"Detective Romanov? Detective Romanov?!"
Natasha heard someone calling her, so she forced her eyes open. The blinding light reminded her of the flash she saw before losing consciousness—a light that shone in through the rain-drenched glass, defying all physical laws, strikingly cold, yet bizarrely gentle.
Natasha opened her eyes, and the moment she saw Shiller's face, she instinctively reached out and grasped his neck.
Shiller made no sound, only letting out a low, deep breath. As Natasha looked at his furrowed eyebrows, sharp and drooping at the ends, she snapped back to reality.
"Sorry, Detective, I just haven't fully come to my senses." Natasha withdrew her hand.
"Do you remember what happened?" Shiller asked.
Natasha frowned, she began to recall, then said, "After I had a confrontation with the President's security advisor, reporters rushed in, and amid the crowd, I spotted a red-haired figure. I chased after her, and she told me her name was Lena Luthor..."
"Luthor?"
"Yes, she said she was Lex Luthor's sister." Natasha took a breath and continued, "We talked about the things she had done before, I pointed out some discrepancies, and then..."
"And then what?"
"I realized something was amiss." Natasha turned to Shiller and said, "Where is Moon Knight now?"
"Do you remember the Justice League building a base in Gotham? All its members have gone to the site selection, and Batman seems intent on performing a magic trick for them."
"Magic? What kind of magic?"
"Conjuring a building out of thin air, using magic."
"Using magic? So he really got energy from Mount Olympus. Are the gods dead?"
"Most of them have been drained by Batman, though some remnants still linger on Mount Olympus. He plans to use the Justice League's power to deal with them, but that's something for later."
"I no longer wish to joke around," Natasha said, staring sternly at Shiller. "Regarding events occurring in this cosmos, just how much do you know?"
"Unfortunately, I don't know much more than you, ma'am."
"Lena Luthor admitted it; she took the photo from Camera 14. Now there are only two possibilities: either she's lying, or you are, Shiller."
"I don't think Shiller would lie about professional matters," Shiller stated confidently. "He might conceal part of the truth or intentionally implant misleading statements, but in professional matters, he would never fabricate anything, nor utter something erroneous."
"But Lena clearly isn't the type of person he describes," Natasha said. "Though I don't possess mind-reading abilities, even as a decently trained Black Widow. Lena Luthor is a very beautiful woman who knows how to use her beauty; she is by no means ignorant of sexual allure."
"Then it certainly proves something somewhere went wrong," Shiller maintained his calm demeanor. "There must be something that caused the conflict between fact and judgment."
"Should I trust you?" Natasha looked at him and said, "You're both in it together. Any explanation you offer might just be covering up his crime."
"Before you spoke, you already realized this, yet you still chose to ask me. This proves your doubts outweigh your distrust of me; you need my help in analysis. So let's skip the probing phase and delve straight into analyzing where the problem lies."
Natasha opened her mouth, still somewhat unaccustomed to this version of Shiller, who was so direct and practical in both speech and action. The entire conversation's quick pace was so unbelievable that even she—one who detests wasting time—felt an overwhelming sense of urgency.
Completely opposite from a greedy salary thief. Natasha considered, if she were the head of the FBI, no, even if she were Nick Fury, she'd consider giving Detective Rodriguez a raise.
"How do you plan to analyze?" Natasha asked.
"It's simple: I ask, you answer, or you ask, I answer, until we correspond problem and solution."
"You ask," Natasha said.
"Who sent an email to Lex Luthor?"
"No one," Natasha replied. "Because Lena Luthor is Lex Luthor's sister, they don't need emails to communicate. Luthor claimed to have received an email from an untraceable source to cooperate with Lena in framing Barbara, because only Barbara has such hacking skills."
"Alright. Who sent an email to the gang attacking our car?"
"Lena Luthor. She knew only Gotham Police Department would investigate that gang's email, and the police department doesn't have enough technical competency. It wouldn't require any sophisticated cover-up to prevent them from tracing the email's origin, thereby using the email as another piece of evidence of the adversary's advanced hacking skills, again to frame Barbara."
"Who killed Abidonis?"
"Lena Luthor. Mr. and Mrs. Abidonis were involved in the Atlantic Reserve Fund her brother set up, through which she estranged the couple, eventually provoking Mrs. Abidonis to kill Mr. Abidonis."
"Who orchestrated the scandal between you and the President?"
"Lex Luthor. He claimed to act under the orders of the person in the email, but in reality, it was the conspiracy of the Luthor siblings. He released the photos to undermine the legitimacy of the President's policies, thus delaying the implementation of certain financial legislation."
"Who arrived in Gotham with a high-profile helicopter?"
"Lex Luther. He wants to test Batman's attitude towards him and also spread rumors against him, attributed to the President, to ensure that Batman won't take action against him in the short term."
"Who kidnapped Barbara?"
"Selina Luthor. She took her from the Bell Tower, leaving behind her hair and footprints to mislead the investigators and link previous clues, making them believe Barbara Gordon is the behind-the-scenes manipulator orchestrating the conspiracy."
"Who incited diplomatic tensions between America and Amazon?"
"Selina Luthor. She manipulated the President's schedule, bribed an intern in the security advisory team, and tried to pin everything on me."
"Good. Out of all the answers, only two names have appeared now: Selina Luthor and Lex Luther. So, it's all a plot by the Luthor siblings."
"It does seem that way on the surface, but there are doubts. Next, I ask, you answer: If you say Shiller would not give wrong professional advice, then why isn't Selina the person he describes?"
"Because Selina Luthor lied, or she didn't tell the whole truth," Shiller said. "The photos were indeed taken by her, but what did she use to take them?"
"Wasn't it Camera 14?"
"Yes, but did she control the camera by hacking through the network, or did she directly enter Wayne Enterprises to control the camera?"
"Wasn't it through Mr. Abidonis, the head of Wayne Information Security Department?"
"But you also believe that the photos don't look like ones taken by Abidonis. Furthermore, as the head of the Information Security Department, he has held that position for so many years, he wouldn't be so unclear about the location of cameras in the banquet hall and keep adjusting them repeatedly, even testing obscure cameras. This proves that the person who took the photos isn't familiar with Wayne Enterprises, hence, could hardly be an insider."
"You're really confusing me." Natasha said, "You still haven't answered my question. Selina admitted personally that she took the photos, but it contradicts another of your conclusions. How did this happen?"
"Think carefully." Shiller looked into Natasha's eyes and said, "What did she use to take the photos?"
"Camera 14! I said!"
"So, who actually took the photos?"
"Selina Luthor. She admitted it herself!"
"What did Selina use to take the photos?"
"Camera 14... Oh, you're not suggesting a 'the gun commits the murder, not me' argument, are you?"
"Why not? Remember our initial speculation?"
"Are you suggesting... electronic life?" Natasha furrowed her brow deeply and said, "Do you mean, although Selina Luthor took the photos, the camera had its own thoughts?"
"Isn't that possible?" Shiller said.
Natasha thought silently, gently tapping her finger on the railing of the hospital bed. She said, "Do you think the Luthor siblings are aware of some strange living thing being involved in the conspiracy they orchestrated?"
Shiller shook his head and said, "I think they don't know. Even though they're smart, they probably don't have the ability to analyze a person's personality and state from a single photo. Such minute anomalies are too subtle for these arrogant genius siblings to notice."
"But I still don't understand." Natasha continued, "When the camera took the photos, didn't Selina Luthor check them? Didn't she realize something was wrong with the photos? Did she just release them like that?"
"The world is a huge backstage crew. Selina Luthor claimed she took the photos, but it was likely that she instructed Abidonis, who then instructed his subordinates, who told the new intern, who flustered and rummaged through all the cameras, didn't know how to operate them, and the camera automatically focused and took a relatively decent photo. Everyone thought the task was done, so they directly handed the photo to the press."
"But when the photos were published, didn't they find them odd when they saw them on the news?"
"Again, it's not like everyone has the ability to channel photos. The Luthor siblings clearly are practical people. The photos were published, the public opinion sparked, speculation began, the goal was reached. Why would they care about the subtle differences in posture between the two of you in the photos?"
"They truly are arrogant." Natasha said.
"There's another point of doubt," Shiller said, "regarding the diplomatic relationship between America and Amazon. Do you think merely modifying the schedule can make Batman mistake the time for a routine visit?"
Natasha thought about it, then her eyebrows slowly knitted together as she shook her head and said, "Absolutely impossible. Not to mention Batman's memory, his diplomatic team isn't incompetent. Luther could bribe one or two, but could he bribe them all? Wasn't there anyone to remind him?"
"That's the problem. Neither Batman nor his diplomatic team noticed any issues. Admittedly, that's his oversight, but causing such an oversight isn't simple. If Luther could achieve this, they wouldn't need to take such a roundabout way."
"But Selina Luthor used this matter to frame me, proving she must be aware of it, and it's highly likely she initiated it."
"Again, she conceived the plot, doesn't mean she personally operated it." Shiller shook his head and said, "People like the Luthor siblings have been the rule-makers since birth. How much ground-level execution experience do they have? Aren't they always instructing their subordinates to do the tasks?"
"From their perspective, success is expected because they smartly devised a perfect plan. But from our agent's perspective, their plan faces many obstacles and might even be impossible to accomplish. Yet everything developed as they intended, their arrogance blinds them to many minute anomalies, much like a grain of sand on their coffin."
"Batman must have noticed too," Natasha said, "so even though he recognized the issues early on, he hasn't taken any measures to stop it. Compared to the Luthor siblings, he's more interested in identifying the dark force driving the plan."