Three-stream detection simulator

Peter wanted to deny it, but Hercule said to him in the earphone: "Admit it."

So what Peter was about to say rolled around and turned into: "Yes, I came here to investigate at the request of Hercule Hugo."

Luca Falcone and Oswald Colbert looked at each other. Colbert's expression was more kind, which was a bit scary when placed on his face full of flesh. The mafia master next to him looks more elegant, and seems a bit classy when he doesn't speak or act. However, whether it is reaction speed or IQ, he is far behind Colbert, otherwise the latter's reputation will not grow. As he grew older, he was nicknamed "Penguin".

The Penguin wanted to be humble, so this time it was Falcone who spoke first. He signaled Colbert to put down the gun and said politely: "It's okay, we thought we were enemies just now. Since the detective found the cemetery, it means he has a rough understanding of the whole thing, right?"

Peter put down his hand and relayed Hercule's words in a low voice: "Yes, but he wants to know the true purpose of your entrustment to him."

The three of them stood in the cemetery. The surrounding tombstones were only about the height of an adult's knees (not counting the Penguin). They did not serve as a shield. Instead, they became a natural place for secret conversations. The Mafia is apparently not afraid of the dead, says Luca Falcone:

"My grandfather (Carmine Falcone) is dying."

A bolt of thunder struck down, making his face pale: "Even if he can theoretically live for a long time, he will die if he continues like this. If he dies, no matter who inherits the family in the end, it will be difficult to regain its former glory. "

Peter: "It would be quicker to just have a dream."

This was not what Hercule had pointed out, but the young man was suddenly filled with anger when he thought of those unknown dead bodies. He regretted a little after blurting out this taunt, and was worried that Colbert would shoot him directly. Fortunately, he didn't know if he was concerned about the detective who didn't show up. Although Luca Falcone's face darkened for a moment, he didn't say anything:

"You don't have to worry about me taking risks. My abilities are limited and I don't have that big ambition. I just want to survive this turmoil."

"Hiring a detective instead of fighting to the death should be enough to show my sincerity. I don't care about Hercule Hugo and your relationship with the police and superheroes. I have nothing to report because the murderer in this case is not me, and if The murderer comes from the government or the police..."

He paused and said meaningfully: "I don't think you would cover them up, would you, Detective?"

Peter didn't answer immediately.

Luca Falcone stood in front of the tombstone waiting patiently, sometimes closing his eyes and mumbling something like a prayer. Next to him, Cobert held his umbrella motionless, like a funny-looking sculpture.

After a moment, Peter said, "The detective agreed."

Falcone breathed a sigh of relief and walked side by side with Colbert to the car next to him. As he walked, he said: "Convey my gratitude to him. If it's convenient, ask him if he wants to attend. I will be on Thomson Avenue tonight." banquet."

Peter said: "He said no need. If there is a chance, we will wait until the next time we come to Gotham."

"Then I will convert the money into cash and attach it to the remaining trust fund and transfer it to him. I hope his life is not as tight as the rumors." Luca Falcone did not take it seriously, "What is the need? You can also call me directly and I will send the number directly to his email.”

After the two men disappeared at the end of the street, Peter, standing alone in the rain, said: "Oswald Colbert killed three of his biological brothers! So in order to warn him, the murderer asked his men to use the same method. Do we really want to help this kind of person?"

Hercule did not answer the question, but said: "Which side do you think the murderer came from?"

Peter hesitated for a moment and whispered: "Like a vigilante who acts in extreme ways."

——Not all city vigilantes stick to the bottom line like Batman. Some people fight violence with violence, and some people can simply be said to be complicit with criminals. The reason why Peter uses the relatively positive word 'vigilante' is because at least the murderer is killing bad people now.

Hercule was neither right nor wrong. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said something irrelevant: "I don't know if Batman has returned to Gotham City now."

Peter: You must have offended Batman!

The detective added: "I don't think this case is very complicated, but considering the generous commission fee, let's solve it as soon as possible. In this way, can you send two letters for me? One to Luca Falconena, he should have a secret temporary residence. If you can follow him now, you can just stuff the letter into the crack of his window or door, telling him to be careful about his grandfather, but that he can trust his father. ”

"Then don't be too anxious. Find Harvey Dent before it gets dark. Don't disturb him. Leave a letter telling him that Falcone is desperate. You can pay more attention to the Penguin next. Are Oswald Colbert's parents still alive in theory? But I suspect his father is dead, and not necessarily his mother... Anyway, it's a good angle for investigation."

When he first started speaking, Peter reacted very quickly and caught up with the little black car in which Luca Falcone was riding. As long as he climbs to the roof, his field of vision is much better than that of ordinary people, and he can track it from a long distance with the naked eye.

While running, he took out a pen and paper from his trouser pocket and wrote: "So is the murderer Carmine Falcone? Okay, I'll ask again later, that's all I have to write?"

"Uh." The detective hesitated for some reason, "Well, you add another sentence to the note to the client and say it's a bonus message. Do you know that your uncle Vincent F. Is Ercone ready to take over? If nothing goes wrong, your father will die from a gunshot within a week, sorry, let's change it to three days... Of course, it may also be disguised as falling into the water or a gas leak. "

Halfway through writing, Peter suddenly thought of his previous agreement, so he stopped and asked, "Is this in line with the process?"

What he asked was not the process of resolving the commission, but the question of ‘whether it was appropriate’.

Hercule, who was hoping that Peter would forget about it, sighed: "I'm not sure."

"Why don't we pass this information to Prosecutor Dent?" Peter suggested, "and let him decide whether to leak the information to Falcone."

The detective hesitated.

After a while, he compromised and said: "Add Falcone's message, and also make a copy to convey to Harvey Dent and send it to his home. But you must not stay in the city for too long, we Let’s meet at the airport in Blüdhaven. Half of the deposit will be enough. I’ll buy two tickets to the south now.”

Peter was speeding through the city, and finally succeeded in finding Falcone's residence. While he was leaving the door open, he threw a piece of paper into the crack of his door, and then continued to the prosecutor's office given by Hercule. Official address - Harvey Dent is not off work, which means Batman has not yet gone to work. The rain is getting heavier and heavier, and there are not many people on the road. Occasionally, someone points and exclaims after seeing Peter, but no police or justice have been alerted for the time being. police.

However, there was an episode on the way. When Peter landed in a certain alley, he ran into several gang members wearing red hoods, most of whom were minors. Hercule initially ignored him, but after hearing the appearance of the equipment, he changed his mind and asked Peter to help convey the words of 'Alexander Hugo': The city is not very stable recently, so it is best to reduce the number of times you go out.

The leading gangster was a little scared and couldn't help but bluff, so he cursed and asked: "Who the hell is Alexander Hugo?"

Peter: "...guess?"

Who knows who Alexander Hugo is? !

There are thousands of detective vests, half of them are Gothamites. From this perspective, he should be a despicable foreigner.

Anyway, by the time Peter completed all his tasks, the sun was still halfway hovering over the horizon. The rain became gentle again, mixed with crystal clear snowflakes. As soon as it touched the ground, it merged into muddy water and flowed into the dark sewer next to it.

**

Penguin was sitting in a small bar he had contracted, stroking the lower edge of his goblet with his gloved hand. He had maintained this posture for a while. The bartender and the chef did not dare to approach him. They were all huddled away from the bar and close to the window. From time to time, when Colbert was not looking this way, he would lift a corner of the blinds and peek out.

In the afternoon, someone came to report that Luca Falcone had gone to see his father after a long absence. The father and son have become increasingly estranged since Luca's biological mother died in an accident five years ago, often going months without speaking to each other. As Luca Falcone grew up and held on to scraps of power within the family, he had less contact with his father for various reasons.

Of course, a son suddenly wanting to meet his father seems to be nothing to worry about. However, after Penguin received the news, he closed the bar, recalled the private airship, and asked his thugs to stay at their posts, and promised that those who worked overtime tonight would get three to four times their wages.

In a place like Gotham, it is naturally impossible for the mafia to talk about labor laws. Money must be exchanged for life. The price is clearly marked, so no one can bully anyone. So when Colbert gives the order, people know: something big is going on. happened.

What is this big deal? Ordinary thugs don't dare to know and don't want to know, but Penguin has predicted it a long time ago - he guessed that all this chaos is related to Carmine Falcone. An old lion entrenched in the center of the city clearly wants to enjoy his old age, but because he was bloody in his early years and accumulated too much power and wealth, he is suspended high in the sky. As long as he shows the slightest intention to retreat, he will He fell off a cliff and died.

Carmine Falcone may not take matters into his own hands. Perhaps he hinted at his son Vincent Falcone, or perhaps Vincent took action on his own, relying on his father's remaining power to forcibly eliminate internal opponents. When Carmine learned that he was unable to deal with his soon-to-be successor due to his status, he had to help him clean up the mess, pretending to be one accident after another, and blaming it on a non-existent righteous person. police……

Penguin thought about this and changed his posture. He really wanted to chat with someone, but unfortunately he was surrounded by a group of idiots who only knew how to fight. If Hercule Hugo could accept Luke's invitation and enter the city, Penguin would be willing to do his best for his partner. As a landlord, I invite the detective to the bar to spend a leisurely evening.

pity.

But then again, it doesn't matter whether Carmine killed the person or not. What matters is that Luke Falcone's commissioning of a detective has revealed a certain kind of uneasiness and weakness that the old Mafia insiders have long felt. He may not have thought that the increasingly arrogant murderer came from within the family, but he didn't even dare to confront his grandfather face to face, and could only secretly commission a detective through his partner and hand over the decision to Hercule Hugo.

In Oswald Corbett's view, Luke's behavior is no different from leaving it to fate. If Hercule told him that the murderer was a vigilante, the government or a colleague, then Luke Falcone could use this commission to transfer hatred to the outside world, while marginalizing himself from the family and reducing the harm he would suffer in the upcoming turbulent period.

And if Hercule chose to clearly say that the person who did these things was your blood relative, Luke would have to take the initiative as quickly as possible to protect himself.

——In the final analysis, there are only these two options. When Penguin heard about Luke Falcone's dilemma, he remained silent and even had some sympathy on the surface, but in fact, he sneered in his heart, thinking that it was no wonder that Carmine Falcone fell into this situation in his later years. The fundamental reason was that his descendants were more useless than each other.

But not only did he not stop Luke Falcone's incompetent behavior, he also fueled it. Compared with the Roman Empire, which was destined to decline, Penguin was more curious about the decision that Hercule Hugo would make.

As I said just now, he thought that what was important was not the truth, but which choice brought greater benefits.

If the detective tends to transition smoothly, then he'd better throw in a third party to divert Luke Falcone's attention, prolong the time of interaction, and work with the police to make arrangements.

If Hercule Hugo intends to cut the Gordian knot, he will tell Luke Falcone the most shocking conclusion as soon as possible, and the more exaggerated and urgent it is, the better, so as to force Luke to make a decision as soon as possible and drag the entire Falcone family into the vortex. In order to prevent being stopped by a certain dark knight who is said to never kill, there is no need to notify the police, and it also saves manpower on a group of criminals.

On the other hand, what good does this do for Penguin?

It's nothing more than that he doesn't regard himself as an old-fashioned mafia, but thinks he can keep up with the times. Once Falcone falls, their connections in the police station and the city government, the smuggling lines they have spent decades to open up, the territory and manpower they have occupied... all need to be reshuffled.

If Hercule Hugo is a super criminal, Penguin may have to worry about the distribution of spoils, but since the detective is an upright good man recognized by superheroes and villains, there is no conflict of interest at all.

At this point, the Penguin had only two things to do: wait for news and take advantage of the opportunity to rob.

After hearing that Luke Falcone was looking for his father, he was certain in his heart, and couldn't help but feel a little sympathy with the detective: Look at his efficiency!

Why are all the smart people on the enemy side! The fools are all around him! Ah!

The Penguin was briefly heartbroken for a while, and quickly arranged his own people and began to wait for the moment when the war broke out. He estimated that if he delayed, something would happen. Hercule would probably set the time within three days, so if Luke Falcone wanted to get the upper hand, he could only play his cards tonight. The tranquility on the street seemed to contain the breath of impending storms, and Colbert stared at the whiskey in front of him in a trance...

Suddenly, the bartender exclaimed in the bar: "Look! Bat! There's a bat in the sky!"

The Penguin was startled and almost thought he was being targeted by Batman. But he immediately realized that no matter what, the protagonist tonight should not be a new penguin in the Gotham underworld. He jumped up nimbly and walked to the window, using his umbrella to push the bartender aside: "Move aside, let me see."

It was not Batman who appeared in the sky outside.

It was... a round bat lamp reflecting on the thick clouds. Snowflakes fluttered, the light was bright, as if the moon appeared in the snowy night, with a strange sense of shock. All Gotham people saw this scene for the first time. Penguin spent a long time to identify it before he found that the direction of the light was the police headquarters.

But he was still confused: "What kind of mess is James Gordon doing?"

No one could tell.

The Penguin had a vague feeling of uneasiness, but he couldn't tell why. And when it was early in the morning, he finally got a series of reports:

Bad news, Luke Falcone's father died in a fight, and he was stabbed six times and died on the spot.

Good news, the Falcone family went to war, and Luke Falcone himself successfully controlled his uncle, Vincent Falcone, the heir of the Falcone family.

Bad news, Harley Quinn descended from the sky and used a hammer to force Roman Carmine Falcone to abdicate!

The Penguin didn't have time to listen to the content about Batman, the police station, the prosecutor... because the super villain he least wanted to see appeared in the whole thing! At this moment, the Penguin was so angry that he said something without thinking:

"Who brought the Joker here! Isn't he imprisoned in Arkham? Why didn't Harley Quinn go in with him!"