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墨書 Inktalez
Seeing the School Leader like this, I knew something must have changed, and it probably wasn't for the better.
"You really..." Gu Chen stood up, looking a bit anxious.
School Leader was panting as he spoke, "The Murderer called again."
No sooner had he finished speaking than School Leader's phone rang once more.
Looking at the screen, School Leader said, "It's an unknown number. Every time an unknown number calls, it's definitely the Murderer. They always change it up; it has to be the Murderer."
When Mary heard the word Murderer, she began pulling things out of her backpack. It was still that special computer provided by her department. Mary seemed to be working on something, preparing to track the phone signal.
I said to School Leader, "Put it on speaker."
School Leader nodded.
The raspy voice of the Murderer came through again, "Alright, time's up. Your second task is to find another one. Now, can you tell me the answer?"
Mary made a 'K' gesture at me, and I took the phone slowly, saying, "I already know the answer, but as usual, let Hu Ningning talk to me first. I need to know she's safe; otherwise, your game won't last long."
"Fine," the voice replied. "You have your rules; I have mine. Hu Ningning is fine right now. Listen closely."
In that moment, I heard Hu Ningning's voice.
"Repeat after me: The moonlight before my bed." I instructed.
Hu Ningning seemed a bit confused but followed along and repeated after me.
The fact that she could repeat my nonsensical line clearly indicated that Hu Ningning was conscious and had not been harmed; this conversation wasn't just a pre-recorded message.
Having confirmed this, I asked, "Alright, are you safe now?"
Hu Ningning cried out, "No, Uncle Police, please come save me!"
"Don't worry, we will definitely rescue you," I replied.
But at that moment, Hu Ningning's voice had gone silent. It seemed that the Murderer had covered her mouth again. The Murderer then spoke, "Now that you know Hu Ningning is safe, it's time for you to answer my question."
"How about I take a guess? I don't want to get it wrong," I said deliberately, trying to buy some time for Mary to pinpoint this person's exact location.
However, the Murderer lowered their voice and said, "I know your police tactics. I know you're tracking and locating me right now. I'll give you one minute. If you can't answer or if you answer incorrectly, then you'll have to collect Hu Ningning's body."
"Just imagine it—a little eight-year-old girl dying like this. You police should be held responsible. I've changed my mind; I'll only give you ten seconds. If you can't answer in that time, you'll be collecting Hu Ningning's body."
I frowned; it seemed my delay tactic had failed. I had no choice but to speak up. "Let us find another person. The answer is Liang Zhengkun, the brother of Liang Zhengyu, whom you killed. You killed Liang Zhengyu but didn't kill Liang Zhengkun, who you could have easily eliminated. This shows your subjective choice in murder."
The Murderer laughed heartily and said, "Very good, very good. You're quite clever for a police officer. The next game will be very interesting."
Hearing those words made me realize what was about to happen—another body would likely appear.
"What do you want to do?" I asked, glancing at Mary. At that moment, she shook her head at me. Without specialized equipment, it wasn't easy to locate someone using just a computer.
So I continued to stall. "You better back off. We have a pretty good idea of what you're planning. You have a grudge against Taishan Academy, so you've only targeted its students. But now Taishan Academy has implemented comprehensive defenses; how can you still capture anyone?"
"Release Hu Ningning now and leave this town—leave Dongxing City. Perhaps we will never catch you again, but if you stubbornly refuse to listen, you should know what your fate will be as someone who has attended high school and even college."
As I threatened the Murderer, I also left them an escape route; under such pressure, perhaps the Murderer would consider releasing her.
But it was clear that the Murderer wasn't falling for my ploy; they seemed quite composed. "Enough of this nonsense. I'm playing this game with you because I want you to get closer to the truth; otherwise, I could just kill someone and leave without any fuss. So here's your second hint."
"Go check Guo Li's house." With that, the Murderer hung up.
I frowned and looked at the School Leader.
The School Leader glanced at me and then at the others, looking somewhat awkward as he said, "Don't look at me; I have no idea what's going on either. I had everything arranged, but the Murderer clearly went to Guo Li's house to commit the crime. We can't exactly go to Guo Li's house to ensure their safety."
I pushed my food around in my bowl and spoke up, "Forget about that. Guo Li is most likely dead at the hands of the Murderer. We need to hurry and check it out."
Looking at the untouched dishes on the table, I swallowed hard and addressed everyone, "Let's go quickly to Guo Li's house and see what happened."
The School Leader provided us with Guo Li's address, and Gu Chen drove us there.
Guo Li's home wasn't far from the school; it would take just over ten minutes by car.
As I contemplated this distance in my mind, I recalled that the children finished school around eleven forty-five in the morning. Parents typically pick up their kids, and if they ride bicycles, it takes about thirty to forty minutes. This means Guo Li should have returned home around twelve-thirty. If Guo Li's parents went to work afterward, it was now around one-thirty, which meant the Murderer had roughly half an hour to act.
"Drive faster; the Murderer might still be escaping while making calls to us, which means they haven't gotten far!" I urged Gu Chen.
Gu Chen nodded and accelerated.
At the same time, I called Chen Bo and instructed him to temporarily set aside his work and investigate any traces of the criminal around Guo Li's house.
During his time as a police officer, Gu Chen had learned all forms of transportation, so driving was second nature to him. In less than ten minutes, he pulled up in front of Guo Li's house. The old building had no gated area, meaning the Murderer had many escape routes available.
I turned to the School Leader and said, "Keep an eye out for any suspicious individuals."
The School Leader looked at me and replied, "What am I supposed to do? Is the Murderer going to come back?"
I nodded seriously. "It's quite possible. Many Murderers return to the scene after committing a crime. In a case I encountered before, a Murderer blended into the crowd of onlookers after killing someone just to see how the police would react. We caught them on the spot."
Upon hearing this, the School Leader looked enlightened. He rubbed his balding head and said, "Alright then, I'll keep a close watch here and won't let any suspicious person slip by."
I nodded earnestly and said to the others, "Let's go!"
We exchanged glances, and without hesitation, Gu Chen kicked open Guo Li's front door. The moment he did so, I braced myself for the sight of a body that had been brutally murdered. However, when Gu Chen kicked open the door, we found the room inside empty—nothing was there at all.
This was just an ordinary family home. The plates and chopsticks on the tea table had not been cleared away, indicating that they had just finished eating and hadn't had much time. I walked over and touched the temperature of the dishes; in the summer heat, they were already quite cool.
"Let's check the other rooms," I said to Gu Chen and Mary. "We'll split up."
The three of us went to inspect different rooms, and I headed straight for the bathroom. My experience as an auxiliary police officer told me that if someone were to commit abuse or murder, the bathroom would be the best choice. There, the sound of running water could mask any noise, and it would be easier to clean up afterward.
However, when I entered the bathroom, it was completely empty. There was nothing inside, and the clean floor showed no signs that a crime had ever occurred there. I frowned and stepped back out. From this perspective, it seemed that the murderer did not possess extensive knowledge.
As I exited the bathroom, Gu Chen and Mary also emerged from their respective rooms. We exchanged glances, and from each other's expressions, we understood that neither of us had found anything significant.
Mary had checked the kitchen, while Gu Chen had gone into a bedroom. This suggested that Guo Li's body should be in the last room we hadn't examined yet. We looked at each other, and then both turned to me.
I nodded slowly and walked toward the door.
I glanced at both of them before suddenly flinging the door open.
Gu Chen rushed in first, but as we saw what was inside, we couldn't help but frown; it was all too strange.
I had considered many possibilities, but I never imagined this one.
"What happened here?" Gu Chen asked.
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