She sighed. "In the end, the man was beaten so badly that he gave in and died. To make matters worse, the real killer was arrested a few days later. Many people were implicated in the killing. Some lost their jobs, others were sent to jail. One of the captains of the unit that was handling the crime, I believe his name was Zhao-something, was also transferred to the State Enterprise Investigative Division. Sun Pu was almost arrested himself, but because there wasn't enough evidence and Old Qiao pulled a lot of strings, he was finally let off. However, there was no chance of him returning to his old position. But because Old Qiao spoke strongly on his behalf to the university president, he was eventually given his job in the library."
So that's what happened, thought Fang Mu. Looking down, he saw the nearly cold bowl of medicine. Hurriedly, he handed it back to Mrs. Qiao. "Why have I never heard about this before?"
Frowning, she drank the rest of her medicine. When she was done, Fang Mu passed her a napkin, which she used to wipe the corners of her mouth. After taking a few deep breaths, she continued.
"You weren't here at the time, and besides, the school did everything it could to keep the incident under wraps. But to tell the truth, it made Old Qiao enormously upset. Ever since then, his temper has been much worse. Sun Pu has come by to see him a number of times, but Old Qiao has always just forced him to leave, even when he's brought gifts with him. And at home, this topic has become absolutely taboo." Mrs. Qiao patted the pillow beside her. "If Old Qiao were at home right now, there's no way I'd dare say any of this to you. Aye, for a long time after that, he made sure not to mention any of his students at home. But recently your name has been coming up a lot, and I can tell that out of all the students he's ever had, you and Sun Pu are the ones he's admired most. At first I considered recommending that you teach the criminology makeup classes, but later I decided that you're still too young. Besides, Sun Pu has been doing an excellent job these past few years, and in his evaluations he's received high marks in all areas. The school has even begun to consider rehiring him to a teaching post. Aye, I don't think even Sun Pu knows about that. On the surface, it might seem like Old Qiao has never been willing to forgive him, but all along he's secretly been doing everything he could to help him. If he hadn't suddenly gone missing, he was going to recommend that the school rehire Sun Pu to begin teaching next semester…"
Fang Mu was no longer paying attention to what she was saying. He knew there was someone he needed to talk to immediately.
CHAPTER 27
"What did you just say?" cried Tai Wei, leaping up with a start from Fang Mu's bed. "The guy that works in the library? The one in the glasses?"
Fang Mu nodded.
"So this is why Old Zhao was transferred. No wonder the guy flies into a rage at the first mention of criminal profiling." Tai Wei frowned. "But he's such a gentle-looking guy. I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover."
"I never said he was definitely the killer. It's just that according to our analysis," Fang Mu said, "the killer was most likely someone who excelled at criminal profiling. And from the looks of things, the only people on campus who fit that description are me, Professor Qiao, and now Sun Pu."
"Then what should we do? At this point, it doesn't seem like we have any evidence to prove it was him."
Fang Mu thought for a moment. "We both saw the killer, and you even chased him for a little while. So what do you think? Does Sun Pu fit the bill?"
After racking his brain, Tai Wei said, "Their heights are about the same. But that night the killer was wearing a long, hooded windbreaker and the light was very dim. I can't be certain it was the same guy."
Feeling a little disappointed, Fang Mu said nothing.
Seeing the kid's expression, Tai Wei quickly changed the topic. "How's your research going on the passage?"
Fang Mu's face grew even gloomier and he just shook his head.
"You think the passage might have something to do with Professor Qiao's disappearance? I had an idea about this," Tai Wei said. "So the passage was torn out of a school textbook, right, and Professor Qiao's occupation just happens to be teaching. You think it could be hinting that the seventh victim is going to be a teacher?"
"Most likely not." Fang Mu thought for a moment. "When the passage was found, Professor Qiao hadn't yet gone missing. I don't think the killer was expecting Professor Qiao to come visit him, so the seventh victim will probably be someone else."
"So is there nothing we can do then?" cried Tai Wei impatiently.
"That's not true either. Tai Wei, you are an excellent investigator, so right now you need to look into everything having to do with Sun Pu. If he really is the killer, and if Professor Qiao is still alive…" Fang Mu paused and raised his voice, doing his best to appear unaffected by what he was saying, "…then Sun Pu must have hidden him somewhere. If you keep tabs on Sun Pu's whereabouts, perhaps you'll be able locate Professor Qiao."
"All right, I'll go make the necessary preparations." Tai Wei stood up, and then suddenly slammed his fist down on the desk. "No matter if the target is Professor Qiao or anyone else, we won't let him succeed this time!"
He strode to the doorway, but just as he opened the door, he abruptly turned around and said, "Kid, you'd better be pretty careful yourself."
Fang Mu glanced at his backpack which he'd tossed on the bed. The military dagger was still inside. He looked up at Tai Wei and nodded.
The nightmares arrived on schedule.
The shadowy, headless figures crowded quietly around Fang Mu's bed. Without a word, they watched as Fang Mu struggled desperately, and yet couldn't move at all.
Even though he didn't open his eyes, Fang Mu sensed that amid these dead specters, there were a few new members.
Qu Weiqiang, Wang Qian, Tang Yu'e, Jin Qiao, Xin Tingting, Thomas Gill, Meng Fanzhe, Dong Guizhi, Zhang Yao…
All of you…
A hand pressed against his shoulder.
"Actually, you and I are the same."
Suddenly, Fang Mu could move his neck.
He swung his head around.
Sun Pu was smiling at him.
Over the past few days, that face had appeared in Fang Mu's mind more than any other image. Fang Mu was already more familiar with it than with his own face.
The look in his eyes when he reached a crucial point in class. The way the corners of his mouth curled when he was smiling, or his eyebrows knitted when he was thinking deeply about something. The faint twinkle in his eyes whenever he glanced at Fang Mu.
At this moment, the owner of that face was standing at the lectern and enjoying the worshipful looks of the students sitting before him.
"All right, that's all the new material for today," Sun Pu said, placing the chalk back on the blackboard and then clapping off his hands. "But we still have fifteen minutes until class is over, so let's play a little game."
The students, who a moment before had been packing up to leave, now returned their attention to Sun Pu.