Empreinte de main en sang

Chapitre 5

“If people are dressed in bulky clothes, the effect will definitely not be good. Almost all photographers will have the models dress lightly. People who don’t know will think otherwise and think that the photographer is trying to take advantage of the situation.” Perhaps because there was a policeman standing next to him, Yang Zheng felt a little uneasy and made a special confession to the young policeman before the shoot.

The young policeman actually wished the models would all be naked, so he nodded repeatedly, as if he understood perfectly.

Yang Zheng was fully engaged in filming. The two young women who came today were quite good-looking, with great figures, and most importantly, they were willing to cooperate. Yang Zheng directed the shots precisely. At first, it was a bit cold, but after filming around the block, both the photographers and the girls were sweating, and the girls were wearing less and less clothing. During breaks in filming, Yang Zheng stole glances at the young policeman. He stared at the man's body like a wooden statue, his mouth slightly open, as if he might drool at any moment.

Yang Zheng thought to himself, "How can there be such a spineless cop? These days, the police have seen it all. It's much easier and safer for them to get women than for ordinary people."

They got so caught up in taking pictures that they forgot about time. By the time the two girls finished taking all the photos, it was already noon.

Yang Mei saw the two girls off. Yang Zheng lay down on the sofa, staring at the camera screen as he reviewed the photos. Before he knew it, the young policeman leaned over and said, "Tell Yang Mei for me when you have time."

"What did you say?" Yang Zheng asked casually without even looking up.

"You've completely forgotten what I asked you to do? It hasn't been that long." The young policeman's tone was a bit exaggerated.

Yang Zheng paused for a moment before looking at him and slowly nodded: "Okay, I'll remember this. You have to find the right opportunity for this kind of thing. The girl is shy, and if you say it out of the blue, she won't be prepared. Plus, she keeps seeing you hanging around in this police uniform, so she might be scared away."

"I understand, I'll do as you say." The young policeman nodded repeatedly, his attitude extremely sincere.

It was lunchtime, and the police officer insisted on taking Yang Zheng out to a restaurant, but Yang Zheng absolutely refused. He understood the saying, "He who eats another's food is bound to him." The young officer was also stubborn; while the two were arguing, Yang Mei came downstairs with her small bag, coldly tossing out a sentence, "I'm leaving."

After Yang Mei left, the young policeman lost all his energy, plopped down on the sofa, and looked utterly dejected.

"Can't you, as the boss, even provide lunch for people?" he said.

"Look at you, you're really treating her like your wife, starting to feel sorry for her now," Yang Zheng said irritably. At that moment, he suddenly found this young policeman quite amusing.

"That's only a matter of time." The police officer grinned foolishly, as if he could really get Yangmei.

Yang Zheng remained silent, while the police officer lay on the sofa, seemingly lost in thought, as if he had no other plans for the day and was determined to spend time with Yang Zheng. Yang Zheng went upstairs for a while, then returned and sat opposite the police officer, wanting to say something, but his expression was somewhat hesitant.

"What, are you hiding something from me?" The young policeman finally figured it out.

"There is something, but I don't know if I should say it."

"Yang Mei has a boyfriend?" The young policeman sat up abruptly, his face hardening with nervousness.

“This has nothing to do with Yang Mei. Look at your pathetic self.” Yang Zheng spoke bluntly. “Is Yang Mei all you can think about right now?”

"Don't scare me. As long as Yangmei doesn't have a boyfriend, you can tell me anything else." The police officer breathed a sigh of relief.

Yang Zheng thought for a moment, stood up, said "wait a minute," and went upstairs again. When he came down, he was carrying his laptop. He turned it on, opened a video file on the desktop, and RealPlayer started playing a clip.

A woman with bandages wrapped around her head was tied to a chair, and a masked man slit her throat with a knife.

The image was exactly what Yang Zheng had seen online last night.

The police officer was engrossed in watching, and Yang Zheng didn't disturb him until the video stopped. The officer nodded repeatedly: "Laptops are so much better; you can take them anywhere and watch movies. I'll buy one after the New Year too. Come with me and show me some movies."

Yang Zheng was a little dizzy; this young policeman seemed to be an extraordinary scoundrel.

"Let's not talk about the laptop, let's talk about that scene from earlier. I downloaded it from the internet last night. At first, I didn't think anything of it, there's so much of this kind of thing online. But at the end, when the masked man untied the bandage on the woman's head, I vaguely felt that the woman looked familiar. I thought about it all night, but I couldn't remember. Just now, when I was going upstairs, it suddenly occurred to me that the woman had come here to take pictures before."

"What do you mean?" The police officer in charge of household registration looked completely bewildered.

"Are you out of your mind or do you not even have a brain?" Yang Zheng was furious. "If that woman really did come here to take photos, then it means this video was filmed in this city. Now that woman is dead, what do you mean by that?"

"Murder?" The police officer was startled, his lazy expression vanishing instantly.

"Whether it's a murder or not is up to you police officers to decide. I'm just reporting some information to you. I figure you probably don't want to be a household registration officer for the rest of your life, so maybe this is an opportunity for you."

The police officer stared intently at one spot, clearly deep in thought. After a while, he slapped his forehead, an excited expression spreading across his face: "The information you provided is very important. I'll go back and report to the station right away."

He stood up, strode to the door, then turned back and said, "I'll come back when I'm done."

Yang Zheng had just breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he'd finally gotten rid of this guy, when he heard his words and almost fell over. There's a saying that goes, "It's not the thief you should fear, but the one watching you." Now, Yang Zheng felt he'd rather be watched by a thief than by a policeman.

Now Yang Zheng was alone in the room, and it was extremely quiet. Yang Zheng watched the video on the computer one more time, and finally froze the image. He stared at the woman's face, becoming more and more convinced that he had really seen this woman before.

The woman wasn't particularly beautiful, but she was very young.

She is now dead, and her soul is on its way to heaven or hell.

At this moment, Yang Zheng was like the bayberry under the flowering tree in the morning. His heart was shrouded in a faint sadness, whether because of the dead woman or because of the bayberry.

Chapter 4

Qin Ge, dressed casually with a small bag tucked under his arm, looked like he was collecting electricity bills. Inside was a portable hard drive containing the video file he'd downloaded from the internet the night before. He'd intended to call a few people from the team over to take a look, but as soon as he entered, he was surrounded by the team's young men. They ushered him to He Lan's table and showed him a video playing on the monitor.

That's exactly what Qin Ge wants everyone to see today.

He Lan wasn't old; she had just graduated from police academy last year and been assigned to the team, but she was the most internet-savvy member. She told Qin Ge that overnight, the video had spread like wildfire online. Many people downloaded it, uploaded it to different servers, and then posted it on forums; some offered online streaming, while others provided download links. Even some quick-reacting entertainment websites collected the video, featured it on their homepages, and gave it all sorts of names, but they were all nothing more than violent, bloody, and pornographic.

"It won't be long before netizens across the country can see it. At that point, it will definitely alarm the higher-ups, so instead of waiting for orders from above, we might as well take the initiative and figure this out ourselves," He Lan said.

"The internet is a global village, and this situation may not necessarily affect us in the end," some people say.

“But don’t forget, this video recording originated from our city,” He Lan replied.

"That's not necessarily true. The internet is so vast, who knows where it was first published?"

"That's simple. Now we'll split up and go online, whether it's a forum or a website. There's a time limit for posting. If we can find a place where we post before the time the website address is announced on the radio, then this matter has nothing to do with us."

No one moved. Although they didn't say it, they all agreed with Helan's point of view.

Qin Ge thought for a moment and said, "It's almost the end of the year, and everyone has a lot on their plate. We need to investigate this, but we can't let it interfere with other work. When the captain comes later, I'll discuss it with him. I think we shouldn't involve too many people. He Lan is familiar with the internet, so let's hand this over to her for now. If we really confirm that this is a murder case, then we'll report it to the bureau for investigation."

Of course, no one had any objection to Qin Ge's decision.