Blank Charge

It had been three days since Luo Xueqing fell into a coma.

The Building was quiet at 10 o’clock at night. The murder that took place made the place even more desolate. Stepping on the cement floor, one could hear the echoes.

Bending down and passing under the yellow police tape stuck at the door, Jin Zhou put on white gloves and tested the switch on the wall. The small room instantly lit up.

“This is the crime scene of the first case.” Jin Zhou scanned the furnishings in the living room and said to Yang Shiyu, who was standing behind him.

He was still dressed in black, but unlike before, he wore blue shoe covers and white gloves. With Jin Zhou with him at the scene of the crime, they looked like a detective duo investigating a crime.

If it weren’t for the fact that the serial killer targeted Luo Xueqing, Jin Zhou wouldn’t have involved Yang Shiyu in the case.

Investigating cases was the job of the police, and  lawyers and judges wouldn’t intervene. However, the serial killer case had reached its third victim, and the fact that it was his friend who was killed, Jin Zhou couldn’t just stay away..

Ren Wenli was also overwhelmed by the case, so she didn’t put up much resistance when Jin Zhou offered to help, but she asked him not to tamper with anything at the crime scene.

” it’s the same as Luo Xueqing’s house.” Jin Zhou sat down on a chair in the middle of the living room and looked up at Yang Shiyu. “The killer first ties the victim to the chair, finds something to gag their mouth, and then strangles them.”

“The question is, why the need to tie them up?” Yang Shiyu paced around Jin Zhou, surveying the layout of the room. “According to the testimony of several children, the killer is a tall adult male who can easily  overpower a woman. So why tie her up before killing her?”

It was clearly an unnecessary action. If a tall adult male wanted to kill a woman, there was no need to tie her up.

—Unless he had another motive.

“According to Officer Ren’s analysis,” Jin Zhou stroked his chin, “many serial killers have their own killing methods.it seems like this killer’s method is to tie up the victims before killing them. And the items he uses to bind them up as well as the weapon he uses to strangle them are all existing electrical cords in the room. This should be one of his ‘signature.'” methods

“It may not be that simple.” Yang Shiyu stopped and looked at the chair where the victim had been sitting, frowning, deep in thought. “Using items available in the room as weapons allows him to avoid leaving behind clues. Because if he brought his own weapon, the police could easily trace it back.”

“Indeed.” Jin Zhou nodded. “As long as there’s a purchase record, the police can potentially find it.”

“As for his killing methods,” Yang Shiyu raised his gaze, meeting Jin Zhou’s eyes. They both looked towards the bedroom door in front of the chair. “Have you noticed that the chair is positioned perpendicular to the bedroom door?”

“Yes, it’s directly facing the bedroom door.” Jin Zhou raised his palm, pointing his fingertips forward. “In the first two cases, the police speculated that the killer tied up the victims in the chair to force them to face the bedroom. Luo Xueqing’s case confirms this speculation.”

“The victim’s child is locked in the bedroom,” Yang Shi Yu lowered his gaze, furrowing his brow in thought. “The killer wanted the child to witness their mother’s death.”

“So, that’s the killer’s signature method?,” Jin Zhou’s expression grew solemn. “He went to the trouble of tying the victims because killing them was not his ultimate goal; it was to torture the child from behind the door.”

“What kind of person would have a grudge against children?” Yang Shi Yu surveyed the items in the room.

“Fortunately, Luo Zihao is brave,” Jin Zhou exhaled, feeling relieved whenever he thought about it. “He climbed out of the window from the twenty-fifth floor.”

Luo Xueqing lived in an ordinary residential area. The buildings were old, and the air conditioning units were not hidden inside the walls like in the newer neighborhoods but exposed on the outside. That’s why Luo Zihao could step on the air conditioning unit and slide down to the house downstairs.

The killer who was in the act likely realized that there were no cries coming from the bedroom as he expected, so he went to check and found that Luo Zihao had already climbed down to the lower floor. He then hurriedly left, while the neighbors downstairs promptly called an ambulance, thus saving Luo Xueqing’s life.

“Adult male, tall , daring, holds a grudge against children.”

After examining the second case in the single apartment, Jin Zhou and Yang Shi Yu walked back home, listing the keywords related to the killer.

“Add ‘cautious’ to the list,” Yang Shi Yu added. “He didn’t leave fingerprints or footprints at the crime scene, nor did he bring any weapons with him. It indicates that he is careful. But the children are obviously an unpredictable factor, and he didn’t exclude that possibility. He deliberately killed in front of the children, which shows that he loves the thrill of it.

“Or you could say he is a pervert,” Jin Zhou looked ahead, his brows furrowed. “The police initially thought that the target of the assailant was the victim, but it turned out to be the victim’s child. No wonder they couldn’t solve the case for so long.”

“But how could a child get involved with such a person?” Yang Shiyu pondered, “Some children are indeed stubborn, but how are they actually involved.”

Jin Zhou looked at Yang Shiyu beside him. “I don’t know about the victim in the first building case, but I’ve seen the daughter of the victim in the single apartment case. She smashed a water bottle in front of me at the school gate, showing how stubborn she can be. Luo Zihao is the same. His mother works so hard, and all he knows is to throw a tantrum. Let’s see if he dares to do that after this…”

At that point, Jin Zhou suddenly thought of a possibility. He stopped in his tracks and uncertainly said, “Could it be that this killer knows these children are stubborn, so his goal is to punish them?”

“By killing their mothers?” Yang Shiyu stopped as well, turned his head to look at Jin Zhou.

“To make them regret being stubborn towards their mothers.” Jin Zhou increasingly felt that that motive made sense. “If that’s the case, then this killer definitely grew up in a single-parent family, and there’s a high probability that his mother has already passed away. He regrets not respecting his parent and resents those children who are fortunate but don’t appreciate it.”

“This…” Yang Shiyu furrowed his brow slightly. “It sounds absurd.”

“But it’s not completely impossible.”

Jin Zhou took out his phone and called Ren Wenli, asking her to investigate the situation of the victim in the first building case.

If this single mother’s child is also stubborn, Jin Zhou believed that his speculation was probably correct, which would narrow down the range of the killer.

After hanging up the phone, Jin Zhou planned to sort out his scattered thoughts. However, at that moment, the phone he had just put down suddenly vibrated. He checked the caller ID and saw that it was Liu Qian calling.

“Zhouzi, have you received any news about Liu Yongchang’s case?”

Those past few days, everything had become a mess, and Jin Zhou was overwhelmed, unable to spare any attention to Liu Yongchang’s case.

After Luo Xueqing had the serial killer incident, a scheduled open letter was posted on her social media the next day, stating that she had been involved in an incident and that the culprit was WangTai.

It was then that Jin Zhou realized that Luo Xueqing’s so-called “foolproof preparation” was actually a declaration on social media that if something were to happen to her, a timed email would be sent to major news agencies, about how WangTai was after her.

She would reset the timed email every day, and if one day she forgot to set it, it would mean that she might have encountered an unfortunate event.

Now all major media outlets were reporting on the timed email , which contained only one photo—a man with a fake mask and graying temples.

Luo Xueqing must have deliberately chosen the angle, as that photo alone did not reveal the person recording the video. However, based on the information she provided, everyone now knew that that man was the director of the city TV station also present at WangTai’s scandalous party.

The police had already summoned WangTai, and public opinion on the internet was overwhelmingly demanding a thorough investigation into WangTai.

Jin Zhou had never expected that the serial killer would target Luo Xueqing at that time, leading to the premature exposure of the contents of the video.

The serial killer incident inadvertently dragged WangTai into the complicated case.

Everything that had been happening completely exceeded Jin Zhou’s expectations. Those past few days, he hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep and had naturally been unable to focus on Liu Yongchang’s case.

“Liu Qian, I have already submitted the defense statement. Now we just have to wait for the notice.”

“Alright, you keep a close eye on it. If you need any bribe or something, just let me know.”

“…There won’t be such a thing.”

Jin Zhou wearily comforted Liu Qian with a few more words, then hung up the phone and said to Yang Shiyu, “Headache.”

“Repaying favors is the most difficult thing.” Yang Shiyu said lightly.

“Yeah.”

The two of them continued walking forward when suddenly a familiar voice came from behind, “Lawyer Jin? Judge Yang?”

Jin Zhou turned around and found that the person behind them was Xie Yao. He was still wearing his prosecutor’s uniform and holding thick files, indicating that he had been working overtime.

“How come you guys…” Xie Yao looked at the two of them, especially at Yang Shiyu dressed in black.

“We met on the road just now.” Jin Zhou blurted out without thinking, “You’ve just finished work?”

“Yes.” Xie Yao’s replied. “There has been another victim in the serial killer case, so I can forget about resting.”

Thinking about Liu Qian’s phone call regarding Liu Yongchang’s matter just now, Jin Zhou seized the opportunity to ask Xie Yao. However, Xie Yao only said that the leaders were still discussing it and asked Jin Zhou to continue waiting for the news.

Back at Yang Shiyu’s home, it was already eleven o’clock at night, but Jin Zhou couldn’t sleep at all.

He sat cross-legged on the sofa, writing and drawing on his notebook. Yang Shiyu finished taking a shower and came out, seeing Jin Zhou’s awkward writing posture, he said to him, “Go to my study.”

“Huh?” Jin Zhou looked up, “Are you sure I can go in?”

Yang Shiyu’s study was always locked, and Jin Zhou understood why. After all, the case files in the hands of a judge were very important and needed to be properly kept. He had never thought of going in and didn’t expect Yang Shiyu to voluntarily let him use the study.

Following Yang Shiyu into the study, he saw that besides the desk, there were only bookshelves filled with various case files.

At the center of the study, there was a movable whiteboard with WangTai’s photo on it, surrounded by all the relevant case information about him.

“Is this case also related to him?” Jin Zhou surveyed the whiteboard and noticed many cases he had seen in the news. “Tsk, he really has a lot of blood on his hands.”

“You use the back.” Yang Shiyu crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning against the desk, and said to Jin Zhou.

“Okay.” Jin Zhou flipped the whiteboard over and picked up a marker next to it, writing “Serial Killer” at the center.

However, as he was writing, he suddenly realized something. He stared at the whiteboard and wiped off the faint traces with his hand, asking, “What’s this?”

Even if the ink from the marker was erased, it would still leave faint marks. Jin Zhou squinted his eyes and carefully looked at the erased marks on the board. He found his own name written at the center, and from there, there were many blurry writings extending outward. Jin Zhou could vaguely recognize the names of Liu Yongchang, Hu Zi, Sun Yi, Xiao Wu, and others.

The answer was obvious. Before this whiteboard was wiped clean, the main character on it was none other than Jin Zhou.

“So, you specifically investigated me?” Jin Zhou turned the marker in his hand, feeling both angry and amused. “Yang Shiyu, you love me that much?”

“Of course.” Unlike his usual avoidance of the topic or the embarrassment of being caught, Yang Shiyu looked calmly at Jin Zhou. “I love you more than you can imagine.”

Damn.

Jin Zhou covered his heart and took two steps back. The secretive and elusive person in front of him was really a master when it came to sweet talk.