Chapter 299: Three Detectives (3)

Chapter 299: Three Detectives (3)

Batman entered the room first, followed by Gordon. The situation inside the room was indeed very strange. Apart from Schiller, who stood in the middle holding an umbrella, there was a blond man who looked like he had indulged himself excessively. He had a black book floating in his hand. Jason, Dick, and Sliphead, three children, were sitting on the floor at the far end of the room, while on the right side of the room, there was a peculiar altar.

Just after they entered, Schiller walked up to the demon he had pinned to the wall and glanced at it, saying, "Is this Mrs. Sanchez?"

Gordon looked puzzled and said, "Mrs. Sanchez? Isn't she already dead?"

Constantine walked up to the monster and chains flew out from the book in his hand, restraining the monster. Gordon then turned his head to look at the children lying on the floor and said, "Can someone explain to me what's going on here?"

"Very well," Schiller raised his voice and tapped the ground with his umbrella. "Alright, let's hear it one by one, starting with you."

Saying that, he pointed at Jason and Dick. Dick looked at the umbrella in front of him, which had directly knocked the monster onto the wall, unable to be pried off. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and obediently began to narrate.

"...Two days ago, I came to this school to study. Everything was normal on the first day. After I finished packing my belongings, I went to sleep. However, because I changed beds, I had trouble falling asleep. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I noticed that my roommate had wounds on his back..."

"When I asked him what had happened in the morning, he showed a scared expression and didn't say anything. I became suspicious, so I started observing and noticed that many students had injuries..."

"I was certain that someone was abusing them. During class the next day, one of my classmates didn't pay attention during prayers, so the teacher said he would have to go to the confession room. He displayed a very frightened expression. I was convinced they must have abused him in the confession room."

"So, I intentionally made a small mistake to get them to lock me up in the confession room..."

"And then?" Batman asked.

"...A woman entered. She said her name was Mrs. Sanchez and that she was the school principal. She threatened me with various things, like even if I'm an adopted child of the Wayne Family, I must obey her here, or else she would make me suffer..."

"I asked her if she had been abusing those children, but it seemed to anger her. She said those disobedient children should be hanged..."

"Then she beat me with a cane, leaving the same wounds as my classmates. That damned woman is a sadist, she..."

Before Dick could continue, Batman walked up to him and lifted his clothes, revealing many fresh scars on his back and waist. The scars were deep, some even turning slightly black. Batman's expression started to darken, but Dick didn't pay much attention and continued speaking.

"The woman intended to continue beating me, but someone called her from outside, saying that Mr. Cooper had come to see her, so she left..."

"I thought I needed to expose her true nature and rescue my classmates. So, while she was leaving, I picked the lock of the confession room and secretly followed her..."

"She met Mr. Cooper on the fourth floor. I'm quite agile, so I climbed up the balcony through the pipes and eavesdropped on their conversation from outside the room..."

Dick pursed his lips and said incredulously, "I overheard that Mrs. Sanchez had a deal with Cooper."

"Cooper told me that the person he originally found was too greedy and he couldn't afford their price, so he decided to find someone else."

"Cooper told me that the solution he found from that wizard was to sacrifice the souls of thirteen children to demons in hell on the night of the full moon, in exchange for his son's soul."

"When I heard this solution, I knew who he had found."

Constantine glanced at the monster once again and said, "There's a specific branch in witchcraft that involves harnessing the souls of children for power. I usually refer to this branch as 'Ghost Mother.' As far as I know, there's only one 'Ghost Mother' in the current mystical community, and that's Lorena Sanchez."

"When I heard that Cooper had actually approached her, I almost burst out laughing. Lorena is nothing more than a fraud! She definitely knows that sacrificing any number of children's souls wouldn't bring back Cooper's son from hell. No one can snatch their sustenance from the clutches of devils."

"But Cooper, being an outsider with little knowledge, believed Lorena's claims. Not only did he give her a significant amount of money, but he also arranged for her to become the headmistress of a boarding school, giving her the opportunity to harm those children."

"After I learned about all of this, I couldn't let her succeed. So, I confronted Lorena and demanded that she stop her deceitful actions and leave."

"She claimed she would consider it, but behind my back, she set up traps and an altar at the school, all in preparation to strike me when I came looking for trouble."

"As expected, after I arrived, she used the altar to summon the shadow of a demon, which attached itself to her and transformed her into the monster you see now..."

"So, how did Cooper die?"

"Lorena cursed him to death because he refused to provide her with more funding and lost trust in her. As the boy mentioned earlier, Cooper had a heated argument with Lorena, and after they separated, she must have used a spell to kill him."

"Does the recent series of murders in Gotham have anything to do with you?" Batman stared at Constantine and asked.

"Series of murders?" Constantine paused for a moment and replied, "Whatever it is, I have no idea. I've only been in Gotham for a few days..."

"Constantine, do you know..."

Schiller turned around and walked to the other side of Constantine, who also gazed at Schiller and asked, "...know what?"

Schiller lowered his head, leisurely slid his hand down the umbrella handle, and then held the middle part of the umbrella with both hands.

With a loud "bang," Constantine was knocked down by the lifted umbrella handle, falling to the ground. Before he lost consciousness, he saw Schiller standing with his back to the light, the umbrella planted firmly on the ground, and he spoke:

"I don't believe a single word you said."

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