Chapter 12

Tian City Public Security Bureau
Special Cases Investigation Unit

Fresh in from the field, Guo Zhen walked over to Pang Guang, who was happily slurping away at a cup of instant noodles. He jerked his chin toward the sofa area and asked curiously, “What’s going on over there? Even if we’ve skipped training for a couple of days, surely it isn’t serious enough for someone to track us down to headquarters?”

“That’s… a long story.” Pang Guang’s expression immediately turned mysterious.

He dragged Guo Zhen into a corner and spent several minutes whispering the whole tale into his ear, pausing every so often to slurp up a few noodles and wet his throat.

By the time he’d heard the full story, Guo Zhen’s eyes had nearly popped out of his head. The shock only lasted a moment before he settled back into an unsurprised expression.

“Tricking a fitness coach into making contact with a person involved in a case? Yeah, that’s exactly the kind of thing Captain Lin would do. Let’s just hope the higher-ups never hear about it. Otherwise, forget ten or eight self-criticisms—he’ll be writing reports until his hand falls off.”

Some things were technically legal but didn’t exactly follow procedure. Across the entire country, there probably weren’t many police officers bold enough to operate the way Lin Jiafan did.

To be fair, habit was a frightening thing.

Back when they had first joined the Special Cases Investigation Unit, they spent every day nervously watching Lin Jiafan dance on the edge of their superiors’ bottom line. The first thing they did every morning after opening their eyes was pray that they wouldn’t get dragged down with him.

As time passed, however, they gradually adapted to that adrenaline-filled pace of life and became much calmer.

Because they knew Lin Jiafan had limits.

No matter what he did, he always adhered to three principles:

Never break the law or disciplinary rules.

Never violate human nature.

Never betray morality or integrity.

As for all the useless regulations and bureaucratic restrictions, he often said:

“Only by breaking the rules once in a while can the people who make them remember why they exist.”

“Still,” Guo Zhen continued after a moment, frowning thoughtfully, “the bureau approved Coach Luo’s work hours for this assignment, didn’t they? Doesn’t that mean they’re tacitly approving Captain Lin’s nonsense? The operation expenses should be reimbursed too, right?”

The grin on Pang Guang’s face widened into pure schadenfreude.

“Approving it is one thing. Talking about it openly is another. The bureau’s attitude has always been the same—they’ll turn a blind eye when necessary, but if you’re asking for money? No. Asking for manpower? Also no.”

“Holy hell…”

Guo Zhen started counting on his fingers.

“The three of you spent nearly four thousand yuan altogether. Captain Lin’s going to be eating dirt for the rest of the month.”

Then he suddenly chuckled.

“Though, come to think of it, there really aren’t many people who can make Captain Lin suffer a loss and swallow it without complaint. Coach Luo definitely has some skills.”

Pang Guang nodded in wholehearted agreement.

“Every penny was worth it. If Coach Luo hadn’t worked so hard today, how could we have gotten leverage on Wang Guifen? Just last night we were still worrying about how to prove the connection between Wang Guifen and these two copycat murders. Today we’ve got legal grounds to collect evidence from her residence.”

The two men exchanged a glance before simultaneously turning their heads toward the woman sitting uneasily on the sofa.

Their stares were so blatant and intense that Luo Jingyao couldn’t pretend not to notice them.

All she could do was force out an awkward smile.

Just as the three of them found themselves staring at one another without knowing how to break the silence, the office door suddenly opened.

Lin Jiafan entered alongside Pan Chang, the unit’s only female investigator—a thin, sharp-featured woman. The lingering heat of the autumn weather still clung to both of them.

Walking to a desk, Lin Jiafan tossed a bulging evidence bag onto it before raising his chin toward Guo Zhen in the corner.

“Brother Guo. Let’s hear your latest findings first.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Guo Zhen responded immediately and headed for the conference table.

Several files had already been prepared there.

As soon as he opened the first folder, two photographs came into view.

“The victim from the first case was identified two days ago. Her name was Zhuo Meiling, twenty-nine years old, unmarried. She wasn’t originally from Tian City—her household registration was in Ji Province. Before her death, she worked as an office clerk at a local foreign trade company. Three days ago, after she failed to show up for work and couldn’t be reached, the company’s HR department reported her missing.”

“Since moving to Tian City three years ago, Zhuo Meiling had been living in company housing. DNA testing has already matched samples provided by her coworkers. Her family arrived yesterday and officially identified the body.”

A trace of pain flashed across Guo Zhen’s face.

Even for people who dealt with death every day, this case was especially cruel to the victims’ families.

The forensic examiner who had handled the case had done everything possible to reconstruct the remains after the autopsy.

But there was only so much that could be done when flesh and skin had been forcibly stripped apart by the killer.

Shaking himself free from the memory of the family’s heartbroken cries, Guo Zhen drew a breath and motioned toward the second photograph.

“The victim in the second case was Gong Lingling, twenty-seven years old, also unmarried and a local resident of Tian City.”

“We identified her quickly because her DNA was already in the system. Gong Lingling spent her childhood at Sun Red Children’s Welfare Institute in Songshan District and didn’t leave until after she was accepted into university.”

“At present she had no stable source of income and survived through part-time remote customer service work.”

“Because she had no family members, virtually no coworkers, and almost no close friends, we’ve contacted the director of the welfare institute to see if they’ll cooperate with the necessary procedures.”

“Mhm.”

Lin Jiafan nodded, his expression cool and completely devoid of personal emotion.

“Other than age and gender, these two victims share very few physical similarities.”

“One had long dyed-blonde curls. The other had straight black hair just past her shoulders.”

“One was heavier. The other was thinner.”

“There was even a six-centimeter difference in height.”

He paused.

“More importantly, both victims belonged to low-risk groups. Compared to Huang Guojun, who specifically targeted sex workers two years ago, this copycat seems even bolder.”

“Based on everything we’ve gathered so far,” Pang Guang said while rubbing his chin, “it doesn’t look like Zhuo Meiling and Gong Lingling’s lives overlapped at all. So the killer just picked victims at random?”

If that were true, things would become extremely difficult.

Back when Huang Guojun had begun his killing spree two years earlier, the trigger had been a combination of career failure and romantic betrayal.

The double blow had pushed him over the edge and driven him to take revenge against society.

But his so-called revenge had been carefully planned.

The women he targeted all worked in high-risk professions, making it easy to enter and leave their residences without attracting attention.

They also shared strikingly similar physical features—features that reminded him of the ex-girlfriend who had betrayed him.

After killing them, he skinned and mutilated the bodies, symbolically destroying the beauty he associated with her.

And the fact that he severed and kept each victim’s ring finger strongly suggested that, in his twisted fantasies, he was stripping his former lover of her marriage itself.

Serial killers were still human beings.

Every crime had a reason behind it.

That was why, back then, the police had successfully captured Huang Guojun by reconstructing his psychological profile and working backward from his motives.

But this copycat case was different.

Looking at all the available evidence, there was a high probability that the killer was simply imitating the crimes mechanically.

Information about the June 13 Serial Murder Case available to the public was extremely limited, and most of it concerned the methods of the murders themselves.

As a result, the copycat had replicated the outcome without understanding the cause.

And senseless killing was precisely what law enforcement feared most.

Standing at the front of the conference table, Guo Zhen allowed himself a moment to enjoy everyone’s thoughtful silence before continuing.

“Fortunately, the forensic lab conducted a second examination of the evidence collected from both crime scenes.”

“And despite the enormous differences between the locations, they discovered the same substance at both.”

“Magnesium carbonate.”

The room immediately fell into contemplation.

Everyone began mentally running through the industries, professions, and environments where magnesium carbonate might appear.

The possibilities were endless.

No one had an answer.

Then, unexpectedly, Luo Jingyao—who had spent the entire meeting quietly sitting on the sofa like she wasn’t even there—spoke up.

“Um… could it possibly be chalk powder?”

Chalk powder?

Instantly, every pair of eyes in the office turned toward her.

“The kind you often see athletes using during competitions,” she explained carefully. “The powder they rub on their hands to improve grip. Its primary ingredient is magnesium carbonate.”

Unlike the members of the Special Cases Investigation Unit, who possessed broad knowledge and extensive investigative experience, she was just an ordinary person.

When she heard magnesium carbonate, chalk powder was the only thing that came to mind.

“You’ll find it in some professional gyms, training facilities for certain sports, university athletic programs… lots of places use it.”

There was nothing particularly unusual about it.

The investigators exchanged looks.

A sudden sense of clarity washed over the room.

Exactly.

Magnesium carbonate had many industrial applications, but in most cases it was mixed with other chemicals. Testing would normally reveal additional compounds.

Chalk powder, on the other hand, was simple and relatively pure.

“Pang Guang.”

Lin Jiafan turned toward the young man seated beside him.

“Follow up on this lead. Dig deeper into any overlap in the victims’ daily lives. Focus especially on gyms and similar locations.”

“Got it.”

Without hesitation, Pang Guang pushed off the floor with both feet and rolled his wheeled chair back to his desk. He flipped open a silver-gray laptop and immediately buried himself in work, fingers flying across the keyboard.

With that, Guo Zhen’s report came to an end.

But before he and Pan Chang could even catch their breath, Lin Jiafan turned around and grabbed the evidence bag he had tossed aside earlier.

“Wang Guifen is currently in Interview Room Six.”

He held up a thick stack of envelopes.

“We brought these back from her house. The forensic team has already completed preliminary processing.”

“Unfortunately, they weren’t able to recover any fingerprints or DNA from the surface.”

Hearing that the evidence had already been processed, Guo Zhen and Pan Chang each took an envelope from the bag.

“Dear Mother…”

Guo Zhen unfolded the letter inside, clearly intending to give a dramatic reading.

Instead, he froze after the very first sentence.

His eyes widened.

“These were written by Huang Guojun to Wang Guifen?”

A beat passed.

“Wait a second… wasn’t he executed years ago?”