It was already five in the afternoon when we left the orphanage. Huang Xiaotao drove us back into the city and took us to a grilled fish restaurant for dinner.
She kept making calls throughout the meal. As the leader of the special investigation team, she seemed pretty busy.
When she finally hung up, I asked, "Any progress?"
"Nothing substantial yet," Huang Xiaotao frowned. "The best time to solve a murder case is within forty-eight hours. But this body was discovered too late. I'm afraid this might turn into a long, drawn-out battle."
"If only there was another corpse..." Wang Dali muttered.
We shot him a glare. Embarrassed, he explained, "Isn't that how it always is in the movies? One death after another, then they finally catch the killer."
"You jinx!" Huang Xiaotao snapped.
"But Wang Dali might be onto something. This case doesn't look like a crime of passion. It feels more like a targeted serial killing. Seven days have passed — I worry there's already a second victim somewhere in the city," I said.
"Huang Ye is taking revenge on his mother for abandoning him, which is why he's targeting prostitutes. Sounds a bit like Jack the Ripper, doesn't it?" Huang Xiaotao said.
...
...
"Yeah, I feel the same way," I nodded.
"Do you think this will end like the Jack the Ripper case — never solved?" Wang Dali asked.
"Can you spit out some ivory instead of nonsense?" Huang Xiaotao rolled her eyes.
"Alright, alright, I'll zip it. Can't I just eat?" At that moment, the waiter brought Huang Xiaotao's milkshake. Seeing it, Wang Dali suddenly covered his mouth and dashed to the restroom — probably reminded of last night's autopsy.
"You're such a weirdo!" Huang Xiaotao laughed, shaking her head.
After dinner, Huang Xiaotao planned to drive us back. It was already dark, and the police station was quite far from campus. I didn't want her to go out of her way, so Wang Dali and I took the bus.
Before leaving, Huang Xiaotao said, "I still need to sort through the clues. I'll call if I need your help."
"Got it," I replied.
The next two days passed without incident. Then one night, Huang Xiaotao called, her voice unusually serious.
"Song Yang, there might be another victim tonight. Can you come over?"
"What happened?" I asked.
"I sent Wang Yuanchao to pick you up. He'll be waiting at the school gate." She hung up.
Wang Dali had just gone to bed, so I shook him awake. Grumbling, he said, "Why is it always at night? She's the real vampire, active in the dark..."
"Are you coming or not? If not, I'm going alone!" I said.
"Fine, fine, let me get dressed." He jumped up.
We snuck out and waited outside the campus gate. Soon, Wang Yuanchao's car arrived. On the way, I asked why Huang Xiaotao said "might" about the victim.
Wang Yuanchao replied coolly, "You'll see when we get there."
The car headed toward the Sacred Heart Orphanage. Police cars were gathered outside, and the same middle-aged lady from before was there. Huang Xiaotao stood with hands on hips, scolding two officers.
"How could you let this happen? Not watching a live person properly, and someone died! Who's responsible?"
"What happened?" I stepped forward.
Huang Xiaotao explained that after searching every hospital in the city for stroke patients matching the profile, they came up empty. Expanding the search, they found medical records for the orphanage director at a stroke-specialized hospital in a neighboring city — he had been treated there a year ago.
She grew suspicious immediately. The director was likely an accomplice.
She ordered the officers tailing him to detain him quickly. But he had already escaped through the back door of the orphanage. Staff said he rarely went out, so he was probably aiding the killer elsewhere.
"Let's check his office first," I said.
"Okay," Huang Xiaotao nodded.
The office light was on. The negligent officer stammered, "We saw the light from a distance, assumed he was inside, so we let our guard down..."
Huang Xiaotao sighed. "My fault. I should have placed more people around the orphanage."
I scanned the room. On the desk lay a Bible and a pen. The ashtray held some burnt paper scraps. A tech officer was about to pick them up.
"Wait!" I warned.
The burnt scraps might hold key evidence. If disturbed too much, they'd crumble. I told Wang Dali, "Go buy an ink squid and a bottle of linseed oil."
"Damn, where am I supposed to find that at this hour?" he grumbled.
Wang Yuanchao offered, "There's a large supermarket three kilometers away. I'll drive you."
"Good. Thanks." I nodded.
With Wang Yuanchao gone, there was nothing else notable. Then Xiao Zhou quietly tapped my shoulder.
"Song Yang, there's something I need to tell you."
"What?" I asked.
"There really are vampires in Nanjiang!" Xiao Zhou said mysteriously.
I almost choked. Was he dense or what?
Seeing my disbelief, he pulled an old yellowed file from his briefcase and handed it over.
Huang Xiaotao rolled her eyes. "Xiao Zhou, you've been ignoring video analysis these past days and chasing vampires instead?"
"I'm convinced it's a key clue," he insisted.
Huang Xiaotao twitched her cheek. If they weren't equals, she'd have exploded.
I opened the file. It detailed a bizarre case from eighteen years ago. The victim was a thirty-seven-year-old prostitute, found in her rented room with nearly all her blood drained.
The file included photos of the victim.
She wore a red dress, lying face down, her skin pale as paper. A close-up showed a small bite mark on her neck — not as large as the blood hole in the current case.
My head buzzed. I quickly connected the dots. "Red dress... prostitute... eighteen years ago... orphanage..."
Xiao Zhou didn't notice my reaction. "See? This proves vampires have existed in Nanjiang all along!"
"Yeah, it's important. Thanks," I said repeatedly.
Xiao Zhou looked baffled, probably didn't expect gratitude.
I told Huang Xiaotao, "If I'm right, the eighteen-year-old victim was Huang Ye's mother."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Absolutely. Huang Ye killed his own mother eighteen years ago. So the director lied to us — Huang Ye wasn't abandoned, he's a fugitive killer," I said quickly.
"Why would the director cover for him?" Huang Xiaotao questioned.
"I don't believe he's a saint. He's covering up a murder and helping Huang Ye commit crimes. The truth's simple — the director is Huang Ye's biological father!" I sneered.
Everyone was stunned. I calmly laid out the theory: the director, when young, broke church rules and had an affair with Huang Ye's mother.
Whether it was a fleeting fling or genuine feelings, we don't know. She got pregnant and gave birth to Huang Ye.
As director, he couldn't accept the son. And as a prostitute, Huang Ye's mother couldn't properly care for him.
A woman abandoned by a faithless man, giving birth to such a "monster," was filled with bitterness. Huang Ye became the target of her hatred.
Growing up in such an environment twisted Huang Ye's mind. He despised his mother.
One day, he killed her. The director probably watched from the shadows, then appeared to save him from prison...