Perhaps this captured female patient was just a smokescreen. From the start, there were 2 women involved. In my head, I was already coming up with the solution to escape from this place but to confirm that, I needed to see this woman’s information. I glanced at the circuit which was exposed. The cut was even and the circuit was pinned on the wall which was 3 metres tall.
“Give me a push,” I told Gu Chen, “I’m going up there to look.” Gu Chen nodded and squatted down. He signaled for me to step on his shoulders. I nodded.
When I was up there, I noticed there were small grooves on the wall surface and there was something smoked.
“Did you see anything?” When I jumped down from Gu Chen’s shoulder, he asked.
I patted the dust from his shoulders. “A timer, something like a candle that can be used to time a process. When the candle burned out, the blade propped on it would drop and slice through the old circuit.”
“Therefore.” Guan Zhenglin concluded, “Everything is planned.” I nodded as I picked up the blade. “Indeed, and it also proves another thing.”
“What is it?” Guan Zhenglin asked.
I answered slowly, “A single person designed all this. If there was a second person, they wouldn’t need to set up a timer device like this. But there is still a problem.” I extended 1 finger. “How did that woman enter or leave Area A?”
When we returned to the hospital, the chief nurse was standing at the door assigning the guards to inspect the patient room by room. After all, if a patient had escaped, there was no stopping the others from escaping too. Especially the 4 on the 3rd floor and that old man. If that old man managed to escape, the world would be in danger.
I asked, “Who was that female patient? Was she from here?”
The chief nurse glared at me gloomily. “Of course she’s from here. She was transferred here 1 month ago. She suffers from serious schizophrenia. She took her child as chicken and cooked him in soup. When she was sent in here, she saw everyone as the murderer of her child…”
I said, “I need to see the files on this person.”
The chief nurse crossed his hands behind him and narrowed his eyes on me. “Wu Meng, don’t press it. You have to know how chaotic the situation is now, I don’t have time to entertain your fancy. Why are you still here when there’s a case waiting for you to solve?”
I turned to Guan Zhenglin, “Is there any news from Sister Mary? Is there a third story?”
She held her phone and waved at me. “No. Sister Mary would have notified us at first notice. Plus based on the established pattern, the 3rd story will not appear at least until tonight. We still have a few hours until then but we have zero clues on the killer…”
I shook my head and told her. “After hearing what the old man had to say, I feel like I am close to understanding the killer’s psychology already.” Then I turned to the chief nurse. “Don’t you think this is very suspicious? The woman tried so hard to escape from her room but she was discovered before she even got out of Area A?”
The chief nurse looked at me and checked the guards on the CCTV. He then fidgeted, “Do you think there’s a traitor among us?”
I shrugged, “I won’t go that far. After all, who would collaborate with a psychopath for no reason? If the patient here offers you 100000 RMB if you let him go, would you believe him? I believe a normal person wouldn’t, so she probably opened the door on her own.” Then I shared my thoughts with the chief nurse. The chief nurse scratched his head. “And your point is?”
I didn’t answer but turned to Captain Zhao. “Captain Zhao, are you sure the woman you captured is the same as the one who escaped?”
Captain Zhao frowned. He seemed to have caught onto my thought. “You mean…” I nodded. The woman who escaped and the woman who was caught might not be the same.
Realizing the problem, the chief nurse quickly handed me the female patient’s file. From the file, it said that this woman was 30 and she looked quite pretty. However, the woman in the picture and the woman who was captured were slightly larger than the woman that we encountered this morning. I studied the picture and told the chief nurse, “Are you sure this file is correct?”
The chief nurse studied it closely and then said, “Yes, this is the woman.”
I pointed at the picture. “Then don’t you think this woman doesn’t look that similar to the one who was in the room earlier?”
“Not the same person?” The chief nurse countered, “How is that possible?”
Then the chief nurse led us to the second floor and stopped before the room of the woman who was just captured. Looking in through the barred window, the woman was now tied to the bed and she was struggling very hard.
The chief nurse studied the woman for a long time before saying, “Yup, it’s the same person. You’re overthinking things again.”
I pointed at the woman and said, “Earlier, on the CCTV this woman had been sleeping so she didn’t attract anyone’s attention. Therefore none of us realized that the woman back then was not this woman now. Someone has taken her disguise.” Then I asked, “Are the patients in Area A allowed to leave their rooms under supervision?”
The chief nurse nodded and said matter-of-factly, “Of course, patients have human rights too. For example, every morning, the patients on the 2nd floor would be released from their rooms to use the bathrooms because their rooms have no toilet.”
“Why is that?” Gu Chen asked.
The chief nurse pointed at the woman. “Because there was an incident in the past where patients used the toilet water to drown themselves. So the toilets have all been removed. Instead, they now shuffle to the communal bathroom every morning and it’s easier for us to monitor too.” The chief nurse used a light tone to describe this but from his expression, I knew this job mustn’t be easy…
“Then would the guards watch them use the bathroom?” I asked.
“Of course not!” The chief nurse sighed, “They deserve their privacy…”
Then I could confirm what had happened. A woman had disguised herself to infiltrate into this building and then knocked out this female patient when they were in the bathroom. She put on this woman’s clothes and then shuffled back to ‘her’ room. Before she made her infiltration, the woman already set up the timer on the main circuit. Therefore after she got into the room, she started to mark the wall, to coincide with the timer device outside. Once the circuit got cut, the woman would start her escape.
In that case, the woman must have gotten in here for a reason, she wouldn’t have gone through so much just to prove that she could escape from this place. Viewed from that perspective, there was only one possibility why the woman wanted to get in here, she came to meet someone and instantly the old man on the third floor came into my mind.
Was my encounter with the old man arranged or coincidental?
While I was considering that, Mary’s call came to my phone. It was already late afternoon. I suspected a third story had appeared.
“Sister Mary,” I answered the call.
Mary asked, “Wu Meng, what are you doing? Xiao Liu has found a lead.”
“The 3rd story hasn’t appeared?” I was surprised.
Sister May said, “No, not yet. But Xiao Liu has found the man who was last seen with the adult toy store boss. And he said he found something useful from the man.”
I nodded and told the rest. “Xiao Liu found something and he wanted us to go back.”
Gu Chen frowned, “What does Xiao Liu’s investigation have to do with us? He probably needs us to solve some problems for him. Just wait and see.”
I didn’t comment but said, “Come, let’s go back and see what happens. Chief nurse, please investigate this further, I don’t think things are that simple, especially that old man on the 3rd floor. I suspect this has to do with him.”
The chief nurse waved his hands. “The moment you came back, something happened. Let me tell you, just go back and focus on your case. Don’t mind the issue here anymore. I know the old man better than you do.”
I smiled and said nothing.
After we left Area A, it was like we had stepped through time. Everything felt so new. Just as I turned the corner, a woman walked out and we almost bumped into each other. The woman didn’t apologize but hurried away. Watching her walk away, I felt she looked familiar.
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