Ba ethnic group's bewitching charm - the executioner - Chapter 12
“I burned the robe and mask. I handled the video very carefully, leaving no clues. As for the server, the police will definitely check the IP address, but that has nothing to do with us. I’m not worried about the police. I’m just curious about who the detective who appeared in the massacre was and what he was trying to do,” Luo Bin said, frowning.
"I told you not to gamble so much, but you didn't listen. Now look what happened," his girlfriend complained.
Luo Bin remained silent. He wasn't worried at all about the video recording posted online causing problems, but he was afraid that killing the detective in the crowd would attract the attention of the police. If that happened, the police would definitely investigate thoroughly, and he feared that it would implicate him and others.
After returning from Yang Zheng's place, he lay in bed pondering what to do. At first, his mind was in turmoil, filled with a sense of impending crisis. Later, after talking with his girlfriend, he calmed down a bit and was able to clear his thoughts.
The detective in the group of murderers is the crux of the problem. Rather than waiting for him to escalate the situation and attract the police, it's better to take the initiative to find out who he is and provide clues to the police if necessary to resolve the crisis.
There seems to be only one way to find out who he is: to contact him and become his accomplice. Yang Zheng has already made contact with him, and he can help with this.
Luo Bin was still hesitant. He was wondering whether he should tell Yang Zheng that he was the masked man in the video. He also wanted to tell him that he hadn't killed anyone, that the video was just a game, and that there was no such thing as a "criminal officer" in the world—the words "criminal officer" on the mask were just something he had written on the spur of the moment with a white pen.
Luo Bin ultimately decided to keep the secret. Although he and Yang Zheng were already quite familiar with each other, he still felt the same way he did when they first met—he didn't know where Yang Zheng came from, what his past was, or even who he really was.
He dared not entrust his secret to someone he didn't know.
That night, he had a dream. He dreamt he was tied to a chair, and a masked man stood before him. The man, holding a knife, deftly slit his throat. He saw blood gushing out like a fountain, but felt no pain or fear; instead, he felt excited. He mumbled something, and the man ripped off his mask. This time, he was startled. The man had no face, or rather, the face beneath the mask was a blank canvas. He blinked hard and saw clearly that two words were written in red ink on that blank canvas—"Executioner."
He woke up, drenched in sweat, tossing and turning, unable to fall back asleep, his mind racing until dawn.
Chapter 8
In the blink of an eye, there are still more than half a month left until the Spring Festival, and the New Year atmosphere on the streets is already quite strong.
As the year draws to a close, things get busy everywhere. Qin Ge couldn't focus all his energy on the video recording, so the task fell entirely to He Lan. The team received a tip that two fugitives had returned. Qin Ge led a stakeout, working for three days before finally capturing them alive. Next up was a theft gang—all mute, over twenty members, tightly organized, with detailed divisions of labor, working in groups of three or five. If discovered, they would physically assault their targets, truly arrogant. The criminal investigation team, in conjunction with three police stations, finally apprehended the entire gang. Besides this, there were many other miscellaneous tasks. The end of the year is a peak time for crime; everyone wants to make more money to go home for the New Year, and criminals are no exception. Qin Ge was busy as a whirlwind, without even a moment to rest.
They finally managed to stop for the day and met up with Helan. Helan hadn't been idle lately either, but she still spent every spare moment thinking about that video recording, and by now she had watched it countless times.
“I have a very strange feeling that something is wrong with this video,” He Lan said.
"What did you figure out?" Qin Ge leaned closer to He Lan's computer.
"Captain Qin, look here." He Lan moved the mouse and dragged the progress bar to a point where the masked man pulled out a knife and held it to Xu Li's neck. "Look closely, the problem lies here."
The knife sliced across the woman's neck, and she slowly stopped struggling, finally drooping her head and remaining still. The man then disappeared from the frame, and after a brief pause, everything went black. About two minutes later, the scene reappeared, with the masked man standing behind the woman, slowly unwrapping the bandages from her face.
"Something's not right." Qin Ge frowned, vaguely realizing something, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Based on the clarity of this video, it can be determined that it was filmed by a computer webcam. Some webcams have built-in switches, while most are controlled by software, meaning that turning the webcam on or off requires touching the mouse or the webcam itself. However, after the black screen appears in the middle, the man suddenly appears behind the woman..."
Qin Ge immediately understood what He Lan meant.
“There was a third person there!” he said.
He Lan nodded: "The video footage is very smooth, with no change in angle, indicating that the camera has always been in the same position and hasn't moved. It also doesn't seem to have been edited. But the black screen in the middle is very strange. The only explanation is that the camera malfunctioned. This would also explain why the murderer was already standing behind Xu Li when the footage reappeared. However, the probability of such a camera malfunction is almost zero; anyone with a little common sense would know that."
"Then what do you think caused that black screen?" Qin Ge didn't know much about cameras.
"The murderer must have done something during those two minutes that he didn't want others to see, so he covered the camera with a cloth."
"If he wants to do something, he can just turn off the camera. Wouldn't that be more convenient?"
"The video was not edited, perhaps because the killer was not very good at video editing. You know, if you turn the camera off and then on again, the recorded video will be two separate files, and merging the video requires special software."
"He was able to hack into the server, so he's obviously very familiar with networking. Could something as simple as merging two files really be difficult for him?"
He Lan paused for a moment, seemingly finding Qin Ge's words reasonable, but she still refused to abandon her reasoning: "That's right, if you're not a network expert, you definitely can't hack into a server. However, there are just too many categories of computer and network technology, and it's impossible for one person to be proficient in all of them. For example, a programming expert may not be proficient in graphics processing."
Qin Ge nodded; He Lan's analysis wasn't entirely without merit.
"If the camera was indeed covered by a black cloth, then after the screen went black, someone must have removed the black cloth covering the camera. Otherwise, the footage wouldn't directly show the murderer standing behind Xu Li."
Qin Ge remained silent for a long while before sighing and saying, "Even if there really is a third person here, we still won't know who he is."
Helan fell silent for a long time before saying, "But I just feel there's something strange about this part. If the murderer could even let others see the scene of the killing, what else could he possibly want others to not know?"
Qin Ge saw that He Lan's eyes were dark and felt a little guilty, so he turned off the video and scratched her short hair: "Forget it, let's talk about this after the New Year. Everyone has been busy all year and deserves a rest."
"But I just felt uneasy, as if something bad would happen if I didn't figure this out."
"Forget it, it's the New Year, don't cause us any trouble." Qin Ge said casually, "Haven't you heard that good things don't come true but bad things do? Everyone's just hoping to get a good night's sleep."
Helan chuckled and remained silent.
"It's rare to have some free time tonight, those guys aren't around. How about we take this opportunity to go out and get something good to eat?" Qin Ge looked around, putting on a mysterious air. "Don't let anyone see us, hurry up and get ready."
Helan smiled, pursing her lips: "Just eat, why are you acting like a thief?"
As the two went out, Helan asked, "Where are we going? Have you decided what you want to go?"
"A new restaurant called Chuan Guo Yan Yi just opened on Haichang Road. It serves Sichuan cuisine, and it's really spicy. Let's go there." Qin Ge went to get the car, and He Lan waited for him at the door. A little while later, the car arrived, and He Lan got in and put her phone back in her bag.
As the car drove along the road, Helan said, "I just made a phone call to a friend of mine who also has nowhere to eat tonight. I told her to go ahead. You won't object to adding an extra pair of chopsticks, will you?"
"It's okay, your friend is definitely a girl, it doesn't matter if there are two more," Qin Ge said nonchalantly.
Upon arriving at the hotel, the two went inside. With the Spring Festival approaching, the hotel and restaurants were busier than usual; the main hall was packed, not to mention the private rooms. Qin Ge and He Lan were looking for a seat when they suddenly saw someone waving at them from a distance. Qin Ge immediately glared at He Lan and said, "Is she the friend you were talking about?"
Helan smiled smugly: "That's right, we're not only friends, but good friends."
The person greeting them was none other than Qin Ge's wife, Dong'er. Qin Ge took good care of He Lan in the team, and sometimes the team members would joke about the two of them, but no one really took it seriously. He Lan and Dong'er had a good relationship; they couldn't be described as sisters, but at least Dong'er didn't treat He Lan like an outsider.
Today, Qin Ge invited He Lan to dinner. While he went to get the car, He Lan called Dong'er.
The two women had a lot to talk about. They ate and chatted, leaving Qin Ge standing to the side. Every now and then, Qin Ge would interject with a comment, and the two women would roll their eyes at him. Being teased by women was actually quite sweet; Qin Ge feigned helplessness, but inwardly he was secretly delighted.
Halfway through the meal, Dong'er suddenly remembered something. She said to Qin Ge, "Hongmian called me today. It's Xiaotong's birthday on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. She invited us over for dinner."