William switched on the interrogation room's overhead light. Dr. Hugo sat in an orange prison uniform, his eyes tightly shut and his handcuffed hands resting on the table.
"William Hans. I've heard your name from Zsasz more than once."
Influenced by his favorable impression of William, Hugo spoke first.
"Really? So that's why you showed up at the asylum entrance last time? Just to meet me?"
"I wanted your help exposing Jeremiah Arkham's crimes. Unfortunately, I hadn't fully broken free of his control at the time."
The conversation naturally turned to the heart of the matter, and William followed that line of questioning.
What Dr. Hugo said next largely confirmed Batman's suspicions.
The man responsible for adding hallucinogens to the water supply all these years was Director Jeremiah himself. As his accomplice, Hugo had handled the extraction and processing of the hallucinogen. They had worked together for a full twelve years.
The raw material for this hallucinogen was the "Madman's Blood" of Ezekiel, the Arkham family's ancestor-the Arkham Knight. After refinement and purification, the Madman's Blood entered the water supply. Whether consumed directly or inhaled after evaporation, it subtly affected the human body.
"Aggression, anxiety, emotional instability, endocrine disorders, and even a significantly increased risk of mental illness. These are all potential consequences of prolonged exposure to Madman's Blood."
"Of course... there's something even more important. As a hallucinogen, it's also somewhat addictive. The dose may be minute, but the body cannot metabolize it."
"So you're saying the stuff you poured into the pipes was an antidote?"
"I'd been planning this for a long time. A little over a month ago, I finally exploited a lapse in Jeremiah's management and imprisoned him. As I just said, if I'd been able to send any kind of distress signal to the outside