17
"Zhao Yu, what are you trying to say? Do you think we're all slacking or something?" In the police station building B team office, Team Leader Qu Ping was currently standing there with her arms crossed, mildly angry. Many investigators on the B team surrounded the office, highly interested in seeing what the commotion was about.
"I didn't mean it like that," Zhao Yu explained. "I just felt that since the culprit cut off Luo Meina's hand, but didn't leave any evidence, he must have planned this ahead of time! So he must've followed Luo Meina for a long time. I feel like we shouldn't just focus on surveillance near the time the crime was committed, but also…"
"Alright, Alright," Qu Ping interrupted Zhao Yu immediately, not allowing him to speak. "Zhao Yu! I already know that you and vice captain Liu have that bet! You're hurrying the case since you don't want to lose! But…I hope you can understand, the police solving a case isn't a joke, or justice, but a responsibility! Responsibility, do you understand? You see…" She pointed at the few workers in front of the computer and said, "These few co-workers have already stayed up two whole nights checking the surveillance cameras! They even pulled out the records from the past two months. Are you saying that there is still a need for you to remind them? Also…"
She pointed again at the photos posted all over the whiteboard, "Do you think that over the past few days we've been playing? Did you see anyone in the entire team go home? If they weren't interviewing, they were looking for evidence. We're using all of our time and effort to solve the case, and not with just our mouths!"
Zhao Yu looked carefully at the investigation whiteboard. It was packed with various information, photos of the victim, background information, and possible suspects. There were also potential relationships, and evidence circled in red. The amount of information was staggering. It was easy to tell with one glance that it had been assembled with a huge amount of effort. It was the first time that Zhao Yu had seen this, and it was news to him. No wonder the police were always on his tail before! These people were so careful. His own photos had probably been posted often on the whiteboards too.
Seeing Zhao Yu spacing out staring at the whiteboard, Qu Ping reflexively stood in front of the whiteboard, blocking it from his view as her expression darkened, "What? Don't tell me you want information from me? Do you need…my help?"
"What?" Zhao Yu did not think that Qu Ping, as the team leader, would say something so selfish. What did that even mean? Could it be that not only Liu Changhu, but the entire Key Case Investigation group was waiting to laugh at him? Within that moment, Zhao Yu felt that all the investigators around him were smiling evilly at him. He clenched his fist and roared at Qu Ping, "Holy sh*t, you think you're so great?" He pointed at the whiteboard behind Qu Ping, "You guys were so hardworking, so focused, so capable, yet still didn't solve the case? God! If you dared to give all that information to me, I'd solve the case before you guys!"
Unexpectedly, his intimidation did not scare any of the investigators, but instead made them laugh. Even Qu Ping was unaffected, she uncrossed her arms and said, "Alright, Zhao Yu! All the information here, take them as you will! Later I'll tell Liu to make a set of complete information for you, without a single word or photo left out. We'll see how this great detective Zhao solves the case before us, okay?!"
Hearing Qu Ping's words, the investigators on team B made even more expressions mocking Zhao Yu.
"Okay, Okay!" Zhao Yu did not care at all. What he truly needed was the newest information on the Lost Hand Case, so he agreed immediately.
When Zhao Yu went back to his office desk holding a whole crate full of investigation materials, the investigators on A team looked at him with bewildered eyes. No one knew what Zhao Yu was thinking. Zhao Yu pulled a whiteboard in front of his office desk, and imitated the other one, putting up stickers and information from his book.
"Hmph! What's the big deal?" Zhao Yu thought. "Don't pretend like you guys are the only professionals, I'm not bad either!" In his old life, when he needed to catch a traitor, Zhao Yu had sat in the snow for a whole month. Just sticking pictures on the whiteboard in front of him, how hard could that be?
But it had not even been an hour before Zhao Yu felt completely clueless. He finally understood that sorting through these complex bits of information was not something that everyone could do. Despite all the information in front of him, to transform them into evidence was not as easy as it seemed. There was a need for a sharp mind, and great analytical ability, things Zhao Yu lacked greatly.
Gradually, Zhao Yu felt like he could no longer add to the whiteboard, as if his brain had short-circuited. He sighed and raised his head to see Li Beini's empty office desk. Where did the girl go? Maybe she could help him with this.
But today was the day to officially conclude the Taser Rape Case. As a member on the information team, Li Beini went with Captain Li to the city police station to report the case. They would be back the next day.
As if his day was not bad enough, just as Zhao Yu came to a screeching halt in his progress, the system in his mind started the finishing message. The system told him today's adventure was finished; the completion was a pitiful nine percent! With a completion rate like that, obviously there were no rewards.
"Holy sh*t!" Zhao Yu checked his watch. The system had not even started five hours ago how come it was already over? Could it be, that the adventure the system had given him had been wasted?
Thinking back on his day, other than talking to Miss Huahua in the morning, he did not even leave the police building. Therefore, it was easy to tell that this time the adventure's main point was Miss Huahua. If Zhao Yu had not chosen to end the conversation quickly with his dry humor, maybe something would have happened with Miss Huahua. But not getting close to Miss Huahua did not make Zhao Yu feel the least bit of regret. He was only a little frustrated. It seemed like the Miracle System did not intend on helping him solve the Lost Hand Case.
If it continued like this, what could he use to solve this case? To beat the stupid Liu Changhu? He could not rely on the system, and there was no progress on the case. Not to mention, the entire Investigation team was waiting to laugh at him. Even Li Beini was not around. Zhao Yu was completely alone.
But Zhao Yu wasn't someone who would lower his head so easily, even if the situation was hard. The thought of giving up never crossed his mind.
"It's just standing alone! Even if I stand alone, I will not fall. I will never give up until the very last second!" he thought triumphantly. "Hmph! Not to mention, there might be some random miracle that could happen! Wait…" Thinking this far, Zhao Yu suddenly remembered something, focusing on an exciting possibility. "Oh right. How could I forget 'it'?!"
18
In actuality, despite the peaceful appearance of the Key Case Investigation Unit, hidden underneath was a highly fierce competition.
The rule within the unit was that other than huge cases requiring the two teams to work together, the normal cases were given to individual groups to be taken care of.
Since the Key Case Investigation Unit was split into Team A and B, there was naturally a fair amount of competition. The team with the higher case solving rate not only looked better, but also had a significantly higher annual bonus.
Thus, in order to surpass the other group, the investigators put all their effort in every case. The two team leaders were also highly competitive, not holding back one bit.
Over the last few years the teams had been fairly even, and shared the reward equally for years. But ever since Team Leader Qu Ping had been promoted as the leader of Team B, the situation changed completely. Using her own rich experience and excellent leadership, Qu Ping solved many difficult cases, and within a year, left Team A in the dust.
Last year, Team B investigators were given a whole 5000 yuan bonus over Team A. The people of Team B were ecstatic!
Ever since the start of this year, Team B was even more fierce, already having a huge lead against the other team, leaving Team A even further behind.
Under such pressure, Team A Leader, Mao Wei, obviously carried the biggest burden of all. Yet, despite all of his hard work, he could do nothing about the situation. In the end, not only did he lose to Qu Ping, but during a fierce chase he accidentally fell from a building and ended up in the hospital.
After Mao Wei's injury, the leadership of Team A was temporarily given to the Vice Captain Liu Changhu. But he could care less about the salary of Team A, and naturally did not bother competing for case solving rates. Every time there was an important case, he pushed it towards Qu Ping.
Team A was even more pitiful than before. All of them were so defeated and ashamed, seeing no way to come back.
Due to Qu Ping's exceptional performance, the higher-ups also looked favorably to her. Every time there was a large-scale case requiring two teams to cooperate, she was always the leader. Even the people of Team A listened to her instructions.
Since then, Qu Ping's pride was at its peak, being very satisfied with her achievements. But unexpectedly, during the Taser Rape Case, Zhao Yu had randomly popped in.
Not sure where the guy's luck came from, but she had not even started when Zhao Yu had already caught the culprit! It was especially shameful because Zhao Yu was part of Team A!
Despite the case being a cooperation, the reward was split, having a member of Team A like Zhao Yu steal all the thunder was something Qu Ping could not accept. She was so irritated that she did not eat simply thinking about it.
Yet, the Lost Hand Case came the following day. Qu Ping obviously could not let go of such a good opportunity in order to redeem herself. She perked up almost immediately, and worked like a machine endlessly and efficiently on the case.
Qu Ping was no stranger to this Lost Hand Case. It was because of this case that she was transferred from a county bureau's first station to the Key Case Investigation Unit. But this was the first case since her promotion that she could not solve, and had bothered her since.
Now that the culprit appeared again, it excited her greatly, and she swore she would catch the culprit this time. Not only for the victims, but also for her own pride!
Over the past few days, she had worked tirelessly with her team, garnering a huge amount of new evidence, and even making some progress in the investigation. But against the mysterious culprit, it was still like looking for a needle in a haystack.
For some odd reason, facing the jam-packed white board pasted with information, Qu Ping had a feeling that the key to solving the case was right on the board. As long as she could figure out the first step and find that key piece of evidence, the identity of the mysterious culprit would appear.
Yet, right when the team was painfully grueling over the key evidence, Zhao Yu once again appeared to barge into the case, bringing more misfortune with him.
Although she had finally gotten rid of the guy by sacrificing her giant crate of information, Zhao Yu floated back to her yet again for some reason.
Zhao Yu walked around the office with his hands behind his back as if investigating something. As he shuffled through the team B office, he completely ignored all the hostile eyes around him.
"Zhao Yu?!" Qu Ping's tone was a bit more than annoyed, "What are you doing back here? To sabotage us? Didn't I already give you all the evidence you wanted?"
After the long competition, the members of Team A and B almost felt a little like enemies. Despite only being separated by a wall, the two groups rarely visited each other. Seeing Zhao Yu come with clear ill intent, Team B prepared for the worst, guarding against him as if guarding against a thief. Just in case he stole or broke something!
"Nothing, hehe…Nothing!" Zhao Yu giggled a little at Qu ping, "You do you, I'm just here to tell that one guy something. Just now he said he was sending me the BMW surveillance camera things, I don't need it anymore! I already got too much evidence, can't use it all, hehe…that's it, go do your work now…I'm going! No need to send me off!" After that, Zhao Yu strutted out slowly.
For some reason, seeing Zhao Yu's receding figure, the members of Team B felt as if an immense weight had been lifted off of their shoulders. Even Qu Ping let out a sigh of relief.
Returning to his own desk and sitting down, Zhao Yu giggled non-stop, almost like a monkey. The investigators of Team A saw and shook their head, thinking Zhao Yu went even crazier.
In reality, little did they know that Zhao Yu had not merely walked into Team B's office for fun, but had planted a bug!
This was the Key Case Investigation Unit Office. Naturally there were many measures against bugging, but Zhao Yu's bug was the cream of the crop, completely invisible. How could it be detected?
When Zhao Yu was in Team B's office, he controlled the Invisibility Eavesdropper within his mind, easily placing it on the whiteboard.
The entire process from set-up to implanting was completely invisible. Other than Zhao Yu himself, no one could see it!
After the implanting process, a button suddenly appeared in Zhao Yu's mind which could be controlled with his mind. Once turned on, Team B investigators' conversations could be heard very clearly.
"Hehehe…" Zhao Yu smiled sneakily. Team Leader Qu had never expected this, right? This is called 'there's always someone better', I'll slip past your every guard!
Originally Zhao Yu truly had not expected that his first time using the system items would be on his own people, but this time they forced his hands. It was their fault for looking down on him!
"Hehehe…" Hearing talking coming from Team B's office, Zhao Yu was very excited. He was planning more misdeeds. Once Qu Ping saw a possible suspect, or locked on the culprit, then he would be one step ahead of them. He's going to catch the culprit and take all the glory!!
19
"Luo Meina's BMW was last stopped in an alley on Jiu He Street," one of the Team B investigators said. "That alley leads directly towards the Jiang Jun Shrine LC district then splits into many directions that can be used to go to any area in Qinshan City. We've already found all the surveillance cameras we could, but still haven't found any suspicious persons."
"Hm…" Qu Ping spoke, "If he could avoid this many surveillance cameras, there are only two possibilities! Either the culprit is very familiar with this area, or he lived around here, and after cutting Luo Meina's hand off, he went straight home!"
"Team Leader," another investigator spoke up. "Jiang Jun Shrine area is very complicated, with at least nine-hundred residents, not to mention many part-time workers with their houses rented out. It will be very difficult to investigate thoroughly. However, Yao Hui and Da Peng have already started."
"I see…try your best…" Qu Ping paused for a moment as if pondering something, then spoke up, "Liu, what does Luo Meina's blood test say?"
"Yes, Team Leader," The investigator called Liu immediately answered. "The test showed that there were two types of anesthesia in Luo Meina's system. One is a high concentration of ether, which works through inhalation. The other is an injection-based drug named Compounded Thiamine, which works intravenously."
"So first the culprit used ether to knock her out, then injected her with the other drug." Qu Ping remarked. "Exactly the same as the first two victims of the Lost Hand Case."
"The components of the medicine are long peng, ketamine, phencyclidine hydrochloride, and bucinnazine," Liu continued. "Erm…this sort of anesthetic is also known as the 'treasure of the sleeping deer,' it is used for sedating large animals…"
"Sh*t…" Zhao Yu was currently sitting at his desk, not even needing earphones to clearly hear Team B's discussion. As he heard all this, he also logged information down on his own whiteboard, putting down all the useful evidence.
He had not known, and was shocked by the fact that the medicine used to anesthetize Luo Meina was used for animals.
"I've already done some research. This type of anesthetic is usually fed to animals for sterilization. It is often used in urban villages," Liu continued. "We can't track down the source of this medicine!"
"Yes…the report also said that the dosage the culprit used on Luo Meina was nearly fatal, causing Luo Meina to be knocked out cold for nearly five hours. If it was used on someone with a weaker condition, I fear…"
"Hmm…" Team Leader Qu Ping pondered. "I remember that the first two cases of the Lost Hand Case also used the same anesthetic and dosage. Just like this time, the victims were knocked out for nearly five hours. Logically, there would be no need to use such a high dosage to cut off a hand. The culprit…why would he use such a high dosage?"
"Maybe because he's new at using the anesthetic?" one investigator suggested.
"This is already the third case," Qu Ping rebuffed the idea. "Even if he's a new user, he would've figured it out by now! Not to mention, aren't there are also instruction manuals?"
"Could it be…" another guessed, "the culprit had some kind of grudge against the victims? Purposely using large dosages and hoping they would die?"
"Even less probable!" Qu Ping quickly refuted again. "If he wanted to kill someone, why wouldn't he just leave after he cut off their hand instead of giving first aid? If you ask me, the culprit used such a high dosage because he was afraid that the victim would wake up too quickly, which may have led to the victim recognizing his identity or his escape route. Liu, look on the report, where's the injection location?"
"The back of the left hand, where the vein is. It is a common area for injection, no special notes…"
Hearing Qu Ping and other's analysis, Zhao Yu was also secretly learning their methods. It was why they were professionals at their job. Zhao Yu had to learn it well.
Yet, as he listened, Zhao Yu felt even weirder! Why was it that all the information and details he heard through eavesdropping, he was not able to find in the information Qu Ping gave him?
"Oh…" Zhao Yu finally realized, holy sh*t! "It was on purpose! The information they gave me was all useless, unneeded information!" he thought to himself.
"Really?!" Zhao Yu could not help but be agitated. He could not believe that the Key Case Investigation Unit was this shady! This sort of sabotage, and guarding against their own was almost a match for his old job!
"Che!" Zhao Yu made a sound of annoyance. After he calmed down, Zhao Yu quickly relaxed, thinking, "Since you guys sabotaged me first, don't be angry when I return the favor! This time, I'll take all the glory for sure!"
"Holy sh*t, I definitely will catch the culprit before you guys! Aren't you guys hardworking and serious? Then I'll just be more so than you!"
At noon, Qu Ping led the Team B investigators, and continued the busy investigation. They rushed for some take-out and continued their work.
Zhao Yu was even simpler. In order to continue jotting down all the information he heard, he took a box of instant ramen from someone's table which filled his stomach somewhat.
With the increasing quantity of information, Zhao Yu's white board was not full of scattered pieces of information. He had learned how to draw connecting lines between pieces of information, and how to analyze some simple evidence.
Maybe it was Qu Ping's influence. Looking at these tightly packed evidence analyses, Zhao Yu also had the feeling that the culprit of the Lost Hand Case was close at hand. Yet, every time he had this feeling, the evidence would suddenly come to a screeching halt, with no way to continue!
"Why is it like this? Did I miss something? Missed something very important?" As he thought like this, Zhao Yu could not help himself anymore. He started looking through the evidence over and over, almost memorizing it all.
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, the neighboring Zhang Jingfeng and Liang Huan had just came back from patrol. The two were shocked to see Zhao Yu's massive pile of evidence.
"Zhao?" Zhang Jingfeng asked, "What…did we….miss something?"
Zhao Yu could not even bother looking at them, and continued to stare at the whiteboard as if spellbound.
"Oh…Isn't this the Lost Hand Case?" Liang Huan recognized it instantly, and took a sip of water, sighing, "Ah! Because of this case, we couldn't even finish investigating the other case! Say, do you think a hand is more important than a life?"
Liang Huan's words finally attracted Zhao Yu's attention. He asked, "What do you mean?"
Zhang Jingfeng sat down, ranting, "See! The higher-ups want us to help Team B to investigate the Lost Hand Case, and told us to temporarily put the Brutal Murder Case on hold!"
"You guys are investigating it too? What did you guys find?" Zhao Yu saw that they had just come back. Maybe they had new evidence, so he was curious.
Zhang Jingfeng rushed to answer first, "Just talking with the traffic department and the forensics department. We followed the Captain's orders, and investigated the victim's BMW!"
"Wasn't it already investigated? Why again?" Zhao Yu questioned further.
"The day of the case, a lot of traffic surveillance cameras got shots of the BMW," Liang Huan answered, "but the weird thing is, none of them could see the driver! It's not that they could not see the driver clearly, but that they could not see the driver at all!"
"Why?" Zhao Yu was interested, "Was there a reason?"
"Yeah!" Zhang Jingfeng and Liang Huan nodded in sync eagerly.
20
Apparently. after an entire afternoon of investigation, Zhang Jingfeng and Liang Huan had finally figured out why the cameras couldn not see the BMW's driver. After the forensic department's repeated investigation, they saw that on the inside of the BMW's windshield, there were signs that something had been stuck on it with glue.
Testing showed that the residue of glue had been left by some sort of glass stickers. The professionals in the forensics department suspected that on the day of the crime, the culprit probably had done something to the windshield. He may have used some sort of one-way mirror. After taping it to the windshield, one could only see from inside, but no one could look in from the outside.
Although some expensive car films could have similar effects, there was no way for it to be as opaque as it was on the BMW on that day, to the point where the driver's silhouette could not even be discerned.
So, the culprit must have used some sort of special tape. In the end, after endless work from the forensics department, they finally found the brand of the film. Unexpectedly, this sort of one-way film was used by magicians for magic tricks! They were used during grand illusions to increase the effects. This sort of material was very special. Currently it was not produced within China, and could only be imported from another country.
"If you ask me…" Liang Huan saw there were not many people in the room and lit a cigarette, lowering his head and taking two deep puffs, "This Lost Hand Case is pretty much solved! The senior told us that the more effort the culprit put into making this a perfect crime, the more evidence is left behind. This time is definitely life that."
"Why?" Zhao Yu was curious.
"If the sticker material is that special, once we look up the source, no matter if it was bought online or in-person, we can find the target right away!" Liang Huan blew out a smoke ring. "Zhao…If you ask me…your whiteboard is full of shenanigans. It's useless!"
"Oh…" Zhao Yu thought carefully. It seemed that a perfect crime was not that easy to achieve. The more there was to consider, the more mistakes you could make. If the culprit was caught because of the glass film, he would have many regrets. If it was like this then Qu Ping must have already grabbed ahold of this evidence. "Alright, I'll monitor them, and move right away once the target appears."
At this time, Zhang Jingfeng and Liang Huan cleaned up the office, and pulled out some documents. They put on their jackets, ready to leave!
"What? Is it time to leave?" Zhao Yu looked at his watch, there was still about an hour before it was time to leave work.
Liang Huan smiled, "If it wasn't for Team Leader Qu's orders, we would've already gone home!"
"Zhao," Zhang Jingfeng patted Zhao Yu on the shoulder, "don't work too hard. Even if we work as hard as we want, in the end the reward for solving the case just goes to Team Leader Qu and Team B! Just rest up, come on, how about we go play some pool?"
Zhao Yu examined the two in front of him, and felt rather conflicted. It looked like every police officer was also different. At least the two in front of him were not that serious about their job. No wonder the higher-ups transferred them to the long term Cold Case Investigation Group!
"It's fine…I…I have something to do, you guys go!" Zhao Yu was currently busy with the case at hand. How would he have energy to go play pool?
"Alright," Zhang Jingfeng tilted his head, "we'll go play then! Once we get transferred to the traffic department, we probably won't get to play that much!" The two gathered their belongings and got ready to leave.
"Wait," Zhao Yu suddenly remembered something and asked in a hurry. "Right, you guys were looking at that murder case, how goes it? The one from 10 years ago? Did you guys find his wife?"
Liang Huan sighed heavily. "Don't even mention it!" Being reminded of the Uptown Murder case, Liang Huan quickly lit another cigarette. "Nothing but dead ends! We did find the victim's wife, but Zhang almost got murdered by her current husband!"
"What do you mean?" Zhao Yu was interested.
But right at that moment, a female investigator walked by. When she saw the three of them she immediately started yelling, "Liang Huan! What kind of attitude is this? Put out the cigarette!"
"Okay, Okay…" Liang Huan immediately threw away his cigarette, then muttered to himself, "Fierce woman..."
"This is the worst thing about cold cases!" Zhang Jingfeng continued the conversation. "Think about it, the victim's wife finally returned to normal, made a new family, and even had kids. Then we come in and rub salt in the wound. Who would like that?"
"Oh…" Zhao Yu shook his head, "So you're telling me, you guys got kicked out before you even got to investigate?"
"Not really," Liang Huan took over the conversation, "This was work after all! We're working for the people! With some persuasion, we managed to get some information. But the wife told us the same thing as before, the victim was a terrible person with a lot of enemies. People often broke their windows, and their door would be vandalized with paint. Other than that, nothing new!"
"Actually, according to the neighbor's testimony, the victim had a huge temper, and often hit his wife when he was angry," Zhang Jingfeng continued. "If you ask me, his wife couldn't wait for him to die!"
"Then…another lover? Possibly?" Zhao Yu asked. He really wanted to know if his guess was right or not.
"Definitely not!" Liang Huan answered definitively. "We already read through the huge amount of evidence, and even found some witnesses. The victim's wife was abused by the victim. Forget a lover! Every day, she was almost afraid to leave the house! Her and the current husband also met two years ago! Before that, she was single."
"Hitmen are even more out of the question!" Zhang Jingfeng answered. "The two were insanely poor, with nothing but debt. They wouldn't even be able to shell out five bucks!"
"This is the same as before. Just like a huge loop, we're back to the start again," Liang Huan said. "Other than getting hostility, we didn't learn anything! In the end, we are still going to end up directing traffic on the street!"
"Bro!" Zhang Jingfeng spoke emotionally to Zhao Yu. "Remember, no matter what method, don't ever end up on this team! This is basically a hole. There's only in, no out. You take care of yourself, we can go now!"
Zhang Jingfeng waved his hand, Liang Huan followed, and the pair of unfortunate guys left side by side. Watching their backs walk further and further away, Zhao Yu felt some sort of sadness for them. After a few years, would he end up like them too?
"No way!" The stubborn Zhao Yu woke himself up again. No matter what, he would definitely not lose the chase for the Lost Hand Case.
21 Reason for it
Zhao Yu had decided that he would fight Qu Ping and Team B to the death. He always sat attentively at his office desk, carefully eavesdropping on Team B's every action, even forgetting to use the bathroom.
As he expected, Qu Ping and Team B focused mainly on Zhang Jingfeng and Liang Huan's newest evidence, and immediately focused on figuring out the source of the one-sided film.
The type of one-sided film was rarely imported. Within a few hours they had already found all of the people who had recently bought the product. Immediately afterwards, they quickly started investigating the buyers. Team Leader Qu Ping almost mobilized the entire team for this.
But when the results from the investigation came back, bad results came one after another. As it turned out, the one-sided film had been purchased by performance groups, some used it for magic, and some for setting up the stage.
Even though not many performance groups purchased it, every group that did purchased a huge amount. According to the distributor, the one-sided films were not cheap, but most people had no use for it. Within the groups they were not guarded by any specific personnel, and were usually thrown in the storage room. Regardless of who they were, workers, other performers, or even audience members, anyone could take some and leave.
Because of the chaotic situation, if they really wanted to continue down this road, the workload was going to be difficult. From the looks of it, this evidence was pointless, and they were back to square one.
Hearing this, not only Qu Ping and her team members, but even the eavesdropping Zhao Yu felt despair.
It seemed like they were still underestimating the culprit's abilities. This person's execution and planning were flawless, with no openings at all, he was a genius of crime!
Even though following the trail of the one-sided film was almost useless, Qu Ping did not give up completely. She still left two investigators on the scene to continue the investigation, but everyone else was transferred back to the office.
This time, Qu Ping undoubtedly felt great pressure. If she failed to solve the Lost Hand Case, it was very possible that she would follow in the previous team leader's footsteps and be forced to resign.
But Qu Ping had already exhausted all of her strength, having already pulled out all of the evidence and thoroughly examining them. But by this point, besides not even having caught the culprit, she could not even give a decent description of them yet. Compared with her spotless record, this was unprecedented.
Soon, it was almost dawn, and despite the team continuing their tireless analysis, the talking slowly died down.
Zhao Yu was the only person in the Team A section of the office. He laid down on the desk for a long time, but heard nothing from the eavesdropper. It seemed that Qu Ping's crew were at their limit.
"Holy Sh*t" Zhao Yu turned around and carefully stared at his own whiteboard.
On the center of the whiteboard was the number "4.26." This number represented April 26th. Last year, the first case happened on April 22nd. The second case occurred four days later on April 26th.
Coincidently, this year's incident had also happened on April 22nd. Thus, the investigators were all worried that this year would repeat the last, and that there would be a fourth incident on the 26th. If a fourth incident occurred, then the consequences would be heavy. The media would surely stir a huge commotion, and the police officers involved would be heavily criticized. Right now, the entire office was covered with a thick gloom.
It was already past dawn on April 25th. If the culprit really was readying for another attack then there really was not that much time left for the police.
"But the culprit…who is it?" Zhao Yu scratched his head and continued to ponder the case without stop.
Regarding this case, besides following Qu Ping's ideas, Zhao Yu also had his own ideas.
He held onto an incomplete idea, feeling that the reason why this case was taking to long to solve may not have been because the culprit was sneaky, but because of Qu Ping's idea being wrong from the start.
Such as the fact that although Qu Ping and her team had never said it aloud, the team had already come to the conclusion that the culprit was a male! This was because during the first case, the culprit was out in a crowded area but managed to pull the victim into a small electric-supply room in the underground tunnel. Not to mention, chopping off a person's hand with one stroke took a lot of strength. If the victim was female, then those two things would have been very difficult to accomplish.
But…what if they were wrong? What if the culprit wasn't a male? What would happen?
Using the BMW one-sided film as an example, the culprit had taken such advanced measures as not to reveal anything, even their own silhouette.
But why would the culprit be so careful so as to not even reveal their own silhouette?
Could it be…that the silhouette would expose something?
Like…exposing the fact that she was…a woman?!
Other than that, Zhao Yu also felt that Qu Ping often had the wrong idea, including the culprit's motive.
By this point, the culprit had already cut off the hands of three females. But why did he cut their hands off in the first place?
Qu Ping and the team had always thought that the Lost Hand Case's victims were randomly chosen. They were sure that there were no connection between the culprit and the victim! Their reasoning was sound as the three victims had never met each other. They were not classmates, and never even went to the same school.
Worrying about whether she was wrong or not, Qu Ping had carefully researched if the three victims had any mutual acquaintances. From her research, even though there were one or two mutual acquaintances, they obscure relationships with little investigational value.
Since there were not any relationships between the culprits and the victim, Qu Ping obviously thought that the Lost Hand Case had been done by a mentally ill person. She figured that the culprit had endured some sort of mental trauma, like housewives spending too much money, and got his revenge with this crime.
But Zhao Yu did not think that was the case.
Even though he had not been a police officer before, his ability to judge certain problems was not weaker than any detective in the unit.
The three victims not knowing each other. Their body shape, appearance, height, clothes, hair length, and even job were all completely different. The only similarity among the three was their gender, age, and family's financial situation.
Zhao Yu felt that if the culprit really had some sort of perverted tendency, then they would at least pick victims who looked similar. If they were cutting people's hands off because their housewife was a large spender, then they would at least pick victims who looked like their wife.
Not to mention, the information already showed that despite the victims being from wealthier households, they did not really have spending issues.
Thus, Zhao Yu had doubts regarding Qu Ping and her team's judgement.
"What if the culprit didn't have any mental issues?" he thought.
Due to Zhao Yu's old, rather special job situation, he had seen many cases out of grudge or revenge.
For some reason, he felt that the Lost Hand Case in front of him felt very similar to case where the motive had been a grudge. The culprit who had chopped off those womens' hands was not just doing it because of their own interests or issues, but because they were actually out for revenge!
And the reason why Zhao Yu thought that was not just a guess, but because of a very specific reason!
22
Zhao Yu realized that all of the hands were missing! It was the same for all three victims--their chopped off hands had been missing at the scene of the crime, and were still missing. Without a doubt, the hands must have been taken away by the culprit!
But why did the culprit take them?
According to Zhao Yu's understanding, the culprit might have thought kept the hands as trophies! He would keep his trophies, and in future, every time he looked at the victims' hands, the hatred inside him would lessen.
This behavior was very similar to some of the feuds that Zhao Yu had experienced, so he felt that these Lost Hand Cases was some form of revenge. The culprit's targets might have been chosen purposely, not randomly.
Zhao Yu deduced that the victims might have previously offended the culprit, whether intentionally or unintentionally, so the culprit chopped off their hands to take revenge on them!
But…what kind of hatred could have caused the culprit to decide to chop off their hands? Also, why was it the right hand and not the left hand?
Like previous investigations, after thinking about it from this perspective, Zhao Yu soon arrived at a dead end.
The investigations had shown that the victims did not have any black marks or offended anyone. According to their colleagues, neighbors, and relatives, they had good reputations and were not the kind of people who caused trouble. Moreover, the three did not know one another, and their paths had never crossed. Why would they have anything to do with that sick and cruel crime?
The truth...what was it exactly? Who was the one who chopped off their hands?
While thinking, Zhao Yu seemed to have fallen into a repetitive maze, unable to get out. Gradually, his head got heavier. He could not even hear the sound from the listening device clearly, let alone think about the case.
Fortunately, Zhao Yu did not forget an important thing, which was to activate the miracle system in his brain.
Since it was past midnight, it was a brand new day, so he should be able to do another calculation! Taking out a cigarette and lighting it, a loud cough suddenly came from Team A's office.
At dawn, Zhao Yu was awakened by the alarm from his own mobile phone.
"Ah, Hero, please chase the dream with me…"
Zhao Yu was startled and suddenly sat up straight! It was only then that he realized he had not gone home last night and had fallen asleep on the table.
"Oh yeah…" he suddenly recalled last night before sleeping. He seemed to have activated the miracle system and did a calculation. What were the words? Was it "Gen Li Gua" or was it "Gen Xun Gua?"
He could not stop scratching his head. He did not even remember the title, let alone the words! He had been so tired that night that as as soon as he had closed his eyes, he fell asleep.
"Ah, Hero, please chase the dream with me..." The mobile phone was still vibrating on the table.
Zhao Yu unlocked his phone and was surprised to see that the call was from Jiang Xiaoqing, the daughter of his landlord Jiang Dafeng.
He looked at his watch. It was past seven, so she should have been in school by this time. "Why is she calling me?" he thought.
Zhao Yu did not want to answer, but the phone was ringing non-stop. He was afraid that Jiang Xiaoqing might have something important to tell him, so he pressed the answer key.
"Phew, you finally picked up the phone!" Jiang Xiaoqing sounded relieved, "Well...where are you? It seems like you did not come back last night? I left you a message on WeChat, did you see it?"
"I had to work overtime! What's up?" Zhao Yu answered curtly.
"Well...you...erm…" Jiang Xiaoqing sounded awkward and seemed to have something difficult to say.
"Speak quick! I have cases to settle!" Zhao Yu got impatient. He hurriedly switched on the listening device to check if Qu Ping and her team had any new developments.
"How about this...I can't speak clearly over the phone, I'll be reaching your unit soon, could you come out for a while?" Jiang Xiaoqing sounded anxious and spoke very fast.
"Oh please, I'm really settling serious stuff!" Zhao Yu became more impatient, "If there's anything, can't we talk tomorrow?"
"It would be useless tomorrow! Well...you…" Jiang Xiaoqing seemed to have mustered up her strength before saying loudly, "Didn't you say that we are partners? Now that I am in trouble, you should help me out. We agreed on that right?"
Hearing this, Zhao Yu started to worry. He was worried that someone might have discovered the stolen number incident and said hastily, "Alright, alright...I'm scared of you! I'll go out now, will that do?"
After ending the call, Zhao Yu did not rush out of the office. He switched on the listening device and checked on Team B's situation, but there was only silence.
He was unsure if there had been a change in the situation. He ran to the corridor in a hurry, leaned on Team B's window, and looked inside. Upon looking inside, he felt relieved.
He saw Team B's members were all like him, sleeping on their office tables! Only team leader Qu Ping was still standing in front of the whiteboard, thinking deeply about the case.
It was good that they had not solved it yet! Zhao Yu felt completely at ease. It was only then that he tidied his hair and clothes, and walked toward the main gate of the police station.
When he arrived, Jiang Xiaoqing was already waiting there, dressed in her school uniform. In the breeze, the young lady's thin physique was even more obvious. With tight lips and dodgy eyes, she looked very nervous.
Zhao Yu saw and pulled her hastily into the alley at the side, "Speak, why are you looking for me?"
While talking, Zhao Yu saw a bottle of unopened cola at the side pocket of the young lady's school bag and took it without any hesitation. He opened the bottle and started drinking.
The young lady was still thinking about her own problem and did not bother about the cola. She opened her mouth a few times and finally mustered enough courage to speak to Zhao Yu.
"Could you...be my dad for today, okay!?"
"Aeerruucckkk!" Zhao Yu spit out the cola. He did it so quickly, that some came out from his nose. "Horkkhorkk...horkkhorkk…" Zhao Yu looked terrible, coughing and using his sleeve to wipe his face.
"There's a parents meeting this morning, and all parents have to participate. I can only find you!" Jiang Xiaoqing said hastily, "If my dad goes, I'll be dead!!"
"Stop!" Zhao Yu was perplexed, "You...I...your dad? Am I that old? Can't I be your brother?"
"You can only be my dad!" Jiang Xiaoqing said seriously, "I've already intercepted my dad's mobile phone information and copied it to your phone. My teacher won't be able to tell!"
"Holy Sh*t…" Zhao Yu was about to kneel down, "Big Missy, should I give you a job at the police station! You're so professional?"
"Please!" Jiang Xiaoqing begged, "The parents meeting starts at eight o'clock, I'll pay for the cab fare okay?"
"Enough!" Zhao Yu shouted with a stern face, "If your real dad knows about it, I'll be chased out of the house, do you know that? Why don't you hire a person! It's impossible for me to go. Let me be frank, I really have an important case to investigate today! Get going, quick! Quick! If not, you won't be able to make it in time for the bus!
Zhao Yu had lost his appetite for the cola. He closed the cap and gave it back to her.
23 Missing Link
Looking at Qinshan Second Middle School's solemn and magnificent gate, Zhao Yu felt his legs become heavy, gluing him to his place.
Qinshan Second Middle School was one of the biggest, most famous middle schools within the entire district! Many people would give up everything just to get themselves into the school.
Zhao Yu never would have dreamed that Jiang Xiaoqing would be attending the Second Middle School! Not to mention, she was in the eighth grade, and that in a month and half she would be taking the High School Entrance Examination!
He was even more surprised that Jiang Xiaoqing did not want her own father to come to the parent conference; not because her grades were too low, but because her grades were too good!
As it turned out, Jiang Xiaoqing was the Second Middle School's genius. Every mock exam that she had taken, she was always ranked in the top three among the entire school.
The little girl was very interesting. She told the school that night recitation did not fit her learning style, and that she wanted to study at home. The teachers did not even dare to say no to their best student. With just a simple notification to Jiang Xiaoqing's father, she was allowed to skip her night recitation.
But the teacher did not know that Jiang Xiaoqing's so-called "father" was not actually Jiang Xiaoqing's father. Even before Zhao Yu, the kid had already faked her parent contact information multiple times.
The reason she did not want to show up for night recitation was because she went to study hacking in internet cafes, teaching herself how to scam peoples' accounts. Although she did these things, her grades never slipped, so her actions were not noticed by the school or her parents.
Jiang Xiaoqing's grades and capabilities almost put Zhao Yu to shame. He was not sure why, but as he stepped through the school gate, he had a feeling that he did not fit in. His heart sped up and he started sweating buckets. Even back when he walked into another mafia's territory to taunt them, he had never been this nervous. At that moment, he truly regretted agreeing to pretend to be Jiang Xiaoqing's dad.
With the Lost Hand Case taking up so much of his time, he did not have any energy left to spare for this. But Jiang Xiaoqing had pulled out her trump card, and had stumped the experienced, and street savvy Zhao Yu.
Jiang Xiaoqing had said it like this, "Think about it. Both of our lives are at stake here. If you don't come to the parent conference with me, my scamming will be exposed! And when it does, you won't get any money! Also, you might even face heavy repercussions since you're a policeman!"
Her move had been checkmate for Zhao Yu! Of course, Zhao Yu could simply not admit the truth and escape, but he also had a lot at stake and realized it was not worth the trade. With no way out, Zhao Yu could only reluctantly become her "dad."
"Don't worry," seeing the other's reluctance, Jiang Xiaoqing tried to make the situation less intimidating for him. "It's only a parent conference, all of the parents are going to be there. You just have to sit in a chair and listen! If our homeroom teacher asks you to make a speech, you can just say something random. Just don't say why I don't attend night recitations!"
Zhao Yu could not do anything except follow the little girl.
After Jiang Xiaoqing opened the gate with her card, she brought Zhao Yu to the school's music building. The building was fairly old, with many eaves and pillars, almost looking like it was from the 70s or the 80s. You could even see the yellow five-point stars that were scattered on the walls, somewhat faded from age.
In fear of affecting the students' studying, the parent conference was organized in the music building's lobby. The lobby could hold up to a hundred people. Using it for the parent conference almost felt like a waste.
But the sign-in at the door was very strict. Every participating parent must use their phone to scan their WeChat code. Thankfully the hacking expert Jiang Xiaoqing had already taken care of everything, and Zhao Yu did not have any problem getting in.
Because students were not participating at the parent conference, Jiang Xiaoqing left for class once she led Zhao Yu to where he needed to be. As she was leaving, she was still worried, and threw several glances back at Zhao Yu.
Zhao Yu was unprepared, so he simply found a seat near the front and sat on a chair.
The eavesdropper in his mind was still turned on. Even if he was acting as Jiang Xiaoqing's dad, he could not slack off at his real job. He was still keeping an eye on Team B's every move.
But even as Zhao Yu was sitting in the music building, Team Leader Qu Ping was still out of ideas, unable to continue.
There was still some time before the start of the parent conference, so there were not that many people yet. Among them, there was a forty-something year old mother. When she saw the piano on the podium, she looked incredibly interested, and ran up to begin playing a tune.
Unexpectedly, she was apparently a pro, playing a gentle and soothing, yet incredibly difficult tune.
The clear and elegant music rang through the lobby, lifting the mood of the parents present. Everyone stood by the piano player and listened with great interest.
Zhao Yu may have been a crude person, but he was very interested in music. Leaning against his seat, he was also enraptured by the sound of the piano.
Zhao Yu sat at the perfect spot as he could see everything that was happening. Unconsciously, his eyes were drawn to the piano player's beautiful, pearly white, long hands.
It was probably the influence of the Lost Hand Case, but in his mind, Zhao Yu was considering, "Such beautiful hands. What would be the best way to chop them off?"
The woman's hand fleeted across the piano agilely yet with strength, producing beautiful notes. The music was almost alive, filled with emotions and tugging at everyone's heartstrings. The entire room was spellbound. It was easy to tell this female parent's piano skills were not simply average.
When the music ended, the seated parents were all stunned in silence for a few seconds before they started clapping loudly.
"Hehehe…Shan Shan's mom!" Another mother praised, "I didn't notice before, but your piano skills are amazing! Even better than professionals!"
"I don't know what you mean!" Shan Shan's mother, who had just been playing the piano, smiled humbly, "I haven't played in so many years! Not to brag, but during our time, to reach the tenth level of piano was much more difficult than today!"
"Oh! You're piano level ten! We've already known each other for so many years, how come you've never mentioned it? Were you hiding it?" The other mother laughed.
"Haha…" Shan Shan's mother laughed, "It's not like I do this for a living. Why should I tell people? Actually, I was just being nostalgic, almost emotional! I still remember twenty years ago, I was right here attending a piano tournament, and almost got accepted into the Central Music School!" She continued, "Even though this place looks old, at the time, the Second Middle School's School of Music was known to be the musical paradise in Qinshan City! A lot of famous people graduated from here! Sigh! If I worked harder at that time, maybe, I could be living a whole different life!"
"Hahaha…joking again." Another female parent noted, "Your Shan Shan is so excellent already! If you went to some Music School, where would you get such a wonderful kid?"
"True, haha…" the mother laughed.
Hearing the discussion between the two, Zhao Yu felt like he had caught something. He tried hard to remember something. Then suddenly, as if struck by lightning, he hopped up from his seat.
"Holy sh*t! Piano!" He thought. "Piano!! Pianoooo!!"
Could it be that the key to the Lost Hand Case was right here?!
2singing concert, but a musical concert, and it seemed to have been related to piano.
With this thought, Zhao Yu immediately gave Li Beini a call. Li Beini had already gone to work, so Zhao Yu asked for her help in checking related records. Li Beini responded quickly, telling him that the concern Gao Tian attended that night was the special tour of Germany's Prince of Piano, Clayderman!
"Prince of Piano!?"
Gao Tian had arrived from different part of the country, which undoubtedly showed that she had a great passion for piano!
"Piano again! Then...what about the third victim Luo Meina? Did she also have a connection to piano?" Thinking of this, Zhao Yu immediately asked Li Beini to investigate further if Luo Meina had any connection with piano while also investigating the relationship between the other victims and piano.
Chopping off one's hand just because one knew how to play the piano seemed ridiculous, but Zhao Yu felt that his hunch about piano could very likely be the key to the Lost Hand Case!
As it was time for the parents meeting, Zhao Yu had to be seated, pretending to listen to the class teacher. However, in his heart, he could not hold back. It was as if the grass had grown as he anxiously awaited Li Beini's reply.
Li Beini had not known where Zhao Yu was. Once she had gathered the information, she called Zhao Yu directly, and he answered naturally as if there was no one else around. Li Beini told Zhao Yu that she had gathered detailed and reliable information on the three victims of the Lost Hand Case: Gao Tian, Yuan Lili, and Luo Meina. When they were young, they all reached the tenth level of piano!
Hearing this shocking news, how could Zhao Yu remain seated? This was how the scene happened.
Outside the hall, when he was taking notes on the stone table, Zhao Yu felt his hands trembling! Ever since he had gotten involved in the mysterious Lost Hand Case, Zhao Yu had always felt that if the murderer was after revenge, these three people must have had something in common. However, after a long search, it was still in vain. But ever since the piano clue appeared, it was different! The three people were all linked together by piano!
Zhao Yu felt that this was no coincidence. "Maybe, the real answer lies here!!"