Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

When Gordon brought Fels back to the station, Batman was waiting in his office.

Gordon was truly furious this time; he could not tolerate Fels's provocation, so he completely ignored Batman and went straight into the interrogation room.

In Gotham, the police do not hold a high status, and not a single wealthy person fears the police. But their lack of fear is because they do not commit crimes, or more precisely, because the law cannot convict them of the crimes they commit.

When facing them, the police are always helpless, knowing all too well that even if you arrest these people, they have a myriad of ways to get themselves off the hook.

In the end, they would not suffer any losses, while the arresting officer could potentially face their resentment. Therefore, Gotham's police have always refrained from provoking the wealthy.

But the premise for this situation is that there is truly no way to convict them. Their cases are still within their ability to fix. Once the case worsens and concrete evidence emerges, the police will make arrests.

Over the years, it is not as if no wealthy person has gone to jail. The main reason these people fell was due to being framed by their peers. As long as the case is severe enough, the impact significant, and the evidence sufficient, they can still be locked up.

For this reason, the elite generally also do not deeply offend the police—even those not bought by them—maintaining a superficial peace with the police.

The main reason Commissioner Gordon has remained in his position is that he cannot be bought by anyone. He is neutral and safe to everyone, so most people are willing to give him face, not deliberately troubling him unless it involves core interests.

Even to use the power of the police to suppress civilians, they would help strengthen the police's authority, at least outwardly showing respect and fear of the police, not leaving anything that could be used against them.

They understand that Gordon does not have a good impression of them, so they usually do not cause him trouble. The two sides have maintained a delicate balance, living in harmony for many years.

This balance is actually beneficial: the police can spend more time dealing with the affairs of ordinary people, improving Gotham's public security. The effort expended on the elite, if used for the general public, could improve the situation threefold.

For this, Gordon is also willing to give them face; as long it does not go too far or cause harm to ordinary people, he does not deliberately confront them.

But this time, Fels had gone too far and left no leeway for Gordon. What could be endured, and what could not?

If he did nothing about this incident, then no one would listen to him in the future. If anyone can simply kill a person and dump them at the police station's doorstep, then he might as well quit as Chief of the Gotham Police Department and go home to shovel manure.

Gordon stayed in the interrogation room and didn't come out, while Batman waited in the office for a long time without seeing any sign of Gordon.

Batman truly wanted to remain objective, but he felt that a single incident could be a coincidence, twice could be probability, but if it happened every time, couldn't it really be someone sabotaging things?

Of course, Batman approached Gordon to discuss the gambling matter. This issue was clearly not so simple, and if unprepared, a major disaster might unfold. He needed Gordon's cooperation.

With no other choice, Batman had to go downstairs to find other police officers. Fortunately, most of them recognized him from the barbecue party the day before, greeted him enthusiastically, and explained what had just happened.

By this time, Tuck's body had already been taken away, but the bloodstains had not been completely cleaned up. Batman looked around the hall and roughly reconstructed the perpetrator's process.

While he was deducing, several crime scene officers came in with documents, nodded to Batman, and headed straight to the interrogation room.

Batman moved close to the interrogation room, trying to listen to their conversation. The guard at the door initially wanted to shoo him away, but Gordon, seeing his arrival, called him in as well.

"Chief, the forensic report shows that none of the knife wounds on his body were fatal. The actual fatal injury was a penetrating wound at the throat. Judging by the shape of the wound, the murder weapon appears to be a slender fruit knife."

"And at the fatal wound, we found some fructose components. This means that the knife might have been used to cut fruit just a few minutes before. We tested the fructose concentration and preliminarily deduce it may be from an apple."

Just as he finished speaking, a noise came from outside the hall. A young police officer came in holding a small box and said, "Someone just delivered this."

"Who?"

"He said his name is Fels."

Gordon took the box and opened it. Inside, there was unmistakably an apple and a knife.

The peel of the apple had been removed, and it had been bitten. The knife was stained with blood, and fingerprints were still present on the handle.

Gordon immediately passed the box to the crime scene officers. He shot Fels a glare as if looking at a dead man and, without saying a word, left the interrogation room.

"You came looking for me about the gambling matter, didn't you?" Gordon said directly to Batman as he walked out the door, "Your psychiatrist said your mental condition is very bad. I think you should rest."

"I don't have a psychiatrist," Batman said, "If it was Shiller who told you this, then he is just trying to stir up trouble between us."

"I'm just concerned about you, not trying to force you to do anything," Gordon shook his head and said. "You know the person who would have demanded that of you is no longer here. If you can't accept this kind of friendly concern, you would make him sad too."

Batman didn't respond; he tried to steer the conversation back on track. He said, "Little Fiers wouldn't have come up with such an idea himself. There must be someone behind him, plotting and giving him advice."

Gordon shook his head and said, "Now is not a good time to look for the behind-the-scenes manipulator. Invitations have already been sent out, and to my knowledge, at least a hundred people are involved in the gambling, all of them prominent figures in Gotham. The stakes have already become unimaginably high."

"Although with the evidence we currently have, Little Fiers is very likely to be brought to court, the casino owned by the Fiers Family is legal. We can't shut it down at this time."

"You can shut it down temporarily," Batman said, "because a murder took place there. You could close it for a few days under the pretext of investigation."

"That's true, but I can't do that," Gordon looked at Batman and said. "Pandora's box has been opened. With so many people interested in this gamble, they won't stop just because a casino is shut down. They'll just find another place to bet."

"We have in our hands evidence of Little Fiers's criminality, which might persuade Old Fiers to let this gamble proceed under our watch. At least this could ensure it won't turn into too big of a mess."

"If it falls into the hands of someone we don't know, they won't have any reservations and will only allow the stakes to blow up further, starting a game that gets bigger and bigger, and that will be a real catastrophe."

Batman frowned. He of course acknowledged Gordon's point but suggested another possibility: "Is it possible that the perpetrator provided crucial evidence purposely to make you think this way?"

"To make you believe everything is under control, so you won't use the GTO to interfere with the gambling, allowing his plan to carry on without hindrance."

Gordon thought of Shiller, whom he saw at the entrance of the Fels Casino, and felt Batman was right. But even knowing this, he didn't have another choice.

"There's a possibility, but regardless, I can't take that bet," Gordon said, looking at Batman. "Batman, our identities are different, and so our perspectives on the issue naturally differ."

"I envy your ability to fight crime without restraint, but you also have to understand my pursuit of maintaining stability. To maintain stability is the best situation for the majority of ordinary people, even if by doing so I might be aiding others to complete their plans, I still must do it."

Batman knew there was no point in discussing further, but fortunately, this wasn't the first time. He and Gordon always agreed to disagree. So he said, "Tonight, I'll go to the casino to investigate and get a list of bettors. You need to send people to Arkham Asylum."

Gordon clearly was also thinking, he said, "If nothing unexpected happens, this time it will be winner takes all, and there will definitely be someone who wants to tamper with it. Arkham Asylum is the only breakthrough."

"Tuck is dead, Arkham Asylum is now without a director. Even though the previous security mechanisms are still in effect, in case of an emergency, someone must be able to respond. In the next few days, I will have the GTO stationed there to prevent any trouble."

Batman shook his head and said, "You can't place all your manpower there; it's too remote. If something happens within the city, they may not be able to get back in time."

"What a nuisance," Gordon let out a long sigh, "It would be nice if all criminals were confined there, but the most dangerous one is now roaming outside. This has really stretched us thin."

Naturally, Batman also thought of the New Clown Maria. Except for her, almost all of the dangerous criminals were locked up in the asylum. If she too were locked up, they could concentrate all their forces on the asylum.

But unfortunately, the New Clown had not shown her face since the Charabang Chemical Factory explosion. She had been silent longer than ever before, indicating that she was likely planning another big move.

Batman couldn't help but think again—if someone deliberately arranged this gambling event, what was their purpose?

Or to stop beating around the bush, what was Shiller's goal in all this? Batman couldn't see the real trap yet.

At this moment, a police officer knocked on the door and entered the reception room. He informed Gordon, "The examination of the apple and the fruit knife is complete. There's Fels's saliva on the apple and his fingerprints on the knife handle. The evidence is conclusive and undeniable."

"According to New Jersey State law, such a vicious case is not bailable. Fels will be spending the next while behind bars."

"And Old Fiers is too old, he probably doesn't have the energy to manage such a large casino. Fels East Coast Paradise will have to be left to his only remaining son to manage."

Batman was thinking as he left the Gotham Police Department, in high society, the strife between the two Fiers brothers wasn't a secret. Ultimately, Little Fiers taking over the casino proved he was stronger than his brother.

Now that his brother has finally taken back the casino and taken over Little Fiers's gambling event that became an overnight sensation in high society, he must be eager to show his mettle.

He doesn't have that kind of cleverness himself, couldn't think of good strategies, and Little Fiers's people wouldn't work for him, so his only reliance would have to be the person who helped him take over the casino.

Batman didn't have to think about it to know it must be Shiller.

Just this entire process is all too familiar, isn't this exactly how the Charabang Family fell?

Batman suddenly found, the Elite which he and the pale knight had long considered invincible, were not so strong after all. When held in the palm of Shiller's hand, they are as vulnerable as an eggshell that would crack upon the slightest pressure.

But if Shiller is right, then were the difficulties they had encountered previously because they were walking incorrectly or because the path they were on was fundamentally wrong?