Chapter 1038: Thick Shade of Green Trees, Long Summer Days (36)

"My God, who are you?!"

Shiller wasn't surprised to hear a scream, and as he turned, he saw a red-haired woman, but he hesitated to recognize her because she looked so much older compared to the photo.

Although ten years had passed, the woman seemed to have aged 30 years out of thin air. Her neatly curled red hair in the photo was now messily draped over her cheeks. The area below her cheekbones had completely sunken in, making the nasolabial folds particularly pronounced, making her look not like a middle-aged woman but an old crone.

The man pushing the wheelchair didn't look as healthy and strong as in the photo either; he was so skinny his shoulders were at sharp angles and his skin was not wheat-colored but very pale, and his thick brown hair was gone.

Shiller was at a loss for words. The man seemed to want to rush into the house for a gun, so Shiller had no choice but to say, "Don't be afraid, no burglar who breaks into homes would choose to wear a suit—it would cause them to suffer from the heat."

Only then did the man notice Shiller's suit, clearly he had once been an elite, judging from just a glance, the suit was expensive.

"Are you part of the Mob?" he still seemed cautious, after all, being a Gotham local, seeing someone in a suit appear in his home, his first thought was 'Mob'.

"I don't think the Mob would recruit someone like me; my gun skills are terrible." Shiller sat down on the sofa and set his business card on the coffee table, the man hesitated, but it was too hot outside; he had no choice but to push his wife into the house.

He parked the wheelchair a good distance from the sofa and walked over cautiously; he didn't need to get too close to see 'Gotham University Professor of Psychiatry' written on the business card.

Shiller was indeed a famous psychiatrist, but most ordinary people don't care about psychiatrists and couldn't name the most famous one currently. The man was more concerned about the 'Gotham University Professor' title.

"You are a professor at Gotham University? You... why did you come here?"

Before the man could say anything else, Shiller continued, "James Gordon sent me; he was worried you might do something foolish, but I arrived too early, and it was very hot outside, so I had to enter your house first."

"But now outside... well, you are indeed very hot in that suit, did he send you to comfort us?"

"Sort of, he knew you might not be able to accept this tragedy."

"We are more than just unable to accept it!" the man raised his voice and said, "Our child is dead, but the police don't even have a suspect's name! How are we supposed to accept that?!"

"Don't rush, that's exactly why I'm here." Shiller calmly buttoned up his suit and stood up saying, "You know Gordon is a responsible police commissioner; if he truly had no leads, he wouldn't have notified you so soon."

The man paused briefly, then stared intensely at Shiller.

"Do you know what the police would do if they caught the suspect?"

"Send him to prison?"

"Yes, but that's it." sighed Shiller, "That's the extent of what the law can do. Do you think that's enough?"

The man pursed his lips tightly, then swung his arm and said, "Our son is dead, but that damn brutal killer is still alive! But... what can we do about it?"

"I said, if the police catch the suspect, he would go to prison, but what if the police can't catch him?"

The man was completely stunned, he hadn't processed it yet, and said urgently, "How can they not go arrest him! It's their duty, they must..."

Then he realized, and asked tentatively, "Are you saying, the police can only send him to prison, but I could..."

"No way," he said somewhat pessimistically. "I don't know who he is or where he is, how could I catch him?"

"Then why am I here?"

The man suddenly looked over, like grabbing a lifeline, he rushed up to Shiller and said, "Are you saying you know where he is? You know where that damn guy is?!"

The woman suddenly started screaming like mad, she kept smashing the armrest of the wheelchair, the man rushed over and it took a lot of effort to calm his wife down.

"That's exactly what I was going to tell you. Do you remember the elementary and middle schools your son attended? Why were those schools demolished?"

That wasn't really a question, the man realized it immediately, but he instinctively answered, "They said it was due to poor management..."

"Poor management all of a sudden after your son disappeared?"

The man slowly opened his mouth, then suddenly started coughing violently, leaning on the back of the chair he couldn't stand straight, he slowly knelt down, covering his face and weeping.

"Bu Fa's death could be the key." Shiller began pacing around the room and said, "There might have been other children missing from the school before, but people just assumed they were ordinary cases of missing children, they might have gotten lost, or accidently fallen into a lake, or off a cliff."

"But Bu Fa was different because his disappearance caused the school to be demolished urgently, which means someone discovered something, and they had to quickly destroy the evidence to prevent exposure," Shiller said.

Suddenly remembering something, the man said, "Pari... that is, my wife, she is a PE teacher at the community elementary school. I remember she was in a bad mood a few days before our son disappeared, as if she had argued with someone at the school..."

"Do you know who it was with?"

"I don't know, she didn't go into details." The man shook his head and then his expression became complex as he said, "My wife's mental health isn't very good, so if you want to get any clues from her, I'm afraid..."

"Do you remember my specialty?"

A flicker of hope appeared in the man's eyes as he looked at his wife, then at Shiller, and said, "I don't know much about psychology, but I know that psychotherapy is effective, it's just too expensive..."

"This is free, sir, because it's obvious there is a lack of conclusive evidence right now. If you can find clues in your wife's memory, that will suffice to cover your consultation fee."

"Alright," the man said with courage, clenching his fist. "Stop if it's too hard on her, but I think she'd be willing to tell you."

After making some preparations, Shiller began his hypnosis, just as he had searched for answers in Nigma's memory, he once again ventured into the psychic realm of this mother.

Finally, he obtained the most concrete clue since the investigation began; he saw Mr. Nigma's face in Pari's memories—he was the principal of Bolokin Community's middle school department at that time.

And Pari witnessed his method of committing the crime.

As the principal, Nigma could not hide his desire to do evil but worried that trouble at the school would affect his future, so he chose not to act on school grounds.

The elementary school did not have a separate principal; it was still under his management. He would play games with the children during breaks to build rapport, and then, under the pretext of evaluating teachers' teaching standards, he would take some of the children aside to ask them questions.

Some were normal inquiries, but he would make special arrangements with other children, specifically those who were very close to him and liked to hang around him, to go on an adventure to a certain place.

This place was usually not far from the school, but since the school was located next to a forest, he always told the children to wait for him on a small path near the school in the forest over the weekend.

As for how to ensure the children wouldn't tell their parents and would go out alone on their day off, Pari didn't know, but Shiller knew. Children's minds are not fully developed, and they are easily manipulated by adults. It isn't difficult to achieve if someone sets their mind to it.

Even if some children are smart and wouldn't fall for it, there are always some less intelligent among many students; one just needs to select them.

At that time, Pari didn't know what Mr. Nigma was up to. She thought the children were being mischievous, pestering the principal to take them to play in the forest, and the principal, unable to withstand their pestering, agreed.

But Pari was a very responsible PE teacher; she knew it was one thing to play on gentle slopes with a few trees, but going deeper into the forest was another matter altogether. So, she went to the principal's office to dissuade Mr. Nigma.

According to Pari's recollection, when she brought up the matter, Mr. Nigma showed a surprised expression; he apparently hadn't expected anyone to have heard his conversation with the children.

Soon after this, Bu Fa, who also attended the community elementary school, disappeared, and Pari was diagnosed with a mental illness.

Doesn't that sound familiar? Edward, Pari, Miss Richie—these three had identical experiences: they discovered some clues and then were diagnosed with mental illness.

This made it impossible for the police to extract any valuable information from them, as their speech was disorganized, and even if some content was questioned, the court wouldn't accept the testimony of mentally ill people, thus legal measures couldn't be taken against them.

Unfortunately, they didn't anticipate someone like Shiller who could extract the truth from the chaotic minds of the mentally ill.

After exploring Pari's mind, Shiller strongly suspected that Mr. Nigma, the uncle of Edward, had an educational background in psychology. The madness of Edward, Miss Richie, and Pari had human-induced elements.

Maddening a person is much simpler than healing a mentally ill person; with a little guidance, those not strong-willed enough easily doubt themselves.

Yet, there were still doubts; Shiller felt, whether it was Edward, who was supposed to become the Riddler, or the steadfast and stubborn Miss Richie, or the kind and responsible Pari, none of them were the type easily influenced by hypnosis.

Again, hypnosis is not that magical; it cannot fundamentally change a person's personality. If it could make an evil person become kind through hypnosis, then psychiatrists might as well be called Jesus.

All three of these people were not hesitant, cowardly, or not smart enough, so how did Mr. Nigma manage to drive all three of them mad?

Previously, Shiller was investigating this case merely out of boredom, but now his curiosity was piqued.

Even without relying on any supernatural powers, he wasn't completely sure he could turn these three people into what they are now. If the mysterious Mr. Nigma had such a skill, why wouldn't he have a place among Gotham's super villains?

Given the academic concerns, Shiller couldn't help but take it seriously. He had a premonition that this wasn't just a simple case of child abuse; there was likely a deeper secret hidden behind it.