Tao Jing smiled grimly and seemed to still be savoring the pleasure of revenge from that night.
"I’d like to get one thing straight. Did you instruct him or suggest he commit those murders?"
After a brief pause, Tao Jing affirmed, "Yes, I ordered him!"
But I noticed her microexpressions. "Your body language tells me you’re lying. So the crimes were entirely the Imitator’s idea. At most, your involvement changed the way the last victim was killed, but that doesn’t count as instigation."
"You’re wrong,” she frowned. “I hired him to kill them!"
"Then how did you pay for his services?" I asked.
"I transferred the money to him last night."
Xiaotao immediately sent an officer to check the Imitator's bank accounts and found nothing, though he did receive four yuan red envelopes from Tao Jing last night on WeChat.
In doing so, Tao Jing wanted to incriminate herself. "Why are you doing this?” I questioned. “There’s no way he’ll escape legal sanctions, but it’s not the same for you. You can walk out of this door a free man."
"When you ‘reason’ with me, you sound just like those school leaders who tried to persuade me,” Tao Jing said, her eyes filled with hatred and disgust. “In the eyes of people like you, the lives of others are always irrelevant and your own interests are the most important!"
I was a little annoyed to hear her confuse me with those people. What she said was completely unreasonable; it had nothing to do with my interests. However, the realization dawned upon me–she was deliberately provoking me.
Whether Tao Jing was guilty or not depended entirely on how we reported the interrogation. She seemed unafraid of the consequences and was determined to follow the Imitator to prison.
"I'm not trying to reason with you. I'm merely stating the truth,” I explained. “Don't be foolish. Do you think four yuan counts as payment for his services? If I give you ten yuan, will you help me kill ten people?"
"Whether it's four yuan or four million, it's still paying him to murder them!" she insisted.
I shook my head and laughed, "There’s no proof of a transaction between you two. Neither has he received the money on WeChat, nor is there an oral or written agreement between the both of you. Then what if I accidentally gave a stranger a few yuan in red envelopes and that person kills someone? If this counts as murder for hire, then wouldn’t I be charged with a crime as well?"
In fact, this interrogation was unprecedented. Here we were, desperately trying to prove her innocence while she was frantically scrambling to prove her guilt.
Tao Jing lowered her head gloomily, "No one has been so kind to me since my ex-boyfriend died. I don't want to give up on him. He’s everything to me. If he’s arrested, it’s the end of my entire world... "
"It’s not like they put both men and women in the same prison, so it’s meaningless for you to go with him,” I urged. “If you’re free, you can at least send him food from outside!"
"Must you sentence him to death?” shouted Tao Jing. “Those people he killed deserved it. If you were me, you would do the same!"
"The law is reason-free from passion. There are many ways of executing revenge. Why must you kill?" I argued.
I exchanged a few words with Xiaotao under my breath. We had come to the end of the interrogation.
"Don't be silly, I won't let you go to prison for nothing,” I persuaded. “Let's go, I'll take you to meet him!"
Tao Jing looked at me unfathomably, tears wetting her eyes. "Why do you want to help me?" she bit her lip.
I sighed and looked straight into her eyes, "I’m not helping you. I’m just doing what I should do. I hope you’ll come out of the shadows and find peace."
Tao Jing wailed, slurring her speech, "That's easy for you to say. How am I supposed to walk out of all that? Every night, I dream of those terrifying days. I can’t trust or get along with anyone. They’ve turned me into a pathetic outcast."
"Look, aren’t you speaking your mind now?” I said, patting her on the shoulder. “You don't have to waste your whole life for what those four bullies have done to you. They’re dead now, and their families are ruined. Yet you’re standing alive and well. Shouldn't you take control of your destiny?"
As a consultant involved in solving crimes, it was inappropriate for me to speak these words. But deep down from the bottom of my heart, I hoped Tao Jing could walk out of the dark tunnel and no longer be tortured by her past.
"Thank you," nodded Tao Jing as she sobbed.
Xiaotao and I exited the interrogation room, leaving her to compose herself. Looking through the one-way glass, Xiaotao sighed repeatedly, "What a poor girl!"
In truth, I had mixed feelings about the matter. The unfairness of life couldn’t be altered. Oftentimes, destroying a person's life required only an incident or a word. Most people spent their whole lives trying to heal their inner wounds, yet those who inflicted them lived at ease.
In the face of this unjust world, all we could do was accept our imperfect selves and move on.
At the end of the case, the police held a press conference to publicize that a serial murder had been solved. In order to protect Tao Jing's privacy, the school bullying incident wasn’t made public.
The Imitator was quickly sent to the detention center, in wait for his hearing. What surprised me most in the entire case was that a killer with mind-blowing abilities like the Imitator was actually working alone and didn’t belong to any criminal organization.
On the day we closed the case, Xiaotao and I walked out of the station together. Xiaotao stretched herself and looked up at the sky. "We can finally have a good rest!"
"It’s too soon for you to be happy,” I chuckled. “Don’t forget, you have to wear what I ask you to and do everything I say."
"Yes, I got it,” she pursed her lips. “Tell me then. I’ll do everything you ask, but don't you dare go too far!"
"Give me a moment!" I burst out.
Dashing straight to her office, I grabbed the box I previously left there. Upon opening it, Xiaotao blushed like a ripe tomato. Inside was a baroque-style dress she once pointed out in passing.
"I wasn’t serious about it,” she smiled shyly. “How embarrassing would it be if my colleagues caught me wearing such a girly dress at my age? What would become of my prestige as captain?"
"Don’t you try going back on your word,” I smirked. “You have to wear it!"
"Fine, I got it,” she nodded. “Any further instructions?"
"Go on a date with me tomorrow!"
Xiaotao breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright, come pick me up tomorrow morning."