bookbashuk Chapter 4484 The Darkest Night (2)
Chapter 4484 The Darkest Night (2)
Chapter 4484 The Darkest Night (Part Twelve)
The car pulled over to the side of the road. As soon as Victor got out, he covered his nose. A thick, pungent smell of blood filled the air. He frowned deeply. Gotham's streets hadn't smelled this strong of blood in a long time; it probably dates back to the gang wars of the mob era, where at least three or four people would have to be killed to produce such an odor.
"Are you sure only Perrotta died?" Victor couldn't help but ask into the phone. "The others weren't seriously injured either?"
Brainiac didn't answer. Schiller and Victor quickly arrived at the transport vehicle. It lay overturned on the ground, the stench of blood emanating from it. Before Victor could even see inside, he heard Schiller, standing before the vehicle, whisper, "...'The Hound of the Baskervilles'."
"What?" Victor looked at him.
Schiller looked back at him and said, "Here comes the classic chapter you wanted."
He stepped aside to let Victor pass. The moment Victor walked over, his pupils contracted sharply. There were no intact bodies inside the transport vehicle. Perot was scattered throughout, as if torn to pieces by something.
Upon closer inspection, the most obvious feature was the scratch on her chest. It was absolutely impossible for someone to have done it—unless a person could grow claws longer than 15 inches, there was no way they could leave such a scratch.
The wound was so deep that bone was visible; to be precise, a claw almost pierced through the lung. If the ribs hadn't been strong and intact, the torso could have been split in two. The remaining part was similarly damaged. Besides the claw marks, there were also teeth marks. Those teeth marks looked like they were left by a saber-toothed tiger. More importantly, there was a huge footprint next to the car, at least 10 inches in diameter.
Just as Victor was stunned by the horrific crime scene, a low, mournful whimper suddenly rang out in the distance. The sound carried a terrifying desolation, startling Victor into taking a few steps back and looking in that direction.
But there was nothing there, only thick clouds stretching into the distance, and the darkness behind the clouds where the sun still couldn't see the light of day.
“Good heavens,” Victor exclaimed from the bottom of his heart, “I shouldn’t have been so obsessed with Sherlock Holmes. Have we really summoned that Hound of the Baskervilles?!”
"Your brain still isn't working very well," Schiller commented calmly. "Do we really need to recruit the Demon Hound from Baskerville? I'm sure Gotham's mutated stray dogs are just as good."
Victor slapped himself on the forehead.
"While Rodriguez is telling the truth, I must point out that he's being far too calm. We'll talk about the mutated stray dog in Gotham later. Judging solely from the claw marks and footprints, the horrible creature that killed Perrotta was at least six feet tall—if it was a dog, its shoulder height would be as tall as a human's. That's unimaginably enormous and terrifying. While it might not have been able to compete with the King of the Seagulls and Caesar's Cat in the Dark Ages, in Brainiac's time, it was an unimaginably terrifying monster. And, to intimidate us, it deliberately emitted a chilling howl from afar. This proves it was a cunning beast."
Victor scratched his head hard and said, "Why did this monster attack Perrotta? Why did it..."
The question Victor didn't ask aloud was, of course, why it had caused such a tragedy. Such a ferocious beast could kill with a single swipe of its claws; to make it so horrific was clearly intentional.
Victor looked at Schiller and said, "Isn't it a bit too much for you to have so many psychic sessions in one night?"
Schiller shook his head and readily agreed, saying, "This wasn't an act of violent venting. There was no atmosphere of hatred in the carriage, and the killer was still rational. It's not hard to see that there were other police officers in the carriage besides Perlotta. Only she was injured, while the others were unharmed. This proves that the killer only targeted Perlotta."
"My God, won't those officers be insane when they wake up?"
“It might be possible with a new recruit,” Schiller said, “but Gordon generally doesn’t assign new recruits to escort him. If it’s a veteran cop, he’s seen too many big scenes, it’s nothing to him.”
"If it wasn't a deliberate act of venting anger, how could it have turned out like this?"
"Remember? The car overturned. And judging from the marks on the road, it rolled several times. During the shaking, the perpetrator was like someone launching an attack inside a washing machine, unable to fully control themselves, which is why it turned out like this."
Schiller then turned to the car door and said, "The door shows no signs of damage, proving he didn't ambush us midway, but rather got in long ago. These marks are clearly not something a humanoid creature could leave, proving he has shapeshifting abilities. The police confirmed with Brainiac that there were no issues, proving he didn't get in as a human. To get in in another form undetected proves he can transform into something very small, possibly even smaller beast-like forms. This proves the killer has the ability to switch forms between different wild animals."
“The rollover incident was also very strange. The road conditions were pretty good, there was no danger.” Schiller opened his phone, glanced at the footage from the dashcam and webcam that Brainiac had sent him, and said, “It turns out the road was icy, causing the car’s front axle to lose control. But the way the ice formed is even stranger. It’s still snowing heavily, and the snow layer is almost a foot thick. In this situation, it’s very difficult for the tires to make direct contact with the ice, unless someone poured water to create ice. Therefore, it couldn’t have been done by one person. There were at least two perpetrators: one responsible for causing the car accident, and the other responsible for the murder.”
"Since the murderer might be a superhuman, we can infer that the one who caused the car accident also is. After all, to splash water so precisely outside of dashcam and camera cameras is beyond the capabilities of an ordinary person. So, one of these two superhumans can control water, and the other can transform into a beast..."
Schiller stopped, and Victor looked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
“Although I didn’t see any signs of venting my anger in the carriage, I think the posture of the corpse has some symbolic meaning. The possibility of a human disguising themselves as an animal to commit the crime cannot be ruled out.” Schiller then changed the subject, saying, “The claw marks on the chest, especially the attack on the lungs, seem to be deliberate. The footprints under the carriage are also peculiar, appearing to have been left intentionally. Together, these constitute something akin to a ritual…”
Victor's eyes lit up instantly, and he exclaimed, "Could it be an old-fashioned murder case?!"
"Perhaps."
After saying that, Schiller glanced at Victor and said, "Why didn't you write it down?"
Victor paused for a moment, then said, "Sorry, I got really engrossed. But I think it would be better to hear the complete reasoning before writing it down..."
"There is no complete reasoning; that's all."
"Why?" Victor asked. "Didn't you already deduce the superpower? If you just deduce the motive a little more, the murderer will be obvious."
Schiller put a hand on Victor's shoulder and said, "I know you're saddened by the loss of your student."
"Uh, thank you for your comforting words, I feel much better."
"I mean, you've just lost your student, so don't make me lose mine too."
Victor watched Schiller's departing figure, somewhat bewildered.
The police had already set up a cordon. Gordon crossed the line, looked at Victor, and asked, "What did the great detective say? Can I see your notes?"
Victor handed over his notebook, then roughly repeated Schiller's words, saying, "He thinks this is a classic old-fashioned murder. The perpetrator may have been trying to stage it as a wild animal attack to convey some kind of symbolism..."
Victor stopped talking mid-sentence. Gordon looked at him and asked, "What's the meaning?"
"It's nothing, never mind."
Victor gave him a fake smile, then slipped away. Once in the car, he sighed deeply, looked at Schiller, and said, "My God! I'd just become obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, and then this case, like The Hound of the Baskervilles, popped up. Didn't I become the prime suspect?! Luckily I got out of there!"
Schiller glanced at him and then said, "Can you do it?"
“Of course! Turning water into ice is one of my specialties!” Victor said, his eyes wide. “Once the cause of the accident is determined, I’ll be a prime suspect. You’ll have to help me with my alibi!”
Then, somewhat distraught, he said, "Was I really too gentle? Why is everyone trying to frame me?!"
“I’m afraid that’s true,” Schiller said. “If anyone makes you angry, you freeze the whole of Gotham. Then no one will dare to mess with you.”
“No, I can’t do that.” Victor said through gritted teeth after a long pause, “The days since Nora woke up have been the happiest time of my life. Especially after dawn in Gotham, it felt like we were back to when we first fell in love. And we have Billy now. I can’t possibly ruin this wonderful life with my own hands. Absolutely not.”
“You have to give up something to gain something,” Schiller said. “If you want to be a good husband, a good father, and a good teacher, you’ll naturally have to deal with people who want to bully honest people. But with my alibi, this case won’t have anything to do with you.”
“Thank God.” Victor sighed and leaned back in his chair, then said, “The key is the tracks left by that ferocious beast. Although I can turn water into ice, and dense ice is sharp enough, I’m just an ordinary person. I can’t get on the vehicle. Even if I were to commit a crime, I would have to break down the door. This doesn’t make sense.”
"Your previous deductions about superpowers made a lot of sense. This kind of superpower shouldn't be very common, and Brainiac definitely knows about it—Brainiac, are you there?"
"...I shouldn't be here."
"what?"
"I mean, I'm compiling data on mutated stray dogs in Gotham."
"You think it was done by a mutated stray dog?"
"There is a certain possibility."
"But why are the mutated stray dogs targeting Perota?"
"I'm checking whether she's suspected of abusing dogs."
“What nonsense!” Victor said. “We should obviously start by investigating the superpowered individuals. Are you out of your mind, Mrs. Brainiac?”
"I'm single, thank you. But I've been following SuperSports lately. I'm thinking about what to give her for Christmas."
"Oh, really? You have to tell us first if you have good news. I've never been to a cybernetic wedding before... Brainiac! Can't you do something serious for once!"
“Alright, Victor. Don’t you think we have a more important problem to solve right now?” Schiller stopped typing, put his phone away, and said.
"What's the problem?"
Schiller pointed to the sky. Victor glanced at his watch. It was already 8:20. But the sky was still pitch black, showing no sign of dawn.
Some people say it's a bit incongruous for Victor to be a scientist writing books, but actually, what Mr. Freeze loves to do most in the comics is freeze Batman and then chat with him about art, philosophy, and life ideals. On the surface, he's a science and engineering guy, but in reality, he's a literary youth.