Shiller arrived at the police station. The officer who greeted him was the same man he had seen before, possibly Malafax or Ron.
He held a stack of photos in his hand, depicting Jotun's corpse.
"The blood samples have already been sent for analysis," Shiller heard a police officer outside the door say, "The results probably won't be back until this afternoon. If that doesn't work, we'll have to borrow a forensic expert from the city."
Shiller knew that in such a remote town, there were basically no technical means available. It would take some time to find out the cause of Jotun's death. Even criminal investigation technicians had to be brought in from the city.
For some reason, Shiller didn't have that feeling of being watched as before, which proved that no one was reading his mind.
But that was understandable. Ron wanted to live like a human, and Malafax was worried about exposing himself in front of his powerful brother, so he wouldn't easily use his psychic ability. So, for now, they were only using human methods to investigate the case.
The officer across from him asked Shiller for some detailed information, such as when Jotun left home, how he left, and what he was doing that night.
Shiller answered each question. Just as the conversation was getting into the swing, the previous female officer rushed in and said, "We've found Betty!"
"What?!" The male officer quickly stood up and said, "Where? Where is she?"
"In Jotun's cellar. We also found a lot of blood there, possibly his mother's. And some corpse fluid, which seems to be two or three days old..."
The officers in the police station rushed out in a flurry. The officer in front of Shiller hesitated for a moment but chose to stay.
The partner who had followed the female officer knocked on the door and said to the officer in front of Shiller, "John, this gentleman's daughter might know something. Do you want to ask her?"
The officer addressed as John pushed the door open and went out. He came back a few minutes later and said to Shiller, "Your daughter might have seen Jotun dumping the body or at least heard something."
Shiller nodded, signaling with his eyes for John to close the door, and then said, "I must confess to you, officer. Aisha is not my biological daughter. In fact, she is the child of one of my students. You must have heard of her biological father's name."
John frowned deeply, staring at Shiller's expression as if trying to find a clue. But the name Shiller uttered next made his heart skip a beat.
"Aisha's full name is Elizabeth Wayne. Her father is Bruce Wayne, and her grandfather is Thomas Wayne."
John covered his forehead with his hand, pinching his temples with his middle finger and thumb, "You mean, she's Bruce Wayne's daughter?"
"Yes. I am Mr. Wayne's college professor. He is currently on a business trip in Metropolis, so he left his daughter in my care. To avoid trouble, I pretended to be her father."
"I'm confessing this to you because I want to remind you. If anything happens to Aisha in your jurisdiction, your career could be over."
John's gaze deepened, but he quickly walked out the door to stop his colleagues from asking Aisha any more questions.
After a while, he returned and sat down again. Shiller also sat across from him.
"Is Jotun's death related to you?"
"No," Shiller said, "I had no motive to kill him, nor the ability. Do you think I could defeat a farmer who might be armed without a scratch?"
"Young Jotun was not a farmer, and it's not impossible in a sneak attack situation."
Shiller shook his head, saying, "As I said, I had no motive. What good would it do me to kill him?"
Shiller was actually testing. He wanted to see if the officer sitting across from him was the same one who had talked to him in the backyard earlier.
Although they looked alike, it was possible one was Malafax and the other was Ron.
The officer who had warned him earlier that Jotun might be dangerous. If the one talking now was the same, he could fabricate a motive for Shiller's action.
For example, Shiller realized the danger and wanted to leave, Jotun tried to stop him and was killed in the process. This was possible.
But if he didn't mention it, it would prove the officer in the backyard wasn't him, which meant it was likely Malafax.
To Shiller's relief, John brought up that possibility. He said, "I warned you before that Jotun might be dangerous. You could have had a conflict with him and then killed him."
"That's possible. But if it was a sudden conflict, there's no way I could have subdued him silently. That contradicts your earlier assumption of a sneak attack."
John frowned, seemingly thinking it through. But soon, the female officer came back.
"Thank God, Betty is fine. She only has a few scratches and shows no signs of sexual assault. She said Jotun killed her mother, lured them to his house, and attacked from behind, killing her mother."
Shiller remained calm because he had expected this. Betty had clearly been brainwashed and would only say this one way. Anyone she spoke to, she'd say the same. Unless a professional intervened, no one would detect the problem.
Shiller hadn't de-brainwashed her, to nail down Jotun's guilt. Even if this might align with Malafax's goal, it was harmless.
John left for a while. When he returned, he seemed hesitant. Shiller knew he might be under some external pressure.
The issue of the dead man could be minor or major. But the previous serial disappearance cases had already caused panic. Now, two more people were dead, even Wayne's daughter was involved. The police had to find some results, or there'd be no way to justify it.
"I've looked you up online," John said frankly, "I heard you're a famous psychologist with a keen interest in criminal psychology."
"To be precise, it's Psychoanalysis Method," Shiller said.
"I don't want to discuss academic issues with you." John placed a stack of photos in front of Shiller and said, "I want to know who the killer is and if they will strike again."
Shiller lowered his eyelids, looking at the photos.
Jotun was lying flat on the ground, facing upwards, with his whole body stripped of a layer of skin.
His eyelids, nasal cartilage, lips, and the skin of his chest and abdominal cavity had all been peeled away.
A sheaf of wheat was inserted into his mouth, passing through his esophagus into his stomach, piercing the intestines downwards. Two other sheaves of wheat were horizontally placed across his chest, forming a cross with the vertical wheat.
His hands were also placed on his chest, with the palms cut and flipped over. The horizontal wheat sheaves lay on his palms, as if offering a gift to someone.
He laid peacefully and sacredly in the center of his own wheat field, as though he were not dead, but merely resting.
Shiller didn't move, leaning back against the chair, only reaching out to bring the photos a bit closer, then murmuring, "Interesting."
"What did you say?" John's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
"I said, the killer is interesting."
"...What do you mean?"
"I believe you recognize the cross, don't you?" Without waiting for John to lose patience, Shiller continued, "A cross made of wheat sheaves. This is a typical Christian metaphor. Wheat sheaves have various meanings, but combined with the body posture, I think it represents 'Cain.'"
"What?"
"Cain and Abel were brothers. Cain was a farmer, and Abel a shepherd. One day, they both offered sacrifices to God. God accepted Abel's offering but not Cain's. Feeling jealous, Cain killed his brother Abel."
"Cain's offering was a sheaf of wheat." Shiller lightly tapped the photo with his fingertip, "The killer is comparing Jotun to Cain."
"What does that signify?"
"Cain's greatest sin was killing his brother out of jealousy. The killer didn't arbitrarily compare Jotun to Cain. He believes Jotun bears the same sin."
John suddenly seemed to recall something. He took a sharp breath and exclaimed, "Are you saying Jotun also possibly killed his brother?"
Shiller suddenly looked up at him, "You should know better than I do because you are the police."
John was clearly caught off guard, then fell into contemplation. Watching his expression, Shiller knew he had guessed correctly. The death of Jotun's little sister was inextricably linked to young Jotun.
The police must have found something back then. But due to the obstruction of Jotun's parents, they couldn't convict him. And John was likely one of those in the know.
After thinking for a few seconds, John exhaled deeply, then said, "Thank you, Professor. You've been a great help."
With that, he briskly walked out. Judging by the sounds that followed, he must have been contacting Jotun's parents.
Shiller could more or less guess what happened back then. The Jotun parents probably weren't unaware of what young Jotun had done. They avoided convicting him not just to protect their son, but more importantly, to protect their reputation.
The more remote and impoverished a place, the more feudal it is. America is no exception. In many parts of America, they're more feudal than people think, almost entirely dominated by religion.
Most Americans are Protestants. Despite the name "Protestant," they're less open than reformed Catholics. The well-known anti-abortion 'Heartbeat Bill' was their brainchild.
In such places, reputation is everything. Sibling murder is directly defined as original sin in the Bible. If this got out, the family couldn't stay here anymore.
As expected, John returned looking defeated. He lightly shook his head, "No matter what Jotun did, we probably can't pursue it now. Our current focus is on his death..."
"Really?" Shiller stood up, walked up to John, and said, "When I first entered Jotun's house, he told me he had a sister. He said she was lovely, and they had a good relationship..."
"Nonsense!" John suddenly roared, "He always took Catherine to dangerous places! Once, he nearly drowned her!"
"Looks like he lied to me." Shiller lowered his eyes, then looked up at John again, "Since you knew, why didn't you stop it, Officer?"
His voice was low, but each word seemed to strike John's heart directly.
"Because you didn't stop it, Catherine died. Because you didn't follow through, Betty almost died. If Jotun hadn't been killed, maybe Aisha would have died too."
"Is this what you want, John? Did you become a police officer to watch innocent girls die one after another? Do you have daughters? If you do, could you just watch them die like this?"
"Enough!"