Chapter 40: The Truth (1/2)

It was already five o'clock in the afternoon when we came back from the orphanage. Huang Xiaotao drove the car back to the city and found a grilled fish stall to treat us to dinner.

She was on the phone the whole time we were eating. Being the task force leader seemed to be very busy job.

When she put down the phone, I asked, “Is there any progress?”

“No substantial progress at present,” she answered. “The best time to investigate a murder case is within the first forty-eight hours. The time of discovery of this corpse is simply too late. I’m worried that it might turn out to be a long-lasting battle!” Huang Xiaotao frowned.

“If only you had another body, then maybe it’ll be easier,” said Dali without thinking.

The two of us glared at him, and Dali immediately tried to explain himself, “But you see it in movies all the time! You get one body after another, and then the real killer gets caught!”

“You potty-mouthed idiot!” Huang Xiaotao snarled.

“I’m afraid what Dali said might happen,” I said. “This isn’t a case of personal vendetta. It’s more like a targeted serial killing! In seven days, I am worried that a second victim will be found in another corner of this city.”

“Bai Yue wants to take revenge on his mother who abandoned him, so he targets prostitutes—isn’t that just like Jack the Ripper?” asked Huang Xiaotao.

“Yeah, I agree.” I nodded.

“Then like the case of Jack the Ripper, will it remain unsolved forever?” asked Dali.

Huang Xiaotao gave him a look.

“Is it so hard for you to just shut up sometimes? Geez!” she said.

“Okay, okay, I’ll just shut up and eat now!” said Dali.

At this time, the waiter brought a tall glass of milkshake that Huang Xiaotao ordered to the table. When Dali saw it, he remembered what the corpse spewed out at the crime scene last night and had to rush to the bathroom with his mouth covered.

“You idiot!” Huang Xiaotao laughed.

After dinner, Huang Xiaotao intended to send us back, but it was already dark, and the police station was far away from our school. I didn’t want her to get more tired than she already was, so I told her that we would take the bus back.

Before she left, she said, “We still need to unpack and analyze the clues at hand, so I’ll call you when we need your help again.”

“Okay!” I replied.

The next two days were uneventful, but on the evening of the third day, Huang Xiaotao suddenly called. Her tone was particularly serious.

“Song Yang, someone might get killed tonight, can you come and take a look at it?”

“What do you mean? What happened?” I asked.

“I already asked Wang Yuanchao to pick you up. Wait for his car at the main gate.” After saying that, Huang Xiaotao hang up the phone before I could say anything.

Dali had just gone to sleep. I woke him up and he complained, “Why does it have to happen late at night...”

“Are you coming? If you’re not coming, then I’m going alone!” I said.

“Ah, wait… I’ll just go get dressed now.” Dali then climbed out of his bed.

We slipped out of the dormitory and waited for a while outside the college main gate. We saw Wang Yuanchao’s car pull up. After I got into the car, I asked him what happened. Why did Huang Xiaotao say that someone might be killed tonight?

“You’ll know when you get there.”

As the car drove on, I found that we were heading towards the Sacred Heart Orphanage. After arriving at the place, many police cars surrounded the orphanage, and the nun that we met that day was also there. Huang Xiaotao was screaming at two police officers.

“How could you let a middle-aged man escape? Who’s going to take responsibility if someone died?”

“What happened?” I asked.

Huang Xiaotao said that they searched the hospitals in the city for two days and found dozens of stroke patients who met the characteristics. However, they were all found to be unrelated to the case after questioning, so they expanded the scope and searched for people who received special treatments for stroke in the neighboring city. The hospital found the medical record of the orphanage director, and he suffered a stroke a year ago.

Huang Xiaotao immediately realized that the director was probably the accomplice!

So, she called and ordered the policeman in charge of monitoring the director to quickly apprehend him. Unfortunately, the director had already escaped through the back door of the orphanage. According to the people in the orphanage, the director never went out at all, so it was more likely that he just went out to go assist the murderer.

“Let’s go check his office first,” I said.