Nanping Road was a morning rush hour disaster area; the congestion lasted from six-thirty to ten.
All over the road, high-level white collar workers heading towards the East District's commercial center met and clashed with disorderly droves of motor scooters. If a slow-moving public bus had happened along and inserted itself into the fray, it might have manufactured the death trap of the century.
The roads in the West District were laid out especially intricately, some wide, some narrow, all jigsawed together. It was common practice among the local inhabitants to put up a mess of private construction; man-made dead ends were everywhere. Motor-vehicles that had mistakenly wandered in were like little bugs caught in a spider's web—they had to struggle for their lives, charging left and dodging right, if they wanted to see the light of day again.
Luo Wenzhou stuck his head out the car window and gave a blast on the siren. He yelled, "Handsome, we're conducting official business and can't get through. Could you move that BMW at your gate?"
At this, an old man came out of the yard of the single-story house beside the car, flattened his lips and looked at Luo Wenzhou, then totteringly pushed a mobility scooter into the yard.
On the left side of the mobility scooter was a sticker reading "Especially for picking up my grandson, "on the right one reading "The angrier you are, the slower I'll be." As it moved, a bark came from it. Luo Wenzhou raised his sunglasses from his nose bridge in surprise and looked down. A big yellow dog leapt out from behind the scooter.
The big yellow dog sauntered up beside the police car, exchanged a glance with him, then brazenly lifted its back leg at the car's wheel.
Luo Wenzhou whistled at it. "Piss, little darling," he said kindly. "When you're done, I'll cut off your little willy, cook it into a pancake, and eat it."
This method of eating was truly novel; the big yellow dog had never heard of such a thing. It was struck with awe on the spot by Officer Luo's veteran hooligan attitude, let out a howl, and decamped with its tail between its legs.
Lang Qiao blocked her face with her tablet. "Chief Luo, have you noticed that there's an unmarried young lady in the backseat?—They've sent over what they currently have from the sub-bureau."
"Lady Comrade, please pick out the objective facts and summarize them for me." Luo Wenzhou slowly pushed the car out of the cleared-out narrow alley. "Ignore the subjective and groundless parts. That bastard Wang Hongliang is a bootlicker. The Flower Market District Sub-Bureau is rotten from the top down. It's all questionable goods."
"OK. The victim's name is He Zhongyi, male, eighteen years old, a worker from out of town. He was employed as a delivery man for a coffee shop chain. There are indentations on the body's neck, cause of death is asphyxiation…he was strangled. The preliminary conjecture is that the murder weapon was something like a piece of cloth. Time of death was between 8 PM and midnight last night. We have to wait for the medical examiner to get further before we get concrete determinations about the circumstances—oh, right, the body was discovered not far from the illegal shared rental the victim lived in, so his identity was confirmed quickly."
Luo Wenzhou was a very accomplished driver; boring his way through the peril-ridden alley with hardly a millimeter's clearance, he still had attention to spare to interrupt and ask, "Where did the rumors concerning the looting and strangling gang come from?"
"The victim was picked clean. His phone is gone, and his wallet was emptied and tossed aside, though there's no saying whether it was the murderer who did it." Lang Qiao quickly skimmed the e-mail. "Right, the person who reported the case said there was a piece of paper covering the body's face, with a strip of glue on it. It was stuck to the victim's hair. The character 'money' was written on it."
Tao Ran turned off the GPS. "Turn right ahead and we'll be there."
"OK." Luo Wenzhou knocked on the steering wheel. "This case is staying with the sub-bureau. It won't be transferred to the City Bureau. Do you know what we've come here to do?"
"To guide and supervise?" Lang Qiao asked tentatively.
"Do you know what kind of people 'guided and supervised' in the past?" said Luo Wenzhou.
Suddenly seeing the light, Lang Qiao said, "Court eunuchs!"
Tao Ran turned around in the passenger's seat to stare at her.
"Is that all the young ladies of your village are capable of?" Luo Wenzhou grimaced as though his teeth hurt. "Go on, I'm being serious here—Director Zhang is going to retire in a few years. Most of the Deputy-Directors are about in step with him. The remainder either have an inadequate service record or are like Director Ceng, keeping their heads buried in technical details and not paying attention to anyone. So when the time comes, it's likely people will be pushed up from all the sub-bureaus."
Luo Wenzhou avoided a heap of garbage by the road. He lowered his voice. "The old Director-General wants to take that bit of goods Wang Hongliang down on his watch, so in the future the City Bureau doesn't end up in the grip of a mere wine sack and food bag—do you understand our main task?"
The police car had already turned at the intersection.
This was a very bleak piece of empty ground squeezed between an old-fashioned apartment building without private kitchens or toilets and a crowd of jagged single-story houses. It was right behind a little warehouse built by the locals. It was weed-choked and deserted, with water pooled in the corners that gave off a lingering and unusual stench.
The police had surrounded the scene. Medical examiners bustled in and out, investigating.
Wang Hongliang, the head of the Flower Market District Sub-Bureau, had come to oversee the scene himself in order to wait for Luo Wenzhou and the others.
He was a middle-aged man balding to the point that it had spread to his face; his anxious brows were so sparse their shape was almost indistinguishable. Warm sweat was trickling down his forehead. He personally welcomed Luo Wenzhou, grabbing his hand and shaking it up and down three times. "I've disturbed the City Bureau's leaders and even made some of you come all the way out here. I really feel very sorry."
Luo Wenzhou smiled pleasantly. "Lao-ge (9), why so formal?"
Though Wang Hongliang was sloppy at doing his job, he was a master at cozying up to people. Hearing these words he quickly moved to take advantage, changing to a more familiar form of address. Moreover, he poured out an unceasing torrent of complaints to his newly-acknowledged brother.
Luo Wenzhou took out a pack of cigarettes, lit one, and passed it to Wang Hongliang. At the same time, he shot a look at Tao Ran to send him and Lang Qiao to take a look at the scene.
"It was someone he knew, it was absolutely someone he knew." Wang Hongliang talked nonsense to Luo Wenzhou for about the time it took to smoke a cigarette and only then got down to business. His small eyeballs rolled wildly. "Look at this place. It's so complicated that an outsider coming in wouldn't be able to find his way around. If you fart in your own home, your neighbors will smell what you ate for lunch. How could an outsider dare to casually commit a murder? Luo-lao-di, you're an expert, do you think that makes sense?"
At a sensitive time like this, what Wang Hongliang least wanted to see was a roving criminal mugging and killing people in his jurisdiction, so he was desperately sticking to "it was someone he knew, a private dispute."
Luo Wenzhou didn't pick up the thread of his conversation. He plucked off his sunglasses and hung them from his collar, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the the bustling medical examiners, then casually dodged. "I'm just the child of an official, in this to make a living. How could I pass myself off as an expert in front of you?"
"Who isn't in this to make a living?" Wang Hongliang spread out his hands despairingly. "Let's go. We'll take a look, too."
The newly-established Making a Living Club thereupon went side-by-side onto the scene. There was a young man with a crewcut and glasses sending spit flying as he explained the situation to Tao Ran and Lang Qiao. This young man was very tall. His face was covered in acne. His posture was straight and stiff, like a coffin board cut into a human shape. His speech was dreadfully fast.
"This is our newly arrived Xiao Xiao, Xiao Haiyang," Wang Hongliang introduced, pointing. "He was a brilliant student, got first on the written examination when he tested in. Xiao Xiao, this is the City Bureau's Captain Luo."
Xiao Haiyang subconsciously puffed out his chest and raised his head, like he was standing to attention. He clenched his lower jaw tightly, nodded stiffly at Luo Wenzhou and greeted him reticently: "Captain Luo."
"No need to be polite," said Luo Wenzhou, smiling at him. "Keep talking."
It seemed that his words had pressed a button on the previously reticent Xiao Haiyang. In an instant, words came surging out of his mouth like a downpour, flooding all the people in front of him. "There were no defensive wounds on the victim's body, but there was an injury on the back of his head made with a blunt instrument. Our preliminary judgement is that he was knocked out from behind, then asphyxiated with a piece of cloth. After death, his belongings were taken and a piece of paper was put on his head. Because the victim was unconscious while he was strangled, there were no signs of struggle left at the scene. The cord used to strangle the victim, the blunt object that caused the injury to his head, and so on, have not been found. At present there is no definitive evidence to show that this is the initial scene of the crime. Report complete!"
At first it was going fine, but when the last sentences came out of his mouth, Wang Hongliang's face turned green at the sound. "If there's no evidence, then what are you talking nonsense for? If this isn't the scene of the crime, then where is? Has the body been dumped? Why would someone want to dump a body here? What good would that be? Don't confuse the matter with your random guesses!"
Xiao Haiyang looked at him in confusion. "I was only saying there's a possibility…"
Wang Honliang wanted to keep raging but was blocked by Luo Wenzhou. "Children who have just started work all have rather a lot of ideas. Listening to them can be pretty interesting."
He looked around. The whole West Flower Market District had an overcast feeling. Confused and disordered power lines hung low overhead, cutting down one of Yan City's rare sunny days to nothing. It was very depressing.
"Ask around, maybe someone heard something," said Luo Wenzhou. "Besides that, I think Director Wang's instinct is generally accurate. Let's not consider extreme circumstances for now and direct the course of the investigation towards the crime being committed by an acquaintance. Lao-ge, does that work for you?"
Although Luo-lao-di's arrival had been ill-omened, his style of speaking and doing business suited Wang Hongliang's ideas. The two sides fit together, achieving a maximum savings on communications costs.
What came after would be endless investigation and interviews, which was all the work of the criminal police lackeys. It had nothing to do with the "coaches." Their main task was to return to the sub-bureau office to sit and drink tea while they observed the progress of the work, waiting to grab Wang Hongliang's pigtails.
But Tao Ran quietly said to Luo Wenzhou, "Chief, you go ahead. I want to stay and go around with them."
Tao Ran's name was gentle and refined (10). His features were delicate. He never got angry with anyone, never used coarse language. With his colleagues and foes alike he was all life-giving spring breezes and rain. He seemed very good-natured, but Luo Wenzhou had worked alongside him since just after graduation, so he understood him only too well.
Tao Ran had a kind of earnestness and stubbornness incompatible with the current era. He didn't care very much about other things—anyway, if the sky came falling down, there was Luo Wenzhou to hold it up—but while investigating a case, if there was anything suspicious, he would chase it down to the very end, whether it was his responsibility or not.
"The victim was knocked out from behind," said Luo Wenzhou. "If it was a mugger, it wouldn't have been worth it to strangle him. A private dispute is very likely. Wang Honliang's basic judgement isn't wrong—what's the problem?"
The body had already been put into a body bag and removed by the medical examiners. Tao Ran softly said, "It's the shoes—no one cleans up here. If you aren't careful, you'll step in mud. But I just opened the body bag to have a look. The child's shoes are clean."
Luo Wenzhou raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Of course, it's possible that because the victim lived nearby, he was familiar with the area," said Tao Ran. "But I think the sub-bureau's Little Glasses was right. We can't eliminate the possibility that this isn't the initial crime scene. Besides, that piece of paper stuck to the victim's head is strange. Wenzhou, what if this thing isn't so simple? I'm worried Director Wang will be in a hurry to cover it up and won't be willing to investigate properly."
"Is there any need to worry?" Luo Wenzhou sighed. "He obviously wants to cover it up."
As long as he had a likely suspect, Wang Hongliang could quickly use his official seal to put out a statement saying that this case had arisen from a private dispute, not some "strangling killer" like the alarmists on the internet were saying. If there were no other antics, after a few days people would get bored and forget about it. Once events had gone by, they could then say, "The Flower Market District's Director made an outstanding contribution towards the success of this city's such-and-such distinguished gathering."
As for the case, he'd find some errand-running little criminal policemen to slowly investigate. If they found something, they'd catch the criminal; if they didn't, they'd cover it up. After enough covering up, if it all came to nothing, they could leave the matter unresolved.
This was Wang Hongliang's style. Otherwise, Director Zhang wouldn't have specially sent Luo Wenzhou.
"A child came from far off to our city and died in a strange place among strangers," said Tao Ran. "It doesn't matter why. We owe him an answer."
Luo Wenzhou tilted his head and looked into his eyes for a couple of seconds.
Tao Ran quickly added another sentence. "So I feel uneasy and want to follow along. I promise no unexpected issues will arise."
Luo Wenzhou smiled. "Anyway, in all these years, I've taken responsibility for all the unexpected issues that have arisen for you, and I haven't seen you pledge yourself to me in gratitude."
Tao Ran was unconcerned. He jokingly scolded, "Get out."
He turned to go, but Luo Wenzhou called him to a stop. "Wait. This morning, it was Fei Du who sent you the flowers, right?"
"Who else could it be?" said Tao Ran, carelessly.
Luo Wenzhou stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at his toes, seeming to be searching for the topic. "If I said to you, 'Stay away from that brat,' would you think I was meddling?"
"No, you don't really think he means it?" Tao Ran smiled. "He's always like this. He's just having fun. Never mind that I'm not gay, even if I was bent as a hoop…"
Luo Wenzhou lightly interrupted him. "Even if you were gay, should it be that little whelp dancing attendance on you?"
Tao Ran stared, but before he could pick out the feeling behind these words, Luo Wenzhou went on, "I'm not talking about his drinking and partying, and I'm not saying he's a weirdo… It's not on that level. Fei Du has just always given me a bad feeling, you know what I mean?"
"I know." Tao Ran nodded. He was thin and delicate and looked easy to bully. Because of this, he always wore his uniform to work. The morning sun coming over the low walls and the moss gently surrounded him with light. "I've been watching him for the last seven years. Fei Du is a good kid. You don't have to guard against him—though just now he's overcompensating, he's gone a little overboard…"
Luo Wenzhou didn't answer.
Tao Ran changed the subject. "Also, who was it back then who wanted to give him something and felt too uncomfortable to put his name to it and went to such great pains to get a handheld game console from abroad and made me…"
"Go away," Luo Wenzhou interrupted him expressionlessly. "Shut up and get to work."
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Author's Note:
(9) Terms referring to sibling relationships are commonly used as friendly forms of address; ge (哥) is older brother, di (弟) is younger brother, jie (姐) is older sister, and mei (妹) is younger sister.
(10) His name means "happy and carefree."