Chapter 197: Simulation of the Crime (2/2)

“Tell me anything you can recall about the friend.”

The landlord thought about it for a while and answered, “I think he was a tailor. I once saw this man in his shop and even talked to him about this once.”

I asked the address of the shop he mentioned, and it really did turn out to be Zhang Qiang’s shop. Xiaotao and I exchanged looks. I was pretty sure that this case was connected to the serial murders now.

We thanked the landlord and left. Xiaotao asked me if we should go back to the tailor’s shop, but I said no.

“Oh, that’s right!” Xiaotao laughed. “It’s your usual tactic, isn’t it? Don’t alarm the suspects!”

The more the police suspected someone, the less they would make moves against that person—this was a common tactic used in criminal investigations. It seemed that, like me, Xiaotao was suspicious of Zhang Qiang!

I’d developed a habit after investigating many cases. If I suspected someone, I would imagine them committing the crimes and see if the image fit their characteristics. At present, it seemed that putting Zhang Qiang fit the position of the murderer quite well.

Xiaotao asked me what our next move would be. I told her that I needed some time to sort out my thoughts, so she suggested going out for lunch.

I bought a map of the whole county from the newsstand by the roadside, and then went to a fast-food restaurant with Xiaotao. I spread the map on the table and marked the resident locations of the four victims. As Xiaotao returned to the table with our food, she asked, “Are you going to use your divining technique again, Detective Song?”

“No,” I shook my head. “I was just thinking about the points where all the victims intersect.”

“Well, they’re all beautiful young women…”

“What you’re talking about is their similarities,” I corrected her. “I’m talking about where they might intersect. In other words, where would they all go despite having different occupations?”

“Young women like clothes, usually,” offered Xiaotao. “Perhaps they were targeted by the murderer when they ordered clothes at the tailor’s shop. The couple are getting more and more suspicious…”

“You think so?” I asked.

“Perhaps I should send officers to investigate where they had been before they died, so we can verify this.”

“Okay,” I nodded. “Let’s do a simulation of the crimes this afternoon!”

“What?” cried Xiaotao, nervous.

“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “It’s just a normal simulation, not Murder Reenactment.”

We went back to the police station and held a short meeting discussing the case. Xiaotao instructed an officer to investigate the whereabouts of the four victims a month before their deaths. Cao Dazhuang’s relationships were to be investigated too. After that, Xiaotao and I went to an empty conference room to simulate the first murder. According to the case file, the victim was disfigured with hot oil when she was still alive, while the fatal injury that killed her was the blow to the back of her head. This was where I detected an anomaly.

“Perhaps there were two murderers,” Xiaotao theorized. “Just as you suggested earlier!”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I replied. “If we were the murderers, what should we do to make sure the police never suspected us?”

“First of all, we would make sure not to leave any fingerprints, so we must wear gloves. Secondly, the murder weapons must not be too specific, like electric drills or rare chemicals, which are too easy to trace. Apart from that, the body should be discarded in an isolated place. The later it is discovered, the better it is for the murderers.”

“And if you’re a tailor and the victim was wearing the clothes that you made,” I continued, “would you take it off?”

“Of course I would!”

“What do you think is the most suitable method of disfiguring the victim?”

“Probably alkaline water,” replied Xiaotao. “Edible alkali can be bought anywhere. It wouldn’t be suspicious when it’s found, it can be stored anywhere, and it’s easy to clean up. Burning a pot of hot oil is a bit too troublesome, not to mention the fact that it would leave unmistakable traces.”

“Exactly!” I nodded. “Now you understand why I feel the first murder case was a bit too messy—almost like the murderers were amateurs! Yet in the subsequent cases, the murders seemed much more professional. The murderer even tried to mislead the police with local folklore, which none of the police believed, by the way. Perhaps… perhaps the first murder was a passionate crime, done in the spur of the moment, and the other murders were just copies of the first one to mislead the police!”

At that point, my mind seemed to clear and I finally saw a path towards the final answer of the case.

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