Chapter 295: "Teaching and Educating" (Part 2)

Gotham's afternoons always seem a little drowsy. The sunlight, which was not bright to begin with, becomes even weaker through the gauze curtains. When it falls on the floor, it is like the golden sunset waves.

Schiller is standing behind the table, fiddling with a telescope from the Age of Discovery. This is a treasure of the original owner of this manor. It once accompanied his ancestors across the ocean and came here from Europe thousands of miles away.

Most of the decorations on Schiller's table were left by the original owner of this manor, so they all have some British classical charm, such as the old and yellowed globe, the phonograph on the corner of the table, and the cane hanging on the side of the bookshelf.

Schiller was looking forward with the telescope. Suddenly, a black shadow flew across the field of view of the telescope. Schiller put down the telescope and turned to look at the uninvited Batman.

Batman picked up the globe at the corner of the table very naturally. In his field of vision, the globe blocked Schiller's head, as if everything had returned to a dream again.

Batman moved the globe with his hand, but soon it stopped. Batman said to Schiller, "You know what I'm here for..."

Schiller was turning around to take something from the bookshelf. He said as he searched, "You're not here to arrest me, are you, Detective Batman?"

"Gordon told me that whenever something weird happens in Gotham, you're the right person to come to."

"Oh, why don't I know what weird things happened in Gotham recently? You're not referring to those ordinary murders, are you?"

Batman read the words "ordinary" in his mouth, and suddenly felt that he was a little embarrassed to start the long series of introductions and explanations that followed.

Schiller turned around, holding a bottle of wine and two glasses in his hands, and then he asked Batman to sit across the table. He said, "The statement of language is always a bit boring, far less interesting than being there in person, what do you think?"

Perhaps because he didn't want his next topic to be evaluated as "ordinary and boring", Batman drank the glass of wine in front of him like taking medicine, and Schiller also took a sip of wine, then relaxed his body and leaned back in the chair, drunken.

With the afternoon sun floating in the air, Batman suddenly woke up. He saw the globe on the table began to rotate slowly, but Schiller's head opposite was normal. After he opened his eyes, he paused for a moment and said, "Oh, I forgot."

Then he leaned forward, reached out and took the globe on the table, blocking his face. In Batman's field of vision, the globe and Schiller's head overlapped, and then Schiller's head became a globe.

Now Batman knows how Schiller with the globe head in his dream came from.

After Schiller stood up, Batman also stood up. The two walked to the center of the room. Schiller made a gesture to Batman to invite him. Batman began to concentrate and recall the details of Richie's room in his memory.

This was the first time he had constructed such a large-scale scene in a dream. Even with the memory of the real object as support, Batman consumed most of his energy in an instant.

As he slowly raised his arm, the scene in the room began to change. The books on the bookshelf melted back into the wall one by one, the partitions were pulled out layer by layer and melted into the side walls, the desk retreated and sank into the floor, and the floor turned over piece by piece, from dark brown to light brown.

Richie's body appeared on the floor, and the blood spread on the light-colored floor, and then gradually seeped into the gap.

Schiller tutted his lips and said, "It's really tragic, isn't it?"

"Three days ago, the head of the Lawrence family, one of the twelve families in Gotham, was found dead in his bedroom. He had seven wounds on his body, one of which was a fatal wound in the heart. Anesthetic drugs were detected in his body..."

"Two days ago, the Hawke brothers, also members of the Hawke family, were found dead in their study. They were tied to a chair in the study and then beheaded."

"A day ago, the head of the Richie family, one of the twelve families, was found dead in the living room. He was sawed in the middle of his body and died of excessive blood loss."

"The common point of these three cases is that they all died in the same way as the apostles of Jesus' twelve disciples. Gordon and I both believe that I think this is a serial murder case, but until today, after Richie died, I found that the murderer's modus operandi was different from the previous two cases. "

Schiller grabbed his hand in the air, and a cane appeared in his hand. He tapped the ground with the cane and said, "Why do you think this is a serial murder case? Just because the way they died is consistent with a certain religious story?"

"Doesn't this conform to the characteristics of a serial murder case?" Batman asked, "I remember hearing that this is exactly what I heard in class. Most serial murderers like to find a background story with numbers and apply it to their own crimes, such as the most common seven deadly sins, Friday the 13th, Sabbath, etc...."

"So I talked about this in class, is this why?"

"Because of the 'sense of ritual', serial killers, especially those who randomly select their victims, do not kill for revenge, but simply for the pleasure of killing their own kind. Therefore, the sense of ritual is important to them."

"Even if killing seven people in seven days may greatly increase the probability of being caught by the police, and the various clues left behind may also increase the possibility of being caught, they will still do it. They cannot experience the happiness brought by this sense of ritual, and killing becomes meaningless to them."

"That's right, this is why for a good detective, serial killers are sometimes easier to deal with than ordinary killers, because they always take the initiative to leave various clues."

"So, this should be a very typical case. type of serial killer..."

Schiller shook his head and said, "Maybe it looks like this on the surface, but in fact, I can only say that this is a poor imitator."

"Imitator? What do you mean?"

"It means that the person who did it is not the kind of psychopathic killer I told you about before, that is, he is not a real serial killer, but a somewhat lame imitator."

Batman looked into Schiller's eyes and asked, "Why?"

"First of all, I am not legally responsible for what I say next, because this is just a dream, and precisely because it is just a dream, I will only tell you this in a dream, and you don't have to think about starting some recording or video equipment in reality to use some of my sleep talk as evidence..."

Schiller holding a cane , pacing around Richie's body lying in the middle of the room, he said: "Do you know what I would do if I were to handle this case?"

Batman didn't expect that he would start with this topic, but he really couldn't think of an answer, and finally he could only answer: "I don't think you would do this kind of case, because there is no need."

"I'm glad that you still know me a little bit, but now we are assuming, assuming that I suddenly changed my mind and started planning a serial murder case..."

"First of all, starting with the topic, since you said that the topic of this murderer is Jesus and his twelve disciples, I will also use this topic."

"I think you should have read the story of Jesus and his twelve disciples carefully, right?"

Batman nodded, and Schiller raised his head, revealing a look of reminiscence He asked, "Do you remember who was the first one to die among the twelve disciples?"

"... Was it St. James?"

"Yes, in the Bible, he was the first disciple to be martyred for Jesus. Do you know what kind of person he was?"

"James and John were both sons of Zebedee, and their mother was also a disciple of Jesus. James was beheaded by King Herod. He and John were both strong-willed people..."

"That's why I said the person who did it was just a poor imitator. Who is Lawrence? What do he have in common with James? Why did he become the first martyr?"

Batman didn't quite understand what Schiller meant. Schiller continued, "If it were me, the first target I chose must have a brother, just like Jacob, and old Lawrence should be an only child."

"Secondly, Lawrence's temperament is not strong enough. His appearance and inner qualities are too different from Jacob."

"And you also said that the first martyr was beheaded, not crucified. "

"So, if I were to do this, my first target would be a man with an extremely strong character, with brothers and a mother alive, and he would die by beheading."

"What if Lawrence corresponds to Saint Peter?"

"Oh, yes, Saint Peter is known as the person closest to Jesus, and was also named the first Pope. If he was the first to die, that would make sense, but what do old Lawrence and Saint Peter have in common?"

Batman was silent, Schiller tilted his head, looked at the body on the ground and said: "Not to mention, the murderer nailed old Lawrence upside down on the cross, which is simply telling you very bluntly that he is a fake."

"If you have read history, you will know that in the punishment of crucifixion, the person on the cross should not die from vital organs being pierced, but should be exposed to the outdoors after being nailed through the limbs, and die of bleeding or heart failure due to extreme exhaustion. "

"Piercing the heart is part of vampire lore, not a story in the Bible, and has nothing to do with the Twelve Apostles. The victim of upside-down crucifixion should also die of brain congestion, not a pierced heart."

"Obviously, the person who did it either didn't read the story carefully or didn't have the patience to wait for the other person to die slowly."

"If it were me, I would have plenty of patience. I could spend a year setting up a scene and let him be nailed to the bedroom for ten days without being discovered. This is the way to die that fits this background story."

"Not to mention, the murderer also nailed his head with a long nail. My God, I feel creepy when I think of him hammering a long nail into someone's head..."

"Your choice of words always makes me feel... quite unexpected." Batman commented.

"And the biggest flaw is that he actually used anesthetics? God, if he is really a serial killer, then he should be crucified. This damn pagan has no sense of ritual at all..." Batman looked at Schiller's dissatisfied expression and didn't know what to say for a moment.