บท 259: Chapter 168: The Long Easter (8)_1
In the Gotham City Police Department, Shiller is deep in thought looking at two lists. Gordon approaches and sees several names listed, with a few circled in red.
"These are the students who fell sick?"
"Correct."
"So which batch of Easter eggs is faulty? Those bought outside or the ones distributed by the chancellor of Gotham University?"
"The issue lies with the Easter eggs externally purchased by my colleague. Over 70% of the students who received these eggs fell sick suddenly."
"So that means..." Gordon picks up the phone and says, "Check how many Easter eggs are currently circulating in the Gotham market and let them know that they need to quickly figure out a way to recall these eggs. They are likely a batch of bio-chemical weapons that can make people go mad."
Gordon's tone is severe. The thought of hundreds or perhaps thousands of madness inducing biochemical weapons circulating in Gotham's market gives him a headache.
"There could be a connection." Gordon takes a deep breath to calm himself and then continues, "A batch of madness inducing Easter eggs appeared in the market, and yet, the Chancellor of Gotham University was distributing ordinary eggs and having the professors make them themselves. What could this mean? Did he know in advance that the eggs sold outside might be problematic?"
"Perhaps so, but mobilize your forces to recall these eggs from the market first." Shiller yawns and says sleepily, "I need to go rest now. I haven't slept for two nights because of these sick students."
"If you suspect me of murdering Sheldon, then come arrest me after you've found substantial evidence."
After speaking, Shiller turns to leave. Gordon does not stop him, for there are more important matters now than the murder case of the Gotham University chancellor.
If these eggs were to circulate widely, it would be a terrorist attack far more terrifying than a flood in Gotham. Who knows how many maniacs would take to the streets to kill others? Gordon thinks, he must stop all this.
After Shiller returns to his manor, he intends to go to sleep after bathing. However, right as he leaves the bathroom, he hears the chime of the mailbox downstairs. He walks down and finds that someone has put something in the mailbox.
He opens the door of the mailbox and finds a box inside. Inside the box is a brilliantly colored Easter egg.
Just as Shiller removes the egg from the box, it bursts open with a "pop". The shrapnel flies in all directions and an unknown gas spreads. Shiller asks Grey mist, "Is this the same substance as the one found in the blood of the patients?"
"It is." Grey mist replies.
Then, Shiller discovers that not only the eggshell had exploded – a small note was slowly floating down. He reaches out and grabs the note floating in mid-air. After opening it, he finds a string of words written on it:
"Happy Easter - Holiday Killer."
Shiller squints. The Holiday Killer? Isn't that a character from the comic 'The Long Halloween'?
But that character is the Halloween killer, why has this Holiday Killer appeared during Easter?
Moreover, killers should murder, so what does sending Easter eggs that drive people mad count as? More importantly, it has even reached him.
When Batman arrived at Shiller's mansion, he found Shiller engrossed in painting an egg. Shiller was so focused on his painting that he didn't notice Batman's intentional noise.
Batman had to cough audibly, then Shiller finally turned to look at him, looked him up and down casually, and then said, "What do you want? If there's nothing, don't interrupt my creative process."
Batman glanced at the egg Shiller was painting. A large black smiley face was painted in the middle, but the strokes were crude, making the smiley face look somewhat strange.
Obviously, aside from this practically absent technique and theme without any artistic sensibility, the process of scribbling with a pen cannot be called creativity.
"Did you receive the Easter egg sent by the person who claims to be the Holiday Killer?"
"It's because I received his egg, that I'm planning to return the favor." Shiller held up the egg he was painting, inspected it, and then said, "I think mine looks way better than the one he sent."
"Some mob bosses and high society figures in Gotham have received the Easter egg. They went mad, then were subdued and sent to the mental hospital."
"Did you receive it too?"
"Bruce Wayne received it."
"Don't you plan to return the favor?"
"Compared to that, I'd rather find out what this madness-inducing substance actually is."
"It seems you have some conjectures."
"I think it's somewhat like the previous fear gas."
Shiller shook his head, "The symptoms are indeed similar, but there are differences too."
"Do you think they are not the same thing?"
"That's correct. Similar external symptoms don't necessarily mean the same cause for the disease. At least in my opinion, it was not caused by fear gas."
What Shiller did not tell Batman was that he had long since ruled out the possibility of fear gas—since he is the one who uses it most often, even more frequently than its inventor, Scarecrow.
Shiller had previously used fear gas in Hell's Kitchen against many people, so he was very familiar with the possible symptoms it could bring about.
Although the symptoms of this case resemble those of inhaling fear gas, they are not entirely the same. The gray mist did not contain components of fear gas in their bodies.
"We can't rule out the suspicion on Court of Owls. They have not been completely wiped out." Batman concluded.
"What are you going to do?" Shiller turned to ask him.
"He must have a purpose for doing these things. If he wanted to kill them, there should be better ways."
"Many people have not been affected." Batman continued, "The mob bosses are not so careless as to open unfamiliar packages; many people also did not have the leisure to buy Easter eggs. If he wanted to kill using this method, it would be the least effective one."
"This seems more like a warning, doesn't it? He seems to be saying, I'm going to start causing trouble, right on Easter three days from now."
"He should plan to kill on Easter, otherwise he wouldn't call himself the Holiday Killer. Now, the only problem is, who is his target, and what's his aim?"
"Perhaps many seemingly irrelevant things can provide some clues."
"Such as?"
"Such as Sheldon's death. You know better than Gordon that it wasn't my doing. If he really offended someone or knew some important information that needed to be silenced, it shouldn't have happened at this time."
"The whole of Gotham City is undergoing major reconstruction.", sighed Shiller, "Even if the mob had a big grudge against him, they wouldn't act at this time. Apart from the lack of manpower, assassinations at this time could offend other people who are intent on reconstruction, causing unnecessary fear."
Shiller from the other side of the table handed a list to Batman, "This is an important clue. Before Easter, Sheldon sent Easter egg production materials to many professors and asked them to make Easter eggs by hand and give them to students instead of buying them from the market."
"What happened later proved that the Easter eggs circulating in the market are problematic, so Sheldon may have known about this issue in advance."
"Perhaps it was for his own interests that Sheldon stopped the Logistics Department's proposal to buy ready-made eggs from the market and instead had the professors make them themselves. He wanted to avoid the problematic eggs."
"So how exactly did he get the news in advance? Could this have something to do with his death?"
"I thought you wouldn't care about this matter." Batman looked at Shiller.
"Anyway, the Easter egg that the Holiday Killer sent me was the first gift I received on Easter. I want to return the favor."
"I think this clue should help you find some information. If you find where the Holiday Killer is hiding, help me deliver my gift."
Shiller picked up the Easter egg and handed it to Batman. Batman narrowed his eyes as he looked at the rough smiley face on it.
At the same time, Evans and Cobblepot were chatting in the hospital room. Evans sighed, "Originally, Gotham Cathedral had been repaired, but now the foundation is cracked. It might need to be completely rebuilt. Even the old Father who always stayed there has left. I have nowhere to go on weekends."
"I didn't realize you were such a devout believer." Cobblepot looked at Evans.
"Of course." Said Evans, a bit distressed, "Originally, our principal moved forward the arrangements for Easter, which I thought was a good idea, so I could go to church to pray on Easter night. As you know, Easter is to celebrate Jesus' new life. Prayers and rituals are very important."
"But now look..." Evans spread his hands helplessly, "First it kept raining, floods broke out, Gotham was hit by freeze, roads were cracked, buildings were destroyed."
"Just when things seemed to be getting better, Gotham University had a murder case. The case is still under investigation. Then a Holiday Killer emerged from nowhere, freaking out some mob bosses…"
"Easter this year is really long..." Evans sighed.
"Anyway, Easter is in three days." Cobblepot said, lying on the hospital bed. "I have to go back to take care of my mother. When I went home yesterday, I wanted to bring her to the hospital, but she wouldn't agree, and insisted on going back to the old house instead of staying in the new apartment."
"Older folks are always like this." Evans said with deep empathy, "My father is the same. Sometimes I think he treats me very well, but other times, I feel like he is too strict and serious."
"The Godfather tolerating you learning all that nonsense is pretty good already." Cobblepot said to Evans, "Which mob successor spends all day singing and dancing, and doesn't even practice gun skills?"
Evans shrugged, "I can feel that my father is not happy with my lack of dedication to serious matters, but he still indulges me. I don't know why…"
Then he opened his mouth hesitantly, "I still remember, my father and my brother didn't have a good relationship, probably because, my father had too high expectations of him."
"I was young at that time, but I vaguely remember that they had a heated argument."
"Later, my brother died, and my father didn't allow anyone to mention his name."
Evans sighed, "In fact, many people don't know that the Godfather had an elder son named Alberto Falcone."
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