Several officers from the local substation were waiting at the entrance to the JiangbinCityUniversity residential area when Tai Wei arrived, although he hardly needed to be told where to go, for as he drove into the courtyard he saw a large crowd had already formed outside of one of the buildings.
Feeling for the gun on his waist, Tai Wei roused himself and called out, "All right, let's get to work!"
Zou Tuanjie told them the news at dinner. While playing soccer that afternoon, a philosophy student had told him that Assistant Professor Yang Qin's daughter had been murdered.
"What the hell?" said Du Yu, smacking the table. "This is happening way too often."
"I heard the girl was only seven-year-old," said Zou Tuanjie, shaking his head. "How could anyone be so goddamn cruel?"
Just as Du Yu was about to say something else, he suddenly turned and prodded Fang Mu.
"Look over there," he said.
Holding a tray of food, Deng Linyue was looking all around for an empty seat.
"Come on, Tuanjie, let's go sit somewhere else," said Du Yu, hurriedly grabbing his tray and standing up. "Once we're gone," he said to Fang Mu, "you've got to quickly call her over."
"Stop acting crazy," said Fang Mu, blushing. "Sit down and eat your food."
"Damn, too late," said Du Yu regretfully, as he craned his neck for a better view.
Fang Mu looked back to find that Deng Linyue had already found an empty table, and was in the process of cleaning it with a tissue from her bag.
"Let's just eat in peace, all right?" said Fang Mu as he sighed and poked at the potatoes on his plate.
"What? I don't believe it!" Du Yu was still looking back at Deng Linyue, his neck stretched like a giraffe's.
Again Fang Mu turned to look, only to see that Liu Jianjun was now sitting opposite Deng Linyue, and the two of them were chatting freely. This did not seem to be their first meeting.
"See, this is what happens when you wait," said Du Yu, his voice thick with annoyance. He retracted his neck and looked at Fang Mu.
"There's a kind of person who will do anything to help set-up his friend with a girl," said Fang Mu, glaring back at Du Yu, "when all he subconsciously wants is to be with that girl himself."
His mouth full of food, Zou Tuanjie tried to keep from cracking up.
"Bastard!" yelled Du Yu, his face scarlet.
On the way back to their rooms, the three of them ran into Liu Jianjun in the dormitory hallway. A huge smile on his face, he greeted them loudly. Although Fang Mu and Zou Tuanjie responded, Du Yu just stared at the ceiling.
"You see that? What did I tell you!" said Fang Mu to Zou Tuanjie with a smile.
Du Yu smiled as well, and then punched Fang Mu in the shoulder.
The victim was a seven-year-old girl named Jin Qiao. She had been in class three of the second grade at the JiangbinCityUniversity employees' elementary school. Her father, Jin Bingshan, was 42-year-old and the president of the Metropolitan Culture Company. Her mother, Yang Qin, was 41 and an assistant professor of philosophy at JiangbinCityUniversity.
When her body was returned, Jin Qiao had already been missing for over 50 hours. According to her parents, on the night Jin Qiao disappeared, her father was supposed to have picked her up from school, but because he was dealing with some clients at the time, he arrived late and she was no longer there. After alerting the police, the parents papered the city with missing person notices, but for the next two days there was no news, up until the victim's corpse appeared on her parents' doorstep.
At the time of discovery, the victim's corpse was completely naked and covered with wounds. According to the medical examiners, the cause of death was shock resulting from painful, large-scale tissue damage. In other words, Jin Qiao was tortured to death. The examiners also determined that after she was dead, her body was raped. However, because no trace of semen was discovered inside, they suspected that her killer used a condom.
The corpse had been placed inside a large cardboard box, which was soon identified as an old Adidas packing box. In addition to the body, two other objects were found inside, both seemingly inexplicable. One was a videotape, the other a broken piece of some ceramic object.
The videotape was of the standard variety compatible with the average family VCR. No fingerprints were found on its exterior. The tape itself was only 15 seconds long and consisted of a single close-up on a young girl's genitals. She was lying on a black sheet (probably to conceal the colors and characteristics of any other objects in the room), her legs were spread wide, and from beginning to end the camera never moved. The girl didn't either, and this coupled with the color of her skin suggested that she was already dead. Based on her physiology, she did not appear to be older than 14. Later, after the victim's parents were shown the video, they noticed a birthmark on the girl's thigh that identified her as their daughter Jin Qiao.
In her right hand the victim was found holding a piece of an unknown ceramic object, with a surface area of eight-square-inches. This was soon determined to be a broken piece of pottery, likely part of some sort of container, and it appeared to be decorated with pictures of naked men and women. The police then sought the advice of the chairman of the Jiangbin City Ceramic Artists Association. He responded that based on the images on the broken pottery, it looked very much like the work of Grayson Perry, the British ceramic artist who specialized in vases. However, it was extremely unlikely that this was an original.
To begin their investigation of the case, the police decided on the following steps:
First, visit the victim's elementary school, making sure to interview the students and teachers she came in contact with on the night she went missing.
Second, because the crime was so savage, it was very likely to have been done out of revenge. Therefore, a comprehensive investigation needed to be made of Jin Bingshan and Yang Qin's social relationships.
Third, because the box in which the victim was found was fairly large, her killer would probably have needed a car to transport it to her doorstep, but because the driveway was laid in cement, it was impossible to obtain any trace of tire tracks. Therefore, immediate interviews would need to be made with everyone living nearby, to determine whether any suspicious cars were seen on the morning of the murder. At the same time, car rental agencies across the city would need to be investigated for news of any suspicious renters.
Fourth, although the box in which the victim was found likely originated at either an Adidas company store or specialty shop, the killer had already removed any label that might have identified the place from where it was purchased or shipped. This was obviously done to conceal its origin, so a citywide search would need to be made for the source of the box.
Fifth, while undergoing intense torture, the victim had probably attempted to dodge or resist her killer, and police suspected that it was during one such attempt that the victim grabbed the piece of pottery. This meant that the vase from which the piece was broken had likely belonged to the killer. Therefore, all markets in the city that sold this kind of pottery would need to be investigated for clues about its purchaser.
Coughing. Insuppressible coughing.
And then endless vomiting.
Leaning on the rim of the toilet, grabbing for the toilet paper. Ripping off a piece and carelessly wiping away the vomit and then throwing it into the toilet and flushing. The filthy paper swirling out of sight.
So dizzy.
With difficulty standing up. A familiar face in the mirror. Skin pallid, unkempt hair.
Smiling at the face.
Eyes shut as the lips curl upwards.
No-must not look at that monstrous smile.