Empreinte de main en sang

Chapitre 48

"If you don't want to die, then don't be afraid." Ma Nan smiled bitterly. "We need to work together to figure out if there's any way to escape from here."

The police officer looked up at Ma Nan, then his gaze dimmed again. At that moment, Ma Nan realized that although the officer was trying his best to appear calm, he was actually more nervous than anyone else. His body was tense, the muscles around his eyes twitched every now and then, and his hands, hanging at his sides, were trembling slightly.

Ma Nan wondered, could the murderer really be among these people? At least for now, it was impossible to tell who resembled the killer. Of course, the killer doesn't have their name written on their forehead; according to the logic of typical movies and novels, the least likely to be the killer, the more likely they are. Therefore, if the killer really was among these people, then they should be the least likely to be the murderer.

Ma Nan suddenly thought of the old man—the old man's mind wasn't working well, like he had Alzheimer's, and he would just grin foolishly at anyone he met. No one would believe that someone like that was the murderer.

However, Ma Nan suddenly realized that someone who wasn't thinking clearly would still think of reading a newspaper.

His expression changed slightly, and he immediately said to the two people beside him, "Go and check on that old man."

The police officer in charge of household registration immediately understood what he meant. Liu Hongzhong asked in a trembling voice, "The murderer could be him?"

Ma Nan walked ahead without saying a word, followed closely by the household registration police officer with a stern face, and the pharmaceutical representative hurriedly followed at the back, looking back as if afraid that the murderer would suddenly jump out from behind.

All eight doors in the circular corridor are exactly the same; without any reference points, you wouldn't be able to tell which one is which. So, as Ma Nan and his companion walked, they pushed open every door they passed, silently counting them in their minds.

The further they walked, the heavier their hearts became. They had already passed four doors, and should have reached the room where the old man was, but of those four rooms, only the third contained a corpse; the other three were empty. The corpse was that of the man with the tattooed face. The fifth door was tightly shut. The three stood by the door, looked at each other, and then Ma Nan stepped forward and knocked. After a short while, the door opened, and standing inside was Yang Zheng.

The three looked at each other, speechless. There were still three rooms left. Although they hadn't paid special attention, Ma Nan and the others didn't recall the old man being in that direction.

Ma Nan gave Yang Zheng an awkward, wry smile: "We're looking for that old man."

The police officer in charge of household registration didn't say a word and strode forward.

Ma Nan and Liu Hongzhong had no time to explain to Yang Zheng and immediately followed him downstairs. Yang Zheng hesitated for a moment by the door, then went back into the room and closed the door.

They passed through two more doors, but the room was still empty. There was one last door ahead; Zhao Sihai's body should be inside. The three seemed to be verifying something, their feet still moving. Sure enough, they returned to the door where Zhao Sihai's body was.

The old man had disappeared.

"Could he have heard the commotion and come out for a walk, thus avoiding us?" Ma Nan frowned. If the old man was still here, then that was probably the only explanation.

“We’ll split into two groups and go through it again,” the police officer said, a hint of fear already showing in his eyes.

So the three of them went down in two different directions, with Liu Hongzhong closely following the household registration officer. In this kind of environment, having a policeman by your side made you feel safer, even though it was just a household registration officer.

The three met on the other side of the corridor, and this time they had no more doubts about the old man's disappearance.

"I couldn't tell, I really couldn't tell," Liu Hongzhong murmured. "I never thought that old man was really the murderer."

Ma Nan and the police officer in charge of household registration remained silent. There were two possibilities for the old man's disappearance: either he was the murderer who killed someone and left alone, or the murderer killed Zhao Sihai and took him away. But either way, it meant one thing: there must be a secret passage hidden between this corridor and the eight rooms.

This is a principle that everyone could understand from the beginning: if you can get in, you can definitely get out.

But where exactly is that road?

Over the next few hours, the three of them began to check each room one by one. To make it easier to identify the rooms, Ma Nan even endured the nausea and used a handkerchief he had on him to dab Zhao Sihai's blood, marking each door with a number.

After walking around the room, they carefully checked all the rooms except the one where Yang Zheng and Yang Mei were, but found nothing unusual. Finally, the three gathered in room number 8—the room next to where Zhao Sihai's body had been found—and were all somewhat dejected. If they couldn't find an exit, staying here would only mean waiting for the killer to commit another murder.

Just then, Yang Zheng and Yang Mei suddenly appeared by the door.

Judging from their expressions, they seemed to have had a quarrel. Yang Mei turned her head away in a huff, while Yang Zheng's brows were full of helplessness.

Yang Zheng's gaze swept over the three faces, finally settling on Ma Nan: "I want to ask you for a favor."

Ma Nan stared at him suspiciously, then nodded: "What is it? Tell me."

"I want Yangmei to stay with you."

"Why?" Ma Nan asked curiously. Even without being told, anyone with eyes could see the implications of the relationship between Yang Zheng, the police officer in charge of household registration, and Yang Mei. Yet now, Yang Zheng was giving up the opportunity to be alone with Yang Mei.

"Don't worry about why, I'm doing this for her own good." Yang Zheng glanced at Yang Mei, then hesitated.

He certainly couldn't tell these strangers that he had a split personality and had killed his ex-girlfriend in his sleep. He also couldn't tell them about the detective, because he was the detective's accomplice and had already killed two people here.

"All I can tell you is that these rooms always emit a fragrance that will make us fall asleep quickly. I believe that the murderer killed people while we were all asleep."

Upon hearing Yang Zheng's words, Ma Nan and the other two suddenly realized what was going on. They all recalled that just before Zhao Sihai was killed, they had all smelled that fragrance and had unknowingly fallen asleep.

The murderer killed Zhao Sihai at that time, or perhaps also took the old man with him.

Ma Nan wanted to ask Yang Zheng something more, but Yang Zheng interrupted, "I left Yang Mei here, hoping you can help me keep an eye on her, preferably without leaving her side for even a moment, so I can feel at ease."

Ma Nan glanced at the household registration police officer who was looking down at Yang Mei with furrowed brows, and seemed to understand something.

At this moment, Yang Zheng suddenly shouted, "I did this simply to prevent her from getting hurt. Because there's a beast here who raped her not long ago, in one of these rooms!"

Yang Mei's face showed an undisguised sadness again, and now, this sadness seemed to be mixed with some resentment.

Ma Nan heard the police officer next to him breathing rapidly. Just as he was about to say something, the police officer suddenly started moving and charged straight at Yang Zheng.

"I love her. In this world, she's the only one I love. Why did you hide her away? Why did you stay with her knowing I love her?" The police officer seemed even angrier than Yang Zheng.

Yang Zheng was not afraid at all and immediately stepped forward to meet them.

Ma Nan promptly grabbed the police officer in charge of household registration, and Liu Hongzhong, who was over there, also heard the commotion and quickly stepped forward to hug Yang Zheng.

"Don't you understand yet? She doesn't like you at all. She doesn't even want to see you!" Yang Zheng said breathlessly. "I didn't hide her away. It was you who kept bothering her, so she had no choice but to hide away from you."

"You're talking nonsense!" the police officer roared. "You're the one who forced her not to be with me!"

"If you really like someone, would you rape her like a beast?!" Yang Zheng roared even louder, his voice already hoarse.

The police officer froze, then a pained expression appeared on his face: "I had no choice, that was the only way I could get her."

Ma Nan felt his body go limp and instinctively let go. The fighting spirit he had been displaying moments before had miraculously vanished from the police officer; he even seemed to lack the strength to stand. He slowly squatted down, head bowed, and began to sob softly.