Chapter 298: Chapter 296: The Same Killer or Two

Su Miaoyi and Lu Zhishen looked at the photos.

Because the burial pits were spaced three to four meters apart, a single photo couldn’t capture them all.

Chu Xingrou arranged the photos in order of the pits’ locations, then used her finger to connect the positions.

It formed a "3."

A jagged "3" with sharp corners instead of smooth curves.

The three of them were silent.

"All these clues point to a single serial killer," Lu Zhishen said. "We can’t rule out the possibility of a copycat, but there wouldn’t be this many. The cases must be connected."

Su Miaoyi compared the numbers on the photos marked "1," "2," and "4."

"This ’1’ is written so..." Lu Zhishen started. He wanted to call it sloppy, but it was just a single vertical stroke. ’How sloppy can one line be?’ And yet, that was the exact word he wanted to use to describe it.

The stroke was written in blood and wasn’t very smooth.

If you weren’t looking carefully, you would miss it entirely.

The "2" was written on the well with something resembling chalk.

Since the well’s surface wasn’t smooth, the "2" was also fragmented.

Three years ago, an analysis was done to determine if these two numbers were written by the same person.

The results came back with a fifty percent probability that they were written by the same person.

The "3" appeared in this formation, so it couldn’t be used for a handwriting comparison.

As for the "4," it was on a tree trunk, and similarly fragmented.

The results of that comparison had just come in, and they were conclusive: the "4" was not written by the same person who wrote the "1" and "2."

"Actually, writing with your left hand looks completely different from writing with your right," Chu Xingrou said.

"What if two people are working together?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"The evidence at Wan Shuang’s crime scene ruled out the possibility of two perpetrators," Lu Zhishen said.

"No," Su Miaoyi said. "Let’s assume it is a series of murders, but that these four cases were carried out by two people. For example... one person did the first two, and another person did the third and fourth. They know each other, but they didn’t commit any of the crimes together at the same time."

"But... why would they do that?" Lu Zhishen countered. "If there were two of them, wouldn’t it save time and effort to work on the same case at the same time? One could even be a lookout. Take Wan Shuang’s case, for instance. It would be much easier for two people to drag the body than for one. And two people could cover the tracks faster than one. The scene was wiped clean anyway, so for them, cleaning up after one person or two wouldn’t make much of a difference."

"That’s true." Su Miaoyi thought he had a point.

’If there were two of them, why would they work separately instead of together?’

"What about a murder-for-hire?" Chu Xingrou suggested. "Like... let’s use Mia as an example. Someone places an order with her, and after she accepts, she has one of her subordinates kill one or two of the victims, then sends another subordinate to kill the rest. Of course, I’m just using her as an example. The mastermind probably doesn’t have an organization on Mia’s scale."

"That makes sense," Su Miaoyi said.

Lu Zhishen also nodded in agreement.

"Alright, based on our current analysis, let’s assume all four cases were committed by the same person, or by two people who know each other," Su Miaoyi began, analyzing the situation. "All four cases are related to sin and punishment."

She picked up the photos of the victims.

"Gao Hui had her tongue cut out and her mouth sewn shut. We can peg her sin to spreading rumors, that whole ’disaster comes from an unguarded mouth’ concept," Su Miaoyi said, putting down Gao Hui’s photo.

"Tian Dajiang. We’ll classify his sin as rape." Su Miaoyi put down his photo.

"Wan Shuang had her tongue cut out, so we’ll also classify her sin as spreading rumors and slander."

Only Wu An’s photo remained in her hand. "What about him? What was his sin?"

"We haven’t found anything," Lu Zhishen said. "The villagers’ assessment of Wu An is... he didn’t like to talk, didn’t like to socialize, and preferred to be alone. There are a few long benches by the village well. During the farming off-season, a lot of people like to sit there and chat. If Wu An passed by and someone greeted him, sometimes he’d say a few words, and other times he’d just pretend he didn’t hear and walk right on by."

"I also heard one of the older women say that one time Wu An was resting on a bench by the well. When other people showed up, he got up and left, not wanting to be around anyone," Chu Xingrou said. "I did a little digging... I think I found a possible reason for why he was so withdrawn."

Su Miaoyi looked at her. "Because of his leg?"

She remembered the skeleton had issues with its left clavicle and spine.

Chu Xingrou nodded. "Because he’s had a bad leg since he was a child, many villagers gave him the nickname ’Uncle Wu.’ A lot of people also liked to make fun of him. The jokesters probably thought it was harmless teasing, but the one being teased would definitely take it to heart and feel awful. Living under that kind of pressure his whole life... if it were me, I wouldn’t talk to any of them either."

"If that were me, I would’ve left this place long ago," Lu Zhishen said.

Su Miaoyi looked at him.

"That’s why I left Jiangcheng for Jinghai," Lu Zhishen said.

After his parents left, he had also been ostracized and heard his share of nasty comments.

That was why he hadn’t been keen on staying in Jiangcheng.

Su Miaoyi watched him for a couple of seconds before saying, "If it were me, I’d beat up anyone who said anything. I’d keep beating them until they didn’t dare to speak again, until I silenced those voices for good."

Lu Zhishen made a fist-and-palm salute. "Spoken like a true eagle soaring through the heavens."

Su Miaoyi returned the salute.

Wanting to fit in, Chu Xingrou made one too.

The three of them exchanged a look, and each could see the silent exasperation in the others’ eyes.

"It’s the middle of the night. If anyone saw us, they’d think the three of us from Jinghai have lost our minds," Lu Zhishen said.

The three of them shared a small laugh.

"The villagers said Wu An was simple, honest, and quiet. A person like that isn’t likely to make enemies, or at least, they never heard of any. Wu An’s two younger sisters also said he was an honest man who wouldn’t offend anyone, let alone do anything wrong," Lu Zhishen said.

"It’s the quiet ones who are the most ruthless when pushed to their limit," Chu Xingrou said.

The three fell silent again for a moment. Then, Su Miaoyi said, "Actually, I just thought of something."

"What is it?"

"Xingrou showed the villagers photos of Lu Xian and Mia’s people, and they all said they’d never seen them," Su Miaoyi said, tapping her temple with her forefinger. "What if we show Mia and her people photos of the victims?"

Confused expressions appeared on the faces of both Chu Xingrou and Lu Zhishen.

"Blood-sealing Throat and cyanide are both poisons commonly used by assassins. We’re investigating Lu Xian’s group in this village because we suspect they’re connected to these cases. If there is a connection, but people like Lu Xian and Mia have never been here and the villagers have never seen them, then is it possible one of them has seen a photo of the victims?" Su Miaoyi reasoned. "After all, the Blood-sealing Throat plant isn’t native to this area, and the conditions aren’t right for it to grow. Cyanide is also very difficult for an ordinary person to get their hands on, and manufacturing it... would require a rather large quantity of certain materials. Both of these poisons have to come from somewhere."

"The only source for Blood-sealing Throat that we know of right now is Mia. If the killer is connected to her organization, wouldn’t her assassins know things about one another?"

...

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