Netherworld Investigator

That afternoon, Wang Dali and I traveled to four places, namely, the orphanage where he lived in his childhood, the mental hospital, his father’s house, and the company where he worked for half a year.

Under the trivial clues we obtained at each location, a picture of Wang Yizhou’s life slowly took shape. Wang Yizhou's mother died when he was very young so he was raised in an orphanage. A lonely and quiet child, Wang Yizhou showed great interest in machinery. Every time a car drove by, he would stare at it intently, sometimes crouching in the yard all afternoon to watch the driver repair the car. Curious about how it worked, he asked so many questions that even the driver tried to avoid him. He often took apart clocks, toys and electrical appliances in the orphanage for research and was severely beaten severely by the teacher when his misdeeds were discovered.

At the age of thirteen, he was adopted by his biological father but it wasn’t a happy reunion that awaited him. His father had an explosive temper and Wang Yizhou was merely the child born from a drunken one-night stand.

On one occasion, Wang Yizhou played an ingenious trick on the neighbor's child by creating a small contraption that poured a bucket of water from the ceiling when the door was pushed open. When the neighbor came to complain, Wang Yizhou’s father kicked him down to the ground. An accidental knock on the back of his head against the windowsill caused a nosebleed and convulsions. Drink in one hand, his father said that he was just pretending and told the neighbor not to worry. But the apprehensive neighbor pitied him and sent him to the hospital, pulling him back from death’s door.

According to the neighbors, Wang Yizhou often suffered injuries as a child, his unsmiling face always a sickly pallor.

One time, he took three months to build a remote control robot that was mercilessly destroyed by his father, angry that he was always fiddling with garbage. That evening, Wang Yizhou’s gut-wrenching sobs filled the neighborhood.

Colleagues in the company he worked at reported that Wang Yizhou was a freak! He was unusually quiet with zero interpersonal relationships, and spent all his extra time reading mechanical engineering books. Once when his BMW broke down and the automobile service shop couldn’t find the problem, all he had to do was listen to the sound of the engine to know which part needed fixing.

However, Wang Yizhou left the company after working for half a year because of bad interpersonal skills.

After listening to their statements, I couldn’t help but sympathize with Wang Yizhou. His great talents in mechanical engineering were overshadowed and suppressed by the hellacious surrounding of his upbringing. Aside from his discerning teacher, Qi Sheng, no one else had ever given him so much as a word of affirmation or encouragement!

Had Wang Yizhou been given the opportunity to further develop his talents, he might have been the next chief engineer for the J-20 fighter or even the Liaoning aircraft carrier.

My mind suddenly harked back to a sentence I had read somewhere before: China's social system was the tether of geniuses. Wang Yizhou was perhaps the best example of this expression.

You could say that the dark side of his heart was created by the beatings, indifference and insults he experienced when he was a child. But I wasn’t a psychologist. All I could do was remove this terror from society and prevent him from using mechanisms to hurt innocent people again.

By the time our investigation ended, it was already past seven in the evening. Dali was so exhausted he was close to collapse. "Dude, how are you still so energetic?” he asked in amazement. “Aren't you tired after running around all afternoon?"

"Do you know why women don’t get tired when they go shopping?" I asked.

"Fucking hell, you’re actually comparing yourself to women?! Is this you coming out?" he stared at me in wide-eyed shock.

I immediately felt a burst of regret. Had I known he would make a fuss out of an innocent comparison, I would’ve kept my mouth shut. "Why are you behaving more and more like Lao Yao now?” I rolled my eyes at him. “Is it amusing to make fun of me?"

Although my mind was still vigorous, my legs felt like lead. As soon as we returned to the dormitory, I soaked my weary feet and slowly relaxed. It wasn’t until then that I truly understood the harshness of an officer’s life.

I slept till dawn when I was awakened by a call from Xiaotao. "Can you come over now? We’ve located the crime scene!"

"Coming!" I yelled.

When Dali and I arrived at the address given by Xiaotao, we saw several police cars parked below a three-story building from a distance. On the ground floor, Bingxin suddenly ran out to greet me. "Welcome Great Detective Song and Assistant Dali! We thank you for coming down to the crime scene to lend your esteemed guidance."

"Look at you,” I laughed. “As expected of the director's daughter, you can come up with such flattery at the snap of the fingers."

Bingxin tugged at my arm and shook me hard. "Song Yang-gege, you’ve all been naughty!” grumbled Bingxin. “Uncle Wang just told me that you watched a bunch of thrilling videos behind my back!"

"With your courage, I'm sure you won’t be able to sleep after watching them,” I teased. “It’s good you missed out on that."

"How dare you underestimate me?!” pouted Bingxin. “I’m not a child anymore. Don’t you know, I’ve got the courage of a lion..."

"Where’s the crime scene?" I said, quickly changing the subject.

She took us to a spacious basement where Xiaotao, Wang Yuanchao and the other officers were present. This was the location where the first victim was held. The room was now empty but a thorough spray of luminol on the ground revealed a large amount of blood.

"How did you find this place?" I asked Xiaotao.

"It’s all thanks to your idea,” admitted Xiaotao. “We obtained the information after a trip to the power supply bureau."

The contraption created by Storm Punisher had been transported elsewhere. This was the situation they encountered when the police broke into the room.

The owner of the basement had also been brought in for questioning. He said that the basement was rented out as a warehouse but was vacated some time ago and remained unoccupied. He had no idea that such a terrible thing happened here.

The lock on the door showed signs of being forcefully opened, suggesting that Storm Punisher had snuck in unnoticed. He certainly wouldn’t have been foolish enough to rent a place and expose his identity.

"The scene was carefully cleaned with disinfectant,” sighed Xiaotao. “There’s not even a hair left so I doubt we’ll obtain any leads from the crime scene."

"Have you found The Strongest Mantis Shrimp?" I asked.

“If we did, would we still be here?” her lips curled into a bitter smile. “What about you?"

I shared my discoveries to which Xiaotao commended, "You’ve done the work of an entire team! It’s incredible you found such an important clue in the short span of one day!"

"Don’t forget me!" interrupted Dali.

I didn't think there was much else to investigate here so I suggested we head back to the station. After walking of the basement, my eye was suddenly caught by a small advertisement stuck on a lamppost.

"What are you looking at? Have you found the cure to your illness again?" Bingxin joked.

"Stop fooling around,” I reproached. “I’m looking at the advertisements for rent.”

There were all sorts of advertisements on the lamppost–plumbing services, professional locksmiths, even ones from couples looking to buy children for a hefty sum of money. Then, I noticed an advertisement about a basement for rent with the owner’s contact information below. 

"How did the murderer come to know about the vacant basement here?" I asked.

A light bulb went off in Xiaotao’s head. "Do you mean he lives nearby?"

"Yes, he must be familiar with the area,” I looked around and nodded. “He knew who posted the advertisement and may even be living in one of the rooms within our view."

"Now that we know the murderer’s identity, let’s conduct a blanket search and ask door to door!" suggested Xiaotao.

The job was left to the police. We sat in the car chatting while we munched on the snacks Bingxin had brought with her. Some time past 9 pm, Xiaotao called me, her voice filled with an irrepressible excitement. "Song Yang, come here now! We’ve found the murderer's home!"