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墨書 Inktalez
The story abruptly comes to a halt, leaving no continuation.
This narrative reads quite blandly, lacking any waves of excitement. If it weren't for the knowledge that it was penned by Murderer, one might think it was merely a diary written by someone called Old Wang. From this diary, it seems the protagonist has lost all enthusiasm for everything around him.
He shows no passion for work, nor does he engage with those around him. Others see him as a laborer who is of no use, while children regard Old Wang as a fool. Yet, Old Wang observes and hears everything. However, he does not react or express any anger about it.
From the story, we learn that Old Wang has an ex-wife but no children. He divorced his wife five years ago, though the reason remains unknown. His life is devoid of any ripples; he exists in this world like a walking corpse.
The bustling and lively world outside seems to have nothing to do with Old Wang.
Faced with this unperturbed world, Old Wang has entertained many fantasies. He imagines an accident occurring in the workshop, hoping to see blood flowing like a river. He fantasizes about having a passionate affair with the widow across the street, wishing for a moment of happiness. He even hopes that the incessant chatter of the Brat would cease, so that no one could disturb him.
Old Wang harbors many fantasies, yet none have ever come to fruition.
Finally, after completing one last task for someone else, Old Wang took a rope and chose to hang himself Suicide.
This is Old Wang's story—a tale of despair where the heart has long since died.
Perhaps his heart had already perished when he divorced his wife.
So, who will die in this story?
Previously, someone had marked this document with a red pen. Upon inspection, I noticed that all the marked sections pertained to individuals mentioned in the story. I pondered who among these people would meet their demise.
After a moment of silence, Captain Shao gently cleared his throat and said, "I believe everyone has finished reading this story. Murderer has taken on the persona of Old Wang, describing through his eyes the events and thoughts of a person contemplating Suicide before taking that final step."
We all turned our attention to Captain Shao.
Captain Shao looked around at us and said, "The story may be short, but we can identify several characters within it. The first person, of course, is the protagonist, Old Wang. From the story, it's easy to analyze that Old Wang is contemplating suicide."
Seeing no objections from the crowd, Captain Shao continued, "Next, let's analyze from the beginning. First, there's Sister Li; she probably won't die—just a side note. Then there are the people in Old Wang's imagination: one is an unnamed worker."
At this point, Li Team Leader interjected, "That's right. The key lies in these three imagined scenarios. Based on these people's situations, it seems Old Wang wants them dead—except for the unnamed worker. That's the first person. The second is a widow; although he doesn't want her to die, she is significant. Lastly, there's a noisy brat who is clearly someone the murderer wants dead."
Captain Shao glanced at Li Team Leader and, unusually for him, did not argue but agreed with her perspective. It seemed both were quite invested in the case.
Captain Shao said, "From this perspective, that's indeed the case. However, we can't rule out a few others: one is an elderly woman who asked Old Wang to help fix her plumbing; another is an old man who needed help moving things; and then there's a child who essentially stole fifty bucks from Old Wang."
"What do you think?" Captain Shao asked me.
I sighed, tugging at my hair as I spoke, "If I had to guess, someone definitely jumped off a building or was thrown down from above. That particularly loud sound doesn't seem like it could have come from a stool."
Looking at everyone, I continued, "At the end of the story, the murderer asks what that sound was. According to the murderer's usual patterns, this serves as a clue—and this clue must be associated with death. If I'm correct in my guess, what fell must have been a child."
"How do you know?" Li Team Leader raised an eyebrow with a hint of disdain.
I met her gaze and replied, "Intuition and speculation. If the murderer intends to use this to kill someone, a child would certainly be easier to handle than an adult. Even if an adult were knocked out, it would be difficult to throw someone down the hallway."
Li Team Leader shrugged and said, "Speculation is just speculation; we can't solve cases based on guesses. Right now, our main task is to find out where this area is located."
"But there’s no mention of this place throughout," Gu Chen pointed out.
I nodded with some concern and said, "The reason we've been unable to catch this murderer is that they never mention locations in the story. And with Dongxing City being so vast, finding this location without any information is incredibly challenging."
After a moment of thought, I said to Captain Shao, "Given the situation, there will definitely be news reports about the child falling from the building tomorrow. Mary, if you hear anything, keep an eye on those reports. I believe this might be our only chance to quickly find out where the murderer committed the crime. If we miss it, it could be a long time before we locate this murderer."
Mary nodded and patted her computer. "No problem. It just takes time. Like I said, Dongxing City is simply too large; there are definitely more children who fall than you might think."
We fell silent for a moment before I spoke again. "If we consider it from this angle, not everyone who falls from a height necessarily dies; those who are injured should also be counted."
Captain Shao was now rubbing his teacup repeatedly before he finally spoke up. "The newspapers!"
"What?" Everyone turned their attention to Captain Shao.
He slapped the table and continued, "These reporters are quicker than anyone else. If something like this happens, there will definitely be journalists who find out before we do. If we wait for the news to come out before searching this area, it will be too late. I'll have the Deputy Director call the major newspapers right away. That way, if any news breaks on this front, we'll know immediately."
Another silence fell over us, and everyone’s expressions grew heavy as they seemed lost in thought.
I closed my eyes and envisioned a scene in my mind. On a pitch-black night, when everyone had fallen into slumber, Old Wang prepared the rope and the stool, ready to hang himself from the balcony's clothesline. Just as he kicked the stool away, a loud crash echoed through the air.
That sound was not from the stool hitting the ground; it was someone falling from above.
It was a child—a playful child. Yet despite being playful, this child had never stayed out so late before. The family frantically searched for their child but found no trace anywhere. They shouted from below and called the child's classmates in hopes of uncovering what had happened.
But it was all in vain; no one knew where the child had gone.
Yet the child remained on the rooftop, watching those below—watching their parents. He cried out; he wanted to speak, but he couldn't—his hands and feet were bound, and his mouth was tightly gagged. He had no way to inform his parents, even though they were just downstairs.
Thinking of this made me exclaim to everyone, "This building can't be very tall."
"Why do you have so much to say?" Team Leader Li looked at me again.
I replied, "If it's a resident of the High-Rise, there would be an elevator. Right now, I guess only the Old Town District, which has buildings that are only six stories high, wouldn't have an elevator. That Old Man once told Old Wang to just leave the things at the door; if there was an elevator, Old Wang wouldn't be needed."
I continued, "If it's a six-story building, there aren't many residents inside, so it's reasonable that they all know each other. Otherwise, how would even the children know that Old Wang is such a nice guy? So, the floors must be below the Sixth Floor."
The others nodded in agreement. Captain Shao was still on the phone but gave me a thumbs-up after hearing my words.
Mary pulled up the city construction plan and said, "If there are no elevators, it must be below the Sixth Floor. And if it’s a height that could kill someone, we can rule out anything below three stories. This way, we can narrow down the range significantly."
Captain Shao finished his call and said, "That's right. Soon I'll talk to those newspaper heads. The Murderer will kill after the story is finished and will continue to kill some time later. This time, we must stop this Murderer."
I nodded and closed my eyes to think.
The floors weren't high, yet my parents never thought to look up to see if anyone was above. The Murderer enjoyed this feeling—the sensation of standing right in front of you while you couldn't see me. The Sixth Floor wasn't high; it was only about twenty meters away. Walking took just ten seconds or so, but falling took even less time.
In less than a second, the child fell before everyone.
In that moment, the child wasn't dead yet; he looked at his parents and wanted to say something, but in the end, no words came out. His parents stood there dumbfounded, staring at their child. The Murderer disappeared into the darkness with a sly grin.
Yet that twenty-meter distance became the most distant gap in the world—the distance between life and death.
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