Memory Lost

At the provincial public security bureau, besides the main office building, there are also an archives building, forensic building, criminal research building and other small buildings. The trees create canopies everywhere; tidy and solemn. 𝒇𝔯e𝚎𝘄𝑒𝑏𝙣𝑜𝚟𝗲𝑙.c𝘰𝚖

And at a corner about a couple hundred of meters away from the main building, there is a two-story white building. From the outside, it’s simple and ordinary looking. It’s usually used as a storage.

Today, this small building has been cleaned up, and the sign “Black Shield Team” is officially put up. It is now their temporary secret office.

Afternoon.

Su Mian is carrying a small pile of books and walking alongside Han Chen on the walkway. He is carrying a big box stuffed with her office supplies.

Them walking like this feels as if they’ve returned to their school days. Su Mian turns her head to the side to look at him. His expression is relaxed and his black pupils are also looking at her calmly.

Su Mian lifts her eyes and looks at the small building not far away. Chatterbox and Xiao Zhuan are standing at the front entrance and are carrying things inside. She lets out a soft “Hmph!” and says, “Han Chen, you’re quite cunning, aren’t you? When did Xin Jia say that ‘they’re in the South’? Where did you get that fingerprint?”

Han Chen slows down his pace. He switches to hold the box with one hand, unzips his jacket, unbuttons the top of his shirt and says, “Should I be a stupid and reckless person and say everything that I know? You think that I would be able to catch the seven-member organization like that?”

Su Mian lets out a laugh,

“Hehheh.” She takes a look around quickly and then says in a low voice, “But that’s a great trick. Everything else that Xin Jia said was true: she was a serial killer, she used poison, and there are seven others. Only the part about them being in the ‘South’ was fake. Having one fake tip among these many other real tips, it’s going to be hard to distinguish what’s real and what’s not. You even asked several criminal investigators to look up on non-local individuals. After hearing all of this, that person will most likely believe all of this and think that Xin Jia didn’t expose him before she died and he’ll let his guard down.”

Han Chen smiles without commenting.

Su Mian continues, “The same goes for the fingerprint. The criminal psychology profile that you’re asking me to complete is real; You and Cold Face searching the area is also real; Xu Si Bai reviewing the autopsy reports is real. But only the fingerprint that has been given to Chatterbox and Xiao Zhuan is fake. Although the seven-member organization may be smart and careful, based on the records, the bloodshed battle was chaotic, so it’s not impossible that they had left half a fingerprint behind. This increases the believability of the fingerprint. It’s just that——” she stares directly at him, “the person that you’re referring to, will he really take the bait? Would he take a risk and try to steal the fingerprint?”

“He’s definitely half doubting everything right now, so he won’t act impulsively,” he answers, “Therefore, we have to continue to mislead what he sees and hears until he believes everything and takes action. And at that time, it will be a turkey shoot.”

_____ 𝘧r𝘦𝗲w𝘦𝚋𝐧o𝘷𝘦𝙡.co𝑚

The Black Shield Team’s temporary office.

The first

first floor is actually a spacious lounge with cement floor and mottled walls; a little empty. But it’s wide and comfortable. The second floor has a few offices, but they haven’t been cleaned up yet.

Su Mian and Xu Nan Bai are responsible for criminal psychology. They take up a corner of the lounge, placing two desks and a whiteboard in the area. Han Chen and Cold Face, Chatterbox and Xiao Zhuan, Xu Si Bai and the few others pick their spots and get busy with themselves.

Su Mian is staring at her computer reading the document. Xu Nan Bai, who’s across from her, also seems to be immersed in his computer. They then hear Zhou Xiao Zhuan speak, “Everyone! What we read yesterday was a condensed summary of the case. I’ve already compiled the detailed information of the case today and categorized them: police reports, victims’ information, the murderers’ methods of killing, police information, after reports……I’ve put them all on our intraweb and locked them with a password so that it would be convenient for everybody to read. Additionally, based on Leader Han’s thoughts, I’ve also created a working site for each team. You can upload your latest works. Stuff like Xiao Bai’s criminal psychology profiles, Forensic Investigator Xu’s review of the autopsy reports, and Chatterbox’s analysis report of the fingerprint, they can all be uploaded and shared.”

Everybody nods. The works of each team need to be shared. Having a digital platform for it will undoubtedly increase the team’s efficiency.

Su Mian opens the intraweb. She does indeed see all of the information separated into categories. She opens the information on the victims and the murderers’ methods of killing and starts reading.

_____

Back then, besides the innocent victims who sacrificed their lives during the

during the gunfight between the police and the criminals, the other unique single murder cases are also not her main focus area. Therefore, other than T, who is a serial sniper, and Xin Jia, who makes poison behind the scenes, there are three other serial killers within these case documents. She can’t tell who the other two are for now.

Su Mian puts the first category, “Serial explosion cases information,” into a folder and starts reading page by page.

The first case:

Male victim, 48 years-old, vice president of a certain listed company. On the day that he was abducted, the safe in the house was unlocked and an unknown amount of the belongings in it were stolen; over ten million was transferred to overseas from his bank account. The victim’s body was later found in a warehouse in the suburbs——more precisely, his body pieces were found because he was already separated into pieces from an explosion.

Su Mian’s hand holding the mouse stutters.

Explosion. They were homemade explosives and it was intricately executed. This clearly shows that within the seven-member organization, a highly skilled expert in explosives exists. And the explosion that she and Han Chen experienced back then could have been caused by this person.

The second case’s victim is a bit similar to the first one. He was a collector. After the incident, all of his precious collection items at home were stolen. And his death was even more merciless. Not only was he shred into pieces from an explosion, he was put in the middle of a busy street with his mouth and nose sealed with tape. Surrounded by a crowd of people and no one dared to help. When the police arrived, he was already left in a pile.

The third, fourth, /> The third, fourth, and fifth cases……Su Mian raises her eyebrow slightly; they’re rather interesting. It turns out that although the later victims were also wealthy people, there were a couple of white collars and/or civilians of poor familiars. Using the same kind of explosives, some were tossed into the busy streets, some were left on the rooftop of a skyscraper, and some were even brought inside a schoolyard. They exploded in many different ways; some were snapped in the waist area, some were blown into five or eight pieces, and some were reduced to pulp……

After reading the document, Su Mian thinks deeply for a moment before continuing. At the same time, Xu Nan Bai stands up, places both hands on the desk and smiles at her, “How are things going, my Junior (female) Classmate? Have you found anything?”

Su Mian lets go of the mouse, leans back, stretches out her arms and answers, “Just finished reading through the documents on the explosion cases. What about you, Senior?”

“About the same. I also read a few,” he walks around the desk, stands in front of her and crosses his arms looking at her, “Should we discuss over them? Let me hear what you have in mind.”

Su Mian nods, stands up and picks up a whiteboard marker, “Senior, I’ll take the first stab at it then. Please give me your guidance. I don’t call you Senior for nothing.”

Xu Nan Bai grins. He appears especially elegant in the afternoon sunlight. He raises his hand to push his glasses up a bit, “You sure have a sweet mouth.”

“This is a serial killer with a very distinct personality,” Su Mian stands in front of the whiteboard and says with her arms crossed, “First, his most dominant trait is——he behaves like a child.”