Rainy Night Mystery (Part 2)

"When outsiders entered Living Hell, they obviously couldn’t stroll around amicably like a tour group. Fish wouldn’t have been happy to let them carve up territory however they pleased, either. From the start, her attitude had been firm—she refused to yield an inch. That was why several gunfights broke out."

Batman continued where Gordon had left off. "The gang shootouts in Living Hell had been escalating beyond all bounds. I had to go there for several nights in a row to stop them from blowing up the newly renovated buildings. In fact, when I went there on the first day, Fish had been planning to do exactly that."

"While Living Hell was being renovated, I upgraded its water supply system. But Fish wanted to use that equipment as a bomb to threaten the other gang bosses into withdrawing. I stopped her."

Batman stood wrapped in his cape in the shadowy corner of the room, as though he did not exist. Only his deep voice echoed through the room. Schiller asked him, "So while you were maintaining order in Living Hell, you discovered that Fish had been murdered?"

Batman continued, "I had been patrolling Living Hell for several days. Today was supposed to be the last, because the gangs had already divided up their territory and were about to settle down again."

"But that evening, I heard something from the rooftop. When I arrived, there were only two people in the room. One was the already-dead Fish Mooney. The other was Oswald Cobblepot."

Schiller turned to Gordon. "Then, Detective Gordon, why are you so invested in this case? As far as I know, at least a dozen gang bosses have died in Gotham this year alone. I don’t see what made Fish special."

"True." Gordon nodded. "The Muni Gang wasn’t particularly large by Gotham standards. Living Hell was a hellhole that couldn’t squeeze out much profit to begin with, so Fish had been relatively poor compared to the other gang bosses."

"Brock told me he had dealt with Fish just a few days ago. It was over a murder on Green Street. Of course, there wasn’t much to say about that case."

"The key was that Brock told me Fish was completely insane. She had serious mental disorders and was a sadist."

"And the reason I’m paying so much attention to Fish’s death is that I have no choice. This case involves an important person."

"Who?" Schiller asked.

"The Godfather’s son, Evans Falcone."

"Evans? How did he get involved in something like this?" Schiller asked in confusion. "I called him into my office two days ago to advise him on his thesis. I didn’t notice anything unusual about him."

Gordon sighed. "Living Hell was the first step in Gotham’s redevelopment project. The Old Godfather cared deeply about it, and so did the heads of the Twelve Families. For something this important, the Old Godfather would naturally send someone he trusted to keep watch."

Schiller shook his head. "I don’t think Falcone would send Evans. Even I know Evans isn’t mature enough yet."

"But what if Little Falcone volunteered?"

Gordon paused. "I heard this from our new Director. You know he’s one of Falcone’s men."

"He told me Little Falcone had been acting somewhat impatiently. He asked the Godfather to let him personally oversee matters in Living Hell. The Godfather neither agreed nor refused, but it seemed that in the end, he still allowed it."

"Perhaps he had begun to feel threatened." Batman’s deep voice came from the corner of the room. Unlike Gordon’s somewhat anxious voice, Batman’s tone was always calm and certain.

"The new mayor, Roy, had become Falcone’s godson, and he had done quite well."

Gordon nodded and continued after Batman. "Roy wasn’t much older than Evans. He didn’t have much education, but he was a pragmatic man of action who believed in experience. People like that were more likely to win the gang bosses’ favor. After all, Roy’s background was closer to theirs, and he had more in common with them."

"But that put the original heir, Little Falcone, in a rather awkward position." Gordon shrugged. "It was only natural for him to feel anxious."

"So he convinced the Old Godfather to let him get involved with Living Hell?"

"Exactly. That was why I felt so much pressure now." Gordon rubbed his temple.

"As I said before, Fish was an insane woman. She was hot-tempered, completely refused to listen to reason, and acted recklessly. She didn’t even put the Old Godfather’s son in her eyes."

"Evans came to Living Hell intending to mediate the conflict between the gangs, and he clashed with Fish several times."

"Evans naturally hoped Fish would sit down with those outsider gang bosses and resolve the matter peacefully, demonstrating his ability as a mediator. But Fish had no intention of doing so."

"We have an informant in the Muni Gang. He reported that Fish had almost completely lost her mind. She started beating her subordinates and even wanted to kill people indiscriminately…"

"Wait." Schiller interrupted Gordon. "Could Cobblepot have been one of the victims?"

Gordon sighed again. He looked somewhat exhausted. "That was my deduction as well. I don’t know what that kid did under her, but he certainly looked like the kind of person that insane woman would use to vent her frustrations. He had no ability to resist at all. Sadists liked tormenting people like that…"

Schiller said nothing, merely signaling for Gordon to continue. After taking a drink of water, Gordon went on. "The conflict between Fish and Evans became increasingly intense. Several times, they nearly came to blows."

"Logically speaking, Evans shouldn’t have been afraid of Fish. He was the heir of the Falcone family. Even the Twelve Families had to obey his command."

"But he was eager to prove himself and wanted to settle the matter on his own, so he didn’t want anyone helping him. Yet he was too impatient. The result was that not only did he fail to handle Fish, but the other outsider gang bosses didn’t think much of him either. They felt he dragged his feet and didn’t act like a Gotham gangster."

"But now Fish was dead, and all the outsider gang bosses believed Evans had done it. Every one of them was afraid for themselves, and they were even less willing to listen to him. Some members of the Twelve Families were also dissatisfied with Evans’ actions."

Gordon spread his hands over the table. "At first, he hesitated and clung to unrealistic fantasies, wanting a peaceful resolution. Then, in the end, he became enraged and resorted to assassination. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t very honorable."

"Our new Director is one of the Old Godfather’s men, but even he can’t figure out the Old Godfather’s attitude right now. After all, Evans is his biological son. The Old Godfather can’t just abandon him."

"So the new Director wanted me to solve the case quickly. Even if I had to find some unlucky scapegoat, it would clear Evans of suspicion and keep the Falcone family’s heir from looking so foolish that it damaged the Old Godfather’s prestige."

Gordon slapped the table with his palm. "That’s why I asked you here in the middle of the night. We wanted to find a breakthrough through that kid named Oswald."

"It seemed you weren’t willing to clear Evans’ name. You wanted to uncover The Truth."

"I’m not willing to clear anyone’s name. Even if Fish was insane and deserved to die, I still wanted to find the real killer."

Schiller stood, and Gordon rose with him. Gordon said, "Professor Rodriguez, I know that over the years, you have tracked down brutal serial killers and solved major cases all over the world."

"I admit that I desperately need your help right now, but I truly can’t offer much of a reward…"

Gordon sighed. "The forces involved in this case are too complicated. If we can’t solve it quickly, I’m afraid…"

Schiller turned back to look at him. Under the light, Gordon’s face appeared somewhat haggard, and his expression was equally troubled.

The detective was no longer young. The lines on his face bore the marks of time. Schiller said to him, "You should understand better than I do that this is a struggle among the Falcone family’s heirs. It may even involve the choice of Gotham’s next King of Gotham’s Underworld…"

"Anyone in Gotham could be crushed to pieces if they were drawn into such a vortex, including you, Detective Gordon." Schiller’s tone was grave as he said seriously, "If you try to investigate The Truth within a vortex like this, you may end up dead in the street tomorrow…"

"He won’t." Batman’s voice rang out. "If Gotham had only one good man left worth protecting, I could at least keep him alive until the next day."

Schiller stared at Batman, and Batman stared back. A silent atmosphere spread between them. Schiller had nearly forgotten when he had last spoken with Batman like this.

At last, he sighed and said to Gordon, "This matter does have something to do with me. Living Hell is the first step in Gotham’s redevelopment, and it is extremely important. If a violent conflict erupts at such a moment, even if you hadn’t asked me to come, Falcone would have asked for me. If something happens to Evans, I’ll still have to clean up the mess as his tutor."

Gordon walked ahead and opened the door for him. Schiller lowered his head as he walked through it, muttering to himself, "I knew I wouldn’t get a few peaceful days here…"

By the time they reached the morgue, the coroner had already left. Gordon pulled Fish’s body from the cold storage drawer. Schiller lifted the white sheet and took one look. Fish had been shot in the head.

Gordon pulled back the sheet and said, "The bullet in her head was the fatal wound. There were no other injuries anywhere on her body. The autopsy report basically ruled out every other possible cause of death."

"All right. One shot to the head. The killer was rather civilized."

Gordon shrugged. "It sounded like a dark joke, but it was true. Over the past few years in Gotham, most of the corpses I encountered had been riddled with Submachine Gun fire. If someone only took one shot to the head, the killer was indeed civilized by comparison."

Schiller stared silently at the body for a while. Batman stepped forward as well, equally silent. In the end, Gordon could no longer stand the atmosphere. He tilted his head left to look at Schiller, then tilted it right to look at Batman, and asked, "So, did you two see anything?"

"We saw the same thing you did."

"All right, let’s sort out our investigative approach." Schiller spoke first. "Gordon, you should be able to continue following the Evans lead. Since your Director stands with Falcone, you can use the excuse of clearing Evans’ name to get help from him. Batman can investigate the other gang bosses and see whether any of them had motives to commit the crime."

"As for me, the only possible witness at the scene is currently suffering from Acute Stress Disorder. I need to treat him. If we can get his testimony, this will become much easier."

"And." Batman stared at Schiller. "We cannot rule out Cobblepot as a suspect. Aside from the victim, he was the only one present. It is also possible that he killed Fish first, then pretended to be unconscious."