When I mentioned Wang Wenlin, the aunt seemed to have lingering fears, which made it clear just how much harm Wang Wenlin must have caused when he was at the orphanage.
I thanked the aunt, telling her that if we needed anything in the future, we'd come back to ask for her help. The aunt said it was no trouble, and I left with Zhao Simeng. We exchanged a glance and then headed back to the police station. Before leaving, I had Liu Chao keep an eye on the movements of Director Guo.
At the police station, we were waiting for the information about Sister Guo. As soon as we received it, Li Hong asked me to come to the technical department.
I got there as quickly as I could. Li Hong handed me a file on Guo Biting, also known as Sister Guo. He pointed to the document and said, "When Guo Biting was young, she had a child with a man named Wang Zimo. They met by chance at a bar, and after that, they kept in touch. Coincidentally, Wang Zimo was the owner of the car assembly factory that burned down."
"This matches up. Wang Wenlin and Wang Zimo are father and son," I analyzed.
"Yes, the reason Sister Guo protected her son so much must be because Wang Zimo abandoned him. He didn't have time to care for him, so to make up for the lost affection, she kept providing Wang Wenlin with victims to drain blood from. This means, Sister Guo is an accomplice," I continued.
Upon hearing my analysis, Li Hong clapped his hands in praise, "Yes, I found out that Wang Zimo disappeared when Wang Wenlin was 16, just three months after he left the orphanage. When his son was born, he left the hospital without taking any responsibility. Guo Biting, as the director, didn't want to be implicated, so she didn't want to manage Wang Wenlin either."
"She must have hidden Wang Wenlin's identity in some other way and brought him to the orphanage, saying he was another child, and no one would have questioned it," said Feng Sichen, who had been listening.
I thanked them for their hard work in finding all this useful information, but I pointed out that this alone wasn't enough. Even though we had found some real information, most of it was still just speculation. We needed to find Wang Wenlin himself and the traces he left when committing his crimes.
The relationship between the two of them was quite complex. As I was thinking, my phone suddenly rang. I picked it up, and the moment I saw it was Liu Chao calling, a bad feeling washed over me. If there was nothing urgent, he wouldn't be calling me.
"What happened with Liu Chao?"
"Captain He, Director Guo has escaped!"
"What? You couldn't even keep an eye on her?"
After scolding him, Liu Chao didn't know what to say. I quickly told him to come to the station. As I was leaving, Zhao Simeng came along. I asked her, "How do you always manage to be so punctual? It's like you knew I was about to leave."
"I'm quite free, I've assigned everything to Sima Chao. Since the old man isn't back, I can go wherever I want."
"Heh, in that case, let's take this opportunity to give Sima Chao a proper lesson."
As we spoke, we quickly got into the police car. By the time we arrived at the orphanage, Liu Chao had already gone after Sister Guo. I instructed more officers to help with the search, while Zhao Simeng and I went to the director's office.
I kicked open the door and found a Bible on the desk, with some powder scattered on top.
"This looks like charred paper," Zhao Simeng said.
I asked her if there was a way to restore it.
"Yes, you go get me some squid ink and linseed oil," she replied.
"My god, why is it always me running errands? I'm the captain!"
"If you won't go, who will?"
If Zhao Simeng were my girlfriend, it would be different, but she's just a little forensic doctor, and she keeps asking me to do this. I was speechless, but since I had no choice, I drove out to get the supplies.
When I returned, I found that several officers had arrived at the director's office. They were conducting checks, and Gao Qiang and a few of the forensics team were scanning the floor with their instruments. Zhao Simeng, however, was still staring at the ashes.
When she saw I was back, she waved me over, and I handed her the squid ink and linseed oil.
"Thank you. These are enough. Captain He, take a camera!"
Following her instructions, I picked up the camera and got ready. I didn't know what would happen next, but I trusted Zhao Simeng.
She opened the bottle of squid ink carefully and poured the ink over the ashes. Then she opened the bottle of linseed oil and added it. To our surprise, when the two liquids mixed with the ashes, the ashes slowly began to solidify.
At that moment, it seemed to be glowing, a dark green light. Seeing this, Zhao Simeng shouted, "Take the shot!"
I quickly pressed the camera's shutter, taking several shots. Watching the ashes flicker, many of the officers on-site, including Gao Qiang, gasped.
"My god, what is this phenomenon?"
Zhao Simeng explained, "Squid ink is much purer than regular ink, allowing us to discern the outline of the text. With the chemical reaction from the linseed oil, the effect becomes even more obvious."
"Such an impressive principle!" Gao Qiang praised. I quickly uploaded the photos I had taken. The police station now had the fastest cameras, and soon, the photos were in my hands.
After neatly arranging them, my keen eyes scanned through them as if I were editing a film. Zhao Simeng knew that the rest of the work would be done by me.
After some time, I slowly said, "14th Xinyu East Road, 502!"
"This must be the killer's next crime scene. This is the victim that Sister Guo provided to him!"
I shouted loudly.
It seemed Wang Wenlin had met with Sister Guo here and discussed the next victim. I couldn't believe Liu Chao had let her escape like this.
I immediately gathered Gao Qiang and the others and rushed to Xinyu East Road. The police car sped through the streets, and if we had been any slower, we would have found another drained body.
When we arrived at 14th Xinyu East Road, we discovered it was an apartment building.
I showed my police badge to the building manager and told him we were there to find someone. He immediately led us to apartment 502. When we arrived, I kicked open the door. As soon as we entered, the smell of blood hit me, and I knew we were too late.
Inside the living room, I didn't see the victim, but there were many bat corpses on the floor, and some yellow eel blood residue.
Why were the bats dead?