Bruce was driving to the hospital when he received a call from Jas Gordon. He heard Gordon say on the phone,
"You're finally back, Bruce. Co to the police station quickly; there's a strange case here that you need to see."
"Co on, Gordon, I just got back... Alright, how strange is it?"
"A prisoner we previously arrested died tragically on the way to court, in the prison van. Soone left a line of strange characters on the wall of the van. We lack experts proficient in code-breaking here; you'd better co and take a look."
Bruce turned the steering wheel reluctantly and headed towards the police station.
Upon his arrival, a young officer at the door wanted to stop him, but an older officer waved at him and let him through; he proceeded to the spacious backyard of the police station where he found a prison van marked with court insignias. Gordon and his subordinates were standing there.
"God, you're finally here," Gordon said, wiping his forehead, "You don't know how stressful it has been to seek out Professor Shearer every ti a case pops up during your absence. Even Little Jenny can't soothe my heart."
"I haven't even congratulated you on your new daughter," Bruce walked up and hugged Gordon, then said, "I will send over the 20 children's slides I was preparing for Aisha. She'll surely use them."
Then Bruce turned his eyes to the prison van. As soon as the door opened, he slled a strong scent of blood. The body had clearly been taken for autopsy already, but there were no markers to indicate the position of the body.
"It's hard to explain where the body was," Gordon shook his head and said, "If I have to say, it was basically all over this vehicle. The head was placed on the left seat, two arms hung here, two legs there, the abdominal and chest cavities scattered across the floor."
"A piece of art, right?"
"Sort of," Gordon thought carefully and then said, "but it seems to have no special aning, if anything, it's a kind of naive malevolence, like scattering toy parts everywhere."
"I think you could almost start a group chat," Bruce said.
"So, why do I seem to understand serial killers so well?" Gordon said irritably, "Why do they have to place their 'art' near police stations and courts?!"
"In the past, I might have seen this as a provocation, but this case is different; I can't see the specifics either, perhaps you'd better call Shearer."
"I've already sent him the photos and such, but he's in the hospital. I don't want to bother him too much, hoping he can send back good news. Mainly, I wanted you here for this," Gordon said.
Gordon pointed towards one side of the van, which Bruce had already noticed. There was a line of characters written in blood, not very long, only six letters, but without any apparent pattern.
However, what was peculiar was that at the end of this line of letters, there was an Arabic nural 4, sowhat larger than the other letters, seeming like a hint.
"I haven't heard of such a serial killer in Gotham before, could be an outsider, maybe a new generation."
"You an there'll be more cases like this?"
Bruce nodded, and after a mont of thought, Gordon said, "I don't know if you are aware, but this guy was the mastermind behind the recent child abuse case, his na is Nigma, a candidate in the mayoral race, too."
"Popular?"
"He was as hot as the sumr weather initially, but then due to so issues, the dia thought he exhibited signs of ntal disorder and wasn't trusted much by the public any longer, until his arrest which completely disqualified him from running for mayor," Gordon replied.
"Does he have financial skills?"
"Yes, I'm also unsure who's behind him, could be the Jews' consortium, but it might also be those families from the west."
After a mont of contemplation, Bruce said, "The clue he left isn't complete; if nothing odd happens, there should still be three cases to co. These letters will together form a code, and only then will I know what this code points to."
"Can we catch the culprit?"
"I'm afraid it's going to be difficult. I tend to think this is a prodigy just starting out. Although the technique is slightly immature, it's not sothing ordinary police can handle."
"Then let ask differently, does he intend to go to jail?"
Bruce looked at Gordon sowhat surprised, and Gordon shook his head, "Don't look at like that. Many of the serial killers I've caught turned themselves in to avoid FBI arrest; they'd rather serve ti in Gotham."
"As of now, that doesn't seem to be the case, so it'd be best if you let the Federal Bureau of Investigation handle this case before they leave."
"How do you know I won't pursue it to the end?"
"Because it's clear he deserves his fate, and if I'm not mistaken, the upcoming victims will likely be similar. In terms of morals, you'd want them to serve ti, but due to personal feelings, you'd want them to face a punishnt far stronger than imprisonnt," Gordon said.
"Your behavioral analysis is getting better and better."
"Don't bring this up when I'm about to et Professor Shearer," Gordon said.
The two shared a smile, and just then, Gordon's phone rang. He answered, and his expression beca slightly more serious.
After hanging up, he said to Bruce, "You guessed right, two more cases were discovered simultaneously, with six letters left at each scene, but no numbers. Want to go check out the cri scenes?"
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