Second, the videotape, the 15-second close-up that the killer filmed of the victim's genitals. Was this also meant to satisfy some need? If, for instance, the tape was meant to provide sexual stimulation at a later time, why had the killer taken only 15 seconds of footage? More importantly, why deliver this film to the victim's parents? And if the tape was meant to be part of some twisted collection, why only film the victim's genitals when these just barely distinguished her? What kind of significance could this possibly have to the killer?
Third was delivering the victim's corpse to the victim's parents. Based on similar cases in the past, this kind of behavior was often meant as a kind of challenge or way of showing off. In which case, who was he challenging? The police or the parents themselves?
Gulping down the boiling-hot wonton soup, Tai Wei did his best to follow Fang Mu's example and analyze the case based on the killer's psychological characteristics. However, by the time the soup was finished, he had no choice but to admit that besides copying the kid's frowning expression, the rest of it was beyond him.
Afterwards, standing in the crisp midnight air, Tai Wei made a decision: no matter how much the kid glared at him, he was going to visit Fang Mu tomorrow and see what he had to say.
The situation ended up being much simpler than Tai Wei had expected. Unlike before, when Fang Mu had regarded Tai Wei like he was some unwelcome stranger, this time he just made sure the door was closed, and then took the case files from Tai Wei and began reading them quietly.
Tai Wei sighed to himself with relief. He knew by now that when Fang Mu was looking over a case, it was best not to say anything. So with nothing else to do, he turned on Fang Mu's computer and began browsing aimlessly. Inadvertently, in one section on the hard drive, Tai Wei came across a folder titled Data. He opened it. Inside were six more folders, the first titled Huang Yongxiao, the last Ma Kai. His heart skipped a beat; these were the cases Fang Mu had previously helped solve. He double-clicked several of the folders, but they were all password-protected. Then, just as he glanced back at Fang Mu and calculated the likelihood that he would tell him the password, the kid opened his mouth.
"You figure out where this thing came from?" asked Fang Mu, pointing at one of the photographs.
Tai Wei walked over and looked. It was the cardboard box that had held Jin Qiao's corpse. The three-leafed Adidas logo was printed on the side.
"Not yet, we're still looking. Why?"
"Oh, no reason," said Fang Mu, turning his attention to a photograph of the broken piece of pottery. "How about this?" he asked after a moment.
"That one's an even bigger headache. Nearly every crafts market in the city sells them. It's going to be very difficult to determine who bought it."
"What could it mean?" asked Fang Mu, staring at the ceiling and seemingly speaking to himself.
"Could the victim have broken it while struggling with her killer and then grabbed a piece in her hand?"
"No way," said Fang Mu, shaking his head. "I'm certain that the killer placed it in her hand after she was dead."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Don't you think it's a little big?" said Fang Mu, indicating the piece's size with his hands. "The killer murdered the victim, raped her, and then filmed her-no way in this whole series of events could he have failed to discover that she was holding this thing in her hand."
"You mean to say…" Tai Wei paused for a moment, and then slowly continued. "The killer placed this in her hand to communicate some kind of message?"
"That's right, but I don't know what exactly this message was supposed to be. Still, I think we can go about determining it in two ways. The first is through the object itself. The second is through the meaning expressed in this British artist Grayson Perry's work. For the latter we'll need to do some research, but as for the former…" Fang Mu trailed off. Then, speaking slowly as if deep in thought, he said, "I believe it has something to do with the identity of the victim. What characteristics does ceramic have?"
"Well, it's fairly hard, but also quite fragile."
"That's what I was thinking myself. I believe this can also refer to the female sex."
"Oh. How do you mean?"
"I'll answer that question in a moment, but first let's discuss the killer himself. I believe he's between twenty-five and thirty-five-year-old, possesses a certain amount of education and artistic taste, and lives fairly comfortably. In person he's clean-cut and urbane. And he suffers from a psychosexual disorder that stems from a history of sexual failure."
"On what basis?"
"First, there's the piece of pottery he placed in the victim's hand, which we tentatively believe represents femininity. In and of itself, this implies that the killer received a good education, and possesses a certain amount of artistic taste," he said. "Very often, this sort of person pays a lot attention to his appearance. Next, in committing the crime, the killer's behavior demonstrated the marks of sexual psychosis. For example torturing the victim; for example raping her corpse; for example filming her genitals. In general, raping the victim's corpse is often the mark of an individual unable to have normal sexual relations with women, and frequently one who has been refused or insulted sexually by women. This sort of person is also likely to possess a strong tendency toward sexual domination and sadism. So for such an individual, a dead woman is far better able to satisfy his need to control the female body than a live one. This is why I guessed that the broken pottery, by being hard and yet fragile, was meant to represent the female sex. It implies both refusal, as well as the fragility to collapse at the first blow. This is how the killer views womankind. Also, the return of the corpse to her parents' home probably also expressed this particular attitude. However…" He hesitated for a moment, "I have to admit to being far from confident in this analysis, because I cannot understand why the killer chose a seven-year-old girl. The majority of individuals with this sort of psychological makeup ordinarily select adult women for their victims, in order to better alleviate their feelings of frustration. But conquering a seven-year-old? I can't imagine that could have been all that satisfying for him."
"Maybe this was the killer's first time, so he intentionally selected an easy target? Or I guess it could all have just been by chance."
"Right now it's still unclear, so it would be best not to draw any conclusions," said Fang Mu, shaking his head. "On another note, the case files say that the source of the car is currently being investigated. Has there been any news?"
"Not yet. After speaking to the cab drivers working the morning of the crime, we turned up nothing, so at this point we're beginning to consider whether the killer might have rented a car or used his own."
"Oh." Fang Mu nodded as if lost in thought. "I think you might as well consider the possibility that someone friendly with the parents committed the crime."
"Why?"
"Because if this was a violent kidnapping, there would have to have been some kind of disturbance outside the school, and someone would have seen. Also, having grown up in that kind of household, the victim would surely have been instructed by her parents not to just wander off with strangers. And anyway, she might only have been seven-year-old, but this isn't like when we were young-someone wouldn't have been able to just lead her away with a piece of candy. Therefore, I think it's highly likely that this is a case where the perpetrator was familiar with the family. And after using this familiarity to get the little girl to drop her guard, he kidnapped her."