Chapter 151: Party and Umbrella (Part 3)_2

"...I can't let this go on any longer, I know, I know..." Cobblepot said word by word: "I must kill him and take his position..."

"I'll go back to find Fish, kneel at her feet, and cry out that Kevin forced me, as long as she's willing to help me kill Kevin, help me gain a position, I can use my knowledge and abilities to drive these outsiders out..."

"In order for her to trust me, I started offering her various plans, some of them worked, some did not, but in the end, Fish chose to trust me..."

Cobblepot swallowed, then with a trembling voice, he said: "On a street next to Living Hell, Fish killed Kevin, and I successfully took his place..."

"But later, Fish started getting crazier, she broke into my room while I was asleep and started beating me with a gun handle and sticks..."

Cobblepot's voice began to waver, his body trembling as he said: "I knew I had to endure, my position was still not stable, I couldn't resist her... So I stayed quiet while she seemingly went mad, torturing me, saying I betrayed her, saying everyone betrayed her..."

"I don't know how long it's been." Cobblepot shivered all over. He continued: "She started getting more and more mad, and many times I thought she wanted to kill me, I knew I couldn't let this go on, or the mad Fish would definitely kill me..."

"So you killed her?" questioned Shiller.

"No... no." Cobblepot shook his head, clenching his teeth so hard they made a grating sound. It seemed he fell into some memories again, he said: "How could I kill? I'd be arrested, thrown into jail. I must not end up in jail, I just got into my position..."

"Right at that time, someone came to find me." Cobblepot paused a moment, then slowly uttered the name: "Sal Maroni."

"Maroni told me, he had had his eye on Living Hell for a long time. He had disputes with Falcone and had offended the Godfather. He couldn't let Falcone succeed in transforming Gotham, or the Maroni Family would be wiped out..."

"He asked me to cooperate with him. I refused, and so he kidnapped my mother, just a few days ago..."

"So, I proposed to him that we jointly kill Fish, and frame Evans for the murder, to tarnish the reputation of the Godfather's successor."

"For me, this was a win-win, it not only helped me get rid of Fish's torture, but also enabled me to rescue my mother..."

"He agreed to this plan, and one day, I lured Fish out, and Maroni shot her dead..."

When he finished, Cobblepot continued to tremble all over, as if he was still caught up in some memories. Shiller was making notes in his book for a while in silence. Unable to bear it, Cobblepot turned to Shiller,

Shiller paid attention to his medical record without making any comments about the story. With red-rimmed eyes, Cobblepot said: "Doctor, I am willing to testify against Maroni. It was him who killed Fish. I can testify in court. Please, you have to treat me, I..."

"Stop with your nonsense," said Shiller without lifting his head from the record book. "The story you made up is interesting, but you've made a serious mistake..."

Cobblepot looked at him, tears streaming down his face. His face paled; he looked pitiful. Without expression, Shiller put down the record and looked into his eyes: "No point in pretending to cry, those acquainted with me all know, I am not a mediocre doctor, but a ruthless one."

"Your biggest mistake is not investigating the doctor you would be dealing with before embarking on this plan..."

"Doctor, I know, I don't have any evidence, but I am the only witness..."

"Alright, if you still insist, then let's begin with the latest crime scene."

"Professor Victor and I visited the crime scene where your mother was supposedly kidnapped. According to you, Maroni's men kidnapped her."

"Indeed, it was a very typical kidnapping scene. Someone snuck into your house, drugged your mother with sleeping pills, and took her away while she was unconscious."

"On the surface, yes, but Mr. Cobblepot...", Shiller stared into Cobblepot's eyes: "You clearly have no experience with a real kidnapping case; the staged crime scene was full of flaws."

Cobblepot remained silent, just watching Shiller. Shiller continued, "Firstly, in Gotham, nearly nobody would choose this stealthy method for a kidnapping, they would just smash down the front door, rush in, and shoot everything that moves, then carry away the body. They would clean up the blood, claim they kidnapped your relative, when in fact, the body had been dumped in the sea."

"Of course, I assume Maroni is a 'civilized' person, but I believe he would have no need to sneak in or use sleeping pills. No matter how robust your mother might be, she could never resist four to five mob henchmen. They could just force in, knock her out, and drag her away. The sleeping pills were completely unnecessary."

"You're trying to reconstruct a perfect chain of evidence of a kidnapping case, but a lot of unnecessary procedures are involved."

"Like the struggle you staged. Who do you think your mother is, a retired female agent? She was fighting with a chair against the gangsters who broke into her house?"

"You've done too much," Shiller concluded, "trying to reconstruct the perfect modus operandi, trying to simulate realistic scenes, even designing the mobsters' route of intrusion, and deliberated leaving traces of their movements on the table and the sofa..."

"I am only able to say that you've been watching too many detective shows. The majority of crimes in real life do not occur like this, most criminals would not be so professional. The mostly violent way of breaking and entering, the crime scene filled with loopholes, these are what most mobster kidnappings look like."

"Because you're naturally weak, most of your murder tactics are intellectual. However, to those strong mobsters, they wouldn't need to do half these things."

"They're not like you, struggling to pick a lock. There is no door in the world that can't be blown off by a gun or a bomb. It's a job that can be completed within five minutes, no one would spend two hours studying routes of intrusion."

"You put yourself in the shoes of those mobsters, as if asking a burly Texas cowboy to wear a dress with lace fringes."

"As for the crime scene you staged...", Shiller picked up the medical record book again and said mercilessly: "I can only give you a failing grade."

"With the Godfather gone, your solo work is a disaster. Compared to the murder of Old Edward, you fall far behind. It makes me suspect, did you have someone else do the dirty...