Chapter 153: Playing a Game of Wits with the Killer

The killer stated in the audio cassette that he was going to move on to the next person and complete the exact same game. The so-called same game naturally referred to necrophilia. Necrophilia requires the "submissive" to act of their own free will, and Wang Yazhuo would never do so voluntarily. Therefore, if Wang Yazhuo had been chosen as the target, the killer would not have called it the same game.

The killer was openly provoking the police in this manner. He certainly disdained releasing false information intentionally, and he would be extremely careful to ensure he did not utter incorrect details. On the contrary, he would provide the police with certain clues. Under such circumstances, if the police still failed to stop the killer from committing the crime, that was precisely what the killer truly wanted to see.

The killer's criminal motive was gradually rising to the surface. The perpetrator likely harbored a morbid view of romance; not only did he have an affinity for corpses, but he also revered necrophilia. However, because this was unacceptable to the world, his psychology had grown increasingly twisted. He sought to provoke judicial authority through crime—or to be precise, he wanted to challenge the concepts of the entire world by challenging the police.

Fatty Lu felt extremely angry about this. He declared that the world could never be free enough to tolerate such perverted behavior. If a day ever came when the entire world truly tolerated it, it would not mean the world had achieved a high degree of freedom; it would only signify that the entire world had fallen ill.

What made me certain that Wang Yazhuo was not the killer's next target was also the timing of the next crime mentioned by the killer. The audio cassette had been left behind before Wang Yazhuo went missing. With Wang Yazhuo inside the police station, the killer probably could not guarantee that he could successfully lure her out. Otherwise, in order to provoke judicial authority, he should have mentioned Wang Yazhuo's name in the audio cassette.

Yet, the killer had not.

This was sufficient to show that the killer did not have absolute certainty about whether he could capture Wang Yazhuo. Furthermore, since the cassette was left before Wang Yazhuo was abducted by the killer, and the killer had given the police a very specific timeframe, his target should not have been Wang Yazhuo, whose capture was uncertain.

Upon hearing my analysis, everyone relaxed considerably. After pondering for a moment, I roughly deduced the killer's mindset regarding the abduction of Wang Yazhuo.

Aside from using those corpses to acclimate himself to the act of cannibalism, I surmised that the killer's chosen targets possessed a morbid psychology of their own. For instance, the most recently murdered victim also revered necrophilia. Only in this way could the killer ensure that the necrophilia game could be successfully completed.

I suspected that the killer's next target was also someone with a similarly morbid mindset. Although the killer had only recently begun committing crimes, the preparatory phase of his crimes might have been underway for several years. After all, finding someone with this kind of psychological pathology without being discovered was no easy task.

I did not know how many such people the killer had found, but there were definitely more than two, and the second one was the target the killer was preparing to strike the next day. Wang Yazhuo's psychology was normal; the killer abducted her certainly not to complete the necrophilia game, which likely had to do with Wang Yazhuo frequently accompanying me in and out of the police station.

Remaining in the shadows, the killer—even if he had investigated Wang Yazhuo and me—definitely had not gathered a complete picture. Seeing us living together and observing my frequent visits to the police station, he most likely assumed we were both police officers, or that I was a cop and Wang Yazhuo was my girlfriend or lover.

Whether she was a police officer or a cop's girlfriend, being kidnapped by a criminal suspect constituted a massive provocation to the police. The killer abducted Wang Yazhuo very likely purely for the sake of provoking the police.

What I found fortunate was that the killer revered necrophilia rather than some other fetish equally as morbid as necrophilia; otherwise, the killer might have directly targeted Wang Yazhuo regardless of whether she consented. Fatty Lu nodded after hearing this, and someone else analyzed that the killer must have seized Wang Yazhuo in order to hold a hostage.

Having issued early warning information, the killer had already formally begun a game of wits with the police. At this juncture, holding a hostage would make his actions much safer. Viewed from this perspective, the killer would temporarily refrain from harming Wang Yazhuo.

However, no one could predict whether the killer would force Wang Yazhuo to witness the things she feared most.

The killer probably viewed Wang Yazhuo as one of the police's people. Since he held such utter disdain for the police, he certainly would not make a police associate the target of his necrophilia. Nevertheless, he might well display his entire criminal process to someone from the police force, because the police loathed crime above all else.

True to his provocative personality, he might deliberately make Wang Yazhuo watch his necrophilic rituals.

I clenched my fists once more. I did not want Wang Yazhuo to witness things she should never see; otherwise, this incident would undoubtedly leave an indelible shadow in the depths of her heart.

Acting decisively, Fatty Lu ordered the police force to maintain a high level of vigilance throughout the entire city. He also dispatched personnel to thoroughly search for the criminal suspect's traces. Once everyone had filed out and night had fallen completely, I chose not to return to the hotel. Fatty Lu asked me if I had any good ideas.

After pondering for a moment, I instructed Fatty Lu to find a way to identify female targets who would be home entirely alone two days later.

I wondered why the killer had suddenly fixed on a timeframe two days away. There were two possibilities: either the killer was intentionally leaving two days for the police to investigate and intervene, or two days later represented the optimal timing for the killer to commit the crime. Regardless of which it was, as long as there was a possibility, it could not be abandoned.

If it was the latter, the target victim might only be left alone at home after two days.

In the most recent case, the crime scene was located inside the victim's home rather than in a desolate wilderness. Clearly, for the formal necrophilia game—unlike the earlier scavenging of corpses—the killer's requirements for the venue had changed. Previously, the killer did not care where the scene was located, nor did he mind tableware or other makeshift tools.

Yet, in the latest case, the crime scene was meticulously arranged, which indicated that the killer truly revered necrophilia. Therefore, I inferred that the next crime would still take place inside the victim's home, as this allowed for a better setup of the necrophilia environment.

If that was the case, the killer's choice to strike two days later rather than within the next two days might be because during these two days, other people remained in the target victim's home, making it inconvenient for them to engage in their intimate depravity. Two days later, however, the victim's home might be left with only the victim herself, allowing the killer to leisurely enter the victim's residence at that time and slowly relish love that did not belong to this world.

Fatty Lu looked somewhat troubled. He said Yu City was so vast; he had no idea how many female targets would be staying home alone two days later, and it would be very difficult for him to identify the target victim within such a short timeframe.

"Find as many as you can. It's better than not looking at all," I told Fatty Lu. "Combine this with the physical characteristics of short hair, large eyes, a small mouth, and dimples; perhaps we can narrow down the scope a bit further. Furthermore, people who revere necrophilia tend to be reticent in daily life because they are different from everyone else."

Fatty Lu nodded and immediately dispatched men to handle the matter.

After issuing all the instructions, Fatty Lu asked me what my next plans were.

We already knew the killer's next criminal plan, yet we did not even know the identity of the killer. I checked my watch; it was already eight o'clock in the evening. I picked up the little ghost and announced that I was going to the medical university. Fatty Lu asked me what I was going to do there. After considering it, I replied: "Keep all the school staff and personnel at the medical university detained. The killer is even more likely to be one of Qiu Xiao's classmates or teachers."

I said this to Fatty Lu.

Earlier, based on the killer's modus operandi involving the use of sodium nitrite and Qiu Xiao's major, we had already deduced that the killer might be a doctor or a medical student. The individuals who had contact with Qiu Xiao and Qiu Lei were most likely students or faculty members at the medical university. Therefore, I wanted to try my luck at the medical university.

If we could confirm the killer's identity, we would have a much better hope of figuring out where the killer was, and perhaps even deduce the specific details of the killer's next criminal plan.

Fatty Lu made a phone call, dejectedly told his wife he wouldn't be coming home, and then took his men to accompany me to the medical university.

Because word had been given in advance, the administrative staff and personnel of the medical university had all remained on campus.

Fortunately, this round of all-night investigation finally yielded some clues.