That night, we received an email from the psychologist. It contained all the recordings of his afternoon conversation with Ma Qiaojun, which lasted for two hours.
Xiaotao and I listened carefully. They started off by speaking about some daily matters, while the middle of their conversation was related to his illness. Tang Zixin eased Ma Qiaojun into recalling his childhood trauma. When he was a child, Ma Qiaojun’s classmates at school would point at his nose and call him the son of a murderer. Despite the bullying, his teachers turned a blind eye. Going to school every day was no less painful than descending to hell!
Once, when he couldn't stand it any longer, he beat up one of his bullies. In the end, the gang retaliated and stabbed him in the abdomen. Unaware of the severity of their attack and the consequences, they sneered at him, claiming he was pretending. At the time, the pain was so agonizing that Ma Qiaojun desperately begged them to call an ambulance.
Even after being sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, one of his kidneys had been ruined.
Through the school’s mediation, the bully’s family compensated his medical expenses. However, his bully felt no guilt and behaved like a hero instead, frequently boasting about his deeds in school!
At this point, Ma Qiaojun sobbed bitterly, "Ever since then, I can no longer trust anyone. I feel as if everyone is out to hurt me! I often wish I could die, but I’m afraid and unwilling. Why should I spend such a life? Why should I pay my sins for others? I want to retaliate against society and get my revenge!"
Ma Qiaojun’s voice was close to breaking. His gloomy laughter evoked goosebumps.
Tang Zixin tried to enlighten him. Since he had spent his whole childhood paying off his father's debts, why should he give up his future? That was his own life.
Then he gave some practical suggestions, proposing Ma Qiaojun leave this place, change jobs and bury the past.
"Others are hell. This is a fact we can't change. Although it’s cruel, you have to learn to face it, just like sailors who face the dangers of the sea before learning how to protect themselves. Don’t you think so?"
Tang Zixin’s magnetic voice had Ma Qiaojun in agreement. Then changing the subject, Tang Zixin asked him to talk about his father.
After a moment of silence, Ma Qiaojun began.
His father was a loser who suffered at the hands of women his entire life. Every time a beautiful woman came to purchase something from his store, he would blush and not know what to do. In front of women, he was a timid softie! Therefore, Ma Qiaojun didn't believe his father could rape and kill because the man trembled with nervousness as soon as he saw a woman. How could he have succeeded?
In fact, the tension he felt was precisely due to desire. Ma Sanyou was an ugly, introverted man who had never been favored by the opposite sex throughout his life. From this point of view, he certainly had motives.
Tang Zixin continued, "After he left, did he fulfill his responsibilities as a father? Did he regularly send you living expenses?"
"No. But he left an inheritance that was enough for us to live and study."
"Inheritance? You mean he’s no longer alive?"
"I don't know, but I think he’s dead. Anyway, I never want to see him again!"
After a brief talk, Tang Zixin suddenly said time was up. It was only then that Xiaotao and I realized we had listened motionlessly for two hours. Turning off the recording, I said, "The man’s worth investigating!"
Xiaotao smiled, "Do you think Ma Sanyou is the murderer?"
I shook my head, "I still believe we shouldn’t have any preconceptions. But I’m now thinking in a different direction, that is, what role did Ma Sanyou play in the murders twenty years ago?"
"He’s either a suspect or a victim. What else could it be?"
I didn’t say a word. In fact, I had a vague speculation. However, it was too bold to share for the time being.
Without further delay, I immediately contacted the fat officer and asked for all information pertaining to Ma Sanyou. From the fat officer’s tone, I could tell he was displeased. After all, he had just solved a case, so he probably didn't want to put energy into an old one.
"By the way there are a total of five Shen Lijuans in Liangchuan. Come down tomorrow..."
"Send it to me now!" I said.
"But I'm not in the station now..."
"It's alright, I can wait! I apologize for the trouble."
After I hung up, I noticed that Xiaotao had been eavesdropping. She laughed, "Can’t you tell? The fat officer just broke a big case and obviously doesn’t want to work overtime."
"Of course I know, but I’ve got a three-day deadline as per our agreement. I won't waste time on hypocritical favors. It's only eight in the evening. There’s so much we can do."
"It looks like you won’t stop until you discover the truth! Fortunately, I’m also a workaholic, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to stand you," teased Xiaotao.
Forty minutes later, the fat police officer sent over the information. Five Shen Lijuans, all between the ages of twenty to fifty.
"What sort of girl would the person Grandpa helped for twenty years be?"
"The victim’s family?" Xiaotao answered without a second thought.
Pulling out the file from my bag, I flipped through it. Of the nine victims, four were married. Excluding Officer Xiao’s wife, the husbands of the other three weren’t mentioned.
Thus, I could only compare the photos of the victims with Shen Lijuan, but they didn't look alike, which baffled me.
"There are only five of them anyway and the county town isn’t large. We’ll look for them one by one."
"Perfect!" I glanced at the screen and thought that the youngest two should be given priority since they were most likely to be the victim’s children.
Although their phone numbers were included in the file, I decided speaking to them in person would come across as more sincere. After all, it was a painful memory for them.
As soon as she heard that we were going out, Bingxin wanted to come along. We headed to the nearest location first. This Shen Lijuan was still at school and lived with her parents. When I saw the mother who came to open the door, I knew I had the wrong person. After making up some sort of excuse, I left without further ado.
The second Shen Lijuan worked as a network manager in an internet cafe. When I euphemistically expressed my intention and asked her if she was the victim's relative, the girl stared wide-eyed and yelled, "You lunatic!"