The doodle Wu Zhan mentioned was on the outward-facing side of the warehouse wall. There were many scribbles on the wall, and the cicada did not stand out, but it was the only one that had been drawn recently.
Wu Zhan placed the photograph taken beside the table-tennis shelter next to the cicada image and sighed. “Old Zheng said I was under too much pressure and that was why I was making this association, but I still couldn’t let it go. Later I even asked experts to compare them. They said the drawing styles were different. The cicada was clearly done in a more mature hand than the dragonfly.”
Chen Zheng said, “So much time passed between them. It wouldn’t be strange for someone’s style to change or their drawing to improve.”
Wu Zhan stared at him. “You agree with my theory?”
Chen Zheng shook his head. “Director Wu, I can’t give you an answer right now. But your reasoning does make some sense.”
Wu Zhan said, “Add this ant, and I’m afraid it may be more than just reasonable.”
In the photograph, the ant sat brazenly on the pillar, which stood on the only route to the murder scene. It almost looked as though the ant were peeking out from behind the pillar, spying on the brutal killings that had taken place there.
If the dragonfly looked like a child’s crude hand, then the later cicada and ant were more realistic and mature, the style of an adult.
“If Xue Chenwen wasn’t the killer, then who was he willing to die for?” Ming Han, who had been silent, finally spoke. “Can we find any connection between the two students who died back then, the workers killed two years ago, and Luo Yingqiang and Zhang Yinan now?”
“The Nanxi Middle School case is too old, and Xue Chenwen already confessed, so set that aside for now. But Kong Chunxiang and Zhong Lishan really do have a connection to Luo Yingqiang.” Chen Zheng turned to a page in the file and tapped it with his finger. “The construction site where they worked was part of Huishan Mall, and Yingqiang Group was one of the investors. I just checked Huishan Mall’s current status. It opened at the beginning of this year and is operating well. With the advantage of subway access, it quickly built up foot traffic. Compared with Shanwen Center, where this current case happened, they’re worlds apart. The deaths of those two workers apparently didn’t hinder its development at all, and the public didn’t care.”
Wu Zhan looked grim as he recalled the case. “We could never find a reason those two men were killed. They were too ordinary. The petty disputes around them were hard to imagine escalating to murder. It was almost as if, alive or dead, they barely mattered to anyone else. The investigation affected the construction schedule, but we couldn’t keep the site sealed forever. Before long, work resumed, and nothing else went wrong during the later construction.”
“Then if we combine that with the current case, could the killer’s real target have been Luo Yingqiang?” Perhaps the coffee-and-tea mixture was taking effect, because Chen Zheng’s mind felt exceptionally clear. “Maybe the killer didn’t want Huishan Mall built. Or maybe whether the mall existed at all didn’t matter to him. He just didn’t want Luo Yingqiang making a fortune from it?”
“He thought killing two workers would provoke public outrage and force construction to stop. For a project like that, every day of delay costs the investors a substantial amount. He also thought that if something terrible happened during construction, people would still be wary of the mall even after it opened, hurting its popularity.”
“But that failed. Luo Yingqiang and the other investors controlled the media narrative, the case never gained wider traction, and the mall not only opened smoothly but made a great deal of money. That enraged him, and eventually he aimed directly at Luo Yingqiang.”
“But if he wanted to use the workers’ deaths to damage the project, why dump their bodies at a stationery factory?” Ming Han said. “Wouldn’t leaving them at the construction site have been better? If the site itself was too risky, he could have left them nearby. That whole area was under development back then, management was chaotic, and people were hard to keep track of. Any of that would have been easier than transporting the bodies to the stationery factory.”
Chen Zheng met Ming Han’s eyes and let out a quiet breath. “You’re right. I overlooked that.”
After a brief silence, Wu Zhan said, “The Nanxi Middle School case is unusual. For now, I don’t plan to drag Major Crimes into it. Luo Yingqiang’s case is already giving Cheng Cu enough trouble. After talking this through with you two today, I have a better sense of things. Investigate however you need to. If the trail you’re following requires my help, I’ll do everything I can.”
Ming Han said, “Director Wu, requesting permission to stay in your office a little longer.”
Wu Zhan looked surprised. “Hmm?”
Ming Han pulled a smile. “I drank your yuenyeung milk tea, so now I’m wide awake. I want to look through the Nanxi Middle School case again. You know, back then I was only a student. I told you everything I knew, but you never told me what you found.”
After Wu Zhan left, Chen Zheng sat beside Ming Han. After a long while he said, “Even if Xue Chenwen wasn’t the killer, you don’t need to blame yourself.”
Ming Han turned his head. “Hmm?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. Ever since you found out that case might have problems, you’ve been off.” Chen Zheng suddenly gripped the back of Ming Han’s neck, forcing him to look over. “You think you’re responsible.”
There was pressure in Chen Zheng’s fingers. He was not using much force, but Ming Han still shivered for an instant.
“You were just a brat back then. All you did was give the police a lead. Even if everyone else was wrong, you weren’t.” Chen Zheng said, “So stop piling more weight onto yourself. Think about Liu Pinchao, who’s still missing. Think about Heaven-Measuring Ruler. You already have enough on your shoulders.” He finished by patting Ming Han on the shoulder.
Ming Han laughed. “Brushing dust off me?”
“Call it that.” Chen Zheng took the case file. “I can’t sleep either. Let me see.”
Nothing in the Nanxi Middle School case file looked obviously flawed. The words and data were cold. In the end, the reason Wu Zhan could not let go of the case was not the dragonfly doodle he had happened to notice, but the feeling he had developed while dealing with Xue Chenwen: that Xue Chenwen was not a murderous monster.
Instinct was not something that appeared in a case file.
Chen Zheng yawned and got up to stretch. Ming Han’s eyes had not moved, as if he were thinking through something. Chen Zheng walked over and closed the file. “That’s enough. Let’s go back and rest. Tomorrow we still have…”
“Lou Xiaoguo.” Ming Han suddenly looked up into Chen Zheng’s eyes.
Chen Zheng stared. “What?”
Ming Han immediately grabbed the file and opened it again. “Back then the police screened a huge number of students. These are their statements. This student is Lou Xiaoguo. Isn’t he Zhang Yinan’s little boyfriend?”
Chen Zheng sat down again and carefully read the section Ming Han was pointing at.
Lou Xiaoguo’s statement was unremarkable. He had little connection to the victims, who at the time were still only missing students. Although they were in the same grade, they were not in the same class and rarely interacted. Early in the investigation, police had asked whether he had spoken with Li Shuxing or Ping Yiyi and whether he had seen them on the day they disappeared. His answers were much like everyone else’s. He had not seen them and did not know where they had gone.
“So he went to the same school as you.” Chen Zheng said, “You didn’t recognize him at all when you met him the day before yesterday?”
Ming Han leaned back into the sofa and folded his arms. “Now that I think about it, it’s not like I had zero impression of him. He was pretty well known at Nanxi.”
“Hmm?” Chen Zheng said. “Because he looked like a girl?”
Ming Han shook his head. “You think he was a ‘fake girl’ since he was a kid? No. At least in middle school he was perfectly ordinary. He was incredibly fast. Every sports meet, he took first in the sprint.”
Chen Zheng thought about how Lou Xiaoguo looked now. He seemed delicate, but he had long arms and legs. His natural athletic build really was good.
“This guy is Zhang Yinan’s boyfriend, and his boyfriend just happened to be working as a rent boy for Luo Yingqiang.” Ming Han thought aloud. “How did all these people end up clustered together?”
Chen Zheng’s view was more objective. Lou Xiaoguo had attended Nanxi Middle School and had once been questioned because of the old case. At first glance that did seem interesting, but on closer thought the coincidence did not deserve too much weight. If they treated every oddity as equally important, they could easily miss the real lead.
Chen Zheng tapped Ming Han on the head. “We’re leaving. Director Wu never said we could sleep here.”
“True.” Ming Han followed Chen Zheng out and closed the door. As they walked down the empty corridor, Chen Zheng suddenly said, “You were the one who looked like a ‘fake girl’ back then.”
Ming Han froze, then immediately realized Chen Zheng was joking to ease the tension of the night. “So you like long hair. Fine. Starting now, I’m never cutting mine again.”
“I didn’t…” Chen Zheng started to protest, but Ming Han had already walked ahead of him, not giving him a chance to explain. “Settled, then. Let me see what kinds of cute hair clips there are. I’m growing a little-girl haircut…”
On December 15, the investigation expanded on every front.
Ming Han returned to Huaili Town. Chen Zheng had planned to see Lou Xiaoguo, not because of the Nanxi Middle School case, but because as Zhang Yinan’s boyfriend he was already an important person to investigate. They had only postponed it because Lou Xiaoguo had emotionally collapsed the day before and could not answer questions.
Before Chen Zheng could even leave the municipal bureau, however, he received two pieces of news. Luo Yingqiang’s first secretary, Zhao Zhi, was supposed to return to Nanshan City that day to cooperate with the investigation, but after arriving before dawn, he disappeared. Meanwhile, Yingqiang Group vice president Li Sifeng had attempted suicide at home that morning. He had been taken to the hospital, and whether he would survive was still unknown.
“Li Sifeng is basically dead weight in Yingqiang Group now. He has the title of vice president but doesn’t actually manage anything. Luo Yingqiang only calls him in to state a position when there’s a meeting and some decision needs to be made.” Cheng Cu had already reached the hospital and had just met Li Sifeng’s family. He was on the terrace speaking to Chen Zheng by phone. “I saw him yesterday. Ask him anything about Luo Yingqiang and he knew nothing. Who would’ve thought he’d try to kill himself today?”
Chen Zheng was flipping through the investigation notes. Li Sifeng was a Nanshan City native from a wealthy family. Back when Luo Yingqiang sold fried rice, Li Sifeng and his wife ran a company nearby and often supported Luo’s business. Later, when Luo Yingqiang entered the vegetable trade, Li Sifeng invested a large sum of money.
After Luo Yingqiang became successful, he never abandoned Li Sifeng. He made him the manager responsible for fresh produce in one of the supermarkets. As Luo Yingqiang’s business grew, Li Sifeng’s position rose with it. In recent years, perhaps out of gratitude for Li Sifeng’s early support, Luo Yingqiang let him sit in a high position at Yingqiang Group and draw a substantial salary without doing much of anything.
“Luo Yingqiang wasn’t the kind of man who shared prosperity with others.” Chen Zheng suddenly said, “Li Sifeng merely supported his business and invested in him, yet Luo Yingqiang was this ‘grateful.’ With Yingqiang Group having grown to its current size, Luo Yingqiang must have met more than one ‘Li Sifeng.’ So where did the others go?”
Cheng Cu said, “You mean Li Sifeng only looks useless, but in reality he helped Luo Yingqiang do the dirty work. Now Luo Yingqiang is dead, Li knows he finally can’t get away, so…”
“There’s another possibility,” Chen Zheng said. “He was simply the most obedient one, which is why he was still allowed to stay under Luo Yingqiang’s eye after all these years.”
Cheng Cu slammed a fist into the wall. “He has Luo Yingqiang’s secrets. If they can’t save him, we’re in trouble. And then there’s Zhao Zhi, vanishing out of nowhere. Zhao Zhi was Luo Yingqiang’s first secretary and stayed beside him the longest. He definitely knows things the other secretaries don’t. If he ran, or hid somewhere and killed himself, that’ll be even worse.”
“Captain Cheng, I was just about to talk to you about Zhao Zhi.” Chen Zheng’s tone turned serious. “Zhao Zhi may not have run away, and he may not be trying to kill himself. I want to go to his home.”
“Hmm? Bro Chen, what did you find?” Cheng Cu asked.
“When Luo Yingqiang was murdered, Zhao Zhi was on a business trip in Country K. He was Luo Yingqiang’s most trusted secretary and the one who had been beside him the longest. At his level, he would have known Luo Yingqiang was dead before we ever contacted him, and he may even have known how Luo died. If he intended to run, he could simply have stayed away once he received notice to cooperate with the investigation. He was already in Country K. If he truly went off-grid there, there wouldn’t be much we could do.” Chen Zheng continued, “Instead, his first reaction was to return, and by last night he was already in Nanshan City. Running away right under the police’s nose would make little sense. The same goes for suicide. There’d be no reason to travel back and forth first. So I suspect there’s something he absolutely has to do.”
Cheng Cu said, “For example, destroying evidence that could incriminate him? Then once that’s done, he returns to our field of view?”
Chen Zheng nodded. “There may be other possibilities, but I don’t know him well enough yet to think of more.”
Cheng Cu said, “I already sent people to Zhao Zhi’s home. Go straight there. If anything needs doing, direct them however you want.”
For someone who served as Luo Yingqiang’s right-hand man, Zhao Zhi lived in an unexpectedly ordinary residential complex. He was thirty-eight, unmarried, and kept two turtles at home. The cleaner who came regularly said Mr. Zhao was extremely busy and spent little time at home, but still wanted something living around, so he kept turtles because they required almost no care.
Zhao Zhi had surveillance cameras installed inside his home, but when police accessed the footage, they discovered he had shut them off before returning. Only the residential complex cameras had captured him entering at 11:50 p.m. on the fourteenth and leaving at 5:45 a.m. on the fifteenth. He did not drive. Cameras outside the complex failed to track where he went, and it was possible a car had been waiting for him in a blind spot.
Chen Zheng looked around the apartment and felt it did not resemble the home of a young corporate elite. The residential complex itself was ordinary, and even the furniture and decor were simple and plain. A faint fragrance drifted through the air. In a drawer of the coffee table were incense sticks and candles in foreign-language packaging.
The cleaner said the incense was supposed to help calm the nerves. Mr. Zhao liked it very much and always asked her to light one after cleaning to chase away the damp smell.
Chen Zheng bagged the incense, candles, and packaging as evidence, then continued searching. In the study, he found a financial report. It was hardly strange for Luo Yingqiang’s secretary to have financial reports at home. Everyone at Yingqiang Group described Zhao Zhi as obsessively dedicated, almost like a machine built for work. Bringing unfinished work home was routine. A single report mixed into the mountain of files in Zhao Zhi’s study would have been easy to overlook, but Chen Zheng noticed that this one did not appear to belong to an Yingqiang Group project.
Canyang Nursing Home. Chen Zheng did not remember seeing any nursing home when he reviewed Yingqiang Group’s basic information the day before. A search on his phone showed that Canyang Nursing Home was in western Nanshan City and had only begun operating five years earlier.
Land in the western outskirts was cheap, and the management was good at increasing revenue while cutting costs, so the fees charged to elderly residents were not high. Transportation from the city center was inconvenient, but many families were still willing to send elderly relatives there. Online reviews were excellent. The most common praise was: good food, good living conditions, and an owner practically doing charity.
Given the public persona Zhao Zhi presented to outsiders, he did not seem like someone who would pay attention to a project unrelated to Yingqiang Group. Could Luo Yingqiang be the person behind the nursing home?
Canyang Nursing Home had such a good reputation that, if Luo Yingqiang were doing a good deed, there was no reason for him not to take credit. He would have publicized it long ago. If he had not, was it because he could not? Was the nursing home hiding something no one was meant to know?
Chen Zheng’s heartbeat quickened slightly. To be safe, he continued searching the study and soon found another document connected to Canyang Nursing Home. There was no time to lose. He immediately called Cheng Cu. “Zhao Zhi may have gone to Canyang Nursing Home in the western outskirts. I’m heading there now, but his home is too far away.”
Cheng Cu reacted quickly. He did not ask why Chen Zheng had reached that conclusion and immediately said, “I’ll have officers from the local sub-bureau go over right now.”
Chen Zheng thought for a moment, then added, “Observe first. Don’t alert him.”
“Got it!”
It was rush hour. Every major road in the city was clogged solid. Chen Zheng thought about the documents and the way Zhao Zhi’s home was arranged, and the more he thought, the more something felt wrong. Major corporations usually trumpeted their charity work. Why would Yingqiang Group hide something like this? What secret could a nursing home possibly contain?
Time was extremely tight for Zhao Zhi. He had to know that once he disappeared during the day, police would search the entire city for him. That left very little time to erase whatever secrets he needed to erase. Under those circumstances, what would Zhao Zhi do?
A vague sense of dread rose in Chen Zheng. His phone rang, and an officer said, “Bro Chen, we analyzed the incense and candles you found. They’re not sleep-aid incense. It’s a little complicated.”
Chen Zheng quickly asked, “Then what kind of incense is it?”
“This is actually a kind of soul-soothing incense from Country K. It’s burned for the dead.” The officer sounded a little anxious. “But there’s a cultural difference. It doesn’t mean the same thing as the incense and candles we burn for the dead here. How do I explain it? If someone died because of you, you burn this incense at home hoping it forms a barrier so the dead person won’t come interfere with you. If the spirit does come, the incense is supposed to soothe it.”
Chen Zheng said, “I think I understand. So Zhao Zhi may very well have blood on his hands.”
The officer added, “It’s also possible he didn’t know what the incense meant and simply thought it smelled good. That happens plenty too.”
Chen Zheng’s eyelid twitched. An ordinary person might accidentally use incense with that kind of special meaning, but someone as shrewd as Zhao Zhi seemed unlikely to. He was Luo Yingqiang’s blade, his hands stained with blood, but even demons could be afraid. Perhaps he burned foreign soul-soothing incense as a superstitious way to comfort himself.
Superstition. Wait…
The image of Zhao Zhi’s home returned to Chen Zheng’s mind. For a senior corporate employee at Zhao Zhi’s level, his living conditions were far too “modest.” Could that also have been a way of seeking inner comfort? And the nursing home? Perhaps there was no hidden secret there at all. Perhaps it was Zhao Zhi and Luo Yingqiang’s attempt at “atonement” after the things they had done.
The car finally fought its way through traffic to western Nanshan City, with open road ahead, when Chen Zheng received a call from Cheng Cu. Cheng Cu’s voice was taut. “Bro Chen, something happened at the nursing home!”
Chen Zheng’s breath caught. He immediately pulled over.
Cheng Cu said there had been an explosion at Canyang Nursing Home. Large sections of the buildings had collapsed. Firefighters had arrived, but the fire was still not under control. The cause of the explosion was unknown, the casualties were unknown, and the scene was in complete chaos.
A chill went through Chen Zheng. Was Zhao Zhi’s way of erasing the secret to burn the entire nursing home down? How could someone be this deranged?
Canyang Nursing Home was in the mountains, remote enough that both rescue work and firefighting were difficult. When Chen Zheng arrived, the fire still had not been extinguished, and there was a risk of further explosions at any moment. Several ambulances stood at the scene. Elderly residents were being carried out one by one. They were the lucky ones, those who had been farther from the blast and had not been trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
Crying spread through the smoke and the jets of water. Family members who received the news rushed toward the nursing home, but there was only one mountain road. To keep it clear for ambulances and fire engines, all their cars were stopped at the foot of the mountain.
Some nursing-home staff were also trapped in the fire. Those who had been rescued were either dazed or sobbing uncontrollably. They said they had no idea what happened. They had been cleaning rooms as usual when suddenly there was an enormous sound, like an earthquake. Then the fire started, the building opposite collapsed, and they watched helplessly as elderly residents below were buried…
The disaster had happened without warning, and the scene was complete chaos. In the middle of that human catastrophe, Chen Zheng had to force himself into an almost icy calm. He asked the local sub-bureau commander, “Have you found Zhao Zhi?”
The sub-bureau had come precisely because of Zhao Zhi. The commander was drenched in sweat. “We had just arrived when it exploded. We’ve been busy rescuing people. We haven’t had anyone free to search!”
Chen Zheng understood. Under circumstances like these, the sub-bureau was bound to be overwhelmed. But now that it had happened, they could not allow Zhao Zhi to escape. “If Zhao Zhi caused the explosion, he can’t be far away yet. Lock down the entire area. If you don’t have enough people, request reinforcements from above.”
The commander froze for a second. “I’ll report it right now.”
Reinforcements from the municipal bureau were already on the way. Chen Zheng’s ears were filled with crying and desperate, pain-filled moans, while the scene before him was even more brutal. He closed his eyes briefly, then walked toward the rescued staff. “Where is your director?”
One person pointed toward the flames and choked out, “Old Hu. Old Hu is still inside…”
Rescue, firefighting, and the search all proceeded at once. Large numbers of officers were being reassigned when Chen Zheng received a call from Ming Han.
“Something else happened?” Ming Han’s unease was audible. “I saw it online…”
News of the nursing-home explosion had already spread online, but the internet did not have the truth. Chen Zheng had no time for a long explanation. “Listen, I’m fine. Don’t worry. The explosion may be connected to Luo Yingqiang’s secretary. Cheng Cu already sent a large number of people over.”
Ming Han could not help interrupting. “You’re at the sce…”
“Don’t interrupt!” Chen Zheng said. “Yes, I’m at the scene. I realized Zhao Zhi might go to the nursing home, but I still failed to stop him from killing people. You stay in Huaili Town and keep following whatever you want to investigate. Cheng Cu probably can’t spare officers for Huaili now, so that whole burden is on you.”
Ming Han said nothing. Chen Zheng frowned. “Did you hear me?”
Only then did Ming Han answer, “All right, Bro. You make sure you stay safe.”