My House of Horrors

There was no evidence that directly linked Chen Ge to the case at the Cards Archway. If anything, the only thing that they had was some surveillance footage that showed that Chen Ge was around the crime scene two nights ago. That barely amounted to anything. The police were just running through the motions by asking him in for questioning, but what Chen Ge said had gone wildly beyond their expectations.

“Mr. Chen, so you are saying that you went to these places just to investigate the disappearance of Doctor Fang?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s just put that aside for now. Did you go to the Cards Archway last night?” Captain Cai was more concerned about the case at the Cards Avenue. When the place collapsed the night before last, it had exposed the mass grave that was previously hidden underground. Most of the dead bodies were from a very long time ago, but two of the bodies were fresh kills. Their time of death was only several months ago. After the police’s investigation, they found that the victims were all homeless squatters. They were most likely killed when they went to the Cards Archway to rest at night. Based on the profiler’s analysis, there was no conflict of interest or any beneficial relationship tying the victims and the killers. In other words, the killer was someone who was committing murder for the sake of it!

Such a dangerous person had to be arrested as soon as possible, or else it was certain that he would repeat the crime again.

“I only visited the place the night before last. I saw some things there as well. If you wish to solve the case at the Cards Avenue, then you cannot ignore the disappearance of Doctor Fang.” Chen Ge leaned against the cushion of the backseat. “Before Doctor Fang disappeared, his mental health was seriously affected. His colleagues said that he was not acting like his usual self. He spent the entire day in a daze, and he kept mumbling about some horrendous ghost stories.”

Chen Ge took out the notebook that he had been using to record all these details from the inner compartment of his backpack.

“For the past two nights, I have checked about twenty ghost stories throughout Xin Hai in an attempt to find any connection between them and Doctor Fang’s disappearance, and I really came up with something.”

Chen Ge then proceeded to pull out several paper notes from the compartment and showed them to Captain Cai. “I found these at some of the locations for the ghost stories.”

Seeing the strange statement on the paper, the young officers next to the Chen Ge were slightly confused, but Captain Cai’s reaction was very strange. He said subconsciously, “This statement again?”

“You have seen this statement before?” Chen Ge wanted to borrow the power of the law enforcement, but it was not easy to persuade the police to help him. After all, this was not Jiujiang; they had not cooperated in the past before, and they had no reason to put their trust in him. But Chen Ge did not expect Captain Cai to have seen the note before. With that, they had some basis to continue this conversation.

“About half a year ago, there were two homicides in Xin Hai. The victims’ state of death was extremely strange. We found the same notes with the same statement after canvassing the crime scenes.” Captain Cai put on a pair of gloves and took the notes from Chen Ge. “Even though the cases have been successfully solved… how shall I put this? When we got to the killer, the killer had already gone mad. Plenty of evidence pointed toward the madman as the killer, so at the time, the case was quickly solved and closed.”

“This note with the same sentence appeared more than half a year ago?” Chen Ge calculated the time. That would be around the time when his own parents disappeared. “Since the same notes have appeared again, is it possible that it could mean there was more than one killer behind those cases?”

Chen Ge was giving plenty of face to the police at Xin Hai. He did not point out directly that the Xin Hai law enforcement had missed the real culprit but used a roundabout way to point out that there might be more than one killer.

“From the killer’s lack of motive and the grisly method of killing, the possibility of that is high.” Captain Cai became the most serious he had ever been. “Mr. Chen, you have provided us with a very important clue!”

About ten minutes later, the three police officers brought Chen Ge into Xin Hai police station. Since it involved many murders, Captain Cai valued Chen Ge’s opinion a lot, so he was directly brought into the police station’s conference room. Pushing the door open, Captain Cai was surprised to find other people inside the conference room. A middle-aged police officer was seated at the side of the table with a serious expression. Opposite him stood a male lecturer who had the air of a cultivated scholar. It was clear that they had been arguing from the redness that covered both of their faces.

“Captain Yang?”

“Mr. Wang?”

Captain Cai and Chen Ge spoke at the same time, and the people in the room looked at each other.

“Who is this young man?” The middle-aged police officer known as Captain Yang looked at Chen Ge. “Ol’ Cai, how could you bring a normal citizen into the internal conference room?”

“The night before last, the Cards Archway collapsed, and thus, we found the dead bodies of two homeless people. The cause of death was determined as a sudden heart attack due to extreme pressure. It’s clear that they were both homicides. During our investigation, we encountered Mr. Chen, and he has provided us with a very important clue.”

Captain Cai pulled out the paper note.

“There might be more than one killer for the case of the two horrible murders that happened about half a year ago! The murder of these two homeless people was very similar to the previous cases. They might have been committed by the same gang of people!”

“So, the killers who are responsible for the death of the homeless people at the Cards Archway and the people responsible for the horrible murders that happened half a year ago could be the same, huh?” Captain Yang sank into quiet contemplation. Moments later, he turned to Mr. Wang. “Ol’ Wang, it is not that I don’t want to help you, but you can see for yourself that Xin Hai is not so peacefully. Our hands are full with all these sudden cases. We cannot spare any police officers for a case where the killer died twenty years ago. I hope you can understand our difficulty.”

Mr. Wang appeared to have expected this result before he came, so his expression did not change much when he was told such things.

“I shall be going then. I do not want to interrupt your investigation.” He did not appear to be in a good mood. When he walked past Chen Ge, he dropped his voice to a whisper and said, “Boss Chen, when you leave this police station, please do remember to reach out to me.”

“Me?” Chen Ge had no idea why Mr. Wang would suddenly reach out to him, but he still nodded. After all, they had both come from Jiujiang, so they should be helping each other. After Mr. Wang left, Captain Cai closed the door of the conference room and started to ask Chen Ge some questions in more detail. At Jiujiang police station, Chen Ge had accumulated a wealth of investigative experience, so he was very familiar with the procedure of the entire major crimes investigation. Initially, it was the two captains who were asking him questions, but eventually, Chen Ge slowly took over the discussion. He picked up the marker and started to draw and list out all the clues that they had found on the board. Those who did not know might assume that he was a professional lecturer hired by the police station.

His mind was clear, and his logic was in place. Chen Ge used the simplest and most common words to complete wash the suspicion away from himself, and then he proceeded to compile all the information related to the two murders. The cases that spanned half a year were connected together, and the string that connected them was the paper notes with the strange statement found at the various crime scenes.

“The real killer is not crazy, or rather, perhaps they are a team. They knew that they would not be able to escape from your investigation, so they dropped a sacrifice and pushed out a madman to take the fall as the scapegoat.”

When Chen Ge said that, he closely watched the facial expression on the two officers.

Where there was light, there was darkness. To reopen a case that had already been closed about half a year ago, this was not a result that would be easily accepted by everyone. With reputation and many other things on the line, some people might choose to turn a blind eye or purposely work around it. But thankfully, Captain Cai and Captain Yang were not such people. After they had confirmed that the two cases were related and knew that the real killer was still beyond the reach of the law, they immediately came up with a plan. Before Chen Ge, they summoned the entire major crimes unit at Xin Hai into the room.

The police were about to conduct a special meeting, but there was an additional stranger in the room. The young police officers that entered the room could not hide their surprise, but Chen Ge was completely at ease. He even found himself a seat in the corner and planted himself there.

“Mr. Chen, we still need to discuss some internal details about some of these cases. Based on the rules, this cannot be observed by normal citizens, so I will have to request you to wait outside for a while.” Seeing that Chen Ge was ready to sit in on their meeting, Captain Cai showed a helpless smile on his face. “Yue Ji, why don’t you show Mr. Chen to the breakroom and make sure that he is comfortable there?”

A female officer with a baby face walked over. Chen Ge rather unwillingly left the conference room.

“Looks like they do not trust me fully yet. Then again, I cannot blame them. I am only a stranger who’s just arrived from Jiujiang.” Chen Ge stretched lazily. “But it does not matter. Trust can be slowly built. After all, I have a feeling we will be have a lot more interaction in the future.”

He had not slept the whole night. So, when he entered the breakroom, he pulled the few chairs together to form a line, and then with his backpack as the pillow, he lay on them and fell asleep. During the whole process, the female officer stood at the side, watching Chen Ge move the furniture around inside the room, and then she watched him go to sleep just like that.

“He purposely came to the police station to have a nap? What kind of strange behavior is this?” Yue Ji did not dare violate the order given to her by her superior. She even suspected that the man before her might be some important suspect, and she had been given the task of watching over him. Without anything else to do, Yue Ji leaned against the table and kept staring at Chen Ge, who had fallen deeply into his slumber. About one hour later, Chen Ge was shaken awake. When he opened his eyes, Yue Ji and Captain Cai were standing beside him.

“Have you finished the meeting already?”

“Yes, we have decided to investigate both the cases from two nights ago and the case from half a year ago together.” Captain Cai poured a glass of water for Chen Ge. “Other than that, do you mind if we temporarily keep the notes? After the cases are solved, we will return them to you.”

“There is no need for that. You can keep the paper notes as evidence. But I advise your people not to spend too much time staring at the words on the paper.”

Those paper notes were nothing good. If the police were willing to take custody of them, Chen Ge naturally would not reject them.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Chen.” Captain Cai handed the water in the paper cup over to Chen Ge. “During this period, we might need to summon you again for your help, so I hope that you will not leave Xin Hai for the time being.”

“In that case, how about we exchange contact numbers? If you need any help from me, just call me directly. I am also very worried about Doctor Fang’s safety, and I wish to hear any firsthand information about him.” Chen Ge took out his own phone. Captain Cai could not find any reason to reject him, so he did end up exchanging numbers with Chen Ge. “These cases are not as simple as you might imagine. The killers behind them might be a huge group. They are extremely dangerous. You must be very careful during your investigation.”

The purpose of Chen Ge coming to Xin Hai Police Station had been achieved; he had formed a link with the police force and had pointed the law enforcement toward the direction of the cursed hospital. Next, he would need to slowly gain the trust of the police, and then he would gain support for his own objective.

“Okay, we will be extra careful. Look at you, you must be tired. You’d better go back and rest.”

“See you tomorrow.” Seeing Chen Ge depart from the station, Yue Ji was filled with confusion. In the end, she could not help herself but ask, “Captain Cai, who is this person? This is the first time I’ve seen you treat someone so kindly and respectfully.”

“His name is Chen Ge. He is the only normal citizen who has received the public security honorary badge in Jiujiang. He has been personally involved in more than ten major crimes and has helped more than twenty victims gain their justice.” Captain Cai’s gaze was heavy. “Lee Zheng at Jiujiang’s major crimes unit is my former classmates. I’ve already heard many things about this man from him. I just did not expect that he would come to Xin Hai so soon.”

“Could it be some exaggerated rumors? He is involved in more than ten heavy crimes and more than twenty human lives? Is he Conan?” Yue Ji’s interest in Chen Ge was piqued; she kept staring at his back.

“Regardless, time to get back to work. Things are going to get rocky in Xin Hai very soon.”

…

Once Chen Ge walked out from the police station, Mr. Wang, who had been waiting for him at the roadside, walked over.

“Mr. Wang, you have been waiting for me?” Chen Ge had good impression of Mr. Wang, or to be more precise, he had good impression of everyone from Jiujiang Medical University.

“Yes.” Mr. Wang hesitated. He stared at Chen Ge for a very long time before he finally said, “I hear from Zuo Han that you are a legend. To search for your own missing parents, you practically flipped the whole of Jiujiang upside down and solved several important cases along the way.”

“I was just extremely lucky.”

“To be able to encounter so many murders one after another, I would not call that lucky. If anything, I would say you are probably the unluckiest person in the world.” Mr. Wang sighed. “Death, despair, pain, and struggle—behind every murder, there is hidden humanity’s sin. During this peaceful era, we are the people closest to these sins.”

Mr. Wang was being very serious, and this caused Chen Ge to treat him very seriously as well. “Sir, why exactly did you wait for me? What do you need from me?”

“About twenty years ago, there was a serial killer in Jiujiang. At that time, public surveillance was not as comprehensive as it is now. Combined with the fact that all the murders were committed in the countryside, this seriously hampered the investigation.”

Mr. Wang looked at the cars moving up and down the road. It felt like he was talking to him.

“To avoid increased public panic, all the information related to the case was blocked off. The higher-ups even gave an order that the police needed to capture the murderer within a week. In the end, we indeed caught the killer on the seventh day, but at the time, we suspected that there was more than one killer.” Mr. Wang sighed lightly. “The captured killer could not even finish a full sentence. He was made to be killer simply because all the evidence pointed toward him.”

“Since all the evidence pointed toward him, doesn’t that mean that the police got the right person?” Chen Ge had a feeling that he knew what Mr. Wang was getting at.

“But what if the evidence was purposely set up by the real killer?” Mr. Wang squeezed his hands together. “The killer is very cunning. He probably already came up with the solution to shake the blame off him when he committed the first murder.”

The atmosphere slowly became heavy. Both parties were silent for a while before Mr. Wang finally continued. “That case has become a thorn in my heart. I’m always reminded of the victim’s face, his open eyes, how he was struggling for help from me in his last moments.”

When Mr. Wang said these things, he kept his eyes glued on Chen Ge.

“Do you know who the last victim was during that killing spree?”

“Who was it?”

“Chen Ge. That child had the same name as you.” Mr. Wang took a deep breath. “Perhaps it’s because of that Captain Yan was particularly partial toward you. I know you two cannot be the same person, but you two have the same gaze.”

“His name was also Chen Ge?” Chen Ge was startled. “Mr. Wang, do you mind me about this case from twenty years ago in more detail?”

“The first victim was a tourist from another state. He accidentally captured the killer in the process of murdering a child on his camera. The killer was wearing a white doctor’s coat, and the child was only about five.”

The case that Mr. Wang described gave Chen Ge an eerie sense of familiarity.

“After the tourist died, we started our investigation. We slowly discovered how cruel and mad the killer was. He used different methods to kill children of varying ages but of the same body size. Even though we failed to find the bodies of these children, there were witnesses and surveillance footage. Then, what happened next was inexplicable. Two witnesses were brutally murdered, and the murderer in the white coat even somehow managed to tamper with most of the physical evidence.”