Sweeping Mouse Ridge – Chapter Two : 2

To the police’s utter surprise, the case was solved much more easily than they had anticipated. And just as Liu Simiao had predicted, the breakthrough came from using the surveillance system to locate the suspect vehicle and to identify and analyze the suspect’s appearance. More precisely, based on Liu Simiao’s instructions, the police pursued the case along two routes, ultimately converging on the same conclusion.

After the case analysis meeting this morning, Liu Simiao suddenly had an idea. She believed that the perpetrator of this case demonstrated extremely strong counter-investigation capabilities, skills that could not be acquired simply through multiple crimes. The saying went, “A year of success was not as good as half a day of failure,” highlighting the importance of being caught for a criminal’s “growth.” Only by facing police interrogation and even imprisonment could one truly learn how to evade capture, just as a rabbit that had survived a tiger’s jaws was better at avoiding its predator. In other words, the perpetrator of the “Sweeping Mouse Ridge Case” must be someone who had been arrested and had a criminal record. This was not difficult to grasp; what was remarkable was that Liu Simiao immediately connected it to Lin Fengchong’s work: the electronic information collection team, through monitoring devices installed at the Qingshikou East Lane traffic lights, confirmed that between 6 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. last night, a total of 217 vehicles had passed through the Qingshikou East Lane traffic lights from north to south on Yinlu North Street. The destination and ownership of 194 of these vehicles was still being verified. This was originally a task requiring a large amount of manpower, resources, and time, but Liu Simiao believed that although the video footage captured by the ZTE intelligent surveillance system widely used in the city wasn’t very clear, it could still clearly outline the general facial features of each driver. If the photos of the drivers of these 194 vehicles were entered into the Ministry of Public Security’s database and compared with the criminal photos stored there, although it would take some time to get results, it would certainly be much more efficient than finding each driver individually based on their license plate number to understand their movements last night. Therefore, she immediately assigned Lin Fengchong to do this.

There was another lead that Liu Simiao also discovered. It was after she followed Zhang Wei to the entrance of the nursery, watching the media interview Du Jianping, that she glanced casually into the nursery and suddenly had a bad feeling. She couldn’t pinpoint the source of this feeling until she finished her phone call with Li Sanduo. Then it dawned on her, and she rushed back to the nursery entrance. Chu Tianying happened to be there and asked if she needed help. Liu Simiao pointed to the nursery and said, “You can’t see the tunnel ventilation shaft from here.”

Chu Tianying looked in the direction she was pointing. Indeed, the tunnel ventilation shaft, located in the southwest corner of the nursery, was a blind spot from the entrance… But what did it matter?

But Liu Simiao’s next words sent a chill down his spine: “Go and check the identity of the person who called 110 last night!”

From the moment the fire department discovered the body under the tunnel ventilation shaft until now, the police had been working under high tension. This work mainly revolved around crime scene investigation, door-to-door visits, and the collection of electronic information. It was precisely because of this tense and relentless work that the police overlooked a seemingly insignificant detail—who was the person who called 110? Even some observant people who had considered this might have subconsciously assumed it was just a passerby who saw the tunnel ventilation shaft on fire from the nursery entrance at night. But Liu Simiao’s discovery completely ruled out this possibility.

Of course, there were two other possibilities. One was that someone discovered the fire while relieving themselves in the nursery, but given the darkness and the secluded alleyway, it was hard to imagine why they would need to go into the eerie nursery. The other possibility was that someone who lived on the ridge noticed the fire from above and then called the police. This was possible but unlikely because Sweeping Mouse Ridge was located southwest of the nursery, while the ventilation shaft’s opening faced east. Of course, it was also possible that some concerned residents noticed the thick smoke billowing from the ventilation shaft, went down to the nursery to investigate, and then called the police. However, the police did not find this helpful person during their subsequent door-to-door visit.

Chu Tianying quickly contacted the 110 emergency hotline and soon found the operator who had just finished their night shift. The operator was extremely conscientious and immediately returned to the dispatch center, retrieved the caller’s recorded message and phone number, and sent them to Chu Tianying.

After listening to the concise recorded emergency call, Chu Tianying realized the operator had misunderstood; the caller hadn’t mistakenly dialed 110 instead of 119—he knew perfectly well the nature of the incident and which department needed to handle it.

Chu Tianying reasoned that since the caller was highly likely closely connected to the case—perhaps even the perpetrator himself—the phone number he used to call was probably an unknown, untraceable number. However, upon investigation, it turned out to be a registered number. The owner was Xing Qisheng, a 55-year-old male residing in Province A, currently the director of the “Tongyou Nursery” in this city. Records showed this was an institution for disabled children managed by a “Love and Compassion Foundation.”

When Chu Tianying reported this information to Liu Simiao, Liu Simiao immediately recalled Lei Rong’s judgment—

“I suggest you investigate the city’s orphanages, disability centers, and other charitable organizations…”

The case was online!

Liu Simiao was very excited and reported directly to Du Jianping. Upon hearing the words “Love and Charity Foundation,” a barely perceptible pang of sorrow flashed across Du Jianping’s brow. Liu Simiao suddenly realized that she had overlooked something she shouldn’t have. She felt a little apologetic, but her face remained calm; after all, work is work. Du Jianping quickly regained his composure and nodded to indicate he understood.

After some preparation, Liu Simiao dialed Xing Qisheng’s number using a phone equipped with a tracking system. As expected, his phone was switched off.

Du Jianping summoned his old subordinate, Chai Yongjin, and said, “Take a few capable men and go to that ‘Tongyou Orphanage’ immediately. Find out where Xing Qisheng is. I suspect he’s already escaped. Get detailed information on his physical characteristics and thoroughly search his temporary residence in the city. Also, gather all the orphanage staff together. Ask them everything about where they were last night and what they did, even down to the details of how they defecated!”

Just as Chai Yongjin turned to leave, Liu Simiao added, “Take a policewoman who’s already a mother with you. Protect the children in the orphanage!”

Thirty minutes later, Chai Yongjin called to report that he had led a team to seal off Tongyou Nursery. He confirmed through the HR department’s employee contact list that, apart from Xing Qisheng and a vice director, all eight staff members, including the security guard, were on duty. The nursery currently housed twelve disabled children, mostly from Province A, suffering from congenital heart disease, cerebral palsy, and other illnesses, and they were placed under police protection.

“Where is Xing Qisheng now?” Du Jianping was most concerned about.

“The staff here don’t know,” Chai Yongjin said. “However, according to the cleaning lady, she heard noises coming from the director’s office around 10 p.m. last night, and the security guard said the director left the nursery at 10:30 p.m.”

If Xing Qisheng hadn’t left until 10:30 p.m., there was no way he could have called the police station at 10:30 p.m. to report it. Of course, there were two other possibilities. One was that his accomplice called him after setting the fire and asked him to call the police—though the purpose of such a roundabout method was unclear. The police retrieved Xing Qisheng’s phone call records from the telecommunications department and found that his phone had not received any incoming calls around 10:30 p.m. last night. He did make two outgoing calls, one to 110 (the police emergency number) and the other to his own office, which was actually answered! However, the orphanage’s security guard and cleaning lady both vehemently stated that no one visited the orphanage last night and that no one except the director had entered or left his office after 10 p.m. So why would Xing Qisheng use his own phone to call his own office? And who answered the phone?

Considering the many unsolvable mysteries of this possibility, another possibility suddenly became more likely: Xing Qisheng lent his phone to the murderer, who then used it to call the police after setting the fire and then used the phone to call him out of his office so they could escape together.

Du Jianping was frowning in thought when Liu Simiao, speaking into the speakerphone, asked, “Old Chai, have you checked if any children have gone missing from the orphanage in the last few days?”

“Director Liu,” Chai Yongjin said, “After I arrived, besides asking about Xing Qisheng’s whereabouts, I tried to find out if any children were missing. But, no one would believe it—not a single person in the entire orphanage could say for sure how many children there are…”

“How is that possible?” Liu Simiao exclaimed in surprise. “It’s only a dozen or so children! You can count them on your fingers!”

“That’s true, but the staff at the orphanage… well, they’re all clueless. The security guard is an old man with no teeth left; the cleaning lady’s mouth is stuffed with cotton, and she can’t say anything clearly; the woman who does both finance and HR sits in her office playing King of Glory and knows nothing; the director’s secretary is just a pretty face, and she needs to touch up her makeup three times for every sentence; the driver is a clueless young man in his early twenties, and all he knows is how to slurp down porridge; and the remaining three childcare workers are all old hags I don’t know where they came from, each one with a fierce face, and they always say, ‘Ask the boss’ when asked anything…”

“Don’t they keep records of all the children coming and going?” Du Jianping was also astonished.

“No, really no…” Chai Yongjin said. “The secretary said these children are all sponsored by the ‘Love and Charity Foundation,’ coming from remote areas of Province A to a designated hospital in this city for treatment. Most of them are orphans. Headquarters sends people to bring the children here each time. They stay at the orphanage during their treatment and go back afterward. At first, there was a registration, but after a while, the director figured that since headquarters also had a registration, they relaxed their vigilance…”

“Is this something you can just relax about?!” Du Jianping couldn’t help but curse. “Then check the orphanage’s surveillance video—”

“There’s no surveillance video…”

“Impossible!” Du Jianping was really angry, his leopard-like eyes wide open. “All kindergartens, playgrounds, and children’s educational institutions in this city are required to install surveillance videos, and they must be directly connected to the various police stations. This is an official document from the city!”

“I still don’t understand what’s going on…” Chai Yongjin said.

Du Jianping summoned a police officer and said, “Go personally to the local police station in charge of the orphanage and investigate the situation. If they are found to have neglected their duties, failed to implement the city’s instructions, and failed to supervise and inspect the installation of surveillance videos at Tongyou Orphanage, the police chief and relevant officers at the police station will be dismissed on the spot and await further investigation!”

“That’s probably not in accordance with procedure…” Liu Simiao said softly. “The dismissal order for the police chief must be issued by the city bureau leadership and approved collectively by the district branch. Things are different now; everything must follow rules and procedures, otherwise it’s a violation of organizational discipline.” She then told the officer, “Go to the police station. If you find any problems, report them first before deciding how to handle them.”

Du Jianping glanced at Liu Simiao and remained silent.

Chai Yongjin continued his report on the phone: “Xing Qisheng rented a three-bedroom apartment not far from the orphanage. I’ve already sent two police officers to search it. Also, I got a photo of Xing Qisheng from my secretary and sent it to the two leaders’ phones via WeChat.”

Liu Simiao opened WeChat and, sure enough, received a new photo: it showed a portly middle-aged man, not very tall, with slightly curly hair, short arms and legs, wearing a white tracksuit, making a swinging motion on a golf course lawn. His large, persimmon-shaped face was ruddy; his eyes and nose looked like they’d been squeezed together; his thick lips were stretched wide, revealing a mouthful of smoky yellow teeth; and his sparse hair was styled in a greasy side part. His gaze and smile towards the phone camera were somewhat lewd.

Liu Simiao handed the phone to Du Jianping: “Look at this person’s build; doesn’t it look a bit like Corpse C?”

Du Jianping glanced at it and said, “Yes!”

“Old Chai, tell the officers who went to search Xing Qisheng’s residence to collect valuable samples such as hair, nails, and bloodstains for DNA comparison,” Liu Simiao said. “Also, find out what the children at the orphanage ate for dinner the day before yesterday and what Xing Qisheng ate for dinner last night. Lei Rong’s analysis results of the stomach contents of the four victims will be back soon; I need to do the comparison.”

After hanging up, Du Jianping muttered to himself, “If the deceased is Xing Qisheng, then this case becomes even stranger…”

Liu Simiao felt a multitude of mysteries swarming over her like gnats in a summer jungle: If the deceased, identified as Corpse C, was indeed Xing Qisheng, then who was the person who was in the Tongyou Nursery’s director’s office at 10:30 last night? The autopsy results indicated that Xing Qisheng’s time of death was around the time the 110 emergency call was received. If the caller was Xing Qisheng himself, why didn’t he report a fire instead of danger, and why did he call his own office? If the caller was the murderer, what was his relationship with Xing Qisheng, and why did he kill him and dump him in the tunnel ventilation shaft?

Having not slept all night, her head throbbed from thinking so much. Liu Simiao lightly tapped the back of her head a few times with her fist, then crunched on her acupoints.

Du Jianping said, “If you can’t sleep, go take a nap in the car. I’ll call you if anything happens.”

Liu Simiao shook her head: “I can’t sleep now. I’ll get through this drowsiness…” Opening her eyes, she noticed Du Jianping’s strange gaze and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Du Jianping said slowly, “Nothing. I suddenly feel you’ve matured a lot. When you first joined the Municipal Bureau, you were such a proud little girl. These past two years, you’ve become much more thoughtful…”

“You mean I’ve become more worldly and sophisticated too?” Liu Simiao said, standing before the grime-covered window, gazing at the old poplar tree in the printing factory courtyard, its branches bare after a night of cold wind.

Du Jianping wanted to say something but swallowed the words back. Just then, a leader from the city’s subway company came specifically to inquire about the situation. He quickly went out to receive him, and when he returned to the printing workshop, which served as the temporary command center, a series of the latest developments came in: first, the group of officers who searched Xing Qisheng’s residence, based on the property’s surveillance video and the results of the house search, confirmed that Xing Qisheng had not returned home last night. Moreover, in his residence, all his clothing, suitcases, documents, cash, and bank cards in the safe were intact, showing no signs of him fleeing or preparing to flee. Hair was collected from the comb and pillow in the bathroom and has been sent to the criminal case technical department for DNA comparison with the DNA of the deceased, Corpse C; second, Chai Yongjin reported that they questioned two of the childcare workers for half a day to learn that the children’s three meals a day were ordered from a nearby restaurant, but none of them could recall exactly what the children had eaten the night before, only vaguely saying “very plentiful.” They had contacted the deputy director of the orphanage, who was out, and she was on her way back. Finally, Chu Tianying contacted the “Love and Charity Foundation” in Province A, asking them to immediately provide a list of the most recent batch of children sent to the city for medical treatment. They were evasive and bureaucratic, saying the list couldn’t be released to the public, or that they needed approval from higher authorities. Because the case needed to be kept confidential, Chu Tianying couldn’t explain the seriousness of the case in detail; he tried everything—coaxing, threatening, and pleading—but nothing worked…

“Don’t waste your breath on them!” Du Jianping said sternly. “Send a notice for assistance to the Public Security Bureau of Province A!”

However, what Du Jianping didn’t expect was that the police officer sent to the local police station reported that the nature of the Tongyou Nursery was very ambiguous. It was neither a kindergarten nor a welfare institution, neither a government-run public institution nor a private for-profit or nonprofit organization. Therefore, it wasn’t registered with any unit in the city’s education commission or civil affairs department. To put it bluntly, it was an “illegal guesthouse.” There was no surveillance video, and it hadn’t even obtained a fire safety certificate. The police officers from the local station had visited multiple times to urge them to complete the relevant approval procedures, but this nursery had certain connections and a charitable welfare nature, frequently organizing visits and condolences from social groups. The director, Xing Qisheng, was “slippery as a glass ball,” and the police couldn’t just shut it down rashly. As a result, it dragged on and on until now.

After hearing this, Du Jianping, who was usually quick and efficient at solving cases, felt as if he were trapped in a giant ball of yarn. Not only could he not move his hands and feet freely, but the more he struggled to break free, the tighter it became. He rubbed his rough palms against his equally rough, red face, his already reddened eyes burning even more fiercely with each rub.

“Old Chai won’t do!” Liu Simiao asserted. “His investigative style is too traditional, too conservative. Everyone at Tongyou Nursing Home has been trained by Xing Qisheng into reckless, clingy troublemakers. We need someone even tougher and more ruthless to break things up.”

Du Jianping paused, then nodded: “Send Ma Xiaozhong!”

Ma Xiaozhong was the Police Chief of Wangyue Garden Police Station, a well-known and capable officer in the city, the kind of person who could squeeze brains out of a toad. The thought of him being involved in the case made Du Jianping feel like he was halfway out of an ice cave. But before he could even catch his breath, the heaviest blow since the incident was about to land on his face.

“Boss,” Lin Fengchong suddenly appeared behind him, holding an iPad with the screen facing inwards, “We’ve extracted and enlarged the video footage of 194 cars passing by, captured by ZTE’s intelligent monitoring system, and then entered the driver photos into the department’s database for comparison. Now, the comparison results are in…”

His voice was strange, like a surgeon who had just stepped off the operating table about to announce a failed operation to a patient’s family.

Du Jianping and Liu Simiao exchanged a glance, then asked in unison, “Have you found the suspect?”

“Yes…” Lin Fengchong said, turning the iPad over—

“Ah?!” Du Jianping exclaimed in shock, and Liu Simiao gasped in surprise!

Although the acne on that broad face had turned into pits, and the tuft of mustache on his lip had been shaved off, the light emanating from the triangular eyes of the man gripping the steering wheel remained cold and cruel, even more vicious and terrifying, ten years later—

Yes, this man was none other than Zhou Liping, the suspect in the crime of the “Western Suburbs Serial Murders”!