Case Files 013

Chapter 182: The Return

We laid out the pictures of all the victims. In terms of timeline, the first victim was Zhao Kaifang, 27 years old, a single female who lived alone. The second victim was Luo Xiao Lu, 25 years old, single female who lived alone. Similar to Zhao Kaifang, she was also an OL.

The third victim, Zhou Mei, 35 years old, a cashier at a supermarket, married; Zhang Libo, 37 years old, a vehicle repairman, married. The fifth victim was Zhang Xiaowen, 12 years ago, primary 5 and was enjoying her school holiday when she was killed.

We studied the 5 pictures. However, we couldn't tell the similarity between them. In terms of occupation, there was no overlapping. Zhao Kaifang and Luo Xiao Lu were both OL but they worked in different companies that specialized in different fields.

In terms of gender, there was no unified theme either. The killer didn't go after only single females like I predicted. In the second story, the victims were a family of three, they were definitely not young females.

In terms of age, they couldn't be more different either. The two OL were about 20 plus, the married couple was in their 30s and their daughter was only 12.

So what was the condition used by the killer? Did he kill indiscriminately, why did he pick these few as his victims?

I frowned and pulled on my hair. Were there killers that killed without reason and rhyme? Yes, of course there was. Those kinds of killers were the hardest to capture. Crime investigation was based on a few fixed concepts, like the mo, the murder weapon, the time of death and motive. These details provided the openings. We normally used these points to narrow down our suspect list and then from the lists, speculate the culprit.

However, in this case, the murder weapon was varied. Other than the dagger that was of unknown origin, there was no more weapon found. The dagger had no manufacturing details so that was a dead end too.

The mo was often the most reflective of the killer's perspective. A killer who used dagger was not afraid of blood, a killer who preferred torture was mentally perverse and so on. However, so far, the mo in these 2 cases were so distinct that I had the impression they were done by two killers.

In terms of timeline, I believed the killer had already come up with his hit list a long time ago. He was only going through it one by one. Based on the two cases so far, it was hard to tell if the killer would kill every week, every day or every fortnight. Or perhaps he struck whenever he felt like it.

Criminal motive was a field in psychology to read the killer's thoughts and mindframe through the evidence left at the crime scenes. This was something I was good at. From current evidence, there were basically 2 possibilities. 1, these were random killings done by the killer to satisfy his need to kill; 2, these were premeditated murders but we hadn't found the connection between the killer and these 5 victims.

We knew only half of everything. For example, the killer appeared to be a jack of all trade, and he was extremely cunning. From my short interaction with him, I believed this man was psychopathic, preferred darkness and shied from the light.

From my own experience, psychopathy wasn't developed overnight. Something must have happened to the killer when he was young or something broke his mind. The trauma trapped him inside a worldview that we couldn't understand. So would that mean our killer might have a history of being in a mental hospital? It was not completely impossible. A mental patient could have run loose and gone on a killing spree. Many psychopaths killed because they viewed the world in a way differently from ours. And these people were normally locked inside areas within mental hospitals with the highest security. I was familiar with these places in Dong Xing City. Even though I had not been to such areas before, I knew that without proper authority, common people were not going to be given access to such places.

This was because the patients kept there couldn't be called human beings anymore, they were more like demons in the human shell.

Captain Zhao suddenly said, "There is one person from the second story who we still can't track. When we were back from the crime scene, I had Mary look into the adult toy store. The boss' name was Wang Chunli, she is not a local. We called her phone many times but they went unanswered. The only news we had is that she was last seen with a man."

Captain Lee glanced at Captain Zhao. "Yes, we found out the same thing. I was about to report on that but you already did." Then Captain Lee turned to Xiao Liu. "Xiao Liu, don't you have a lead to follow? Go on then." Xiao Liu hurried to oblige.

Captain Zhao sipped on his tea and said, "Indeed, since you already know about this lead, then why didn't you send people to investigate it earlier? You have to wait for me to bring it up first?"

Captain Lee scoffed. "The day is getting dark, you should go and rest. You're not getting any younger. Your hair has gotten so white, the pressure from the case must be mounting, huh?"

Gu Chen looked at Captain Lee and whispered, "This Captain Lee is clearly trying to steal our lead."

I said, "Based on my analysis, it will take time to endear oneself to a group of stray cats. Plus, I believe this might not be the first time the cats have fed on human flesh. If you ask me, the female boss is already inside many different cat stomachs."

Guan Zhenglin countered, "That might be so but cats don't eat bones. Where have the bones disappeared to?"

I was reminded of the paper boxes in the back of the shop. One of the boxes was sealed. Now that I thought about it, perhaps the boss' bones were inside that box. With that in mind, I called Xiao Liu.

Xiao Liu was clearly surprised to get my call. "Wu Meng? What's wrong?"

I said directly, "I need you to visit the storage of the adult toy store. Look for sealed boxes. If I'm not mistaken, you might find some flesh and bones."

"Okay." Xiao Liu answered. "Thank you."

I didn't say anything in return. Gu Chen glanced at me and grumbled, "Why did you tell him? When you're in trouble, he'll be the first to abandon you, haven't you learned that lesson?"

I shook my head. "That's not important. Tomorrow, I need you to go somewhere with me."

"Where?" Gu Chen asked.

"Dong Xing Mental Hospital," I answered.

Xiao Liu found the bones and was told to investigate the man who was last seen with the boss.

I spent the night tossing and turning in bed. Once I closed my eyes, the pair of green eyes stared at me and the killer's shrill giggles echoed in my ears. I could see the girl's head roll towards me. In the dark, someone was smiling at me and refused to leave.

Why didn't he choose to kill me? That was such a perfect chance for him. He wouldn't have missed. I had no answer.

Early the next morning, Captain Zhao led the team to Dong Xing Mental Hospital. This was a place I both loved and hated; hated because it hid my deepest secret, my both failures in the hands of Wu Zui; loved because this place was home to many of my friends like Doggie Wang Er. Sometimes, just because they couldn't fit into this world didn't mean that they were crazy.

It was the same male chief nurse who came to welcome us. When he saw Captain Zhao lead me back, he chuckled, "Well, ain't this quaint? He doesn't last through the test drive period so you're returning him? Wu Meng, why are you coming back? Do you think we don't have enough work here?"

I smiled, "Who said I'm coming back? I have even stopped my medication."

"We'll see." The chief nurse added, "You know your own mental history. Stick with these people longer and eventually you'll find your way back in here."

"Where's Doggie Wang Er?" I asked, "I miss him."

The chief nurse replied, "His girlfriend is visiting him. I'm not going to stay to interrupt them. Tell me, why would a perfectly beautiful girl waste her youth on a mental patient?"

I chuckled, "I'll report you to the director for leaving the patient with his visitor. That's against the rules."

"Nice try!" The chief nurse called my bluff. "Even the director knows about the two of them. Anyway, back to business, why are you back here? Don't tell me, it's because you miss me."

I looked at the chief nurse and said seriously, "There's this new case, the killer is extremely psychopathic. I'm wondering if he might be one of the severe cases here. He might have escaped. Do you have any records? Perhaps we should visit Area A, we might find something there."

"No way!" The chief nurse stated, "You know Area A has the highest level of security. There won't be any runaway."