Chapter 1424: The Avenging Murderer
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Big Bro was the nickname the investigators addressed Bureau Chief Huo Jiang.
Bureau Chief Huo Jiang was an old man with a scar on his face. His body was somewhat chubby, but it wasn’t because he had too much fat, but because his entire body was bristling with muscle. It was difficult to imagine how a white-haired old man could have such a well-developed physique.
Huo Jiang had a dark face, as he was descended from a Native and Blue Moonite. He treated people like a big boss from an underground society, all about loyalty and protecting his juniors. His colleagues in the bureau treated him with half-fear and half-respect.
At the crime scene, Huo Jiang stood together with the bureau’s number two, Deputy Bureau Chief Zhu Chenfeng.
Zhu Chenfeng had an even darker expression than Huo Jiang at this moment, for reality had proved that Xia Fan’s assessment had been the correct one.
!!
Upon seeing Xia Fan, Huo Jiang laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “You must be Xia Fan? Old Jerry was once my superior. He’s mentioned you before.”
Huo Jiang was very warm with Xia Fan, but he didn’t pay much attention to Traveling Buddha. As someone who came up from the grassroots, he looked down on authority, and he had little appreciation for rich scions like Traveling Buddha. On the other hand, he preferred insignificant characters like Xia Fan, who had no foundation.
Huo Jiang very magnanimously said, “Xia Fan, your assessment has been proven right. The one who left the footprints at the crime scene wasn’t the murderer. Your conjectures were all correct.”
Sighing, Huo Jiang frowned and said, “There’s a lot of pressure on the Bureau right now. The families of the innocent victims are making trouble for the Bureau day and night, wailing for justice. The victims were all elementary or middle-schoolers, so this entire incident is having a negative effect on society. All of the elementary and middle schools in the star region are acting as if they’re facing down a powerful foe. The people are truly in a panic.”
Xia Fan chuckled. “Bureau Chief, the victims aren’t as innocent as you think.”
“What did you say!?” Zhu Chenfeng was stunned, immediately rebuking him, “They were all naive children of only thirteen or fourteen years old! For you to say that about the victims, has a dog eaten your good conscience!?”
Xia Fan pursed his lips. “Deputy Bureau Chief Zhu, your sense of justice is very strong, but alas, the facts are facts. Up until now, the twenty-four murder victims have all been uncouth children who bullied the weak in school.
“Look here. This is Blue Moon’s biggest video website, Fastcast. I found a video from six months ago. The video shows a group of bad girls bullying a girl wearing glasses. They slapped that female student several dozen times, tore off her skirt, and even spat on her.
“Although a mosaic was applied to the faces of the bullying girls, once they’re decoded, you’ll realize that the leader who instigated the violence is the female student who was killed this time, Qin Xiaoqin!”
After hearing that, the Bureau Chief and his Deputy stared with wide eyes as Xia Fan turned on the screen and played the video.
Once the mosaics were decoded, one could clearly see the murdered Qin Xiaoqin had a cigarette in her mouth, a baseball cap on her head, and she was cursing out the bullied student, even stripping the student of her clothes and putting out the cigarette on her chest.
The Bureau Chiefs were speechless. They had not imagined that the victim they had pitied was such a cruel and callous girl.
Xia Fan continued, “According to the police reports, Qin Xiaoqin’s punishment for bullying the girl with glasses was only remedial lessons, because of the Union’s juvenile protection laws. While the law protects obedient juveniles, it also protects the scoundrels who bully their classmates. No matter what insidious crimes they commit, there’s nothing that can be done about them.
“There are many more videos that prove that all twenty-four murder victims were bullies with criminal records.”
Zhu Chenfeng’s face darkened. “What are you trying to prove? Even if they’re bad children, that’s no reason to kill them!”
Xia Fan calmly said, “Bureau Chief, I didn’t say that these bullies deserved death. I’m just deducing the motive of the Wednesday Killer.
“First, all of the past assessments the Bureau has made about the Wednesday Killer are wrong! The Wednesday Killer isn’t some depraved murderer who derives joy from killing, but an avenger!”
“An avenger?” Huo Jiang was startled by Xia Fan’s conclusion.
Xia Fan replied, “Correct. An avenging killer who only chooses targets that fit his profile and then cruelly murders them. All of it is for the sake of vengeance!
“The Wednesday Killer might have been bullied in elementary or middle school, but was powerless to resist at the time. It could also be that his child was bullied, and when the police didn’t do anything, the seed of hatred was planted in his heart.
“In short, everything in the universe has a cause and an effect. We simply need to follow this trail of clues to capture the murderer.”
Zhu Chenfeng scowled nastily, but Huo Jiang nodded. “We neglected to see all of this. The Wednesday Killer isn’t some random killer. On the contrary, his motives are very clear.”
Xia Fan said neutrally, “From the perspective of the parents, they will love their children, no matter how awful they are. They would never report the misdeeds of their children to the Special Bureau. The teachers and classmates are the same. Respect must be given to the dead, so the living can no longer slander them, as this would draw criticism from the rest of society and also interfere with the Special Bureau’s investigation.”
Huo Jiang sighed and shook his head. “So, what do we do now?”
Xia Fan sternly said. “It’s very simple. Based on how the Wednesday Killer selects his victims, there’s no way watching these videos can give him enough information to find these school bullies, not unless he has internal police reports.”
“You suspect one of our brothers in the police?” Huo Jiang asked, surprised.
Xia Fan smiled. “Bureau Chief, to tell you the truth, I don’t just suspect the police, but also the courts, the Juvenile Protection Office, the prosecutor’s office, and every other organization involved in juvenile crimes, even our Special Bureau.”
The Bureau Chiefs were amazed by Xia Fan’s bold hypothesis. He was even suspecting his colleagues in the Special Bureau? This young man with a harmless smile was more ruthless than he seemed!
Xia Fan continued, “The Juvenile Protection Law makes it so that all the files concerning juvenile crimes are encrypted, but encryption doesn’t mean that people can’t see them. As a novice investigator, I can easily open an encrypted file and see everything about these school bullies, from their telephone numbers to their address and their school.
“I’m sure that the Wednesday Killer also has access to those files.”
Zhu Chenfeng replied, “Nonsense! We’ve looked through the files for information on the victims, but we didn’t find anything.”
Xia Fan chuckled. “That’s because you searched using their names. The Juvenile Protection Law makes it so that all juvenile crimes have to use pseudonyms.
“Bureau Chief, what do you think I was doing in those ten or so hours you had me sitting outside? I was looking through the juvenile crime files, using my hands and ears to pick out the victims! You’re only seeing the results of my work, not the process.”
The Bureau Chiefs were stunned. No wonder Xia Fan’s eyes were red. It turned out that he had been looking through the juvenile crime files for the last ten plus hours!
Xia Fan had truly put immense effort into this accurate and precise conjecture!
“Hahahaha!…” Huo Jiang was shocked at first, and then he erupted in laughter.
“Old Jerry really wasn’t trying to trick me. Kid, you’ve really got some skill!” Huo Jiang’s eyes glowed as he pointed at the crime scene. “Then is there anything you want to investigate here?”
Xia Fan shook his head and said in a regretful tone, “There’s no need. It was already a large stadium, and now that all those investigators have been in and out, anything useful I could have picked up from the crime scene is long gone.”
This was truly a unique case. Xia Fan had questioned the mice who lived in the stadium, but they hadn’t been able to provide any useful formation. As for his nose, it was impossible to utilize it here in a stadium that had been packed with people. Thus, Xia Fan had put all his energy into identifying the criminal’s motive.
“It truly is a little late. I should have let you take the case a little earlier.” Huo Jiang smacked his face a little, feeling rather unhappy.
Take the case? His eyes flashed with a sudden idea.
Huo Jiang looked seriously at Xia Fan and said slowly, “If I gave you the mission of hunting down the Wednesday Killer, are you confident that you can finish it?”
After some thought, Xia Fan replied, “I don’t dare to make any guarantees. After all, the Wednesday Killer is very special, and there are still many questions I don’t have the answer to. I can only say that I will do my best.”
…
Outside the stadium, Dylan and his partner Ma Zheng were waiting around in boredom. Dylan looked at the stadium illuminated by countless lights and guessed, “Xia Fan offended Deputy Bureau Chief Zhu on his first day, so he must be receiving a pretty heavy scolding.”
Ma Zheng frowned. “Didn’t Liang Jian say that Xia Fan’s conjecture was correct?”
“Tsk!” Dylan waved his hand. “That makes it even more of a problem. If Xia Fan’s assessment was wrong, Deputy Bureau Chief Zhu would just mock him a little, but now that Xia Fan is right, Chief Zhu is humiliated, so it would only be natural that he resents Xia Fan.”
Ma Zheng sighed, feeling like Dylan’s argument made sense. Things boded ill for Xia Fan.
“Huh? What’s going on?” Dylan’s eyes suddenly widened.
Ma Zheng followed Dylan’s gaze and saw that Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha had just come out. Leaving the stadium with them were the two Bureau Chiefs of the Special Duty Bureau. Zhu Chenfeng had a gloomy expression, while Huo Jiang was chatting happily with Xia Fan. Xia Fan seemed to say something, to which Huo Jiang nodded.
“Okay, I’ll wait for the good news!” Huo Jiang solemnly shook Xia Fan’s hand.
“Bureau Chief, be at ease. We will do our best,” Xia Fan replied.
Turning around, Xia Fan walked over to Dylan, while Traveling Buddha stretched out lazily.
“What did the Bureau Chief say?” Dylan asked curiously, thrusting his hands into his pockets.
“It’s nothing. Bureau Chief Zhu is no longer in charge of the Wednesday Killer case. Starting from now, this case is under our Logistics Division,” Xia Fan replied firmly.
“We’re taking it over!?” Dylan was stunned. He waved his arms and excitedly shouted, “Wonderful! Our Logistics Division is finally moving up in the world!”
