Memory Lost (美人为馅): Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Killing by Imitation Part 1

They look at each other in the eyes for a brief moment.  Jin Xi smiles first.

“How did you know?”

After going through the details with Han Chen, all the evidence based on criminal psychology is laid out in front of her right now and points to the killer.  But how is Han Chen able to know?

Han Chen leans on the table with his arms crossed while looking at her, “I’ve told you before, I only look at the evidence.  Even if Situ Yi matches the profile a hundred percent——” he pauses before continuing, “he matches no more than a profile.  We can’t conclude that he is the killer and cannot eliminate the possibility of other suspects.  And after the lie detector test, this possibility increased.”

Jin Xi blinks.

He is such a……What does he mean by “he matches no more than a profile”?

But then she realizes that no matter when and where, Han Chen is always rational.

“After last night’s case, I conducted my investigations following these two possibilities,” he says.

“Wait!” Jin Xi interrupts, “What did you ask Cold Face to investigate?” she recalls the two of them whispering in the hallway.

A hint of a smile flashes across Han Chen’s eyes, “Two things.  Number one, if the killer isn’t Situ Yi, he must be very familiar with the area around the mansion in order to carry out the crime last night.  I concluded before:  the killer either owns an isolated mansion or lives in a remote housing area.  And the farmhouses near the mountain area of the mansions qualify this criterion.”

Jin Xi gets it immediately, “Therefore you told Cold Face to check the list of residents of the nearby farmhouses.”

Han Chen nods and says, “The second thing is: regardless of whether or not Situ Yi is the killer, the victims were all connected to the Crystal Clubhouse.  We only looked at the list of members before, so I asked Cold Face to get a list of the employees, especially the part-timers.”  He turns his head to look at Jin Xi and then says nonchalantly, “Cold Face has already obtained the information.  In both cases, they all point to one person……”

“Shao Lun.”

“Shao Lun.”

Jin Xi says the name almost at the same time as him.

Han Chen glances at her with the corners of his mouth curving upward, and then puts his arm around her shoulders, “Therefore, Shao Lun is now the second main suspect.  I’ve already advised the local criminal investigation team to take action and take control over his home immediately.”

Jin Xi nods, “Very good.”

Han Chen adds, “In addition, Cold Face found one more thing——we spent quite a bit of time looking for him when we invited him to the station.  At the time, he said he changed his address.  But it’s clear now.  A few months ago, he sold the house that his parents left him.  The house was worth over a million.”

Jin Xi’s eyes glisten.  She looks up at him, “No wonder……”

Han Chen looks back at her and nods.

The woman’s face still has a few black marker marks on it, but they make her skin look even lighter and translucent.  Her clear eyes are staring at him; probably due to excitement, they’re glittering.

They’re in the middle of discussing the case, but as if he’s possessed, Han Chen lowers his head and kisses her lips lightly.

And then he moves away slowly.  Seeing that she’s a bit dumbstruck, he smiles.

“I’m done,” he then asks softly, “How did my wife figure it out?”

He’s really getting into the habit of calling her “wife” now.  She can’t believe a big man like him could also be this childish.  She darts her eyes at him, peels away his hand on her shoulder, gets up to walk to the whiteboard and picks up a marker.

She turns around again and smiles proudly, “Allow me to explain then.”

Han Chen smiles as well.  He taps his fingers lightly on the table.

Jin Xi’s smile fades.  She lifts up the marker and writes the first word: emotion.

“This is the biggest paradox to date,” she says, “If Situ Yi is the killer, the interrogation has already proven that he is a very impulsive person who gets angry easily with his emotions fluctuating a lot.   Four months ago after the police took him back to the station for questioning, it caused him to change the way he commits his crimes, provoking the police directly.  This time around, we interrogated him all night as a suspect, so it would have affected his emotions even more.  He would have been furious, angry, twisted, and impulsive.

Under these circumstances, he should have tortured the victim more mercilessly and employed even more techniques, so the wounds found on the body should have been deeper.

But they weren’t.  Xiao Yao stated just now that the wounds on the body were similar to the ones from before and as if they were done via a standardized method.  What does this tell us?  The criminal has a consistent process, which means that his emotions are stable.  The killer was very calm last night——this does not match with Situ Yi’s emotions and personality.”

“Mm, you’ve got a point,” Han Chen says.

Jin Xi fires back, “Not just a point!”

Han Chen smiles slightly, “Continue.”

Jin Xi circles the other paradoxes found from before, “afraid of it being troublesome”, “to avoid the hassle”, “buying in a batch”, “a more personal souvenir”……  She turns around and looks at Han Chen, “The problem with his emotions and these few paradoxes clearly point to another person’s profile.  And when two profiles appear in a serial case, there are three possibilities.”

Han Chen raises his eyebrows at her.

“One, there are two killers,” she smiles, “but this scenario doesn’t exist for this case.

It’s because if the crimes were committed in partnership, and even if there was a distinction between the main and the secondary killer, their characteristics and behavioral traits would have appeared in the process.  For example, one of them may like using a whip while the other likes undressing.  Or one might have been responsible for torturing and the other was responsible for kidnapping the victim and disposing of the body.

But all throughout this particular case, it showed a very standard killer with the ‘ability to organize.’  It’s as if they were completed by one person.  Only some of the fine details show loopholes and contradictions.  Isn’t that strange?

At the same time, it can’t be someone who’s bipolar.  It’s because if Situ Yi was bipolar, the case would have progressed like there were two criminals working in partnership.

Only the third possibility remains:  one of the profiles is fake.  It’s a disguise from the real killer, who is trying to deceive us.  The other profile is what’s real.  And just like what you said——the details are where the truth lies.”

They look at each other quietly.  Han Chen doesn’t say a word.  He simply stares at her with his dark brown eyes.  She, on the other hand, leans on the whiteboard and stands her arms crossed just like him.  Her eyes gleam:

“I’ve always had the feeling that the case was going too smoothly.  To borrow Professor Bo Jin Yan’s words: this case is ‘so typical that it’s like a textbook.’  The traces of evidence left at the scenes: abducting the victims with a luxury car, long periods of torture, nurse’s uniform complex, red wine and steak, the conflict with the police four months ago……these all help us draw the outline of the killer’s profile of having the ‘ability to organize.’  And every one of them points to Situ Yi clearly.

Everything I’ve said in the above seems bizarre, but it’s the only logical explanation right now——

This isn’t a typical case with an organized killer profile.  This is a killing case with a profile imitator.  The killer has learned and imitated what a killer with the ability to organize would be like from the textbook, and then he combined it with Situ Yi’s profile.  He then executes the acts of killing and frames Situ Yi for it.

And the person who can do all of this can only be Shao Lun.”

Her voice grows louder and stronger as she speaks.  Seeing Han Chen remaining quiet, she stands up straight and as if it’s out of habit, she spins the marker in her hand and walks up and down on the stage.  She says while walking:

“Number one, he has a motive.

Number two, he knows Situ Yi’s true colors.

Number three, he and his girlfriend were both exceptional undergraduate students in sciences, possessing the capability to learn.

Number four, you mentioned just now that he lurked inside of the clubhouse, so he could easily find out what Situ Yi likes.  For example, he likes nurse’s uniform and likes drinking red wine.  I’m certain that he must have stalked Situ Yi a number of times.

Number five, he sold his house.  This explains why he was able to attract and kidnap those white-collar women.  Although he’s not a graceful second generation from a wealthy family, he drives a nice car and is a gentleman, so he attracts women the same way.  Furthermore, he could lie and say that he’s a professor or a second generation young master from a wealthy family.

Number six, he doesn’t trust the police.

Number seven, the way he spoke and his body language also showed his hatred towards Situ Yi’s social circle and especially women.  He even paraphrased the words that the white collar employees used to make fun of him.  It goes to show how fresh it remained in his memory.  It’s possible that his mental state has already become twisted.  Therefore……”

She pauses her footsteps.  Her eyes turn cold, “The above is Shao Lun’s profile.  The profile within the profile.  He’s too smart and also too prejudice.  He directed and acted out all this himself!”