"Sheriff, I need to make something clear beforehand: I won't directly confront Professor Hugo Strange. He has deep roots in academia and forensic psychiatry, and openly opposing him would do me no good. Today, I'm merely an... observer."
Early the next morning, Dr. Harleen Quinzel arrived in the lobby on time. She had changed into a relatively conservative dark gray skirt suit, and the look behind her gold-rimmed glasses was far more restrained than usual.
"That's enough."
Li Jie nodded and led her toward the surveillance room. Its monitors showed live feeds of the reception room from multiple angles, with perfectly clear audio.
"You just need to give us a heads-up whenever something feels off."
"You can see the whole precinct from here?"
Harleen immediately perked up, leaning over the monitors one after another to study the Eastern District Precinct through its cameras with keen interest. Before long, however, she lost interest.
"How boring. None of the officers have any passion."
Harleen opened her handbag and took out a stack of receipts. "Sheriff, here's the bill for what we spent yesterday. Eight thousand seven hundred dollars."
"Oh..." Li Jie quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought it would cost at least thirty or fifty thousand. For the Eastern District Precinct as it stood now, this amount was pocket change.
After a moment's thought, he called Raven and Anna into the surveillance room as well. He specifically told Anna to watch Harleen and keep her from messing with the equipment, then prepared to head out to greet their guest.
At nine thirty that morning, Professor Hugo Strange arrived right on time. He wore a dark three-piece suit, and behind his thick lenses were cold, ruthless, arrogant eyes. Broad and powerfully built, with a full beard, he looked less like