Chapter 8

Page 1/3

Short, thin, pale, and shy.

This was Shen Chuyi’s first impression of the young man standing on the stairs, who obviously looked frightened, frozen in place.

Then he pursed his lips and answered Shen Chuyi stiffly, “My mom told me to check what’s going on...” After speaking, he quickly turned and hurried back upstairs, seemingly telling his mother, “It’s the police checking something.”

“What are they checking? Weren’t you supposed to ask? You didn’t ask? What can you do if you can’t even ask a question? Why are they checking at this hour?” Another woman’s voice came down, increasingly dissatisfied.

The dry cleaner’s owner heard this and looked at Shen Chuyi, saying, “Officer, the rooms upstairs are for our family’s own use. My wife and daughter are still sleeping; there’s no need to disturb them.” He sounded annoyed, not wanting Shen Chuyi to go upstairs and bother them. “My daughter is still young; seeing police at night would scare her. Please understand, officer.”

Was that the owner’s son?

Shen Chuyi looked back and saw An Jiashu pointing to the computer screen as if he had found something. She walked over.

An Jiashu quickly pulled up the information of eight employees and looked at Bai Shizhou.

These eight employees had each provided at-home clothing delivery service on the day the four victims were murdered. Each service call involved two employees together.

“Officer, I think this is either a misunderstanding or a frame-up. Our company always sends two employees together for every pickup or delivery service to supervise each other,” the owner explained again.

Bai Shizhou glanced at the records and asked, “Your shop should have surveillance and clock-in records for every outing, right? Open the footage and check the entry and exit times for those specific periods.” It’s easy to fake attendance records, but cross-checking with surveillance for those times would reveal the truth.

Before the owner could answer, a woman came down the stairs and said, “What exactly are you checking? Our dry cleaning shop is a reputable brand with professional service. Every time employees do home service, their phones monitor the whole process, and they clock in with smiles.”

It was the owner’s wife, dressed in cashmere knit pajamas, looking to be in her thirties or forties.

A young second wife.

“You look so young and beautiful, madam,” Shen Chuyi smiled and said to the owner’s wife, “Was that your son who came down just now? You’re so young and yet you have both a son and a daughter? Your son looks about twenty, and you look so young.”

The owner’s wife sneered and said, “I’m not so lucky to have both kids. That’s the son of the previous wife.”

The owner’s ex-wife’s son.

The owner was not angry, just said, “Why did you come down in this cold?”

The owner’s wife waved him aside, personally used face recognition to unlock the surveillance, all the while saying if the police find nothing, they will need to give her an explanation.

But after opening the footage, her words stopped. She tapped the touchscreen confusedly: “Why is it missing? Did you clear the surveillance records? It can’t be, a few days ago it was still there...”

“Does your son usually help out in the shop?” Shen Chuyi suddenly asked the owner.

Bai Shizhou understood immediately after hearing her question. The only people who could freely fake attendance, clear surveillance footage, and access all customer info in the dry cleaner’s would be the owner, the owner’s wife, and their adult son.

A faint sound came from the ceiling, like pearls scattering across the floor.

It was so soft that even Shen Chuyi didn’t hear it, but Bai Shizhou’s ears twitched. He suddenly turned sharply toward the stairs upstairs.

“Hey! What are you doing!” the owner’s wife shouted angrily, rushing to stop Bai Shizhou, “The police can’t just—”

“Watch them!” Shen Chuyi grabbed the owner’s wife and pushed her toward An Jiashu. She touched his waist briefly and then darted upstairs like an antelope.

An Jiashu saw the figure blur and disappear. He hurriedly blocked the owner and wife but didn’t notice his holstered gun had vanished from his waist. “Police investigating! Don’t—” Before he could finish, someone scratched his face.

Page 2/3

When Bai Shizhou rushed upstairs and kicked open the master bedroom door, he immediately smelled the stench of blood.

He raised his gun and saw in the dim room a short, thin young man tightly strangling a six- or seven-year-old girl’s neck with steel wire. The girl’s eyes, mouth, and nose were covered with black tape, unable to scream or breathe, struggling weakly.

The moment the door opened, the young man lifted the girl in front of him and retreated behind a wardrobe, blocking himself. “Don’t come closer!”

Scattered fake pearls on the floor were mixed with the girl’s dripping blood.

“Let her go and you might get leniency!” Bai Shizhou didn’t dare to act rashly. His gaze could only catch the trembling feet of the suspended girl, who might be strangled any second. The tall wardrobe was just a step from the window, which overlooked a pedestrian street. Bao Xiao and other officers were lying in wait nearby, trying to coax the culprit toward the window. “Tell me your demands.”

“Call Professor Zhang Dian here to talk to me!” the culprit shouted loudly and excitedly. “I will be the first to defeat him!”

Bai Shizhou noticed an old wristband directly opposite the wardrobe, its light on, seemingly recording or livestreaming.

He recalled that the first victim’s photo was posted online by the culprit. Indeed, the killer’s purpose was to challenge authority and create sensation.

“Alright, I’m now calling Professor Zhang,” Bai Shizhou quickly dialed Zhang Dian’s number from the wristband. While it rang, he said, “Put the girl down first.”

Hearing the phone ringing, the culprit slowly lowered the girl, but the steel wire did not loosen. At least she couldn’t die before Zhang arrived.

It rang three times without an answer.

“You still want to defeat Zhang Dian?” Shen Chuyi suddenly appeared beside Bai Shizhou, flashing in. “You can’t even beat an intern like me. It took me less than twenty-four hours to catch you, you pathetic loser.”

She gave a mocking laugh.

Bai Shizhou wanted to signal her not to act rashly, but she signaled him back with her eyes—toward the window—and mouthed silently: Trust me.

“Who are you?” the culprit asked suspiciously.

“I told you, an intern officer.” Shen Chuyi looked at the wristband opposite the wardrobe, blinked and enlarged the screen. On the livestream, the culprit was strangling the girl’s bleeding neck, hiding behind the wardrobe, cautiously watching in her direction. “You’re livestreaming? Broadcasting to the world that you’re a useless, pathetic sexual failure?”

“Shut up!” the culprit shouted furiously. “I will kill her!”

“Of course you will. A man like you, deprived of maternal love and impotent, only dares to harm those weaker than yourself,” Shen Chuyi’s tone was firm. “You think your method is brilliant, that it will force Professor Zhang to intervene? Actually, your moves only reveal your impotence and your infantile craving for motherly love.”

“Shut up, shut up! You don’t understand!” The culprit tightened the wire again, voice trembling with rage. “You’re not qualified to talk to me! Call Zhang Dian!”

Taking advantage of the culprit’s focus on Shen Chuyi, Bai Shizhou quickly moved to the side of the wardrobe, gripping his gun and looking at Shen Chuyi. He decided to trust her and the old director’s recommendation.

“Am I wrong? You killed those three middle-aged women and cut off their breasts because you hate your mother’s neglect. You deliberately posted it online to make all of A City know how you fooled the Special Crimes Unit. If even the crime nemesis Zhang Dian has to come in person, the whole world will see you.” Shen Chuyi spoke rapidly. “You fantasize about the world watching your spectacular crime, including your mother. You want everyone to judge her abandonment and make her regret leaving such an outstanding child. You imagine her weeping bitterly, regretting not raising you properly, believing you would have been a fine person if nurtured rather than a killer.”

“You’re not qualified to analyze me!” he shouted, voice shaking.

“But you’re just a failed loser. Zhang Dian won’t come. The world will only know you were caught by an intern officer within twenty-four hours.” Shen Chuyi shifted her body to appear inside the wristband’s camera view, letting the culprit see her on the livestream. She flicked her hair at the camera. “In real life, you’ve never spoken to a beautiful woman like me, right? Not even a chance to be noticed by an elite like me, huh, impotent?”

The eyes staring at the livestream finally burned with fury. “Shut up!” The culprit violently emerged from behind the wardrobe, pulling a gun with his right hand and firing at Shen Chuyi—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three shots rang almost simultaneously.

Page 3/3

At the moment the culprit fired with one hand, Bai Shizhou dodged and rushed behind the wardrobe, shooting the culprit’s shoulder, then seized the chance to rescue the girl.

Shen Chuyi immediately dodged and raised her gun, firing wildly but only hitting the culprit’s leg.

The culprit was hit twice and staggered, crashing into the window behind him.

Bang! Another shot shattered the window behind the culprit, hitting his other shoulder holding the gun.

Glass shattered all over the floor as Bai Shizhou pinned the culprit down and handcuffed him.

Shen Chuyi clutched her bleeding shoulder, swearing, then stepped forward to tear off the tape from the girl’s nose, mouth, and eyes.

The girl finally sobbed softly, blood streaming down her neck.

A hand suddenly pressed firmly on Shen Chuyi’s bleeding shoulder.

“Pain!” Shen Chuyi gritted her teeth, turning to see Bai Shizhou holding a towel against her wound. His large hand held her shoulder firmly, not letting her pull away, his face cold.

“Endure it.” He wrapped the towel tightly around her shoulder, securing it under her arm to stop the bleeding.

“It really hurts,” Shen Chuyi bit back her words, wanting to tease Bai Shizhou, but he snatched the gun from her hand.

“Where did this gun come from?” Bai Shizhou lowered his eyes to the serial number on the gun, nearly speechless.

Shen Chuyi’s heart skipped a beat. As an intern officer, she wasn’t authorized to carry a gun. Would she lose her bonus and be punished? Bai Shizhou was merciless.

Footsteps sounded downstairs.

An Jiashu was the first to run up, clutching his holster anxiously. “Director, my gun is missing—”

Before he finished, Bai Shizhou raised the gun in his hand. “Is this yours?”

An Jiashu’s face went pale. Shen Chuyi said, “I stole it from him. He doesn’t know, it’s not his fault.”

Stolen? Very well.

Bai Shizhou squatted before her, said nothing, then picked up the crying girl and left the bedroom, ordering officers to call an ambulance.

Bao Xiao arrived just then, running upstairs without hesitation when Bai Shizhou said, “Officer Shen Yulan has been shot in the shoulder. Take her to the hospital.”

“Yes!” Bao Xiao said without a word and rushed upstairs.

Bai Shizhou clearly heard Shen’s excited voice behind him: “Top-notch Bao Xiao! You really are a sharpshooter! One shot, one hit! I knew you were ambushing by the window. As soon as you saw movement, you sniped! I was really worried that arrogant idiot Bai Shizhou wouldn’t get my hint and wouldn’t lead the culprit to the window...”

“Shh, shh...” Bao Xiao desperately tried to hush her.

Bai Shizhou ignored it. After handing the little girl back to her parents, he noticed the wristband’s call to Professor Zhang had connected and not yet been hung up.

Switching from speakerphone to earpiece, he heard Zhang Dian’s playful laughter: “Director Bai, is this your first time being called an idiot?”