Lei Mi - Profiler

In fact, he wasn't even sure whether what he saw was man-made or just random smudges in-between the droplets on that window. Bit by bit, as his memory grew, the symbols took shape.

There was a total of two shapes. The one on the left looked a little like a "9" with a short horizontal line through the middle, while the one on the right sort of resembled the letter "A".

Fang Mu picked up the piece of paper and looked at it from every possible angle, but he still couldn't figure anything out. He tossed it aside, took out a cigarette, and glumly smoked it.

Someone had reached Meng Fanzhe's house before him, snatched the letter, and killed Meng Fanzhe's mother. From this he could deduce two things: First, this person knew about the letter and knew that Fang Mu was going to the house as well. Second, he knew Meng Fanzhe's mother had heart problems and was scared of mice.

Fang Mu thought back to when he had received Meng Fanzhe's mother's call in the library. Had there been anyone else around? Who were they? But he couldn't remember a thing. At the time he had been so engrossed in what she was saying that he hadn't paid any attention to the scene around him.

At the time he had considered having Meng Fanzhe's mother read him the letter over the phone, but fearing that this might get her too excited and worsen her heart condition, he'd decided against it. In the long run, however, it seemed that this decision had cost her life.

Exhausted, he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.

Meng Fanzhe had raised a cat, which meant that he was probably scared of rats. In fact, people's fears were mostly acquired from experiences earlier in life. So Meng Fanzhe's fear of rats probably came from his mother. Perhaps when he was young he saw his mother become terrified of a rat, and as a result, gradually developed this fear himself.

In which case, someone who knew that Meng Fanzhe's mother was scared of rats would also be someone who deeply understood Meng Fanzhe.

And the only person who could have gotten Meng Fanzhe to reveal such personal information was probably that doctor.

If this person really existed, then Fang Mu's initial deduction was correct: At first, this doctor had given Meng Fanzhe a certain amount of psychotherapy, helping him to overcome his fear of roll call, and probably also his fear of rats; it had been he who suggested Meng Fanzhe get a cat. In this way, Meng Fanzhe would have begun to deeply trust and rely on this doctor, even to the point where he would do whatever he was told.

In which case, beginning with the 7/1 double homicide, had Meng Fanzhe carried out all these murders under this doctor's control?

Most likely not. Fang Mu rejected this possibility almost immediately. First, although Meng Fanzhe had a weak personality, he was still a law graduate student and would have never agreed to kill someone. Second, even supposing that the doctor hypnotized Meng Fanzhe, the likelihood was still very low. Although movies often depicted hypnosis as being almost supernaturally powerful, from a criminal justice standpoint, it had never been proven that a person could be hypnotized into committing a murder; not to mention that no one under hypnosis could be capable of planning and carrying out crimes as detailed and meticulous as these.

In which case, could this doctor have been responsible for all the murders?

Fang Mu couldn't help but shiver.

What kind of person is this, and why is he after me?

Someone knocked on the door, jolting his thoughts. When Fang Mu opened it, Deng Linyue stood there.

He subconsciously turned his head as soon as he realized it was her, but she had already seen the bruises on his face.

A small gasp escaped her. "My God, what happened?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing," he mumbled, waving her into the room.

But she wouldn't let up so easily and insisted that he tell her what happened.

Unable to dissuade her, he had no choice but to explain everything.

When he had finished, Deng Linyue didn't say anything in response, just wordlessly sat beside his bed.

After a long silence, she asked, "Is this…really what you want to do?"

"What do you mean?"

She looked up. Placing her hand on his knee, she looked into his eyes and said, "You don't want to just be an ordinary person? Studying hard, graduating, and then going abroad with me? That's not good enough for you?"

Fang Mu looked down and said nothing. He gently moved her hand away and shook his head.

"Why?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears. "Do you think your life is normal? Do you think you're happy like this?

His voice was soft as he spoke. "No."

"Then why are you doing this?" Deng Linyue suddenly jumped to her feet. "Are you a policeman? Is this your duty? Or is someone forcing you?"

When she saw that he wasn't going to respond, she bit her lip in an attempt to calm down. "Fang Mu, I admit that the reason I love you is because you're someone who has experienced a lot. There's an indescribable sort of force around you, and this made me curious. It also captivated me, and made me feel secure. But after I fell in love with you, I found that this force also scared me." The questions seemed to come tumbling out. "Why does so much death always seem to follow you? Why must you always place yourself in such dangerous situations? After what he did, that boy Meng deserved to die, so what does that have to do with you? Why do you have to get yourself tangled up in it? Why do you have to cause so much pointless trouble?" She paused. "When you were doing all this, did you ever think of me?"

Fang Mu looked up. "Meng Fanzhe isn't the killer. The killer is someone else."

"Then so what? Why don't you just not worry about it? Why don't you just let the police do their jobs? Why don't you just be a normal student?"

He smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Impossible." He held her attention. "There are so many things… You just wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't I understand? Tell me!" She sat down beside him and wiped away the tears forming. Her eyes never leaving his face.

He looked steadily into her bright and innocent eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but all he managed to say was, "You…don't need to know."

She stared at him until he looked away.

After a few long moments, she dried her eyes and slowly stood up. She walked to the door. "No matter what," she said in a quiet, soft tone, "I hope you know that regardless of what happens, I will always be by your side."

She opened the door and left.

For an instant Fang Mu wanted to call her back, hold her close, and whisper to her, "I'm sorry… forgive me."

But he didn't do a thing, just sat there and watched her disappear.

A few days later, Tai Wei called to say that Li Weidong had sent police to recheck the apartment, but because the scene had already been fairly heavily disturbed, it was impossible to determine if someone had been there before Fang Mu arrived. Additionally, interviews with the neighbors had turned up nothing of value. The police also searched through the apartment several times, and were certain that the letter Fang Mu mentioned was not at the scene.

Although Tai Wei didn't offer any official opinion over the phone, his position was already clear: the letter did not exist. Someone had to be lying, but whether this was Fang Mu or Dong Guizhi, he didn't know.

Fang Mu didn't feel like arguing with him, so after saying a few brief words, he quickly got off the phone. Sensing that Deng Linyue had been listening in to his conversation, he said without looking over at her: "That was Tai Wei. He called about the SuijingCity investigation."

Sure enough, Deng Linyue had been true to her word. For the past few days, she had stuck close to Fang Mu at all times, except when they were asleep. No matter what time he left his dorm, she was always waiting for him outside.