When A Snail Loves - Chapter 58.2

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Chapter 58.2: Do you suspect that he’s a serial killer?

Xu Xu nodded. Although she had a very strong feeling that she would definitely be able to pinpoint this person, objectively speaking, there were also many uncertain factors. It was also highly possible that the investigation would come to naught. Ji Bai had to manage the entire task force, and was unable to assign the main force to her investigation. She could understand this.

“Ok. Two people, plus myself, that will be enough.”

At this point, Ji Bai smiled slightly, got up and retrieved a case folder from the front of the table, and handed it to her. Xu Xu looked at it and beamed.

Ji Bai: “I’ve already asked Zhao Han to conduct some preliminary investigations: in the past three months, there were more than 500 local privately owned cars that went in and out of the forest region more than three times. There are even more people who own private bungalows, warehouses or suburban homes. However, I hope this information will be able to save you some time and effort.”
————

Ji Bai quickly arranged for the two additional criminal investigators to report to Xu Xu. By the time she had spoken to them over the phone, and assigned screening tasks to each one, the sky was already bright.

Xu Xu had also assigned herself more complex work, but she was really tired, and lay down on the sofa in Ji Bai’s office: “I’m going to sleep for a little while.”

Ji Bai had also not slept for the entire night, and would have to meet with Da Hu and the others in a few hours to investigate the background of the second victim, Li Tian Tian. He rubbed his eyes and sat down next to Xu Xu. Xu Xu immediately crawled over and lay on his lap. He chuckled, and took up the sheet of paper scribbled over indecipherably with her preliminary theories: “When you conduct an analysis, do you always like to scribble and doodle like this?”

“I scribble like this when I’m thinking really hard.”

“The piece of paper you left behind during the Brother Lu case, was that similar?”

“Yes.”

Ji Bai’s fingertips brushed lightly over Xu Xu’s cheeks: “Then why did you write my name over and over?”

Xu Xu shut her eyes and laughed without replying. After a while, a sudden thought came to her, and she opened her eyes. With a flushed face, she asked: “That piece of paper won’t be submitted as evidence, will it?” That would be a terrible loss of face.

“Of course it’s been submitted.” Ji Bai replied baldly. Xu Xu raised her hands to cover her face, and sighed deeply. Ji Bai looked at her blushing cheeks, and could not keep a little smile from tugging at his mouth.

By logic, it should have been submitted. However, he had acted selfishly out of personal considerations, and kept that piece of evidence. Today, that piece of paper, full of the fragments of her inferences and longing, was safely in his drawer, together with the forlorn engagement ring. There was no need though to tell her that at the moment.

——

Three days later, at noon, Xu Xu and her team members finally completed the work of screening the large amounts of data. Seeing the crosschecked results, she was startled for a moment, and whispered to her two assistants: “This is absolutely confidential.” Then she took the results with her and went to look for Ji Bai.

Ji Bai was on the line with the officers in charge of the mountain patrols when Xu Xu handed the report to him. He looked at her blankly for a moment. Soon, he hung up the phone, and looked at the report as his expression darkened.

Xu Xu nodded: “20-40 years old, he has a history of working in Hong Kong. Three months earlier, he was diagnosed with cancer in the city hospital. In the last three months, he has frequently accessed the forest region more than five times. In the forest area, he has an independent villa. Only one person like this exists in the city. All these conditions seem to have nothing to do with the case and are only a list of possibilities. But if several such possibilities converge on one person, it is intriguing.”

Xu Xu continued: “Ji Bai, although we are not sure he is the murderer, the murderer sexually assaulted the second victim after her death. A serial killer does not easily change his MO, especially if it destroys his fantasies about intimacies, unless his mind is already unstable. So I am guessing he will soon commit another crime..”

Ji Bai nodded: “We will put 24-hour surveillance on Lin Qingyan.”

————

For several days, the weather was gloomy. The killer was also dormant. There wasn’t the slightest movement from him. In the end, there was no airtight way to keep information from being leaked out, rumours about the killer were already spreading gradually in Lin City.

Zhao Han, together with another policeman was responsible for the monitoring of the villa belonging to Lin Qingyan. This evening, the two were hiding in the forest region in silence.

Suddenly Zhao Han’s phone rang. It was Da Hu: “Lin Qingyan just drove out of the city. The car has a woman in it, but we could not get close enough to see clearly who it was.”

Zhao Han and his companion were fully ready. The sky was dark when, sure enough, they could see a Buick commercial vehicle coming along the mountain road in the distance. The car drove up to the door of the villa. A man alighted from the car. Seeing him, they recognised him as Lin Qingyan. He opened the back door, leaned into the car and carried a woman out.

Zhao Han looked through the telescope. The woman seemed to have fallen asleep. Long hair covered her face. She was lying motionless in Lin Qingyan’s arms. Lin Qingyan carried her into the villa. The lights in the villa soon lit up.

“Boss, what to do?” Zhao Han asked Ji Bai over the phone.

Ji Bai: “Wait.”

The mountains were dark and quiet. Zhao Han and his companion concentrated on waiting for a while, when they suddenly heard a woman’s scream, then silence. Both of them were startled.

At this point, any action would inevitably alarm the snake (alert the murderer), but the police’s principle was not to allow any risk to the victim’s safety. Ji Bai ordered: “Go!”

Zhao Han and his companion ran down the hillside and rushed to the front of the villa. From the window they could only see the lights in the living room, but were unable to see anyone inside. They could barely hear some soft music playing.

They kicked open the door and following the music, they ran all the way to the main bedroom inside. The door was closed, the music was loud, but they could still hear the sound of a woman sobbing. Without hesitation, Zhao Han pushed the door open and was stunned.

The couple in the room also turned around to look and were shocked.

In the soft white light, the room was full of red roses. A tearful Yao Meng sat on the sofa strewn with roses while Lin Qingyan knelt in front of her. In his hand was a black velvet ring box and he was in the midst of slipping a shiny diamond ring on to her finger.

“Why are you … …” Yao Meng helped Lin Qingyan stand up. Her reaction was very fast. She asked disbelievingly, “Do you suspect that he is a serial killer?”

Zhao Han and the other person with him did not answer. Lin Qingyan also turned around and looked at them, frowning in silence.