by Gangxueyin
It was hard to refuse such hospitality, and Han Yin released his bags.
As the three of them walked out of the reception hall, Kang Xiaobei whispered to Ye Xi, “Chief Ye, how did he find you?”
“He said he guessed.”
“That sounds about right. Everyone thinks you’re pretty. I bet he piled on the sweet talk and then guessed right.”
“You think everyone’s like you. You see a pretty girl and just go hit on her. The man’s a professional. So cut the nonsense, and maybe you’ll learn a thing or two from him.”
Kang Xiaobei ran over to a gray car with a police license plate and held open the door. Han Yin and Ye Xi got in after much polite yielding, and then Kang Xiaobei got in and started the engine.
After a while, Ye Xi said to Han Yin, who was beside her, “I feel bad about imposing on you by inviting you here to assist in this case. We should have communicated with you first. But I had no way of getting in touch, so all I could do was ask a friend at your provincial office to make the introduction. I never expected he’d go ahead and assign you to this. You don’t feel we’ve been too bureaucratic, I hope?”
“No, not at all!” Han Yin shook his head and added, “I should be thanking you. Opportunities for actual practice in the field are extremely hard to come by.”
“Great. Let me brief you on the case.” When she said the word case, her face darkened. “Earlier this year, a female murder-dismemberment case took place here. It was bizarrely similar to an unsolved dismemberment case from some years back. The degree of dismemberment and where the body parts were dumped are extremely close in proximity. Our preliminary findings suggested the same killer in both cases, so the municipal bureau set up a task force. We then conducted a far-reaching investigation of the victims and their social relationships, but we didn’t find any connections. So far, no clues of any value have been uncovered. We don’t know the next step or focus of the investigation. That’s why we need you to help us devise a criminal profiling report. We also hope you can help develop an effective strategy for cracking these cases.”
“I’ll certainly do my best,” Han Yin said and nodded.
A half hour later, the car pulled up to the gate of the Fragrant Garden Guesthouse. A nearby sign indicated the Gulou office of J City’s Public Security Bureau (PSB).
Why did we come here? Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate for the task force to convene at the municipal bureau for a big case like this? Han Yin frowned, slightly puzzled.
As Ye Xi got out of the car, she said, “Both dismemberments occurred in Gulou District, and since the earlier investigation came up empty, the municipal PSB transferred it to the Gulou District Cold Case Group. The complete case materials are now here. So for convenience and to avoid outside interference, the bureau set up the task force here. We also arranged for you to stay nearby. It’s not the greatest, but we hope you’ll understand.”
“It’s okay,” said Han Yin. He couldn’t help admiring how sharp Ye Xi was. She was young but was already the head of a criminal investigation division, clearly far above the rest.
Han Yin followed Ye Xi into the guesthouse, which was quite nice. The lobby was spacious and very tidy. There was also a drink stand beside the revolving door. A few guests were drinking tea by the floor-to-ceiling plate-glass window. It looked very pleasant.
Everything had already been arranged, so the two of them, plus the luggage-toting Kang Xiaobei, took the elevator up to Han Yin’s room, number 508. When they opened the door, two people were sitting there, awaiting their arrival.
“This is Professor Han Yin, who has come to assist in handling the case. This is our municipal PSB deputy chief in charge of criminal investigation, Hu Zhiguo. And this is the deputy head of the task force, Fu Changlin.” Ye Xi pointed to Kang Xiaobei. “Xiaobei will be with you at all times. We’ve arranged for him to stay across the hall for your protection and because he’s from here and knows the area and its people.”
“Thank you, thank you!” said Han Yin. He was grateful for Ye Xi’s considerate arrangements. “But will this be a bother for Officer Kang?”
“It’s fine. After work, I usually just head home. Now the office is paying my room and board; plus, I’m sure I can learn a trick or two from you, so it’s all good!”
“Though the guesthouse isn’t big, there’s no shortage of pretty girls. You didn’t see when we came here how his eyes bulged as he looked at the young girl behind the reception desk,” Ye Xi said, teasing Kang Xiaobei.
“Hey, that’s not true! Besides, any single young guy would do the same!” Kang Xiaobei said.
“Enough already! All you do is run your mouth,” Chief Hu said. Then he said to Han Yin, “Look at these officers of mine. No respect, funny or not.”
“It’s all in good fun,” said Ye Xi. “We’re family here, starting with our bureau chief. And we never put on airs. The working atmosphere is especially good. Am I right, Chief Fu?”
“Uh . . . definitely.”
Chief Fu laughed, a bit ruefully it seemed. Han Yin looked in his eyes and noticed a look he couldn’t quite identify flash in them.
After all the usual pleasantries, Chief Hu suggested going to the dining room and hosting a welcome meal for Han Yin. It was between lunch and dinner, so Han Yin felt like declining, but he decided to be a good guest and accept.
They were outdoing each other in deference as they went into the private dining room. The food came soon enough, a wide range of delicious plates with many different colors and flavors.
Chief Hu raised his glass. “We’ll toast with tea! To successful cooperation!”
When the meal was over, Han Yin said good-bye to everyone and returned to his room. A little later, Ye Xi paid him a visit, bringing a file with the case description. Han Yin could examine the other documents whenever he wanted at the task force and cold case offices.
“Tomorrow morning, I’ll bring you to the task force’s morning meeting. We’ll analyze the examination of the forensics and trace evidence. As we discuss the results, you can get to know some of the other colleagues. Afterward, we’ll go to where the body parts were found so you can get a feel for the locations. Will that be all right?”
“You don’t have to go out of your way to pick me up. Xiaobei can drive us to the meeting.” He took the file from her and placed it on the table. Then, turning back, he asked, “Why did the forensic results just come out?”
“You know that the autopsy workload in dismemberment crimes is always heavy. We also want to reexamine the specimens from the case from several years back. There are major difficulties and high-tech requirements. The provincial office assigned an expert who has studied advanced courses at a forensics laboratory in Connecticut to take charge of the work, which held things back.” Ye Xi glanced at her watch, smiled at Han Yin, and warmly said, “Let’s leave it at that for today. If you need anything, let us know. It won’t be a bother. After you go through the file, get a good night’s sleep. Starting tomorrow, we’re going into the trenches, and you’ll be stuck with us for a while.”
“Really, it’s a pleasure and an honor,” Han Yin said.
Han Yin saw Ye Xi out the door and said good-bye with his trademark smile, his eyes following her to the elevator.
When he turned back into the room, Han Yin felt conflicted. He rubbed his cheeks vigorously, as though rubbing off a mask.
A lot of people liked Han Yin’s genial and refined smile and would never have dreamed that it was just a device he used to conceal his true feelings. When he was little, his mother despised his father’s failed career and left the two of them to go abroad. From then on, the neighborhood kids and his schoolmates ridiculed Han Yin. With an intelligence that belied his youth, he worried that his father would be very hurt if he found out, so all little Han Yin could do was go off by himself and cry. Finally, his father did find out, and the two of them wept in each other’s arms. Later, his father told him, “From now on, neither one of us will shed a single tea
r for anyone not worthy of it. No one’s going to take pity on you because you cry your heart out. You’ve got to smile, and the worse it hurts, the more you’ve got to do it—smile until they’re ashamed of their own unworthiness!” At the time, young Han Yin couldn’t quite grasp his father’s words, but they stuck firmly in his mind.
Smile when you’re happy. Smile when you’re sad. Smile when you triumph. Smile when you’re disappointed. Someone disgusts you—smile. You like someone—smile. Smile when you’re at your wits’ end.
Very young women who occupied high positions in the police world always came with a certain amount of uncertainty. Han Yin knew of many instances where female charm or sleeping with the boss was the basis for a promotion, so his first notion of Ye Xi followed the same thread of logic. But when he took hold of her hand, that callus in the heart of her palm made him believe that she was a woman who often held a gun and faithfully worked out. And he noticed that Ye Xi displayed acuity as a criminal policewoman. She was also experienced in handling cases and had an unusually lucid mind. The people she appointed were a step in the right direction.
Han Yin knew that in terms of this case, it was important to not allow first impressions to dominate. He didn’t want to see the list of alleged suspects. An examination of the sites where the parts were dumped would be more helpful in “reading” the killer’s intentions. And as for the linked cases and behavioral evidence analysis, these must be combined with forensic opinion. He also sensed how liberal and sophisticated Ye Xi’s dealings with her superiors and subordinates were. And even though their contact had lasted only a few hours, Ye Xi’s inherent gracefulness and candor had made Han Yin feel very comfortable in her presence. Something he couldn’t describe began to ripple through him and lightly pushed at the forgotten door to his heart, awakening a feeling he had not gotten from a woman in many years.
He washed his face, took off his coat, and lay down on the bed. Then he opened the file.
The earlier case went back to January 18, 1996, when a sanitation worker found a travel bag full of human remains beside a dumpster.
After the police were informed, body parts were found all over J City. Forensics confirmed that the bones, hair, and muscle tissue had all come from the same woman. Given the gruesome dismemberment, it was impossible to reach an accurate time and cause of death. Toxicology showed no traces of poisoning, and testing showed no sign of pregnancy.
More than a hundred body parts had been dumped in four locations. The cutting had been clean. Apart from the uterus and genital organs, none of the internal organs were missing. Only the pelvis and a finger were missing. The head, internal organs, and flesh all showed signs of scalding. The killer disposed of the body parts with the victim’s clothes, which were neatly folded and put in the bags.
Other than gunpowder residue in one of the travel bags, the killer’s fingerprints, hair, or bodily fluids were not found.
The deceased was identified as Yin Aijun, a first-year student in the Chinese Department of Old Capital University. She was twenty years old and resided in Q City in S Province. Yin Aijun worked as a resident assistant in a dorm on campus, and on the evening of January 9, 1996, she left her dorm in a huff after a superior disciplined her for allowing a resident to use a space heater. Yin Aijun was last seen at the intersection of River Mouth Road and Jade Bird Road at Old Capital University’s north gate. She had been wearing a red cotton quilted coat and blue jeans.
The Public Security Bureau of S Province designated this case a number one priority, and the relevant authorities demanded swift justice. The J City police gathered its elite members and set up the Yin Aijun Dismembered Corpse Case Task Force, and the city’s entire police force participated in the investigation.
After a year of monitoring and investigating the university and areas surrounding the initial dump site, the task force announced it was disbanding. Three years later, the matter had been moved to the Gulou District Cold Case Group.
Time passed. The months became years. The Yin Aijun dismemberment case task force members came and went. But none of them forgot that snow-white, bloodred morning or the student in the red coat. The case had branded their lives forever. The golden opportunity for cracking a case was in the first seventy-two hours. So many years had gone by that the secret of the Yin Aijun dismembered corpse case had more than likely been buried and the perpetrator gone forever.
However, sixteen years later, in 2012—the year the Mayans had predicted the end of the world—another gory dismemberment occurred in J City. The victim had been dismembered in oddly the same way, and the body parts numbered in the hundreds. The butchering was expertly done, and the dumping grounds were exactly the same as in the Yin Aijun case. Even the person who found the remains was the very same sanitation worker.
The deceased, Wang Li, a thirty-two-year-old woman, was a resident and company accountant. She vanished at about one in the morning on January 1, 2012. She had been wearing a red cashmere coat. On January 4, around five o’clock, her body parts were found.
The municipal bureau set up a task force at lightning speed, calling it the Wang Li Dismembered Corpse Case. They reopened the Yin Aijun case. Ye Xi led both investigations. Because Gulou District Cold Case Group Head Fu Changlin really wanted to join the task force, he was appointed as deputy head.
Han Yin selected a photo of each victim from when they were still alive.
Wang Li was lovely and charming, with an oval face. Curly hair fell in cascades across her shoulders. A pair of exceedingly striking eyes and eyebrows.
In contrast, Yin Aijun was a delicate-looking girl with short hair. In the photo, she stood under the university sign, smiling shyly into the camera. Perhaps this had been a souvenir of her first day, when she was full of hopes and dreams for the future. But just three months later, this girl in bloom became a wisp of smoke, gone forever from this beautifully unfolding world, leaving behind an inextricable suspense and disquiet.
“Aijun, can I help you rest in peace?”
Han Yin couldn’t help feeling a wave of sorrow.
2
AT THE CORPSE DUMP SITES
Twilight
The gray avenue stretched off into the distance. A towering road sign: “Jade Bird Road.” Black characters on a white background. Solemn silence. As if pointing the direction to hell. The girl’s solitary figure wanders along the hushed street, daydreaming. The last gleams of the sinking sun pursue her like a searchlight, the rays catching her red coat, which looks as vibrant as fresh blood.
Perhaps she feels Han Yin’s eyes on her. She teases him, walking along the roadway, stretching out her arms as if walking a balance beam. She frequently turns her head toward Han Yin. He can’t quite see her and only senses the face that surpasses a host of other beauties.
A blast of wind causes the girl to lose her balance, her body suddenly tilting toward the road. A speeding truck roars up and smashes into her. The girl’s body disintegrates. Several perfect parabolas paint the sky and fall in pieces onto the road. The girl’s head rolls over and stops at Han Yin’s feet. The crimson face is looking upward. It’s Ye Xi!
Han Yin awoke from his terrible dream with a haunting feeling. He fumbled for his glasses on the nightstand. The wall clock showed eight o’clock. Night had fallen. A night without stars. Without the moon. Blackness hung like a curtain.
Suddenly he saw the pile of bloody, devastating case photographs and felt his chest constrict.
I’d better get some air.
He put on a coat, left the room, and took the elevator down to the lobby.
There were no guests around. Kang Xiaobei and the two girls at the reception desk were chatting. He was gesticulating in a very animated way, and they were giggling so hard they were shaking.
Han Yin didn’t want to disturb them, so he walked through the revolving door and went outside. The afternoon had been flooded by sunshine, but now a cold breeze was blowing. The ground was wet. It must have rained.
Of
f in the distance, the broken sound of thunder. It was hard to tell if the rain was moving off or coming back. Han Yin shivered. He thought about going back for a jacket or even going back to bed. As he was debating, Kang Xiaobei came outside.
“Where are you going, Professor Han? Shall I take you somewhere?”
“Just thinking of taking a walk. No need to worry about me.”
“I was just having a little chat.”
“Quite cute, those two.”
Kang Xiaobei bashfully rubbed his neck. “How about if I take you around to see our night sights?”
Han Yin thought for a moment. “All right. Fine.”
“Hold on a sec. I’ll get the car.”
Kang Xiaobei took off. Han Yin thought about calling him back, then shrugged. At least the car would be warmer.
Kang Xiaobei pulled up in the car.
Han Yin got in. He had an idea. “Xiaobei, are you familiar with the case?”
“Very. I’ve been following Chief Ye around from the start. And I’ve looked over the files more than once. Why?”
“Will you take me to where the bodies were dumped?”
“Okay. Wow, you’re really dedicated, Professor Han. Clearly, I’ve got a lot to learn from you.”
“Ha! And from now on, you can drop the formalities. I’m older, so you can call me Brother Han or Brother Yin. No more of this ‘Professor Han’ business.”
“Sounds good, Brother Yin.”
They headed south from the guesthouse. A little way down the road, a line of dense, ivy-clad walls appeared. Above the wall, Han Yin could see an old-fashioned, pagoda-like structure about six stories high. Dense vines also encased its gray wall. The sweep of fortune’s changing tides and the weight of history, as exquisitely as nature, had accumulated here.
