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墨書 Inktalez
The deceased was named Luo Zhongcheng, twenty-two years old, and the son of Luo Yongjun. He was found dead in his home by the police. According to the autopsy report, he died on that rainy night, with the time of death estimated to be between five and six in the morning, due to an overdose of drugs.
The involvement of white powder escalated the situation significantly. The main question was where Luo Zhongcheng obtained the white powder and whether he had a history of using it. What happened after he returned home?
In just one rainy night, why did so many events unfold?
Upon careful analysis, one could deduce that Luo Zhongcheng was the murderer. Firstly, the existence of pathways on both sides of the railway track was not common knowledge; despite their strained relationship, Luo Zhongcheng would naturally know about these pathways and how the electrical control operated all the streetlights after nearly twenty years of being father and son.
Secondly, if Luo Yongjun were the murderer, he wouldn't have needed to go through such elaborate means to dispose of the body on the railway track. He had the only key to their sole entrance and could have easily thrown the body onto the tracks without resorting to using wire.
Thirdly, the "thumping" sounds heard by two electricians were actually Luo Yongjun striking the railway track while inspecting it at the murder scene. Based on timing, he shouldn't have returned so soon; we speculated that he came back early due to the streetlights being off.
Fourthly, as fate would have it, Luo Zhongcheng likely never imagined that someone on a swiftly passing train witnessed him disposing of a body. We found a photo of Luo Zhongcheng from before his death and asked Xiao Liu to send it to the informant to see if they matched.
Soon enough, the informant confirmed that Luo Zhongcheng was indeed the person seen disposing of a body that night.
However, while we had identified the murderer, he was already dead.
Xiao Liu shook her head and said, "This case is simple yet complex. If only the informant had provided clues sooner, we might have suspected Luo Zhongcheng earlier. But even without those clues, you probably would have guessed who the true culprit was—impressive."
Xiao Liu praised our efforts and continued, "But it's tragic for Luo Zhongcheng to meet such an end; he died from drug use. I wonder how Luo Yongjun would view his son now that they are reunited below. He essentially drowned his own father—what a disgrace."
Seeing Xiao Liu growing increasingly upset, I said, "Xiao Liu, have you considered that perhaps Luo Yongjun already thought about this? Was he deliberately seeking death?"
"Deliberately seeking death?" Xiao Liu shook her head. "How did you come to that conclusion?"
I shrugged and replied, "As an orphan, I sometimes struggle with familial bonds. But think about it: why did Luo Yongjun bring liquor to the pathway? Why did he write in his notebook? Remember what we saw in his journal—he claimed everything was done by him."
"But you also suggested during your simulation that Luo Yongjun wanted to turn himself in with Luo Zhongcheng," Xiao Liu seemed confused.
"I did simulate it that way," I said. "I suspect that Luo Yongjun indeed said this; he only hoped his son would quickly decide to kill himself. Luo Yongjun doesn't understand education; he is too cowardly, but no matter when, he always has one identity—father."
Indeed, from Luo Yongjun's diary, it is evident that this Rail Worker has been practical and timid all his life. When his wife cheated on him, he didn't dare to say a word; when his son hit him, he didn't dare to retaliate. Yet on this rainy night, Luo Yongjun unleashed all his wisdom and courage.
It was as if he had accumulated it all his life and used it all at once. He erased the traces of murder, forged a killing diary, deliberately got his son drunk, and intentionally died in the corridor. Such courage and wisdom are rare, especially accomplished within just two hours.
I wonder if he thought of his bravest moment before dying, shouting at the passing trains: "I curse all your mothers!"
Little did Luo Yongjun know that just over two hours after his death, his son would come looking for him.
Luo Zhongcheng's body was taken away. Through a series of visits and investigations, it was discovered that Luo Zhongcheng had never had a habit of using drugs. On the contrary, he appeared quite robust; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to climb the wire pole or dispose of the body.
This means that this was Luo Zhongcheng's first experience with drugs, which explains why he overdosed—he had no prior experience. So the question arises: whose drugs were they, and where did Luo Zhongcheng get them?
Captain Shao said, "In any case, let's put aside the source of the White Powder for now; we will investigate it later. What we need to do now is close the Rainy Night Corpse Case first and then look into the source of this White Powder. By the way, Wu Meng, how can you be so sure that Luo Yongjun is not the murderer before the investigation is complete?"
I sighed and replied, "I don't know if you've seriously looked at Luo Yongjun's first workbook; it meticulously records the condition of the tracks every day. And do you know why there are barbed wire fences on both sides of these tracks?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Because of Luo Yongjun," I explained. "In recent years, there have been frequent incidents of trains hitting people. Having seen so many cases, Luo Yongjun suggested to his superiors to establish barbed wire fences to prevent children from wandering onto the Railway Track and getting hit by trains. The leaders were also afraid of further incidents and agreed; thus, the barbed wire was erected."
Everyone suddenly understood. Mary nodded while saying, "So it was Luo Yongjun who proposed establishing the barbed wire fence out of fear for others' safety. How could someone like him commit murder? Luo Yongjun truly is a lonely warrior; he is a good person."
"Is he really a good person?" I disagreed with Mary's statement. "I collected data on victims who have been killed by trains in recent years and found an interesting detail: there have been three incidents in this area where people were killed by trains."
"These three incidents share a common point," I said as I glanced around calmly. "All three victims were female and aged between eighteen and twenty-two. Don't you think that's a bit suspicious? Did these women go mad? At their age, why would they run onto the Railway Track?"
My words sent chills down Mary and Captain Shao's spines; they seemed to realize what I was implying. Each person's face turned unnatural. Mary coughed twice and then slowly said, "Are you suggesting that these people are all..."
"That's right, Luo Zhongcheng must have killed before," I said with a smile. "It's just that now there's no evidence. If I'm not mistaken, he started doing this a long time ago. He used the passage to rape and murder, then placed the bodies on the railway track."
"Then the train would crush the bodies into pulp, scattering the remains around the railway track. Luo Yongjun's job was to clean up those rotten corpses." I sighed. "Later, Luo Yongjun thought it was wrong to let his son do this, so he applied for barbed wire to be added."
I shrugged. "But Luo Yongjun didn't realize that barbed wire couldn't stop his own son."
"If you think Luo Yongjun isn't a good person," Mary pressed on, "then why are you so sure he isn't a murderer?"
I laughed. "Because he's an M. He likes to be abused rather than to abuse others."
"You know this?" The others looked puzzled.
At that moment, Captain Shao suddenly had a flash of insight and asked me, "Is the answer in that book, Jin Ping Mei?"
"Exactly!" I nodded. "If you observe closely, you'll notice that the pages with scenes of men being abused are always a bit thinner and have some unknown liquid on them. You should be able to guess what that liquid is. So, Luo Yongjun would definitely not kill."
Everyone stared at me in disbelief. Mary shook her head and said to Captain Shao, "This lunatic really reminds me of you when you were young—no, no, I mean his attention to detail and reasoning ability is just like you ten years ago."
Captain Shao said, "You're exactly the person I've been looking for."
As we were preparing to close the case, news came from a team of detectives sent to that mountain village. Zhang Hui was indeed still in that village; however, she had become a mother of four children. No one knew who their father was, so everyone claimed to be their dad.
When Zhang Hui saw the uniformed police officers, she first erupted in a torrent of curses, spewing every foul word imaginable before finally collapsing on the ground and crying out to them, "Damn it! Why did you only come now?!"
Captain Shao thought these details should be included in the case report. He suddenly remembered someone and said to Xiao Liu, "By the way, what was the name of that informant? We need to thank her properly. Without her, we probably wouldn't have such direct evidence and might have had to work longer."
Xiao Liu shook his head and replied, "I'll go ask about it."
After a while, Xiao Liu returned with a twisted expression and drooping eyebrows.
"What's wrong with you?" I teased him with a smile. "You went out for a bit and came back looking like you've had a stroke? You should look in the mirror at that expression."
Xiao Liu said, "I told you, Wu Meng, if your expressions don’t change when I mention this name, I might as well jump off the Sixth Floor."
"Who exactly are you talking about?" I asked.
"I just asked the operator, and she said the caller claimed to be Zhang Xutong!" Xiao Liu emphasized, shouting a few more times, "She said her name is Zhang Xutong!"
Xiao Liu was right; upon hearing that name, everyone looked as if they had just eaten something terrible. Zhang Xutong? The one who reported the case? Could it be a ghost? Wasn't Zhang Xutong killed by Luo Zhongcheng? Could it be someone with the same name?
A series of questions exploded in my mind.
"Quick, go get the Autopsy Report for that corpse!" Captain Shao instructed Xiao Liu.
Xiao Liu moved quickly, and before long, we had the Autopsy Report for the female corpse from the Rainy Night Corpse Case in our hands. Captain Shao examined it closely and after a long pause said, "Damn it, according to the bone age assessment, this woman is around twenty years old."
"Even if the Zhang Xutong who went to college back then was only eighteen, four years have passed. That means Zhang Xutong should be at least twenty-two now. So this dead woman can't possibly be Zhang Xutong; we've been led astray by that homeless man!" I said helplessly.
"Then who is the deceased?" Xiao Liu looked at us awkwardly.
I pondered for a moment and replied, "Do you remember those days when there were reports of missing persons? You kept complaining about how short-staffed we were at the station?"
"Could it be one of them?"
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