11 If You Can't Beat Them

 

“Of course not! Mother would never hurt anyone!” Meng Changshou said confidently. “The coroner also deduced that my mother could not have been the murderer. Furthermore, on that very same day, my mother and my son, Meng Chen disappeared.”

Meng Changshou leaned into the couch. It was as if the energy that pulled his body together left him as he relayed the story. He continued with difficulty. “A few days later, the police found mother and Chen Chen inside the cargo of a cold chain transportation truck. From their dying posture, my mom was protecting Chen Chen until the bitter end. In other words, there was a third party who came after the both of them. That was the real killer.”

“The old lady was not the killer but she must have known the actual killer to have helped keep their secret for a whole week. She would only do this for someone she was extremely familiar with.” Li Xue zeroed in on the main point. “From what you told me, it sounded like the granny was a kind-hearted person. To be able to make someone like that turn on their moral, the killer would have to be her closest family. In that case, the killer is mostly likely one of you siblings.”

“If granny has already given her cooperation by helping the killer hide the body, why would the killer come after her in the end?” Han Fei signalled for Li Xue to not jump to conclusions. “I feel it is more likely that the granny was giving the killer a chance to surrender themselves to the police. She gave the killer a week’s time but she had greatly underestimated the depth of sin within the killer.”

“The police had considered all these possibilities at the time but they found no evidence. However, not long after my mother’s death, Changxi went missing as well. No one knew where he went. There was no news of his person or discovery of his dead body. The neighbours all speculated that he had run away due to guilt.” The middle-aged man shook his head with a pained expression. “Changxi was introverted and did not prefer human company but I know he would never do something like that. In fact, I doubt any one of us three could do something like this. We were the ones who lost our family but we were also the ones who were treated as the biggest suspects!” The middle-aged man said agitatedly before he started to cough. He reached down to grab a bag of medicine from under the coffee table.

“As you said, Meng Changxi disappeared without any explanation. If we can find his body, then we could narrow down the scope of suspects, but if we cannot, then he’d always be on the suspect list.” Seeing as the middle-aged man was about to take his medicine, Li Xue handed him a glass of water. “In any case, I personally don’t think Meng Changxi is the killer. What do you think?”

“I don’t know.” Han Fei kept the latter half of the answer to himself, ‘But I’ll go and ask the old lady myself later tonight.’

Studying the black and white picture on the table, Han Fei could only think of the game. Try as he might, he could not easily categorize Meng Si as an objectively good or bad person. At that moment, he truly understood the complexity of human nature. Meng Changshou coughed repeatedly so Han Fei and Li Xue left to allow him the chance to rest.

This case was huge ten years ago but now other than the family members of the victim and the officers on duty, not many people remembered it anymore. Han Fei started to move down the steps when he realized Li Xue stood still at the landing and did not follow.

“Do you have something else to do here?”

“When I screened through the database for you this morning, I noticed something peculiar. Meng Si stayed at the same building as the victim of another case. Coincidentally, both cases happened around 10 years ago.” Li Xue said as she headed upstairs. Meng Si stayed on the 3rd floor and Li Xue led Han Fei to the 4th floor. “Have you heard of the human jigsaw case?”

“No way?!” Han Fei was instantly reminded of what Director Jiang said. The crew wanted to borrow the actual crime scene to use as the set but could not find the owner. They eventually settled on Compound 15.

“The killer of that case is currently unfound as well. The first two victims of that case were found on the fourth floor of this building 10 years ago. The victim was a pair of loving husband and wife.” Li Xue stopped before one of the doors. “10 years ago, the police had once suspected the two cases to be related, they might even be committed by the same person but the modus operandi for both cases were too dissimilar. If the killer from the refrigerator case is mentally twisted, then the killer for the jigsaw case is the literal devil.”

She knocked on the door and about 10 seconds later, the door opened a small gap. A lanky old man appeared behind the door. He frowned at Li Xue and Han Fei. “Who are you looking for?”

“We’re the police.” Li Xue flashed her badge. Her patrol badge actually did not give her the right to enter private residences but clearly the old man did not understand that because he opened the door, albeit unwillingly. Everything was arranged neatly within the 70 square metres room. The old man probably cleaned it daily. After entering the house, one would notice the many pictures that decorated the living room wall. In the pictures, the old man looked so healthy and always wore a big smile. It was hard to believe this was the same person as the grumpy old man standing before them. Other than the old man, most pictures also featured a young couple. The man looked honest and kind, the woman gentle and soft. It was clear that they were deeply in love.

There was a cupboard next to the wall of photos and it was filled with many lego toys.

“I would visit the station every year, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been there, so have you finally caught the killer?” A trace of despair laced the old man’s voice. He caressed the picture on the table as if he was still unable to accept the cruel truth until this day.

“Actually, the reason we’re here is because we have a few questions for you.” Li Xue pulled out her phone and opened a few law-enforcement apps. She tossed out questions expertly. While leading the questioning, she tried not to place the old man in too much pain. Her method and tactic of questioning was far more mature than Zhang Xiaotian and Zhao Ming.

While Li Xue conducted her inquiry, Han Fei sat to the side quietly. He made use of the time to study the photos hung on the wall. The man in the photo was Wei Youfu, the man he was about to play in the movie. Inside the game, Meng Si lived on the 3rd floor while Han Fei stayed on the 4th floor. In real life, the old lady also stayed on the 3rd floor while Wei Youfu and his wife stayed on the 4th floor. Even though the apartment buildings in real life and in game were wildly different, this coincidence did catch Han Fei’s attention. He now suspected the ghost that he saw in the game yesterday night was Wei Youfu’s wife, the woman who was brutally murdered inside the bathroom.

The seemingly unrelated aspects had their paths crossed and the point of intersection was Han Fei. Through Li Xue’s questioning, Han Fei gained a brief understanding of Wei Youfu’s family. They were basically good people. If the tragedy did not happen, they would continue to live happily together.

‘They are not people with malice when they were alive.’ A very brave thought surfaced in Han Fei’s mind, ‘To survive in that hellish game filled with monsters and ghosts, I need to find a safehouse. If I can gain Wei Youfu and his wife’s approval, I should be able to stay with them! Then at least I would have a place I could recuperate without worry!’

The already dead appeared in the game, be it human or ghost, Han Fei decided the best way to survive was to join them. With this idea in his mind, Han Fei stood up and sidled close to the old man. While the old man and Li Xue looked on with confusion, Han Fei asked the old man, “Sir, actually I was good friends with Brother Youfu. Can you tell me if there’s any unfulfilled wish that he had in his life?”