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墨書 Inktalez
My mind was in a jumble, unable to respond. Perhaps it was because I had grown up in Warden, and I held no prejudice against those Criminals. They seemed to behave well in prison, exhibiting a sense of conscience and kindness. So I always felt that there was room for negotiation in everything in the world.
But both Captain Shao and Zhao Mingkun were telling me one thing. It was like when the thick noodles were sold out, there were no more thick noodles; or when the fish balls were gone, there were no more fish balls. Some things simply had no room for negotiation. No matter how many times you asked, you would always receive the same answer.
"Mm." I neither affirmed nor denied, merely responding to Zhao Mingkun with a dismissive sound.
I wanted to stand up, but Zhao Mingkun grabbed my hand and said, "Wait a moment, look, the stars are out."
I lay back down and looked up; indeed, as night fell, the sky was dotted with stars. I used to love lying alone on the rooftop watching the stars, sometimes counting them one by one if I felt inspired. Only at such moments could I forget the unhappy things and feel that everything had calmed down.
"Have you heard?" Zhao Mingkun began, "When a person dies, they turn into a star in the sky. The more people who miss you, the brighter your star shines. When no one remembers you anymore, your star will fade into the sea of stars. I don't know how many stars have appeared because of me. I only know that if I died, that star would surely be very dim. How many people are missing that brightest star?"
As a staunch atheist, how could I believe that stars were once people? Yet at that moment, I suddenly understood: whether ghosts or gods, fantasies or fairy tales, they were merely lonely individuals speaking to another group of lonely souls.
"Yes, then he must have done many things that made others miss him," I said softly.
"Let's go!" Zhao Mingkun stood up and said, "There's still some time; we can go find Wang Yikai. The situation with Wang Qianduo might involve your police colleagues as well. If they figure things out, we might not have anything left to do."
It was around six-thirty now. After talking to Wang Yikai, we confirmed he was home. We needed to find new transportation, so we agreed to meet him at eight downstairs from his building. Zhao Mingkun did not disappoint; at seven o'clock, she pushed a motorcycle in. I really suspected this sister had a boyfriend who produced motorcycles.
Tonight, the four people from Wang Yikai's dormitory planned to go to a leisure bathing center for some relaxation. Zhang Yi, Cheng Lu, and Sun Shouwang had already gone ahead. Wang Yikai was delayed because he received our call. We met him downstairs at his building, and he drove us to the leisure bathing center.
In Wang Yikai's words, after experiencing last night's events, everyone was still shaken and had not felt sleepy at all; they had stayed awake until now. Tonight Zhang Yi was treating everyone to relax a bit. Moreover, if several brothers gathered together with enough positive energy, even ghosts would think twice before coming here.
From Luo Ding's notebook, Wang Yikai was the most suspicious one. Wang Qianduo and Liang Mei had also been behind the construction site; if we could figure out the order of events regarding when Wang Yikai and Liang Mei met Lu Zhiqiu, we could eliminate some suspects.
Wang Yikai drove as I asked, "Wang Yikai, it seems there are some things you didn't understand at Huang's Garden Hotel."
Wang Yikai turned his head to look at me sitting in the passenger seat and said, "What things? Can you remind me?"
I took out Luo Ding's notebook from my pocket and said, "There are many things recorded in Luo Ding's notes. I think it would be less awkward if you came out yourself. But if you want us to come out, then you've put yourself in a passive position, you know?"
Upon seeing what I held, Wang Yikai's expression changed noticeably. He frowned and asked, "Is this Luo Ding's notebook?"
"I just want to remind you," I replied, "about the matter of stealing underwear."
At this, Wang Yikai trembled slightly, and the car swayed from side to side. After a moment, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He turned to look at me for a long time before finally speaking, "We're almost at the bathhouse. If you two don’t have anything planned for tonight, you can come to my house. I’ll have a good talk with you about this matter."
Wang Yikai was serious and spoke in a calm tone, which made me somewhat suspicious. If he really was behind this, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to trick us into his home and then silence us.
As for murder, Zhao Mingkun seemed much more professional. She casually pulled out her handgun and said slowly, "Oh dear, what’s poking me? I forgot to put my gun away."
Wang Yikai quickly shook his head and said, "You two officers, please don’t misunderstand. Even if I had a hundred guts, I wouldn’t dare to kill two police officers in my own home, right? There are people who can vouch for my innocence. I also hope you can catch the Murderer soon; otherwise, he might end up killing all thirteen people."
I looked at Wang Yikai. He didn’t seem to be lying. But earlier he had looked at us with disdain. How could he suddenly become so cooperative in such a short time?
"We're here," Wang Yikai said as he parked the car outside. He added, "Officers, once we get to my house, feel free to ask whatever you want. However, since my classmate is here, please don’t bring up the underwear issue. Otherwise, I’d rather be killed by a ghost than reveal anything I know."
I smiled; now I understood that Wang Yikai was concerned about this matter. According to Zhao Mingkun's file, Wang Yikai worked as a manager at a design company and had many girls pursuing him. Who would have thought that deep down he was such a lewd pervert?
"That’s fine," I said. "As long as you cooperate."
"Cooperate? Of course," Wang Yikai replied.
Upon entering the bathhouse, Wang Yikai provided a room number and a female attendant led us inside. During this time, the attendant kept glancing at Zhao Mingkun, seemingly puzzled as to why someone would come to a bathhouse for a massage while bringing along a woman. The attendant reached the door, knocked softly, and said gently, "Gentlemen, your friend has arrived."
But there was no response at all.
The waiter knocked on the door again, still very patient. "Gentlemen, your friends have arrived."
There was still no response.
"Wang Yikai said, "They must have come around five, right?"
The waiter nodded and replied, "That's correct. I was the one who brought them in."
Wang Yikai nodded and turned to us. "They arrived at six. I had to wait at home for you all, so it's not my fault for being late. These three didn't wait for me, so they probably fell asleep."
As he spoke, Wang Yikai knocked heavily on the door and shouted, "Old Zhang, Lao Cheng, Old Sun! Open the door! It's Wang Yikai! Open up!"
Still no response.
Wang Yikai started to get anxious. "Damn it, what are you doing in there? A beautiful girl with big breasts is here!"
Suddenly realizing we were behind him, he quickly shut his mouth.
Zhao Mingkun and I exchanged glances, an ominous feeling creeping over us once again.
"Let's just go in; stop shouting!" I said. "Check if the door is locked."
Wang Yikai twisted the doorknob, and with a creak, the door swung open. It seemed the door wasn't locked after all. We filed in and saw four beds in the room, three of which had people lying on them. All three were covered with white towels, looking like they had just come out of a pool, lying on the beds without any clothes on except for the towels.
Seeing this, Wang Yikai rushed forward in a flash. The person closest to the door was Cheng Lu. Wang Yikai slapped Cheng Lu's face hard and exclaimed, "Lao Cheng! Why are you sleeping so deeply? You’re not dead or anything..."
At this point, Wang Yikai's expression changed, and his voice trembled slightly. He shook Cheng Lu's body vigorously, causing the bed to creak under the movement. But Cheng Lu showed no signs of waking up. In that moment of shaking, I caught a glimpse of Cheng Lu's face—it was a deep crimson color.
"He's dead!" Wang Yikai suddenly collapsed onto the floor, exclaiming, "He's dead, Cheng Lu is dead!"
"Ah!" The waitress, a girl around seventeen or eighteen years old, screamed in fear upon hearing that someone had died.
"Someone's dead, someone's dead!" she echoed, her voice rising in panic.
I hurried to Cheng Lu's bedside and reached out to touch his body, only to find it cold as ice.
Regarding the cooling of a corpse, Guan Zengbin had mentioned some details to me before. The process of a body cooling is influenced by many factors, including the deceased's age, physical condition, and cause of death. For instance, adults and overweight individuals cool down more slowly, while children, the elderly, and those who are frail lose body heat more quickly.
If the death was caused by certain special circumstances, there can also be instances where the body temperature rises after death.
Typically, an adult's body temperature will drop to room temperature within three to five hours after death. However, Cheng Lu was only covered with a bath towel, leaving most of his body exposed, which would accelerate this process. Judging by Cheng Lu's coldness, he had likely been dead for at least two hours.
I immediately touched Cheng Lu's face and neck and found that his muscles had already stiffened. Rigor mortis appears within one to three hours after death. From what I observed on the body, livor mortis had not yet formed, indicating that the time of death was between two to three hours ago.
Calculating the time frame, it meant that the three of them had just entered this room not long ago.
With this thought in mind, I quickly checked Zhang Yi and Sun Shouwang's bodies; their conditions were essentially identical to Cheng Lu's. This indicated that all three had died around the same time. Unfortunately, I am not a forensic expert; I could only estimate the time in hours but couldn't pinpoint the exact minute or second of their deaths.
But that was enough to clarify the situation.
The waitress's screams attracted a crowd from the bathhouse. I blocked them at the door and said firmly, "I am a police officer; no one is allowed to enter!"
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