Chapter 232: Traitors To Humanity Deserve To Die (1/2)

I detected a doubtful point in his words. ”How do you know that the second victim died of gas poisoning?” I asked.

The old man pointed to the drawing and grinned, ”The picture says everything!”

As it turned out, the wavy lines Bingxin had drawn hinted that the room was filled with some sort of gas. ”Besides, this killing mechanism must offer the victim a small chance of escaping,” explained the old man. “Otherwise, who would be willing to mutilate themselves? Since it’s a secret room, if I were the mastermind, I would certainly fill it with poisonous gas.”

”You seem to know the ropes!” I remarked.

”I know a little,” the old man modestly replied.

He grabbed a cigarette from Wang Yuanchao's cigarette case, slid it between his lips and leaned in so Wang Yuanchao could light the cigarette. From the look in Wang Yuanchao’s eyes, I recognized his impatience. Facing such a presumptuous prisoner, the chief instructor of the Armed Police Force was already nearing the last straw.

I asked him for the lighter and lit the old man’s cigarette.

He took a deep inhale and slowly puffed out a perfect smoke ring. ”If this person is really a copycat, I suggest you check what the victims did before they died.”

”Although being in prison isolates you from the rest of the world, there are still ways to transmit information outside,” I bluffed, trying to extract information from this cunning old man. “You could have designed these contraptions yourself and instructed someone outside to help you continue with your mission.”

”If only that were true,” the old man threw his head back in laughter. “I heard there’s been a lot of wicked people and unspeakable things going outside these past two years. I’ve long wanted to leave this place and punish them all. But I’m sorry to disappoint you. I'm just an old geezer with one foot in the grave that nobody cares about!”

His arguments were absolutely watertight but my intuition told me that he had some connection to the case. Although he refused to reveal anything, he might give us a hint to point us in the right direction. If we couldn’t take a direct route, the curved path was just as good, anything to solve the crime!

”Unfortunately, this person doesn’t have such noble motives like you,” I prompted. “He designed these contraptions and shared videos of the murders on the internet to make money.”

The old man raised an eyebrow. ”Can I have a look?”

”The police haven't found the website yet,” I admitted.

”What an incompetent lot you are!” he admonished, stubbing out his cigarette.

Thud! Wang Yuanchao’s chair violently collided against the floor. When I looked over, he had stood up and fixed a fierce gaze into the old man’s eyes.

”Yuanchao, calm down!” I urged. When Wang Yuanchao was seated once again, the old man solemnly added, ”The creator of such an ingenious contraption must be a brilliant man. You should be careful. I wish you good luck then!”

And with that, he got up and left the room.

We left the visitation room and were greeted by an annoyed Xiaotao who had clearly overheard our conversation from this side of the door. ”That old fox,” she cursed. “He went around in circles but didn’t actually reveal anything of use!”

”But he did remind us to do one thing,” I smiled. “He told us to check if the victims had committed any misdeeds. Since we have no other clues at the moment, we might as well investigate that.”

Xiaotao nudged the inattentive Dali and urged him to leave. Head bowed, this fellow had been preoccupied with his cell phone the entire time.

”Wait a second! Let me show you a video I found!” he interjected.

In the video stood a wealthy middle-aged woman beside her expensive BMW. There was an old farmer selling vegetables in front of the car who appeared to have been hit by the BMW. The woman started verbally abusing the old farmer for walking without paying attention and claiming that he had feigned an injury so he could blackmail her for money.

I hit the pause button and stared at the middle-aged woman for some time before I ventured, “Isn't this our second victim?”

”Yes, that's her! Dali, how did you find this video?” exclaimed Xiaotao.