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墨書 Inktalez
This was the thirteenth time the girl had seen a group of stray cats pass by her, walking in pairs. Whenever the strays walked by, she would tiptoe and grip the balcony railing tightly, her gaze following the variously colored cats as they moved along.
When the strays slipped through a hole in the wall, it felt as if her heart left with them. The girl sat blankly by the window, staring into space. There were no traces of birds in the sky, yet she knew they had flown past. As for her, she felt like a canary trapped in a cage.
She stepped down from the railing and stood on the balcony, lost in thought. Her family lived on the third floor, and their balcony was open; it seemed that thieves rarely visited such old buildings. Sometimes she wondered if she jumped from here, she might not die. After all, she had seen a cat leap directly off their balcony before.
At that time, she had been worried, but the cat landed gracefully, shook its fur, and walked away.
She turned to look at her piano, a large grand instrument.
“What are you doing?” a woman’s voice with a heavy dialect called out. “You’re not practicing piano properly. Look at Wang Ming next door; he’s already passed level eight. Hurry up and study! Why are there so many dead flies buzzing around lately? It’s driving me crazy.”
A man’s voice chimed in, “I heard Boss Wang from down the street has gone missing.”
“Which Boss Wang?” the woman asked.
“The one who runs that adult products shop,” the man replied as he tossed his clothes onto the sofa.
“Oh.” The woman rolled her eyes. “That promiscuous woman left? Good riddance! She probably ran off with some wild man. What’s wrong? Are you feeling sorry for her? Just look at her; she dresses like she can’t afford decent clothes. What are you sitting there for? Go cook!”
As she shooed away flies in the house, she closed the windows.
Before long, beautiful music began to emanate from the piano.
But no one knew of the girl’s sorrow.
Standing at the window, she made a wish to those stray cats: “Oh kitties, could you take me with you?”
Every night, she gazed at that dark hole and dreamed of becoming a cat herself, slipping through it to freedom. She loved those cats dearly, yet when night fell, fear gripped her heart. The cats seemed to transform into vengeful spirits under the moonlight.
Several times, when the moonlight spilled onto the balcony, she could always see shadows of something on the curtains.
Then, those shadows made the sound of cats meowing, and the girl realized that it was all stray cats on her balcony. More often than not, these wild strays would fight on her balcony, producing strange and sorrowful sounds that resembled a woman's scream or sometimes even a baby's cry.
Each time, she would bury her head under the covers. Sometimes she wondered why such adorable animals could make such terrifying sounds. Unlike the gentle meows of a pet cat, this seemed to be a desperate and heart-wrenching cry. During those moments, she would tightly lock the door leading to the balcony, trying not to think about what was happening outside.
Sometimes the girl pondered where these stray cats were going. Were they being taken in by someone? She often thought about who that person might be—was it a boy or a girl, an older brother or an uncle, an older sister or an aunt? Perhaps it could even be a kind old man.
Her parents had gone to work, and instead of practicing piano, she waited on the balcony.
A large group of stray cats passed by her building once again.
A man dressed in black walked among the cats. The girl widened her eyes in surprise; she had never seen this man before. He moved on all fours, something she had never witnessed. She gasped in astonishment, unsure of what to think.
The man noticed her and smiled at her before disappearing through a hole in the wall, leading the cats with him. She couldn't see what was behind the wall and wondered who this man was and what lay beyond it.
Curiosity is one of the most fascinating gifts bestowed upon humanity. Every child possesses it at some point, but as they grow older, some abandon this ability while others retain it. If her parents had seen this man, they might have thought he was insane.
For several days, she continued to witness this scene.
It was as if something secretive was hidden behind the wall.
Then the man paused and called out to her, "Come join us."
The girl remained silent but dreamed all night long. What could possibly be behind that wall? She longed to know.
That night, she saw many shadows projected onto her curtains again. The wailing sounds echoed once more—screams from women and cries mixed with ordinary cat meows. The girl recalled a piece she had played called "Screaming Concerto."
The neighbors seemed accustomed to such days. Some had tried to chase away the strays—whether by direct confrontation or by using drugs—it was all in vain. Perhaps this was simply the territory of the cats and not that of humans. After half a month of this routine, everyone had grown used to it.
The noise finally subsided after a long night.
The next day, the girl was surprised to find that her mother hadn’t called her to practice piano early in the morning. By noon, her mother still hadn’t returned. Hungry, the girl climbed onto the balcony. She waited and waited, but the stray cats didn’t appear.
What was happening?
As dusk fell, her parents still hadn’t come back. The girl opened the door.
She stood at the dark entrance, crouching down to peer inside, but saw nothing.
After thinking for a moment, she decided to crawl in.
The story abruptly ended, leaving no further details.
After reading this story, everyone felt as if they had swallowed a fly, experiencing an uncomfortable and oppressive sensation. This piece differed from the previous one in that it used third-person narration, describing a scene where a girl saw a group of stray cats from an observer's perspective.
“The question is, who died?” Captain Shao said slowly while sitting at the table.
Everyone fell silent. Li Team Leader added, “The issue is, where exactly is the story set?”
The two exchanged glances but said nothing. One kept rubbing his teacup while the other continued smoking.
We were all at a loss for words, quietly staring at the table.
After pondering for a moment, I felt it was better for me to speak up: “No need to ask; whoever doesn’t appear in the story is likely dead. From the very beginning, we learn that a Boss Lady who runs an Adult Store has gone missing—this person might be dead. Then we find out that the girl’s parents left work but haven’t come home; from this perspective, perhaps the girl’s parents are dead.”
Everyone turned to look at me.
I continued, “Aside from the girl and the man in black who resembles a cat, one is the protagonist of the story while the other is likely the Murderer. If our speculation is correct and the Murderer writes stories before killing according to them, then the girl could be in danger.”
Captain Shao slammed the table and said, "Since the Boss Lady of an adult products store has gone missing, there must be an unattended adult store somewhere. We need to search throughout Dongxing City and find that adult store."
Li Team Leader, smoking a cigarette, replied, "If that's the case, the workload is going to be enormous. How many adult stores are there in total in the city? Where are they located? One Boss Lady from an adult products shop has gone missing—was she kidnapped or did she just go out for fun? How can we know..."
"Investigate!" Captain Shao instructed Mary. "If it's a legitimate business, we should be able to find information."
Mary nodded and began to check the internal network for registered adult products stores with the business bureau. After half an hour, the continuously rising number finally stopped.
Mary counted and said, "One thousand, ten thousand... Wow, there are a total of one hundred thousand two hundred thirty-one licensed adult stores in Dongxing City..."
Li Team Leader shook his head. "One hundred thousand... Even if all the police forces in the city went out to search, it would take quite some time. Moreover, we still need to distribute each address. In the last case, there was only one interval between the story's occurrence and the character's death. My goodness, where are we supposed to find them?"
I interrupted Li Team Leader and said, "We don't need to search through all one hundred thousand stores one by one. The story mentioned their residence; it's an old building. Dongxing City is a rapidly developing metropolis with mostly new constructions. The only Old Town District is in the west of the city, and buildings with open balconies seem to be quite rare!"
Captain Shao turned to Mary and said, "No need to check further. Immediately call all the substations in the west of the city and have them look for buildings with open balconies that shouldn't exceed seven stories high. Hurry up!"
"What about us?" Liu asked.
Everyone looked at Liu but no one responded.
I said, "We need to analyze what this story is trying to tell us. How do people die?"
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