Chapter 615: Eyewitness

Just as dawn broke, Lin Qiupu received a police report and dispatched a few officers to the scene.

The crime scene was a commercial street beside an old neighborhood. Despite being called a commercial street, it was mostly empty, populated by tattoo parlors, antique shops, and pet hospitals, businesses that didn’t mind the lack of foot traffic. However, a dozen or so people had gathered around the police tape, discussing in hushed tones, “It’s so tragic,” “What happened?” and “I always knew the security in this area was poor. See, something bad happened!”

“Alright, everyone, please move along and don’t interfere with our investigation,” said Officer Xu Xiaodong. Most people ignored him, while a few moved to the sidewalk, continuing to watch.

The police were used to having onlookers during investigations, as long as no one started filming with their phones.

Peng Siqi was examining the bodies. The victims, a man and a woman, had been killed a few hours earlier. Based on the injuries, they died from blunt force trauma to the head. The man was killed instantly, while the woman seemed to have been struck from behind first, then hit on the head several times. Her head was severely deformed, with clear cerebrospinal fluid and gray brain matter visible among the shattered skull fragments.

Peng noticed that the man’s shirt was pulled up, exposing his lower back. They found cell phones, wallets, and identification on the bodies. The man was Song Quan, 29, from Tiantai; the woman was Cai Xiaoting, 24, a local.

The gruesome scene was too much for many of the police officers. Some of the onlookers ran to the side to vomit, but then returned to continue watching, eager to catch every detail.

Peng covered the victims’ faces with a handkerchief and called his subordinates over to photograph several details he pointed out.

Lin Dongxue glanced at her phone and said, “The person who reported the crime lives nearby. Captain Peng, I’ll go check it out.”

“Alright, you go,” Peng replied.

Lin Dongxue and Xu Xiaodong headed to the nearby apartment complex. There was no security booth, just a small hut for raising and lowering the entry barrier, which was currently unmanned, allowing anyone to come and go freely.

“There’s surveillance,” Xu Xiaodong noted, pointing to a camera mounted on a nearby utility pole.

“Let’s wait for someone to come before we ask about it,” Lin Dongxue suggested.

They went up to the top floor of the building and knocked on a door. A man’s voice called out from inside, “Who is it?” The voice was filled with panic.

“Police. Did you report the crime?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“You… step back and let me take a look,” the man inside said.

They complied, and the man added, “Hold up your IDs.”

“We’re not here to trick you,” Lin Dongxue said.

“You’re not wearing uniforms. How do I know who you are? You might be here to silence me.”

“Alright, alright!” Lin Dongxue pulled out her ID.

The door opened to reveal a frail man with dark circles under his eyes, looking like he hadn’t slept all night. He seemed as timid as a field mouse, ready to dart back into his hole at any moment.

“Sir, why does your place smell like urine?” Xu Xiaodong asked.

“Don’t ask, don’t ask!” The man blushed and raised his voice, “We’re all men here. Give me some dignity, will you? It was the middle of the night, and I was scared to death by the killer!”

“What’s your name?” Lin Dongxue inquired.

“Zhou Xiao.”

“What!?”

“Zhou, as in weekend, Xiao, as in smile. Is that name strange?”

Lin Dongxue exchanged a glance with Xu Xiaodong, both amused. “Not at all. I have the same name as a combat fanatic,” Xu Xiaodong joked.

Inside the tiny, cluttered apartment, Zhou Xiao couldn’t stop sneaking glances at Lin Dongxue, his cheeks turning red like a thermometer. His shabby home had never hosted a woman, let alone one as striking as her.

The room was small and messy, with a bed serving as a chair. The bed was piled high with miscellaneous items, including a rice cooker and a shaver. Among this “trash” was a human-shaped gap where Zhou Xiao slept, as if his body was embedded in a sea of garbage.

The floor was covered in dust, especially in the corners, prompting Lin Dongxue to wrinkle her nose, tempted to sweep it up herself.

Zhou Xiao hastily grabbed something and hid it in a cupboard. Lin Dongxue saw what it was but pretended not to notice.

Xu Xiaodong looked out the window toward the crime scene. “Mr. Zhou, you witnessed the murder from here?”

“Yes, around four in the morning. The couple was arguing, then the man rushed out and hit them both with a hammer. I was terrified…”

“Why didn’t you call the police until the morning?”

Zhou Xiao pulled out his phone, its screen cracked. “This lousy knockoff phone can’t take a fall. I tried turning it on and off several times before I could make a call.”

“You said the killer came to your door?”

“Yes, yes!” Zhou Xiao nodded frantically. “I was so scared. Mine was the only window with a light on, and he saw me. He came up, banging on my door. I thought about jumping out the window, thinking it was better to die from a fall than to be hammered to death.”

Despite having mentioned this in his police report, hearing it firsthand shocked Lin Dongxue. The killer was bold enough to come for a witness.

“What happened next?” Xu Xiaodong pressed on.

“Then…” Zhou Xiao started crying, “Then the neighbor woke up and opened their door. The killer must have seen them and went straight in. An entire family, including a ten-year-old child… He’s a monster.”

“What!?” Lin Dongxue was shocked. “Which door?”

“The one next door.”

They went outside, and Lin Dongxue knocked on the door. There was no response. “An entire family…” she murmured to Zhou Xiao.

“I’m sure. I heard it.”

“Why didn’t you mention this when you called the police?”

“I was confused at the time…”

“The door’s not opening, and there’s no property management on duty,” Xu Xiaodong said. “Should we get someone to unlock it?”

“Call Old Chen.”

“Chen can pick locks? Wow, he really can do everything.”

They called Chen Shi, who was just waking up, watching the morning news. Lin Dongxue briefly explained the situation, and Chen said he would come right away.

While waiting, they chatted with Zhou Xiao, verifying the details of the case. Zhou Xiao described the killer as tall and burly, wearing a shabby brown trench coat and a round hat, with a face full of wrinkles and a sinister expression.

Lin Dongxue examined the door, noting it was thin and flimsy, clearly a cheap one. “If the killer was bold enough to slaughter a family for seeing him, why didn’t he break down this door?” she wondered.

“Maybe he didn’t want to make too much noise and alert others.”

“But he wasn’t afraid of making noise killing a family?” Lin Dongxue glanced at the door, her heart tightening at the thought of the family’s bodies inside, especially the ten-year-old boy.

“Ahhh!!” Zhou Xiao suddenly screamed, pointing at the stairs. An elderly woman with a vegetable basket was slowly climbing the stairs, curiously eyeing the strangers at her door. “Who are you looking for?” she asked.

“It spoke… a ghost! A ghost!” Zhou Xiao screamed hysterically. “That’s the neighbor who was killed last night. Can you see her too? She’s coming up!”