Myriad Calamities - Chapter 21
The three police officers raised their eyebrows simultaneously, wondering to themselves, "Did such a face really flash by? Or was this young lady just seeing things? And we ended up spending the whole night with her crazy antics."
After a moment's thought, Pan Xiaolu said, "Are you sure you're seeing someone else's face reflected in the glass, and not your own, or Professor Lei's face reflected in the glass?"
He Qing was taken aback, staring wide-eyed at Pan Xiaolu as if to say, "How could you not believe me?"
Pan Xiaolu emphasized, "This is very important because you are the only eyewitness, so you have to be sure you didn't see things incorrectly."
"I just saw a ghost face, why are you doubting me? Does my face look like a ghost face?" He Qing felt wronged. She was so frightened and then doubted. Her eyes rolled around a few times, and her eyes slowly reddened. She looked like she was about to cry.
Pan Xiaolu sighed inwardly and said, "He Xiaoshi, do you think it's possible that what's outside the window is a mask?"
"A mask?" He Qing tilted her head and thought for a moment. "The eyes of a mask shouldn't be this realistic, right? Its eyes are looking at me too."
"You mean the eyes on this face are looking at you too?"
He Qing nodded affirmatively.
"Miss He, besides her face, what else do you see?"
He Qing asked blankly, "What else do I need to see?"
Pan Xiaolu was almost going crazy, saying, "I mean, what about the other parts? The ears? What does the hair look like? What kind of clothes are they wearing?"
He Qing thought for a long time before answering, "Only a face, and a pair of cold eyes on it."
Pan Xiaolu handed her paper and a pen, saying, "Draw it and let me see."
He Qing hesitated before taking the paper and pen, frowned and thought for a while, then began to scribble on the paper.
Pan Xiaolu tugged at Xu Haicheng's sleeve, and the latter understood and walked with her outside the interrogation room.
"Captain Xu, I think she's probably seeing things."
"It's too early to draw conclusions."
Although He Qing didn't articulate what the face looked like, her fear was undeniable. People are sometimes frightened by a strange reflection in glass, but not to this extent. For some reason, Xu Haicheng believed He Qing had indeed seen a face, a bizarre face.
"What do we do now?" Pan Xiaolu asked, distressed.
"Take her to the technical department. Have the technicians piece together the face she described, and then let her confirm it."
"good."
"By the way, be gentle with her. She's just been traumatized, so it's normal for her to be a little slow to react," Xu Haicheng couldn't help but remind her. "I'm leaving her in your care. I'm going to the forensic lab."
Pan Xiaolu gave a soft "hmm," feeling a little uncomfortable. She wondered if she was really that strict. Only after watching Xu Haicheng's figure disappear around the corner did she return to the interrogation room. He Qing was biting her pen, lost in thought. He Qing glanced at her like a startled deer, added a few more strokes to the paper, then pushed it in front of her, timidly saying, "That's about it."
Pan Xiaolu took a look. The outline of a human face was drawn on the white paper, with two eyes, circles below the eyes (presumably scales), and then a set of rectangular teeth…it looked very much like a character from an anime. She hadn't had high hopes for He Qing's drawing anyway, so she didn't say anything. Remembering Xu Haicheng's words, she deliberately spoke softly, "Ms. He, how about this, I had the technical department piece together a few images. Could you take a look and see which one is most similar?"
He Qing was still wearing the suit she wore when hosting the show, with a coat over it. Although the interrogation room was air-conditioned, she kept her clothes tightly closed and said somewhat reluctantly, "Now?"
"Very soon."
"Okay, I'd like to use the restroom first."
"Okay, go out and turn right. The restroom is at the end of the corridor. I'll wait for you here," Pan Xiaolu said as she tidied up the things on the table.
He Qing walked to the door and peeked into the corridor, which was quiet except for the dim lighting. She hesitated for a moment, glancing at Pan Xiaolu as if hoping she would come with her, but then felt it was inappropriate and ultimately didn't say anything, simply walking quickly towards the restroom. Her high heels tapped rapidly on the tiled floor, the sound particularly jarring in the quiet night.
While correcting typos in the statement, Detective Wu asked, "Xiao Lu, what exactly did she see as a face?"
"Who knows?"
"This is really weird," Detective Wu muttered, then left the interrogation room with his notebook.
Pan Xiaolu leaned against the interrogation room door, looking at He Qing's poorly drawn painting while waiting for her. Two minutes passed, and she impatiently peeked into the corridor; it was deserted. Five minutes passed, and she looked again; the corridor was still empty. Suspicion began to creep in. After waiting another hour or two, she couldn't stand it any longer. She went to the restroom door and softly called out, "Miss He, He Qing…"
The restroom was quiet, with only the sound of dripping water, one drop every ten seconds, neither hurried nor slow.
A sense of unease welled up inside Pan Xiaolu. She placed the notebook on the ground, drew her pistol, and crouched low as she tiptoed into the restroom. The restroom consisted of two stalls: an outer washroom and an inner toilet. The dim lighting and the large mirror in the washroom reflected Pan Xiaolu's furtive figure, giving her a somewhat furtive appearance.
The washroom and toilet share a door that is half-open.
Pan Xiaolu cautiously pushed the door open with her foot, raised her gun, and rushed into the toilet, scanning the area. There was no one inside, but He Qing was lying on the floor, her face bluish-purple, her mouth crooked, her eyes slanted, and there was a pink tooth mark on her neck.
Pan Xiaolu was horrified. She looked up at the window and saw the boundless night with stars twinkling in the distance.
Section 41: Chapter Eight, Part One of the Calamities (1)
Chapter Eight: One of the Calamities
There's a saying that the solution to a problem lies in the problem itself. Like a maze game, if you go back from the exit, you'll easily find your way out. But what if there's a game that has no exit at all?
(Excerpt from "Police Detective's Diary")
When Xu Haicheng rushed over from the forensic lab, the teeth marks on He Qing's neck had changed from pink to light purple. The scene was clear: He Qing had just finished relieving herself, her clothes weren't fully tidied, when she was attacked and died. The circumstances of her death were very similar to Xu San's.
Xu San died in the dead of night and was only discovered in the morning, so people could still suspect there were some unknown details. But He Qing's death happened almost right under their noses, leaving no room for excuses.
Two murders occurred overnight, three murders in two days. The killer was nowhere to be found—no fingerprints, no footprints…nothing. Except for the teeth marks on the victims' necks, which confirmed the existence of a murderer. The officers of the Criminal Investigation Team felt as if burdened by a giant boulder. At the same time, something else stirred within them—fear. Although they all tried their best to suppress this surging urge, their minds were in turmoil, and their actions inevitably betrayed a hint of unease.
Xu Haicheng sensed the unusual gloom among his teammates and knew exactly what was going on, but there was nothing he could do.
A gust of wind blew in through the toilet window, making the stall door creak and scrape with a harsh, scraping sound. He walked to the window and looked out. The toilet was on the first floor, and the first thing he saw was the tall, imposing exterior wall of the police station, equipped with infrared sensors. It was impossible for someone to climb over the wall.
So how exactly did He Qing die?
Stepping out of the restroom, Xu Haicheng looked at Pan Xiaolu, who was leaning against the wall in the corridor. She seemed to sense his gaze, lowering her head further and staring only at his toes, like a child who had made a mistake.