Chapter 4: 4 Inquiry

“Please trust me when I say I just had a feeling his child would be in danger?” I didn’t sound confident saying those words and my voice trailed off at the end.

Wu Jian laughed, “I trust you. Really! I just want you to come with me.”

Two policemen grabbed my arms from either side. He had almost cuffed me a few minutes ago, he obviously didn’t trust me.

I could only blame myself for being so impulsive. However, I never did anything wrong and the police couldn’t frame me. Although I believed that to be true, I was just as scared of the police as anyone else. Moreover, there was no way I could explain the situation clearly.

It was my first time getting into a police cruiser. Soon, I was being taken to the police station, sirens blaring.

Two policemen brought me to a room with a table and two chairs, asked me to sit down, and left me in there by myself.

Wu Jian entered the room with two cups of water, put one down in front of me, and sat down across the table from me. He adjusted the camera by his side.

He smiled, saying “It’s late. You better tell me everything so we can get this over with.”
Things weren’t looking good. Although I knew he didn’t trust me I said once again, “I just had a really weird feeling that child would be in danger. I am not the murderer.”

Wu Jian nodded seriously, “Hm, just a feeling, huh? All right, there’s just a small problem. I never said the child was dead.”

I froze. I wanted to slap myself across the face. Now there was nothing I could do to rid myself of his suspicion.

It was as if Wu Jian could read my mind. Shaking his head with a suspicious look, he said “You don’t know the child and his family. So, I’m just curious as to how you knew that the child had been hanged?“

That child was hanged? That wasn’t right. Could I have been wrong? Was there another dead child somewhere? Was this just a coincidence? What the hell was going on?

Wu Jian leaned in closer so his mouth was close enough to my ear so he could whisper his next line, “You’re surprised?”

His closeness made me uncomfortable, so I pulled back sobbing, “I know nothing! I just had a feeling the child was going to be in danger!” I must have sounded hysterical.

Wu Jian went back to his seat as if he agreed me, but then he said nodding, “Why did you hang the child?”

I broke down, though I was speechless. All I had seen was the picture of a six-year-old child folded up into a narrow space. I didn’t know why he was hanged.

My voice became louder as I became more and more frightened, “I am not the murderer! It was just a feeling!”

Wu Jian signaled for me to shut up, stretching his finger next to his mouth, “Let’s calm down. No need to rush this. It’s three o’clock right now and dawn isn’t due for a few more hours.”

Wu Jian took a picture out of a pile of files, saying: “This cute child is just 5 years old. But he was hanged. Don’t you think he’s adorable?” he put the picture in front of me.

The young boy was sitting on a golden wooden elephant, waving his hand. It was the same boy who appeared in the photographs I had received in the envelope.

I was baffled. What happened? The picture I saw had shown the boy dying differently.
I stared at the picture. Wu Jian said, “He’s cute, huh?”

“You said he was hanged?” I felt strange. I considered accepting that I’d be a suspect if there was proof that the horrible picture I received was fake. After all, I knew that I wasn’t the murderer. I just wanted to believe that there wasn’t anything following me around.

Wu Jian spread his hands, “What do you think?”

I almost told him about the picture. Nevertheless, I knew that would be a mistake. I kept silent.

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Another policeman entered the interrogation room, glancing at me. He stopped and whispered in Wu Jian’s ear.

A shocked expression took over Wu Jian’s face. He looked at me and said: “Take a break and think about that cute child’s face. I’ll be back.”

He stood up and hurriedly went out with the policeman who had just come in.

I didn't think to wonder about the reason Wu Jian had left. If the child had in fact been hanged as Wu Jian said, the picture I had received might have been a sick joke. I chose to believe that was the case.

Or was that boy put into the narrow space after he was hanged? Maybe he was hanged after he was killed?

I fell asleep with all these thoughts and doubts running through my mind like a horror movie on a loop.

I jerked awake from a nightmare to find Wu Jian eating bread in front of me.
Seeing I’d woken up, Wu Jian pushed the rest of the bread into a plastic bag in front of me. He swallowed and said, “Having a nightmare?”

I shook my head. I could not see the weather outside since there were no windows in the interrogation room.

“Is it dawn already?”

Wu Jian finished the bread in his hand in a hurry, nodding, “It’s ten o’clock.”

Wu Jian took out a tissue and wiped his mouth, asking “What did you use to hang that boy?”

I was speechless. This officer was clearly dedicated to his job. I wanted to tell him off, to scream at him, but I restrained myself. Not out of tact, just out of fear. All I could manage to muster was a feeble response, “I never murdered that boy.”

Wu Jian nodded, “I trust you.”

Why was he always saying that so sarcastically?

Wu Jian seemed to know I didn’t believe him when he said that, so he tried again, “Really, I do trust you. The murderer was caught yesterday. It was the child’s uncle. Honestly, I was just curious about why you felt that boy was in danger.”

Hearing that the murderer had been caught, I took a deep breath, murmuring, “Good, good.”

Wu Jian waved his hand in front of my eyes, “You never answered me.”

“Sorry, it’s just⋯like I said, I had a feeling.”

Wu Jian looked a little surprised to hear me stick to my story, “Anything else?”

I considered for a moment telling him everything about the picture. Finally, I shook my head no. He needed to believe that it was just something I had felt.

Wu Jian’s expression revealed that he thought I was lying, then said with after sighing, “I know you won’t tell me the truth.” He paused for a moment and continued, “Fine, you can leave here, but you cannot leave the city. This is my card, in case you remember anything new.”

He then passed a white card to me. Seeing me pick up it, he said in a low voice, “Call me next time you feel like something is going to happen. Oh and ummm, that boy was not hanged. I lied.” After that, he blinked once and looked down for a moment, lost in thought.
The picture had been real. However, now was not the time to think about that. I stood up, nodding at Wu Jian. Of course, the nodding was out of politeness. It would be foolish for me to call him. I couldn’t do something stupid like that. Not in the position I found myself in.

Finally, I put the card into my pocket, knowing it was for no reason.

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