Chapter 237

The wall was neatly covered with photos—besides the group photo, dozens more that Gu Changzheng recognized all too well: the crime scene photographs of the three murdered girls, including Xia Fei!

Clearly, this “hoodie” was not just ordinary perverted—he had clearly photographed every cruel, horrifying detail, and arranged the photos in the exact order of the girls’ deaths, each one lined up horizontally in sequence: eyes, chest, abdomen, genitals. At the bottom of each photo was a large, bold character: “KILL!”

Gu Changzheng’s flashlight continued downward—the three murdered girls below were Fang Shengnan, Lin Xiaoxue, and the last one was none other than Zhou Hui!

Everyone in the group photo appeared on the wall—except the youngest, Yu Jiajia.

Seeing the photos on the wall, Gu Changzheng had already anticipated more girls’ images below, but he never expected the last one to be Zhou Hui, the old director, instead of Yu Jiajia. Did this mean Yu Jiajia was not on his kill list—or was there another plan?

Gao Ye was stunned by the wall of photos. “Is Fang Shengnan the next to be killed?” he muttered, staring at the photo labeled “Fang Shengnan.”

Gu Changzheng’s right eyelid suddenly twitched—he felt a jolt in his chest and immediately pulled out his phone to call Officer Xiao Yang, who was secretly guarding Fang Shengnan. The phone rang for thirty seconds with no answer. Gu Changzheng’s heart sank. Under normal duty, the man would never ignore a call. The only explanation: something had happened.

But the “hoodie” had just been right in front of him and Gao Ye—could he possibly have a clone?

Indeed, five minutes later, Xiao Yang called back. The moment the ringtone sounded, Gu Changzheng answered, hearing a gasping voice: “Chief Gu… it’s… it’s happened…”

———

At 9:12 p.m., Room 1106 on the 11th floor of Moka Apartment, Forensic Expert Zheng was carefully examining a naked corpse. The outdoor area and corridor were cordoned off with police tape; every investigator present wore expressions of fury.

Fang Shengnan, host of Zizhen TV Station, wore a red dress—now ripped up to her chest. Her eyes had been gouged out, her abdomen slit open into a twisted cross, and her genitals severed. Yet on the pristine white wall of the apartment, a crooked line of blood letters read: “Two left! Hurry up!”

“Taunting!” Gao Ye’s eyes bulged in rage. “Too arrogant! Damn it—we almost caught him!” Then he paused, suddenly uneasy. That “hoodie”?...

Gu Changzheng stared silently at the bloodied words on the wall, his mind racing: The killer isn’t alone—he has an accomplice. But why deliberately reveal his lair to draw me there? Just to distract me while his partner kills Fang Shengnan?

No—that makes no sense. He’s not insane. What benefit is there in exposing his hideout? Is this deliberate provocation? Or a mockery of the police?

As he pondered, he walked over to Zheng. “Same method as before? Time of death?”

Zheng didn’t turn his head, but replied with certainty: “Yes. The abdominal incision, the blade—all identical. Definitely the same killer. No doubt. The body hasn’t stiffened yet—death occurred within the last thirty minutes.”

“Any signs of sexual assault?” Gu Changzheng pressed.

Zheng turned to him. “What are you getting at?”

They’d worked together too long. Zheng had already sensed the subtext.

Gu Changzheng said: “No sexual capability—I mean, if the perpetrator is physically impaired, could the marks left by using tools differ from those made by a fully capable assailant?”

Though masked, Zheng’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re suggesting the killer is disabled?!”

Gu Changzheng nodded. “It’s speculation—but likely correct.” He then recounted what he’d learned from Shang Qimin. Zheng knew Shang’s reputation—he had no reason to doubt his words.

Suddenly, Zheng wondered: Could the killer be leaving sexual assault marks to mislead the police?

Gu Changzheng replied: “Your hypothesis makes sense. We assumed the killer was a sexual deviant, hence the postmortem violations. But that possibility still stands—in sexual crime cases, there are documented instances of impotent offenders using tools to simulate assault to satisfy their urges. So we still can’t rule out sexual violation as one of the killer’s objectives.”

“I know,” Zheng said suddenly. “But have you considered the killer might be female? Then this behavior could easily be interpreted as deliberate misdirection.”

Gu Changzheng froze in place. If Zheng was right, his entire previous theory collapsed. Had his investigation into Zhao Xiaodong been useless all along?

As he drifted into confusion, Gao Ye appeared beside him, whispering: “Chief Gu! We found it—since 2000, Angel Orphanage has been buying insurance for every child in its care!” Gao Ye swallowed. “Not ordinary insurance—only accident coverage.”

“Oh?” Gu Changzheng snapped back to focus. “Did you get the insurance records?”

Gao Ye nodded. “Got them. Xiao Sun’s team already copied the digital files.”

———

Since 2000, Angel Orphanage had gradually purchased accident insurance for dozens of children. According to policy terms, coverage applied if a child died unexpectedly—by drowning, burns, scalds, traffic accidents, or non-negligent death during specific incidents...

The insured list included Xia Fei and five other girls—and to his surprise, Zhang Xiaodong’s name was also on it!

Gu Changzheng stared at the policy on the screen: the policyholder and beneficiary fields all bore the same name—Zhou Hui.

The insurance agent was also the same person: a man named Xia Mingde.

“Gao Ye!” At Gu Changzheng’s call, Gao Ye pushed the door open. “Chief Gu!”

Gu Changzheng pointed at the screen. “Find this Xia Mingde. Investigate his relationship with Zhou Hui. And pull the insurance claim records from when Zhang Xiaodong was burned.”

In the night rain, autumn drizzle fell endlessly. Standing before the office’s floor-to-ceiling window, Gu Changzheng let out a cold, hollow laugh—he felt he was already seeing the truth behind this chain of murders.