Tim was startled by his own imagination—he considered himself not the type of spiritualist detective, he emphasized logical analysis and chains of evidence, and was quite effective. The reason he could temporarily take the position of commissioner of the Gotham Police Department was because he had used his detective talent many times to help Gordon, earning his trust.
After Bruce stopped being Batman, Batman didn't stay away from the city. Batman's cape shattered into many pieces, and everyone inherited a piece. Undoubtedly, Tim Drake inherited the detective part; not only behavior analysis but also the ability to immerse himself in the perspective of Gothamites, combining the city's characteristics for comprehensive reasoning, undefeated so far.
Detectives are imaginative. However, most of Tim's imagination is very practical, grounded in reason and evidence to recreate the crime scene and the behavior of the culprit in his mind, rather than endless wild guesses. Certainly not like now, where a horror movie-like scene suddenly pops up.
But Tim is also very perceptive. He doesn't overly trust his rationality, while also giving space to his brain's instincts. He realized at this moment, his associations might be a very valuable inspiration, reaching out to catch the butterfly fluttering away.
"This is what the killer wants us to see," Tim suddenly said, "the corpse's abnormality is what the killer wants to tell us."
Everyone looked at him. Victor asked, "What?"
More than confusion, there was surprise. They were all familiar with Tim's state just now: receiving some new clues, after staring for a while, suddenly starting to zone out, then saying something astonishing upon waking—are you a spiritualist too?
Yet, Shiller claimed he couldn't communicate, but Tim surprisingly had discoveries. Could this be a rising new star in the field of psychoanalysis?
Unfortunately, Tim glanced at Shiller. This made everyone realize that Shiller might very well see it, he just didn't want to say. There are many reasons for not wanting to say, and the lessons over the years have taught people—not to ask too much about what Shiller doesn't want to say, regardless of the reason.
"You're right," Tim said to Ethan, "This black isn't clothing but a certain abnormality shown by the body. The culprit intentionally placed it in the room on the first floor and let the body sink, allowing Brainiac to discover it just to inform the detective behind Brainiac: This corpse is abnormal."
Everyone started scrutinizing the image again. Without saying, it might not be discernible, but with this said, the black color indeed appears peculiar, not resembling the state of any fabric, instead like something seeping from the corpse. Thinking this way is truly terrifying.
"Brainiac," Tim called out, "Did you arrange for underwater salvage equipment?"
"Yes. Within 15 minutes, all underwater salvage equipment will be in place, what's the matter?"
"Tell them to stop," Tim said resolutely, "This corpse is unusual and cannot be salvaged easily. Even if salvaged, it shouldn't be handled casually. First, understand what's going on, then approach the corpse."
"Alright, I will instruct the salvage team to hold off, while continuing to monitor the surrounding water. If any anomaly occurs, initiate the emergency protocol to prevent large-scale water pollution."
Brainiac's tone remained flat, yet at this moment, it seemed exceptionally reliable. Tim returned his gaze to the photo. He began carefully pondering what this black substance could be.
He certainly preferred rigorous scientific conjecture. For instance, it might be a kind of mutated bacteria within the corpse, that is, corpse water containing special components. However, if it's truly some microscopic mutation, it's hard for it to form such a regular membrane, and not disperse, making it actually seem like clothing worn on the body. It doesn't quite conform to physical laws.
The sudden inspiration led Tim to believe this was more likely related to mysticism. He thought it might be a curse that had precipitated. As for why there would be a curse, it doesn't need a particularly special reason; as long as he's a Gothamite, from the time of birth, he's already been a petri dish for various curses. In Gotham, it's not uncommon for corpses to exhibit mutations after death, Tim figured this one was no exception.
Yet if Tim wasn't surprised, it meant the culprit wouldn't be either. If it's merely the corpse showing abnormalities, it wouldn't be worth the effort to display it. It's definitely something with this person while living that's problematic, that made the culprit set up this scene, killed him, and then intentionally displayed it.
"Brainiac," Tim called out, "Have there been any large-scale behavioral anomalies discovered among the residents of Arkham Mental Hospital or the North District?"
"No anomalies discovered," Brainiac responded, "No behavior anomalies detected."
"Then it's not spread," Tim said, "But this doesn't mean its aftermath won't spread. The killer might be trying to stop it and remind us. But why doesn't he come forward?"
"Perhaps he doesn't trust this artificial intelligence," Ethan said, "I can barely see anything about him that merits trust."
"But if he doesn't trust Brainiac, he wouldn't design it for Brainiac to see. He could have acted earlier and let others in the mental hospital witness it, or let Professor Fries see it. Both are better than waiting until after killing, then having Brainiac discover the corpse."
Thinking about this, Tim had a flash of inspiration and said, "The difference between artificial intelligence and humans is that it is not affected by hallucinations. Perhaps the murderer himself is not sure if the victim really had a problem, so he showed it to Brainiac."
"You mean, the murderer discovered something unusual about the victim, but he couldn't judge whether the anomaly truly existed or if it was just his illusion. He thought other people couldn't judge either, so he showed it to Brainiac. Because Brainiac is an electronic lifeform that is not affected by illusions, if he truly thinks there's an anomaly, he'd naturally investigate it."
"This represents one thing," Tim said, raising a finger, "the murderer is very likely a mental patient who often faces hallucinations."
Victor turned to look at Cobblepot, who took out his phone and walked aside, saying, "I will contact Edward."
"So Brainiac also discovered the anomaly?" Alberto said, frowning, "This black substance can be seen and photographed, which proves it's not a hallucination. That's why Brainiac came to us to help solve the case. The perpetrator's goal has been achieved."
"But even without this layer of black substance, Brainiac would investigate the murder case; after all, there's been a death." Victor said, "Moreover, even if Brainiac didn't notice anything wrong with the black substance, he would handle it as a regular homicide."
"That's not necessarily true," Tim said, "Him letting me find you proves his attitude towards this case is unusual. To protect your mental health, he has always opposed letting you beasts from the protected zone contact murder cases."
"Then why didn't he say so initially?" Ethan still wanted to find fault with Brainiac, "If he felt something was wrong with this case from the beginning, he should have shared more clues, rather than leaving us guessing here. He didn't even give any photos."
Tim shook his head and said, "Some might think electronic lifeforms have stronger logic, so their reasoning would be more accurate, but the problem is, electronic lifeforms only have strong logic. Even if Brainiac now has some emotions, it's far inferior to humans. His reasoning based solely on logic could have significant errors and be highly misleading. Hence, he restrained himself as much as possible, only describing clearly confirmed facts and not adding his own judgments."
"There's one more thing," Tim pointed out, "This black substance is likely something science cannot explain, and mysticism is a knowledge blind spot for electronic life. If he cannot explain it, he wouldn't speculate wildly to avoid misleading us."
"I think it could be the result of water pollution," Brainiac suddenly spoke up, "Toxins accumulated in the body and released at the time of death. This is the most likely conclusion."
"Stop your reasoning." Shiller's comment was very objective.
According to electronic life's logic, that indeed seems likely. Because previous testing results on the water weren't optimistic, and drinking water is the most likely to cause toxin accumulation in the body. At this time, a body entirely black appeared, and according to normal logic, it should be water poisoning, showing a special surface condition after death. This isn't murder; it's simply an accident of water poisoning."
But Shiller's ideas were entirely opposite. He believed this was a murder case, noting it wasn't just unnatural death, because water poisoning also counts as unnatural death. But Shiller had said, this was a murder, referring to a premeditated killing, not an accident like water poisoning due to historical reasons.
They did not agree on each other's conclusions. But clearly, Shiller is the authority in this aspect, and Brainiac is likely aware of that, hence he didn't state his conclusion from the start but let them deduce it themselves. As proven, this was the correct approach as their conclusions were entirely different from Brainiac's.
"First, this black substance that precipitated cannot possibly be some chemical composition," Victor pointed out, "Molecular diffusion cannot present such a state, even if you ask Jonathan, it's the same. There must be some mysterious power at work here."
"Second, if it was water poisoning, he wouldn't be the only one showing such symptoms. As you mentioned, there was no large-scale abnormal behavior detected. This distinctly doesn't match the situation of a collective poisoning case."
"Lastly, the poisoned body wouldn't wander down to the first floor nor submerge in the water on its own. Without a second person's actions, many states of the body cannot be explained. And if it's just a poisoning case, there's no reason for anyone to do these things to the body. Even if it was meant to warn you, bringing the body out is better."
"Wanting to send us a message while not letting us access the body, the only reason is: the murderer believes this body is very unusual, and anyone who touches it might be in danger, hence using display as a warning, but still keeping the body trapped in the water to prevent you from taking immediate salvage action."
"This does not contradict what Tim said," Victor continued, "The murderer discovered the anomaly and was unsure, so he intended to show us first. If we figure out the clues, it's also a reminder. If not, we would naturally send people to retrieve the body without any issue."
"If there's no issue, then did this person die in vain?" Ethan asked.
"Of course not, aren't we finding the murderer?" Tim looked towards Cobblepot.
At this time, Cobblepot returned with his phone in hand. He said, "Edward is missing too."