7 The Truth Behind the Death

 

The dead man’s name was Luo Zhongcheng, 22 years old, the son of Luo Yongjun. He was found dead in his own home. Based on the coroner’s report, he died yesterday night, from around 5 to 6 am. The cause of death was drug overdose. Since a new element was introduced into the case, it had become more than a murder. The main question was, where did Luo Zhongcheng get the heroin; whether he had the drug habit in the past; and what happened after he got home? How did so many things happen in the span of one rainy night?

Actually with close analysis, it was quite easy to come up with the conclusion that Luo Zhongcheng was the killer. First, the real killer had to possess knowledge of the details only made privy to the railroad worker, like the location of the underground passage and the electrical brake... Or they were closely related to someone who worked the rails. Secondly, if the real killer was Luo Yongjun, he wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble to come up with a way to dispose of the body. He was the only person who had the key to the wooden hut that connected both sides of the fence, plus, he also knew of the whole underground passage system. He could have easily used them to throw the dead body on the rails. There was no reason to waste time on the rest of the hoopla. Thirdly, the rattling sound that the two electricians heard was actually the sound of Luo Yongjun tapping against the rails. Luo Yongjun accidentally encountered the crime in action while doing his job. According to his schedule, he shouldn’t have reached this stretch so soon but he probably returned home early due to the pouring rain. Fourth and this was the nail in the coffin, the police had a witness. Probably Luo Zhongcheng did not expect that someone would have caught himself red-handed from the passing train. We found a picture of Luo Zhongcheng when he was alive and had Xiao Liu send it to the witness. Soon the witness came back with the affirmation that the young man whom she saw that night was indeed Luo Zhongcheng.

Even though we had solved the case, the killer was dead. Xiao Liu shook his head and sighed, “This is one hell of a case. If the witness has come forward sooner, we probably would have skipped many steps. But then again, you guys did manage to solve the case without the witness’ testimonial, that’s quite impressive.” Xiao Liu laid on more praises before adding, “But I guess no one saw this ending coming. This Luo Zhongcheng died from an overdose; I wonder how Luo Yongjun would have reacted when he saw his son down there. The man had drowned his father alive, what kind of son is this?”

Seeing how heated Xiao Liu was becoming, I chimed in, “Xiao Liu, have you ever considered that Luo Yongjun actually has known about his son’s plan? And he walked into the trap on purpose?”

“He did it on purpose?” Xiao Liu shook his head. “Why would you say that?”

I shrugged and explained, “I’m an orphan so I’m no expert on familial relationship but riddle me these, why did Luo Yongjun invite his son back to the underground passage with all those alcohol; and why did he stop to write before he left his home? Do you remember the work diary we found in the wooden hut? The man wrote that he had committed the crime himself, he did not bring up his son in any way.”

“Then why did you advise Captain Zhao to surrender in your simulation?” Xiao Liu was clearly confused.

“Because that is what I believed happened.” I clarified, “I suspect Luo Yongjun said that to instigate his son’s desire for patricide. Luo Yongjun didn’t know how to educate, he was a cowardly person but at the end of the day, he was still a father.” Indeed, from Luo Yongjun’s diary, this railroad worker had been cowardly for most of his life. His wife cheated on him and he said nothing; his son beat him and he did not dare to fight back, but on that rainy day, Luo Yongjun summoned all the courage and brilliance he had in him. Luo Yongjun had unleashed all the courage that he had gathered in his long life. He removed all trace of his son’s murder, he wrote down a fake confession, he purposely drank himself to a stupor beside his son. Not many could have done what he did, especially when you consider it was all done within the scope of 2 hours. At the moment of his death, this railroad worker was indeed more courageous than the man jerking off at the passing trains.

However, Luo Yongjun never would have expected, 2 hours after his death, his son would have followed in his footsteps.

Luo Zhongcheng’s body was moved away. After a series of interviews and investigations, it was clear that Luo Zhongcheng was no drug addict. In fact, he was buff and muscular or else he wouldn’t have been able to commit all those physical labor like climbing the electric pole and so on. In other words, this was Luo Zhongcheng’s first heroin hit, it would explain why he overdosed. He did not have experience or a mentor to guide him. Now that the murder was solved, the question became, where did Luo Zhongcheng get the bags of heroin?

Captain Zhao said, “In any case, the heroin demands us to open a new file. What we need to do now is to complete the paperwork on the current case before we move onto the next. By the way, before we reach this point of investigation, you already predicted that Luo Yongjun was not the killer, how could you be so sure?”

I sighed. “Have you guys carefully examined Luo Yongjun’s first work diary? The man is a very detailed-orientated person, he recorded his work condition in it every single day. Actually, I have a question for you. Do you guys know why the iron fences were built around the train tracks in the first place?” The group shook their heads.

“It was because of Luo Yongjun.” I answered, “A few years ago, there were a series of train accidents. Luo Yongjun had seen the mess in person so he told his superior to build the fences to prevent children from accidentally wandering onto the tracks. Afraid of the potential lawsuit, the managers agreed and thus the iron fences were up.”

The group nodded as the truth dawned on them. Mary commented, “So it was out of Luo Yongjun’s concern that we have the safety fences today. Now that you think about it, of course a good person like Luo Yongjun wouldn’t rape and murder an innocent woman. Luo Yongjun is solitary fighter, he is a good man.”

“Are you sure about that?” I didn’t agree with Mary. “I’ve looked through the files on the train accident victims and discovered something interesting. All the train accidents occurred around that stretch of tracks where Luo Yongjun worked. And all of the 3 victims share the same property that they were all pretty, young beautiful women from 18 to 22. Now these were all healthy, sane adult women. Death of 1 might be called an accident but all 3 of them?”

What I was implying chilled everyone’s hearts. Their faces grimaced with discomfort. Mary coughed twice and began cautiously, “You mean these girls…”

“Yes, I believe this was not Luo Zhongcheng’s first kill.” I continued, “But there is no way to confirm that anymore. If I’m not mistaken, Luo Zhongcheng started this crime spree a long time ago. He used this secluded area and the underground passage near his father’s wooden hut to entrap passing victims. After he was done, he would lay their bodies on the train tracks. Then, the trains would grind the bodies into meat pieces and bone chips, scattering them all around the tracks. Luo Yongjun’s job scope required him to clean up the tracks so he definitely would have noticed this a long time ago. Considering the many details of the crime, it wouldn’t be hard for Luo Yongjun to figure out the truth.” I sighed. “But he was too cowardly to put a stop to his son’s actions so he applied to his superior to construct the iron fences instead.” I shrugged, “I’m sure he didn’t expect the fences did nothing to deter his son.”

“Still, that doesn’t explain how you could be sure that Luo Yongjun was not the killer.” Mary pressed.

I laughed, “Because he liked to be dominated and not to dominate others.”

“How on earth would you know that?”

Captain Zhao then cut in to answer for me, “It’s because of that porn mag, yes?”

“Bingo!” I nodded. “If you look closer at it, you’ll realise the pages with BDSM elements, especially those with female dominatrix, would have more crusted semen. Therefore, it was not in Luo Yongjun’s nature to be a rapist.” Everyone looked at me with awe. Mary shook her head and told Captain Zhao, “This basketcase does resemble you when you’re young. I mean, his analytical mind and attention to details reminds me of you when you were young.”

Captain Zhao added, “You are indeed the person I’m looking for.”

Just as we planned to wrap up the case, the team of officers who were sent to the mountain village came back with news. Zhang Hui was still at the village but she was now a mother of four. Who were the fathers, no one could tell. She brought a new meaning to, you need a whole village to raise a child. When Zhang Hui saw the arrival of the officers in their uniform, she first cursed at them. She lampooned them with every bad word she knew before she eventually collapsed crying to the ground and howled, “Motherfucker, why only have you arrived now?!”

Captain Zhao believed these details should be written into the case file. Then he was reminded of something. He turned to Xiao Liu, “By the way, what is the name of our tipster, we need to thank her in person. Without her, we would lack the damning evidence, and we would have to pull a few more all-nighters.” Xiao Liu responded, “Let me call to ask.”

After a while, Xiao Liu returned with a deep frown between his brows.

“What’s wrong?” I chided him. “Did you accidentally look at yourself in the mirror?”

Xiao Liu began slowly, “Wu Meng, if you can ensure that your expression doesn’t change when I tell you the name of our witness, I’ll jump from the 6th floor.”

“Oh? Who is it?” I asked.

“I just went to check with our operator. She said the witness gave her name as Zhang Xutong!” Xiao Liu repeated in emphasis, “She said she was Zhang Xutong!” Xiao Liu was right. When we heard the news, everyone’s expressions, including my own, shifted. Zhang Xutong? Zhang Xutong was the witness? Did she come back as a ghost to report her killer? Or was this a coincidence? The witness had the same name as our victim? The questions exploded in my mind.

“Quick, go and get the coroner’s report for the woman!” Captain Zhao ordered. Xiao Liu hurried away. Soon the coroner’s report of the lady in the rain arrived at our office. Captain Zhao studied it for a long time before he cursed, “Fuck, based on the bone density, this woman is only 20.”

“When Zhang Xutong was captured by the traffickers, she was already in university. She had to be at least 18 then. 4 years had passed since then so she had to be at least 22 now. In other words, this victim is not Zhang Xutong, we were all misled by that drifter, Lee Chunzhuang!” I sighed.

“Then, then who is the woman in our morgue?” Xiao Liu asked the question which was on all of our minds.

I was silent for a long time before I uttered, “Xiao Liu didn’t you mention there were missing person reports that the station received a few days ago? I remember you complaining about the lack of manpower.”

“You mean, the victim is one of them?”