only rely on informants to gather information about his domain and absolutely cannot force his way in.
She previously just regarded Gordon as a stupid, verbose, slow-minded old stubborn.
Or there's another chance, which is to listen to Shiller finish his story of first meeting Batman, although she may not hear information about Penguin Man, perhaps she can deduce something from the state of Gotham's upper class society.
However, she was just focused on cracking new cases, not only failing to finish listening to the story but also not carefully observing Shiller himself, not even noticing the absence of vases in the house, let alone hearing the inducements in his words earlier, resulting in all the blame being piled onto her now.
Nemocine let out a long sigh and sat dejectedly on the sofa, not saying a word.
Then she saw Shiller pull out a computer, importing the video files from the camera into it. From the glare of the glasses, one could see the video files playing, while Shiller remained expressionless.
This proved that he indeed wasn't the Eden Killer, at least not someone who enjoys watching crime scenes. If not, why did he want this thing?
Countless clues swirled in Nemocine's mind, colliding, shattering, and reassembling. Realizing her own arrogance, she couldn't help but recall the conversation between Gordon and Shiller she overheard before.
"Loneliness and learning." She whispered softly, "The Eden Killer needs crime videos to learn..."
Crime videos are useless to Shiller, but he went to such great lengths to get hold of the videos. Is he trying to send the videos to the Eden Killer to let him learn?
Nemocine felt a cold sweat instantly trickle down her spine. Damn it, could Shiller possibly enjoy grooming killers?
Nemocine linked it to her own experience. The moment she chose to hide the murder clues from Gordon, she was no longer innocent. A person's bottom line can be constantly lowered, from concealment to assistance to action, it probably doesn't take long.
Originally there was still a glimmer of hope, but just now she chose to conceal things from Penguin Man as well. Once the truth is known, when this underground king forces her to the end of the road, can she really refrain from committing crimes?
If that is indeed the case, what else can she do?
Who else can she rely on?
Who can she seek help from?
Who can help her?
In that instant, Nemocine clearly heard the name echoing in her heart—"Batman."