Memory Lost (美人为馅): Chapter 114

Chapter 114: Like Me This Much

The night is dark and quiet.

But the Black Shield Team’s office is fully lit.

A map of City Lan is hanging on the wall.  Han Chen is fiddling with a pen in his hand and casually tapping the table with it.  And then he circles three spots on the map.

The other four are sitting.  Su Mian is a bit lost watching him so she turns her head and asks Xiao Zhuan, “What are those places that he circled?”

“I knew you wouldn’t recognize them.  These are the home addresses of the three victims,” a low and laid back voice says.

Han Chen’s ears sure are sharp.  He has his back towards them as he lifts his hand and draws a big circle that encompasses the three previous circles.  He then tosses the pen away, turns around and looks at them.

Su Mian’s mouth twitches.  Why must he embarrass her in front of their buddies?

Isn’t she his……woman whom he cherishes with all his heart?

Han Chen stuffs one hand into his pocket and says, “Search the warehouses and factories in this area.  There should be a large van parked in the front. It should be their old hiding place.”

The group is dumbstruck.

Among them besides Han Chen, Cold Face is a top expert in investigating and he is also a little stunned.  After a brief moment, he smiles and nods, “I understand.”

Their minds connect with each other while Chatterbox and Xiao Zhuan are still in a haze.  Su Mian is also confused. The three of them look at each other.

Han Chen sweeps his eyes across them, sits down and says in an unhurried manner, “Following Locard’s exchange principle——the perpetrator of a crime will bring something into the crime scene and leave with something from it.  The more complicated and fancier the crime is, the more evidence will be left behind. And these three cases are just like what Su Mian said, they’re all very fancy.”

Su Mian and the others nod.  Every criminal investigator knows this principle.  It’s just that all golden rules are easy to learn but hard to execute.  So, therefore, they can all be regarded as nonsense. Xiao Zhuan frowns his eyebrows and asks, “But they’ve destroyed all the surveillance cameras in the key areas.  There are also no witnesses. We also haven’t found any fingerprints or traces of evidence at the crime scenes.”

Han Chen smiles faintly, “What they have wiped away are just the traces within our view.  What about the areas that are not in our view?”

Everybody is a bit stunned.  Han Chen taps his finger on the armrest and continues, “It’s a very simple relationship to the logic.  Last night, L appeared at A’s crime scene.  A appeared at R’s crime scene.”

Su Mian nods.  They’ve already concluded yesterday: at A’s explosion scene, the clown’s makeup was done by L.  The marking on the ground was also written by L.  And the device at R’s mermaid scene was installed by A.

“As for L’s wax figure, there were no scratches or bumps.  It was in perfect condition when it was discovered.  No fingerprint was left on the skin either,” Han Chen says, “If it was moved by one person, it would have been very hard to do that.  Therefore, we can believe that L had a helping hand.  This means that last night, these three people did not commit the crimes by themselves.  They were working together.”

He lifts his eyes and looks at Su Mian as if he’s thinking about something.

Su Mian is a bit surprised.  Afterall, her ears have heard him speak of traditional investigation methods and stuff like logical paradoxes monotonously.  She seems to understand it now!

“Just like Shao Lun’s case!” she picks up from where he leaves off, “A’s Liu Yao Hua was still living at the time, so it would have been easier to hide him.  But as for the other two victims, after they died, their bodies would stiffen very soon.  When they were discovered, they were both in a standing position and did not have any scratches or blemishes.  Therefore, a regular car wouldn’t have been able to carry them. It had to have been a large-sized van in order to carry the three killers as well as the three victims.”

Xiao Zhuan and Chatterbox let out a strong “Oh.”  Han Chen glances at her and nods, “This van was traveling between these points all throughout last night.  It can only be them to have been so busy in the middle of the night. They got rid of the cameras at the crime scenes and where the victims first disappeared, but it’s impossible for them to get rid of all of the cameras on the road.  Therefore, we’ll be able to spot them easily.

Everybody smiles as their spirits become high.  A case that seems complicated and terrifying is actually this easy to find such important evidence after Han Chen analyzes it by pulling out the details and peeling away the outer layers.  Su Mian is excited and impressed at the same time. Staring at Han Chen’s handsome yet calm side profile, she thinks to herself: his logical analysis sure is good stuff. No matter how much a pain the case may be, his mind stays clear and sharp.

But she hears Han Chen says, “Putting the explosion case aside, creating a wax figure and extracting the heart are both complicated processes.  Therefore, they must have needed a place to do all of this. This place has to be isolated and cannot be in an apartment where they would have needed to move the dead bodies up and down.  And places within the city that match these criteria are either mansions, warehouses, or factories. Driving a large van in and out of a mansion area in the middle of the night would have attracted others’ attention.  Therefore, it should be either a warehouse or a factory. These are the most suitable disguises.”

Chatterbox thinks for a second before asking, “But the van is so big.  They could have completed everything inside and don’t need to go back to their hiding place.”  Xiao Zhuan nods in support.

Han Chen smiles but turns to look at Su Mian, “Do you think it’s possible?”

Su Mian blinks.

Of course, it’s not possible.

But……since Han Chen is asking, this means that he does have some interest in criminal psychology.

He’s actually starting to put her stuff into his inferences now.

“Not possible,” she answers, “A probably doesn’t care, but you want L to be cramped inside the car with them and create his delicate wax figure like that?  You want R cramped inside the car with them while he rapes and murders the girl and then extract her heart?  There’s no way. That’s too inelegant and ruins the artistic side of it. It would make them feel too much like Desperado.  How would they still have the appetite to do all these things then? Therefore, they need a suitable place that provides them with a comfortable environment.”

Chatterbox and Xiao Zhuan both say, “……Oh.”

“But why must it be in this area?” Xiao Zhuan asks.  Everybody looks up and stares at the circle on the map drawn by Han Chen.

Han Chen raises his head as well and answers, “Three reasons.

Number one, no matter how merciless they may be, they are human.  Just like what Su Mian said. As long as they’re humans, they will have a habit of committing their crimes at a place where they’re comfortable with.

Number two, the three victims are ordinary people but they were chosen.  So far, we have not found similarities to T where they have searched for their targets via the web.  Then how did they find these victims? I believe that these three victims must have been living in an environment that is familiar to the criminals.

The third reason is very simple.  They were running around the whole night, so if the crime scenes are too far away from their hiding place——they wouldn’t be able to make it in time.”

_____

3 am in the morning.

Due to Han Chen’s inferences, the atmosphere in the office seems to have livened up.  Su Mian and Han Chen join the others in investigating. The five of them sit in front of the computer without a word and are combing through all of the surveillance videos related to last night.

“Found it!” Xiao Zhuan shouts as he stands up with a face full of excitement.

Everybody looks toward his computer monitor.

It’s a road that’s not too far away from the oceanarium.  There are rarely any cars driving through it in the middle of the night.  A large truck that has been spray painted in yellow with the words “XX Logistics” on it speeds through.  Xiao Zhuan fast forwards. As expected, half an hour later, this truck appears on the road again in the opposite direction.

“Not only here.  I spotted this truck on the main roads to the square and the pathway entrance to the commercial area!” Xiao Zhuan says anxiously as he opens up the various videos for everybody to see.

Everybody’s face is grinning.  Han Chen pats Xiao Zhuan on the shoulder, “Good job.”  Su Mian nudges his arm as well to express her support.

Xiao Zhuan rubs his head and smiles, “I’m not great at making inferences so I can only rely on my eyes!”

“Xiao Bai, take a look at the driver.  Could it be A?” Chatterbox points at the video.

Su Mian doesn’t respond right away.  She bends down to take a closer look.  It’s because the videos on the roads are a little blurry.  They can only see a man in the driver’s seat. He’s wearing a baseball cap and a mask, so they cannot make out his face clearly.  They can only make out his figure and see that he has one hand on the steering wheel while his other is resting on the door frame looking rather laid back.  And he is wearing white gloves on his two long and slender hands.

“It looks a lot like him,” she says.

“Track down the truck immediately.  Find the location of the warehouse and let’s go,” Han Chen says.

_____

5 am in the morning.

The Land Rover leads two other police vehicles as they speed through the foggy road.

They haven’t slept at all, so Su Mian is feeling a bit tired.  But her spirit is high. She has one arm on the door frame as she stares straight at the city covered in the fog.

Han Chen is focused on driving.

They’ve found the warehouse.  It is really within the area that Han Chen circled.  The truck that they saw is parked outside of the warehouse.  The armed police force quickly surrounds the warehouse. The Black Shield Team is rushing over to take command.

The sky still isn’t fully lit yet, so there aren’t a lot of people out on the streets.  As the Land Rover drives by on the expressway, Su Mian sees two apartment buildings with sparsely lit windows.  Someone is exercising on the balcony, someone is brushing their teeth, and someone is going down the building.

She went online and read about the news yesterday.  Whether it was the wax figure case or the others, it did not capture a lot of attention.  Only witnesses made new posts online. Due to Han Chen demanding to end the TV broadcast regarding the mermaid case, it did not make a big impact.  Only the explosion case has been on headlines all over the web in City Lan. Although it hasn’t caused a huge panic, there are a lot of discussions and many people are frightened.  Some people are guessing that it’s a case related to the underworld. Others believe that the deceased was a cult member. In any case, any mention of the word, “clown,” is already enough to scare a lot of people.

“They are affecting this city,” Su Mian turns to look at Han Chen, “They are showing off their skills and are casting their shadows onto this city as the seven-member organization.”

Han Chen doesn’t say anything.  Under the dim sky, the standing collar of his black jacket blocks his chin making his face seems even more pale and indifferent.

Su Mian suddenly recalls the image of him smoking last night.

It’s been a long time since she’s seen him like this.

Why did he suddenly want to smoke?

Is it because this case is related to him and her so he feels pressured?

But he had only let himself go for a short moment.  After one cigarette, he was back to his usual rational and determined self.

Su Mian keeps quiet for a while until his car stops at a red light.  She leans over, pulls on his collar and kisses him.

Her sudden kiss causes Han Chen to look down at her immediately.  He grabs her waist at the same time and deepens the kiss.

After a brief while, they end the kiss.  She stares at him and says softly, “Han Chen, why do I like you so much?”

Han Chen is a bit stunned.  He accelerates the car looking straight ahead, but a hint of a smile flashes across his eyes.

“You should like me this much.”

I even want to hold out my heart in front of you, so you should like me this much.