บท 88: Chapter 88
Zhen Ai walked out of the conference room, carefully reviewing the conversation between Yan Su and Rheid.
At first glance, the unknown figure's message through the videos seemed clear: I am a moral enforcer, and these five people have committed crimes, evading the law. I will represent both the law and God to make them suffer, to make them repent. BAU profilers, analyze me, expose my true identity!
But after Yan Su's analysis, things no longer seemed so simple.
This unknown individual understood criminal psychology. He was misleading everyone into thinking he was a moral enforcer, but his actual goal lay elsewhere.
If his purpose wasn't to punish the evil he saw, then what exactly was his goal?
Zhen Ai pondered further. If this person was so clever and capable of setting up a misleading scenario, could he also be setting up a false "correct" option?
It felt like a never-ending loop, like trying to guess in a game of rock-paper-scissors.
Should she remind Yan Su? But she wasn't an expert, and it didn't seem right.
As she was thinking about it, Yan Su gently brushed the back of her hand with his own and said softly, "Don't worry, I won't jump to conclusions too quickly."
Zhen Ai felt a sense of relief. She was worrying unnecessarily. He always thought things through so meticulously; there was no need to worry.
Lopez, the most adept at dealing with people, went alone to question the families of the missing individuals. Bringing too many people would have put unnecessary psychological pressure on them, so the others waited in the next room.
To match the order of the videos, they questioned the families in the same sequence.
The first to speak was the father of the young girl. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be from a lower social class. He explained that the girl's mother had run off long ago, leaving him to raise their daughter alone. The girl had always been well-behaved, shy, and gentle, never causing trouble. The video was a devastating blow to him. Seeing his daughter stripped of her clothes and subjected to such humiliation, he covered his face and sobbed, "Why did that monster target my daughter?"
When asked about the boy mentioned in the video who was thrown out by the girl, the father was in disbelief: "She must have said that under duress. My daughter is the sweetest, most gentle soul. She would never do something like that."
Next came the parents of the kindergarten teacher, a happy middle-class family.
The mother and father held hands tightly throughout, tears in their eyes but holding back their emotions. They described their daughter as a perfect child, kind-hearted and full of love. Even as they saw that parts of her body had been mutilated in the video, their faces reflected intense grief, but they never openly wept, only staring wide-eyed as tears silently streamed down their cheeks:
"We didn't know she was involved in the abduction of that little girl from the kindergarten. When Meagan Zora went missing, the entire town was searching for her. We even helped put up flyers and sent flowers to the Zora family. God, we're so sorry to that family. Our daughter, our child, failed them."
Standing on the other side of the glass wall, Zhen Ai's eyes became moist.
Family was an unbreakable bond, especially between parents and their children.
Criminal psychologists often analyze a criminal's childhood, attributing the blame to the parents, leaving lifelong scars. But, in reverse, a grown child's crimes could also leave elderly parents with a grief they would carry to their graves. Wasn't that an even deeper and more inescapable sorrow?
She suddenly recalled a quote from this country's greatest president: "Whatever you are, be a good one."
When every parent holds their newborn child, do they not kiss their baby's forehead and pray: "No matter what you grow up to be, be a good child for your mother"?
But being a good person is so hard. And being a good child is even harder.
Especially for someone like her, whose parents were bad people.
The mother of the third victim, the one who suffered the most gruesome fate in the video, had cried herself into a wreck. She explained that her husband had died early, and she had spoiled her daughter too much, making her arrogant and headstrong. The girl had moved to New York at a young age. Hearing about her daughter's affair with her stepfather in the video, the mother alternated between cursing the man and cursing her daughter, crying throughout the entire conversation.
The fourth victim's parents were the most composed, despite their extreme sadness. The mother leaned on the shoulder of the writer's older brother, weeping silently, while the father, eyes red, spoke, "He had been coming home less frequently over the past five years due to the nature of his job. We had already prepared ourselves for the possibility of losing him." Though his words were steady, his voice cracked, "The last time we saw him was two months ago, and he was doing fine. My son was always an upright person."
At this point, Nell shared the gathered information about the missing individuals with the team.
Zhen Ai took a look and was stunned. Apart from the teacher and the writer, the first girl in the video had actually worked as a maid in the Candy House Castle, the third victim was a real actress, and the little girl was the one who had delivered a clock to Yan Su at the kindergarten!
Zhen Ai's heart skipped a beat, and she anxiously glanced at Yan Su. He merely frowned slightly, his expression calm as ever, showing no sign of excess emotion.
Zhen Ai was unsettled. It was now clear: the killer was targeting people connected to Yan Su. Could it be...
No, it didn't add up. She remembered Bert didn't like recordings—at least not of these women.
The fifth set of parents belonged to the little girl. The child was so young, and her mother could barely speak through her sobs, "Our baby was such a sweet girl. She wasn't a bad child. Jimmy was her younger brother. It was just an accident. She's so small; how could she be guilty? How could that lunatic do this to a child?"
Zhen Ai was taken aback. The little girl was repenting for the accidental death of her brother?
She recalled the girl saying, "My mommy said he went to heaven." After her son's accidental death, the mother had told her daughter a well-meaning lie—what a great mother. But now, even her only remaining daughter was facing terrible danger.
The questioning ended soon after. Aside from the teacher and the little girl, there was no overlap or similarity in the background or profession of the other missing people. The investigation hit a dead end when it came to identifying a common target profile.
Without a consistent victim type, it became difficult to determine the suspect's psychological motives.
While everyone in the conference room was trying to figure out how the unknown perpetrator selected his victims, Yan Su suddenly spoke quietly: "I've seen all five of these people recently."
The room fell silent.
No one spoke, but each person had their own thoughts. Finally, Laise said, with a hint of meaning, "The audio and video all point to you. Mr. Yan, someone is killing people around you..."
Rheid interrupted abruptly, "That's a good lead. We should check for any suspicious individuals around S.A."
Lopez added, "No matter why he's torturing these people, he'll leave some kind of signature on them. Our job is to find those signs and trace the next target."
Yan Su remained calm, but Zhen Ai felt warmth in her heart. She knew they were trying to protect him.
It was getting late, so everyone returned to the hotel to rest.
Worried about Yan Su's state of mind, Zhen Ai walked him to his room. As soon as they reached the door, he suddenly pulled her into the hallway. Without turning on the lights, he pressed her against the wall and kissed her deeply. The kiss was more forceful than usual, but as always, tender.
In the darkness, their intimacy deepened, and she didn't resist.
He kissed her ear softly, his voice rich and low, "Ai, don't be afraid. I'm always here."
Zhen Ai finally realized that his kiss was meant to comfort and encourage her. He must have been worried that the bloody scenes from the videos earlier might have frightened her. But she wasn't afraid: "Dear, I'm actually stronger than you think."
In the darkness, he suddenly laughed quietly. "I've always known that, actually, I just forgot recently."
Zhen Ai's heart warmed. It wasn't that he had forgotten; he had simply grown more used to protecting her.
She turned on the light and looked at him foolishly for a moment, even trying to open the door to leave. But he stubbornly held onto her hand, not letting her go.
Zhen Ai's face flushed slightly, a bit embarrassed. "Let's not do this, the others are right next door. It wouldn't be good if they found out."
Yan Su was puzzled. "Why not? We're not sneaking around." He thought for a moment, "Why are you worried about being discovered? That doesn't seem logical. No one saw anything just now. Oh, you're worried they might hear. But the walls are soundproof, and I wasn't planning to have sex with you tonight."
Zhen Ai felt extremely embarrassed and insisted on returning. But he was having fun now, gripping her wrist without letting go.
After struggling for a while, Zhen Ai suddenly realized something, and her heart sank: "Dear, are you worried something might happen to me?"
Yan Su was embarrassed for a second and replied, "No."
But she knew he was. "You don't secretly think those people died because of you, do you?"
This time he answered a bit quicker, "No," though his expression inadvertently grew colder.
Zhen Ai lowered her head, and after a long pause, she lifted her face with a smile and hugged his arm:
"The first time Bert heard a girl scream, it was me. He thought it was fun, so he went around the world collecting the screams of other girls. But people only scream when they're in pain or terrified, so he..."
"Ai, don't say it." He pulled her into his arms, "Ai, don't talk about that. You know it wasn't because of you, and it wasn't your fault."
She pouted, "You're missing the point, dummy."
He pressed his forehead to hers and smiled. "Okay, it wasn't because of me, and it wasn't my fault."
The next morning, someone discovered the bodies.
Everyone quickly rushed to the forest at the edge of town.
Surprisingly, the five bodies were thrown together, tucked neatly into sleeping bags. At first glance, it looked like five campers quietly resting. The bodies were discovered by a group of morning joggers, and the sight of the neatly arranged dead bodies terrified them.
All five victims had business cards tied around their necks.
Eva unzipped the sleeping bags. All five corpses were naked, with visible signs of having been washed. She frowned, "These aren't sleeping bags; they're body bags!"
Yan Su crouched down, observing the pollen that had fallen on the sleeping bags and glancing at the surroundings. "These flowers bloom at noon, so the bodies were likely dumped here before noon yesterday."
He stood up. "Five bodies—he would need his own car to transport them. The thick summer leaves left no tire tracks, and the forest is dense, yet he didn't get lost. This suggests he's very familiar with the area."
"He's likely a local," Nell added.
Yan Su didn't respond and asked Eva, "Any new findings?"
Eva removed her gloves, her expression grim. "I have to say, if this killer is a sadist, he's an artist among sadists!"
Lopez asked, "What do you mean?"
Eva shook her head in disbelief. "As a forensic pathologist, I've seen all kinds of injuries over the years, and every type I've encountered has been inflicted on these five people. What's even more terrifying is that there are no minor injuries."
Laise, confused, asked, "What does that mean?"
Yan Su squinted slightly, "Minor injuries are a sign of early exploration or experimentation. No minor injuries mean the killer is highly skilled. This likely isn't his first crime."
Rheid agreed, "Plus, rookie serial killers usually pick off one victim at a time, escalating their methods as they go. This is the first time we've seen someone take control of five people at once."
However, Cooper and Smith had stayed up all night searching for similar torture cases across the country, only to come up empty-handed.
This result puzzled everyone.
Could this person really have pulled off such a high-level crime on their first attempt?
"Beyond that," Yan Su said, frowning at the bodies, "there's another contradiction."
Zhen Ai asked, "What is it?"
"This person has already demonstrated high levels of skill and capability. As the killings continue, his disregard for life would only grow. The pleasure he derives from murder would diminish, which is why serial killers tend to escalate their methods over time."
Zhen Ai thought for a moment, "When the satisfaction from torture reaches its limit, the killer would continue to degrade the victims even in death—by dumping the bodies in trash heaps, dismembering them, or posing them in humiliating ways."
Yan Su was silent for a moment, then suddenly looked at Zhen Ai.
Zhen Ai blinked. "What?"
Yan Su said, "Ai, you're starting to think like a psychopath."
Zhen Ai glared at him.
He smiled faintly and then grew serious again. After a moment, he rubbed his nose and muttered to himself, "Putting them in sleeping bags is like giving them a proper burial. Why clean them up and lay them to rest? Why, at the last moment, would he give them a dignified death?"
Soon, the forensic team took the bodies back for further examination.
Not long after, Eva called everyone into the autopsy room. Her first words were, "There were no drugs found in the victims' systems, so they were all conscious during the torture, except for the little girl."
The atmosphere turned tense.
Eva continued:
"In addition to the injuries you saw in the video, all five victims had varying degrees of genital mutilation. Moreover, each person was missing some body parts.
The girl (the maid) was strangled to death, with a patch of scalp, along with hair, missing from her head;
The teacher had cotton stuffed in her nostrils and was suffocated with a pillow. She was missing her lips and breasts;
The actress died from sheer pain, her ears and skin removed;
The writer was shot to death, and his heart was removed post-mortem;
The little girl died from sleeping pills, and... the killer performed..." Eva's face darkened, and she quickly uttered the word, "circumcision."
Everyone present was chilled to the bone. Lopez, who used to work in child protection, clenched his fists so tightly they cracked.
Eva pressed a hand to her forehead, her voice small: "Please, catch this demon as soon as possible."
After a long silence, Cooper, the leader, addressed everyone: "We're convening immediately to start building a profile." The team quickly gathered in the meeting room, each person with a rough idea of the suspect's characteristics, ready to compare and refine their insights.
Cooper, the oldest, began: "The killer came prepared, with a meticulous plan. Except for the child, the other four victims lived alone, one of them being a former CIA agent. He was able to easily subdue them, not merely through charm but likely with the use of weapons. He's physically fit, likely proficient with firearms, and may have a military background."
Smith picked up, "The videos he sent seem to focus on confession, but the screams and the condition of the victims' bodies show that his real focus is on torture. Especially those two lines he left, 'Are you listening?' and 'Are you enjoying it?'—these are direct reflections of his own psyche. We're dealing with a full-fledged sadist, and it's definitely sexual. Also, he is someone close to Mr. S.A."
Rheid presented the data: "The FBI has conducted research on this. In cases of sexual sadism, the perpetrator is mostly male, and the victims are usually of the same race. The victims here range in age from 5 to 30 years old. Statistically, the perpetrator of a sex crime is often younger than the oldest victim, which means he should be between 25 and 28 years old."
Lopez added, "Sadism is a form of emotional release. His outburst didn't escalate gradually but exploded simultaneously with five victims. This suggests he himself was subjected to inhumane abuse, likely from his childhood—maybe from family or other forms of extreme victimization, like illness or captivity. He doesn't empathize with the pain of others, but among the five victims, the males suffered the least amount of abuse, and one died from a single gunshot, which was quick and relatively painless. Psychologically, this suggests that the killer had a deep attachment to his father. The person we are looking for likely spent a significant amount of time living closely with his father."
Nell spoke, "By sending the video to the victims' families, the killer inflicts psychological torture on them while preserving the footage for his own later enjoyment. He has the victims confess, but by sending the video, he's declaring, 'I don't need your forgiveness.' Someone who does this is showing occasional glimpses of pity or mercy, yet deep down, he sees himself as morally superior. It's a subtle habit.
The person we're looking for likely holds a highly respectable position, perhaps even represents the 'righteous' side of society."
Rheid nervously played with his fingers. "Also, his choice of victims is very random—like an omnivore. But despite this, his crime scenes are extremely clean and organized, with the video background in white and the bodies neatly arranged at the dump site. He's a neat freak. And then there's that machine voice—it suggests he distances himself from his victims. He might lack confidence in romantic relationships or struggle with interpersonal communication. He likely has a dual personality, behaving differently in public and private. The timing of the body disposal, which occurred before he sent the tape, shows he's methodical. It's like everything is part of his plan. He's watching us."
Zhen Ai sat quietly, listening. Normally, one Yan Su already left her in awe, but now she felt surrounded by a room full of Yan Sus, each person's thoughts moving at high speed, connecting seamlessly.
At this rate, it wouldn't take long to create a full profile of the criminal.
But why had Yan Su remained silent?
She looked over at him, and as if on cue, Yan Su began to speak, picking up from where Rheid left off. His pace quickened, "The timeline from the victims' abduction to their abuse and eventual death didn't exceed two days. His organizational skills and planning ability are impressive. There was no hesitation when he tortured and killed—he's smart, resourceful, and unafraid. His intentions are clear, and he's extremely confident. Everything he's shown proves that he's accustomed to killing."
He paused, then added, "He might be among us."
Everyone fell into silent agreement.
"And another thing," Yan Su slowed down, "based on the victims' professions and the parts of their bodies the killer took, I believe I've figured out the connection between them."
Under the weight of everyone's gaze, Yan Su paused for a moment before concluding, "This is a man's complete sexual fantasy."
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