After experiencing the resurrection of Pelota, Alberto and Tim naturally couldn't conclude with "unknown life and death means death." Even for those confirmed dead, it's hard to say for sure they remain dead now.
"There are two questions." Tim raised two fingers, "First, why Hugo Strange?"
"Because he's quite formidable, I suppose," Jenna said, "Even though I'm far from that era and haven't seen him in person, anyone who can be a director at Arkham Asylum must have solid expertise."
"Moreover, his skills in mental and psychological areas happen to restrain Brainiac. It's like Brainiac couldn't find anything wrong in that corpse collector's background. This proves Hugo might have already erased information using his abilities. It also shows that the mastermind's choice to resurrect Hugo was correct. If they resurrected someone else, a lot of information might have already been discovered."
"That's somewhat reasonable. But don't forget, we fought a war with Darkseid before." Tim turned sideways, leaning one arm on the bar, and said, "During the Brainiac war, Darkseid also sacrificed quite a few good men. Hugo, no matter what, is just an ordinary human, incomparable to those super soldiers. Such aliens, once resurrected, can wreak havoc in a city."
"I understand your point," Alberto said, "The strange thing is this mastermind doesn't opt for a strong attack, but insists on doing things secretly. Remember, resurrection skills are best suited for use on Earth."
Jenna and Tim did not refute. They know that Earth had just fought an intergalactic war, with Brainiac leading all of humanity against various alien civilizations headed by Darkseid, resulting in countless sacrifices. Resurrecting these people would surely be the best choice. Resurrecting an old Hugo, no matter how powerful, can't match the quantity and quality of Darkseid's army.
"I have a hunch," Jenna said, "he doesn't want a frontal assault. He might not dare."
"You mean he's afraid of Brainiac?"
"Shouldn't he be?" Jenna countered, "The Brainiac war was not fought against some nobody. After the war, famous civilizations in the cosmos avoid the Milky Way for fear of a beating if they pass by Earth. It's normal for the mastermind to be afraid, right?"
"The Multiverse isn't peaceful either," Tim spoke, "The Batmen seem to be tracking Dark Power. If the mastermind is who they're looking for, then he might have invaded more than just our universe."
"If that's the case, I think I understand why he didn't choose a direct assault." Jenna tapped the table, "Surely his previous strong attack failed, so he opted for a covert path. Moreover, I suspect he failed in a hidden route in another universe too."
"What do you mean?"
"Look, the resurrection of humans might not be bound by time limits. After all, Hugo died many years ago but was still resurrected. With that, resurrecting Hugo isn't as valuable as resurrecting our relatives."
Tim raised an eyebrow, and Jenna continued, "For example, my boss Amanda Waller, she has always harbored resentment over her family's death and hasn't let it go. If her family could be resurrected, do you think she would serve the mastermind?"
"With Brainiac, Amanda has no real power, but if she wholeheartedly helps in covering up, it could cause considerable trouble for us. Moreover, there are people more useful than Amanda. With careful manipulation, a much better situation could be achieved than now."
"But it's not easy," Tim thought for a moment and sighed, "Manipulating emotions to control people is a very challenging task. We don't even know what the mastermind is, whether he can accurately understand human emotions, and whether he can effectively use such emotions—all are unknowns."
"He might not be as cautious as you. Who wouldn't be shaken seeing a resurrected loved one? Being able to perfectly resurrect someone long dead is a huge innate advantage. He has no reason not to use this trick. I lean towards the possibility that he tried but didn't succeed and even suffered a terrible defeat."
Tim paused in his actions, then said, "As you said, the power of resurrection itself holds a significant advantage. There's no reason for this tactic to fail unless he encountered... Batman."
The two exchanged a glance, then looked away, smirking. Even though their universe no longer had a Batman, they could still imagine how the mastermind failed miserably at Batman's hands.
Put it this way. Batman became Batman because of his parents' deaths, yet after all these years, he never studied how to resurrect his parents, which shows that he's not indifferent to resurrection but extremely against it.
Nobody knows how many Flashes were in the room when The Flash's parents died. It's possible Barry Allen's unique abilities led him to try, but it's clear Batman could do it too. He just doesn't want to do it.
Facing such an opponent, resurrection as an ability doesn't gain any advantage but instead faces the greatest counterattack. Batman will surely guard against it, leaving no opportunity. Once emotional blackmail is countered, it could instead foster unity on Batman's side.
"It seems he learned the lesson," Tim spoke again, "A frontal assault yielded no results, emotional blackmail didn't work out. Thus, he set his sights on those super villains who can stir things up in the shadows, which is somewhat of an innovative strategy."
"To be honest, this strategy is quite tricky to deal with," Jenna said with a frown. "To accuse Hugo Strange, we first have to prove to Brainiac that he's abnormal. Considering Pelota doesn't look any different from an ordinary person, proving it from a physics standpoint is almost impossible. So we can only approach it from the perspective of social science."
"Alberto," Tim turned his head and called out, "could you help us check how Hugo actually died back then?"
Alberto nodded and said, "He was the head of Arkham Asylum back then, considered part of the upper-class society. I can ask some old friends from the Twelve Families; someone should know."
"The corpse collector is also an important clue," Jenna said.
"Do you think it could be that," Tim said, "Jerryta was the one who collected Hugo's body?"
The other two looked at him, and Tim continued to analyze, "It seems the Resume Killer just wanted to remind us that Jerryta had some connection with Hugo. But this was when they were both still alive, so it's just old history, which doesn't benefit us—it's not effective information."
"And the Resume Killer only conveys effective information, and his information is most likely accurate. Just like the second case pointed precisely to the shared villa in the South District. He wouldn't randomly convey useless old stories but definitely wants to tell us some definite and reliable news."
"So, deducing from the second case's pattern, the problem lies in the victim's occupation. The second case victim's occupation points to the shared villa in the South District, then the first case victim's occupation must also relate to the information he wants to convey. The corpse collector is a very special occupation; its speciality lies in the fact that we are struggling to find evidence to prove Hugo is dead, and just at this moment, Jerryta was the announcer of death."
Jenna suddenly thought of something, her face turning pale, and then said, "You don't mean to say he did something to Hugo's body as well...ugh!"
Tim glanced at her and said, with a wry smile, "How did you end up thinking about that? Whether he did or not isn't important, is it? What's important is that he might be someone who could prove Hugo is dead."
"But now he's dead too," Jenna said, "and he was killed by that Resume Killer who seems to want to convey information to us. If he wanted to help us, he should have kept him alive."
At this point, she suddenly stopped, then showed an expression of realization and said, "Jerryta might not have died for the first time."
Jenna thought for a moment and continued, "The crime scene of the first case looked like the Resume Killer killed Jerryta and then placed his body in that manner. But actually, what the Resume Killer did might just be dissecting an already dead body."
Tim squinted his eyes. Jenna looked at him and said, "I was the one who killed Pelota, I mean, during that time on the escort vehicle."
Tim's expression didn't change much. He had seen the accident scene photos and knew about Jenna's superpower. It wasn't hard to speculate. He said, "You mean, the Resume Killer did the same thing as you did, killing a resurrected corpse again?"
Jenna nodded and said, "What I mentioned is absolutely important. If Jerryta really desecrated Hugo's body, don't you think Hugo would remember this?"
"That's a rather profound philosophical question," Tim said. "In the context where the dead can't be revived, we usually discuss the body and soul separately. People feel that the body stays in the world while the soul goes to heaven. But if someone could be resurrected, is it both the body and soul that are resurrected, or just the body? If it's just the body, would he still remember his gradual decay until the end?"
"Even if he doesn't remember, he surely knows why Jerryta would collect his body," Jenna said, lifting her eyebrows with a sly smile, "You can't expect someone like that to be grateful. Besides, even though Hugo saved him back then, who knows how many horrible experiments he did on him. Revenge seems much more plausible than gratitude. What would someone with such a penchant do when taking revenge?"
Tim covered his mouth for a moment. Certainly, some images that flashed through his mind made him a bit reluctant to look straight, and he said, "So after being resurrected, Hugo would definitely go looking for Jerryta."
"Yes, maybe at that time Jerryta had already been killed by Hugo, then resurrected, then got caught and killed again by the Resume Killer. It's quite similar to Pelota's experience."
"If Jerryta couldn't willingly divulge information about Hugo, then him being alive wouldn't be meaningful," Tim said. "No wonder the Resume Killer would kill him again. But then we lose an important witness."
"Perhaps you aren't aware; in Gotham, corpse collectors work in pairs," Alberto chimed in, "A former mob boss who controlled Dock No.14 told me that Jerryta and his wife used to work for him. His wife is still alive."
"My goodness, such a person even has a wife," Jenna said, patting her forehead.
"Birds of a feather flock together," Tim said. "It seems this is the key clue. Let's go."