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墨書 Inktalez
As the first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the window and illuminated Yuan Jun's face, he heard a knock at the door. Glancing at the clock, he realized it was only five-thirty. Groggily, he climbed out of bed, hastily threw on some clothes, and headed to open the door.
Standing outside was Jiang He. Yuan Jun immediately noticed Jiang He's messy hair; it seemed he hadn't washed up yet, and he was still wearing the same clothes from the previous day, which also looked unwashed.
Upon seeing Yuan Jun, Jiang He spoke directly, "We need to head to South Bay right now. By around seven o'clock, everyone will be at work. If we want to find the person who left the note, we have to act now."
"Alright, just give me a moment to wash my face and brush my teeth," Yuan Jun replied.
But Jiang He simply grabbed Yuan Jun and said, "We're leaving now. Xu Yiman, Old Shao, and Guan Deng are already waiting."
Before Yuan Jun could fully process what was happening, he was pulled away by Jiang He.
When they reached downstairs, they saw three members of the task force next to a police car.
Xu Yiman joked, "Did you two come down looking like you just got out of a bird's nest?"
Yuan Jun sighed in exasperation, "Why didn’t you tell me earlier? With such tight timing, I didn’t even have time to tidy up."
Xu Yiman glanced at Jiang He. "I called Jiang He an hour in advance. I don’t have your number, so I asked him to let you know. Didn’t he tell you?"
Yuan Jun looked at Jiang He and then back at Xu Yiman. "Do you really think Jiang He would leave time for grooming?"
The five of them got into the car, with Xu Yiman driving this time. In the back seat, Yuan Jun felt drowsy; he had just returned from the capital and was exhausted from the long journey and participating in An Xiaofang's capture operation. Just as he was about to doze off, the car came to a stop—South Bay Street had arrived.
Guan Deng stayed in the car while the others got out.
Old Shao held Captain Liu's search report from yesterday. He had basically scoured all the single-story houses north of the dry well. The residents there were mostly farmers who had made a living from farming years ago. Later on, developers took an interest in South Bay and negotiated with the villagers of Nanwan Village to purchase their farmland.
The original location of these fields was east of that dry well but had now turned into a patch of red earth. Due to financial issues, the developers had not proceeded with any development for several years.
Captain Liu focused on these farmers because he believed that only households like theirs would possess Paraquat. Nowadays, city dwellers might not even know what Paraquat is; buying it for home use was also quite unrealistic.
As Captain Liu took over as the head of the criminal police team from Wang Chao, such reasoning was entirely logical. However, this contradicted the note; the person who wrote that note must have been educated.
Old Shao glanced around and spoke to the others, "The North Section of Nanwan Street is Nanwan Village. Most of the residents there are from South Bay Village. The residents of South Bay Village received a considerable amount of money and many have bought houses in the city, so there aren't many households living in Nanwan Village. Captain Liu has already investigated everything thoroughly yesterday and found no signs of the first scene."
Old Shao turned his head to look elsewhere. "So we don't need to investigate the north side anymore. The east side is an abandoned lot, and there were no footprints at the scene when it was discovered, so we don't need to consider that either. That leaves only the west side and the south. The west side consists of old buildings, an open area, six stories high, with no surveillance cameras or elevators, and a complex mix of residents with various occupations."
"South." Old Shao turned towards the south and pointed into the distance. "The south is a two-story building with a private courtyard. The developer originally planned to demolish that area, but due to disagreements among residents regarding compensation, it was never torn down. This area is close to the suburbs, and many people have moved away."
Then, Old Shao leaned down towards Guan Deng in the car and asked, "So what have you found regarding the resident information for the south?"
Guan Deng handed over a phone displaying a photo of a person along with their information.
Old Shao flipped through it; it was indeed personal information.
"Let's go!" said Old Shao.
Xu Yiman looked around and asked, "Are we going to the apartment building or the private courtyard?"
Old Shao pointed towards the south and said, "Considering Deng Xiangyu's cause of death—his arm was severed—if the murderer had the means to dismember him, there would be no reason to stop at just one arm. Moreover, moving a child's body down from that building wouldn't be an easy task given the mixed residents."
"The most important question is why Deng Xiangyu went upstairs with a stranger. Did he arrange to meet someone last minute or had he planned it all along? Guan Deng found out that Deng Xiangyu's last contact was An Xiaofang. And where did Deng Xiangyu's backpack go?" Old Shao posed two questions. "Therefore, I believe the first scene should be in the south. What do you think, Jiang He?"
As Jiang He walked towards the south, he replied, "I don't have any evidence yet, but there are many doubts that suggest Deng Xiangyu's death doesn't make sense logically. If I had to find a suitable explanation for these doubts, I would say he actually committed suicide. But I'm only fifty percent sure; this conclusion isn't very reliable."
"Suicide?" Xu Yiman interjected. "That seems possible."
Old Shao nodded in agreement. "Jiang He's speculation aligns with my feelings; I also believe Deng Xiangyu may have committed suicide."
"Suicide?" Yuan Jun shook his head. "That seems too illogical. How could he possibly cut off his own arm? Did he fear dying completely so he cut off his arm before drinking poison?"
"So this point is crucial."
After walking for about fifteen minutes, they arrived in front of the first building.
The courtyard wall stood at least three meters high, making it impossible to see inside from the outside. Each two-story building was spaced apart, meaning that from the second floor of one building, one could only vaguely see into the courtyard of another. Moreover, there was a roof over the southern part of the courtyard, obscuring any happenings below from view.
This architectural design added an air of mystery to the entire courtyard, making it suitable for those who preferred solitude and disliked being disturbed.
This aspect aligned perfectly with Old Shao's deductions.
Old Shao did not rush to investigate each household individually; instead, he led the group to wander around beside each building. As he strolled, he swiped through his phone screen with his finger, and the information of each homeowner flashed before his eyes. All the photos here featured men.
Old Shao moved quickly through the images, and Xu Yiman could barely make out the faces on the screen. However, Old Shao seemed thoroughly engrossed in what he was seeing.
Jiang He chose not to look at the photos because he did not believe that one could determine a person's guilt solely based on their appearance; to him, that was mere superstition. But for Old Shao, who was well-versed in psychology, this was not superstition but rather an accumulation of experience gained from years of solving cases—an experience often referred to as intuition.
At that moment, Jiang He noticed a tall water tower not far from the cluster of two-story buildings.
Old Shao continued walking while Jiang He also moved along, his eyes never leaving the water tower.
The water tower had been standing for a long time; its exterior had turned a rusty reddish-brown due to years of exposure to wind and sun. The tower stood about fifteen meters high. The adjacent ladder was missing a rung and hung about two meters above the ground, making it impossible for a child to climb up. Even for an adult, reaching the top would not be an easy task.
The tower was supported by solid metal structures. In addition to four vertical metal columns anchored to the ground, there were eight diagonal metal braces surrounding the tower to prevent it from tilting. The angle of these braces was approximately forty-five degrees, supporting the platform above them where several large metal water tanks rested.
Jiang He approached and stood next to one of the diagonal metal braces.
One side of the brace supported the platform of the water tower while the other side extended into the ground, buried deep enough that its depth was indiscernible but appeared quite sturdy. The brace was about two centimeters wide and covered in rust. Jiang He tapped on it and shook it slightly; it felt solid. It seemed that there was a layer of iron sheet on the outside protecting another type of metal inside from weathering.
Over many years, many sections of this iron sheet had developed holes; some had already fallen off while others protruded awkwardly, forming jagged pieces suspended in mid-air.
If any children played around here, they could easily get cut by these sharp metal edges if they weren't careful.
Jiang He walked over to one such piece of metal and gently placed his hand on it. Although thin, its edges were sharp enough to pose a danger. He looked up at the sky; at that moment, the sunlight wasn't glaring. Under this gentle light, he observed pieces of iron sheet fluttering in the air above him.
Jiang He felt a bit less confused in his heart, understanding that he had about eighty percent confidence in his guess.
"This is the place."
The two spoke in unison.
One was naturally Jiang He, and the other was Old Shao. However, their points of focus were different; one was looking at the tall water tower, while the other was gazing at a building directly facing it.
They stood back to back, yet both heard each other's voices.
"It seems we were right," Xu Yiman said. "Since both of you think this is the place, then it must be."
"We should go in..."
Old Shao's words were cut short when his phone rang.
When Old Shao finished the call, his expression turned grim.
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