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墨書 Inktalez
"I won't let you go." This was the last sentence the woman left at the end of the video.
The ambiguous video concluded here, leaving the true intent of the Criminal Consultant unclear. However, since this Criminal Consultant had taken the initiative to reach out and presented a bomb as a "greeting gift," his aggressiveness was evident. What he specifically intended to do remained unknown.
Guan Deng froze the final frame of the video to get a clearer view of the woman's face. Unfortunately, her hair was disheveled, obscuring most of her features and making it difficult to identify her. Guan Deng needed to compare this blurry image with known criminals or missing persons to determine her identity.
Old Shao reflected, "Do you know why our task force was established?"
Xu Yiman replied, "You mentioned before that we were to investigate someone named Wei Demian."
Old Shao nodded, "That's right. The words 'Criminal Consultant' on that black business card came from this person. I met him when I was thirty; he is a skilled hypnotist. He can hypnotize you in ways you wouldn't expect and in a very short time, leaving you unaware that you've fallen into a trance."
"Back then, he was dangerous. Although he didn't commit crimes directly, everyone who met him, regardless of how long they interacted with him, would eventually become a criminal. Because of this, he was effectively imprisoned in a mental hospital under strict surveillance. Everyone knew how terrifying he was, so the hospital forbade anyone from speaking to him."
Old Shao reminisced about his younger days: "It was during that time that I encountered a very clever man—a living detective. Unfortunately, he sacrificed himself during a large-scale operation. Yet the criminal managed to rescue Wei Demian through cunning means."
"After escaping from the mental hospital, Wei Demian vanished for a time. Until thirty years passed, I thought he had died. Now he is in his late eighties, nearing ninety. I am already sixty and at retirement age. I have also documented some of my experiences in my published work 'Studies in Criminal Psychology,' fulfilling my duties."
"Do you know why I stayed?" Old Shao shifted his tone and addressed everyone: "Because just as I was preparing to go to France to find an old colleague, someone slipped a black business card into my pocket. I knew Wei Demian had returned; thus, I remained—our feud began decades ago."
Jiang He pointed out a flaw in Old Shao's reasoning: "Old Shao, Wei Demian is nearly ninety years old now; he likely lacks the energy and capability to do anything significant, even if he is an exceptional hypnotist. I suspect he must have some accomplices."
Old Shao nodded heavily: "Exactly what I thought. Twenty years ago, both his apprentice and I lost our lives during that operation. While I can select talented individuals within the police force, hiding away like Wei Demian cannot do so easily. I suspect that during his two decades of hiding, he trained a new apprentice."
With that, Old Shao waved his hand dismissively: "Let's not dwell on old grievances; we should focus on details. We have encountered this Criminal Consultant before; it was he who led us into Desolate Village. Think carefully about what characteristics this Criminal Consultant displays when committing crimes."
"He doesn't kill proactively." Xu Yiman cleaned the tweezers with alcohol; due to the numerous wooden splinters in Jiang He's back, her white gloves were stained with blood: "A Criminal Consultant, by definition, is someone who helps others commit crimes."
"That's right," Old Shao agreed. "The killers we've caught before were all manipulated by this Criminal Consultant, either for money or some other reason."
"This brings us to another characteristic," Old Shao said as he surveyed the room. "The people this Criminal Consultant kills have prior convictions or have done something wrong but managed to escape legal punishment."
Yuan Jun scratched his head and said, "So, like that human trafficker Qiuju Niu? Even though she hasn't trafficked children in years, the Criminal Consultant still didn't spare her."
"An eye for an eye," Xu Yiman recalled. "This Criminal Consultant always treats the chosen targets in the same way. The scammer from before was tricked into personally causing his son's death. And that con artist was driven to suicide by the Criminal Consultant. Qiuju Niu trafficked other people's children, so the Criminal Consultant trafficked Qiuju Niu's granddaughter."
"Exactly," everyone nodded in agreement.
"These are the three characteristics of the killer. First, he plans everything behind the scenes and does not participate in the killings himself. Second, he selectively chooses his targets. Third, he uses methods that the targets themselves have employed to harm others," General Shao concluded. "These traits define the Criminal Consultant. By following these three points in our investigation, we should be able to uncover some clues."
"What do you think, Jiang He?" Old Shao turned to Jiang He.
Throughout the discussion, Jiang He had remained silent, seemingly uninterested in the matter. Old Shao knew that Jiang He had keen observational skills; his vision, hearing, and even sense of smell were top-notch. Coupled with his Hyperthymesia, he never forgot any detail of his experiences.
Old Shao wanted to hear Jiang He's conclusion but noticed that Jiang He was fixated on the computer screen.
It seemed Jiang He hadn't heard Old Shao's question; suddenly, he jumped up and knocked over a plate filled with blood-soaked gauze.
"What are you doing?" Xu Yiman scolded.
Jiang He turned to Guan Deng and said, "Rewind the video by half a minute."
Guan Deng nodded and adjusted the video playback accordingly.
Everyone was staring at the computer screen, eager to see what Jiang He had gleaned from the video. The screen remained dark, and the woman had yet to appear on camera. The shaky footage panned past the windows of the room, and sunlight streamed in, illuminating the space slightly.
At that moment, the woman finally appeared in the video.
In just thirty seconds, there was hardly any useful information to be found; nothing significant stood out.
“Don’t move,” Xu Yiman said as she tapped Jiang He on the shoulder. “You still have that splinter in your back; don’t fidget.”
Jiang He suddenly turned his head to Xu Yiman and asked, “Have you ever seen the morning sun?”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?” Xu Yiman struggled to keep up with Jiang He’s leaps in logic.
“Because through sunlight, we can discern many things,” Jiang He pointed at the screen. “Didn’t you notice the slanted rays coming in just now?”
Xu Yiman nodded. “That’s true.”
Jiang He continued, “If you often watch sunrises and sunsets, you can easily tell whether the sunlight streaming in is from morning or evening. From this angle, the light appears slightly orange, giving it a heavier feel compared to morning sunlight.”
“Can you really tell that?” Xu Yiman asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
Jiang He nodded. “I’ve studied sunlight before, and any photographer sensitive to light can do this. If we show this video to them, we should get an accurate answer. However, this raises a question: right now, it’s between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. Due to the sun's altitude angle and direct rays, at our latitude, the sun rises from the northeast and sets in the northwest.”
“So that means the sunlight is coming in from the northwest,” Jiang He continued. “Since areas north of the Tropic of Cancer are never directly illuminated by the sun, noon sunlight is always toward the south. Thus, most northern buildings face south. At least their lighting should be on the southern side—like bedrooms and living rooms.”
“And by evening, the sun is nearly below the horizon, blocked by various tall buildings. But that’s not what we see in this video. Analyzing all this information leads us to a conclusion.” Jiang He crawled back down so Xu Yiman could clean his wound again.
"What conclusion do you have?" Xu Yiman asked curiously.
"The place where this woman is imprisoned is a Cellar, and the window of the Cellar faces north. Only at sunrise and sunset can a sliver of sunlight shine in, while for most of the time, the Cellar remains in shadow, inaccessible to sunlight. However, I still can't figure out why the murderer would do this."
"There are no tall buildings surrounding this Cellar; otherwise, those buildings would block the last rays of sunlight and cast shadows in this room. But there are none in the video, which indicates that the Cellar is in an open area. The woman in the video cries continuously, yet no one comes to check on her. Moreover, although that window wouldn't allow for an escape, it would be easy to send messages through it, yet the murderer did not seal it."
"Therefore, I am sixty percent sure that the Cellar holding this woman is located in a suburban area with sparse population. The eastern and southern sides are near a river, but there is no sound of flowing water in the video, so I deduce it is on the northern outskirts. The northeastern side has forests that would block sunlight, making the northwest side the most likely location."
Old Shao's eyes lit up as he immediately said, "I will arrange for police forces to investigate any Cellars that could hide people in the northwest suburbs."
Unexpectedly, Jiang He had managed to roughly identify the location where the Victim was trapped after just watching the video once. His meticulous observation skills and logical reasoning impressed everyone around him.
"Is there any way to be more precise?" Yuan Jun asked. "Even though we have determined it's in the northwest suburbs, that's still too broad."
Jiang He shook his head. "There’s no way; there’s too little information in the video."
Old Shao slapped the table and said, "Exactly. I think even a Criminal Consultant wouldn't have guessed we could find this location in the northwest suburbs. What he wants us to do is start from this woman herself. It seems we need to investigate two leads simultaneously."
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