Chapter 750 Night Talk with the Bat (Part 1)_1

In a room at the Gotham Grand Theater, across from Shiller sat the grief-stricken theatre troupe owner, who introduced himself:

"I am Boss Andeuo of the Angelica Theatre Troupe. Angelica was the name of my great-grandmother. My grandfather created a troupe under this name. At first, we were just a small troupe, but by my father's generation, the Angelica Theatre Troupe became well-known."

"I've been running this troupe for over 20 years. We've toured the entire East Coast and even some Western cities, but we've never faced such a dangerous situation..."

The owner of the troupe let out a deep sigh and said, "A few days before the show was to open, one of the lead actors died. This is not a good omen. We've distributed our show schedule all over the city. If we postpone it now..."

Shiller placed both hands on the table, fingers crossed, looking at the owner of the troupe, saying, "I'm sorry, but may I ask what made you decide to come to Gotham to perform?"

"That was my grandfather's dream, he wanted the troupe he founded to conquer the entire East Coast, and all that remains now is Gotham. We need to present a perfect performance here, but who would have known..."

Shiller nodded. But that was Gotham city for you; things you least expect to happen always become true.

"Let's talk about the deceased. I've heard things about Miss Vicky. Did she have any enemies in the troupe? Or, whom was she particularly close with?"

The troupe owner rubbed his hands together awkwardly as Shiller continued, "Now, the person is dead. No matter what relationships the deceased had, they're irrelevant now. If there are any secrets, there's no need to keep them for her."

After some hesitation, the troupe owner finally said, "Vicky was well-liked, she didn't have any enemies. Many of the actresses in the theatre liked her, and the actors respected her for her beauty and acting skills."

"As for close relationships...alright, just as outsiders speculated, she and Alex were, in fact, a couple. But they never wanted to make this relationship public. Not many people in the troupe knew, but I accidentally saw them once and promised to keep it secret on their behalf."

While noting these down, Shiller nodded and asked, "What about those people who aren't from the troupe?"

"Oh, it's like this," answered the troupe owner. "In the East Coast theatre circle, it's common to accept backstage visitors before the start of a performance. Those interested in the play can come backstage to meet the actors."

"When visitors witness the actors and stage props, they might go back and discuss it with their friends or family, sparking interest in the play. This a method we use to sell tickets."

The troupe owner honestly admitted, "Just yesterday, Lady Goth contacted the theatre. She said she was a fanatic theatre lover and hoped to visit backstage today to meet the lead actors. I agreed."

"But I didn't expect her to bring so many people— her daughter, a shipping businessman named Vit, Vit's son, and that chubbily handsome Leon. Even though I don't prefer having so many people backstage, I was polite and accommodated them. After all, Lady Goth is quite influential."

"Is that so? What business is she in?" asked Shiller.

At this point, Gordon, who was standing to one side, spoke up: "The Goth family also comes from a shipping background. However, since Lady Goth took over, they started getting involved in shipbuilding. In Gotham, besides the Wayne Family owning two shipyards, it's now the Goth family."

"So, what's the relationship between Lady Goth and Mr. Vit?" asked Shiller.

Gordon consulted the record in his hand and replied, "According to previous interrogations, Miss Goth and Little Vitt are lovers. This time, Vit arrived from another city to inspect the Goth family's power."

"In general, the Vit family could potentially become a major client for the Goth family's shipbuilding business because his shipping business constantly needs cargo ships. Both Mr. Vit and Lady Goth are aware of this, so there is a tendency towards a marriage alliance between the two families."

Shiller nodded to indicate he understood the situation. Then he stood up and said, "Let's go have a look at the crime scene."

The owner of the theatre troupe was escorted away by another officer for detailed interrogation while Gordon and Shiller headed to the room Miss Vicky died in. At that moment, they heard footsteps behind them.

Shiller looked back and saw an officer bringing Bruce up the stairs. He asked, "You've returned so quickly? Not planning on taking a longer rest?"

Bruce shook his head. His expression had returned to normal; no longer looking stunned as before. Although he still looked a little tired, his spirit had improved a lot.

"What did Selina want from you?" As the three of them walk towards the room, Shiller asked.

"Dick wanted to leave school early, but since Alfred and I weren't home, he couldn't get through to Wayne Manor's phone, so his teacher called Selina, who picked Dick up."

"I thought it was some big issue," said Gordon as he pushed open the door to the room. "Turns out you just forgot to pick up your kid from school."

The three of them entered the room, where Vicky's body had already been removed. Gordon stood by the human figure diagram and said, the preliminary autopsy results would be ready in about ten minutes. Until then, we can start investigating the scene.

Before Vicky's body was taken away, Shiller had already checked the wound.

There was nothing exceptional about the deceased's wound: a piercing wound on the left chest, heart shattered, one fatal strike. Other than that, there were no other injuries on her body.

Shiller turned towards Bruce and asked, "At the time, what did you see?"

"I was standing downstairs..." Bruce walked to the window and pointed at a corner downstairs on the left side. He said, "Right there."

"When I looked up, I saw a figure, knocking on the glass twice, and then fell. I saw blood traces left by her hands on the glass."

"I wanted to save her, so I climbed up directly from the drainpipe. When I got up, I found that the balcony's window was locked, so I yanked hard on the window."

Bruce opened the window and jumped onto the balcony, imitating the actions at the time. However, since the window's lock was broken by his tugging, it didn't make much noise, but Shiller and Gordon understood the actions he described.

"When I first came up, my eyes couldn't adjust to the bright light in the room. As I stared into the room, I saw a dark figure. When I made a noise by pulling the window, they ran away in panic."

Shiller narrowed his eyes and asked, "A dark figure? Didn't you see their features at all?"

"I wasn't in the best condition at the time," Bruce paused and said, "So I didn't look closely."

Shiller and Gordon exchanged glances. They heard the phrase "not in the best condition" for the first time from Batman.

Normally, Batman would remain silent about his current condition. Even if he was injured and bleeding, even if he had lost the ability to act, you could only hear a series of strategies from his mouth.

"From what you said, Miss Vicky was able to move before she died, even had enough strength to knock on the glass. This does not seem to be an action that someone with a broken heart can do," Shiller found a doubt.

"The severe pain brought on by this kind of fatal penetrating injury can instantly make a person lose the ability to resist. Not to mention an actress like Miss Vicky, who has been pampered all her life, even an adult agent who received professional training might very well lose the ability to act due to such an injury."

Gordon touched his chin and said, "That is to say, when Miss Vicky knocked on the window, her injury might not have been that severe. Did someone cause a secondary injury?"

"That's possible, don't forget, the victim suffered a penetrating injury, and penetrating wounds are the most likely to cause secondary injuries."

Gordon frowned, he didn't immediately understand what Shiller was referring to, but then, Shiller picked up an umbrella and pointed it at Gordon.

Suddenly, the room's light dimmed, and the floor where Gordon and Shiller were standing turned into a disc. The disc rotated 60 degrees with Gordon arriving at the window's position and Shiller facing him.

The umbrella in Shiller's hand, having shed its cover and ribs, had become a sharp longsword. Shiller grasped the hilt, stepped forward, and stabbed Gordon's chest with the sword.

Gordon instantly stepped back twice, instinctively covering his chest, his hand full of fresh blood, and felt severe pain. He instinctively wanted to escape when facing the vicious killer.

But the killer was standing directly in his path between him and the door. Therefore, he stumbled over to the window, beating on the window trying to ask for help, leaving bloodstains on the glass.

At this moment, Shiller moved forward again, grabbed Gordon's shoulder, turned him around, grabbed the hilt of the sword pierced into his chest, and yanked out the longsword that had been thrust into his chest.

In an instant, blood splattered, Gordon clutched his chest, struggled to fall, twitched a couple of times, then died completely.

With a swoosh, the light came back on, and Gordon looked around to find himself lying right on the pattern marking the position of the body.

Gordon stood up from the ground and thought for a while, then said:

"The killer stabbed a weapon into Miss Vicky's chest, at that time, her vital organs may already have been pierced. But due to the unique nature of the penetrating injury, as long as you don't move the weapon, the blood won't spurt out so quickly, so there is still some ability to move."

"Unable to run out through the door, she might have wanted to jump through the window, or signaling for help by knocking on the window."

"When she got to the window, the killer caught up with her, pulled Miss Vicky away from the window, and then pulled out the weapon that had pierced her body."

"Due to the way of exerting force, Miss Vicky was tugged to the left by the killer, then retreated two steps, and fell where she died."

Both Shiller and Bruce nodded, acknowledging the death process described by Gordon. At this moment, Shiller turned his head to Bruce and said, "Did you only see Miss Vicky at the window?"

"Yes, when she knocked on the window, I immediately arrived downstairs, found the drainpipe on the east side of the building, and began to climb. If someone really pulled the victim away from the window, they might have done so while I was climbing."

At this time, a police officer knocked on the door and walked in, saying to Gordon, "Boss, the forensic autopsy report is out!"

Gordon quickly came forward, took the dossier in his hand, scanned it, and found the most important piece of information. Holding the dossier, he showed it to Shiller:

"According to the wound analysis, the murder weapon was stabbed in from the back?"