Case Files 013

Chapter 131: Bloody Message

I felt quite regretful coaxing Chief Zhou to make this call, after all, this was between the two of them and outsiders like us had no right to meddle. Chief Zhou must have his reason to stay unmarried after 40 so who were we to judge? After the light was switched off, darkness descended immediately. Thankfully, the embers of the coal were still burning and they brought warmth to the room. In the dark, Chief Zhou's words slowly drifted into our ears. "Actually you are right, it's late for a man to get married over 40. Back in my days, the government promoted the one child policy but now they encourage families to have more children." His tone was laced with sadness, "As a police officer, I've somehow lagged behind the country's footsteps. Honestly, I've considered marriage but how can I put this? Every family has their own problem. Funnily enough, the village that I came from is even poorer than this village." His tone slowed. "When I exited the village, I didn't know anything. You have no idea what I've been through from the days patrolling the streets until now I'm the leading chief of a city unit. But after so many years, I can honestly say that I love this job of mine." After a pause, he asked, "I wonder if you guys feel the same way."

In the dark, I couldn't see Chief Zhou's expression but his words resonated with me, a person could lay down their lives for the job they loved, it was especially true in this line of work. Unfortunately, I would never be a police officer. I was always a back-up, the kind which could be kicked out at any moment. But before I could answer, Chief Zhou continued, "Sorry, I digress but I do hope I can be at this job forever. My uncle passed away when he was young and left behind 2 children, a boy and a girl. Now they are attending high school, I'm paying for their tuition."

The two of us still didn't speak. Chief Zhou sighed as he turned in bed. "When he was still alive, my uncle used all of his savings to send me to school. He was supposed to use them to buy a house. 20 years ago, do you know how much 30000 RMB was worth? Therefore, my cousins are my brothers and sisters." As he talked about his family, his mood lightened, "Thankfully, they are good kids. They're good at studies and have hope of getting into good universities. Nowadays, you have to have a house and a car to get married, but look at me. I'm a bachelor in my 40s with no assets under my name, who would marry me?" Chief Zhou's words came out haltingly. They were leaden with helplessness. As a young man in his 20s, I couldn't say I identify with him, but after spending months working with him, I could say that Chief Zhou was a responsible man and would be a good husband. But in this realistic society, even if the girl was willing to marry Chief Zhou, her family probably would intervene and Chief Zhou wouldn't have the heart to force the girl to suffer with him. After all, sending his siblings to university would be another big expense.

"I guess this will be my life." That was the conclusion of his life. After saying that, Chief Zhou became silent. Even today, Chief Zhou's statement would often appear in my mind.

Gu Chen and I didn't utter a word, as if we could pretend to not hear anything if we didn't answer; as if we could forget that Chief Zhou was this helpless middle-aged man instead of the funny and optimistic officer that everyone liked to work with. No one but the wind made a sound. This was a night which could freeze a person's soul.

Early the next morning, I pulled back the curtain and looked out. It was white everywhere, snow had once again covered everything. I was slightly worried. If the killer chose to dump the body yesterday night, all trace would be gone by now. I also pitied the officer who would have to come from Elm Town to gather our collected evidence. He would have to trek through quite a bit of snow to get here. Suddenly I was reminded of Chief Zhou's car. It was probably buried under deep snow now.

Putting on clothes in deep winter should be considered a form of torture. Chief Zhou was already awake and had even reignited the coals in the stove for us. Sadly, the warmth of the stove couldn't rival an electrical heater. I walked out from the room and heard Chief Zhou shovelling snow in the outer yard. The snow from the night before had swallowed our Siheyuan. Our Siheyuan was laid out in such a way that beyond the inner courtyard, there was another small stretch of outer yard before we would reach the front door.

I shouted at Guan Zhenglin's room. "Hey! Guan Zhenglin, the sun is already up, how can you still be in bed? Who is going to marry you in the future if you're so lazy? If you don't come out soon, I'll throw snowballs into your room!"

Moments later, I could hear her growl back, "Have you lost your mind, it's only 7 in the morning! And what does it have to do with you if I'm married or not, I'm not going to marry you anyway! If you dare to throw any snowballs into my room, I'll chop you into minced meat! Try me!" Hearing her voice, I felt better. By then Chief Zhou had finished shovelling away the snow, clearing the way from the front door to the inner courtyard.

As I walked out the courtyard door, I was shocked by what I saw. On the grey brick wall facing our courtyard door, someone had written with some kind of red substanceI will give you a surprise.

Chief Zhou chuckled, "Wu Meng, I didn't expect you to be such an early riser. But if you keep making those jokes about Guan Zhenglin, I fear she'll really one day kill you." Chief Zhou clearly didn't see the message. I remembered that this message wasn't on the wall when we moved into this Siheyuan yesterday. I told Chief Zhou, "Chief Zhou, look at that." He turned to follow the direction I was pointing. Then he stood there, completely flummoxed. Right then, Gu Chen walked out, having just dressed. He noticed the two of us staring and he followed our gaze. He recited the message word by word, "I will give you a surprise."

Chief Zhou uttered, "Who could be behind this?"

I had a bad feeling in my heart, I rushed back into the yard and shouted, "Guan Zhenglin, come out now, you need to see this!" She shouted back, "Stop rushing! What's so important?" She pulled back the thick curtains and walked out, grumbling impatiently, "What is it?"

Seeing her, I knew why it had taken her so long. Unlike Gu Chen and myself, girls needed time to prepare themselves before they would leave the door. "I need you to look out the courtyard door." I told her.

"I will give you a surprise?" She said.

There was no footprint on the ground so the message was written the night before. The winds were so loud that it had silenced all the other sounds. If someone had pushed open the front door and walked into the Siheyuan compound, we would be none the wiser. Furthermore, it was snowing so heavily that there was probably no one on the village streets. In that case, the chance of the killer being one of the villagers had increased drastically. We hurried forward to inspect the stains on the wall. Based on the width of the characters, they were written using a brush. The handwriting was uneven so the person probably wrote with the hand they didn't normally use. Some of the snowflakes had stuck onto the characters and became a red slush.

Guan Zhenglin said, "Wait a minute, I'll be back!" She hurried back into her room and came back wearing her gloves. She rubbed her fingers against the liquid on the wall, studied it before giving it a quick sniff. Then she announced with a severe look, "There is a light bloody smell. Based on observation, this is most likely human blood. They probably came from the same person."

When I heard that, I thought, Has the killer lost their mind? They came to taunt us knowing we're staying to investigate the case? But if that's true, this action doesn't fit my criminal profile. What is this killer or killers really up to?'

Gu Chen cursed, "This killer has clearly underestimated us. They knew that we're staying here and wrote this to taunt us." Chief Zhou frowned as he studied the message, "But why would they do that? And what could this surprise be?"

I shook my head, "This case has gotten a lot more complicated, I can't even tell what the killer is after anymore. What if the killer didn't dismember the body for the thrill, could there be other possibilities?"

"Other possibilities?" The rest of the group asked. I pulled on my head and explained, "Yes, I believe there is another story here. But I can't confirm it yet." The message written in human blood was oppressive and suffocating. The clouds were dark and low. The sun barely shone through. The whole world felt dark, and it reflected in our hearts. I couldn't help but comment, "In this season, things are either black or white. If I have to spend my whole life in this kind of colorless world, I'll probably lose my mind."

"Is that so?" Chief Zhou said under his breath.

"So what now?" Gu Chen asked.

I shrugged. "We should go and find the village head. Perhaps we might find something after all the villagers have been gathered." Just as I said that, we heard Lee Danan scream from the front door. "Officers, the village head has sent me to wake you. The villagers are already gathering. Officers, the village head has sent me"