Because the fingerprints on the body were already wiped clean when Wang Wenlin took the body to the bathroom. The second time, when Wang Wenlin violated the body and drained the blood, he didn't press it down onto the victim.
I can't explain this kind of maternal love. I told Sister Guo, "This isn't love; it's indulgence. It will only lead Wang Wenlin down a path of no return."
"I don't care. The only thing I can do is help him!"
"Even if it means murder?"
"As long as he stays alive, that's all that matters."
I didn't want to say anything more to Sister Guo. She had already lost control. Now, we needed to find Wang Wenlin. With Sister Guo's testimony, we had enough evidence.
Of course, it was also because of the mask. We had found Wang Wenlin's DNA and the blood of the victim from the apartment. I won't reveal the victim's name, but after the autopsy report, Zhao Simeng told me that she was 18 years old, also a woman who had entered the sex trade.
"Now that we've confirmed it's Wang Wenlin, let's put more pressure on him and catch him!" I directed in the technical department. Feng Sichen and Li Hong were typing away at their keyboards, and I was closely watching the screen, browsing the surveillance footage across Fuming City.
I was hoping to spot Wang Wenlin somewhere. A person like him should be easy to find in a crowd, but when we actually tried to find him, we couldn't locate him anywhere.
It was as if he didn't live in this city at all.
No wonder Sister Guo said we wouldn't find him.
Looking at the dense footage, my eyes kept tracking through it, as if cutting through segments. After about two hours, I was exhausted, but I hadn't spotted anyone resembling Wang Wenlin.
The only time I saw him was in that voyeur footage in the hotel bathroom.
I instructed my team to review more of his footage while I returned to my office, lit a cigarette, and sat back in my chair, letting the smoke swirl. This was the captain's office. Technically, captains aren't supposed to have their own office, but this privilege was arranged for me by Director Liu. Apart from him, I was the only one at the Fuming City Police Department who had such a luxury.
It was also for quiet thinking, nothing more.
I was about to rest my head on the desk when a strange noise suddenly came from the window behind me.
I turned around and saw a round object hit the window. Immediately, blood splattered across the glass, slowly forming a bat shape!
I jumped up in shock, quickly pushed the window open, and at the same time, a swarm of bats flew into the police station!
I could smell the strong scent of yellow eel blood. A round object had fallen from the windowsill into my office. I didn't notice what it was at first, but when I looked closely, I froze in shock.
It was an enormous eyeball!
A normal human eyeball is about the size of a longan, but this one was as big as a ping-pong ball!
I stepped back a few steps, and bats surrounded me, pulling at my clothes and biting my skin. I slapped them away while trying to move toward my desk. I opened the drawer, grabbed a flashlight, and turned it on. The strong light scared the bats off, and they flew out of the window.
Hearing the commotion, several officers opened the door to my office and saw the bats flying away. They were shocked.
"What happened?"
"There was a bat attack!" I said, instructing the other officers to search nearby for any suspicious individuals.
Since someone used bats to attack me, perhaps they were still nearby.
At that moment, I looked down at the eerie eyeball lying quietly on the ground. When others saw it, they were equally startled. Some of the officers immediately ran to the bathroom. I quickly called Zhao Simeng and informed her of the situation. She agreed to come quickly.
When she arrived with the forensic kit, she crouched down, put on gloves, and examined the eyeball with a magnifying glass. After several observations, she said, "This is an artificial eye made from human tissue, probably from a plastic surgery clinic."
"A plastic surgery clinic?"
"Yes, with today's cosmetic surgery technology, it's not hard to do. I've heard of people being altered to look like animals."
"So, if Wang Wenlin had plastic surgery..."
"Yes, this must have been done by him. His intention was to deliberately scare you."
I couldn't help but think, but before I could process it, my phone suddenly buzzed. A message from an unknown number appeared: "Release her quickly, or the next to die will be you!"
Zhao Simeng and the officer beside me saw the message immediately. She grabbed my phone and said, "This person is most likely Wang Wenlin."
When he says "release her," it's clear he's referring to his mother. It seems their relationship is pretty close.
I wondered if using Sister Guo could help lure Wang Wenlin out.
Zhao Simeng seemed to read my thoughts and said, "This might be the only way."
I deliberately replied to the message: "If you're willing to come to the police station and confess, I'll let you take her."
"Heh, do you think I'm an idiot? You're not letting her go? Fine, then beware of your life! I'll drain you dry, and you'll never be reborn!"
The message sent a chill down my spine, but I quickly regained my composure. I knew it was just an intimidation tactic.
After replying, there was no further response from him. I tried calling the number, but it was disconnected—it was a burner phone, used just once and then discarded.
I had the technical team investigate the number, hoping to find some clues, but after checking, they reported there was nothing.
As I had expected, Wang Wenlin was trying to scare me. I really wanted to see what methods he had to try and kill me.
"Captain He, I think you should still be cautious," Zhao Simeng said, now alone in the office with me. Seeing everyone else leave, she warned me.
"I understand. You take the eyeball with you. It's making me uneasy just looking at it. Check it for any further findings."
Zhao Simeng nodded, took the eyeball, and left my office. I scratched my head and stood up, forcefully shutting the window in my office and drawing the curtains.
That night, nothing unusual happened. But the next morning, Zhao Simeng called me.
"I've analyzed the eyeball. It's not made from artificial flesh. It's a combination of several human eyeballs. I just realized that the recent female corpses we've found are all missing their eyeballs!"