As Miao Ying poured a cup of soybean milk for herself, she pouted as she asked, “Zhao Yu, what are you giggling about? You are ruining my appetite!”
“Team Leader… Do you have something on your mind? Would you like to share it with us?” Zeng Ke asked.
Zhao Yu shook his head helplessly, then said, “No. It’s nothing. It’s actually something pretty ridiculous! By the way, Zeng Ke, which school did Han Kuan attend? Is it in another city? I remember vaguely something like that when I read his information.”
As Wu Xiumin was very familiar with Han Kuan’s background, she answered him immediately, “Yes! His parents are long-time employees of an oil company, so Han Kuan got an opportunity to study in an oil school at Yaoming after he graduated from middle school. It was a 5 year program, after which he would be guaranteed a job and a vocational technician certificate. However, immediately after Han Kuan came back, he resigned from the oil company.”
Wu Xiumin then added, “It is said that he did so because his first novel was being published and he wanted to become a full-time writer. Because of that decision, he had argued with his parents! But, since he had already made the decision, his parents couldn’t stop him!”
“Yaoming… Yaoming…” Zhao Yu repeated in a murmur as he thought about this information carefully. “Yaoming is in the Tongjiang Province, and that’s still too far from Beiqian…”
Hearing this, Miao Ying spit out the soymilk that she had just drunk. Zeng Ke was also startled, and his body shook suddenly.
Wu Xiumin then frowned and asked, “Team Leader, why did you think of Beiqian?”
“Zhao Yu…” Miao Ying coughed, then asked in shock, “Are you crazy? You are not thinking about the Devil Case, are you?”
After Miao Ying spoke, everyone looked at Zhao Yu with a mixture of shock and confusion.
“Um… It was just a sudden and passing thought! Just ignore me… Ha ha…” Zhao Yu shook his head helplessly, immediately feeling like a fool.
He then shook his head and wondered… What’s wrong with me? Why did I just have such an absurd idea?
Unexpectedly, after thinking a bit more on Zhao Yu’s words, Miao Ying suddenly asked, “The victims of the Devil Case were all found in abandoned buildings, right? Zhao Yu, do you mean to say that the two cases have something in common in terms of the crime scenes? If so, it’s no wonder that you had such a bad look on your face just now!”
“Team Leader…” Wu Xiumin then shook her head and said, “Han Kuan came back to the Golden City after graduation, but Yaoming and Beiqian are 1,400 km away from each other! Hence, there is no way that he could have had anything to do with the Devil Case.”
“Hmm…” Zhao Yu nodded and looked sullen, as she had a logical point.
Miao Ying then thought of something else and turned to Zhao Yu in a hurry and asked, “Zhao Yu, do you remember that… In the Devil Case… There was an abandoned swimming pool?”
Zhao Yu also recalled this very thing, and he immediately clapped his thighs and exclaimed, “Yes! So, when I first heard that the victim was drowned in an abandoned swimming pool instead of a river, I thought of something similar! Is it just a coincidence… What do you think?”
“The Devil case materials are in your suitcase still, I suppose?” Miao Ying looked around, shrugged her shoulders, then said, “I do remember that one of the victims in the Devil Case fell from a building and died. Although the victim didn’t fall into the pool directly, there was an abandoned swimming pool nearby, where the grass grew tall because the pool area had not used by anyone for many years.”
“Yes, I remember that too!” Zhao Yu nodded, then said, “And… In the Devil Case, all of the victims fell from abandoned buildings and died! I remember that I saw the photos from the death scenes. That’s why, after reading 11 Kills, I had the feeling that I had seen such things before! I also thought about the ghost city of Qinshan, but now, I’m sure it’s the Devil Case that is the correlation!”
“But… But…” Zeng Ke shook his head, then said, “A swimming pool alone is not convincing enough evidence. Team Leader, I think you are going too far! Do you actually believe that Han Kuan is the murderer from the Devil Case?”
Wu Xiumin nodded, then said, “Yes, he’s right, as just sketches can’t prove that much about these two cases. If there is such a coincidence in the world, and it occurs to us… Um… I’m afraid the probability is less than one in a billion that it is correct!”
After Wu Xiumin finished speaking, the team fell silent. They all looked at each other for quite some time, none of them speaking.
Everyone was thinking about this almost impossible possibility. Although they hadn’t reached a unanimous agreement, they all felt a sudden sense of nervousness overwhelming them.
“Um… Okay…” Zhao Yu said as he waved his hand. “I’d better take a closer look at the information that I have for now. In the meantime, you guys don’t think too much about the Devil Case.”
Zeng Ke quickly nodded his head, then said, “Well… Leader, Ran Tao, and Cui Lizhu went to the detention center to sign Xie Tongguo’s documents. They said that on the way back, they learned some news from the driving school. They said that Zhang Jingru had wanted to learn to drive before she died, so she had reached out to several driving schools. If she had actually made a decision to kill herself, why would she have gone to the trouble of signing up to learn how to drive right before she died?”
Miao Ying suddenly spoke earnestly, completely ignoring what Zeng Ke had just said, “No! The 11 Kills case and the Devil Case seem to be more than similar in terms of the crime scenes. Maybe they really do have some connections! Even if Han Kuan has never been to Beiqian and is not the murderer from the Devil Case… Would it be possible for him to still know something about the case?”
Zhao Yu interrupted her and said, “Meow, listen… Let’s find the evidence for Han Kuan’s case first. We are thinking too much about other cases right now. In fact, this was really just a random thought I had. I’m definitely not too serious about it.”
“Yes, Leader Miao…” Zeng Ke added, “What looks like the truth may always be the truth! We are all professionals, so we should know that there is no obvious evidence to prove that Han Kuan and the Devil Case are related to each other at all.”
Zhao Yu then interjected, “But… The yellow notebook says that the investigators suspected that there was more than one murderer in the Devil Case, as nine victims died within a very short time period. Such a large amount of murders would be hard for only one murderer to commit on his own! As such, I feel that we can really gain some insights from Han Kuan’s sketches.”
“Team Leader… What’s wrong with you? You are thinking of these things again?” Zeng Ke asked, clearly a bit concerned.
“If Han Kuan really had something to do with the Devil Case and Zhang Jingru happened to discover his secret…” Miao Ying said, her eyes wide.
As she spoke, the office once again became completely silent. After a while, Zhao Yu went over to Miao Ying, squinted at her, and said, “Honey, although this sounds impossible, I can verify it!”
“How? Do you really have a way to do so?” Miao Ying’s eyes lit up at the thought.
Zhao Yu then said, “Cui Lizhu is right! We need to use her stone theory again! This time… I’ll be the stone!”
As Miao Ying poured a cup of soybean milk for herself, she pouted as she asked, “Zhao Yu, what are you giggling about? You are ruining my appetite!”
“Team Leader… Do you have something on your mind? Would you like to share it with us?” Zeng Ke asked.
Zhao Yu shook his head helplessly, then said, “No. It’s nothing. It’s actually something pretty ridiculous! By the way, Zeng Ke, which school did Han Kuan attend? Is it in another city? I remember vaguely something like that when I read his information.”
As Wu Xiumin was very familiar with Han Kuan’s background, she answered him immediately, “Yes! His parents are long-time employees of an oil company, so Han Kuan got an opportunity to study in an oil school at Yaoming after he graduated from middle school. It was a 5 year program, after which he would be guaranteed a job and a vocational technician certificate. However, immediately after Han Kuan came back, he resigned from the oil company.”
Wu Xiumin then added, “It is said that he did so because his first novel was being published and he wanted to become a full-time writer. Because of that decision, he had argued with his parents! But, since he had already made the decision, his parents couldn’t stop him!”
“Yaoming… Yaoming…” Zhao Yu repeated in a murmur as he thought about this information carefully. “Yaoming is in the Tongjiang Province, and that’s still too far from Beiqian…”
Hearing this, Miao Ying spit out the soymilk that she had just drunk. Zeng Ke was also startled, and his body shook suddenly.
Wu Xiumin then frowned and asked, “Team Leader, why did you think of Beiqian?”
“Zhao Yu…” Miao Ying coughed, then asked in shock, “Are you crazy? You are not thinking about the Devil Case, are you?”
After Miao Ying spoke, everyone looked at Zhao Yu with a mixture of shock and confusion.
“Um… It was just a sudden and passing thought! Just ignore me… Ha ha…” Zhao Yu shook his head helplessly, immediately feeling like a fool.
He then shook his head and wondered… What’s wrong with me? Why did I just have such an absurd idea?
Unexpectedly, after thinking a bit more on Zhao Yu’s words, Miao Ying suddenly asked, “The victims of the Devil Case were all found in abandoned buildings, right? Zhao Yu, do you mean to say that the two cases have something in common in terms of the crime scenes? If so, it’s no wonder that you had such a bad look on your face just now!”
“Team Leader…” Wu Xiumin then shook her head and said, “Han Kuan came back to the Golden City after graduation, but Yaoming and Beiqian are 1,400 km away from each other! Hence, there is no way that he could have had anything to do with the Devil Case.”
“Hmm…” Zhao Yu nodded and looked sullen, as she had a logical point.
Miao Ying then thought of something else and turned to Zhao Yu in a hurry and asked, “Zhao Yu, do you remember that… In the Devil Case… There was an abandoned swimming pool?”
Zhao Yu also recalled this very thing, and he immediately clapped his thighs and exclaimed, “Yes! So, when I first heard that the victim was drowned in an abandoned swimming pool instead of a river, I thought of something similar! Is it just a coincidence… What do you think?”
“The Devil case materials are in your suitcase still, I suppose?” Miao Ying looked around, shrugged her shoulders, then said, “I do remember that one of the victims in the Devil Case fell from a building and died. Although the victim didn’t fall into the pool directly, there was an abandoned swimming pool nearby, where the grass grew tall because the pool area had not used by anyone for many years.”
“Yes, I remember that too!” Zhao Yu nodded, then said, “And… In the Devil Case, all of the victims fell from abandoned buildings and died! I remember that I saw the photos from the death scenes. That’s why, after reading 11 Kills, I had the feeling that I had seen such things before! I also thought about the ghost city of Qinshan, but now, I’m sure it’s the Devil Case that is the correlation!”
“But… But…” Zeng Ke shook his head, then said, “A swimming pool alone is not convincing enough evidence. Team Leader, I think you are going too far! Do you actually believe that Han Kuan is the murderer from the Devil Case?”
Wu Xiumin nodded, then said, “Yes, he’s right, as just sketches can’t prove that much about these two cases. If there is such a coincidence in the world, and it occurs to us… Um… I’m afraid the probability is less than one in a billion that it is correct!”
After Wu Xiumin finished speaking, the team fell silent. They all looked at each other for quite some time, none of them speaking.
Everyone was thinking about this almost impossible possibility. Although they hadn’t reached a unanimous agreement, they all felt a sudden sense of nervousness overwhelming them.
“Um… Okay…” Zhao Yu said as he waved his hand. “I’d better take a closer look at the information that I have for now. In the meantime, you guys don’t think too much about the Devil Case.”
Zeng Ke quickly nodded his head, then said, “Well… Leader, Ran Tao, and Cui Lizhu went to the detention center to sign Xie Tongguo’s documents. They said that on the way back, they learned some news from the driving school. They said that Zhang Jingru had wanted to learn to drive before she died, so she had reached out to several driving schools. If she had actually made a decision to kill herself, why would she have gone to the trouble of signing up to learn how to drive right before she died?”
Miao Ying suddenly spoke earnestly, completely ignoring what Zeng Ke had just said, “No! The 11 Kills case and the Devil Case seem to be more than similar in terms of the crime scenes. Maybe they really do have some connections! Even if Han Kuan has never been to Beiqian and is not the murderer from the Devil Case… Would it be possible for him to still know something about the case?”
Zhao Yu interrupted her and said, “Meow, listen… Let’s find the evidence for Han Kuan’s case first. We are thinking too much about other cases right now. In fact, this was really just a random thought I had. I’m definitely not too serious about it.”
“Yes, Leader Miao…” Zeng Ke added, “What looks like the truth may always be the truth! We are all professionals, so we should know that there is no obvious evidence to prove that Han Kuan and the Devil Case are related to each other at all.”
Zhao Yu then interjected, “But… The yellow notebook says that the investigators suspected that there was more than one murderer in the Devil Case, as nine victims died within a very short time period. Such a large amount of murders would be hard for only one murderer to commit on his own! As such, I feel that we can really gain some insights from Han Kuan’s sketches.”
“Team Leader… What’s wrong with you? You are thinking of these things again?” Zeng Ke asked, clearly a bit concerned.
“If Han Kuan really had something to do with the Devil Case and Zhang Jingru happened to discover his secret…” Miao Ying said, her eyes wide.
As she spoke, the office once again became completely silent. After a while, Zhao Yu went over to Miao Ying, squinted at her, and said, “Honey, although this sounds impossible, I can verify it!”
“How? Do you really have a way to do so?” Miao Ying’s eyes lit up at the thought.
Zhao Yu then said, “Cui Lizhu is right! We need to use her stone theory again! This time… I’ll be the stone!”
