281 — New Victim

They could be facing another serial murder case.

This news from Zhao Zhi was rather terrifying. The room fell silent for a few moments.

Qi Yan couldn’t even talk straight. “A s-s-serial murder case?”

In Bianliang?! Under the emperor’s nose?!

Wen Yuansi was shocked too, but he knew that Zhao Zhi was not just exaggerating. Any connection should not be taken lightly. “If that’s the case, we have to be very, very careful.”

Song Caitang had just finished sewing up the body and was cleaning her station. Her gaze never left the body and she did not say anything.

Most serial murder cases were difficult to solve and it involved the killer’s past experiences as well as their way of thinking… This case was probably going to take quite some time.

“Did you get any new information from Linglong?” she asked Zhao Zhi.

Zhao Zhi told them about what happened then and the black clothing with gold embroidery on the belt that Linglong recalled. “I’ve already sent someone to search those alleys to see if we can get any clues.”

Wen Yuansi and Qi Yan had already heard about what happened when Song Caitang and Zhao Zhi ran into Linglong. Wen Yuansi paused to think. “So, both of you think that… the timing at which that happened to Linglong is suspicious?”

Qi Yan took a while to process his thoughts. He slapped his head and exclaimed, “Wait, you think she’s the killer?”

Zhao Zhi threw him a nasty glance. “I think you should throw away this brain of yours.”

Qi Yan stared back at him blankly.

“Not the killer, but perhaps there’s some connection,” Wen Yuansi explained gently. “The murder occurred at the Zhengs’, Linglong was hired by them and left at night from there. Madam Wang died at around 9pm or so, and that’s about the time Linglong left the house. She might have seen something or did something that was seen by the murderer, so—”

Qi Yan got it now. He punched his palm and said, “So, you’re saying that the person who attacked her might have been the killer!”

“But that doesn’t make sense,” said Qi Yan puzzledly. “If that’s the case, why didn’t he just kill her? Why did he try to take advantage of her?”

After all, the longer the murderer hung around near the scene of the crime, the more likely he could have been discovered and caught.

Wen Yuansi said, “Perhaps a serial killer goes after something quite different.”

His experience was not very useful in such cases, so he could only reach such a conclusion based on the clues they had so far.

“What Mr. Wen said is not impossible,” Song Caitang wiped her hands while looking down. “When I first saw the scene of the crime, I sensed something strange about it. The curtains had been drawn back and the candles were blown out, but not fully burned down. But I just sensed that the killer had been in a hurry for some reason, as though… the someone had interrupted them before they could finish their full process.”

“It’s a very strange sense that had and I have no evidence, but after hearing what Prince Ping said, then if this turns out to be part of that serial murder case, then it means that the killer really hadn’t finished doing everything they wanted to.”

Because compared to the other two cases, Madam Wang’s hands and feet were not tied and she was forced into a kneeling position.

“The killer must have a reason for leaving before they were done!” Qi Yan narrowed his eyes. “Maybe Linglong really discovered the killer! The killer had a guilty conscience and just decided to run for it! After all, the target was already dead!”

Zhao Zhi interjected, “We have too few clues and these are all merely guesses. I suggest we split up and keep looking for clues.”

Qi Yan was the first to get up. “I’ll check out what happened to Hongyuan and Xinggu!”

Wen Yuansi stood up next, “I’ll go back and see how they’re doing with the quicksilver collection.”

“Quicksilver?” Zhao Zhi had just arrived and had only announced the possibility that this was part of a serial murder case but didn’t get a chance to hear about anything else, so he had no idea what Song Caitang and the rest had gathered.

Song Caitang smiled at him. “We’ve discovered a number of valuable clues…”

She got him to sit down and told him everything that she, Wen Yuansi and Qi Yan found.

There was strength in numbers, so with everyone working hard on the case at the same time, it didn’t take long for information to come back to the team.

The first confirmation they got was the clue that Linglong gave.

Zhao Zhi’s men had found a black robe with a cloud pattern at the belt area embroidered in gold. It was hidden beneath a large rock near the dark alley. They had not noticed it on the night the crime happened because they were busy helping Linglong to look for anyone suspicious and not a piece of clothing. The space beneath the rock was too small to hide a person.

Zhao Zhi brought the robe to Yuchun Court and asked Linglong if she recognized it. Linglong said she was fairly certain that this was what the man who attacked her was wearing.

As for why the robe was simply abandoned there… Zhao Zhi and his team could think of a few reasons.

The killer had been interrupted and ran off without even managing to clear up the scene of the crime. He certainly could not keep this robe anymore, especially since someone else had now seen it.

The second confirmation was with regard to the mercury.

Very little had been left behind at the scene of the crime. Every droplet they found was extremely small, so nobody would have noticed it if they weren’t looking for it. Thankfully, Song Caitang had told them what to look for, so they managed to gather what they could and found an amount that barely matched a grain of rice.

But regardless of how little they found, the fact remained that they found some. That was evidence.

The victim definitely died from mercury poisoning. There was no other possibility.

And it was a good thing that very little of something so toxic was left. If a lot had been left behind, they’d be in trouble.

The last thing was concerning Hongyuan and Xinggu, the two previous victims.

Since there were no other similar victims, these two ladies were the only ones they could scrutinize. Ningyan’s description had been general and she just said the bodies had been found in extremely humiliating circumstances. But after finding out more, they realized she had left out one thing. The two victims had also been dragged across the floor, the back of their heads were smashed in, their hands and legs were bound and their skirts had been removed, but their bare butts and thighs had been smeared with dirt.

It was not caused by the victims, but smeared on by the killer. It included leftover food, tea, mud and anything filthy that smelled bad. The killer just used whatever he found his hands on.

This was a sex related humiliation.

The killer had a truly deep hatred toward the women.

Both women were in their twenties but not thirty yet, which was their prime. After checking their social networks and family background, it was found that the two women had no contact with one another and their social networks did not overlap at all.

After taking a closer look, it seemed the only thing in common between the two women was… their attitude toward men.

Both women were pretty and enjoyed chatting with men. They would go out with men and there was evidence that they were in secret communication with more than one man at a time.

These two women were considered to be on the wilder side.

And in such an era, they were considered licentious sluts whom men despised.

That surprised everyone.

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Qi Yan spoke rather loudly. “We have three victims who didn’t know each other, had no dealings with one another, did not share any social circles and didn’t even have the chance to bump into each other by accident. The first two ladies were on the wilder side, but Madam Wang was the official mistress of a very influential and prominent household…”

Wen Yuansi understood why Qi Yan was puzzled. “What exactly was the problem with Madam Wang?”

It seemed like a romantic relationship would be the problem.

Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes. “Everyone around her complimented her and only has good things to say about her. She was a mistress who did all the right things.”

Song Caitang raised an eyebrow. “She was a widow, though.”

She never looked down on women, but humans had desires. She respected those who chose to remain a widow, but she also supported those who chose to remarry. But that made this group a little more prone to such issues.

Especially in an era like this.

There would be people who might have ill intentions, or some who would try and bully a helpless widow, or some who might try to seduce her. If the right opportunity came along, she might fall for it.

Whether someone was in a secret relationship or not often had nothing to do with what others said of their character.

Qi Yan rubbed his chin. “But in such a high-walled place… Even if she wanted to find someone, she wouldn’t get the chance to, right?”

It was difficult for a woman to leave the house, even if she was the person making decisions in the house and controlled the books.

Zhao Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly. “We’ll look at the people around her then.”

The Zhengs were an extremely prominent family, and because Zheng Fengquan was in charge of the Salt Department, the front of the house was as busy as the streets outside. A lot of people went in and out of the house every day.

She would have had some networks within the family and even the servants… They had to handle very high ranking officials, so even the servants would be extremely capable people.

“One more thing,” Song Caitang reminded them, “the three victims were from completely different social standings, so their capabilities and skills were very different. The fact that the killer could kill all three means that he has access to a lot of information. What sort of person would be able to enter all sorts of places and get information on people from different parts of society?”

Wen Yuansi paused to think, then added, “The Zhengs are very prominent, so their visitors are equally prominent. The fact that the killer had managed to kill Madam Wang within the inner house means that besides having access to the house, he was also very familiar with the grounds.”

Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes. “Not just familiar, but he also knew a lot of secrets.”

Otherwise, why would this person want to commit murder?

If this was really a serial murder case and being licentious was the common factor, who was Madam Wang’s illicit lover?

Why did nobody else know about it, but the killer did?

Unfortunately, they still didn’t have enough information. They could guess all they wanted, but had no concrete proof of anything.

While they were still furrowing their brows and gathering more information, something big and surprising happened.

Someone had died.

They might have felt bad for failing to prevent another death, especially since they suspected the last murder was part of a serial murder case. But that wasn’t what bothered them.

After all, one would get used to it after a while.

But not this time.

Just when everyone was certain that the killer only went for women who had improper relationships with men, the new victim turned out to be a man!

And it was a familiar face. A man they had seen several times over the last few days – Zheng Fangquan!

The weirdest part was, they couldn’t rule his death as a separate case from the rest of the serial murders.

Because the scene of the crime looked the same. He had been struck in the back of the head, his hands and feet were bound, he was found in a kneeling position, the clothes on the lower half of his body had been removed, there was dirt and other filthy things smeared on his private parts…

Everyone was too stunned to speak.

Why!

Wasn’t the victims supposed to be just women?

Did someone purposely commit a copycat murder, or…

“Could it be that the serial murderer is someone who doesn’t care if you’re male or female?!”

Qi Yan’s eyes were wide with horror. Did they miss something out?!

Song Caitang frowned slightly. “I’m more bothered about whether there’s a reason why Madam Wang and Zheng Fangquan died so close to one another.”

Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes. “This killer committed murder right under our noses. He’s not just a capable killer, but someone who doesn’t think highly of us.”

Wen Yuansi’s focus was on something else. “The scene of the crime is a very secluded place. Very few would come here.”

How did the victim get here? Why did he come? Was he supposed to meet someone? Why was he unguarded?

All four of them sighed as a million and one questions went through their minds. “Let’s head to the scene of the crime and answer our questions one by one.”

They headed to the room and split the work. Song Caitang went to examine the body, Wen Yuansi and Zhao Zhi examined the surroundings, while Qi Yan secretly checked out the area to see if he could pick up any clues.