by Lei Mi
At once Fang Mu thought of the five-pointed star. He stopped walking. He asked guardedly, "What are you doing?"
Seeming not to hear, Meng Fanzhe just continued staring dully at him.
Fang Mu cautiously took another step toward him. "Meng Fanzhe, what are you doing?"
Before Fang Mu's very eyes, Meng Fanzhe's empty, lifeless eyes suddenly filled with wild ferocity. The muscles in his face twisted. He opened his mouth, revealing frighteningly white teeth, and let out a deep, animalistic roar.
"Aghh!"
Fang Mu was so startled that he jumped back two steps. Before he could say anything, Meng Fanzhe pulled out the hand that had been in his pocket the whole time. In it was a huge box-cutter.
Fang Mu's senses alerted. "What are you…?"
Meng Fanzhe flicked his finger and the blade shot out, glittering coldly. Gripping the knife, he muttered something and began walking toward Fang Mu. Suddenly he raised his arm overhead, the blade catching the light, and then lunged forward.
As Meng Fanzhe's arm swung down, Fang Mu leapt back, feeling the blade whistle past his nose and then slice through the fabric of his jacket. "Are you out of your mind, Meng Fanzhe?" he shouted, dodging backwards. "It's me, Fang Mu!"
But his words were useless. Seeing that his previous attempt had fallen short, Meng Fanzhe raised the knife again and went straight for Fang Mu's neck.
Fang Mu hurriedly ducked down, avoiding the blade, and then darted behind Meng Fanzhe and kicked him savagely in the back of the knee.
Meng Fanzhe fell forward onto the floor. Immediately Fang Mu leapt forward to pin him down, but Meng Fanzhe was too fast. Before even standing up, he swung the blade backwards.
Fang Mu tried to dodge, but he was a second too late. The knife edge sliced one of his fingers. Blood spurted.
Meng Fanzhe got to his feet and advanced on Fang Mu, growling under his breath. In the overhead light, Fang Mu could clearly see Meng Fanzhe's clenched jaw and the white froth surrounding his mouth, much like a mad dog. Squeezing his bleeding finger, Fang Mu hastily walked backwards.
Suddenly the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind him. He spun around. From out of the darkness at the other end of the corridor appeared Tai Wei, one hand going to his sidearm as he ran toward them.
In the blink of an eye, Tai Wei was beside him. With a taut face, the cop pulled Fang Mu behind him and raised the gun. "You all right?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he yelled toward Meng Fanzhe, "I'm a police officer! Put the knife down now!"
This had no effect on Meng Fanzhe. He seemed oblivious to Tai Wei. He just kept staring at Fang Mu and continued to walk closer, closing the distance between them.
Tai Wei cocked the hammer of the gun. "Put the knife down now or I'll shoot."
Fang Mu nervously grabbed Tai Wei's arm. "Don't fire; he's my classmate."
Tai Wei stared at Meng Fanzhe a few seconds before easing the gun hammer. He holstered it and took a combat stance.
One after another the doors along the hallway opened. Having heard the commotion, various underwear-clad students stuck their heads out to take a look. Once they saw what was going on, however, they gave an alarmed cry and shrunk back inside their rooms, keeping their doors cracked just wide enough to observe the scene.
Du Yu also came out into the hall. After standing there helplessly for a few seconds, he grabbed a broom from inside his room and ran behind Fang Mu. Shaking with fear, he said, "Meng Fanzhe, don't do anything crazy now."
Meng Fanzhe let out another growl and then swung the knife.
Tai Wei quickly stepped forward, grabbed Meng Fanzhe's knife hand, and twisted his wrist. Despite the pain, Meng Fanzhe did not release his grip on the blade, so Tai Wei gave his knee a hard kick. At last the knife clattered to the floor. Tai Wei yanked Meng Fanzhe toward him, grabbed his collar, and tossed him forward. Meng Fanzhe smashed into the wall, falling roughly to the floor. He curled up in pain.
Tai Wei rushed forward, flipped him over, and held him down with his knees on his back. He cuffed the student's hands together.
Lying on the floor, Meng Fanzhe could do nothing but pant for breath.. Tai Wei took out his phone, dialed, and then said simply, "Dormitory Five, Room Three-Thirteen. Get here as fast as you can." He hung up and turned to Fang Mu. "What happened here? Who is this guy and why'd he want to kill you?"
Fang Mu didn't respond to the question, just stared blankly at Meng Fanzhe as he groaned and breathed heavily on the floor. Fang Mu could only think of a single word.
Why?
By this time the hallway was filled with noise. Nearly everyone who lived on the floor had run out of their rooms to see the excitement. Several yelled out in surprise: "Isn't that Meng Fanzhe?" "What's going on?"
Suddenly Fang Mu rushed forward and knelt beside Meng Fanzhe. In a loud voice, he said, "Can you hear what I'm saying? What's going on with you?"
Meng Fanzhe's eyes were closed, his breathing labored. He made no response.
Fang Mu let go of his bleeding finger, grabbed hold of Meng Fanzhe's shoulders and shook him forcefully. "Talk to me, Meng Fanzhe. What were you doing just now? Why do you want to kill me?"
Meng Fanzhe's eyes opened at once, flashing the same murderous look as before. Twisting his body, he mustered all his strength and lurched at Fang Mu, trying to bite him.
Fang Mu fell backwards onto the floor as Tai Wei stepped forward and kicked Meng Fanzhe in the face.
"Keep still!" he yelled.
Unfazed, Fang Mu crawled forward and grabbed hold of Tai Wei's leg. "Don't hurt him," he said. "Something is definitely wrong here! He's not normally like this…"
Meng Fanzhe's mouth was cut from the blow and as the blood trickled down his ashen skin, his appearance changed beyond recognition.
Fang Mu's wounded finger had also split open and the blood ran down his fingertips and onto the floor. Before long, a small pool had formed.
Seeing that Fang Mu was bleeding, Du Yu quickly grabbed his arm. "Come back to the dorm. I've got bandages."
His mind blank, Fang Mu let Du Yu pull him to the door of Room 313. When they reached the entrance, Fang Mu suddenly remembered that Meng Fanzhe had been drawing something on their door, so he pushed Du Yu off and looked closely at it.
The door appeared empty. Meng Fanzhe didn't seem to have written anything.
After sweeping his gaze across the surface, Fang Mu began inspecting the door inch by inch. Suddenly, he noticed something on the room number.
In-between the "3", the "1" and the "3", Meng Fanzhe had written two "+" signs with his felt-tip marker.
"Three plus one plus three…" muttered Fang Mu. Suddenly, he felt a chill pass through his entire body.
Seeing Fang Mu standing motionless in front of the room door, Tai Wei turned to two of the students nearby. "Watch him for me," he said, pointing at Meng Fanzhe, who was still writhing on the floor. He walked over to Fang Mu.
"What is it?" Tai Wei asked.
Fang Mu didn't respond, just stared dumbstruck at the numbers.
Tai Wei followed his gaze. A few seconds later, Fang Mu heard the cop's breathing suddenly quicken. He looked over. Tai Wei's eyes were locked on the room number, his face registering shocked realization.
By this time the other police had arrived at the scene. "What should we do, Captain?" one of them yelled to Tai Wei. "Interrogate him here or take him back to the station?"
Tai Wei just waved his hand. "All of you, get over here right now!"
Once the officers had all crowded around the door, Tai Wei pointed at the number. "Comrades," he said, his voice shaking slightly, "we got him. This is the guy!"
The police all turned to the room number. After a few seconds of silence, shouts of accomplishment suddenly erupted from the group. Filled with the rush of relief, they congratulated and jostled each other. One of the female officers even rushed through the crowd and hugged Tai Wei.
Squeezed in the middle of this madly happy group, Fang Mu was knocke
d to and fro. But there wasn't a hint of a smile on his face. He just stared blankly at the door number, that single word still the only thing in his mind.
Why?
"All right, all right," said Tai Wei, waving his hand for silence. In a confident tone, he yelled out: "Everyone on your marks! Let's get to work!"
After giving a brief shout of agreement, the officers all attended to their own tasks. They sealed off the crime scene, collected evidence, determined the suspect's identity. It was the typical follow-up.
Before long, all the onlookers were told to disperse, leaving only Meng Fanzhe lying on the floor and Fang Mu still standing in the doorway.
Two of the cops lifted Meng Fanzhe off the floor, and then with one man grabbing each arm, they began dragging him toward the first floor. Fang Mu tried to run after them, but he was stopped by Tai Wei.
"You need to go to the hospital," the cop said. "Your wound looks deep."
"It's fine," said Fang Mu impatiently. "I need to talk to him; something about this doesn't seem right to me."
Tai Wei seemed a little annoyed by the remark. "Anything that doesn't seem right will be cleared up once we start interrogating him. Little Zhang," he said, waving to one of the officers nearby, "take Fang Mu to the hospital."
The cop nodded and walked over. Having no other choice, Fang Mu followed him downstairs.
A number of police cars were parked at the entrance to the building, lights flashing. Fang Mu saw Meng Fanzhe sitting in one, his head down. Police officers were sitting on either side of him, holding his arms tight.
The cop who was taking Fang Mu to the hospital waved him over to a nearby police car. As Fang Mu walked toward it, he kept his eyes on Meng Fanzhe, as if he hoped to find some clue in his face. It was then that Meng Fanzhe looked up at him.
At once Meng Fanzhe leapt at the window, but now the murderous look was gone from his eyes, replaced instead by one of bottomless fear and despair. He knocked against the window as hard as he could, yelling soundlessly, tears streaming down his face.
The two cops quickly restrained him, beating him about the face and the body.
Fang Mu ran forward, wanting to open the door. But just as he reached the rear bumper, the car suddenly sped off, knocking him to the ground. By the time he climbed to his feet, the car had already turned a corner and was nowhere to be soon, leaving only the sound of its siren echoing across campus.
CHAPTER
22
Cat and Mouse (II)
Fang Mu's wound wasn't long, but it was very deep. After cleaning it out, the tired-looking doctor on duty at the hospital closed it up with two stitches. When Fang Mu left the examination room, Little Zhang, the cop that had escorted him, was on the phone. Seeing Fang Mu emerge, he quickly hung up. He then asked him a few brief questions about his injury, and said that he would take him back to the school.
Fang Mu shook his head. "Take me to the city bureau."
"Absolutely not." Little Zhang's tone was firm. "Captain Tai ordered me to take you back to school."
"I was the victim of this crime. Don't you have to take my statement?"
Little Zhang seemed stumped by the question, but after hesitating for a moment, he still insisted on taking Fang Mu back to his dorm.
"Well, I don't need an escort!" Fang Mu yelled. "I can get there myself!" He stormed out of the hospital.
As soon as he was outside, he hurriedly hid around the side of the building. A few seconds later he saw Little Zhang sprint out after him. The cop looked all around, swearing beneath his breath. Then he hopped into his car, started it up, and sped off.
When Little Zhang was far enough away, Fang Mu left his hiding place and walked straight to the line of cabs waiting outside the hospital.
The entrance to the city bureau was ablaze with light. Cars packed the courtyard. After hopping out of the cab, Fang Mu approached the heavily-armed policeman guarding the entrance.
"Officer Tai asked me to come and give my statement," he told the cop.
The cop nodded and went into his sentry box to make a call. A few minutes later, Little Zhang came running out of the building.
"I knew you were going to follow me here!" Little Zhang snapped at Fang Mu. "Don't say anything else. As soon as you finish your statement you're leaving. Captain Tai said he'll contact you in a few days."
Fang Mu had no choice but to follow him as he walked away.
After bringing Fang Mu to one of the detainment rooms, the cop told him to wait there a moment and to not do anything stupid, and then left the room.
As soon as he left the room, Fang Mu snuck out after him. The corridor was jammed with people. Uniformed and plainclothes police officers hurried from one room to the next. Occasionally someone would look suspiciously at him, but no one ever stopped to say anything. As he walked, he kept hearing things like, "Bring these documents to the third floor as fast as you can" and "To the interrogation room."
Everyone seemed to be paying close attention to what was happening on the third floor.
Doing his best to stay inconspicuous, Fang Mu hurried up to the third floor.
A large iron door stood open at the end of the corridor. Beyond that was another room. Its back wall was all glass. At the moment, over a dozen policemen were standing quietly near the glass wall. Fang Mu could hear Tai Wei's voice coming from within the crowd.
"…At that moment I feigned having diarrhea, and hid in the bathroom and listened for sounds of movement," he was saying. "Sure enough, I soon heard someone climbing the stairs, so I quietly followed behind him. After he entered the third floor hallway, I watched as he walked a few steps, stopped, and then walked a little farther, until he was standing in front of Room Three-Thirteen. There he seemed to either knock or write something on the door – I couldn't tell at the distance. Afterwards the victim spoke briefly to him, and since I figured that they knew each other, I turned to leave. But before I had gone ten feet I heard the sound of fighting, after which I restrained him and then brought him back here…"
Fang Mu walked quietly farther into the room. Everyone was watching Tai Wei with bated breath, so not a single person noticed him.
"Can you guarantee that this is the killer?" asked one of the listeners, a stern-looking man with a beer belly.
"I can!" Tai Wei's voice and expression were both resolute. "First of all, we discovered that he had indicated the number seven on the victim's door; second, one of my men from the special investigation team recently finished checking the scene – including the suspect's room – and he just called me to say they made a huge discovery."
Several female officers now rushed over and handed several thick stacks of documents to Tai Wei. After briefly flipping through them, he turned to the fat, grave-faced man and said, "Director, we can begin."
The director nodded. "Then let's get started."
Everyone turned toward the glass wall. Not daring to get too close, Fang Mu did his best to catch what was happening through a space in the crowd.
The wall was actually a one-way mirror. On the other side of it was the interrogation room.
Inside that room, it was sparsely furnished, containing only a single table with a lamp, two chairs on one side and one on the other. Two policemen sat side by side, one flipping through the documents that had just been given to him, the other writing something on a piece of paper. The chair opposite them was fixed to the floor, appearing horribly cold and uncomfortable. A camera monitored the scene from the ceiling. It was equipped with a microphone, which amplified all the sounds within the interrogation room and transmitted them to the room on the other side of the glass wall where the onlookers observed.
The small door on the right side of the room opened and Meng Fanzhe was led in by two policemen. His hands and feet were shackled.
He kept his head down and appeared extremely weak, swaying when the police forced him into the chair. The blood had already dried around his mouth and his face was covered with dark red splotches.
Keeping his head down, Meng Fanzhe made no response.
The other officer turned the desk lamp to face Meng Fanzhe. Enveloped by the bright light, Meng Fanzhe's body made a twisted shadow on the back wall of the room.
"Name?"
Meng Fanzhe still said nothing. He was so motionless he could have been sleeping.
The older officer calmly lit a cigarette and opened one of the files in front of him. "Where were you on the morning of July 1, 2002, between one and three a.m.?"
No response.
"Where were you on the morning of August 10, 2002, between eight and nine a.m.?"
Still no response.
The other officer looked at the mirror on the wall behind him. He knew that many of his colleagues as well as the director himself were all watching from the other side. Turning back to Meng Fanzhe, who was still sitting as lifeless as a block of wood, he couldn't help but be shamed into anger.
Slamming a fist down on the table, the interrogator yelled, "Meng Fanzhe! Don't think that if you stay silent everything will be okay. According to the code of criminal procedure –"
Before he could finish what he was saying, Meng Fanzhe's head suddenly jerked up. Although he was facing the bright light, his eyes were wide open. If looks could have killed, the two officers opposite him would have been dead instantly.
"Aghh!" The same wild howl that Fang Mu had heard in the hallway roared again.
Although shackled to the chair, Meng Fanzhe struggled forward with all the strength he had, looking like he might snap his fetters at any moment and leap on the two officers. The younger one was so startled by the outburst that he recoiled back in his seat. The two cops standing behind Meng Fanzhe hurried to hold him down, but in that moment he seemed to have acquired superhuman strength at odds with his feeble appearance. Despite their superior size, the cops were unable to control him as he thrashed about in his confines, and one was nearly bitten in the commotion.
One of them pulled out a police baton and raised it.
