Chapter 160

"As if the killer knew we were investigating similar places and deliberately chose to abandon Lin Suzhen's corpse here to provoke us." Li Jianjun said, his hand gripping the armrest of the rattan chair, unable to let go to this day.

"I have seen that among the five deceased in Dongji Town, Lin Suzhen's file is the thickest." Qi Fei said.

"Of course." Li Jianjun said immediately, "I think you have already read Lin Suzhen's autopsy report and should know that Lin Suzhen is different from the other deceased. She had already suffered from severe malnutrition before she died, and the time of death was one month after she went missing. This means that there is more trace evidence on her. At that time, we took her as an important breakthrough point for the 'Mirror Demon Case', and indeed we found something."

"I know..." Qi Fei had something in his words.

Li Jianjun smiled bitterly: "It seems that you have indeed read the file carefully. Let's put it this way, Lin Suzhen should have been an important starting point in this case, but unexpectedly, she became the biggest doubt in our entire case."

"Hmm?" A trace of curiosity flashed in Zhong Kui's eyes, looking at Qi Fei.

Qi Fei said: "The forensic doctor found a kind of pine wood chips in Lin Suzhen's fingernails. After carbon-14 determination, the tree age is about 80 years, and abnormal content of deep-sea diatoms was detected in the silt on the soles of her shoes..."

Speaking of this, Li Jianjun took over Qi Fei's words: "In order to find the first scene of the crime, we compared various algae found on the beach in Dongji Town with this kind of algae, but did not get satisfactory results. Later, Ye Ming went to ask experts from the Ocean Research Institute, and the result told him that this kind of diatom usually inhabits deep-sea trenches below 200 meters and cannot appear in shallow seas.

You all know that Dongji Town is a new city built by reclaiming land from the sea. At that time, the town had only been built for thirty years, and there was no pine wood nearby. A kind of wood that would not appear in the town and algae that could not appear in shallow seas made the investigation more difficult. On October 13, Zhou Xiaomei's corpse was found, and on November 12, Wu Meiling, the last victim in Dongji Town, appeared at the Yuxing Island pier. Everyone was processed as you are familiar with, digging eyes, binding, hanging mirrors.

This coastal town that was calm before seemed to have suffered a curse, and those desperate relatives, old Ye and I bore too much expectation and pressure."

"You just said that Ye Ming later became absent-minded in investigating the case. Do you remember when it started?" Zhong Kui asked.

Li Jianjun took a deep breath and stared at the photo on the wall: "When..." He recalled, "At the beginning, I didn't pay special attention to Ye Ming's changes, until later he went missing on New Year's Eve. I repeatedly recalled, if there must be a node, it should be after Wu Meiling's corpse was found, Ye Ming began to disappear frequently, not coming to the unit and not at home..."

"Judging from the situation of Ye Ming's victimization, he should have found key clues related to the killer at that time. You are his partner, why didn't he tell you?" Zhong Kui looked at Li Jianjun with a trace of suspicion.

Li Jianjun did not have any intention of defending himself, but was immersed in his own doubts: "Lao Ye and I, back then, could be considered the golden partners in the bureau. There has never been a case where old Ye was so secretive and reserved to me.

I remember, because the case hit a dead end and there were no new clues, I suggested going back to Dongji Town to see if there were any new discoveries. Lao Ye suddenly lost his temper and roared at me, saying that the killer was in Nancheng, not on Dongji Island. I only thought he was in a bad mood because of too much pressure at the time. It seems..." He sighed heavily, "It was my carelessness. The killer was not only in Nancheng, but also old Ye he..."

"When was this?" Qi Fei asked immediately.

"December 31, 1983. I remember very clearly, because the next day was New Year's Day. Xiao Zheng also complained to me a few times, saying that old Ye was not in the mood for the New Year because of the 'Mirror Demon Case', and the house was a mess.

After old Ye went missing, we went to old Ye's house to investigate. We found a large amount of information related to the ocean in his house, many of which were borrowed from the Nancheng Ocean Research Institute. Only then did I know that when he disappeared alone, he often went to the Ocean Research Institute.

I found the researcher he had looked for and asked him what old Ye was doing. The researcher said that he often came to ask about tides and ocean currents, because except for Lin Suzhen who was found in the air-raid shelter, the other people were thrown into the sea and washed to the shore.

I think old Ye wanted to find the exact location of corpse abandonment through the analysis of ocean currents."

"If it was just this, why could he be so sure that the killer had moved from Dongji Town to Nancheng city?" Zhong Kui raised a different opinion sharply. The sun set in the west outside the window, and the golden sunset leaked into the window, like gold powder sprinkled into her light-colored eyes. "What is worth playing is that the discovery of Nancheng Old Church proves that his reasoning is correct."

Li Jianjun was silent for a moment, and examined Qi Fei and Zhong Kui for a while, and in his mind recalled the year he retired.

The iron door of the file room was hit by the cross-ventilation wind with a dull thud. He took out his fountain pen and added a line of small characters next to the number: "Related 83JA, pending three-layered wave review."

"After old Ye went missing, I found some materials he left behind in his house, most of which were related to geography and ocean currents. I read them repeatedly before I retired. Because old Ye was not there, I never understood the mystery. I think it is time to hand them over to you."

Winter of 1983, Ye Ming's home.

The north wind outside the window rolled the withered leaves and slapped the glass. The shoulders of Ye Ming's military overcoat were covered with cigarette ash. He stubbed out the fifth cigarette, his bloodshot eyes staring at the crisscrossing case map on the wall. The yellowed monthly calendar was covered with circles by red and blue marker pens, and the photos of the five victims were nailed to the corresponding grids according to the discovery date.

"If it is thirty days..." He dipped in tea stains and drew arrows on the desk calendar, the fountain pen tip almost poking through the paper.

The ink soaked through the squares of January 1984. Ye Ming's pupils contracted sharply. He grabbed the rolled-up ocean current map, his fingertips sliding across the corpse abandonment coordinates marked with red circles: Dongshan Reef, Qingbin Pier, Air-raid Shelter, Hudao Beach, Yuxing Pier...

The fountain pen tip hung in mid-air, and Ye Ming's vision went back and forth between the ocean current map and the evidence inspection report.

"Mercury mirror surface..." He muttered and opened "Nancheng Religious Artifacts Examination" borrowed from the archives, "JN District St. Paul's Church, customized 1903 stained glass windows and fifty mercury mirrors."

The first firecracker of the New Year came from outside the window. When Ye Ming turned around in surprise, he only saw the swaying curtains.

In the distance, the broken mirror surface in that dilapidated old church in Nancheng, accompanied by the blooming of fireworks, occasionally flashed a huge inverted pentagram pattern on the ground...