I nodded silently.

  After two hours of reexamining the corpse, we didn’t have anything new. Though the previous examination was done late at night, we hadn’t missed anything—or so I thought until I went to stitch the body closed again.

  Sunlight brushed the victim’s feet, illuminating a strange mark in the center of one of the toes.

  I stopped my needlework and leaned over to look.

  “What’s up?” Big Bao asked.

  “The other night, I didn’t notice this shiny spot on the toe,” I said.

  “What is it?” Big Bao asked.

  I shook my head and didn’t say anything. I wiped the toe with a cotton swab, put it in an evidence bag, took off my lab coat, and hurried to the city DNA lab.

  The DNA technician took my swab and began soaking and centrifugation. When it was ready, I peered into the microscope.

  “Beautiful!” I shouted.

  “Got it?” The tech pursed her lips into a smile.

  “There’s sperm! Hurry and do the DNA test!”

  As I was waiting for the results, Chief Hu called with good news.

  “We looked into the cookie bags. They’re produced in Shaanxi Province and mainly sold there too. I don’t think you could buy them in our province. And we were able to determine that the card was sold by Shaanxi Telecom. So the person who made the call was probably the killer.”

  “Shaanxi?” I said. “The killer came from Shaanxi? How could someone from Shaanxi know Dragon City so well? Crap, what do we do next? I just got some sperm from the victim’s toe, but now it seems useless. I mean, Shaanxi’s so big, even with DNA analysis, how are we gonna find him?”

  “Heh, I’ve got more good news here,” Hu said. “I’ll be back at my office in a minute. Meet me there.”

  24

  Chief Hu leaned against his desk, sipping tea. “If a timid killer went to a cemetery to commit a crime, what kind of area would he choose?”

  “How do you know the killer’s timid?” I asked.

  “Hypothetically,” Hu teased.

  I thought about it, then shook my head.

  Hu said, “If I were a killer, and very familiar with the area, I’d choose the spot I was most familiar with, like a relative’s grave.”

  “Hold on,” I interrupted, “why would the killer want to do it in the cemetery?”

  “That’s hard to say, but you didn’t get my point yet?”

  I nodded. “I got it. You’re back to thinking about Li Huaxai’s relatives. But the detective already said, other than his great-grandson, none come to Dragon City. Also, would a college student be stupid enough to sacrifice someone at his great-grandfather’s grave? It has to be a coincidence.”

  “If you’re saying the crime happening on the anniversary of his death is a coincidence,” Hu said, “I agree. But my point is that if one of Li Huaxai’s family committed the crime, he might choose a spot in that terrifying place that’s relatively less terrifying for him. That’d be an unavoidable subconscious instinct.”

  “So let’s track this kid.”

  “Not easy,” Hu said. “Universities went on break two days ago.”

  “Then let’s do a DNA comparison,” I said. “I just found some sperm. But it’s weird. Why would it be on the toe? Maybe a new trick from Japanese porn?”

  “I don’t know about that, but it’s pretty safe to say he’s our perp,” Hu said.

  “Oh?” I felt a rush of excitement. “On what basis?”

  Hu gave a knowing smile. “Because Li Jianguo, Li Huaxai’s great-grandson, goes to school in Xian; he’s five eleven and well-built.”

  “Really?!”

  “Yes. Where are you gonna find a coincidence like that? The cookies were from Shaanxi, the prepaid phone card was sold in Shaanxi, he goes to school in Shaanxi, just started break; the corpse was tied to his great-grandfather’s tombstone; same physical characteristics . . .”

  “Then let’s get him,” I exclaimed.

  “We’ve already cast the net,” Hu said. “And with the strength of our force, catching one evil little kid is nothing.”

  Once the lab checked the sperm against Jianguo’s things from his aunt’s house, the task force got the good news, and Li Jianguo was promptly arrested on a train from Nanjiang to Xian.

  The task force confiscated all his shoes, but was unable to find any with a sole pattern matching those found at the scene.

  “Looks like the kid must’ve ditched them,” Lin Tao said in frustration after spending the afternoon studying two dozen pairs of smelly shoes.

  “Good thing you found that DNA sample,” Big Bao said proudly.

  And Li Jianguo not only had a good sense of how to avoid detection; he kept impressively silent during questioning. Whatever he could deny, he denied. Whatever he couldn’t, he was quiet about. After a variety of interrogation tactics failed, the task force finally used the DNA trump card. Faced with proof of his sperm on a dead girl’s toe, Jianguo had nowhere to hide.

  And just like that, the murderous teenage descendant of a revolutionary martyr cracked.

  Jianguo grew up in Dragon City, where he paid his respects to his great-grandfather every year and learned to love the Communist Party. Until his grandfather died, his busy parents didn’t bother to discipline him, and the kid ran wild. Though he had the smarts to attend a major university, he was only admitted to a third-tier school in Shaanxi.

  In college, Jianguo got really into nightlife and met a party girl whom he soon moved in with. Under her tutelage, Jianguo went from a bratty freshman to a seasoned addict.

  As with most people who get into drugs, Li Jianguo’s life was pretty much ruined. Drugs were expensive, and a month’s living stipend from his parents couldn’t match what his girlfriend earned from a single night of prostitution. So if he wanted drugs, he had to put up with the girl he loved getting hot and heavy with other people every night. It was excruciating, but he decided that the physical pain of living without drugs was far worse than the mental anguish caused by his girlfriend’s work.

  After a while, though, he began to wonder about ways to get his own drug money. The only thing he could come up with? Robbery.

  His goal was ambitious: to steal enough money to supply himself with drugs for all four years of college. Once he graduated, he’d go to rehab. The arrogant young man figured that if he ever did relapse, he’d just get a good job and buy the drugs himself.

  At the end of freshman year, he barely passed his finals. During the train ride to Dragon City to visit his aunt, he thought about how to do the robbery. Who should he rob? A bank?

  He stayed in Dragon City for two days and went to several banks to scope things out. It quickly became apparent that grabbing money from outside the bulletproof glass and getting past the heavily armed guards would be impossible. So he gave up on banks and started looking for single women. Three days later, he found his opportunity when he went to a restaurant for lunch and saw Cao Zhe and Qi Jingjing on their blind date.

  The blush of her cheeks set him off on a fantasy. The guy with her was flashing a brand-name watch and a gold necklace. How could such a sweet girl go for a wealthy jerk like that? She didn’t need him—she looked like an independent woman who had her own money.

  Jianguo ate slowly at a table not far from them, thinking about whether to rob Jingjing. He saw her give Cao Zhe her business card and thought how good it would be to get one for himself.

  After giving Cao Zhe the card, Jingjing went to the restroom. And Cao Zhe, looking impatient, turned and threw it in a trash can.

  Dreams come true, Jianguo thought excitedly.

  Cao Zhe and Jingjing’s lunch was soon over.

  Jianguo rushed to the trash and fished out the soiled card.

  “Sea and Sky Decoration Co., Ltd., Marketing Manager, Qi Jingjing, 139XXXXXXXX.”

  That was easy, Jianguo thought with a smile as he left the restaurant. He went to the nearest prepaid phone machine and called Jingjing.

  “Hello, is this Qi Jingjing? I’m calling from Shaanxi Real Estate Development Corporation,” he said, using the accent he’d learned from his girlfriend. “We’re looking to start a big project in West Dragon City, a deluxe housing development. After talking to various people, we think Sea and Sky is our best option for interior decoration. Would it be possible to meet and talk about working together?”

  Jingjing was overjoyed. Sea and Sky had never had such a big project before.

  Jianguo asked her to meet him at the entrance of his ancestral home, thinking he’d just take her inside to rob her, but no, that wouldn’t work. Taking her to his family home would reveal his identity. He regretted suggesting it, but then remembered the abandoned brickyard nearby where no one ever went. That would work.

  Drugs had aged Jianguo’s body, so at only eighteen, he looked more like a thirty-year-old man. The man’s handsome, world-weary looks took Jingjing by surprise, but also made her lower her guard.

  Jianguo told her the residential area and cemetery would be bulldozed to make way for his company’s luxury housing. As an addict and a denizen of the smarmy club scene, Jianguo had gotten good at winning people’s trust.

  As Jianguo led her down the path, Jingjing was thinking ecstatically about how much she would make from the project. This would cover her mom’s cancer treatments and more.

  It wasn’t until a knife was pointed at her that she woke up from her dream.

  Jianguo took Jingjing to the abandoned brickyard and forced her to take all the money from her wallet. There were only eight hundred yuan and a worthless ring. In order to make the elaborate robbery worth his while, he needed Jingjing’s debit card—and her PIN number.

  Knife casually in hand, Jianguo worked on Jingjing all afternoon and into the night in the abandoned brickyard, trying out harder and softer threats until he was sure the final password she gave him wasn’t fake. When he found out there was so much in the account, he got very excited.

  Flush with the monetary victory, he started to think about sex. But as soon as he got close to Jingjing, she resisted fiercely.

  This pure woman won’t play with me a bit? She gave me all her money, why not her body too?

  She’d die before she gave that, Jingjing told him.

  Jianguo looked at the starry sky out the factory window, took a bag of cookies from his backpack, and tossed it to Jingjing.

  “You gave me the money, so I’ll take you home,” Jianguo said.

  Thrilled to hear she’d made it out alive, Jingjing stood up, forgetting her handbag, and followed Jianguo. She hadn’t imagined Jianguo would take her to that terrifying old cemetery. There were graves everywhere, the night sounds punctuated with strange birdcalls.

  “Oh shit, I’m lost!” Jianguo said as he reached his great-grandfather’s tomb, putting his acting skills to work.

  “So what do we do now?” Jingjing said, holding her shoulders and trembling.

  “You wait here. I’ll find the way,” Jianguo said.

  “No, I’m afraid,” Jingjing said. “Let’s go back the way we came.”

  “I don’t know the way back either,” Jianguo lied shamelessly. “Why don’t we just spend the night here and leave when it gets light.”

  Jingjing looked around at the overgrown weeds and gravestones. She closed her eyes and, with much regret, nodded.

  “But what if I fall asleep and you go call the police?” Jianguo said. “I should tie you up to be safe. I promise I’ll stay right here and not leave, okay? I swear on my honor.”

  Jingjing gulped and nodded. Her terror and exhaustion had overpowered her ability to think straight.

  Which is how Jingjing found herself tied up on her back with her arms and legs splayed out. Jianguo flashed his knife and smiled sinisterly. “I promised not to leave, but I didn’t promise anything else.”

  He cut off Jingjing’s clothing piece by piece. Her smell and the way her body was positioned made his blood swell. He started taking his pants off.

  The threat of rape and losing her virginity woke Jingjing from her paralysis. “Do you have a condom? I have AIDS.”

  Jianguo, pants half off, gaped at her in shock.

  “Don’t believe me? Wanna take the chance?” Jingjing spat, trying to sound convincing.

  AIDS! Jianguo was very annoyed. He’d been on guard, but still got surprised by this trick! Either way, better safe than sorry.

  He took out his junk and stared at Jingjing while he masturbated.

  “Disgusting,” Jingjing yelped as something sprayed her feet.

  “Who’s disgusting?” Jianguo snarled. He took another rope from his bag and wrapped it around her neck.

  She knows what I look like. And there’s that tattoo on my thigh. She’ll call the cops. Witnesses must be silenced. Like in the movies.

  Jianguo swore to the interrogators he didn’t want to kill anyone, but at that moment, a voice in his heart whispered to him, “Murder Qi Jingjing.” When she was no longer moving, he fled the scene, discarding her clothing across the field.

  “I was afraid if she didn’t die, she might get free of the ropes and chase me,” Jianguo said.

  “So you didn’t sense her spirit chasing you the whole time?” I taunted.

  Jianguo looked at me in terror. Lin Tao was apparently also frightened—he broke out in goose bumps.

  “She didn’t really have AIDS, right?” Big Bao said, a little worried.

  Even though we wear gloves, a forensic scientist’s biggest fear is working with bodies that carry infectious diseases. Contracting something lethal is a hell of a work-related injury.

  “No,” I said. “Already tested, safe. Relax. The poor girl was trying to preserve her virginity. She was smart, but that business card did her in.”

  “Not to mention her family,” Lin Tao said. “Her mom has cancer; dad’s doing odd jobs. What are they going to do?”

  Big Bao looked pensive. “Good thing I don’t have a business card.”

  25

  “What’s a latent disease?”

  “Many people have latent diseases, but they lack pronounced symptoms. Once the conditions are right for the disease to emerge, they may suffer an acute or even fatal attack. The most common type is cardiovascular. For example, with a cerebrovascular aneurysm, you usually don’t see clear signs of it, but if the head suffers a minor blow or the mood is suddenly excited, the aneurysm may rupture and result in death. Another common case is the cardiac conduction system. People often have latent problems that, when activated, can lead to the onset of disease or even cardiac arrest.”

  “So what latent disease did my dad have?”

  “Your father’s heart condition couldn’t be considered latent. He had high blood pressure, heart disease, coronary stenosis, and lumen thrombosis.”

  “Then why didn’t they catch it during his exam?”

  Speechless, I looked at the health employee who’d examined the petitioner’s father when he was still alive.

  “He just did a blood test, no electrocardiogram, so it wasn’t really an exam,” Big Bao filled in.

  “It was supposed to be an exam, but now you’re saying it wasn’t? I think it was! Stop bullshitting me. Are you going to execute this guy or not?”

  “That’s a question for the public security bureau. We’re scientists.” I tried hard to calm down. “But listen, the cause of death was disease. As a result, others can’t be held criminally responsible. The most they could charge someone with is negligence.”

  “Why do you get to say what killed him? I think he was beaten to death!”

  “Sir, we are forensic scientists. We examined your father’s body and ruled out trauma, suffocation, and poisoning. We did find signs of potentially fatal disease. So our conclusions are in line with those of the city public security bureau.”

  “Bullshit. You bureaucrats all look out for one another. And you ruled out trauma, huh? What about the big spot on his leg? If that’s not trauma, what is?”

  I clenched my fist and forced myself to explain kindly, “The trauma I’m talking about is potentially fatal trauma, such as the rupture of large blood vessels or damage to vital organs. We didn’t find any bleeding or even any minor injury, let alone something that would kill him. That bruise indicates he had a minor dispute, but it did not play a role in his death.”

  “You think you can take advantage of people like this? Murder cases have to be solved. Fucking bullshit.”

  “This is not a murder case. Because he died from disease.”

  “I don’t buy it for a second. I’m going to Beijing tomorrow to petition.”

  “Don’t, don’t, don’t. Aren’t we explaining it to you now?” Captain Huang said, feigning a smile.

  I never understood why the public security bureau would pay attention to those frivolous petitions, but it seemed like they spent the majority of their energy on them.

  I have no problem talking to petitioners and giving them a forensic explanation that they can understand. But even rock-hard facts and patient explanations don’t resolve many complaints.

  This cursing jerk was making my blood boil, and Captain Huang’s smile made me sick.

  It wouldn’t be unfair to call the guy a bastard. He was an outcast who’d been adopted by a single old man. After the old man gave him everything, the guy moved out. For more than ten years, he never gave the old man any money or so much as brought him tea. It wasn’t until the old man had some dispute with his neighbor and died suddenly that the bastard went back to the village and started crying his eyes out.

  Someone who causes trauma that kills another person bears some civil liability. The son could have gone through normal legal channels, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get much money that way.

  “The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” he told his adopted father’s neighbors.

  Those neighbors hated him and trusted the police, but that became fuel for the bastard’s online hype machine. “They’re all in it together, bullying my father,” he wrote. “They obviously have a lot of influence! The public security bureaus have been bribed and don’t even investigate murders anymore. Look at this picture of his leg, all black and blue. Yet these crooked cops still say he died from disease. Pay attention because, as a good son, I can’t let my dad die in vain.”