Love Me if You Dare: Pristine Darkness

Chapter 3

Fang Qing thought about it and said, It seems like it, but not quite.

How would you describe it? His partner asked.

If the killer had an abnormal mental mindset, he would kill people impulsively, but the crime scene is too clean. He obviously planned the crime out like a normal person would. However, it is indeed true that he handled the corpse extremely crazily, like a perverted person.

The two of them didnt speak again. After all, they didnt have any experience with this type of murder case.

The night sky got darker and darker before their eyes. The police werent made of steel so Fang Qing gave everyone half a nights break to go home and rest. Fang Qing slowly walked out of the police station for a stroll.

The moonlight was very bright. Whenever his heart wasnt calm, Fang Qing liked to walk around  the ancient city. Furthermore, they were unable to find any leads for the case. Fang Qing had always followed an old police saying: Once a case has run into a bottleneck, go back to the crime scene again.Who knows? One may discover something new.

After walking for a little bit, he walked by the Yao familys inn. It was a little past eleven p.m. and the main door of the inn was wide open. As far as he could see, there really wasnt anyone in the inn. Fang Qing thought about it and walked inside.

The Yaos inn was pretty well known throughout the ancient city. The Yao family was a very prominent family in the area. Yao Yuange was currently the head of  the household, and he had many inns, restaurants, and factories under his control so he could be considered a local tycoon. Reportedly, the Yaos courtyard was an old residence that was left from the Ming or Qing dynasty. As for the members of the Yao family, he heard they lived in an old house nearby.

In each of the four corners of the courtyard, there was a stone statue of a beast. These statues looked very intimidating. The courtyard was big with a garden behind it, which contained a fish pond and quite a few trees. Fang Qing went into the garden, and saw a middle aged man standing near the fish pond, feeding the fish.

Fang Qing recognized him from a glance. He was the Yao familys boss, Yao Yuange. He was of a medium stature and was wearing a dark grey Chinese styled outfit. Fang Qing had seen his profile details. He was forty-eight years old, and he had taken good care of himself. Based on his first impressions, Yao Yuange looked like he had just turned forty years old. He had an upright appearance and seemed to have a cultured and unrestrained temperament.

Fang Qing recognized him but Yao Yuange didnt seem to recognize him. Yao Yuange smiled when he saw someone approaching and asked, You havent slept yet?

He had most likely mistaken Fang Qing as a guest of the inn.

Fang Qing also smiled and answered the question with another question, Yep, couldnt sleep. You are also staying at the inn?

Yao Yuange laughed. Im the boss of this inn.

Fang Qing put on a surprised face and said, How disrespectful of me! This inn is really nice and the boss runs it very well. He then started to praise the inn, talking about how the interior decorations had form and style, how all the plants had inexplicable charm, and so forth. Yao Yuange smiled as he listened to Fang Qing.

But Fang Qing knitted his brow, Ive heard that a guest living in the building in front of us was murdered a few days ago. The inns business has probably been affected, huh? To be honest, when I heard about it, I got pretty scared.

Yao Yuange raised his eyebrows and answered, Who knew that something like this would happen? The city has never experienced something like this. Dont get scared; the murder case happened out on the street, not at our inn. The victim only just happened to stay at our inn. After that incident happened, I told our staff members to reinforce our security, and work 24/7 shifts. Compared to other inns, our inn is the safest. That young man now that you mention him, Ive bumped into him a few times whenever he came back late at night while I was walking around. Ive talked to him a little as well. What a pity, he seemed like good person.

Fang Qing was silent for a moment. Then, he asked, Boss, do you usually sleep this late?

Yuan Yaoge answered, As people get older, they tend to sleep less. Usually at night Ill feed the fish or walk around the inn. Its become a habit.

After Fang Qing left the inn, he pulled out his notebook and wrote down all the details about the conversation he just had. This was another old saying among the police: The palest ink is better than the best memory. There had been some oral confessions where there werent any peculiarities when interviewing the person, but after the interview, when they connected this to other clues, they might just find out something new.

But this Yao Yuange currently didnt seem very suspicious and didnt appear to have any motive to kill someone.

Afterwards Fang Qing went back the to crime scene. There, he got a call from a police officer.

Leader Fang, an investigator found a distinct half handprint on a wall around four meters away from the corpse.

Fang Qings heart became happy. However, he then immediately heard the police officer say, The analytical results came out pretty quickly, as the handprint belongs to the victim.

After hanging up, Fang Qing stood under a dim streetlight, staring at the empty spot where the corpse was. He lifted his head again, looking at the wall where the investigator had found the handprint. Looking at everything from this angle, Fang Qing could see that the victim had come from this direction, but was only murdered after he passed the wall.There were some eaves on top of that wall which obstructed the rain. No wonder the print was preserved. However, this handprint belonged to the victim, so it didnt have a high reference value.

Fang Qing looked up and looked around. From here, the main street was a good distance away. That night, the murderer surely wouldnt have gone on to the main street covered in blood. With that being said, it was very likely that he hid in the nearby houses, or in the nearby inn. If he hid in the houses, then he would have had to hide from the neighbours. If he hid in the inn, could he have been a guest at the inn? Unlikely. Who could return to the inn covered in blood? It was more likely that  this person was an employee of the inn.

With several thoughts in his head, he continued to walk around the crime scene. When he arrived at the first intersection, he noticed that the street lamps on the left side of the intersection were a lot brighter than the ones on the right. His heart beat slightly faster, as he then continued to walk towards the right side.

He walked on for about a few dozen meters and came across another fork in the road. It was already a little past midnight, but there were still some family-owned restaurants open on the street by his right. Someone was throwing water out, while another person was sitting at the entrance washing the dishes. As far as Fang Qing knew, the people living nearby had already been investigated by the police and they hadnt seen anything. So, Fang Qing turned onto the street on the left.

He walked on for about ten to twenty minutes. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

In front of him was an abandoned elementary school. There was a tightly padlocked iron gate at the front. Inside was a small, dark courtyard. If a tourist passed by, he or she probably wouldnt notice the school, but all the locals knew that this elementary school had been abandoned for quite a few years now. Because the permits for demolition were  incomplete, the whole area hadnt been touched since.

Fang Qing looked around. The main road wasnt far but since it was very dark and the trees camouflaged the school, no one would notice this neglected area. Fang Qings heart suddenly started beating a little quicker. He pulled out a pair of gloves from his pocket and put them on. He then climbed over the wall, quietly jumping into the school courtyard.

An old tree that grew in the courtyard, coupled with some low-rise buildings, and piles of debris everywhere. There was only the dim moonlight. Fang Qing looked up and saw that across the courtyard there was a corridor, leading to the elementary school back door. He tiptoed closer to it so that he could look through the narrow slit in the door and found himself surprised.

It turned out that the back door wasnt really locked; it just looked that way. Behind the door was a secluded alley, with not a person to be found. Just a few buildings ahead was a familiar-looking roof, the roof of the Yaos courtyard. Fang Qings heart jumped. It seemed he had come across that courtyard again. It wasnt even that far away.

On the door handle, there was a dark colored spot. From his pocket, Fang Qing retrieved a small flashlight and under closer examination, he discovered a bloodstain.

He put away the flashlight, turned around, and walked back into the building.

The door squeaked as he gently opened the door. Inside, the walls were mottled, the ground was covered in dust, and there was a pile of tables and chairs in one corner. Fang Qing turned on the flashlight again and carefully checked every inch of the ground. In a corner there was a mass of dark brown stains and also a small circle of drops on the ground. They looked like  bloodstains, and were extremely conspicuous.

Fang Qing used his mouth to hold the flashlight and crouched on the ground, his heart feeling a little satisfied.

As a matter of fact, he had found it.

There was nowhere to go for someone who was covered in blood. Thus, this person had found this place early on, changed into his clothes, and then escaped. That was why the investigators werent able to find the bloodied person in the security footage. If he didnt extract a sample of the fingerprints and footprints visible at this crime scene, all of his efforts to sniff it out in the first place would have been for nothing!

He looked down and stared absent-mindedly, when suddenly, he heard a noise. It sounded like someone was walking on the dead leaves in the courtyard. Fang Qing became apprehensive and a string of thoughts jumped into his head like bouncing chess pieces. The murderer handled things very cautiously and was careful when planning things. That days incident happened very suddenly, the murderer was emotional when he killed the man and was anxious to escape, so he fled as soon as he could, and changed into different clothes here. But afterwards, maybe he realized that he had left blood stains here. It was possible he would return to clean up any traces.

Fang Qing suddenly turned off his flashlight, plunging everything into darkness. He stood against the wall near the door, waiting for the person to come closer.

The air soundlessly touched ones skin, bringing a slight chill along with it. Fang Qing watched the door and waited for a while. Sure enough, he saw the door slowly open. A tall and thin man walked inside. He was wearing a dark suit and had short hair. Under the moonlight, at first glance, he was unexpectedly handsome. The mans face was expressionless. He just quickly looked around the room and walked towards the pool of blood stains on the ground.

He crouched down.

Fang Qing was less than half a meter from him.

Fang Qing reacted quickly and abruptly said, Dont move! The man was startled and immediately began struggling to escape from Fang Qings grip. Fang Qing didnt think that he would actually have some tricks up his sleeve. Besides his tricks, the man was also taller than him, so the man quickly escaped.

But he only had a few tricks.

Fang Qing used this opportunity to pull his arm, which turned into a magnificent shoulder throw and directly threw the man on the ground. He let out a groan. What a standard move police officer?

Fang Qing coldly smiled. Who are you? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?

I the man unexpectedly smiled, Seems like your brain is a bit slow. From the moment I entered through the door to this moment, you still havent figured out Im here to do the exact same thing that youre doing.

This long string of words made Fang Qings head a little muddled. He kind of thought this man was a little odd, but without saying much more, he took out his handcuffs and with a click, he handcuffed the man. Fang Qing pushed him outside and said, Well talk when we return to the police station.

Fang Qing turned on his flashlight but saw the man attentively staring at the handcuffs with a look of disbelief. Fang Qings heart jumped. Previously,  he and his partner had speculated that maybe the criminal was mentally disabled. It seemed like the man might actually be mentally disabled. He made sure he was extra alert in case the suspect suddenly went crazy.

Fang Qing called for a few police officers to drive by to pick them up and block off the crime scene. Luckily on the road, the man was very quiet, with no other abnormal reactions. As Fang Qing drove, he would occasionally look back at the man. He was surprised to find that the mans fingers were tapping on his thighs in a very relaxed manner.

As a result, the weird thoughts going on inside of Fang Qings head grew more intense.

By the time they returned to the police station, it was already past two a.m. The officers still on duty heard that their leader had arrested a suspect and were all excited. However, Fang Qing did not want act rashly or show off. He brought the man to the interrogation room, calling only upon his partner for assistance. He then closed the door to begin the interrogation.

A white incandescent light was switched on, illuminating the cold and solemn interrogation room.

Fang Qing and his partner looked at each other, his partner letting out a slight cough as he sat down. He handed a cup of hot tea to the man.

The man had been in handcuffs for a while now, and he didnt look too good. He took a sip of the tea and said, These tea leaves are old, they have a little bit of a musty taste. It does not taste good. The basic supplies that your police department is given are really bad.

Stop speaking rubbish, Fang Qing growled. Name?

The mans finger tapped on the tea cup. Bo Jinyan.

Age?

Twenty eight

Where did you come from?

Tong City.

Occupation?

Ministry of Public Security Criminal Psychology research expert, as well as a Visiting Professor at the Public Security University.