Lei Mi - Profiler

"I'd bet anything!" he said. "He was a little thinner than in the picture, but it has to be him!"

They couldn't hesitate any longer. Tai Wei immediately asked the department to assemble a squad to arrest Ma Kai. When they were ready to leave the substation, Tai Wei asked Fang Mu whether he would rather wait there or return to school.

Fang Mu quickly replied that he would wait at the substation for news of what happened. After telling his colleagues at the station to look after the kid, Tai Wei turned and was about to go when Fang Mu grabbed his arm.

"Be careful," he said. "This guy is extremely dangerous."

8:22 p.m. that night.

It was an old building, built more than 20 years ago at least. According to their investigation, it served as family housing for workers from the Red Light Tractor Factory. Tai Wei looked up at the window of Ma Kai's third floor apartment. Deep blue curtains covered it completely, but a faint orange light could be seen from within.

Accompanying Tai Wei were nine policemen. He had divided them into three groups: attack, rescue and support. The attack group was responsible for subduing the suspect after the room was breached, the rescue group was responsible for saving the girl (if she was still alive), and the support group was responsible for sealing off the corridor and window, so the suspect couldn't escape.

To ensure the operation was successful, that afternoon Tai Wei and another officer had disguised themselves as workers from the gas company and inspected one of the first floor apartments. It was a two-bedroom residence, the layout identical to Ma Kai's. Tai Wei concluded that the girl was most likely being held in the small northern bedroom. He told the rescue team that the moment they entered the apartment, they needed to get inside that northern bedroom as soon as possible and save the little girl. The others would worry about grabbing the suspect.

At 8:25 p.m., the rescue mission began on schedule.

Tai Wei led the attack and rescue teams as they crept up to the third floor. At last they stopped right outside Ma Kai's apartment. There was no peephole. Once the attack team was in position on either side of the door, Tai Wei knocked.

No response. Tai Wei heard soft footsteps from within. Then the light leaking from under the door went out.

Tai Wei knocked three more times. Still no response.

"No one's home," said Tai Wei in a loud voice. "Let's go to the apartment across the hall."

After walking to the apartment opposite, Tai Wei knocked on the door. Almost immediately, a woman's voice sounded from inside. "Who's there?"

Still speaking in a loud voice, Tai Wei said, "We're from Pharmaceutical Plant Three. Recently we've been developing a new product called Happy Blood Enrichment Pills. They're specially made to cure various kinds of blood deficiencies and anemia. To reward our many customers, we're holding a special Million Pill Giveaway. We've come to your house today to present you with some pills, and I assure you that they're completely free."

"Really? Wait one moment." The door opened and a middle-aged woman with a big puff of hair stuck her head out and asked, "They're really free?"

At almost the same time, the door across the hall suddenly opened.

The attack team charged through the doorway and leapt on the man standing there. With no time to react, he was knocked to the ground.

Leaving the woman staring wide-eyed in fear, Tai Wei crossed the hall and rushed into Apartment 302.

Inside, the man was being pinned tightly to the floor by several policemen. Grabbing his hair, one of them yanked it back and ordered, "Speak. What's your name?"

At a glance Tai Wei knew it was Ma Kai. Without stopping, he followed the rescue team heading to the northern bedroom.

The door was locked. Immediately a member of the rescue team kicked it open. Raising his gun, Tai Wei stepped inside.

The lights were all off. They could see the shape of a large bed, and on it the shape of a person could be dimly made out. While the rest of the men began examining the room, Tai Wei walked to the bed and shined it with his flashlight. Lying on it was a young girl, her arms and legs tied to the four bedposts in a spread-eagle position. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were tightly closed. Tape covered her mouth. Tai Wei could tell she was Xu Jie, the missing girl.

Was she still alive?

Tai Wei placed his hand under her nose. She was breathing. The weight that had been pressing on his heart now vanished in relief.

They soon determined there was no one else in the room. Tai Wei had his men untie the comatose girl, and he notified the support team to radio the ambulance.

The ambulance that had been waiting nearby since the start of the mission now rushed to the scene. In no time they had taken the girl to the hospital to begin her examination.

By then the suspect was already handcuffed and lying face down on his living room floor. Two members of the rescue team had their guns aimed at his head.

Tai Wei grabbed the man's hair and lifted his head. It had a disgustingly greasy feel. He looked at Ma Kai's emaciated face. His skin was pale white, the sides of his mouth were covered in yellow scabs, and gunk surrounded his eyes. His nose appeared to have been broken when he was knocked to the floor and it dripped with blood. Ma Kai twisted like a worm on the ground, mumbling to himself, "The blood…make it stop…"

"Are you Ma Kai?" Tai Wei asked in a loud voice.

Ma Kai opened his eyes slightly and looked at Tai Wei. Then he closed them and continued to mumble. "The blood…the blood… You have to stop it."

Tai Wei suddenly wanted nothing more than to smash the man across the face with the butt of his gun, but he quickly restrained himself. With a disgusted look on his face, he rose to his feet and motioned to the other officers. "Take him away!"

The on-duty officer at the North Evergreen Street substation kept glancing over at the strange young man.

He never said a word or smoked a single cigarette the whole night. He just sat there looking straight ahead, like he was in a trance. He didn't even touch his carton of takeout food.

When the phone rang, the on-duty officer picked it up and said a few words. Then he turned to the visitor: "Are you Fang Mu?"

The kid spun toward him at once, a strange light burning from his eyes.

"They asked for you."

Fang Mu jumped to his feet. His legs were stiff from having sat so long. As he ran over to grab the phone, he smacked into the desk with a loud bang. "Hello?"

A wall of noise met his ear. He heard yelling and the scream of the police siren, and above it all Tai Wei's voice. He sounded rushed, but also very excited. "We got him, it was our man!"

"What about the girl?"

"She's alive and well, at the hospital now. I just called and the doctor told me that, aside from being scared and a little malnourished, the girl is completely fine."

Fang Mu shut his eyes and hung up the phone. Only then did he feel the piercing pain in his leg from where it smacked into the desk. Returning to his chair, he sat in silence for a moment. Then he opened the carton of takeout. "Excuse me."

The on-duty officer looked over to see a weak but hugely relieved smile on Fang Mu's face.

"Can you grab me a cup of water?"

It was after 11 o’clock when Tai Wei remembered to bring Fang Mu home. In the car, he told Fang Mu that the crime scene technicians had already determined that Ma Kai's fingerprints matched those from the other murders, so even though he hadn't yet confessed, charging him would be a cinch.

Fang Mu didn't say a word. He just stared at the darkness outside the window.

"You take it easy when you get back," said Tai Wei, noticing Fang Mu's exhausted expression. "I'll stop by in a few days."