Profiler (Fang Mu Eastern Crimes Series Book 1) (47 page)

And yet I know that you are not my prince. And I am neither as brave nor as strong as I imagined.

Yesterday morning, I saw everything that happened at the pool with my own eyes. When you finally revealed that the killer was after you, my first reaction was fear. I didn't even have the courage to go hug and comfort you; instead I fled back to my dorm by myself. Yes, I was scared, more scared even than that night in the gymnasium. The killer had already murdered your best friend's girlfriend, and I was probably next. Waiting for death is more frightening than death itself – at last I understood what this saying meant.

Why does he want to kill you? Why did he have to kill so many other people? I know you will not be willing to answer these questions, but that is all right. At this point, the answers are no longer important to me. Although I once believed that I was brave enough to stand by you through every trial, when I was truly confronted by the possibility of death, I chose to do the same thing that any normal girl would do.

Forgive me, forgive me for being an ordinary girl who once thought she was something more. Perhaps you never did love me; now I truly hope that is so. Because if it is, then for both you and I, this will be a little easier to bear.

I will pray for you.

Deng Linyue

12/25/2002

Although the letter was short, Fang Mu was still reading it over half an hour later.

His mind and heart were at ease.

He tried to tell himself:
She has left you. You should be filled with sadness.

And yet, feeling a chill unlike any he had ever experienced, he couldn't keep from laughing aloud.

Good, very good.

At last, you are alone again.

Though perhaps, you have always been alone.

CHAPTER
25
Room 304

T
he victim was a 23-year-old girl from the city of
Kaifeng
in
Henan
province. She had been an English language grad student in the Jiangbin City University Foreign Language Department's class of 2003. The cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation, the murder weapon likely a hemp rope. The victim's hymen had already been broken prior to the night of her murder and there was no sign of rape. According to the autopsy and the testimony of the victim's friends, her time of death was determined to have been between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. on December 25. After the victim was strangled to death, heavy makeup was applied to her face, and then her body was placed in the
Jiangbin
City
University
outdoor pool and her ankle was tied to the drain with a hemp rope. The pool was then filled with water.

According to an examination of the scene, the killer used a hammer-like tool to smash the lock on the pool gate so he could transport the body inside. No fingerprints or footprints were found at the scene.

According to the victim's schoolmates and boyfriend, the yellow tube top, short leather skirt, black platforms, and blonde wig that she was wearing when discovered did not belong to her. Her original clothes were not found at the scene.

In addition, a piece of paper was found inside the platform shoes that the victim was wearing. Because it had been underwater for a long time, the writing was unclear. However, it was later identified as a page from the sixth edition of a fourth grade Language and Literature summer reading textbook published by the People's Education Press. This page in particular was from
Resplendent Sunset
.

According to the victim's boyfriend, on the night before the murder he received two strange phone calls, after which he and the victim got into an argument and she left alone. The police soon located the phone number in question at the telecommunications bureau. They discovered it had never been used to make any other calls besides those two that night. After further investigating the number, they found that it had been purchased from a private seller, and as a result no identification was needed to be shown. Therefore, it is be impossible to determine who had made those two calls.

"Right now, this is all I've found. The case is being handled by Old Zhao and his men, so I had to pull a few favors to even learn this much." Tai Wei passed the case folder to Fang Mu. They were in Fang Mu's dorm room, going through what they could of the evidence report available to them. "Oh, and there's another thing. Over the last few days I've gone to several hospitals around the city, including the one where Ma Kai was treated, and looked into the psychologists they have on staff. You should know, though, that right now I'm only able to investigate this on my own, so my effectiveness is limited. Up 'til now I haven't found anything of value."

Fang Mu smiled at him. "Thank you," he said.

Tai Wei just carelessly waved his hand.

You still believe in me. I can tell, even if you don't say it aloud.

"How's it going over here?" Tai Wei asked. "Any progress?"

Fang Mu looked down at one of the pictures in the folder. In it, a seductively dressed Zhang Yao lay beside the freezing pool.

"What does an outfit like this make you think of?" asked Fang Mu, showing the picture to Tai Wei.

Tai Wei didn't mince words. "A prostitute. This is the classic sex worker getup."

"That's correct." Fang Mu nodded. "This time he was copying the Green River Killer."

"The
Green River
Killer?"

"That's right. Do you still remember those two symbols I told you about? The ones that were written on the window of Meng Fanzhe's home?" Fang Mu grabbed a piece of paper and sketched something on it. "At the time I thought he had written a lowercase q and an uppercase A. Later I realized I was mistaken, and in fact he had written GR, both uppercase. Because the letters were written on a condensation-covered window, when the water drops slid down it made them look like a q and an A." 

"GR?
Green River
?"

"Exactly. The Green River murders began in 1982 in
Seattle
,
Washington
, in the
United States
. The killer was named Gary Ridgeway. In total he killed over forty-nine people, the majority of them female prostitutes and young women who had run away from home," Fang Mu said. "The bodies of his first few victims he dumped in the Green River, which was located in the southern outskirts of
Seattle
. The person who discovered the first victim said it looked like she was
standing
in the middle of the river. This was because the killer had wedged her legs into a crack between some rocks on the river bottom." He shivered. "This was identical to what I saw in the pool that day. Beginning in 1987, the police made Ridgeway their prime suspect, but because they had no evidence and he was twice able to pass a lie detector test, he managed to get off scot-free. Then DNA testing began to be used in criminal investigations. Last year, the police compared a sample of his saliva with the semen that was found in one of the victims. It was a perfect match. Still, even after his arrest, Ridgeway has continued to deny his guilt. Because several of his initial victims were found in the
Green River
, and because Ridgeway's initials are G.R., he is known as the Green River Killer."

Tai Wei frowned in thought. "The majority of the victims were prostitutes… Is that why Zhang Yao was made to look that way?"

Fang Mu nodded. He flipped through the case files in his hands. "Just now you said that the victim wasn't raped that night?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Hmm, this is rather interesting," said Fang Mu, deep in thought. "It was Ridgeway's custom to have sex with his victim's before strangling them to death. So if the killer wanted to perfectly copy his crimes, why didn't he have sex with Zhang Yao?"

"There could be a ton of reasons for this. Time, place – perhaps even the killer's mood." Tai Wei chuckled, but then immediately realized that it was inappropriate. His smiled disappeared.

"Mood?" Fang Mu gave a grim smile. "He wanted to destroy me mentally. Now perhaps he, too, is reaching his breaking point."

He reached out and grabbed one of the photographs. It was of the excerpt that had been found in Zhang Yao's shoe.

"
Resplendent Sunset
?" Fang Mu looked the photograph over. "I remember reading this when I was a kid. I think it was written by Xiao Hong."

Tai Wei moved closer. "You think this is a clue to the killer's next crime?"

Fang Mu thought for a moment. "If nothing else unusual was found at the scene, then yes, tentatively, I believe we can regard it as one. What's the police opinion on the excerpt?"

After hesitating for a moment, Tai Wei said, "Zhao Yonggui believes the paper fell inside the shoe by accident. Therefore, he thinks that there's a kid in the killer's household who's currently attending elementary school. As for the rest of it, I'm not too sure." Tai Wei sighed. "Old Zhao doesn't really want me to take part in this case. Not that he has anything to worry about though – it's already under the jurisdiction of the State Enterprise Investigative Division. At this point all I can do is using some of my connections to find out what's going on."

"All right, then I'll look it up online." Fang Mu sat in front of his computer and searched for the text of
Resplendent Sunset
. Once he found it, he began reading it slowly and carefully.

Seeming a little bored, Tai Wei grabbed a book from the shelf and flipped through it. He then stood in front of the window, took out a cigarette, and began to smoke.

"Not many people out on campus today," he said.

"Yeah, exams are coming up soon," said Fang Mu absently, his eyes not leaving the screen. "They're probably all inside studying."

"Are you going to have exams soon, too?"

"Huh? Oh, graduate students don't have exams." Smiling without real humor, Fang Mu patted the monitor. "This is my exam."

Tai Wei just shook his head.

Fang Mu's attention returned to the screen, but now he seemed unable to absorb anything he was reading.

Exam?

"Tai Wei…"

Tai Wei had been staring at a tall, beautiful girl standing outside the building, and it took him a moment to register that Fang Mu was talking to him. His voice sounded a little shaky.

"Yeah?" Tai Wei turned around.

Fang Mu was staring at him, his face wearing an inscrutable expression. "I think we've been ignoring something very obvious."

"Oh? What's that?" Tai Wei was suddenly all ears.

"Tell me, what kind of person devises problems to test other people?"

"That's obvious; a teacher, of course." Although Tai Wei casually blurted it out, his eyes immediately widened. "Are you saying that the killer is a teacher at the school?"

Fang Mu nodded. "It's a definite possibility."

"Now hold up." Tai Wei's eyebrows knitted together as he feverishly pondered something. "Previously you said that our man is most likely between the ages of thirty and forty, well-educated, financially stable and clean cut, with a jealous, competitive personality, correct?"

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"In that case, there are way too many people like this on your campus. In my experience, practically all college professors fit this profile."

"We might not know who it is," said Fang Mu, pulling on his jacket, "but I know someone who might. Follow me!"

It was Professor Qiao who opened the door. Although he didn't seem surprised by Fang Mu's sudden visit, his expression shifted slightly when he saw Tai Wei was standing behind him.

He pointed at the slippers placed beside the door, and then turned and walked alone into the study.

After removing their shoes and putting on slippers, Fang Mu and Tai Wei followed after him. Professor Qiao had already lit a cigarette and was sitting on the couch, smoking gloomily, his expression somber.

Seeing the professor's mood, Fang Mu didn't quite know what to say. Tai Wei was first to speak. "Teacher Qiao… Oh, I mean Professor Qiao, how are you, sir?" he said politely. "I'm Tai Wei from the city bureau. This is my police ID."

Professor Qiao didn't even turn his head, just made a brief sound of recognition. Nor did he take the police ID that Tai Wei was holding out for him.

Tai Wei's arm hung awkwardly in the air for several seconds. Miffed, he angrily pulled it back. Seeing that Fang Mu wasn't talking, he poked him hard in the side.

Given no choice, Fang Mu forced himself to say, "Professor Qiao, there is something I wanted to ask your advice about."

"Yes?"

Fang Mu looked at Tai Wei. Then, summoning his courage, he said, "Professor Qiao, do you know anyone on this campus who's fairly adept at psychological analysis?"

Professor Qiao tapped out the ash from his cigarette. "I do."

"Who?" Fang Mu asked. Both his and Tai Wei's ears pricked up at once.

"Me." Professor Qiao paused. "And you."

At once the air in the study seemed to solidify.

Fang Mu stammered: "I…what I was trying to say…"

"That I already know." Professor Qiao then placed the butt of his cigarette in the ashtray on the table, grabbed a book, and began to turn its pages.

When Fang Mu and Tai Wei saw this, they had no choice but to turn to take their leave.

Tai Wei did not look pleased at all. Without even saying goodbye, he left. Fang Mu followed. Tai Wei angrily pulled on his shoes and pounded down the stairs.

After putting on his shoes, Fang Mu looked up to see Professor Qiao standing in front of him. He was watching Fang Mu, his expression meaningful.

"Professor…I…think I'm going to be leaving now," Fang Mu excused hesitantly.

Professor Qiao suddenly reached out and placed one hand on Fang Mu's shoulder. He squeezed it tightly.  

"Take care of yourself," he said, then his voice went quiet. "This will all be over soon."