211 Zodiac Signs

 

In the first story, the killer murdered 2 OL, and they were quite close in age; in the second story, the family killed a family of 3, their age was wildly different; in the third story, the killer murdered many people from different age groups. Previously we had been trying to find the connection between these victims, but we couldn’t find one because we were too focused on the common denominator. Chinese zodiac signs, now that not that common. We had not looked into that. It was time that we should. I immediately sent a message to Mary to have her check the victims’ zodiac sign.

We continued to chat with the old lady, “Granny, are you sure you cannot remember who took the bowls? You know who we are, and we wouldn’t have visited you if the situation was not serious. Many lives are on the line. Can you please think about it?”

The old lady thought and said, “I really can’t remember. I did paint those bowls myself, but I couldn’t remember who I had sold them to. As you know, your memory gets worse as you get older. Plus, who would have paid attention to these things anyway.” The old lady added, “But I did remember this is the last set I painted. Not long after that, my father died. We couldn’t keep the workshop running anymore. We sold the workshop and shared the money with the family. When the place closed, there were still quite a lot of bowls and plates that hadn’t been sold, and they were all given away.”

I nodded. After all, this happened more than a decade ago, so it was normal if the old lady couldn’t remember it. However, the trip wasn’t wasted. We got an important clue. If the killer killed according to the Chinese zodiac signs, 8 people had died, and there were 4 more to go…

At that moment, Mary sent over a message. I realized I had miscalculated. There were 9 victims and not 8. I tapped my head. I had forgotten the female boss who had turned into a pile of white bones. I looked at the info and realized all 9 victims had distinct Chinese zodiac signs.

The two OL were monkey and goat; the family of three, the father was dragon, the mother horse, the daughter, cow; the female boss was rabbit; Ol’ Wang was rat, his neighbor, the widow was snake, and the noisy boy was tiger.

It hit me then. Perhaps after killing each victim, the killer would dump the corresponding bowl. When I encountered the killer in the sewer, he was dumping the bowl with the rat sign. In his panic, he broke the rest of the bowls.

In other words, 3 more people would die, and they had the signs, pig, dog, and cock. And coincidentally, my sign was dog, Guan Zhenglin was pig, and Gu Chen was chicken. This was too much of a coincidence. I showed the message to the rest. “Look, the victims all have different zodiac signs.”

Gu Chen and Guan Zhenglin leaned closer to look, so did the old lady.

Gu Chen said, “So only chicken, dog, and pig are left, but they are not easy to find. After all, there are plenty of potential victims for the killer to choose from. Plus, based on your earlier analysis, the killer killed all the people who knew his secret. Could there really be such a huge coincidence?”

I frowned. Based on my analysis, the killer wasn’t killing at random. However, if the killer was only killing people according to the Chinese zodiac sign, the killing could be considered random. So was this a coincidence or something orchestrated by the killer?

Plus, the killer had left behind English messages at all 3 crime scenes. What was the purpose of that? Chinese Zodiac and English messages.

“Okay, granny.” I said, “If you can think of anything, just call us.”

The old lady nodded when she said, “O wait, I just remembered this now. Yesterday, there was a group of people who came to ask the same thing as you did. You see, your memory is really not that good as you get older. I was thinking why this whole incident felt so familiar. Wait a minute.”

The 3 of us looked at each other, and we had no idea what the old lady meant. The old lady rummaged through the drawer, and I stood beside her. There were all sorts of things inside the drawer, pillboxes, screws, scissors, comb, USB cable, and so on. The old lady’s ID was on the table. I picked it up. “Granny, you’re 65 already?” I said, “You’re still so healthy!”

The old lady smiled. “Thank you.”

I handed the id back to the old lady. “You should keep this somewhere safe and not leave it on the table. If it’s scratched or stolen, you’ll have to find a new replacement.”

The old lady nodded. “That’s what the man said yesterday.”

“Which man?” I asked.

The old lady took out a piece of paper. There was a phone number written on it. The number was very familiar to me. I took out my phone and keyed in the number. Instantly it showed the owner of the number. The owner was Xiao Liu. So Xiao Liu had been to this place yesterday. This had to be the important clue Xiao Liu meant. The killer targeted the 12 zodiacs, and the victims were all from the old city. Xiao Liu had reached this place one day earlier than we did. Furthermore, Xiao Liu must have found something to help him confirm the location of the killer’s next victim. Xiao Liu was at the location waiting to ambush the killer already. So what did Xiao Liu find?

The old lady handed me the note and said, “The man was with the police too. They asked me the same thing you did. I couldn’t remember it until you left me your phone number and had me call you should I remember something.”

I nodded. “Did he ask things that we didn’t?”

The old lady placed the id back in the drawer and sat back on her bed. “Oh, he did. He asked about my family members. Unlike you, the kid was very detailed. He questioned me until 11 pm.”

I nodded, that did sound like Xiao Liu. Once Xiao Liu latched onto something, he had to know all the details. Xiao Liu was a very detail-orientated person. When he was under Captain Zhao, he had no chance to show this off.

The current Xiao Liu was very different from the earlier Xiao Liu. Since Xiao Liu asked the old lady about her family then perhaps that was the reason Xiao Liu could determine where the killer would head next.

At this point, I asked, “Do you have anyone in your family who has the sign of dog, pig, or chicken?”

The old lady pondered and said, “Yes, my parents have two children, 1 boy 1 girl. My brother has the chicken sign and his wife the pig. Right, and their son has the dog sign. His son is in his 30s already, but he still hasn’t married. I told the same thing to the officer yesterday night. This sounds like something serious.” The old lady raised her head to look at me. I looked at the old lady. Her pair of confused eyes stared at me.

I sighed. “Yes, or else there wouldn’t be two batches of police who came to find you. By the way, granny, do you have any other family?”

The old lady sighed, “That’s all. I have no children, and I live alone.”

“Your brother never comes to visit you?” I asked.

The old lady shook her head. “I don’t have a good relationship with him. After our father died, we hadn’t seen each other.”

“Not even once?” I looked into her eyes.

She sighed. “Not even once. It has been such a long time since someone visited me.”

“Okay, granny can you give me your phone? I’ll save my phone in it so you can call us directly.” I offered.

She shook her head. “I don’t have such a thing. I live alone. Why would I need that? Oh, if you run into that man from yesterday, tell him that too.”

I nodded. “Then we will leave now. We’ll come back to visit you.”

“Okay.” The old lady walked us out. I took one glance at the picture Guan Zhenglin placed on the table before I turned to leave.

We walked out the gate, and Guan Zhenglin sighed, “Poor thing, is this how the situation for all old people is like?”

I pulled on my hair and uttered slowly, “Something is wrong with this old woman.”

“What?” Guan Zhenglin and Gu Chen turned to me.

I said, “Her memory is perfectly fine. Didn’t you notice that she had been trying to lead us down a particular direction?”

“What do you mean?” Guan Zhenglin frowned. She punched me. “Your old habit of suspecting everyone is happening again, isn’t it?”

“I saw a USB cable in the drawer.”

I turned to the two, “Tell me, for an old lady who doesn’t even have a phone, why would she have a USB cable?”