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Seeing Li Taida's hatred towards Li Xian, it was likely that whatever he had in his possession was completely dissolved in alcohol.
According to the legal definition, Li Taida's actions fell under "attempted crime," which refers to an act that has a real possibility of completion. If Li Xian were to drink the beer, then Li Taida's intent to commit murder would undoubtedly be established. For attempted crimes, penalties can be reduced compared to completed crimes.
Moreover, since Li Taida was under eighteen, he was protected by the Minor Protection Law, suggesting that the situation might not be too severe. We could only have a few police officers take Li Taida away and see what kind of judgment the court would make.
This meant that Li Taida was unlikely to be the mastermind behind the suicides.
As we left the interrogation room, Liu returned with Zhao Erming. Based on Zhao Erming's indicated location, they indeed found the body of the poisoned dog. Due to its remote location, no one had picked up the carcass. In the dog's body, forensic tests confirmed the presence of poison through the Prussian Blue Test.
Zhao Erming was not lying.
Initially, only Zhao Erming and Li Taida had access to the poison; the others merely participated in stealing it. So who had secretly taken it?
Three people had already committed suicide, yet there seemed to be no leads in the case so far.
"Could it be that Gao Rui was prepared all along, and this matter has nothing to do with the case?" Guan Zengbin suggested. "Think about it: after Zhang Mingliang's death, Gao Rui might have already been contemplating suicide. The appearance of that person only solidified his resolve and did not provide Gao Rui with cyanide."
I tugged at my hair and slowly said, "If this murderer can persuade others to commit suicide, they must know these individuals have suicidal tendencies. This raises a question: how does this murderer identify those with such tendencies? Do they go door-to-door asking if someone wants to commit suicide?"
Guan Zengbin tapped his head thoughtfully. "Are you suggesting that these individuals might express their suicidal thoughts online or through some other means? Then this murderer saw that information online and sought them out to encourage their suicides?"
I slammed my hand on the table. "Exactly! Perhaps that's how it is. I believe this murderer is not someone who can hypnotize others but rather someone who conducts thorough investigations before taking action. Given the recent frequency of suicides, this murderer must have gathered information on many people and approached them one by one for conversations."
With that thought in mind, I immediately called Mary and asked her to investigate whether these deceased individuals had expressed any suicidal thoughts online.
"Talking to each one could take a lot of effort," Gu Chen remarked. "I think that's quite a task."
Gu Chen's words reminded me, and I said, "By the way, bring me a map of Dongxing City. Three people have died so far; let's mark their places of death. Perhaps we can find some connections."
A map of Dongxing City was laid out before us.
I marked the locations of the three deaths in red circles according to the order of their occurrence, then noted their causes of death.
The first to die was Wang Yiman, who lived in an area called Xingyuan District, located in the eastern part of Dongxing City. Wang Yiman's cause of death was hanging, with a note: she was wearing a white wedding dress.
Next was Gao Rui, who lived in an apartment near Yucai Middle School, also in the eastern part of Dongxing City. Gao Rui's cause of death was an injection, with a note: he was dressed in a suit.
The most recent victim was Li Zhinan, who lived in the Welcome Area, again in the eastern part of Dongxing City. Li Zhinan's cause of death was jumping onto the subway tracks, with a note: there was still a briefcase that had been knocked away and had not yet been found.
I circled all three locations on the map of Dongxing City. An astonishing coincidence emerged. All three suicides were located in the eastern part of Dongxing City, and from the map, the distances were not very far apart. If driving, the distance between any two would take no more than two minutes; they were quite close to each other.
With such proximity, it became clear that this murderer who encouraged others to commit suicide was also operating in the eastern part of Dongxing City.
I pointed at the three red circles and said, "In Martin's 'Criminal Psychology and Criminal Motivation,' it is mentioned that when a serial killer has killed multiple people and the police have not yet apprehended him, the criminal often feels an unconscious sense of pride."
Guan Zengbin and Gu Chen looked at me with great interest.
As I gazed at the three red circles, I continued, "This is something inherent in human nature, just like our emotions. At this point, when a criminal chooses to kill again, the location often becomes closer to home."
I used a red pen to connect the three circles in pairs, forming a triangle. "During their first murder, criminals tend to feel nervous and usually choose a location farthest from home to commit their crime; this makes it difficult for us to suspect them. However, as they continue committing crimes and grow more confident due to this mindset, they will start choosing locations closer to home."
The two men looked at me and nodded repeatedly. Gu Chen said, "My brother Wu Meng, you’re impressive! When did you secretly learn so much? I really think you should be a detective."
I shrugged my shoulders and replied, "I just spent my coffee time playing cards instead..."
Guan Zengbin shot me a glance and said, "Stop joking around. What else do you know? Spill it all out."
I continued, "However, another theory in criminological psychology differs from this viewpoint. It suggests that the distances from the murderer's home should be equidistant. For instance, if the murderer is driving, he might choose to head east for a while before committing a murder, and then to avoid detection, he might drive west for a while before killing again. Perhaps the murderer isn't even aware of this; he might believe he has successfully evaded capture."
Gu Chen nodded seriously and said, "That makes some sense, but what exactly is your conclusion? Can you predict where the next suicide will occur?"
We all looked at Gu Chen, who seemed to feel that his statement was somewhat inappropriate. He stuck out his tongue and added, "If there will be another suicide, that is."
I sighed and replied, "I believe that as long as we can't catch the murderer, there will likely be more suicides under his influence. After all, urban life is filled with pressure; who doesn't have moments when they want to say goodbye to this messed-up world and everyone in it? I think we need to keep working hard."
Gu Chen sat back on the sofa and crossed his legs. "That's true. With the improvement of economic conditions, it seems like the number of suicides has actually increased. I don't know why that is. But I've never thought about it that way; no matter what happens, being alive offers endless possibilities and hope. Once you're dead, nothing can change."
Gu Chen's words were quite insightful. In fact, there have been many times when I considered suicide myself. My father is a murderer, and my mother has disappeared somewhere. Sadly, despite all this, I have never met my murderous father.
Being called the child of a murderer isn't easy. If it weren't for my fear of pain, I might have taken my own life long ago. Thankfully, no one ever educated me about suicide; however, by now, I've mostly come to accept this reality.
I can't choose who my parents are, but at least I can choose how to live my life.
Seeing that the atmosphere had grown tense, Guan Zengbin said, "I know that those who are carefree never consider these things. Now let's get down to business—can you narrow down a range?"
Her words pulled me back from my thoughts. I replied, "Well, if these two theories hold water, then the next person who will commit suicide won't be inside this triangle."
As I spoke, I pointed at the interior of the triangle, which encompassed a large area including Shuncheng Street, East Avenue, Sifeng Street, and others.
"Or they could be at another point that forms a rectangle."
I then indicated an area outside the triangle. "Right here!"
The area shown above is Jinlun Road.
If there is a next time, this place should be the next location for a suicide.
Gu Chen stood up and said, "I'll make a call right now to inform the local police to pay extra attention. There might be a suicide here, so they should be on alert."
"Go ahead," I replied.
Just as Gu Chen stepped out, Liu walked in. He said, "Wu, Li Zhinan's briefcase has been found. It was knocked away by the subway and later the staff found it in a corner."
"Really?" I said. "Let me see what was inside."
Liu replied, "The briefcase is smashed, so I don't know what's inside. It might just contain some documents. The powerful impact shredded everything inside, but we did find a few fragments. Regardless of what was in the briefcase, it probably doesn't have much to do with the case."
Liu Yi showed me the few remaining pieces of documents, which had some bank names written on them but were too damaged to reveal much. However, we had investigated Li Zhinan's background; he worked as an employee at a financial company, so this should relate to his job and not the case.
Liu Jixu said, "But the matter regarding the poison ends here. Where should we continue our investigation? The poison was divided into two parts; one part was given to Li Taida, who used it in beer to try to kill his father. The other part is in Zhao Erming's hands, who poisoned his dog."
I rubbed my head and said, "This substance can kill someone with just a small amount. They all speak in unison, but we have no idea how much they actually used or how much is left. Besides, did it definitely split into two parts?"
"Are you suspecting others?" Liu rested his chin on his hand and said, "Leave this matter to me; I'll look into it."
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