Chapter 039: The Anxious Murderer

As soon as the child finished speaking, Luo Feng and I whipped around, but the doorway was empty—there was no one there. Without realizing it, night had already begun to fall outside. Luo Feng cursed, “Kid, there’s no one there.” But before he could finish, I had already dashed out.

I chased to the stairwell and heard footsteps echoing within. The sound was distinct—it was clear the person was wearing leather shoes. Without hesitation, I kept after them, but suddenly, I lost my balance; my foot had been caught on something.

My body pitched forward; if not for my swift reflexes, I would have tumbled down the stairs. I grabbed the handrail and quickly pulled myself up, continuing the chase. But almost immediately, I tripped again. From the seventh floor down to the ground, I lost count of how many times I was tripped.

When I finally reached the first floor, the area beneath the apartment building was deserted—there wasn’t a soul in sight. Luo Feng and the child caught up to me soon after. Luo Feng asked if I’d found anyone; I shook my head and replied that there wasn’t even a ghost’s shadow. Only then did I look down at my legs, seeing them covered in long strips of transparent tape.

At last, it dawned on me: the reason I kept stumbling was because transparent tape had been strung across the stairwell entrances. I’d been running fast, so the slightest snag was enough to throw me off balance. Luo Feng inspected the tape and cursed, “Who would do something like this?”

I let out a cold laugh. “Who do you think would secretly come to a crime scene?”

Luo Feng’s eyes widened. “The killer!”

I nodded. This person had fled the moment we discovered them, and when they came up, they were clearly prepared. They’d anticipated the possibility of being found and had strung tape across every floor’s stairwell. The tape had been placed by them; they knew exactly where to leap over, but I was clueless. With night fallen, the stairwell was already dim, and I was hot on the chase—there was no way I could have seen it. After the haunting incident, more and more people had moved out, leaving this dilapidated residential area even more desolate and eerie at night. Finding a witness would be nearly impossible.

To sneak to the crime scene with such careful preparation for escape, the only person who comes to mind is the killer.

I curled my lips in a half-smile. “Interesting—such a simple trick, and he still managed to make it work.” With that, I balled up the tape and tossed it aside. Luo Feng asked whether we should take the tape back for analysis, but I shook my head. “No need.”

The killer had left no trace so many times before. If that person was indeed the killer, he certainly wouldn’t leave fingerprints on the tape. Whoever he was, he was clearly prepared. Luo Feng and I got back into the car, and I called Chen Fan, asking him to wait for us outside the police station.

In the car, the child had already fallen asleep in the backseat. Only then did Luo Feng quietly ask why I trusted what the child said so much. In fact, neither of us had noticed the person outside, only the child had. That person had hidden very well, walking so quietly as to make almost no noise.

I glanced back at the child and told Luo Feng that, though she was shrouded in mystery, I was increasingly certain she meant me no harm. Raised as a wild animal since childhood, the difference between beasts and humans lies in vigilance. The child’s wariness allowed her to hide in a place of such vice, unseen.

So, when she said someone was outside, I’d charged out without a moment’s hesitation. And I was right to trust her.

Luo Feng chuckled. “Seems the little imp has her uses, though she’s quite unnerving.”

By the time we reached the police station, Chen Fan was already waiting, his face flushed red from the cold. I tossed him the evidence bag containing the syringe, and he immediately asked what it was. I told him about the clues we’d found in the countryside and instructed him to give the syringe to the police for analysis, and once the results came back, to question the short-haired woman to see if she’d admit to Old Nine and the others having their blood drawn.

However, I didn’t tell Chen Fan, for now, about the barking dog or the possibility that the killer was a local from the village. I couldn’t be sure of the police’s stance, nor did I want to risk alerting the killer if the authorities started a large-scale search. Chen Fan nodded and hurried inside.

Luo Feng watched him go and joked, “The kid’s really been putting in the effort these days.”

At times like these, only Luo Feng and I could manage a smile. Luo Feng noticed the curve of my mouth and said I must be confident about catching the killer. When we got back in the car, I finally nodded at him.

The person who had just appeared at the crime scene was, in all likelihood, the killer.

It was clear the killer was starting to panic. Typically, suspects return to the crime scene for one of two reasons: to destroy overlooked evidence, or to gauge the progress of the investigation. The police had already combed the scene thoroughly, so if the killer had come to destroy evidence, it was too late. Most likely, he’d come to see how far along we were, to test the waters.

“He’s afraid we’ll catch him,” I told Luo Feng. “And isn’t it suspicious that out of all times, he showed up today?”

I didn’t keep Luo Feng guessing—I laid out my reasoning. Earlier, we’d visited the village in the countryside. The killer had been calm, concocting diversions and framing both the short-haired woman and Yun Qing, never showing himself. From a criminal psychology perspective, our trip to the village must have drawn his attention.

Our visit had clearly unnerved him, so much so that he’d taken the risk of coming to the crime scene to check on us. If anything suspicious turned up, he could make a quick escape from the port district.

Luo Feng was startled. “Do you think he was following us when we went out there?”

I shook my head. “No.”

While chasing that person, I hadn’t seen him, but I heard his footsteps—loud leather shoes. If he’d followed us to the village, he would have planned ahead and worn more practical shoes. With the killer’s meticulous mind, he would have chosen footwear better suited for covert action and less likely to be noticed.

The child had spotted him at about the usual time for getting off work. I surmised that the killer found out we’d visited the village during the day but couldn’t get away. When he finally finished work and learned we were at the crime scene, he hurried over, not even having time to change his shoes.

Wearing leather shoes and only getting free after work—this person was probably no ordinary character.

Just from the sound of the shoes, I couldn’t judge their quality or guess the killer’s status; even ordinary office workers or salesmen might wear them. But I was certain he wasn’t just a regular office worker. Luo Feng asked why, and I replied that a normal office worker could always find a way to step away if something threatened them. If need be, they could quit their job—no one could stop them. The fact that the killer only dared to make his move after work meant our actions today posed a serious threat to him.

The crime scene had been searched countless times, so the killer wouldn’t be nervous about that. Other than the scene, the only thing we did today was visit the village. That’s why I was convinced that our trip to the village was what had panicked him.

“He didn’t show up during the day, probably because of his job—if he left in the middle of the day, people would notice. If an ordinary office worker leaves mid-shift, nobody cares.” I thought for a moment. “He could be someone important, someone who draws the public’s attention during work hours.”

I told Luo Feng to check Yun Gao’s whereabouts today and also to investigate who the short-haired woman was close to. Yun Gao had an alibi at the time of the crime and wasn’t the killer, but he’d meddled in the case several times, so I couldn’t rule out the possibility that he was the one in leather shoes.

But if it wasn’t Yun Gao, that only strengthened the likelihood that it was the killer.

As for the short-haired woman, she clearly wasn’t the killer, yet she was willing to take the rap for him—this, too, was suspicious.

Upon close analysis, the situation was extremely complex, for there were two people willing to take the blame: Yun Qing and the short-haired woman.

Luo Feng immediately called his subordinates to give instructions.

Once everything was set, Luo Feng asked what we should do next.

I smiled and stretched. “Go back and get a good night’s sleep. The suspect is getting anxious—he might just panic and turn himself in.”

It was meant as a joke, but the killer’s anxiety could only work in our favor. The more flustered he became, the more mistakes he’d make.

When we got back to the hotel, Luo Feng’s subordinates reported in—remarkably efficient. At the time in question, Yun Gao was still at the office working late, and many colleagues saw him.

Luo Feng grinned. “If it’s not Yun Gao, who kept interfering, then as you guessed, it really must have been the killer himself.”

I nodded. “That means the village is probably the killer’s fatal weakness. The theory that he’s a local there could be true. Have your men pick up the pace and dig up every suspicious person in that village—we’ll investigate them one by one.”

Chen Fan didn’t return that night. When we woke at the hotel, dawn was just breaking.

The child had been awake for some time. As I opened my eyes, I saw her silently weeping, tears streaming down her face without a sound.