Chapter 175: The Death of Wang Xifeng

After being chased away from internet cafes, restaurants, and KTV lounges like stray dogs, Granny Liu finally found a place where they wouldn’t be driven away: an ATM booth next to a bank.

Granny Liu held Dog Egg as they sat on the newspaper-covered ground. She didn’t know what time it was, but the outside traffic was thinning, and the streetlights cast a cold glow. Sitting and sleeping was uncomfortable, but she gradually felt drowsy.

“Grandma, I need to pee,” Dog Egg said.

“Go pee in the bushes outside.”

Dog Egg went out, and Granny Liu, too tired, quickly fell asleep again.

A truck passing by woke Granny Liu. She suddenly realized Dog Egg wasn’t outside and broke out in a cold sweat. She immediately ran outside to search for him.

“Dog Egg! Dog Egg!”

Granny Liu was frantic and unknowingly walked to the Hongfu Garden complex. The security guard was sleeping at his post.

Granny Liu, thinking Dog Egg might be there, called out softly within the complex, “Dog Egg! Dog Egg!”

Suddenly, a figure appeared in her sight. Overjoyed, she ran over and hugged Dog Egg, crying with relief, “Where did you go? You almost scared Grandma to death!”

Dog Egg didn’t speak, seeming a bit off.

She lifted her head and saw that Dog Egg’s face was red, as if smeared with something. His clothes were also red.

The red had also transferred to her, and it smelled like… blood!

Granny Liu grabbed his hand, “What happened? Are you hurt?”

Dog Egg still didn’t speak, his teary eyes shining in the dark.

“Ah! Murder! Help!” A woman’s scream shattered the night’s silence from a nearby building, like nails scraping across glass.

Granny Liu looked at her grandson in disbelief and wiped the tears from his face with her fingers, “Dog Egg, what did you do? Speak! Say something!”

No matter how hard she shook his shoulders, Dog Egg remained silent, as if traumatized.

The next morning, Lin Qiupu, Lin Dongxue, Peng Sijue, and Xu Xiaodong stood in a blood-splattered apartment. On the bed lay a woman in pajamas, her throat slashed, head tilted back as if about to break off, frozen in the act of clutching her throat.

In the living room was another woman’s body, stabbed multiple times in the back, the blood almost turning her nightgown pink. It looked like she had been crawling towards the door for help.

Lin Qiupu said, “The deceased are two women. The one in the living room is Wang Xifeng, 32, unemployed; the one in the bedroom is Qiu Ping, 26, a model.”

“Wang Xifeng?” Lin Dongxue looked surprised.

“You know her?” Lin Qiupu asked.

“Why does that name sound so familiar?” Lin Dongxue thought for a moment and told Xu Xiaodong, “Hand me the police device.”

Lin Dongxue entered her ID and checked her personal information, saying, “What a coincidence, yesterday Chen Shi took an old lady to visit a relative, and he asked me to check on her because the person they were looking for had moved. It was this Wang Xifeng.”

“It’s really her?”

“Yes!”

“An old lady?” Lin Qiupu looked at the body, pondering.

Peng Sijue, who had just done a preliminary examination on the body in the bedroom, said, “It couldn’t have been the old lady. The victim shows signs of sexual assault, and the perpetrator left semen.”

Lin Qiupu glanced at the wall, where a bloody fingerprint was clearly visible. “Not just any perpetrator.”

Peng Sijue said, “There are five sets of fingerprints.”

“Apart from the victims’, whose are the other two?”

Peng Sijue scanned a shelf with a UV light, revealing a layer of aluminum powder with four smaller fingerprints. “These fingerprints appear on the door frame, chair, and coffee table. Based on their width, size, clarity, and folds, they seem to belong to a child.”

“Perhaps left before the murders…”

“No, some of the fingerprints are smeared with blood. Judging by the drying time, they were left during or shortly after the murders.”

“A child?” Lin Qiupu was slightly shocked.

“The other set belongs to an elderly person, also found on the coffee table, sofa, and door.”

Lin Dongxue said, “That old lady could be the one Chen Shi drove. Should we call him in to get more information?”

“Give him a call,” Lin Qiupu muttered. “He’s practically a regular with us now.”

While Lin Dongxue called Chen Shi, Lin and Peng examined the bodies. Peng Sijue said, “Death was caused by a throat slash. Only one clean cut, very precise. The killer was skilled with a knife.”

The body on the bed lay with its legs on the floor and upper body on the bed, blood soaking the sheets. The victim wore nothing under her nightgown; her underwear was thrown on the bedside table. Lin Qiupu said, “This position…”

Peng Sijue agreed, “During intercourse, one slash to the throat, catching the victim off guard, with no defensive wounds on her body.”

“A ruthless killer!”

Peng Sijue noticed another cut on the victim’s calf, with little bleeding, “The skin was sliced off post-mortem.”

“Is there a reason for this? Revenge?”

Peng Sijue shook his head.

The other body was in worse condition, stabbed to death, with multiple wounds concentrated on the back and waist. Lin Qiupu said, “What’s the relationship between these two women? If they were just friends, why was Wang…”

“Wang Xifeng,” Peng Sijue reminded.

“Why was Wang Xifeng dressed so simply, as if expecting a boyfriend?”

Lin Qiupu looked at the bedroom door, moved it, and said, “This door wasn’t locked. The soundproofing is poor.”

Lin Dongxue said, “As far as I know, no woman, no matter how close, would act so relaxed in front of another’s boyfriend or husband.”

Xu Xiaodong added, “Neither would men. Back in police school, when my buddy’s girlfriend visited, I’d put on pants.”

“You don’t normally wear pants?” Lin Dongxue teased.

“Boys’ dorm, you know.”

“Xiaodong, turn on the TV!” Lin Qiupu ordered.

Modern set-top boxes can show the exact time the TV was turned off, a crucial clue in homicide investigations. The set-top box indicated it was turned off at 11:23 PM. Lin Dongxue turned on a video, saying, “Volume wasn’t high.”

“Volume?” Lin Qiupu was puzzled, then understood. “You’re suggesting the killer didn’t turn up the volume to cover the noise. You’ve gotten smarter!”

Lin Dongxue grinned.

A technician came over, “We found the murder weapon.” He presented a bloody fruit knife, found discarded in the kitchen sink.

Lin Qiupu was confused, “If the killer slashed her throat during sex, was he holding the knife the whole time?”