The car stopped by the roadside. Just as Victor got out of the car, he covered his nose. The strong smell of blood permeated the air. He frowned heavily. It's been a long time since Gotham's streets smelled so intensely of blood—probably dating back to the mob era when at least three or four people had to be killed to emit such an aura.
"Are you sure only Pelota died? Victor couldn't help but ask into the phone, "No one else was seriously injured?"
Brainiac did not respond because Shiller and Victor soon arrived by the transport vehicle. The car was overturned on the ground, and the smell of blood was emanating from there. Even before seeing the scene inside, Victor heard Shiller standing in front of the transport vehicle whisper, "'Baskerville's Hound.'"
"What?" Victor looked at him.
Shiller looked back at him and said, "Here's the classic callback you wanted."
He stepped aside a little to let Victor come over. As Victor walked over, his pupils suddenly shrank. Inside the transport vehicle, a complete corpse was nowhere to be seen. Pelota's body was scattered in various corners of the car, as if it had been torn apart by something.
Upon closer inspection, the most obvious marks were the scratches on her chest. That was definitely not man-made—unless a human could grow claws over 15 inches long, otherwise it was impossible to leave such scratches.
The scar was deep enough to reveal bone, and to be precise, one swipe almost pierced the lung. If not for the rib's strength and integrity, it might have split the torso in half. The remaining parts were similar. Besides claw marks, there were bite marks. The bite marks looked like they were left by a Sabretooth. What's more important was that beside the car, there was a huge footprint that appeared to have a diameter of at least 10 inches.
As Victor was shocked by the horrific crime scene, suddenly, a low canine whimper echoed in the distance. The sound conveyed a terrifying desolation, causing Victor to take a few steps back and look in that direction.
Yet there was nothing there, only dense clouds spreading far away, and the unlit dark night behind them.
"God," Victor exclaimed from the heart, "I shouldn't have been so keen on Holmes. Did we really summon Baskerville's devil hound?!"
"Your mind is still not turning much," Shiller evaluated calmly, "Do we need to summon the devil hound from Baskerville? I'm sure Gotham's mutated stray dogs can rival it."
Victor slapped his forehead.
"Though Rodriguez spoke truthfully, I still have to point out that he's a little too calm. Gotham's mutated stray dog issue will have to wait. Just from the claw marks and footprints, it's deduced that this terrifying creature that killed Pelota stands at least 6 feet tall—if it's a dog, the shoulder height would be as tall as a human. This is unimaginably large and terrifying. Although in the dark ages, it might not compete with the King of Seagulls and Caesar Cat, but in Brainiac's era, this is a monster terrifying beyond imagination. Moreover, to intimidate us, it deliberately emitted a frightening cry from afar. This proves it is a cunning beast."
Victor forcefully grabbed his hair and said, "Why did this monster attack Pelota? Why did it..."
The question Victor didn't ask naturally revolved around why it created such a gruesome case. Such a beast only needed one swipe to kill, making it so horrific was clearly intentional.
Victor looked at Shiller and then said, "Isn't it a bit much to communicate with spirits so many times in one night?"
Shiller shook his head and said smoothly, "This isn't a violent act of anger. There's no hateful atmosphere inside the compartment; the perpetrator remains rational. It's evident that besides Pelota, there were other officers in the compartment, but only she ended up like this, while the others remain intact. This proves the perpetrator was solely targeting Pelota."
"My God, won't those officers go crazy when they wake up?"
"If they're rookies, they might," Shiller said, "But Gordon usually doesn't assign rookies for escorting. If they're veteran officers, they've seen a lot, this is nothing."
"If it's not intentional anger, how did it turn out like this?"
"Remember? The car overturned. And judging by the marks on the road, it rolled several times. During the shaking, the perpetrator acted like it was in a washing machine drum and couldn't fully control itself, so it ended up like this."
Shiller then turned to look at the car door and said, "There are no signs of the door being damaged, proving it wasn't a sudden attack but it was already in the car. Yet these marks clearly couldn't be left by a humanoid creature, proving it has transformation abilities. Brainiac verified there were no issues with the officers, proving it didn't enter as a humanoid. To sneak in as another form without being detected proves it can transform into something very small, perhaps other smaller beast forms. This shows the perpetrator can switch forms between different beasts."
"The car accident itself happened rather strangely. This road was still in decent condition without danger." Shiller opened his phone, glanced at the footage Brainiac sent him from the dashboard camera and said, "Turns out the road iced over causing the front axle to lose control. But this icing was even stranger. It's still snowing heavily, with snow depth exceeding a foot. In such circumstances, getting the tire to directly touch ice is difficult, unless someone splashed water to create ice. Therefore, it's impossible for one person to execute this crime. At least two perpetrators were involved: one responsible for causing the accident, one responsible for transforming and killing."
"Since the killer could be a superpower user, we can also infer the accident-causer is too. After all, to splash water outside of the dashboard and camera view, and splash it so precisely, is not something ordinary people can achieve. So these two superpower users, one can control water, the other can transform into beasts..."
Shiller stopped, and Victor looked at him, asking, "What's wrong?"
"Though I didn't see traces of anger in the compartment, I think the pose of the body has a certain implication. We also can't rule out humans disguising as beasts to commit the crime." Shiller changed his tone and said, "The claw marks on the chest, especially the attack targeting the lungs, seem to be purposeful. The footprint beneath the car is also peculiar, appearing deliberately left behind. Together they form something akin to a ritual..."
Victor's eyes lit up instantly, and he said, "Could it be an old-fashioned murder case?!"
"Perhaps."
After saying that, Shiller glanced at Victor and then said, "Why aren't you taking notes?"
Victor froze for a moment, and then said, "Sorry, I was absorbed in listening. But I think I should finish listening to the complete deduction before writing..."
"There's no complete deduction, this is the entirety of it."
"Why?" Victor asked, "Haven't you already deduced the superpower? Just deduce the motive, and the murderer will be obvious."
Shiller placed one hand on Victor's shoulder and said, "I know, you lost a student, and it's making you very sad."
"Uh, thank you for your consolation, I feel much better."
"I'm saying, since you just lost your student, don't let me lose mine too."
Victor watched Shiller's departing figure, a bit perplexed.
The police had set up a cordon. Gordon crossed the line, looked at Victor, and asked, "What's the great detective saying? Can I see your notes?"
Victor handed over his notebook, roughly repeated Shiller's words, and said, "He thinks this is a classic old-fashioned murder case. The other party might be trying to fake it as a beast attack to imply some sort of metaphor..."
Victor stopped mid-sentence. Gordon looked at him and asked, "What metaphor?"
"Nothing, pretend I didn't say anything."
Victor forced a smile and slipped away. Sitting in the car, he sighed deeply and said to Shiller, "Oh my God. I just got into Holmes, and now there's a case like the Baskerville Hound. Doesn't that make me the biggest suspect?! Luckily, I can run fast!"
Shiller glanced at him and said, "Can you do it?"
"Of course! Turning water into ice is my specialty!" Victor said with wide eyes, "As soon as the cause of the car accident is cleared up, my suspicion will be significant. You have to help me with an alibi!"
Then he said, somewhat collapsing, "Am I really behaving too kindly? Why does everyone want to frame me?!"
"I'm afraid so," Shiller said, "If someone angers you, just freeze all of Gotham. That way, no one will dare provoke you."
"No, I can't do that." Victor gritted his teeth for a long while before saying, "The days after Nora woke up are the happiest of my life. Especially after the dawn in Gotham, it's like we've just fallen in love. And now we have Billy, I can't possibly destroy my current happy life with my own hands. That's absolutely not happening."
"You win some, you lose some," Shiller said, "If you want to play the role of a good husband, a good father, a good teacher, you'll naturally have to deal with those who want to bully honest people. But with me providing an alibi for you, this case won't have anything to do with you."
"Thank goodness." Victor sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair, then said, "Actually, the key lies in the marks left by that fierce beast. Although I can turn water into ice, the sharpness of dense ice is sufficient, but I'm just a regular person and can't sneak onto the car. Even if I were to commit the crime, it would have to be a violent break-in. That doesn't add up."
"Your deduction about superpowers earlier made a lot of sense. This kind of superpower shouldn't be common; Brainiac must know—Brainiac, are you there?"
"...I shouldn't be."
"What?"
"I'm saying, I'm collecting data on mutant stray dogs in Gotham."
"You think a mutant stray dog did it?"
"There's a certain possibility."
"But why would a mutant stray dog target Pelota?"
"I'm investigating whether she has a suspicion of animal abuse."
"What kind of nonsense?" Victor said, "Obviously, we should start by investigating superpower users. Are you out of your mind, Mrs. Brainiac?"
"I'm not married, thank you. But I've been seeing a Super Body recently. I'm thinking about what gift to give her for Christmas."
"Oh, really? You must be the first to tell us if there's good news. I've never attended an electronic life's wedding before... Brainiac! Can you do some serious work?!"
"Alright, Victor. Don't you think there's a more pressing issue for us to solve right now?" Shiller paused his typing, put away the phone, and said.
"What issue?"
Shiller pointed to the sky. Victor glanced at his watch. It was already 8:20. But the sky was still as black as ink, showing no sign of lighting up.