Lock the door

Chapter 3

Reply [26]: ... Too lazy to transfer, go see for yourself /txt18/4.htm---Empty City Reply [27]: Sherlock Holmes once said, "When all impossibilities have been eliminated, whatever remains, however low its probability, must be the truth."

So, where exactly does the most unlikely truth lie in this incident? Considering all the facts he witnessed, can we arrive at an unimaginable yet plausible explanation?

First, according to the administrator, no one broke into room 301 last night.

Second, there were no holes in the living room that the giant rats could enter.

Third, Mrs. Goh claimed that someone had been breaking into her home for a long time.

It is obvious that the first and third points are contradictory, but Mrs. Goe's frightened expression makes it impossible to conclude that she is lying.

As for the second point, the results of the on-site investigation are also incompatible with the rat carcasses found in the garbage bag.

In other words... that is to say...

As if struck by lightning, a flash of inspiration struck Jian Xiang's mind, and he finally discovered the whole truth of the mystery!

“Mrs. Ge,” Jian Xiang could clearly hear his own heartbeat, “please tell me, in this apartment building, which tenant haven’t you encountered recently?”

At around 11:20 a.m. on the same day, a police car braked at the intersection of Jianguo Road and Nantai Road. At that time, the scorching sun seemed eager to escape spring, relentlessly burning Kaohsiung City, which was almost on the edge of the tropics.

The car door opened, and three police officers got out.

Sitting in the back seat was Gao Qinfu, the head of the criminal investigation team at the Sanmin Precinct; getting out of the driver's seat was Zheng Shaode, Jianxiang's junior. As for the third person—it was Fang Liwei, a police officer who was catching up on sleep.

“Why would Jianxiang wake you up?” Shaode said. “It seems the ‘big rat murder case’ isn’t so simple.”

"Stop joking, isn't the 'murderer' in the big rat case Jian Xiang himself..." Li Wei yawned casually.

Team Leader Gao said, "Xiao Wu's intuition has always been very accurate. I think there must be a reason why he brought in the entire criminal investigation team."

After asking the administrator, the group went upstairs. On the third floor, they saw Jian Xiang standing alone at the corridor exit, having been waiting for a long time.

“Team leader,” Jian Xiang said, “we invited everyone here because we hope that we can work together to solve this case quickly.”

“Hmm,” Gao Qinfu nodded, “So how do you want to proceed?”

"First, I need to ask my junior, Shaode, to help me take this rat's carcass back to the station so that the forensic team can identify whether the liquid on the rat's fur is human blood..." "Huh?" Shaode said, "You want me to carry the big rat's carcass into the car? That's too much."

“Next, Liwei, I hope to make use of your lock-picking skills.” Jianxiang ignored Shaode’s complaints. “Help me open the iron door to room 401 upstairs.”

“No problem,” Liwei said, “but I can’t guarantee I can break my personal lock-picking time record while I’m drowsy.”

In fact, Liwei is a top lock-picking expert in the southern Taiwan police force. Despite his young age, he has opened more than two thousand locks of various types for case investigations, making him unparalleled among his classmates from previous and subsequent classes. For him, the heavy locks on the iron doors of old apartments are a piece of cake.

"Finally, team leader—I need to report to you the ins and outs of this case..." At this moment, Mrs. Ge suddenly opened the door and said loudly to Jian Xiang, "What exactly is going on? I've told you everything, why do you insist on not telling me the truth?"

Jian Xiang looked troubled. "Because... because the truth behind this incident isn't something pleasant. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle hearing it."

"I don't care! Aren't the police supposed to be the people's guardians? Why are they so secretive about every investigation they conduct? What kind of guardians are they!"

“Xiao Wu, actually I think even if you don’t tell her now, Mrs. Ge will find out from someone else someday. The fact that you’ve brought us here means the situation is quite serious. In that case, it’s inevitable that the case will be in the news. Rather than having the reporters write something even more disgusting, you might as well tell her what really happened in a fair way. Anyway, you’re going to tell me anyway,” said Team Leader Gao.

“Well… alright…” So, Jian Xiang and Team Leader Gao followed Mrs. Ge into Room 301, while Li Wei took the lock-picking tools and went up to the fourth floor. As for Shao De, he could only frown and carry the strangely shaped black garbage bag downstairs alone.

---hqszs

Reply [28]: After the three of them, including Team Leader Gao, sat down in the living room, Jian Xiang began to describe the course of events in detail.

"...The slime on that giant rat is very likely blood. In other words, there is a very likely corpse here!"

"I knew it!" Mrs. Goh asked eagerly, "So where exactly is it?"

"Of course it's in room 401."

"Why?"

Jian Xiang said calmly, "I hope you are mentally prepared for what I am about to say. Please don't panic or be afraid anymore, because the matter is over."

"I know! I know! I know!"

"Mrs. Goe, in fact, you sleepwalk."

Mrs. Goh's eyes widened upon hearing this, her face changed drastically, and her lips trembled uncontrollably.

"In other words, what you mentioned before, such as making sure the gas was turned off the night before, only to find it leaking the next morning; or having the light turned off but still on the next day, are all things you did while you were asleep, getting out of bed."

"The formal medical term for sleepwalking should be 'somniac,' which is more common in children and women, especially those with anxiety and restlessness. Under normal circumstances, sleepwalkers act like they do in their daily lives, turning on lights, opening doors, walking around, and using some household appliances. What you perceive as an intruder is actually yourself in your sleepwalking state, because you don't know that you did it yourself, so you think it was someone else."

"Then what does this have to do with the body in room 401?" When Team Leader Gao saw that Mrs. Ge didn't respond, he asked himself.

"Given Mrs. Goh's sleepwalking condition, the rest of the mystery can be solved one by one. Last night, while Mrs. Goh was sleepwalking, she opened the kitchen door, and the mouse took advantage of that moment to quickly slip from the kitchen into the living room."

The thought of that disgusting rat running past her feet in the dead of night, even sharing a room with her without her noticing, sent chills down Mrs. Goh’s spine. She nearly screamed, biting her lower lip tightly with her front teeth.

"Then why from the kitchen?" Team Leader Gao continued to press.

"The only way for the rats to get out is through the drain hole in the kitchen countertop! Mrs. Goh mentioned that she wiped the countertop clean with a cloth before going to bed last night, but this morning she found water stains on the countertop. I think this must be the traces left on the countertop by the rats when they went through the drain hole, with their wet bodies on the countertop."

"Finally, such a large rat must have a big appetite, so I think its original food source must have been exhausted, which is why it came here hungry to find the bait in the mousetrap to fill its stomach. I don't think the rat has gone too far from its original place, and since the drain is the rat's passage—and all the drains in the building are connected, that's why I asked..." "In this apartment building, is there any tenant that Mrs. Goh hasn't encountered recently?"

“That’s right,” Jian Xiang explained. “Mrs. Ge used to be a nurse, and I think her intuition is correct. The rat did indeed feed on the corpse, and the corpse should be in one of the rooms in the building. Whether the corpse belongs to a resident of the building, or whether that resident killed someone and disposed of the body in their own room, Mrs. Ge, who is unemployed, should not have seen that resident for some time. Either that resident has already been murdered, or they have already escaped without a trace. In any case, finding that room is the most important thing.”

"So, the resident of room 401 fits the 'long-lost' criterion?"

“That’s absolutely right. Before I called you, I already asked the building manager and confirmed that the resident of room 401 has been out of contact lately. I also tried to open the door to room 401. But the spare key that the building manager has can’t open the lock. I think the resident probably changed the lock without permission. I’ll have to trouble you to wake Liwei up and help me open the door.”

“I thought… my somnambulism was cured…” Mrs. Goh suddenly said, “I never expected that this illness would relapse after more than thirty years…” “Mrs. Goh, so you knew you had somnambulism?”

“No… I only have very vague memories. When I was in elementary school, my father told me that I would often get out of bed and open the refrigerator on my own in the middle of the night without realizing it. I always thought he was just trying to scare me into going to sleep. I never imagined it was true…” Mrs. Goh’s voice choked with emotion.

The two detectives exchanged bewildered glances, unsure of what to say. The woman before them seemed to fear she wasn't mentally sound, her anxiety bordering on extreme, unaware that excessive anxiety itself was a form of mental illness.

“Officer… I still want to thank you sincerely.” Mrs. Ge faced Jian Xiang. “Your reasoning ability is truly remarkable. We’ve only known each other for one morning, and you’ve already solved a long-standing question that has puzzled me for my entire life.”

"Actually, that's... um..."

---hqszs

Reply [29]: Just as Jianxiang was wondering how to answer Mrs. Ge, the doorbell rang. Mrs. Ge nodded and got up to open the door. Liwei walked in.

"So?" Team Leader Gao asked, "Is there really a body in Room 401?"

Li Wei showed no excitement. "Team leader, the lock on the iron gate is open. However... we still can't get in."

"Why?"

"I think it must be that someone sealed the door from the inside with something else."

Led by Gao Qinfu, the head of the criminal investigation team, the three-person team tasked with breaching the iron gate had prepared all the necessary tools and was ready to launch the attack at 1:30 p.m.

"action!"

After calming Mrs. Ge down in room 301, Team Leader Gao, Jian Xiang, and Li Wei temporarily left the apartment building and returned to the branch office for lunch, where they also discussed the investigation plan to be carried out in the afternoon.

For some reason, after working all morning, Jianxiang was still wide awake. Unlike Liwei, who hadn't had enough sleep that morning, and since it wasn't about unlocking the door but forcibly breaking down the iron gate, he had no intention of getting involved. He had once said, "I'm only interested in finding a way to open a locked room; don't come to me if it's not a locked room."

A shiver ran through him—whenever Jian Xiang felt even a little tired, his body would instinctively and spontaneously tremble, invigorating his spirit. Just like that morning before unraveling the mystery of the giant rat appearing at the Ge family's house, he had experienced the same intense shiver; it wasn't just a sudden, exhilarating pleasure, but also a heart-wrenching pain. The two intertwined, much like a scene of sadomasochism in a pornographic videotape.

“I think I really have to sleep with you too. I’m so sleepy…” So, apart from Liwei, the others continued their investigation of the body in room 401. Since the residents of this old building were mostly elderly people, most of whom did not work and relied on their pensions or their children for support, it was a great advantage for Jianxiang, as he could personally ask other residents about the relevant issues in room 401.

On the other hand, Shaode also brought back a preliminary identification report of the rat carcass. Everything was very close to Jian Xiang's guess; the slime on the giant rat's fur was very likely putrefied human blood. In addition, after dissecting the rat carcass, they found that its stomach and intestines also contained undigested rotten flesh.

The blood and rotting flesh are highly likely to belong to the same corpse.

After Jian Xiang tirelessly searched each floor, the residents chimed in with their own accounts, finally piecing together a general picture of the resident of Room 401. According to the rental agreement obtained by the building manager from the landlord, a photocopy of the resident's ID card recorded the resident's name and date of birth: Zhong Sizao, born in 1978, currently 22 years old, completed military service, registered residence in Fengshan City, Kaohsiung County. Based on the residents' testimonies, Zhong Sizao moved into the building more than two months ago. The reason he was willing to live in this dilapidated old apartment was likely due to the low rent and his limited financial means.

Soon after, he found a job as a sales clerk at an audio-visual equipment store on Sanduo Road. The manager said he seemed to have a girlfriend who would occasionally visit his place. But the two were always secretive and didn't want to be seen or asked about their relationship.

Several neighbors said that strange sounds would come from room 401 late at night—no, no, not the kind of groaning, but rather suppressed murmurs and some low knocking sounds, which felt quite eerie.

However, his girlfriend seems to have disappeared for the past month, and Zhong Sizao's whereabouts have become even more elusive. He appears to have quit his job at the audio-visual equipment store and stays home all day, with no one knowing what he's doing in his room.

A few residents saw Zhong Sizao by chance. He was seen rushing in and out of room 401, carrying a large black leather bag, and deliberately avoiding other people's gaze.

Finally—no one encountered Chung Sze-Chao in the hallways or stairwells during that week.

The surveillance tapes retrieved from the administrator's office were dated exactly ten days prior. With the help of the elderly administrator, Jian Xiang searched the fourth floor for the past ten days, looking through the 24-hour surveillance footage.

The investigation revealed that Zhong Sizao had briefly gone out on March 19th—six days prior. He left at 6:48 AM and returned about an hour later at 7:41 AM. On both occasions, Zhong Sizao appeared to be in a hurry, carrying a large black bag both when he left and returned.

Judging from the surveillance footage, Zhong Sizao left the room almost as if he were fleeing. He seemed to be running forward desperately, as if he were afraid of something chasing him from behind; and on the way back, his movements still appeared timid, and he seemed very reluctant to return to the room.

---hqszs

Reply [30]: The rest of the time, Room 401 was locked with its iron door.

So Jian continued to investigate the surveillance footage from the other floors on the 19th, and the result was that Zhong Sizao did not go to the other floors of the building, but rushed out of the building entrance and turned right, and it was unknown what his destination was.

After spending the afternoon in the administrator's office, Jian returned to the fourth floor to report to Team Leader Gao Qinfu. It was already past four in the afternoon, and the sabotage team's work was not progressing as smoothly as expected, because there were other large obstacles behind the iron gate.

Jian Xiang volunteered to take over the case, showing no signs of fatigue, which was actually due to the influence of "trembling." Jian Xiang increasingly felt that this case seemed to have been aimed at him from the very beginning.

It is said that every outstanding detective receives timely assistance from a mysterious telepathic connection when investigating the most important case of their life. This is why many famous cases are so convoluted and seemingly hopeless in their investigations, only to be solved by the detectives' unwavering willpower.

These detectives all said that just when the search seemed to have reached a dead end, they suddenly felt a voice from within offering support and guidance, and then everything became clear. Without this mysterious message, even the most skilled detective would probably give up when faced with a seemingly intractable criminal case.

Presumably, this is the same kind of thrill you've never experienced before in your life?

As Jian Xiang put on his protective gear, he told himself, "This case is mine."

The sabotage team had already cut a square passage through the iron door, large enough for an adult to crawl through. Behind the door was a heavy iron cabinet, its back blocking the passage. Presumably because the cabinet was filled with heavy objects, making it impossible to push open directly, the sabotage team decided to continue damaging the cabinet walls.

The high-decibel noise of the chainsaws echoed throughout the fourth-floor corridor. Even with protective earmuffs, it was still extremely noisy, so members of the sabotage team took turns working to maintain rapid efficiency.

Fortunately, the cabinet wall blocking the iron door was not very thick. With Jian Xiang's help, the sabotage team opened a 30-centimeter square passage in less than 20 minutes, only to find that the iron cabinet was filled with stones of various sizes.

"What are you talking about?!"

Team Leader Gao remained silent amidst the clamor of the officers. Since Jian Xiang's investigation report indicated that Zhong Sizao, the resident of room 401, hadn't left the apartment since the morning of the sixth day, and given that the giant rat's autopsy had proven it had devoured a corpse, it was clear that Zhong Sizao's chances of survival were extremely low. Furthermore, the large black leather bag Zhong Sizao always carried when he went out was very likely filled with the pile of stones before them.

Why did he lock himself in the room?

Zhong Sizao's construction of Room 401 into an impenetrable, sealed chamber was tantamount to suicide. However, if he truly intended to commit suicide, why resort to such an extreme method?

The sabotage team worked together to clear the stones out of the metal cabinet, leaving the entire corridor in a mess, resembling a highway ravaged by a landslide. The officers were all sweating profusely, and their doubts about Room 401 deepened.

Soon, they finally emptied most of the stones from the iron cabinet. Jian Xiang, who had first crawled through the iron door, opened the cabinet door at the back. He took out a pen-shaped flashlight from his pocket, shone it forward, and immediately turned around and shouted outside, "No problem! It's all cleared!"

Upon hearing Jian Xiang's shout, all the officers in the corridor cheered with excitement. After a long day of hard work, they had finally broken through this sealed fortress.

Team Leader Gao immediately ordered: "Organize the on-site forensic personnel into groups and enter Room 401!"

He crawled forward through the cold iron cabinet, crouching down to stand on the other side of the iron door. The apartment was completely dark; he shone his flashlight around. The room was a chaotic mess, with coffee tables, stools, and other furniture overturned in corners, and electronic audio-visual equipment, its wires tangled together like silken threads, lying scattered on the floor.

The layout of Room 401 is no different from that of Room 301 downstairs. The living room is directly opposite, and the bathroom is to the left front. The kitchen is at the end of the hallway, and turning right leads to the master bedroom and storage room.

Three police officers followed Jian Xiang inside; the stuffy air in the enclosed space made it difficult to breathe.