Criminal Psychology 48.2
Three Graves 11.2
CW: mentions of suicide
The magnificent spring landscape is still a warm scene.
In the renovated Yan Family alley stood the parasols of the two neighboring businesses. At the entrance of the alley, under a large, black parasol, sat a young man wearing a backwards baseball cap.
On the young man’s knee sat a female calico cat. With one hand, he was rubbing the cat’s head, the other was tightly holding his phone. His gaze was stuck firmly to the screen, as if he were playing some interesting game. He didn’t relax for a second. However, at that moment, his phone suddenly started vibrating.
The young man stared at the incoming phone number, wearlily pressing accept.
“Hey, handsome, I’m on break. Put 1000 dollars in my Nuan Nuan Account, then you can talk to me.”
T/N: A Nuan Nuan account is used for microtransactions on a particular dress-up mobile game (Love Nikki)
“When did you start playing these kinds of games?” He furrowed his brows and put down his phone. He opened his online banking app.
“I suddenly realized that dress-up games are really interesting! It’s so cute, so cute, so cute!” Wang Chao happily explained. Before he could finish, however, he heard a notification go off on his phone. Looking at his phone, a message told him that he just received a 1000 yuan transfer.
“Oh fuck, Boss, what’s up with this? You’re making this humble job terrifying!”
“Your vacation has been canceled. Take the money and get a ticket to Yong Chuan City, then go report to Yong Chuan Second Branch.”
“Boss, has something big happened? Is our Ah-Chen alright?”
“The Yong Chuan department has a pile of cases, they need our assistance.” Xing Cong Lian glanced at Lin Chen besides him, and said “I have some pictures, I need you to determine whether or not they’ve been altered. Additionally, I need you to search the internet for videos relating to the contents of the picture. I’ve sent the stuff to your inbox.”
“Oh…”
Under the black parasol, the young man, in public, opened the picture in his inbox. Looking at the large photos, he cried out, inexplicably excited, “Oh fuck, Boss did you finally get transferred to the anti-pornography department? This case is kinky!”
Maybe it was because of Wang Shi Shi’s mother causing trouble at school that made Xing Cong Lian not crack jokes with Wang Chao as usual. Instead, he solemnly spoke into the phone, saying, “Two people in the picture are deceased, there’s one person remaining that hasn’t been identified. I’ve put a mark on her, you should go compare it with the database.”
“Oh…it’s a homicide case?” Hearing this, Wang Chao rapidly scanned through the picture and said, “If I tell you right now that this picture is an original, and it’s taken from a complete video, then does that mean I don’t have to go to Yong Chuan?!”
“No problem, then Ah-Chen and I will enjoy this five-star hotel penthouse and buffet on our own?” Xing Cong Lian said, as if he were about to hang up.
“Wait for me!” A distressed shriek sounded from the phone.
Lin Chen had grown accustomed to the preppy little comrade, Wang Chao. Conversely, Jiang Chao, who had been listening from the side, could barely keep his mouth closed. “He’s that skilled? He can tell it’s an original from a glance?”
“He is quite experienced in this field.” Xing Cong Lian answered, and glanced at Lin Chen, asking, “What’s up? You’ve haven’t spoken in some time, now.”
“It’s very weird…” Lin Chen said blankly.
Very weird, very suspicious, very unexpected…
These words weren’t enough to describe the case in front of them. If this picture was taken from a full video, then from the shooting point of view, there were four people in the room filming this scene. Then, Wang Chao was right, this picture, regardless of the content or the shooting angle, was very kinky.
The Wang Shi Shi in the photo also did not look as tranquil as she did in her death. On that purple double bed, her eyes were half-shut, making her look wild, but sexy. Then, is only a passionate round of sex enough turn a girl into something else?
“What’s weird?” Xing Cong Lian asked.
“Do you really think she killed herself out of shame because these pictures were being broadcast throughout the school?”
“I don’t know…” Xing Cong Lian paused, then said, “But I heard you could never keep a secret in a female college dorm?”
—————————
Yong Chuan College had two residential areas, a new one, and an old one.
Wang Shi Shi’s residence in the School of Science happened to not be very good.
It was afternoon break time. There was practically no one in the female dormitory, only a broken incandescent light that flickered nonstop.
The dormitory monitor aunty opened the door on the left side of the third floor, scaring the girls speaking softly inside.
“The police are here, they want to ask you something.”
The aunty was full of energy. Lin Chen and Xing Cong Lian shared a look. They feared the entire building probably knew they were here.
It was a cramped room. Inside were four bunk beds and eight desks. The girls’ clothes and belongings were all over the tables and floors, making it seem even more crowded.
Even an experienced officer like Xing Cong Lian, facing this kind of mess, would have trouble finding a place to start.
“Look at your dorm! It’s like a pigsty! And you’re all girls, living in this mess, you won’t be able to marry later on!” The aunty used a sharp voice to reprimand the messy girls. Instantly, the cramped room became a whirlwind of motion.
Lin Chen glanced at Xing Cong Lian.
“Aunty, please stay for a second, I have a few questions for you.” The Captain Xing standing at the door tacitly stopped the dormitory aunty. Saying that, he attracted the attention of everyone in the dorm.
“Oh, if you have any questions please ask,” the aunty said while slapping a desk, telling the girls in the dorm, “Something this big has happened in your dorm. All of you better be alert. If you know something, then tell the police. Do not lie!”
“You must have heard about Wang Shi Shi’s situation. I wanted to ask you, what was your impression of this young woman?” Xing Cong Lian asked the aunty.
“That maiden was very pretty, a lot of people pursued her.” The aunty sighed, and couldn’t help the sorrow in her words, “There were several nights, where someone would shout her name outside her dorm to confess.”
“What about you guys? What did you think of Wang Shi Shi?” Xing Cong Lian turned to look at Wang Shi Shi’s roommates.
A few girls started to speak, but then stopped. Knowing the trouble Wang Shi Shi’s mother caused for the school, they didn’t want to speak up.
Xing Cong Lian dragged a chair over and sat down in front of the girls.
“We didn’t come to arrest anyone this time, we just wanted to understand the situation…” He said, as his gaze swept over the group of girls in front of him. He stopped on one of them, his voice turning softer, “I guess you guys know about what Wang Shi Shi just said at the school entrance. Is it really like her mother said, you guys were gossiping about her behind her back, and that pushed her to suicide?”
“We don’t know anything!” One of the girls said vigorously. Her face was flushed, looking like she’d been wronged.
“We…we really didn’t bully her!” Another girl blurted, “Her mom’s the crazy one!”
“Sh-she was pretty nice, we just didn’t know her too well!”
“But you all live in the same dorm, how could you not know her well?” Xing Cong Lian asked.
“She had to work everyday to pay for her tuition. She left early and returned late. Outside of school, all she did was work.”
“Yeah, yeah! Her family wouldn’t give her a cent. She also had to make money to buy clothes and toys for her little brother!”
“Although, I think, she kind of looked down on us. She wouldn’t talk to us when she came back.”
“It was like she lived in her own world.”
“But she wasn’t like that before. She used to go out to breakfast with us…”
“Yeah, she used to dress in tatters, so I thought she was too embarrassed to talk to us. Then, she turned into a goddess and became very haughty.”
As chatter continued behind him, Lin Chen walked to the corner of the dorm. There, sat the last bunk bed. No one seemed to sleep in the bottom bunk, where there were piles of various packaging. He looked up at the top bunk and was slightly surprised.
It was a bunk that stood out amidst the mess of the dorm. The snow-white sheets hung down slightly and the yellow blankets were folded squarely. At the head of the bed neatly sat a stack of books. There were a few that seemed more worn out, obviously read many times.
Looking at the name tag that held the three words, Wang Shi Shi, Lin Chen took off his shoes, climbed onto the bed, and pulled out those worn books.
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