Case Files 013

Chapter 155: Escalation

We followed Wang An to Teacher Zhao's home. Teacher Zhao was a middle-aged woman over 50. Her face was wrinkled but she had an educator's grace about her. Teacher Zhao was surprised to see us, she probably didn't expect the police on the phone to be so young. Teacher Zhao said in a friendly tone, "I didn't expect you guys to be so young. Please come in. I was just cooking, you should stay for a meal."

Then she saw Guo Feng behind us and the tattered yarn on his sweater. Teacher Zhao frowned as her eyes welled with tears. She tried to stop her voice from shaking, "Xiao Feng, did those kids bully you again? Stop playing with them, okay?"

Guo Feng, though was too happy to sense the sadness from his mother. He said happily, "Mommy, these are police officers. I want to be police too, to catch the bad guys."

Teacher Zhao nodded. "Of course, you can be anything you want. But now you need to go and change, we're going to have a meal soon." At the mention of food, Guo Feng cheered happily as he ran to his room. Teacher Zhao watched her son run away and then turned to us, "Guo Feng had a very high fever when he was young. According to the doctor, he would only have the intelligence of a 4 year old child"

Then Teacher Zhao went silent. I looked around the house. From the dcor, I believed this house didn't have an adult male presence. As a man, I couldn't fully identify with the pain inside Teacher Zhao but the weight must have been heavy on her. Teacher Zhao didn't elaborate further but invited us to sit down. "I'll go cook. If you have any questions for me, just shout." Teacher Zhao left for the kitchen.

We sat down and Wang An took the seat across from us. This boy around 8 showed maturity beyond his age. "Mr. Police, what happened? Why, why would my sister Xiao Qi commit suicide?"

I looked at Wang An. Instead of answering him, I asked, "Do you mind telling me who was still at home before you were sent here?"

Wang An thought about it and said, "When my dad sent me here, Sister Zhao Xiaoli was still working in another state, she wasn't home. My big brother, Du Zigui, was already missing, I haven't seen him since. My sister, Xiao Qi was there. She was at home with father."

Seeing how anxious Wang An was, I said, "You sister committed suicide by jumping down from Rainbow Bridge yesterday night at around 10 pm."

"But" Wang An stood up to demand, "But my sister Xiao Qi never had suicidal tendencies. She has struggled through the hardest years so why would she give up now?"

I was silent for a while before handing him Fang Xiao Qi's will. Even though Wang An was only in primary school, he already knew his words. And the will didn't have any words that were too hard. When Wang An finished reading, beads of tear fell down his face. Guan Zhenglin moved forward to hug Wang An. Even though he was still a boy, Wang An had already been through so many things. But at the end of the day, he was still a child.

But Wang An struggled loose from Guan Zhenglin's embrace and stated, "I'm fine." We could see him resist the tears and said, "My sister, Xiao Qi will not commit suicide. If she did, someone must have pushed her to do it."

Wang An looked like someone who was strong and opinionated. I asked, "Why did your father send you here, did something happen?"

"It must be the 3 of them." Wang An's eyes glared with hatred and fury. "About one and a month ago, there were 3 men who came to our home to find father. At the time, my father was out finding work, so only Sister Xiao Qi and I were home. The 3 strode through our yard gate but Sister Xiao Qi and I refused to open the house door.

"The 3 of them stood outside and scolded us for a long time. And then they picked up stones to shatter our house's windows. I was mad so I grabbed the knife and ran out. When they saw me, the 3 didn't run away, instead they insulted me and my sister even further." Wang An hissed angrily as he thought back to that day, "They said I shouldn't be holding a knife since I haven't even grown any hair yet. They then grinned salaciously at my sister Xiao Qi. They said she looked pretty and they wanted to play with her. They were disgusting people. I was very mad."

Looks like the anger was still lingering within Wang An as he exclaimed, "I studied martial arts from my father since I was young. I was not afraid of these people. When I was young, my father told me that as a boy, we need to protect the girl. He also told me that if we couldn't protect our family, who could we protect? So," Wang An's chest rose. "I slashed one of them with the knife. The man screamed and tried to grab at my knife. But of course, I was not going to surrender my weapon to him. Therefore, I evaded and cut his other arm. Then the 3 of them ran."

I couldn't imagine this young boy brandishing a knife and chasing people around but then when we arrived, we saw the aggressive side of Wang An. If the kids didn't run away, they would be beaten up by Wang An. Looks like Wang An was brutal to his enemy but kind and gentle to his friend and family. The 3 of us were silent.

Then, it was me who broke the silence, "Did they say anything before they left?"

Wang An said seriously, "They said this was not over and they would be back to burn down our house."

At this point, I was basically certain the arsonist was Zhang Bin's group. But for procedure's sake, I still took out the trio's picture and asked, "Are these them?" Wang An nodded firmly. Then I had Wang An point out the person he had injured with the knife, the person was Zhang Bin, the leader of the group. I continued, "Did you see them again after that day? Or have you seen your sister?"

Wang An shook his head sadly. "After that day, I didn't see them again or my sisters and brother. That night, I told my father about it. Instead of praising me, he scolded me. He said a martial arts practitioner shouldn't act the way I did. He told me I only mastered his fighting skill but not the art in it."

Wang An looked confused when he said, "But I told him, they were the ones who destroyed our home first, they were the ones who scolded us, I did nothing wrong. But he said I had let asperity take control of me and I needed a change of scenery to calm down, so I was sent here." Wang An lowered his head. "But I don't get it. What did he mean? What is asperity and how can I make sure that it doesn't control me anymore?"

The bruises on Wang An's face were probably from his fights with the neighbourhood kids so I understood his father's concern. But then again, to talk about asperity with a child this age was a bit too overboard.

I pressed, "You haven't seen your family after that?"

Wang An nodded. "At first, father would call daily but about half a month later, his calls became less frequent. After a month, the calls stopped. It has been one and a half months already, I haven't heard from him, not even on new year."

I frowned. From our investigation, it was one and a half month ago that Zhang Bin's group asked the internet caf boss for Hao Ren's home address; it was the same time when Zhang Bin's group went to find Du Zigui at where he worked. But after that, no one had seen the 3 thieves and Hao Ren again. What happened to them that they disappeared so completely?

Now from Wang An's testimony, we know the conflict between the 3 thieves and Hao Ren escalated. Zhang Bin's group might have let this go after a few pranks if Wang An didn't come at them with the knife. From Wang An's tone, it didn't sound like he went easy on them.

Zhang Bin was asperity incarnate. He was a vengeful person or else he wouldn't have found trouble with Hao Ren the moment he left the detention centre. After Wang An injured his arms, Zhang Bin would not rest until he had taken his revenge. Perhaps Hao Ren was worried about that and it was why he had sent Wang An to stay with Teacher Zhao.

So what if the trio returned to Tai San Temple Alley when Fang Xiao Qi was alone at home? Would the three of them have done something to Fang Xiao Qi? But then again, the him' in her will couldn't have referred to the thieves, she was not familiar with them to hide their identity in her will

Or was everything a coincidence? Fang Xiao Qi's death had nothing to do with the 3 thieves?

In any case, the next lead we had was to check for Zhang Bin's medical records. Knife injury was not something that could be mended at home, he would need stitches. So we should check hospital records. I told Wang An, "Don't worry, we will discover what really happened to your sister."

Wang An shook his head. "It has to be them, there's no need to check any further. Just arrest them. Or tell me their address, I'll go and chop them into pieces."

Guo Feng walked out at that moment and heard the last sentence that Wang An said. He clapped his hands and repeated, "Chop them into pieces! Chop them into pieces!" Guo Feng's cheers attracted Teacher Zhao's attention. She came out carrying a plate and ordered the two, "The two of you, go and clean your room or we're not to eat. Do you hear me?"

Guo Feng pouted unwillingly but Wang An was already dragging him away.