Lei Mi - Profiler

"…Upside-down…" said Fang Mu, seemingly speaking to himself. All of a sudden, his face was ashen.

"That's right. It was drawn with one point down and two points up. Why do you want to know? …Hey, Fang Mu, can you still hear me? Hello, hello…?"

Ignoring him, Fang Mu slowly hung up the phone.

Looking as if all his energy had left him, Fang Mu leaned back against the bench, his eyes empty. From Fang Mu's conversation with Du Yu, Tai Wei more or less understood that on the eve of Qu Weiqiang and Wang Qian's murders, someone had drawn an upside-down five-pointed star on Fang Mu's door. Now he wondered what it was supposed to mean.

"What's the significance of an upside-down five-pointed star?" asked Tai Wei.

Fang Mu seemed to be so scared that he had begun to tremble. It took him a long time to reply. At last, lips shaking, he said, "Richard Ramirez. American serial killer. On multiple occasions between 1984 and 1985, he snuck into peoples' homes, killed all the adult men, raped the women and children, and then dismembered their corpses. Once he was finished, he would leave behind the same symbol at every crime scene: an upside-down five-pointed star. Sometimes he would leave it on the wall, sometimes on a mirror, and sometimes directly on the bodies of his victims."

He pointed at the crime scene photograph. "Wang Qian's head is facing the door and her feet are facing the window so that when police entered the room she would have looked just like an upside-down five-pointed star. Ramirez was different than other serial killers. Not only did he lack any trademark method of murdering his victims-he'd shoot them, beat them to death, slit their throats, strangle them-he also didn't seek out any particular kind of victim. He killed children under five, men and women over seventy, and people of all races and walks of life. As a result, he was extremely difficult for police to catch. At last, Ramirez was arrested in 1985 and sentenced to death in 1989."

With that, Fang Mu dropped his head and said no more.

Lighting a cigarette, Tai Wei slowly organized his thoughts.

"Richard Ramirez, Harold Shipman, Tsutomu Miyazaki, Ed Gein, Charles Manson," he said at last, seemingly lost in thought, "it really does seem like this guy is copying famous serial killers from history. And he even left a clue to the first crime on your door-the five-pointed star…"

The moment these words left Tai Wei's mouth, he abruptly stopped talking and his eyes went wide. The cigarette in his hand was immediately forgotten. For several seconds he sat there, stunned. He then turned to face Fang Mu, who was trying to light a cigarette, but his hands were shaking too much to use the lighter.

At last, with what seemed great determination, Tai Wei slowly said: "Fang Mu, I think this guy is coming for you." He gave the kid a careful look. His face was now deathly pale. "He's testing you, trying to see whether you can guess who he'll be copying next. No one else on campus understands this stuff as much as you do."

Tai Wei spoke slowly and softly, but to Fang Mu, each word felt like a bullet shot straight at his heart. "You think so?" he asked at last. "No way, that's impossible." Lighting a cigarette, he inhaled deeply, and then turned to Tai Wei and forced a smile.

What kind of smile was this? Tai Wei had to wonder.

Disheartened. Indignant. Despairing. Terrified. Was he trying to convince himself that this was all just a coincidence?

Don't be such a fool, Fang Mu thought as his thin, self-deceiving smile twitched involuntarily.

Time passed and the sky grew dark. To Fang Mu, it began to seem as if all the dim shapes around him were growing nearer. The basketball hoops, the chain-link fence, the trees, even the dorms all appeared to come alive, and with the deepening darkness they seemed to be secretly laughing at him, as if they were closing in on him, malice in their hearts, step by step.

He felt his throat become dry, his mouth bitter, and his head spin. At last, unable to stop himself, he bent over and began to vomit.

Tai Wei sat there motionlessly, watching as Fang Mu retched so violently that his body appeared to split in half.

His heart was filled with sympathy and misery.

Fang Mu lay in bed all day. He didn't eat, didn't drink, didn't say a single word; just stared at the ceiling and ignored everyone. Although Du Yu was already accustomed to this sort of behavior, he had a vague feeling that something was different this time.

Tai Wei came by later that night.

When Tai Wei entered the dorm room, Du Yu was trying to convince Fang Mu to have some of the dinner he had bought for him. Tai Wei saw that a lunch tray was still sitting on Fang Mu's desk, the food long since gone cold.

Du Yu nodded at Tai Wei as he came into the room and then motioned helplessly in Fang Mu's direction.

Only a day had passed, but Fang Mu had already thinned out considerably. His chin was even sharper than usual and his eyes, still staring motionlessly at the ceiling, appeared startlingly huge.

Tai Wei sat down next to Fang Mu's bed and looked at him for several seconds. "You fasting?"

Fang Mu made no response. His eyes didn't even move.

Tai Wei chuckled and picked up Fang Mu's dinner tray. He gave it a good sniff.

"Mmm, smells delicious. Stewed chicken and potatoes with rice. What's this one?"

"Sweet and sour crispy-fried fish balls," said Du Yu, looking at Fang Mu as he answered. "It's an appetizer."

"Wow, what a considerate friend you have!" said Tai Wei. "You'd better eat this quick."

Fang Mu briefly dropped his gaze from the ceiling. "Thank you," he said quietly, and then rolled over to face the inside of the bed.

Du Yu looked at Tai Wei and shrugged helplessly. Tai Wei just smiled and waved his hand to show he didn't mind.

The three of them sat there in silence. After a little while, Du Yu picked up his backpack and water bottle and motioned to Tai Wei that he was going out. Then left, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Now it was just the two of them. Tai Wei looked at Fang Mu, who was still lying there motionless with his face to the wall. Sighing, Tai Wei pulled out a cigarette and gloomily smoked it.

By the time the cigarette had burned all the way down, Fang Mu still hadn't acknowledged his visitor in the least. At last, Tai Wei started to talk.

"Partner, I completely understand how you're feeling right now. I might be a cop, but if I had an opponent like this, I'd be just as scared as you. But scared or not, hiding out in your room all day is no kind of solution. If he wants you dead, then no matter how much you try to escape, sooner or later he's going to find you. That's why we need to strike first!"

Seeing that Fang Mu still hadn't moved, Tai Wei continued. "Today I looked over all of Ma Kai's known acquaintances and didn't find anyone suspicious; therefore, I don't think the problem came from that end. I've also already spoken with the Changhong City PSB and asked for their assistance in investigating if any of the family members or accomplices of the criminals you put away are trying to get revenge." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I know I didn't ask your permission. You're not going to be mad at me, are you?"

Suddenly Fang Mu sat up, startling Tai Wei.

"Is it possible for you to shut your mouth for even a second and not chatter on like an old woman?" Fang Mu yelled.

Doing his best to keep his cool, Tai Wei began: "I understand how you're feeling right now — "

"You don't understand shit!" said Fang Mu roughly. "I'm not afraid at all. Even if he were hiding under the bed right now with a knife in his hand I still wouldn't be afraid. This isn't the first time I've faced someone who wanted kill me, and it won't be the last!" Suddenly his voice choked with sobs. "Why did you need to kill all those people? If you want me dead then do it! Kill me right now! Why end so many lives for no reason?"