No one said a word as the jeep flew down the endless road, the sky so low it seemed about ready to collapse. Angry bolts of lightning frequently tore across the lead-black heavens, and after each dazzling flash, there followed a blast like something had been ripped apart.
"Stop the car!" Fang Mu suddenly yelled.
Tai Wei slammed on the brakes, causing the jeep to slide shakily across the surface of the road. Finally it came to a stop.
Before the jeep had even stopped swaying, Fang Mu had jumped outside and was running back the way they'd come.
The remnants of an old, seemingly long-abandoned factory stood beside the road, its crumbling walls covered in broken tile. Perhaps many people once worked there to the roar of machinery, but now everything was swallowed by waist-high weeds.
Fang Mu's whole body was soon drenched from the heavy rain as he walked to where the drops pattered against the tall grass. He was trembling.
Holding his coat overhead, Tai Wei ran to catch up with Fang Mu. But before he could say anything, he heard Fang Mu call out through clenched teeth: "Here. Search over here!"
Without hesitation, everyone immediately split up and began scouring the thick weeds.
Minutes later, one of the men searching to the west cried out in surprise. Then he yelled, "Over here!"
Everyone looked up. Simultaneously, several pairs of eyes swung in his direction.
He knew what this meant. Swallowing, he spoke with difficulty
"We're too late."
It was a little girl. Her corpse had been stuffed into a cement pipe, her chest and abdomen torn open. An empty bottle of mineral water lay beside the body. Inside were traces of a thick, sticky, red-colored substance. It looked like blood. A large, yellow-checkered cloth duffel bag was soon discovered in the grass nearby, as was a sharp, wood-handled knife.
Telling his men to seal the area, Tai Wei radioed headquarters for backup. By the time everything was set, he felt profoundly exhausted. Opening his jeep door, he saw Fang Mu sitting in the passenger seat. He was soaked from head to toe, water dripping from his hair. His eyes were fixed on the rain-blurred windshield in front of him, the cigarette in his hands burned to a stub.
Tai Wei didn't say a word. Even though he had a bellyful of questions to ask Fang Mu, he just lit a cigarette and slowly organized his thoughts.
"Male," said Fang Mu suddenly, his voice hoarse. "Under thirty, very thin, slovenly, lives nearby. His parents probably worked for a state-owned company, but now they're either dead or don't live with him. He has a serious psychological disorder. For him, blood possesses an extremely special significance."
He took a ferocious puff from his cigarette and then rolled down the window and threw it outside.
"I have two recommendations: First, search the entire city for people who have sought hospital treatment for blood diseases in the past five years. Then within this group, look for someone with the characteristics I just mentioned. Second, search hospital records citywide for people who have received blood transfusions in the past three years, especially those who didn't need it but demanded the transfusion anyway."
Tai Wei jotted this down in his notebook. Then after thinking for a moment, he carefully asked, "How did you know there was a second victim?"
"The button. The woman at the crime scene was around thirty-year-old; she'd never wear a button with a cartoon character printed on it. Also, I couldn't find any clothing that matched the button at the scene."
"That button could easily have been dropped by a previous tenant."
"Impossible," replied Fang Mu, gazing out the window. "There wasn't a speck of dust on it. Not to mention that the victim had just moved in, hadn't even opened her bags, and yet somehow there was a pile of clothes on the floor and no bag to go with them. The kitchen was also missing a knife-most likely the one used by the killer. And even though the victim was cut open, nothing at the crime scene indicated that the killer drank her blood. This showed that he must have found an even more attractive blood source-a second victim-whom he stuffed into a duffel bag and brought with him." He turned toward Tai Wei. "Younger blood." He paused. "What do you think that means?"
Tai Wei was taken aback by the question. "I–I don't know."
Fang Mu did not seem to expect an answer. Lost in thought, he turned to stare at the darkening sky.
Tai Wei thought for a moment before speaking again. "In that case, how'd you know the killer murdered the child here?"
Fang Mu did not immediately reply. At last, word by word, he said, "For him, this was the most suitable place."
CHAPTER 5
One week earlier.
It was lunch break and the library corridors were very quiet. A young student carefully ascended the stairs, hand on the railing. He made an effort to calm his breathing.
The corridor appeared endless. The student adjusted his backpack, and then with what seemed a sense of determination, walked quickly over to one of the doors. He glanced both ways. No one was there. He looked up at the placard above the door:
Psychological Consultation Room.
Taking a deep breath, he knocked.
In the vast, empty corridor, the sound was extremely jarring, and the student couldn't help but shiver. There was no response. He knocked twice more-still nothing. He placed his ear to the door; inside was absolutely silent. The student let out a deep breath, his expression somewhere between relief and disappointment. When he turned to go, the door across the hall suddenly opened and a man stuck his head out.
"Who are you looking for?"
The student was clearly startled. He pointed at the tightly locked door behind him, but couldn't manage a word.
The man walked over and looked at the door. "Looking for Professor Qiao? He's not here." He looked at the student. "Was there something you wanted to discuss with him?"
"N-no."
The man smiled.
"When you have problems you should say them out loud. Keeping them trapped inside will make you sick."
The student looked up at him. His hair was neatly parted and his eyes were kind and friendly. When he smiled, the corners of his mouth curled slightly upwards, showing his glistening white teeth.
"I–I sometimes feel afraid."
The man laughed softly. "Everyone feels afraid sometimes. Can you tell me what it is you're afraid of?"
The student looked down, his jaw clenched.
He clearly did not want to speak, and was not about to force himself.
"You can conquer this sort of feeling," said the man. He lightly placed his hand on the young man's shoulder. "For example, imagine every dangerous scenario possible, starting with the worst. Do this over and over, and you'll gradually feel at ease in any situation, and will no longer be afraid of what you once feared."
As the student looked up, the man gave him a friendly wink, as if to say, Trust me.
Suddenly the sound of the class bell rang out in the corridor. Startling in surprise, the student said a hurried word of thanks, turned and left.
The case analysis meeting, led by the Director of the Public Security Bureau, had just concluded. At it, Tai Wei had given a detailed report on the state of their preliminary investigations into the most recent forced entry-and-murder case.
In total there were two dead. The first was Yao Xiaoyang, female, 32-year-old, divorced, a teacher at Jiangbin City Teacher's College. When the crime was committed two days prior, she had only recently rented Apartment 401 in Unit 2, Building 3 of the Bright Gardens Residential Area. Based on the state of the crime scene, it seemed that Yao Xiaoyang had just moved in on the day of the murder and was in the process of unpacking her things when she was attacked. Because the lock on her door showed no signs of tampering, the special investigation team briefly considered whether the perpetrator was friendly with the victim. However, a comparison of the fingerprints found at the scene with those of the victim's closest friends eliminated this possibility.