Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
5:30 in the afternoon. Rongyang Branch Office, Team A office.
One side of the whiteboard was no longer enough for the case analysis, and there were soon many more whiteboards. The were also five photos representing the five victims! The atmosphere inside the office was very tense. There were suddenly five vacuum sealed corpses. It was unlike anything anybody had ever seen before. Five corpses meant five lives lost. Who would mercilessly take away five lives? The most terrifying thing was that according to the autopsies, all five of these people had been starved to death, then sealed in the vacuum bag! Since the cause of death was the same for all five bodies, and the bag used to seal the corpses were all from the same brand, the police could now confirm that these five people had been killed by the same person! In other words, this was a serial murder case! Due to the severity of the case and the cruelty of the murder, this case had skyrocketed to the primary case for the Key Case Investigation Unit, even surpassing the bank robbery case.
“Based on the current situation,” Miao Ying spoke heavily, pointing at a picture as she said, “it seems like Duan Dacheng was the first victim! He was starved to death seven years ago and was sealed in a vacuum bag, then put in the Yu Hua Street Qinshan Bank’s security deposit box! Also, at the time when the culprit registered, they used Duan Dacheng’s identity.”
“Right, and this was Bureau Chief Tang’s fifth uncle,” Zhang Jingfeng whispered to his colleagues beside him, “Gong Xiuzhen’s husband. When I was in the missing person’s department, I was looking for this guy!”
“Six years ago, the victim was a leather shoe wholesaler named Tang Lingling!” Miao Ying pointed at a female’s photo. “Tang Lingling disappeared six years ago, when she was thirty-three-years-old. She also starved to death, then was hid in Yu Hua Street Qinshan Bank. Not only did the culprit use Duan Dacheng’s identity to register the box, but they even used the safety deposit box right beside Duan Dacheng’s.
“Then next victim went missing five years ago!” Miao Ying pointed at a pale girl’s photo. “Tong Yun! She was twenty-three-years-old. Her body was hidden in the Jiefang Street Qinshan Bank, and the registration name was Tong Yun herself! That year was right when the Jiefang Street Qinshan Bank opened for business. For some reason, the culprit moved the location, and no longer used Duan Dacheng’s name, but started using Tong Yun’s.
“Four years ago, the culprit changed places again!” Miao Ying pointed at the fourth photo of a middle-aged male with stubble. “This was Shao Zhenjiang, a shepherd. He was fifty-two when he went missing. He died of starvation, then was put in the Tongchuan Bank’s safety deposit box storage. Yet, for reasons unknown, when it was Gong Xiuzhen’s turn, the culprit returned to QInshan Bank and deposited Gong Xiuzhen’s corpse at the Yu Hua Street branch.”
“Duan Dacheng’s corpse was also at Yu Hua street.” Lanbo sighed. “Do you think the culprit meant to let the old couple reunite in death?”
“Once a year!” Li Beini sighed as she looked at Zhao Yu. “Senior, maybe you’re right? Maybe this really is some psycho killer?”
“Between the five people, their ages weren’t similar, genders random, occupations different; there were almost no commonalities between them.” Miao Ying furrowed her brow as she said, “Why did the culprit pick these people?”
“I remember, didn’t they have some things in common?” Liang Huan recollected. “Weren’t they all from Tongyang County?”
“No!” Zhang Yaohui immediately said. “Shao Zhenjiang and Tang Lingling weren’t! They were natives from the Qinshan area, and had no relationship to Tongyang County.”
“Tsk, tsk…you say they have nothing in common,” Liu was confused, “but two of the victims were a couple! This is indeed confusing! Could it be…the culprit picked whoever he wanted?”
“Also, there’s something else we have to consider.” Miao Ying shook her head. “Even though there’s no new information, we can’t guarantee that we won’t find more bodies!” All the investigators could not help but shiver. If there were more corpses hidden in banks, then that would be unimaginable.
“This is from April, this is June, this was during the winter.” Miao Ying pointed at the dates below the photos. “The times of the murders have no logical connection, but the missing person’s date and the time that the bodies were put into the safety deposit boxes seem to have a regular pattern. Look, there’s about twenty-four to twenty-seven says from the date of the missing person’s report to when the bodies were deposited in the security box.”
“Yeah!” Zhang Jingfeng shook his head and sighed. “That’s more than enough time to starve a person to death! This culprit is really a psycho!”
“Zhao Yu,” suddenly, Miao Ying turned to Zhao Yu, “you’ve been quiet for a while. This isn’t really like you? Do you have no opinion on this at all?”
“I do!” Zhao Yu nodded seriously. “Didn’t I say I’d find something at the bank? What about it? Huh?! Do you see? All these corpses were found by me! Team Leader Miao, shouldn’t you reward me a bit? How about you take me out to eat barbecued lamb tonight?” Miao Ying’s expression immediately turned cold.
“Please!” Li Beini scolded Zhao Yu with her hands on her waist, “Senior, do you see what’s happening? And you can still joke?”
“Fine! I’ll be serious!” Zhao Yu immediately fixes his clothes and said seriously, “I’ve watched for a while. If you ask me, there are only two possibilities: One, the culprit is some crazy psycho. Every time he’s uncomfortable, he’ll come out and kill someone, and his choices are random!
“Or two, I think…this case is very much like Li Dan’s Lost Hand Case! It seems like the culprit…wants…wants…revenge!!!”
“Revenge?!” Zhao Yu’s word shocked everyone.
“No way?” Li Beini was the first to retort, “Gong Xiuzhen was just an elderly lady. Even if someone previously had a grudge again her, they couldn’t be that cruel, right? And what about the others? They weren’t perverts or delinquents. Why would anyone want to kill them?”
“Don’t get too agitated!” Zhao Yu continued sternly, “There are countless reasons to hate someone. Don’t just think delinquents can be hated, okay? Think about it, you can kill someone with one stab to the chest! But to starve someone to death, think about how much effort that takes in comparison? And how much risk?
“But even then, the culprit still chose to starve people to death. Isn’t this obviously revenge?” Zhao Yu waved his hands at Miao Ying. “Team Leader Miao, hurry and use your resources to look into these five people’s relationships. If we can connect all of them to one mutual acquaintance, then we may find the truth!”
The reason why Zhao Yu was so sure was because of his past experiences. While investigating the Lost Hand Case, only when Zhao Yu found the keyword “piano” did the truth appear! Maybe this case was similar to the Lost Hand Case. Only when they found the key connection could the truth be possibly uncovered.
“True!” After some thinking, Miao Ying agreed with Zhao Yu. She immediately sent out a few people to investigate the relationships between the five victims. Not only would they look into the files of the victims, but they would also interview each victim’s family members, and see if they could establish any connection.
Whew… When the investigators were back to work again, Zhao Yu could not help but inhale deeply. Even though the appearance of five corpses had interfered with investigating the bank robbery, to Zhao Yu, it was a relief, because Zhao Yu felt like these five corpses were the reason for the “Kun” hexagram! In other words, the big issue had nothing to do with his personal safety, so he could investigate the case without much worry! But due to the importance of the “Kun” hexagram, Zhao Yu had put all his focus on it and completely forgot the “Kan” hexagram. Indeed, just as he was getting ready to start investigating the case with all his might, a phone call suddenly broke his focus.
“Sob…sob…” Through the phone, Yao Jia wailed without a pause, barely audible. “Officer Zhao, I’m at the Mona Lisa Western Restaurant! Sob…sob… I ran into some trouble. Will you be able…to come help? Also, can you bring money?”