"Who?!"
"The combat training instructor at the GCPD, Covens Antapoulos. Found dead an hour ago in Gotham Police Department's training room. Surveillance footage suggests suicide, but before he died, he..."
The young officer hesitated, appearing nervous, swallowed hard a few times, then looked at Gordon and said, "...he used a kitchen knife to remove one of his ribs."
"God created Eve from Adam's rib," Nemocine said calmly. "You took his Eve away, he wants God to give him another Eve."
"Insane!" Gordon gritted his teeth and said, "Quick! Back to the station!"
This time, Shiller and Nemocine didn't take the police car; they just drove an ordinary car back to 125. Arriving simultaneously was the food from a private chef restaurant Shiller had ordered.
Shiller picked up the takeout and went back to the house, helped Nemocine remove her thick coat, and let her take a bath. When the girl with wet hair started eating the reheated dinner with Shiller, she brought up today's case again.
"He's manipulating them by exploiting their weaknesses. If Adam is an officer at the station, he might have a history of bribery or defamation. Eve is the one targeted by the Mob. They have dirt on them from the Eden Killer, so it's not surprising they'd help him kill."
Nemocine sipped her soup, then noticed Shiller's eating habits were almost identical to hers: they would never mix multiple dishes but eat them sequentially, one by one; when eating a single dish, they would separate the ingredients, like scooping all the meatballs out of the soup, drinking the liquid first, and then eating the solids.
"You're also an autism patient," Nemocine said. "Whose bright idea was it to assign you to supervise me?"
"Batman," Shiller said. "He probably just thought you have similar talents to him. And someone like Gordon, a normal guy, can only sympathize with you but do nothing else. He thought I might be your kind, so he sent you to me."
"But you're not. We're polar opposites. If Batman is an expert in this field, then he wouldn't miss that."
"He just thinks I have more patience with children," Shiller said. "And indeed, I do. Compared to adults, I prefer interacting with children."
"Even if I'm a psychopath who threatens others with a knife? An aggressive and extremely manic autistic child?"
"Yes. Even though you're a very typical spectrum child, dealing with you is much easier than dealing with adults."
"You're really a strange person."
"Keep thinking that way." Shiller said slowly, cutting the steak, "Especially keep your aversion to the psychoanalysis method. Never get curious about this subject at any time. You'll be a good helper for Batman."
"I've never had a miracle in my life, so I'm not interested in you or your psychoanalysis. Now I just want to know what the mimic's motive is. Will you make a miracle happen again on this question?"
Shiller shook his head and said, "Trust James. He always catches the killer."
"Then there's no hope," Nemocine lowered her head. She leaned back in her chair, but her hands stayed on the table's edge, thinking in this slightly awkward posture.
"Today's case wasn't done by a mimic, but by a male criminal who has already been caught. Realizing the female criminal was caught, he completed his last work and then mutilated himself in a suicidal plea for God's mercy. I guarantee James won't get anything from him or that woman."
"Why imitate the Eden Killer? I don't think this is a complicated question. His work distracted the police's attention, resulting in victim numbers reaching double digits, and the GCPD fools still thought there was only one killer. Perhaps that was his goal. But why distract the police?"
"If they can't realize there are multiple killers, they can't deduce that they've been manipulated, nor expose the Eden Killer behind the scenes. Could this be the Eden Killer's self-directed mimic case to hide his own tracks?"
"If so, he'd be a very experienced killer, well-versed in murder and misleading the police. He's very cunning and confident. But now that the two killers he's been manipulating are captured, what will he do?"
"Why do you think he kills?" Shiller suddenly asked.
"Good question. The motive is very unclear. I can only blame it on some kind of perverted hobby. There have been many prostitute hunters in history, claiming different motives, but in essence, they were psychopaths."
"Do you think the Eden Killer is the same?"
"I don't know." Nemocine looked bewildered, "If he takes pleasure in hunting prostitutes like a psychopath, he wouldn't manipulate others but do it himself. But if he's not a psycho, why does he have to do this?"
"Remember what I said?"
"Your nonsense?" Nemocine looked up at him, "I don't see any factual basis. Whether it's photos or the scene, there's nothing to support your conjecture."
"Yes. But assuming this is the truth, what comes to mind?"
"If he's doing this to learn and understand, by manipulating others to commit these crimes... How does he observe this?"
Nemocine suddenly stood up from her chair. She dashed to the phone, picked up the handset, and dialed.
"Hello? Gordon, it's me, is there a camera on the corpse?"
Standing in the forensic department listening to subordinate reports, Gordon was shocked beyond words because he was holding a transparent bag containing a miniature camera—recently retrieved from Covens's body.
"That's not a real-time streaming camera; it should contain footage of the murder. Eden Killer would want it; he'll find a way to retrieve the camera."
Gordon paused, looking down at the evidence bag in his hand.
"If he chose Covens, it proves he has a way to retrieve the camera from him, even post-mortem. This means there's still someone on his side at the police station. Station someone in the forensic department, and you'll catch this mole. Don't give him a chance to commit suicide."
Gordon was speechless. Nemocine's tone and attitude reminded him of the bat-creature who often appeared silently in the corner of his office.