Chapter 37: A Rare Genetic Disease (2/2)

“Xiaotao-jiejie!” Dali cried, full of joy, “Are you buying everyone breakfast?”

Huang Xiaotao smiled.

“You all stayed up very late last night, and you had to come so early today, so you need a good hearty breakfast to restore your energy. We humans tend to get moody and irrational when we don’t sleep and eat well. I can’t help with your sleep, so the least I can do is to make sure you eat well!”

“That is wise and experienced of you,” I said.

“I learnt it all from my master,” she replied.

We arrived at the conference room on the third floor. It wasn’t eight o’clock yet, but there was already a group of police officers sitting around chatting casually to each other. My impression of the criminal division was of police officers seriously discussing cases. In reality, it was different. Police officers were human beings too, and they had mundane things to talk and chat about, like their kids or new television shows. Only Wang Yuanchao sat there in the corner all alone with a cigarette in his mouth.

Dali elbowed me and said, “Looks like our Mr. Drill Sergeant doesn’t fit in much.”

“Maybe he likes sitting alone!” I said.

After a while, the food arrived. A deliveryman came in carrying two huge bags full of food. Huang Xiaotao announced to the room that anyone who hadn’t had breakfast yet could go and get the food. The atmosphere instantly brightened up. Some people even cheered.

The food was almost luxurious. There were soy milk, fried dough, shrimp fritters, pot stickers and more. Huang Xiaotao cleared her throat and said, “Okay, now that everyone’s here, let’s summarize all the clues we’ve got.”

She pulled out a whiteboard full of photos and wrote down all the keywords on the board. Then, she explained everything point by point. These were, of course, everything that I already knew.

Once that was done, she asked, “Does anyone have anything to add?”

“I’ve checked the ID card of the cleaner,” reported a police officer, “and it turns out to be a counterfeit. Some criminals who have faked ID cards in Nanjiang City are specialized in this. The identities used in the faked IDs are usually taken from uneducated farmers in rural villages, and this particular ID is no different.”

“I called the relatives of the victim, Ma Lizhen,” said another officer. “She had not been in contact with her family for many years. The family didn’t even know what she was doing in Nanjiang City, much less anything to do with her disappearance and death!”

“I went to the Ministry of Communications early this morning,” said another officer, “and transferred the surveillance camera at the intersection of the hotel. The man who photographed the suspected murderer left the hotel at 8 a.m. on October 4th, but the image was very unclear and the face was blurred.”

Huang Xiaotao then assigned new tasks, and the forensics team analyzed the video last night to see if they could unearth new clues. Other police officers went to major hospitals to investigate a middle-aged man with a history of stroke and to find anyone who had close relationships with the victim Ma Lizhen.

After she finished speaking, she turned to me and said, “Song Yang, do you have anything to say?”

“I suggest to check if there are any patients with external protein allergies in Nanjiang City,” I said. “This is a very rare genetic disease that may be related to the murderer.”

Everyone whispered among themselves after hearing what I said.

“External protein allergy?” asked Huang Xiaotao. “What is this disease? I’ve never heard of it before.”

I explained that people with this disease are not able to absorb certain types of proteins and they would often suffer extreme allergic reactions. A more common example was allergies to peanuts, in which case eating peanuts could even be life-threatening.

I speculated that the murderer suffered from this disease, that his body rejected most forms of protein in everyday food, except for blood. The body had also undergone some changes due to the long-term shortage of protein, such as fear of the sun, pale skin, and hairlessness.

“But if you can’t eat food, then how does this person survive? asked Huang Xiaotao.

“By sucking blood.” I said plainly.

“Dude,” whispered Dali, “didn’t you sleep with me last night? When did you find this information?”

“What do you mean sleeping with you?!” I yelled. “I couldn’t go to sleep because I kept thinking about the case last night, so I climbed out of bed and flipped through my past reading notes. Fortunately, I found something out, otherwise I’d be having insomnia all night.”

“Then how many hours did you get to sleep?” asked Dali.

“Not more than two hours.” Honestly, I was a little sleepy when I was sitting there. My eyelids felt heavy and I couldn’t wait for the meeting to be over so I could find a place to lie down and sleep. Previous ChapterNext Chapte