Those who have killed know that if they keep doing it, they’ll eventually be caught by the police.
When I was fleeing the scene after killing the 8th person, the police pinned me down on the spot.
To get rid of the suspicion, I lied to them, saying, “I was at the scene because I have the ability to predict the future.”
Naturally, they didn’t believe me.
So, I immediately predicted the information of the 9th victim.
01
In the interrogation room, I told the police that I woke up one day with this precognitive ability, and it could only predict things related to the “South City Serial Murder Case.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?” The police officer sitting across from me blurted out swear words, pointing at me. “Xu Mingyu, don’t think that just because you’re a woman, we can’t do anything to you.”
He said, “Ordinarily, we’d need to do a lot more to confirm you as the murderer, but with this lie you told, I’m 100% sure you’re the one.”
I was stunned on the spot, reacting almost the same way as he did when I told him about my “precognitive ability.”
Come on, buddy. You graduated from the police academy, after all.
Don’t you know that speaking so casually like this can get you into legal trouble?
I grumbled in my heart but pretended to be helpless and said, “I knew you guys wouldn’t believe me, so I didn’t dare to call the police. I just thought I could go and save the person, but this useless ability only gives me a half – hour prediction. Every time I rush to the scene in a hurry, the person is already dead.”
I was very emotional, precisely showing the grievance and helplessness of being wrongly accused and having no way to prove my innocence.
Zhang Huaining seemed to have run out of all his patience with me. He was very irritable at the moment and shouted at me, “Shut up!”
His reaction was exactly what I expected. After all, in just half a year, 8 people had died.
And the police hadn’t found any clues. The pressure on them was imaginable.
To appease the public, the police had solemnly promised not long ago, “We will definitely protect the safety of the people and never let such a tragedy happen again.”
It hadn’t been long since then, and someone else had died. If they couldn’t find the murderer soon, I thought the public’s criticism would drown them.
He gave me a cold glance and ordered, “Lock her up first and keep a close watch!”
Then someone was about to take me away, so I decided to play my trump card. “Oh no, I have a premonition again…”
I acted very flustered, and everyone looked at me like I was a lunatic.
I exclaimed, “Liang Qiaosheng, male, 27 years old…
“Shimao Tower, 29th floor.
“I saw it. He was thrown hard against the floor – to – ceiling window. The window immediately shattered into pieces, and then his whole body fell to the ground like a stone. Then, with a ‘bang’, he just split apart!”
I performed so well that it gave them a vivid sense of being there. “Blood, there was blood everywhere.”
I almost pleaded, “Please go and save him. It’ll be too late if it’s any later!”
Obviously, someone couldn’t hold on anymore and cautiously persuaded, “Brother, it’s better to believe it than not. Why don’t we go and take a look?”
Zhang Huaining unceremoniously slapped him on the head. “Are you out of your mind? Instead of watching her act, you might as well go and check her information clearly!”
With that, he ordered someone to drag me away. I deliberately pointed at him provocatively and said, “If this person dies because of your suspicion, then you’re the murderer.”
02
A few minutes later, the young police officer who had been swayed by me came to me furiously.
He pointed at me, his face full of anger. “You murderer, how dare you use such nonsense to disrupt the investigation. And I actually believed it?”
His furious look was quite funny. Compared to Zhang Huaining’s steadiness, he was like a kindergarten kid.
“I just called Shimao Tower to ask. There’s no floor – to – ceiling window on their 29th floor, and there’s no one named Liang Qiaosheng working on that floor either.”
Of course I knew there wasn’t!
But I still pretended to be surprised. “How could that be? I saw it clearly. It was the 29th floor!”
I asked, “Aren’t you really going to the scene to take a look?”
Then I calculated the time and sighed. “But it’s probably too late to go now.”
Liang Qiaosheng must have been split apart by now.
“Stop scaring people… Once you’re in here, don’t even think about getting out. We will definitely find evidence to prove that you’re the murderer.”
Tsk!
I sneered at this.
After all, if they could catch the murderer, I wouldn’t have been able to kill 8 people in a row.
However, I knew that Zhang Huaining would still go to the scene.
He wouldn’t believe that I had any precognitive ability, but he would take every word a suspect said to heart.
But I had already tested it. From the police station to Shimao Tower, even with all green lights, it would take at least 25 minutes.
If they were fast, they could see Liang Qiaosheng just falling. If they were slow, they could only see a pool of blood.
By then, they would be caught in a new logical trap.
I was locked up by them, so I couldn’t be the murderer.
I didn’t have precognitive ability, so how did I know the victim’s information?
03
Zhang Huaining came to the interrogation room again, his face full of fatigue.
Besides the pressure of solving this case, I guessed that most of it was probably psychological pressure.
He looked at me.
I looked at him too.
When our eyes met, it was like two souls were engaged in a deadly battle.
I knew he had already identified me as the murderer, but he had no evidence. He couldn’t figure out how Liang Qiaosheng had died either.
Before coming here, he must have investigated my social connections thoroughly, but he found that I had no social connections.
After checking and checking, all he could find was that my name was Xu Mingyu, I was 22 years old, and I was from South City.
That was all the information shown on my ID card.
Then he would definitely start with the victim Liang Qiaosheng, but he would also find out.
He might have relationships with anyone, but he had no connection with me, Xu Mingyu.
At this time, he would surely encounter a bottleneck, but he would quickly overcome it.
He would think: “Why is it so clean? Hiding herself so carefully, there can only be one truth. She has something to hide.”
So, his thinking changed.
Instead of spending energy on the case, it was better to focus on me.
I was the key to unlocking all the mysteries in his heart.
His gaze at me became more and more determined, like a sharp sword, gradually piercing through my defenses, about to glimpse the truth.
At a crucial moment, I smiled brightly and interrupted him, saying, “Officer Zhang, am I so beautiful that you can’t take your eyes off me?”
Zhang Huaining’s emotions were obviously affected by me, but he pretended to be calm and said calmly, “I heard that murderers have a narcissistic habit. It seems you’re no exception.”
“You can’t say that. If I take it seriously, it might affect your future.”
Before he could refute, I said again, “According to the regulations, you can detain me for at most 48 hours. In other words, you don’t have much time to find the truth. Do you really want to waste it all on me?”
As soon as I said this, Zhang Huaining instantly got angry.
He stood up with a “whoosh”, and for a moment, I felt the weight of a mountain pressing down on me.
To be honest, I was a little scared.
He suddenly raised his hand, making me think he was going to hit me. I instinctively assumed a defensive posture.
But then the guy stretched.
Obviously, he had noticed my micro – expression. Now, his eyes looking at me even had a bit of pride.
He looked at the young police officer beside him and said, “Xiaozi, let her go.”
Xiaozi was shocked and exclaimed, “Let her go? Brother, you said…”
Zhang Huaining said indifferently, “It’s almost time to get off work.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he left gracefully, leaving everyone in the room looking at each other in confusion.
04
Naturally, I wanted to leave this place.
But leaving like this, I felt very aggrieved.
Xiaozi reluctantly opened the handcuffs and gave me a record, saying, “Sign it and you can go.”
When I finished the procedures, I found that Zhang Huaining had changed into plain clothes and was waiting for me at the door.
I smiled relievedly, thinking that he was indeed the police officer I had chosen. If he really let me go like this, I would have suspected that he had other motives.
“Hello, murderer!”
I took the initiative to attack, full of provocation.
He was stunned at first, but quickly regained his composure.
“Miss Xu, I’m really guilty. If I had said one less word to you at that time, maybe we could have saved him in time.
“But don’t try to use this little trick to PUA me. What we should hate is the murderer, not the police who couldn’t save him in time.”
I pressed on, “If you had chosen to believe me, you could have saved a life. Isn’t this more efficient than you using your gun to stop a crime?”
He smiled slightly, “You want me to believe that you have precognitive ability?”
“But I did predict it.”
“The only reason you predicted it is that you knew he would die.”
I sneered, “So, I don’t have precognitive ability. Do I have the ability to be in two places at once? When Liang Qiaosheng died, wasn’t I locked in the interrogation room by you?”
He still said calmly, “Then there can only be two situations. First, you’re the mastermind, and someone helped you kill. Second, you’re an accomplice, and you’re covering up for the murderer.”
Mm – hm!
I nodded vigorously in my heart.
After all, he was wrong.
I couldn’t help but be happy and said with a smile, “But what can you do? I’m leaving. I’m going to swagger out…”
He was quite helpless.
However, he still smiled and handed me a business card, saying, “This is for you.”
I was full of questions. Why was he giving me a business card at this time?
Whose business card was it?
I couldn’t wait to take it and planned to find out what he was up to.
But when I held the card, I realized something was wrong. The weight was off.
Before I could take a closer look, I heard the alarm of the police station go off.
Then, Zhang Huaimin’s sidekick rushed out to find him, and upon seeing him, felt like he had found a savior, and said in a panic: “Brother, the forensics department’s access card is lost.”
Before his voice fell, his eyes caught sight of the card in my hand.
For a moment, he stuttered.
He looked at me, then at Zhang Huaining. I guess his brain was overheating.
Zhang Huaining said a little proudly, “What are you looking at me for? Arrest her.”
05
I was handcuffed again.
This time, they were much more polite to me.
After all, when I was caught at the scene not long ago, several big men pounced on me, almost crushing me.
“Zhang Huaining, you’re a police officer. How can you break the law and frame me like this?
“This card was given to me by you. I don’t believe there’s no surveillance at the entrance of your police station.”
At this moment, I thought carefully. There was a pillar in that place. Even if there was surveillance, it might be able to capture me talking to Zhang Huaining, but it definitely couldn’t capture the action of him handing me the card.
Furthermore, when he handed me the card, he didn’t pinch it between two fingers, but held it between his index and middle fingers as if he was holding a cigarette, which also means that there would absolutely be no fingerprints of his on the card.
But when I took it, I didn’t think that much. My fingerprints were definitely solid evidence.
He was so insidious and cunning!
“The murderer was worried that the police would master key evidence, so she deliberately got caught by the police, sneaked into the police station, stole the access card of the evidence room, and tried to destroy the evidence. Unfortunately, the law is fair, and at the most critical moment, the police caught her red – handed.”
I thought I was good at making up stories, but I didn’t expect there was someone even better.
Zhang Huaining talked as if it were a real thing, without any hesitation.
Seeing that I didn’t respond, he deliberately asked Xiaozi beside him, “What’s the crime of stealing the access card of the evidence room?”
“This is a big deal. It’s the crime of destroying evidence, which belongs to a dangerous crime. Those with serious circumstances can be sentenced to three to seven years in prison. If it’s about sneaking into the evidence room of the police station to destroy evidence, the circumstances are particularly serious, and a sentence of ten or eight years is not out of the question.”
I didn’t know when they had rehearsed this. Anyway, what Xiaozi said didn’t sound like him at all.
Zhang Huaining continued, “Now, you can’t ‘swagger’ out, can you?”
This man, why is he so petty?
“Hehe,” I laughed dryly. “Officer Zhang, are you so eager to solve the case that you’re going crazy? Using criminal means to solve a case, is that allowed by the law?”
“Means?” Zhang Huaining didn’t care. “The evidence is conclusive. Don’t act like you’re being wronged. After all, the police handle cases based on evidence. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to ‘swagger’ out just now, right?”
Swagger X2!
I swear, I will swagger out sooner or later.
I bit my lip and looked at him directly, “Why go through so much trouble? What do you want?”
Zhang Huaining knew that I could meet his needs, and his attitude softened a bit. “Now, there are only two ways in front of you. Either you go to jail first, giving me enough time to solve the case, or you solve the case with me to prove your innocence. Choose.”
Sigh!
He was indeed the man I had carefully chosen. He was so shrewd!
Was there a need to choose?
My silence seemed to give him the answer. He quickly handcuffed me, but differently, he only cuffed one of my hands, and the other side he cuffed to his own hand.
That wasn’t all. He even held my hand triumphantly and asked, “Now, where do you think you can run?”
Instantly, I changed my expression. My gloomy eyes stared straight at him, and I asked coldly, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”
He said indifferently, “Wouldn’t the case be clearer then? Then I wouldn’t have to bother proving that a young and seemingly delicate woman like you has the ability to kill.”
06
Zhang Huaining took me to the murder scene of Liang Qiaosheng.
I really didn’t know how Liang Qiaosheng died.
But seeing the chaos in that office, I can roughly imagine the pain he must have felt at the time.
“This office belongs to President Li, Liang Qiaosheng’s partner. He came here to discuss cooperation matters with President Li, but President Li wasn’t there at that time. So, President Li’s secretary asked him to wait here for President Li to come back. About half an hour later, he was directly thrown down from here.”
Zhang Huaining walked to the broken floor – to – ceiling window that had been sealed off. “There was a very powerful force that directly shattered this floor – to – ceiling window, and then the person fell and died.”
Under normal circumstances, even if someone attacked him, as long as the window didn’t break and he didn’t fall downstairs, he shouldn’t have died.
“The strange thing is that the surveillance outside clearly shows that no one entered the office before Liang Qiaosheng had the accident.”
I exclaimed, “It’s mysterious!”
“Yes, it’s very mysterious! So mysterious that I almost really want to believe that you have precognitive ability.” He looked at me and said, “I clearly remember you said the 29th floor at that time, but Xiaozi specifically called to ask, and the person in charge here said that there is no floor – to – ceiling window on the 29th floor. In fact, this is the 28th floor…
“But guess what? It’s said that the property management hung the elevator floor numbers wrong. Just a few days before the crime, because some residents complained that the floor numbers were too old and ugly and asked for a replacement, so the day before the crime, the property management arranged for the replacement. When the workers were operating, they installed the 29th floor and the 28th floor wrong.”
Zhang Huaining became more and more excited as he spoke, and his gaze at me became sharper. The subtext was: “Don’t talk to me about the mysterious. If you say you’re not the murderer, how do you know all this?”
I pretended to be innocent and said, “Really, I just predicted it. The number 29 just flashed in my mind.”
He raised his hand and looked at the handcuffs in our hands “I believe everything can be explained. Give someone a fulcrum, and they can move the whole earth. As long as you give me enough time, I will definitely find out everything clearly.
The death methods of the 9 victims are diverse. They have no connection in their daily lives. Even the crime locations, means, and tools are not fixed. But the police can determine that the murderer is the same person because even though the ways of killing are different, the ways of handling the cases after killing are exactly the same.
She has a strong anti – investigation ability and can clean up the evidence completely. For example, this time, the victim fell from a nearly 100 – meter – high building. Even on the body, there is no useful clue left.
But I conclude that this is the murderer’s last crime.”
Hearing this, my heart couldn’t help but thump violently.
Because, he was wrong again.
“The first 8 victims, the intervals between their murders were at least a week, but between the 9th and 8th victims, there was only a 4-hour gap. The killer had already planned how to kill the 9th person while killing the 8th. Why was that?”
He answered his own question, “Because she would be caught after the 8th person was killed.”
He confirmed again that I was the murderer, although he had no evidence.
I avoided his aggressive gaze and said helplessly, “You don’t believe in the mysterious, and you know that I was caught by you when the 9th person died. You say…”
I ran out of words and directly said, “Well, when you find the truth, tell me. I’m also very curious about what exactly happened.”
07
After researching for a long time, no key information was found.
After all, Liang Qiaosheng had been smashed to pieces.
But Zhang Huaining didn’t come back empty – handed either. He found out that Liang Qiaosheng was an orphan.
So, he decided to go to the orphanage where Liang Qiaosheng had lived to find out.
In order not to cause public panic, he didn’t plan to expose his identity as a police officer.
So, he covered our handcuffed hands with his sleeve. Then, on the way, the three of us formed a very strange sight.
Someone pointed at Xiaozi and said, “This man really has no sense. The young couple is having a romantic moment, and he has to be a third – wheel.”
Xiaozi was greatly affected by such gossip.
Do you think he would step aside?
No!
He imitated what was done before and handcuffed my other hand with his. So, the three of us walked hand in hand on the street, forming a strange sight again.
Passers – by pointed and said, “This woman is really disgusting. She actually has two men at once?”
“The men are also disgusting. Two men and one woman. It’s really a ‘niao’ (a Chinese character used to describe a messy relationship) in capital letters.”
Xiaozi was stimulated again. He opened the handcuffs with an embarrassed look.
Do you think he got the point?
No!
He chose to cuff his hand to Zhang Huaining’s, and then the three of us continued to walk hand in hand on the street.
The passers – by started chattering again: “That man is really disgusting. He seems to like both men and women.”
“These men and women are really shameless. They dare to do this in broad daylight. I don’t know what kind of postures they have in private?”
This time, Xiaozi completely exploded and stopped in his tracks.
Zhang Huaining looked at him and sighed, “You’re a police officer. Are you really affected by just a few words of gossip? How will you solve cases independently in the future? You can’t follow me forever, can you?”
Xiaozi didn’t say anything.
I interrupted, “In this world, aren’t rumors and gossip more lethal than swords?
Swords can kill people and leave blood, but rumors and gossip can kill people without leaving blood and can even break one’s spirit.
In my opinion, Xiaozi, show your courage as a police officer and arrest them all and throw them in prison.”
Xiaozi didn’t understand but was deeply shocked.
Guess what his next move was?
He turned around and grabbed my hand, successfully forming a circle with the three of us. He held our hands up with an innocent look and said, “We three form a circle, so they won’t have anything to say.”
Before I could do anything, Zhang Huaining kicked him and shouted angrily, “Go play by yourself!”
So, he left reluctantly.
I asked curiously, “Does your police station lack people? Why did they arrange such a muddle – headed person as your partner? Maybe if you had a smarter one, you would have solved the case long ago.”
In my heart, I silently prayed, “Thank you for the wise decision of the superior leaders. Otherwise, I couldn’t have killed so freely.”
Zhang Huaining fell silent.
He didn’t say a word until we reached the gate of the orphanage.
I asked curiously, “What’s wrong? Are you angry because I said something about your partner?”
“No,” his expression changed slightly, but he tried his best to maintain his composure. “I’m just thinking about whether there is any connection among those people who gossiped about us just now.”
I answered, “They appeared on the same street. We can’t say that everyone is connected, but there must be a few who know each other, right?”
He frowned and said, “What if it’s on the Internet?”
“What?”
My expression and tone were both shocked.
I felt my heart skip a beat.
It turns out that a woman’s heart can skip a beat not only when she’s attracted to a man but also when she feels admiration for someone.
Just from such an insignificant thing, he could think so much?
Wasn’t he just one step away from solving the case?
He didn’t answer me. Instead, he shook our handcuffed hands and said, “Actually, I don’t believe you’re the murderer. Killing is not an easy thing.”
He said sincerely, “Based on my understanding of you in the past two days, it’s hard for you to have the conditions to commit the crime. Do you have anything you want to tell me?”
08
What should I tell you?
Should I tell you to arrest me and shoot me directly?
“That’s not necessarily true. Some women may seem delicate, but they are quite strong.”
“Are you very strong?” Before my words fell, Zhang Huaining directly twisted my hand.
In an instant, I let out a pig – like scream.
It really hurt!
I looked at him with a bitter face and glared at him.
“If you can’t solve the case, I’ll kill you.”
Zhang Huaining increased his strength, and I shouted, “Be careful, I’ll sue you.”
He exerted more force again, and I gave in, quickly admitting my mistake, “Officer Zhang, I was wrong. Let me go.”
He was satisfied and loosened his strength, pulling me inside. We found the dean.
Unfortunately, this person was not the previous dean.
Even when Zhang Huaining showed his police ID, she could only tell him, “He was very pitiful. He lost his mother at a young age, and his father was a gambler. Oh, he also had a sister who was 5 years younger than him and in poor health. That year, he managed to raise money for his sister’s surgery through the Internet with great difficulty. But who knew that his father gambled away all the money, and his sister died in the operating room. Since then, his father disappeared, and he was sent to us.”
The dean said with great pity, “His growth path was already very difficult. He was looking forward to growing up and being able to support himself. But unexpectedly, he encountered such a terrible thing.
“That damned murderer… Officer, if you catch him, don’t let him die easily.”
“So tragic?”
Zhang Huaining sighed softly, full of sympathy and pity. “Wasn’t there anyone who wanted to adopt him at that time?”
“No,” the dean shook her head. “With his family’s situation, which relative would dare to have anything to do with them?
“Fortunately, they had a house with collective property rights. His father couldn’t sell it even if he wanted to. After he became an adult, he still had a place to live.”
“Where is it?” Zhang Huaining asked eagerly because he didn’t know this information in his previous investigation.
The dean gave him the address and added, “But that area has become a dangerous building, and no one lives there anymore.”
He quickly took me to that place, but it was indeed surrounded. The people who originally lived there had long since moved away, and no one knew where they had gone.
He had no choice but to return to the police station and apply for the assistance of other departments.
He seemed to see a glimmer of light in the darkness and vowed to his leader, “I have a hunch that the answer lies in this dangerous – building area. Liang Qiaosheng was the real target of the murderer, and the others were just smokescreens thrown out by the murderer.”
His leader gave him a look as if to say, “Are you okay?” Zhang Huaining quickly explained, “I don’t mean that. What I mean is that the previous 8 victims may not have any connection with each other, but they all have a connection with Liang Qiaosheng.”
The leader pointed at me and asked, “What about this one? What have you been doing these days? Do you know how much pressure I’m under? How far have you gotten in the interrogation? If you can’t get anything out of her, hand it over to someone else.”
Zhang Huaining looked at me in surprise. His expression made me feel that he had forgotten about me just now.
He asked me again, “Do you have anything you want to tell me?”
He held up our handcuffed hands and said, “This is your only chance. If you don’t say it now, we’ll have to follow the normal procedure.”
Normal procedure?
Did he mean the procedure of deliberately framing me?
“Don’t think you’ve really handled it well. Can the person hidden under the name of Xu Mingyu really be innocent?”
I knew very well that given him time, everything I had hidden would be dug out.
If I didn’t say it now, I really wouldn’t have another chance.
I thought for a while and said, “I’ll say…”
09
I took them to my studio.
I handed my business card to Zhang Huaining and said, “You should have heard of me. I remember you bought information from me with your real name a few years ago.”
“A third – tier detective?” Zhang Huaining was shocked. “Why are you? How could you be a third – tier detective?”
Xiaozi was confused and asked curiously, “Brother, what is a third – tier detective?”
Zhang Huaining explained, “A few years ago, a very popular private detective on the Internet, known for being good at the ‘three – line and eight – angle’ tracking method.”
“What is the ‘three – line and eight – angle’ tracking method?”
I explained, “Taking myself as the center point, I can be as precise as the decimal point and pi about the things in the three – line and eight – angle area around me.”
“Unfortunately, she was too high – profile at that time.” Zhang Huaining looked at me. “What she did might be illegal. Worried about getting into trouble, she started to go into hiding. I thought she didn’t exist anymore. I never thought I’d see her in person. It’s really a great honor.”
Don’t say that.
I’m afraid you won’t be able to accept the truth.
If Zhang Huaining had always been suspicious and vigilant towards me before, then at this moment, half of his concerns about me in his heart disappeared.
“Let’s not talk about that. The reason why I could always be near the murder scenes and accurately judge the death information of Liang Qiaosheng is naturally not because I have precognitive ability, nor because my detective instincts are so great. It’s because someone has been constantly sending me information.”
I opened the filing cabinet and took out the sorted documents.
“This was sent to me 3 days before the first victim had an accident.”
I opened a file bag, took out a stack of materials from it, and took out a photo pinned inside and handed it to Zhang Huaining, saying, “A photo with three words ‘He will die’ written on the back.
“That’s all. There’s nothing else.” I handed the other materials to Zhang Huaining and said, “These are the relevant materials I found. But coincidentally, every time I was about to find the victim, he had already been killed.”
Zhang Huaining flipped through the materials while listening to me, and his face changed obviously. In the end, his brows were almost knitted into a bow.
“Really?”
Naturally, this was all a lie.
You know, I spent a lot of effort organizing these materials and painstakingly designing their “death methods” for them. I don’t know how many nights I stayed up to design these perfect crimes again and again.
“You don’t believe me?” I asked disappointedly. “Then what do you want me to say? Do you want me to directly admit that I’m a murderer so that you can give the public an explanation?”
“Still the same question, why didn’t you call the police?”
This was indeed a point that the police could hold onto.
I asked impatiently, “If I called the police, could the victim come back to life?
“And if I called the police, could you guarantee that the police could find the victim faster than me?”
“At least…” Zhang Huaining was choked by my words.
I retorted for myself, “Stop with the ‘at least’. Until now, you haven’t believed me. Dare you say that if I had called the police at that time, you wouldn’t have suspected me as the murderer? I’d rather believe in myself than you.
“Besides, back then, I was just helping people check some trivial matters, but someone used ‘invasion of privacy’ to suppress me, constantly reminding me and warning me. With that in mind, calling the police would be like surrendering myself.”
This matter was done by Zhang Huaining.
Back then, his imposing manner scared me, a young girl, pale.
“I was going to say that with your ability, you could have taken the right path. Being a detective is also a good profession. There’s no need to show off on the Internet.”
10
We talked about the old scores for a while and felt it was boring, so we started discussing the case again.
“I believe you have also investigated these materials clearly. But so far, like you, I haven’t found the connection among these 8 victims.”
I looked at Zhang Huaining’s face and said, “The reason why I was caught at the scene of the 8th victim was not that I couldn’t escape, but…”
Zhang Huaining interrupted, “You felt that you couldn’t find the truth by yourself, so you started to believe in the police again?”
“No, no, no,” I shook my head and said firmly, “I will never believe in the police. It’s just that this time is different from the previous times.”
I explained, “Before, the photo of the next victim would be sent to my studio at least one day in advance. But this time, I actually found Liang Qiaosheng’s photo at the crime scene.”
I turned around and took out the two – inch photo from my bra.
When I turned back, I found that Zhang Huaining had also turned around, and Xiaozi, who rarely had any sense, actually ran outside.
I coughed and said, “Before, the back of the photo was always written with ‘He will die’. But on the back of this photo, the victim’s name, age, precise address, and time were written, but without the words ‘He will die’.”
I fabricated lies without changing my expression or heartbeat, “The reason why I was caught by you is that I realized I was being monitored and used. I felt the danger, and at this time, the police station should be the safest place.”
Zhang Huaining turned around, took the photo, and reacted for a while, “Precise time? Then why didn’t you say it earlier? If you had said it as soon as we caught you, maybe we could have saved this person.”
“Me?”
I lowered my head and took a deep breath, “Are you going to condemn me? I’m not like you. I’m not as righteous as you.
“This matter has nothing to do with me. I was dragged into it by the murderer for no reason. Before ensuring my own safety, I have no obligation to work for the police.”
Zhang Huaining was very disappointed when he heard me say this.
Then he said nothing and just dragged me away.
I’m not sure if he believed my words, but I don’t mind if he has doubts.
At least, he seemed to believe me on the surface.
Zhang Huaining followed the information I gave and painstakingly investigated the sources of those express deliveries again.
But he couldn’t find out.
Because essentially, this was not sent through the regular express delivery channels.
The clues seemed to be broken here again.
11
In order to solve the case quickly, Zhang Huaining took a huge risk and asked his superior to let me assist in solving the case.
His superior gave him another “Are you okay?” look.
Zhang Huaining vowed, “I have a hunch that she can help us.”
The superior sneered at him, “Then do you have a hunch about who the murderer is?”
“I have a hunch that the truth will soon surface.”
The superior was about to say something, but Zhang Huaining played a tough move, “Why don’t you investigate?”
Everyone knew that the most difficult cases in their police force would eventually end up with Zhang Huaining. If he couldn’t find out, others would only be out of luck.
Finally, the superior said harshly, “I’ll give you 24 hours. If you can’t find out, don’t show up in front of me again.”
So, this time it was my “great honor” to enter Zhang Huaining’s exclusive case – handling area.
Without my information sharing, what he found was only more than me, not less.
The most eye – catching thing was at the photo of Liang Qiaosheng, where the word “suicide” was circled in red, with a big question mark beside it.
I have to say that he was really amazing to have found out this much.
Fortunately, when Liang Qiaosheng died, I was handcuffed in the police station by him. Otherwise, he would have found out about me in no time.
He told me, “While we were going to your studio, my colleagues had investigated Liang Qiaosheng’s old house. Since that area is a dangerous building, the original residents had moved out, but we still found many old neighbors who knew him.”
Hearing this, my heart tightened. They might not be good at other things, but when it came to finding people according to the household registration, they were much better than me. After all, they had a complete database. All they needed to do was move their fingers.
“Twelve years ago, something impressive happened to Liang Qiaosheng.”
I pretended to be curious and asked, “What was it?”
“Twelve years ago, he was cyber – bullied.”
“Cyber – bullied?”
“Yes. At that time, the network information was in a state of rapid development, and the term ‘cyber – bullying’ had just emerged. So, I was thinking, apart from Liang Qiaosheng, could the other 8 victims be the ones who cyber – bullied him back then?”
He pointed at the age information on the photo excitedly, showing it to me. “The youngest victim was 29 years old. Twelve years ago, he was 17 years old. At this age, they must have had free access to mobile phones.”
I tried to suppress the turmoil in my heart and asked, “Is there any evidence?”
“No. Twelve years is a long time. Currently, no relevant information can be found on the Internet. The information I got was all from the oral accounts of these old neighbors. Even its authenticity can’t be determined.
“But these neighbors have moved out of the old house for various reasons over the years. Some have even left the city, and some have gone abroad. The content of their oral accounts doesn’t contradict each other. Unless they colluded collectively, they couldn’t have said it so uniformly.
“And although I was just a junior high school student at that time, I feel like I’ve heard about this matter.”
I asked, “What matter?”
“His mother who died young, his father who was a gambler, his sick sister, and the broken him.”
Zhang Huaining said it so sadly, as if he had experienced those things personally.
“The dean of the orphanage said that at that time, Liang Qiaosheng managed to raise a sum of money through the Internet.
“It is said that there was a fair – skinned and good – looking young man back then, with tears in his eyes, pleading for the public’s help in front of the camera. That scene, just a few dozen seconds long, tugged at the hearts of countless people. In less than two hours, enough money was raised for his sister’s surgery.”
12
Fifty thousand yuan twelve years ago was much more valuable than fifty thousand yuan today.
Raising such a large sum of money in such a short time really exceeded everyone’s expectations.
I still remember his overjoyed look in the hospital. He said, “Xiaosheng won’t die. After the surgery, Xiaosheng will be able to play freely in the sun like other children.”
“But later, no one knew what happened. Everyone started to condemn this young man, saying that he was using his good looks to deceive donations and money at a young age, and that the money wasn’t used for his sister’s surgery at all, which was why his sister died.
“Just when the netizens still had doubts about this matter, his father came out in person and admitted the fact that he had deceived donations and money.
“After that, he dropped out of school, and not long after, his father disappeared.”
Zhang Huaining said, “I was too young at that time and didn’t pay much attention to this matter, but I heard adults talking about it. Anyway, the power of cyber – bullying back then was no less than it is now.”
I reminded him, “Didn’t the dean of the orphanage say that the money was gambled away by his father?”
“Maybe there were some subsequent reversals. But netizens won’t go and investigate the truth. Anyway, they just followed suit and scolded.”
He asked curiously, “Did you hear about this matter at that time?”
“Brother, I was only 10 years old at that time.” I said irritably. “What I should have been concerned about was probably what cartoons to watch after school, right?”
“But you could become a detective right after you came of age.”
“Me?” In an instant, I felt like he had given me a frown line. “Can’t I have loved watching Conan since I was a kid?”
To divert his attention, I decided to be unreasonable. “By the way, I haven’t settled the score with you yet about that time.”
I reminded him again, “You didn’t pay me at that time.”
He smiled awkwardly and said, “I had just joined the police force at that time, and my superiors assigned me the task. I couldn’t not do it, right?”
Now the case was becoming clearer.
Zhang Huaining gave me a task, which was to find evidence of the first 8 victims cyber – bullying Liang Qiaosheng.
For my profession, this was a piece of cake.
Moreover, I had already found the evidence. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have targeted them.
After the cyber – bullying incident back then, the topic of “the fair – skinned young man deceiving donations” was like a “mass cleansing” on the Internet. Not a single word could be found just by using the search engine.
Unfortunately, some people were smart enough to take screenshots.
13
And that’s exactly how I, through these screenshots, by tracing their online names and IP addresses, gradually dug out those people hiding behind the screen.
Back then, one by one, they were using IP addresses from “South City”, pretending to be insiders, making the most vicious remarks, and guiding those who didn’t know the truth to scold Liang Qiaosheng without thinking.
“”I know that kid. The more handsome his face is, the darker his heart is. His sister had already developed breasts, and he was still hugging and cuddling her every day. Do you think he’s innocent?””
“”At such a young age, he really stopped at nothing for money. I’m his neighbor. His family wasn’t that poor at all. He just wanted the money for himself, so he used his sister’s life as a gimmick.””
“Look at this, isn’t this the one who has been stealing from my shop time and again? Every time he gets caught, he puts on this innocent expression. But as soon as I let him go, he taunts, ‘Even murder won’t be punished if you’re underage, let alone stealing.’ He acts as if it’s my fortune that he’s stealing from my home.”
“”He was a habitual liar. The school teachers knew it. He even cheated in exams. Otherwise, how could he be the first in the grade while being absent from class every other day?””
“”I guarantee with my personality that every word I say is true. He bullied my son and forced my son to steal money from home for him. If my son didn’t steal, he would beat him, which made my son almost depressed.””
“”I don’t curse, but I just want to say that whoever donates money to him is helping a villain. Your money isn’t used to save people, but to kill. After receiving the money, he will surely say proudly, ‘Look, these fools are so easy to deceive.'””
Over the years, I would savor these selected comments repeatedly every day.
I swore that when I killed them, I wouldn’t give them a quick death.
Whether it was drowning or strangling, the process of experiencing death would surely make them regret typing out those cold words with their vicious hearts and evil hands back then.
Naturally, this wasn’t enough.
We wanted them to die in unrest.
We wanted their names to be on the top of the hot search list.
I wanted to guide the all – powerful netizens to expose every bit of their lives, whether it was true or false, on the Internet.
When Zhang Huaining saw the rapid development of the new round of cyber – bullying, he was completely stunned.
“Did you do this?”
“Big brother,” I said, raising our hands which were handcuffed together, and crying out in protest, “Do you overestimate me too much? Or underestimate yourself too much? We’ve been inseparable these past few days.”
I shouted and said, “With such a large amount of traffic, I don’t have that ability. Dare you say that there’s no one in your police station who tipped off the reporters?”
In this regard, I was really wronged.
Because there was no need for me to do anything. This case was already full of traffic. With such a big reversal now, there was no need for me to bother buying hot searches.
14
Public opinion is like water. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.
Controlling water lies in dredging, not blocking.
The police were at a critical juncture and had no way back.
Zhang Huaining had to announce the truth that Liang Qiaosheng committed suicide.
Because, while the public opinion was fermenting, the police found iron – clad evidence.
Once, the scene of a crime was in a small forest. The scene of a man dragging a woman with a chain was clearly captured by a camera.
How did that camera come about?
A drone enthusiast accidentally left his drone on a tree in that small forest at some point. Even after being exposed to wind and rain, the camera’s function was still intact.
Well, a police officer was reviewing the case, and coincidentally, the drone fell from the sky, and the clue came just like that.
When luck comes, it can’t be stopped.
Xiaozi probably didn’t expect that he would be the one to solve this case.
Liang Qiaosheng must have been possessed at that time. He looked up for no reason. Under the moonlight, his fair face was photographed clearly.
That expression of enjoying killing made it difficult for the police to exonerate him.
Soon after, the hospital was also very helpful.
It sent Zhang Huaining a detailed physical examination report, which clearly diagnosed that Liang Qiaosheng was in the late stage of cancer.
The examination date was one month before the crime.
The “South City Serial Murder Case” that had lasted for half a year finally came to a close.
The victim of cyber – bullying twelve years ago, knowing that his life was coming to an end, carefully planned to kill those who had cyber – bullied him back then, and then committed suicide.
Netizens are usually easy to fool, but when it comes to police handling cases, they all become Sherlock Holmes.
They thought this was a fabricated case by the police to solve the case. After all, so many people had died, and now they were told that the murderer had committed suicide. No one believed this ending.
In order to control public opinion and appease the public.
The police had to publicly disclose the process of Liang Qiaosheng’s suicide. Besides Zhang Huaining’s brain, I don’t think anyone else could have come up with this operation.
After all, it also involved profound physics.
Liang Qiaosheng chose to commit suicide in his partner’s office, not by coincidence, but because he took a fancy to the floor – to – ceiling window in this office.
Half an hour was enough for him to damage the structure of the floor – to – ceiling window, so that he could break it with his body and complete the “suicide” sacrifice.
He wanted to tell the world in the most tragic way that all those who casually commented without knowing the whole picture were damned.
He wanted to use his bright red blood to accuse fate. He clearly didn’t do anything wrong, but he endured unspeakable pain.
15
The police invited an authoritative mechanics expert. Combining the evidence in the police’s hands, they simulated a suicide video of Liang Qiaosheng.
Overall, this was very persuasive.
Essentially, 99% of what they said was the truth. As for the remaining 1%, it wouldn’t affect the result, and no one would care too much.
The families of those victims who had originally hated the murderer to the extreme, when it came to their turn to experience cyber – bullying, had long forgotten that the dead were their loved ones.
They couldn’t wait for the case to end quickly, hoping that time would calm the cyber – bullying and that the public would quickly forget their existence. This was the best for them.
After all, the dead are gone, and the living still have to move on.
And the netizens influenced by public opinion were now righteousness – abidingly holding up the big sign of “Oppose Cyber – bullying” and cyber – bullying the dead victims.
“People like them should have been killed earlier.”
“Liang Qiaosheng was so miserable. He should have posted the whole story on the Internet and then crowdfunded to kill them.”
“Poor Liang Qiaosheng. He was slandered by them twelve years ago, and twelve years later, he still had to use his death to clear his name.”
“They died too easily. They should have been cut into pieces, had their tongues cut out, and thrown into a boiling oil pan.”
“I don’t want to make a statement, but what if the heat dies down?”
Facing countless netizens, no one could do anything.
Zhang Huaning was also out of reach, the only method was to wait for the heat to die down on its own.
Because of the great influence of this case, he was severely scolded by his leader. Fortunately, the case was roughly understood. His merits and demerits offset each other, and he wasn’t suspended from duty, but he was forced to reflect and was said to have to write a self – criticism of more than 10,000 words.
Regarding this, he was very down.
His face was full of “Offer a large sum of money for a self – criticism”.
I held up our handcuffed hands and said, “Officer Zhang, if you don’t let me go, I’ll have to invite you to take a bath with me.”
I sniffed carefully and felt that I was completely stinky.
“Did you really get away with it?” He was simply incredulous.
I quickly retorted, “No, what do you mean by ‘get away with it’? I was clean from the start!”
His intuition told him that something was wrong, but he couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
“Since Liang Qiaosheng had designed everything, why did he still look for a detective?”
He was idle, so he dragged me to review the case, imagining what he would do if he were the murderer, how to kill, and how to hide the evidence.
“He didn’t believe you police. After all, when he was facing cyber – bullying, the police didn’t come out to manage it, right?”
Zhang Huaining said dissatisfiedly, “Then why did he specifically look for you? And you and I have a little feud. Is this a coincidence or intentional?”
16
As expected of a police officer.
His perception was sharp.
After a long time, neither of us spoke.
I didn’t know what he was reviewing.
But what I was reviewing was, who should be the main character in the next part of this play?
Just as I was thinking, I heard Zhang Huaining shout, “Who is it?”
Immediately, Xiaozi rushed over like an out – of – control motorcycle.
I looked up and saw someone running ahead. I immediately wanted to chase after him, but I found that Zhang Huaining was “hindering” me.
As a police officer, he couldn’t even run faster than me?
In an instant, I seemed to notice that his legs were not very flexible.
He saw my confusion and simply stopped, saying, “This leg was shot. Its combat ability is not good anymore. So, the higher – ups paired me with Xiaozi. His brain is not very smart, but his fighting ability is high.”
For a moment, I didn’t know how to feel.
There’s a very special feeling inside. I tentatively asked, “Hurt by the criminal?”
“Police officers aren’t gods.” He smiled bitterly. “Sometimes, it’s not that the police don’t want to save people, but they have no way.”
“You don’t believe in the police, and Liang Qiaosheng didn’t either. In this regard, I really should reflect.”
When it came to this, his emotions became even more depressed.
I don’t know which nerve went wrong, but I couldn’t help but comfort him, “Actually, I believe in the police. That’s why I said the police station is the safest place. Liang Qiaosheng also believed in the police. That’s why he could ‘use himself as bait and fight to the death’. He believed that you could find the truth and clear his name.”
I sighed and said, “Liang Qiaosheng chose me, probably because I’m also an orphan.”
“You’re an orphan?” Zhang Huaining was shocked and suddenly gave me a very pitying look.
I said indifferently, “My whole family died when I was very young.”
“How did they die?” Zhang Huaining asked.
“My mother was a cancer patient. Her maternal love made her give up treatment and choose to give birth to me. As a result, she died not long after I was born.
“I don’t have much impression of my father. Anyway, since I can remember, he was always out early and back late. He didn’t even talk to me a few words. So, I wasn’t sad when he died.
“I had a brother who loved me very much. But he… he died of illness.”
“Died of illness?”
Sigh!
I knew he would ask to the end.
“When I was 10 years old, he was probably beaten up. He had no money to treat his injuries, and gradually, his condition became serious, and he died like that.”
“Who beat him?”
I shook my head and said, “I don’t know!”
All I’ve done is to find this person.
But I think I’ve found him.
17
“What are you running for if you have nothing wrong?”
Not far away, Xiaozi held down a man and was scolding him.
“Officer, you were chasing me, so of course I ran.
“I’m just a reporter. What’s wrong with me running for news? Besides, I didn’t take any pictures.”
The man said pitifully. Xiaozi handed his press card to Zhang Huaining. He took a look and asked, “You were following me . What kind of news did you want to take?”
“Recently, this case has such a large amount of traffic. Whoever releases news about it will become popular.”
“I’m a police officer. If you write randomly, you’ll end up in prison.”
“I can just change the main character to this lady. It’s a mix of truth and falsehood. Readers only look at what they want to see. Who cares about the truth?”
Zhang Huaining held up his press card and said, “Is this what you thought when you got this card? ‘Remember your mission, don’t forget your original intention.’ Respecting professional ethics means respecting yourself. Think it over!”
Zhang Huaining returned the card to the man. “You can go. The tip of a pen is like the edge of a sword. Killing with words is also killing.”
The man ran away at once. Zhang Huaining heaved a heavy sigh. “With such a big case, why didn’t it have any effect of warning the world?”
“The sorrows of the world are not interlinked. Without personal experience of pain, how can there be a warning effect?”
The little bit of guilt I had in my heart disappeared completely at this moment.
18
Zhang Huaining personally sent me home.
I knew he was still on guard against me.
Sending me home was probably because he was afraid that if he let me go, I would disappear without a trace.
Seeing that my home was fully furnished and warmly decorated, with no signs of preparing to flee, he seemed to feel a bit more at ease.
After unlocking the handcuffs, he said, “You’ve had a hard time these few days, but I hope to see you again in the future.”
“Are you thinking of buying information from me again next time?”
I went to the fridge to get him some water and said, “Since you’re already here, why not take a seat?”
He wasn’t polite either. He asked me some trivial questions casually. Suddenly, he stopped drinking and stared at the cup without moving his eyes.
“What’s wrong? Is the cup dirty?” I quickly explained, “It’s not my fault. I haven’t been back for several days. It’s normal for the cup to get a bit dusty.”
“Ice?”
“Can’t you eat ice?” I looked at the ice cubes in the cup. “I thought we were tired from chasing someone just now, so I got you iced water.”
“No, ice melts into water.”
“How novel. What else could it turn into?”
He must have started a brainstorming session again: “I’ve always been wondering why Liang Qiaosheng gave you the information about the 29th floor, but the incident happened on the 28th floor. Why is that?”
I said, “Didn’t the property management get the floor numbers wrong?”
“But Liang Qiaosheng wasn’t going to that office for the first time. He must have known clearly whether it was the 28th floor or the 29th floor. How could he make such a mistake?
“Is it just a coincidence? But that’s too much of a coincidence, isn’t it?”
He muttered to himself, “What went wrong? Based on the evidence we have, Liang Qiaosheng must have committed suicide, but why would he make such a low-level mistake?”
“Did he predict that you would ask the police for help? Was he deliberately delaying time?
“No, no. If that was his purpose, he could have pushed the time back a few minutes. The wrong floor number by the property management must not be a coincidence. Then what was it for?”
His brain must have been running at high speed, so his face became extremely serious.
So, at this moment, I gently kissed his cheek.
This was something I learned from a TV drama. To make a wise man lose his train of thought, you have to kiss him unexpectedly.
Sure enough, Zhang Huaining’s whole face turned red. He became wooden, and his bright eyes stared at me as if he had been immobilized.
I smiled and said, “Officer Zhang, let’s fall in love.”
I tried to display my feminine charm as much as possible. At that moment, he had no mind to think about the case; he was wholeheartedly thinking about escaping from my spider’s den.
But since he was already in, it wasn’t that easy to leave.
I suddenly leaned against him and said, “I’ve always admired you. I also wanted to be a police officer, but I failed the political review.”
He didn’t have the ability to resist at all. His body kept retreating. “I still have things to do at the police station…”
Just as he was thinking about how to reject my embrace, I stabbed him in the chest with a knife.
19
If it weren’t for the intense pain, I guess he wouldn’t have realized that he was injured. “You have thousands of questions in your mind, right?
“Now I can answer them for you.
“The real perfect crime doesn’t require one to do it with their own hands.
“It’s true that Liang Qiaosheng killed those people.
“It’s also true that Liang Qiaosheng committed suicide.
“The mistake is that he wasn’t really Liang Qiaosheng. He was just a killing tool that I painstakingly cultivated.”
From his eyes, I knew he must have many more questions.
For example, why did he completely lose his ability to move just because I stabbed him once?
Another example, since I had already cleared myself completely, why did I attack now?
If my purpose wasn’t to escape punishment, then what was my real purpose?
If the dead Liang Qiaosheng wasn’t the real Liang Qiaosheng, then who was he?
Where was the real Liang Qiaosheng?
And who was I?
What was all this for?
With these questions, he must have died with his eyes wide open.
Naturally, I knew very well that he wouldn’t die.
I also knew that if he didn’t die today, sooner or later, I would fall into his hands.
But I didn’t mind him putting handcuffs on me again. What I cared about was whether he could become a miracle that challenged authority.
Cyber – bullying couldn’t come out of nowhere. There must be someone behind the scenes guiding it.
Those cyber – bullies who spoke vicious words deserved to die, but the mastermind behind the cyber – bullying who guided it deserved to die even more.
