Xiao Haiyang hesitated. "I don't know yet."
"But I have some idea," Luo Wenzhou suddenly put in. "That's another reason I called you in.
"While investigating Wang Hongliang, I went to the Great Fortune Building to try to save Chen Zhen and met a fake front desk receptionist. Then, in the Yufen Middle School case, after Feng Bin was killed at the Drum Tower, Fei Du and I were investigating along the path those kids had taken…"
"Oh?" Lang Qiao acutely seized the key piece of information. "The two of you went to the Lovers'…went, uh, there to—to investigate the case?"
When she'd said this, there was silence all around.—Xiao Haiyang had no idea what she was talking about. Fei Du, head propped on his hand, was looking at her with a not-quite-smile like a demon looking for a chance to suck out a person's soul, frightening Lang Qiao so she didn't dare to meet his gaze and silently averted her line of sight.
Luo Wenzhou, however, was more "benevolent." He only took out an ancient file and whacked Lang Big Eyes on the forehead in a very practiced motion. "Aren't you clever!"
Lang Qiao said, "…Imperial Father, I'm a fool."
Luo Wenzhou rolled his eyes at her and flattened out the old folder, which was about to fall apart. "In the spot where Feng Bin met the killer, we ran into a fake patrolman going under someone else's name. While we were pursuing Lu Guosheng, the security tapes at Beiyuan's Longyun Center were swapped, and the security guard 'Wang Jian' disappeared afterwards—a fake security guard. Later, when we investigated Wang Xiao again, we looked through Yufen Middle School's security camera records from November sixth and found that the female schoolfellows mentioned in Wang Xiao's testimony hadn't returned to school, and the person who'd followed her into the bathroom had actually been a janitor.
"A fake janitor." Luo Wenzhou paused. "Add in another fake Zhao Yulong, and it sounds like a pattern, doesn't it?"
"They're all minor figures, their surface identities either solitary out-of-towners or temporary workers in jobs with a high turnover where it's easy to disguise yourself." Xiao Haiyang came around at once and picked up. "And they all seem to have prototypes. For example, there really is a Zhao Yulong. The place of birth, name, age, even part of the work history matches. This way, even if someone investigates, as long as they don't investigate in depth, it would still be hard to find a gap!"
"You've left one out," Fei Du said very lightly. "We also haven't found the fake delivery person Dong Qian had direct contact with before he killed Zhou Junmao. Without considering the motive, I think it's appropriate to classify that case in the same category."
"A service worker, a patrolman, a security guard, a janitor, a delivery person…" Lang Qiao shuddered, finding that she couldn't think too much about this; thinking too much, it would be easy to get paranoid—service workers could easily drug food and drinks, patrolmen and security guards were nearly symbols of safety, janitors were like invisible people in any setting, not raising suspicions anywhere they went, and delivery people could knock on the doors of countless unsuspecting homes.
But the trouble was, these service professions, while being endowed with exceptional faith, were sometimes also the ones with the highest turnover, the most changes in personnel, the least rigorous entrance and exit examinations.
"Taking on a fake identity, being able to stay concealed over a long period of time—it's likely this is all the same gang." Luo Wenzhou pulled out a photograph from the file. "Luckily, we've found the end of one thread.
"This woman is called Zhu Feng. She's the fake janitor who snuck into Wang Xiao's school. We were able to determine her identity because she has a criminal record. Fourteen years ago, Zhu Feng's newlywed husband was killed. The killer was later judged to be mentally challenged and incompetent, so he was spared from criminal punishment. Zhu Feng didn't accept this and snuck into the mental hospital and attempted to get revenge. She failed. Later this case was part of the first Picture Album Project." Luo Wenzhou paused, pulling seven thin case files out of the folder and handing them around. "You may not know that there was a mishap during the first Picture Album Project."
"What mishap?" Lang Qiao said.
"The first Picture Album Project collected unresolved cases where the suspects couldn't be apprehended for all sorts of reasons. Those are the ones you're holding. All old cases, some because of technological limits, some because time had passed and the evidence was insufficient…all kinds of reasons that the suspect hadn't paid the price—adding in this case of the mentally disabled suspect spared criminal penalty, there were seven cases altogether. I only got these materials by deception. It was against discipline and has to be kept strictly secret. The materials don't leave this room.—And after being collected in the Picture Album Project, the chief suspects in each case who hadn't been arrested due to insufficient evidence died unusual deaths one after another."
"The causes of death were very delicate." Fei Du scanned the old case files. "For example, in the case of the mentally disabled killer who was shut up in a mental hospital, his death was very similar to that of the victim he'd killed before being placed in the hospital. They were both stabbed in the chest and abdomen by the same style of knife, and the distribution of wounds was almost identical. On the day this mental patient was killed, the power was suddenly cut in the hospital he was staying at, and a portion of the security cameras stopped working. Someone knocked out the nurse on duty and pried open the lock on the door.—And in the end the weapon he was stabbed with was found in the next room along with bloody clothes. The fingerprints of the patient in the next room were also found on the weapon…but this patient was very seriously ill. He could hardly communicate. They couldn't get anything out of him. Even if he'd really killed this person, there was nothing to be done about it."
"A mental patient kills someone and then gets killed by another mental patient?" Tao Ran said over the phone. "What do you call that? Karmic retribution?"
"Once is karmic retribution. If it happens this many times in a row, then the 'retribution' isn't purely natural." Fei Du smiled. Then he thought of something, and his smile immediately vanished. His gaze was grave.—Using some means to secretly gather the victims of vile crimes, arranging them like chess pieces, weaving a net with unremarkable minor individuals… If he hadn't been born about a decade too late, Fei Du nearly would have suspected he'd done this himself; he couldn't resist turning his head and coughing a few times.
"Didn't I tell you to talk less?" Luo Wenzhou frowned, pushing a cup of warm water in front of him. "If you interrupt again I'll tape your mouth shut."
"Is this why the previous Picture Album Project was called to a halt?" Lang Qiao asked. "So who killed these people?"
"The person in charge of the Picture Album Project then was a senior professor at Yan Security Uni, named Fan Siyuan. I looked into it, and Lao Yang, Director Lu, Gu Zhao—all of them studied at Yan Security Uni and were his students at one point. He later vanished without a trace, and his status was only changed to 'dead' two or three years later."
Hearing the name "Gu Zhao," Xiao Haiyang's brain had short-circuited. He asked directly, "What does that mean?"
"That means it's likely this Fan Siyuan first disappeared, and only 'died' a few years after disappearing." One word at a time, Luo Wenzhou said, "It's likely he only 'died' in the legal sense."
Xiao Haiyang instantly looked up.
"But why? What's his motive?" Lang Qiao said. "Boss, I'll use your catchphrase—on what basis?"
"We won't know the motive until we catch him, and the basis is up to you to find. What else did I call you here to do?" Luo Wenzhou spread his hands. This was one benefit to being a leader; you could be strict with others and lenient with yourself, reach out and openly ask others for basis, then order your subordinate grunts to go investigate when others asked you for basis. "I've given you the theory, comrades, it's up to you to verify it!"
Lang Qiao: "…"
"Go investigate each case one by one. Go excavate the victims' close relatives and any people with close relationships. Don't overlook any lead. If this series of 'fake people' really are all connected to the old cases, then the identity of the person behind them goes without saying.—Xiao Haiyang, what is it now?"
Xiao Haiyang's chest was undulating fiercely. He raised somewhat blank eyes. "Captain Luo, since this Fan Siyuan has obtained so many people's trust, is it possible…is it possible he was the person in the know fourteen years ago? When Uncle Gu suspected there was a mole in the City Bureau and couldn't determine who to suspect, would he have sought someone else's help? His teacher's, for example? Isn't it possible that the person who sold out Uncle Gu wasn't from the City Bureau at all?"
Luo Wenzhou froze. Before he could speak, his phone suddenly rang. He gestured at Xiao Haiyang and picked up. "Yes… Yes? What, today? Fine, got it, thank you."
With everyone looking at him, Luo Wenzhou put down the phone. "The investigation team has determined to stop the investigation into Director Lu for now."
Lang Qiao first stared blankly, then beamed with joy. "Director Lu has been cleared of suspicion!"
"No, it's only temporary," Luo Wenzhou said quickly. "The investigation is still ongoing, he can't leave the city for now.—Look, you guys go investigate. Fei Du, don't run around while you're sick, stay home and summarize the information. I'll go see Director Lu, ask him in detail about the Picture Album while I'm at it."
The investigator politely asked Lu Youliang to the door and sent for a car to take him home. "Director Lu, are you going to your post or your home? There's really quite a lot of work that needs to be managed at the City Bureau now."
Director Lu's footsteps paused. He suddenly said, "Can I see Lao Zhang?"
The investigator stared, then said very urbanely, "I'm afraid…"
"Of course I don't mean see him in private. You can send someone to be present," Lu Youliang said. "Lao Zhang and I worked together for many years. Emotionally and reasonably, I won't believe he's done anything wrong. Let me say a few words, maybe we can remember something that's been overlooked.—Why don't you ask your superiors for guidance?"
The investigator looked deeply at him, then picked up his phone and stepped to one side.
An hour later, Zhang Chunjiu and Lu Youliang were received in a simple visiting room. The two of them faced each other helplessly, both showing wry smiles, feeling that they had been cut off from the world for a long time.—Zhang Chunjiu seemed even thinner. The white hair at Lu Youliang's temples had doubled over the last few days. It was clear they'd both been quite roughly tormented.
"I haven't managed the charge you left me well. Less than a year, and all this has happened. I've even dragged you in," Lu Youliang said.
Zhang Chunjiu put up a hand towards him, somewhat impatiently interrupting his words. "Lao Lu, it wasn't me back then."
Lu Youliang hadn't expected that they would even skip the stage of polite remarks, going right into the main subject. He looked involuntarily at the investigator next to him. The investigator silently pressed a button on a mini-recorder.
"I know it wasn't you," Lu Youliang said, sighing. "We've been brothers so many years. We know each other thoroughly."
"I wasn't in the know about Gu Zhao privately investigating The Louvre. He must have chosen the person he trusted most." Zhang Chunjiu lowered his voice. "You know who the person he trusted most was!"
Lu Youliang stared. Then he came around. "You're saying…"
"Listen to me, while I've been cooperating with the investigation these last few days, they've gone through all the arrangements of my last few years of work. Among them, one person asked me why I requested for the Picture Album Project to start up a second time," Zhang Chunjiu said quickly. "I was stupefied at the time, I said, 'What Picture Album Project?' They showed me a report I'd submitted.—Lao Lu, I really did submit a report. You know I always wanted to perfect our internal electronic file management. Aside from the smart field work system, I also wanted to classify case files, and add theoretical research results to consult for later cases. I only mentioned those things in the report. I didn't give the project any code name, and I especially didn't say it was called the Picture Album Project!"
Lu Youliang instantly opened his eyes wide, subconsciously tightening the hand he was holding in his pocket.
"This project was only passed down after I left my post," Zhang Chunjiu said. "Lao Lu, who called it the Picture Album Project? Why did they call it that?"
Lu Youliang opened his mouth. After a good while, he said with difficulty, "If it wasn't you, then it must have been someone at…at Yan Security Uni."
"Is Fan Siyuan really dead?" Zhang Chunjiu said, one word at a time. "Who wanted to revive this specter? Who wanted to frame me—us? Who's been hiding in our ranks secretly passing information outward? Lao Lu, make those children under your command go investigate. Only arresting this person can clear my name!"
Lu Youliang was nearly distraught when he got into the car. He knew that while the driver was ostensibly seeing him home, in reality he was secretly watching him. Meanwhile, what Zhang Chunjiu had just said was going back and forth by his ear.—You know who the person he trusted most was!
Who had Gu Zhao trusted most?
When Gu Zhao had been doing graduate studies at Yan Security Uni, he really had been on very good terms with his advisor, Fan Siyuan. If he'd thought there was a mole at the City Bureau, that no one was safe, would he have chosen his advisor?
Or… Had that been the person he trusted most?
The City Bureau didn't assign compulsory partners, but in practice, there were people who were in the habit of working together, for example Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran now—and Gu Zhao and Yang Zhengfeng then.
The first time Lu Guosheng's fingerprints had been discovered, Yang Zhengfeng had been away, but what about later? If Gu Zhao had suspected someone had been leaking information, then wouldn't Yang Zhengfeng, who'd been absent at the time, have been cleared of suspicion by being out of it? He and Gu Zhao had been captain and deputy-captain, had worked together the most, were most familiar with each other…
If Yang Zhengfeng hadn't given up his life three years earlier, then now, with Gu Zhao's case reopened, suspicion would definitely have been concentrated on him.
"Director Lu, we've arrived at your home."
Lu Youliang gave a start, pulled himself together, and forced a smile at the driver. He got out of the car and nearly tripped over the curb.—There was cold sweat covering his back. He quickly went upstairs and, from a secret compartment in his bookcase, pulled out a listening device that had run out of batteries.
Lu Youliang stared at the listening device for a long time, then put it in his pocket. While going out the door, he told his worried wife, "I'm going to the hospital."
Then, ignoring his wife's repeated questions, he left home in big strides.
At the Second Hospital, Tao Ran had finished attending the telephone meeting filled with explosive information. Before he'd had time to straighten out what he'd just heard, a visitor came to his hospital room—Xiao Wu, the criminal policeman who'd gone with him to investigate Yin Ping, came over carrying various bags of fruit and nourishment, piling the hospital room's windowsill full.
"What are you doing?" Tao Ran said quickly. "Bonuses haven't been distributed yet. Don't you want to live? Have you bought your parents stuff for the Spring Festival? Take that stuff back, use it to pay tribute to your elders."
Xiao Wu rubbed his hands together and sat down next to him. "Deputy-Captain Tao, let me pay tribute to you first, I was following right behind you that day, if I hadn't been too slow… I… I'm such a… I gave Kong Weichen's family some money, too—not a lot, I don't have much on hand, I just thought that I'd feel a little easier this way."
Tao Ran examined his expression, thinking his little shidi's face was very weary, the black circles around his eyes nearly hanging down to his chin. He sat uneasily, looking like he wanted to say something. "Xiao Wu, what's wrong?"
"Ge," Xiao Wu managed to say after stammering for a long time, "there's something I… I don't know how to say it… I really fucking…"
"What?" Tao Ran asked doubtfully.
Xiao Wu's eyes were red. He seemed about to start crying. He looked up at Tao Ran, wrapped up in bandages and casts, then bent over and buried his face in his palms. "When we went to arrest Yin Ping and they came to silence him before we'd finished coordinating, they're all saying now that it was Kong Weichen calling someone… I don't know the details, I heard from Lao Kong's family that people came a few times to investigate at his house, maybe even a 'martyr' would…"
Tao Ran looked at him, frowning.
"Actually…actually it wasn't him."
"Xiao Wu," Tao Ran said heavily, "what do you mean?"
Xiao Wu slowly took a small evidence bag from his pocket. Inside it was a listening device the size of a button. Tao Ran's pupils instantly contracted.
"I found it in my bag," Xiao Wu said hoarsely. "The day before yesterday my sister's children asked me for New Year's money, so I went through my bag. It's out of battery, I still don't know… I don't…don't know who to talk to about this, I really don't know, ge, it's all my fault…it's all my fault!"
Tao Ran's gaze fell on the miniature listening device—it was exactly the same as the one Luo Wenzhou had found in his bag. Something flashed vaguely through his mind. "Enough, what's the use of crying? Where have you been recently? Who have you met?"
Xiao Wu looked at him blankly. "I…haven't gone anywhere, I was working overtime, I only went back and forth between work and home…"
No, it couldn't have been put there at the City Bureau. After they'd found the listening device on Tao Ran, they'd overtly and secretly screened their internal personnel countless times.—Thoughts spun quickly through Tao Ran's mind. And why hadn't there been a listening device on Luo Wenzhou? Luo Wenzhou's scope of authority was much greater, and his information was much more complete. Could the person eavesdropping on them really have thought Luo Wenzhou was more perceptive than any of them and would be hard to bug?
"Aside from work, where else did you go?" Tao Ran lifted his half-immobilized body, nearly getting out of his hospital bed. "Xiao Wu, think carefully."
"I really didn't… In the days before we investigated Yin Ping, I really…" Xiao Wu's brow furrowed tightly. "Apart from going to the kindergarten to pick up my nephew once, and going once to the hospital to see shiniang…I haven't even had time to pay attention to my girlfriend, I… Deputy-Captain Tao!"
Tao Ran had suddenly grabbed him.