Case Files 013

Chapter 153: White Dust

After hearing what the boss had to say, the 3 of us shared a look. We saw with our own eyes how Hao Ren's home had already been turned into an ashy ruin. The boss of the caf had practically given us the suspects. The 3 thieves promised to destroy Hao Ren's home, so were they the one behind the fire?

With that in mind, I turned to the boss, "Give me the Wifi code, I need to do some police business." I fired off a message to Sister Mary to have her find some info on the thieves for me. While I waited, I looked around the internet caf.

Today was the first day of the Lunar New Year, so I was surprised that the boss was still open for business. Understandably there were not that many customers, only a smattering of tables was occupied. Why were these people here surfing the net, instead of back home with their families, that I had no idea.

Soon Mary replied with files on the 3 thieves. The rap sheets on the 3 of them were as long as an essay. They looked like they were in their early 20s but they had been professional thieves before they were even of legal age. The leader, the one who was the most boisterous was Zhang Bin, 22 years old, unemployed. The other two were called Zheng Shuai and Cheng Yimin. They were respectively 20 and 18, also unemployed.

The 3 of them were not locals but they had decided to settle around here. Since they could uproot at any minute, they were not afraid of committing crimes. They stole whenever they wanted and if they were discovered, they would rob. Zhang Bin carried with him a spring knife to deal with those who were too stubborn to surrender, those who chose money over life. But so far, Zhang Bin had never met anyone who made that choice before. Whenever he pulled out the knife, his victims would surrender their money.

When he encountered Hao Ren, that was the first time he really had to use the knife to stab someone. Zhang Bin was apprehended and we had confiscated the spring knife. From the files, Zhang Bin's group had no set address either, they moved around freely. After their thievery had attracted attention at the east side, they would move to the west side, and vice versa. Most of the time, their victims would not report to the police because they understood that their stolen items wouldn't be reacquired anyway. So why waste time?

Our country's punishment for theft was based on the price of the item stolen. If the item lost was a phone or a bike, then at most the thief would be detained for several days. Zhang Bin's group was detained for 15 days because they publicly threatened someone.

But were the 3 of them so ruthless to burn down someone's house due to 15 days of detention? In that case, how was Hao Ren and was Fang Xiao Qi's suicide related to the 3 thieves?

According to the files, before Cheng Yimin was unemployed, he had a job at a construction site. The site was near the cheap housing near the western side of the city. Zhang Bin, Zheng Shuai and Cheng Yimin used to hang around there a lot before Cheng Yimin lost his job. Perhaps we might find more clues there.

"Do you think they would really burn down a family's house due to something like this?" Guan Zhenglin looked at the changing view outside the car window. "Basically it's like they have chopped off a person's leg because the person had accidentally stepped on their feet. Why the need to escalate things to such a level?"

Even though 2 months had passed since then, I could still remember the fury in Zhang Bin's eyes and the threat in his words. It was not that hard to believe Zhang Bin would be this vengeful. Zhang Bin was the kind of person who had no moral bottom line, perhaps he felt no qualm burning down someone's house. Maybe their aim was just to see Hao Ren's family all flustered due to the fire, they probably didn't expect the wooden house to be so flammable either.

As Gu Chen drove, he answered Guan Zhenglin, "It's not impossible, that kid is not a good person. He dared to threaten others in front of the police. If he has some power, he'd be the kind who would trample on others. If you ask me, they have to be behind this."

Guan Zhenglin frowned and turned to me, "Then do you think they are behind both the arson and Fang Xiao Qi's suicide?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. When we were back at the station, I compared her will to her essays for class. A person's writing habit, linguistic habit and vocab usage form a person's writing profile. Using these two points of comparison, I believe it was indeed Fang Xiao Qi who wrote the will." Looking at Guan Zhenglin, I continued, "Plus we have hypothesized from her will that the person who did this thing that she couldn't speak of was someone familiar to her, these 3 thieves wouldn't fall in that category. But then again, they are the best suspects we have so far."

We eventually arrived at the neighbourhood of cheap housing. I then realized the meaning of cheap housing at Elm Town meant a different thing from cheap housing at Dong Xing City. These were mere cardboard and packing container houses. The roads were covered with trash and dog shit. We asked around before finally we encountered someone who knew Zhang Bin and his group. We didn't identify ourselves but only said that we were friends with Zhang Bin. The person didn't ask any more questions and led us to Zhang Bin.

Zhang Bin's group did have a semi-permenant residence here, apparently, they paid 300 RMB a month to stay here, which was incredibly cheap. Along the way, I saw many young people with gaunt bodies and malnourished faces. An unsettling feeling rose in my heart.

Soon Zhang Bin's house appeared before us. I pushed on the door and realized it was not locked. As the door swung open, we were hit by a heady smell of mold. We walked in. The place had no heater so it was incredibly cold. This house' was made by combining two containers. There were 3 beds with thick comforters. At the most inner corner, there was an old television.

Beer bottles and boxed lunches scattered the floor. There was practically no spot for us to stand. The unused food was rotting. There was a pot next to the beds. Cigarette butts floated on a pool of disgusting liquid. The 3 thieves looked quite presentable on the outside but their home could not have been more unkempt and disgusting. The quintessential example of all that glitters is not gold.

I reached my hand under the comforters and felt not even a trace of warmth. It meant that no one had been here for a while already. It was only 8 am, where had these 3 already disappeared to? Based on the trash on the ground, they didn't strike me as people who would wake up early for their chores. I personally didn't believe these 3 would wake up punctually at 7 am every day, so what was so special about today?

I took my hand out and noticed some white dust stuck to my fingers. I frowned. Gu Chen wanted to say something but I stopped him. I turned to the person who led us here. "Zhang Bin told me to come find him, why isn't he here?"

The person shrugged, "How would I know?"

"Do they leave so early every morning?" I asked.

The person laughed. "Look at this place. These 3 never get up until noon. They are so lazy, they can barely get their asses out the door to throw their rubbish. You expect them to be early risers? That must be some kind of joke. I have no idea where they are now. That's all I know. Take a seat, I don't know when they'll be back."

"The place doesn't even have a lock, aren't they afraid of thieves?" Gu Chen commented.

"Ha ha." The man laughed again, "Other than the television, what is worth stealing here? Even the television is barely worth several tens RMB" Then the man chuckled to himself as he wandered off.

Gu Chen finally asked, "Do you think they have escaped due to the arson?"

"That's not impossible." I turned to them. "When we just arrived here, I wonder if you have noticed something very interesting."

"Something very interesting?" Gu Chen looked around.

Guan Zhenglin looked outside the container door. "If not for Sister Mary, I would never think Elm Town would have a place like this. We have met quite a lot of people on the way here, they are all incredibly thin and they have such flighty gait. This place is most likely a drug den." I snapped my finger. "That's exactly what I thought."

Gu Chen thought for a while and said, "Hmm, but that means that they can get a constant supply of drugs here. Why else would they have gathered here?"

I said, "But look at Zhang Bin and his friends, they do not look like drug addicts at all. Looks like we'll need to have a stake-out."

Gu Chen nodded, "I'll call Captain Zhao and arrange for it."

"Then what should we do now?" Guan Zhenglin asked.

I thought about it and said, "Hao Ren is missing, Fang Xiao Qi is dead but Du Zigui and Wang An are still in Elm Town, right? We should locate Du Zigui first. After all, Wang An is just an 8 year old boy"

At that moment, I couldn't help but worry about this little boy. After Hao Ren had gone missing, who would be taking care of him?

Guan Zhenglin glanced at the file and told us, "Du Zigui currently works at Si Tong Vehicle Repair Factory. It's about one hour's drive from here."

Gu Chen also finished his call then. I took a final glance at this small house and turned to leave.

As a petty thief, Zhang Bin wouldn't just suddenly segue into the drug business so what was the explanation behind the white dust found at his place?

And where were the 3 of them now?