Chapter 54: The Death of Qiu Ling

Xu Lan was about to start eating when he received a phone call from Sun Fei – Qiu Ling was found to be dead. She was killed by the same means. He stood up immediately, almost flipping the table in front of him. Bai Wu was startled by his actions.

“What happened, Papa?” Bai Wu asked blankly.

“Huh, nothing. I’m going to the police station now, you stay at home. If there’s anything just give me a call, understand?” Xu Lan said anxiously while he dressed.

“Okay, I understand. Don’t worry and just go, Papa.” Bai Wu looked at Xu Lan with slight reluctance and dismay.

“Good…” Xu Lan was amused by Bai Wu’s reaction and came over to pat his head before he headed out. He reached out halfway but quickly retracted his hands – Bai Wu was all grown up.

“Stay at home and be good, I’m leaving.”

Xu Lan still turned his head around to advise again when he was at the doorstep. Bai Wu nodded his head obediently.

The atmosphere in the police station was depressing. Everyone kept their head low and was busy with their own work. They just received a lecture, nothing was on track. Even Xiao Zhang who was terrified of Xu Lan did not see him coming in with a frown. He was too busy doing his job.

“What happened?” Xu Lan asked the people in the meeting room while he hanged his coat on the clothes stand.

“It’s just that… this morning, Qiu Ling did not turn up when it’s time to go to work. I sensed that there’s something wrong, so I went up to check. Sh… she was already gone…” Xiao Xu explained while he trembled in fear. He was responsible for watching after Qiu Ling and he lost her before his very eyes.

Xu Lan squinted his eyes cautiously, “What do you mean by that? Didn’t I tell you to follow her closely at all times? You’re telling me now she’s dead?”

“I… I… because there was nothing unusual the past two days and we were observing from the opposite. We did not…” It seemed that Xiao Xu wanted to continue but he was cut off by Sun Fei’s piercing glance. Beads of sweat emerged from his forehead, which he had to constantly wipe them away.

“Let’s go to the scene first. Is Lao Hu there?” Xu Lan asked after giving some thought.

“Hmm, he’s surveying the scene,” answered Sun Fei.

“Let’s go!” Xu Lan stood up and headed out right away.

Qiu Ling stayed in the city, the place where most of the white collars gathered together, Hongfeng estate in the Lanshan area. Though it was said to be the hub for white collars, there were many that could not afford this place. This particular area had a great geographical setting, where it leaned on mountains from the west and faced rivers on the east. It was also strategically positioned with Honghe area on the northern side and Jingxing area at its south.

Hu Cheng scanned the whole crime scene. It seemed to be committed by the same criminal suspect regardless of perspectives. However, was Qiu Ling not one of them? Why, even Qiu Ling…

“Lao Hu, how was it? Any discovery?” Xu Lan walked in together with Sun Fei, asked him while he wore his gloves.

“Same as before,” Hu Cheng answered helplessly and shook his head.

Xu Lan looked around the house, the interior was decorated in simple Northern European style. It was a normal, usual home for an educated female.

“Xiao Xu didn’t notice anything unusual from the night before? The man could not have appeared out of thin air. Are there any clues from the surveillance?”

Xu Lan let out a sigh and asked after seeing a troubled Hu Cheng.

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“I already requested for the surveillance tapes, we will watch it later when we get back. Come and examine Qiu Ling first. Even though the methods were similar to the first few cases, there’s something different about this.” Hu Cheng took out an empty pipe and placed it in his mouth before leading Xu Lan to Qiu Ling.

There was no more life in those eyes. However, those widened eyes with the size of cowbells showed the sheer amount of shock and horror that the victim experienced before death.

“The room is clean and tidy, no signs of fighting. This proves that Qiu Ling did not know that the killer would murder her. They must have met up for a different reason.” Hu Cheng closed Qiu Ling’s eyes gently but it sprung open after he removed his hand.

“It’s quite frightening,” Xiao Li said with his nose pinched.

“That also meant that Qiu Ling let the killer without any defense and they had sexual intercourse? It is worth to re-examine the relationship between the killer and Qiu Ling,” Xu Lan tapped on Xiao Li’s shoulders and continued talking.

Besides that, the state of Qiu Ling was similar to the other three victims. All of them were naked and tied up on the bed, the left breast was severed from the chest and the private part was sewn shut. The cause of death was due to excessive bleeding.

“I thought Qiu Ling was just a mama-san, never thought that she would be… and most likely the killer knew that we are aware of Qiu Ling, thus he killed her in advance before she could give away anything.” Xu Lan stood in front of Qiu Ling with his arms crossed and examined this woman.

Exactly what role did Qiu Ling play in this case? Did they manage to strike home? Were they far behind, or worse, were they moving toward the opposing direction?

“It’s most likely to be that. We lost our lead again, the killer is much more cunning than we imagined,” Hu Cheng said dejectedly before telling his forensics colleagues to examine in detail.

“Hey, Xiao Xu, come over here,” Sun Fei yelled from the living room, attracting all of the team.

“Where did Qiu Ling have her dinner last night?” Sun Fei pointed toward the two wine glasses on the table and asked.

“She should be at home, she didn’t go to a restaurant,” Xiao Xu answered after thinking carefully.

Sun Fei walked toward the windows. Xiao Xu and the guys were observing directly from the opposite building. He pulled the curtain and covered half of the living room.

“She knew that she was being followed?” Sun Fei asked.

“This… we did not notice anything unusual since we started following her, so…” Xiao Xu answered.

“It appears that Qiu Ling is not as simple as it seems. She tricked our guys with such ease and was able to bring that man home, where she finally brought trouble upon herself,” Xu Lan gently stroked his chin and said as if he was deep in thought.

Sun Fei looked at that two wine glasses and nodded his head, before placing them into sealed bags. He examined the surrounding for the last time and walked toward the bedroom.

“Why did he always manage to execute murder flawlessly without haste, leaving no clues behind?”

Hu Cheng felt that it was impossible to catch the killer within ten days. The entire police force was invested in this case but the killer still found a way to kill his accomplice with the same method.

Every drop of blood on the floor was the symbol of ridicule, mocking them as a useless bunch of wimps that could not catch the killer.

“This kind of elite killer can be a handful. They commit calculated crimes where they kill with a motive. Therefore, there are not many clues left behind. However, justice has long arms, we will find evidence against him sooner or later. As the saying goes, ‘he that touches pit shall be defiled’.” Xu Lan tapped on Hu Cheng’s shoulders and comforted him.

“Qiu Ling’s death also explained one problem.”

“What problem?” Sun Fei and Hu Cheng asked synchronously.