Lei Mi - Profiler

So when Tai Wei emerged from the director's office and then, while heading back down the hallway, once more came across Zhao Yonggui leaning against the window and smoking sullenly, he knew exactly what was meant by the phrase 'misery loves company'.

Because right then, Tai Wei's mood was no better.

Not only had the hospital murder case reached an impasse, there were also zero leads in the recent killing of the little girl. So far, all preliminary investigations into the case had come back with nothing.

On the day of her disappearance, nearly all of Jin Qiao's classmates were promptly picked up by their parents. Only one, a little girl, recalled that when she was heading home, Jin Qiao was still standing outside the school doors, as if waiting for someone. And because the teacher in charge was celebrating her father-in-law's birthday that evening, she had left as soon as school was out. No one noticed who Jin Qiao ended up leaving with or where they went.

Although Jin Bingshan and Yang Qin were originally both professors at JiangbinCityUniversity, Jin Bingshan later left to form an arts and entertainment company with some of his friends, while his wife continued to teach. But whether at the university or in society at large, they both had excellent reputations and no enemies. And while Jin Bingshan did work in the business world, he kept his hands clean, and was never known to have engaged in illicit relationships with any other women. Therefore, the possibility that this was a crime of either passion or revenge could essentially be eliminated.

Interviews with those living near the crime scene also brought miniscule results. According to Jin Bingshan, when he returned home at roughly 2 a.m. that morning, the box was discovered; it was not yet there and he did not register its appearance until five hours later, when he tried to leave and found it blocking the door. Therefore, at some point between two and seven in the morning, the killer must have transported the box containing Jin Qiao's corpse to her parents' doorstep. At this time of year, the sky would already have begun to brighten by 6 a.m., meaning that the killer most likely dropped off the box at some point between two and five. Incidentally, this also happened to be the time when most people sleep their deepest. So when police asked the building residents whether they heard the sound of someone moving something heavy that morning, or saw a suspicious car parked outside, nearly all of them just shook their heads. Only one, a middle-aged man with prostate issues, said that while he was getting up to use the bathroom at around 4 a.m. he heard the sound of a car engine outside. As for the model, license plate, or driver, he never even looked.

As for the box itself, police checked Adidas company stores and specialty shops across the city. They learned that boxes like it were originally used for shipping sportswear, and that after it arrived at a store and was unpacked, it would either be sold to a salvage station or occasionally taken home by one of the employees. There were over a thousand salvage stations of all sizes across the city; investigating them one by one would take a lot of time.

As for the piece of broken pottery, police discovered that it did indeed come from a replica of a vase by the British artist Grayson Perry. Such replicas were available in arts and crafts stores in every corner of the city. Finding the buyer of this specific piece would be like dredging a needle from the bottom of the ocean.

Neither investigation was going anywhere, so when Tai Wei received orders to report to the director's office, he had sighed and prepared for the worst. Luckily, the director didn't blame him at all; just told him to pay attention to every detail and pursue every lead.

After leaving the director's office and nodding at the equally gloomy Old Zhao in the hallway, Tai Wei returned to his office and slumped into his chair. Then, kneading his temples, he lit a cigarette, opened the case folder and began to read, word by word, page after page.

Several hours later, when Tai Wei finally left PSB headquarters it was almost midnight and he was exhausted. At a small roadside wonton restaurant, he ate a cup of hot soup mixed with spicy pepper flakes and looked over the few lines of notes he had scribbled hastily in his notebook.

While reading aimlessly through the case files that afternoon, he had suddenly thought of Fang Mu and remembered how the kid had once talked about a killer's symbols and needs. With nothing else to go on, Tai Wei had figured he might as well try analyzing the case from this perspective.

In a criminal investigation, the key breakthrough point is determining the killer's motive; that way the range of possible suspects can be reduced. And to a certain extent, what is found at the crime scene will suggest this motive.

For example, in the killing of the little girl, there were certain elements that seemed to distinguish the case.

First, the torture. For an adult, murdering a seven-year-old girl would not be a difficult task in the least. So why had the killer taken the time and energy to torture Jin Qiao to death and then afterwards raped her corpse? If this was done to satisfy some sexual need, then the killer was most likely a sexual psychopath.

Second, the videotape, the 15-second close-up that the killer filmed of the victim's genitals. Was this also meant to satisfy some need? If, for instance, the tape was meant to provide sexual stimulation at a later time, why had the killer taken only 15 seconds of footage? More importantly, why deliver this film to the victim's parents? And if the tape was meant to be part of some twisted collection, why only film the victim's genitals when these just barely distinguished her? What kind of significance could this possibly have to the killer?

Third was delivering the victim's corpse to the victim's parents. Based on similar cases in the past, this kind of behavior was often meant as a kind of challenge or way of showing off. In which case, who was he challenging? The police or the parents themselves?

Gulping down the boiling-hot wonton soup, Tai Wei did his best to follow Fang Mu's example and analyze the case based on the killer's psychological characteristics. However, by the time the soup was finished, he had no choice but to admit that besides copying the kid's frowning expression, the rest of it was beyond him.

Afterwards, standing in the crisp midnight air, Tai Wei made a decision: no matter how much the kid glared at him, he was going to visit Fang Mu tomorrow and see what he had to say.

The situation ended up being much simpler than Tai Wei had expected. Unlike before, when Fang Mu had regarded Tai Wei like he was some unwelcome stranger, this time he just made sure the door was closed, and then took the case files from Tai Wei and began reading them quietly.

Tai Wei sighed to himself with relief. He knew by now that when Fang Mu was looking over a case, it was best not to say anything. So with nothing else to do, he turned on Fang Mu's computer and began browsing aimlessly. Inadvertently, in one section on the hard drive, Tai Wei came across a folder titled Data. He opened it. Inside were six more folders, the first titled Huang Yongxiao, the last Ma Kai. His heart skipped a beat; these were the cases Fang Mu had previously helped solve. He double-clicked several of the folders, but they were all password-protected. Then, just as he glanced back at Fang Mu and calculated the likelihood that he would tell him the password, the kid opened his mouth.

"You figure out where this thing came from?" asked Fang Mu, pointing at one of the photographs.

Tai Wei walked over and looked. It was the cardboard box that had held Jin Qiao's corpse. The three-leafed Adidas logo was printed on the side.

"Not yet, we're still looking. Why?"