Case Files 013

Chapter 132: Surprise

"Come on, let's go." I told the group. Guan Zhenglin shook her head, "How do you expect me to go meet people looking like this? I'll have to comb my hair and wash my face first. You guys can go first. The village is only so big, I'll soon catch up." I shrugged and asked, "Aren't we people too? Why don't you mind looking like that when you're with us?" Guan Zhenglin rolled her eyes as answer and walked back into her room.

Gu Chen chuckled as Guan Zhenglin walked away, "That means that she has seen us as family. Your brain is perfect when it comes to case analysis but how come it malfunctions when it has to do with anything else? Come on, let's go find the village head." I shook my head and pushed open the front door. Lee Danan's mouth hung open when he saw us. He probably was going to shout one more time. After a pause, he said, "Officers, the village head told me to come get you. The villagers have already started to gather at the front of the community centre. He told me to bring you there."

We walked all the way to the community centre. Someone had trekked out a path which was only wide enough to fit a person on the village roads. This reminded me of the idiom, when there's a will, there's a way. Along the way, we encountered other villagers heading to the same destination. Lee Danan explained, "Most of the villagers are already there."

We walked into the community centre and realized that the village head had really gathered everyone. The large yard was filled with people. We walked past them from the side. I saw clearly that most of the villagers were handicapped, the occasional healthy villagers stood in company of their handicapped friends or family. Then again, they only looked fine on the surface, they could be deaf, mute or blind for all we know. Before the crowd, a small stage had been built and the village head was currently on it. When he saw us, the village head called, "You're here. Come on up. These are almost all the villagers."

We walked up the ramp next to the stage. Standing up there, we could see every villager clearly. Some of them looked quite tired, this was too early a gathering for them; others were mumbling among themselves, questioning the purpose of this gathering. The village head produced a speaker. He tested the volume and then said with satisfaction, "Villagers of First Drain Village, please look around you. See if there's anyone missing. Please quiet down. See if there is anyone you know who is not here."

They obliged. Soon, someone said, "Ol' Xia is not here, I don't think."

"Everyone else is here?" The village head shouted, "Other than Ol' Xia, everyone else is here?"

"Yes." A few of them shouted. The village head put down the speaker and turned to tell us. "I've sent Ol' Xia to guard the villager's west entrance. Let me do a head count. Hmm yes, they're all here. These are all the population we have. I'll say a few words to keep them occupied while you take a good look at them." I nodded and started to scan the 300 plus people to see if anyone matched my criminal profile. Upon a cursory glance, there was none. Perhaps my profiling was wrong. I based my profile on the fact that the murder was a thrill killing, but if the murderer didn't act on that, then the whole profile would be wrong. But if it was not to satisfy a twisted need to kill, then the motive would be among the few common ones. From human being's basic needs, we could categorize the killing motives into several types: for passion, for love, for revenge, for money, for sex.

These were the most common killing motives. From the perspective of criminology, dismemberment after murder during crime of passion was rare; it would be even rarer for dismemberment to happen for the sake of money.

Then we were left with love, revenge and sex. These 3 motives were more serious than the other 2 because they were often premeditated. The killer would consider how to dispose of the body. So what was the motive here?

By then, the village head had almost reached the end of his a few words'. He raised the speaker into the air and waved. "Think about it, this devil is possibly hiding among us. I know our villagers will not do something like this but caution is a virtue. You have already seen and heard of the crimes committed." The village head continued, "The killer has done these offenses in broad daylight, we cannot be too careful! If the killer is really among the people here, please surrender yourself! Regardless of your motive and goal, please stop now!" The village head's voice was laced with pleas. "No matter the reason, no matter how justified, a murder cannot be sanctioned. We must uphold the law. You have to stop now!" I looked at the village head, and there appeared to be a hidden meaning behind his words. He sighed and then turned to look at me.

I leaned close to his ear to whisper, "I might have gotten it wrong earlier but I am sure that the culprit is one of the villagers. Perhaps there might even be more than one killer. In any case, we shouldn't push them too far. The snow has blocked all exits from this village, if the killers go berserk, I don't think a village filled with handicapped people will be able to stop them."

The village head stared at me for a while before turning back to the villagers, as if trying to find the killers among them. But everyone looked innocent, their expressions told us nothing. The hardest thing in this world to understand was the human heart. There is a Chinese idiom that suggests that one's looks is decided by one's emotions, I whole-heartedly disagree with that because certain people could look perfectly harmless, but they were the ones capable of the most despicable things.

The village head concluded, "I've told you everything you need to know. Justice always prevails. For example, that killer at Silver City, he has been a fugitive for 20 plus years but isn't he caught in the end? You might be able to escape from the police's detection for now." The village head said, "But could you escape from the judgement of your own conscience?" He waved his hands, "Meeting's adjourned."

After the villagers dispersed, the village head turned to us, "Since we can now confirm that the killer is among us, how about we check their places one by one? We've only seen a single arm and leg, the rest of the body must still be hidden at the killers' home."

I shook my head. "I still don't think it'll work. The killers won't be dumb enough to leave the body at somewhere conspicuous. Plus doing such a search would be us basically telling the killers that we have no evidence. That won't help us. Furthermore," I continued, "The biggest danger is that we might scare the killers from dumping the rest of the body. It would make our trail run cold. You've said it yourself. The rest of the body is still missing. If we continue to wait, I believe they will eventually show up."

Gu Chen cursed, "Fuck, is that the surprise that the killers are planning for us?"

When Guan Zhenglin found us, the villagers had already left. At around 11 am, the officer who came for the evidence finally arrived. Based on the fatigue on his face, he must have had a long and arduous journey. The officer said, "The road nearby has been sealed off by the snow. My vehicle could only reach the main road. It was another 4 hours of walking before I could reach here. I departed at 7 in the morning but I only got here now. I'll have to return earlier in the afternoon, I don't want to be stuck in the wilds at night. By the way, where is the evidence you wish to give me?"

The village head said, "Officer, that must have been quite a journey. You should come to my place to rest, and depart after having lunch." The village head also invited us to join him. Guan Zhenglin handed the evidence over to the officer one by one and told him what to do with each. The officer took out his note and jotted down everything. When the official business was done, it was 12 noon, perfect time for lunch. The village head's wife served us a large pot of dumplings and several small dishes. It smelled delectable.

The village head smiled. "My wife is a great cook. Please, don't be shy."

The young officer looked so hungry. He picked up a dumpling, dipped it in sauce and put it in his mouth. He praised, "This is delicious. What kind of filling is it?"

The village head's wife said, "Is it? I'm glad to hear it. I only cooked the dishes, the dumplings were a gift from one of the villagers. When I woke up this morning, someone left a bowl of dumplings on our doorsteps. I believe it's one of the neighbours who left it for us, knowing that we're going to have guests. The villagers here are all friendly like that."

The rest of us also picked a dumpling each. It was as delicious as the young officer claimed. But we too had no idea what kind of filling it was. We had never tasted this kind of meat before. The young officer picked up another but after a few chews, he spat it out.

"What's wrong?" The lady of the house asked anxiously. "Has that one gone bad?"

The young officer shook his head as he used the chopsticks to peel back the dumpling skin. "It's not that. The texture of this one is just not right." The rest of us looked into the exposed filling and it took the breath away from us.