Unexpectedly, the young man had some insights into criminal investigation and criminal psychology. When they started discussing several cases that had shaken the entire province in recent years, the young man actually knew about all of them. What does an old detective love most? He loves drinking and boasting about the cases he's solved. The two of them hit it off wonderfully.
Somehow, the conversation eventually turned to the Xu Baping case.
The young man asked, "Do you think Xu Baping was formidable?"
The old detective instinctively replied, "Very." In his mind, anyone who had killed so many people and was so heartless had to be a ruthless character.
But the young man just smiled and said, "I think he was just so-so. Actually, his methods were very simple and crude—he didn't put much thought into them at all. First, stranger crimes are extremely hard to solve. Otherwise, why did it take years to catch those notorious killers since the founding of the country—some of whom were only elementary school graduates, some even farmers—who murdered dozens of people? Second, investigative techniques back then were still backward. If he were operating today, surveillance cameras would catch him immediately, and he'd be arrested in a day."
Though the old detective felt somewhat uncomfortable, he had to admit the young man made valid points.
However, the young man's attitude shifted very quickly. He then became particularly curious and patient, asking about the details of some cases from the old detective's past. Since those cases had long been solved and the perpetrators caught, and as long as specific victim identities weren't involved, there was no harm in sharing. So the old detective recounted everything in detail.
In the end, the old detective got so drunk he was muddle-headed, and it was the young man who escorted him home.
But he only ever met that young man once and never saw him again.
...
You Mingxu's eyes gleamed with excitement as she listened: "Does the old comrade remember what the young man looked like? Or what his name was?"
Xu Mengshan replied, "He didn't say his name, and it's been two years since that one meeting. The old comrade only has a vague impression of his appearance. But we might as well try everything, heh—I've already brought the old comrade back. We'll go see the portrait expert soon."
Here, "portrait expert" referred to someone skilled at drawing facial composites.
You Mingxu was thrilled. Even a rough outline would give them a direction. Moreover, based on the old comrade's description, the young man closely matched both the suspect's appearance from the surveillance footage and Yin Feng's criminal psychological profile of the perpetrator.
As for the fourth line of investigation Xu Mengshan was pursuing—recent reports of assaults or stalking targeting women—a search turned up over a dozen cases. Some had been misunderstandings, others already solved with the criminals apprehended. However, there were two incidents where single women, returning home late from work, felt they were being followed. Fortunately, the women were alert and managed to escape. You Mingxu instructed Xu Mengshan to check the relevant surveillance footage to see if any clues could be found.
The fifth line of inquiry, focusing on forced break-ins, yielded no results.
Meanwhile, You Mingxu's own line of investigation had thoroughly vetted all employees and customers of the two bathhouses, without identifying any suspects. She had even checked delivery personnel, maintenance workers, cleaners, and other regular visitors. She felt that this approach wasn't effective. She still had the intuition that the pattern was right under her nose—it shouldn't be so far-fetched. There must be some connection she was overlooking.Yin Feng thought the same and said to her, "How about I take you for a massage? You can familiarize yourself with the process, then have a good chat with a massage therapist. Find out what their routine is like from their first day at the company, who they interact with, and how they spend their days."
You Mingxu snapped, "Get lost!" Although she knew both establishments were legitimate bathhouses and the old Yin Feng wouldn’t have sunk that low, hearing him mention indulgent pastimes like eating, drinking, and entertainment irritated her. She thought that now that he was under her watch, she wouldn’t let him have his way—she’d keep him firmly in check. A massage? Let Guan Jun learn how to give him one instead!
Naturally unaware of You Mingxu’s thoughts, Yin Feng wasn’t bothered by her cold refusal. After a moment’s reflection, he instructed Chen Feng to look up an easy-to-learn massage technique and send it to him. Being clever, he memorized it after watching a few videos on his phone, already smiling at the thought of trying it out when he got home that evening...
Although You Mingxu had no intention of getting a massage, one part of Yin Feng’s suggestion had struck a chord. She sensed a previously overlooked clue emerging. However, it was still too early to tell if it would lead anywhere. So, she turned to a colleague from the IT department for assistance in verifying some information.
As it turned out, no one expected the first breakthrough to come from an outsider—Guan Jun, the gardener at Yin Feng’s home.
It was on the evening of the second day after Yin Feng assigned him the task, and five days after the second victim’s murder, that Guan Jun sent everyone a compiled list of online forum posts and tracking results for several IP addresses.
Unwilling to enter the police station, Guan Jun left only Yin Feng, You Mingxu, and Xu Mengshan to review the materials on the computer.
Following Yin Feng’s instructions, Guan Jun had gathered posts from major forums discussing several famous serial murder cases. Additionally, he singled out three highly popular threads dedicated specifically to the Xu Baping case. These threads had received replies as recently as last month, proving that an interest in violence is an inherent part of human nature.
From these discussions, Guan Jun had filtered out three IP addresses.
You Mingxu asked, "How did he select these?"
Yin Feng replied, "I told him to pick the ones that made sense."
You Mingxu paused: Guan Jun was already a bit unconventional, so having him choose what "made sense"—wasn’t that just a lucky accident?
The three of them picked up the materials to examine.
The owner of the first IP had repeatedly shared opinions on several online serial murder cases and had commented once or twice on the Xu Baping case. Their view was: Xu Baping was a highly talented killer. Despite his poor background and lack of education, his ability to commit multiple crimes showed intelligence and adaptability. Moreover, their tone implied that Xu Baping didn’t care about being caught—he was seeking release.
Reading this, Yin Feng remarked, "Well said."
Additionally, this IP owner used the same ID across several forums, making them somewhat well-known within this discussion circle.
Yin Feng said, "It’s not him."The owner of the second IP appeared to have some knowledge of criminal psychology and investigative techniques. Each time they posted about a case, they would essentially reconstruct the crime through reasoning or analyze the known modus operandi. Although their analysis was a mix of accurate and inaccurate points, many aspects still hit the mark. Xu Mengshan shook his head as he read: "True masters walk among the common folk."
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