Chapter 238: The Web of Deception

At 12:36 a.m., it had been four hours since he left the Moka Apartment.

This time, he was truly out of his mind—he’d killed Fang Shengnan, then impulsively left that provocative message on the wall!

But it made him feel even more exhilarated! Crouched in this dark little room, he replayed the scene in his mind over and over, letting out a low chuckle. Another arrogant, heartless bastard! Damn it!

———

The next day, 8:00 a.m. The criminal investigation team’s case analysis room was packed with officers. Gu Changzheng stood at the front; on the large whiteboard behind him were photos and names of those involved. Today, another photo had been added—Xia Mingde.

According to the investigation, Xia Mingde had worked for Mintai Insurance for only six months, solely handling the case of the Angel Orphanage. The company’s file on him contained only basic information—age, education—and his registered hometown matched that of the orphanage’s former director, Zhou Hui: both were from Longxi.

That was suspicious. Gu Changzheng recalled Zhou Hui’s mysterious disappearance that night—she had still not been found. Now it seemed likely she had staged it herself. Once a victim, she was now a suspect.

As for Xia Mingde, after completing the Angel Orphanage’s insurance business, he vanished from the company and has not been seen since—another red flag. He became a key focus of Gu Changzheng’s investigation.

What further convinced Gu Changzheng of their guilt was the insurance claims records: since the policy took effect in 2000, the Angel Orphanage had filed multiple accidental injury claims. Though mostly minor falls and bruises, combined with Zhang Xiaodong’s burns, the company had paid out over 200,000 yuan—a significant sum in early 2000s mainland China.

But after Zhang Xiaodong’s incident, the orphanage went quiet—no more accidents occurred. The insurance company’s suspicions faded due to the lack of further claims. Seven years passed. Then, this major criminal case erupted—with four victims being former orphans of the Angel Orphanage, all insured for accidental death by Zhou Hui.

“Zhou Hui?” Gu Changzheng carefully recalled the night Luo Fei was attacked. Though a pool of blood remained on the rocking chair she had sat in, no one had ever seen her injured or killed. Afterward, neither her nor her body was ever found. A living person simply vanished.

Gu Changzheng shook his head—he’d fixated on the serial killer and ignored the absurdity of Zhou Hui’s disappearance.

Now, he even suspected Zhou Hui herself had killed those girls, and that the attack on Luo Fei, the staged murder, the destruction of Zhang Xiaodong’s file—all were meant to conceal the truth: she was the killer.

To find clues to Zhou Hui’s “disappearance,” he’d have to return to the Angel Orphanage.

He returned to the Gothic building, now sealed off by police. He went to the spot where Zhou Hui had lain—the rocking chair remained, the blood long dried, leaving only a dark brown stain.

He stared at the chair, already imagining every possible way she could have vanished from it.

That night, Luo Fei went downstairs first. By the time he reached the bottom, Zhou Hui was already gone from the chair. The group had spent nearly ten minutes drawn upstairs by the eerie laughter, then searching for its source. Plenty of time for her to arrange everything and leave.

But the group had assumed Zhou Hui was attacked—or killed—by the “hoodie,” then hidden away, based on the blood on the chair and the hoodie that had stabbed Luo Fei.

Now that Zhou Hui was a suspect, she had ample time after they left to set up the false trail and escape. To make it more convincing—and to divert suspicion toward Zhang Xiaodong—she arranged someone to stage a file theft.

But if she wanted to destroy those files, why not just burn them? Clean and simple.

“Heh!” Gu Changzheng let out a bitter laugh. He realized he’d constrained his own thinking—his assumptions hadn’t been bold enough.

The second-floor room, plastered with photos of the victims, had been thoroughly searched by Gu Changzheng’s team. It was confirmed as the killer’s temporary hideout. Several spare scalpels were found there—identical to those used in the murders. There was an unobtrusive back staircase. That night, after Gao Ye was ambushed, the killer escaped through it.

———

Searching for Zhou Hui and Xia Mingde proved extremely difficult. Zhou Hui was an old spinster who had never married. Xia Mingde vanished after leaving the insurance company—perhaps working some anonymous job in some city. But finding him now was nearly impossible.

Another week passed. The “hoodie” never reappeared. The case made no progress. Just as Gu Changzheng was growing impatient, a new discovery emerged at the orphanage.

———

The car hadn’t even stopped before Gu Changzheng flung open the door and jumped out. The remains had been found behind the kitchen, in a small grove of trees. The discovery was pure accident: the orphanage was sealed due to the serial killings, but the grove and surrounding woods were not. Years ago, the forest had been leased to a private owner. That day, while cutting trees, he noticed unusually lush grass in one patch. With experience in agriculture and forestry, he suspected buried animal remains. But when he dug, the bones revealed a human skeleton.

Identifying a fully skeletonized corpse was extremely difficult. No personal items were found at the burial site, making identification even harder. Forensic expert Zheng had completed the preliminary scene survey, documented everything, and was preparing to collect the bones for further analysis.

At that moment, Gu Changzheng arrived on site. Seeing Zheng busy, he asked directly: “Zheng, any findings?”

Zheng glanced at him. “Based on pelvic and hip bone features, the victim was male, approximately 25 years old at death, height between 170 and 175 centimeters. The time of death? That needs further determination.”

“Cause of death?”

“This…” Zheng hesitated suddenly.