Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“The deceased victim was a scriptwriter. His name was Cai Jinda!” Zeng Ke said. “He was quite famous, and he has written many dramas, like the popular mini-film series Grey Hound, which he made many years ago.”
He then added, “But, this person has declined in recent years, and only a few of his works have been published.”
Zeng Ke looked at his mobile phone and said, “So, it is reasonable that he would have lowered himself to the point of joining a low-level crew.”
“Hello… Hello… I’m on Yongjin Island. The signal here is really bad!” Dou Zili was answering the phone. Because the signal was not good, he jumped onto a big stone and shouted into the phone, “Okay, it’s getting better. Just speak! Oh, good. That’s great. Thanks a lot!”
After hanging up the phone, Dou Zili jumped off the stone and said to Zhao Yu and the others, “I just received the news that a professional diving team has been sent from the Tongjiang Provincial Office and will arrive early tomorrow to conduct an underwater search. If you have special instructions for them, just tell me directly!”
Zhao Yu nodded and asked, “We have seen the crime scenes of all of the dead victims, so what about the surviving two?”
“Oh…” Dou Zili said in a hurry, “Regarding the survivor who was seriously injured, he was found in the windbreak. The man was found stabbed and covered in blood, but he was tough. When our people found him, he was still alive!”
While he was speaking, Dou Zili pulled out his mobile phone, checked his messages, then said, “He should have survived! If he was dead, I would have received a message by now!”
“Kang Leming!” According to the information available, Zeng Ke introduced the details of the man to the others. “This guy is very versatile. He has done almost everything… Lighting, audio, assistant cameraman, and he even played a few small roles. Also, he is only 28 years old.”
“Is the windbreak far away?” Zhao Yu asked, with a glint in his eyes, while staring at Dou Zili.
Dou Zili was clever, so he caught his meaning right away. He nodded and said, “It’s not far… But it’s not near either! It’s directly north of the garden, and we walked for 10 minutes to get there during the day’s search. If you walk faster, it would take five minutes!”
Although his words were somewhat contradictory, Zhao Yu and the others could still understand the situation. What he was trying to say was that, if you walked normally, the distance was not far. However, if the murderer was carrying a person, it could definitely not be called near!
On the way to the windbreak, none of them spoke. Dou Zili smoked his cheap cigarettes as he led the way with a flashlight. Meanwhile, Zhao Yu and the others were discussing the shocking and strange case.
To get to the northern windbreak forest, they had to go through a wet and rugged area. It was dark and slippery, so they couldn’t walk fast. As such, it took them almost a quarter of an hour to reach the scene.
Unexpectedly, at this late hour, there were still several dedicated policemen in the vicinity, all of them searching for possible clues that could possibly have been left by the murderer.
Seeing Dou Zili leading a group over, the police instantly guessed the identity of Zhao Yu and the others, which caused them to work even harder.
“That was really not close!” Zeng Ke gasped. “If the murder happened last night, the murderer would have been very busy! Plus, it’s dark and hard to walk. What’s the matter with that murderer? Why would someone go so far to kill people?”
Zhao Yu was also wondering about this same thing. The depressed area that they had passed just now was very difficult to walk through, and if the murderer had been carrying another person on his back, it would obviously be a very difficult trek!
Even if the murderer had to kill people in different places, it would have been better to kill people in the depressed area versus travelling a long distance through the woods! Thinking of all of these factors, Zhao Yu had to wonder…
Why was the murderer so persistent? Or, like the other two survivors, did the murderer intentionally injure the man instead of trying to take his life?
But… How could the murderer be so sure that the man he stabbed would not die?
Before Zhao Yu had a chance to voice his thoughts, Dou Zili had led them to the scene. There was an obvious bloodstain on the ground, which clearly had been left by the seriously injured person.
Zhao Yu and the others carefully examined the scene and the surrounding environment. Then, Zhao Yu got up and said to Dou Zili, “Okay, so there’s only one person left!”
“Yes, we haven’t found that last person yet!” he confirmed. “It has been confirmed by the film company that there were 10 crew members on the island. The one who has yet to be accounted for is a young actor.”
“Yes, his name is Guo Yihang,” Zeng Ke spoke up, offering more specifics. “He’s 27 years old and is a supporting actor. But, in the current play that they’re shooting, his part is very small!”
“His mobile phone has been pinged, but there has been no response yet!” Dou Zili added. “I guess that means that this man is either the murderer or another victim!”
“I think the latter is more likely!” Zeng Ke said. “After all, this actor just joined this cast, so what feud could he have with the others that would cause him to want to kill them? Sadly, since the murderer used so many different ways to kill people, I’m afraid that this person’s situation does not appear to be very optimistic!”
“During the day, we took search dogs with us and scoured the whole island, but nothing was found!” Dou Zili said. “So, they sent the diving team here, too! If this person was killed, maybe…”
Dou Zili’s mobile phone suddenly rang. Coincidentally, Zhao Yu’s mobile phone rang at the same time.
“Hello… Hello…”
“Hello… Hello…”
As the two men answered their phones, almost seeming to mimic one another like parrots, Zeng Ke and Wu Xiumin frowned. They wondered what this news would be.
“Oh… Really? That’s great. I’ll contact the Forensics Department. Send me the exact location as soon as possible!” Dou Zili spoke into the phone in a loud voice. “Remember, if the forensics people are not here, you mustn’t move…”
“Oh? I know. What’s wrong?” Zhao Yu’s conversation seemed to be going quite differently from Dou Zili’s. “Really? Was it written on the body? Which one? Oh… Oh… Okay… Great job… I’m waiting for…”
Coincidentally, they put down their phones at almost the same time. Dou Zili excitedly took the lead in reporting on his conversation, “Apparently, the crew hired a speedboat. The two survivors said that, before the accident, the speedboat had been parked on the dock of Yongjin Island, but that it had disappeared after the accident. Now, my colleagues have found that speedboat!”
Dou Zili added, “I’ll ask the forensics people to collect evidence and send someone to check the monitors in the coastal areas! The man who drove the boat away is most likely the murderer!”
“So… How about you?” Zeng Ke asked Zhao Yu in a hurry.
At this time, Zhao Yu’s mobile phone chimed with an incoming message. He held his phone up, then checked it before reporting to the others, “Gao Facai’s assistant just told me that they found a line of symbols on the neck of one of the corpses! The symbols were written with an oil brush, which means that it is probably a clue that was left by the murderer!”
“Wow! A corpse, and a clue?” The others were shocked, and all of them asked almost at the same time variations of the same questions. “Which corpse is it? What kind of symbol?”
“That drowned woman!” Zhao Yu showed them the pictures that he had just received on his mobile phone. There appeared to be a series of symbols on the pictures, which were combinations of numbers and English letters.
“Ah! No way!” Wu Xiumin immediately recognized the symbol and said in surprise, “C16H16N4O8S… This is the molecular formula for cefuroxime!”
“What? Cefuroxime?” Zhao Yu couldn’t help but repeat the strange word. “What the heck is that?”
