Chapter 211: The Zodiac Murders

2022-05-20

In the first case, the killer murdered two office workers. There wasn’t much of an age difference between them. In the second, the victims were a family of three with large age gaps between each. The third case saw victims of different ages who all lived in the same apartment complex.

We’d spent ages trying to find what connected all these people but always came up empty. Maybe we were looking too much at their social circles and background and missed something else. Gender, age, relationships—those were all solid, but we never considered anything beyond that.

The Chinese zodiac, though, that’s almost superstitious. We’d never even thought to check the victims’ zodiac animals or collected that kind of information. But now, looking at it, what if all these victims actually had different zodiac signs? That possibility hit me, and I sent a message to Mary right away, telling her to check the victims’ personal records for their zodiacs.

While waiting, I kept chatting with the old woman. “Granny, are you sure you don’t remember who ended up taking those bowls? You know who we are, right? You must realize we wouldn’t come to your house for no reason. This is about people’s lives. Please try to think. Who took those bowls in the end?”

She paused and thought for a moment before speaking. “I really don’t remember. The bowls, yes, I painted them myself. But who I sold them to or gave them to, I honestly can’t recall. Getting old makes your memory fuzzy. I don’t even get why anyone would care so much about some bowls. If you hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known.”

She gave a little wave and added, “But I do remember that was the last time I ever painted any. Not long after that, my father got seriously ill and died within a week. After he died, the family sold the factory, split the money, and went their separate ways. When the factory shut down, there were still quite a few unsold bowls, and we just gave them away.”

I nodded. I really couldn’t keep pressing an old lady for details about events over a decade ago. But this trip hadn’t been for nothing—we’d picked up a key clue. If the killer is choosing victims based on the twelve zodiac animals, then with eight people already dead, there are four more to go…

At that moment, Mary messaged me back. But when I glanced at the list and started counting, there were actually nine dead. I smacked my forehead, realizing I’d forgotten the woman boss who’d already turned to bones. That meant the zodiac murder theory wasn’t quite right. But when I looked closer, I was shocked—all nine had different zodiacs.

The first two office workers were both different—one a monkey, one a sheep. The family of three: the father was a dragon, the mother a horse, their daughter an ox. The woman boss was a rabbit. Old Wang was a rat. The widow across the hall was a snake, and that noisy kid was a tiger.

Then it hit me. Maybe each time someone dies, the killer discards the bowl with the corresponding zodiac. Back in the sewer, the killer must’ve been about to throw away the rat bowl when we ran into them, and panicked, smashing all the bowls at once.

That means three people are still in danger. The next targets? Someone born in the year of the pig, the dog, and the rooster.

And among those three, I’m a dog, Guan Zengbin’s a pig, and Gu Chen is a rooster. That was too much of a coincidence—it sent a chill down my spine.

I pointed to the victims’ zodiacs and said, “See? Every single one has a different sign.”

Gu Chen and Guan Zengbin leaned in, even the old woman looked on in curiosity.

Gu Chen spoke up. “So we’ve got rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, and monkey covered. That leaves chicken, dog, and pig. But even knowing this, it’s hard to catch the killer—the zodiac cycles around every twelve years. There’s a huge age range. The killer’s got plenty of options. And based on your theory, the killer is eliminating people who know their secret? Could this all just be a coincidence?”

I frowned, going over it in my head. If the killer is picking victims purely by their zodiac, that’s basically random murder—they’re just using some personal criteria to choose.

Is this really all coincidence, or does the killer have a plan?

And what about those English words left at each crime scene—what are they trying to say? Zodiac signs and some kind of spell?

“By the way, Granny,” I said, “if something comes to mind later, please give us a call.”

She nodded, then suddenly said, “Wait a minute, I just remembered—someone like you came by yesterday. See, this is what happens when you get old, your memory slips. No wonder today’s questions felt so familiar. Hang on.”

The three of us exchanged looks, totally confused about what she meant.

The old woman began rummaging through her drawers while I stood nearby, watching. There was all kinds of stuff in her drawer—medicine bottles, bits and bobs, screws, needles, thread, scissors, combs, toothbrushes. Even her ID card was in there. I picked it up and glanced at it.

“Granny, you’re already sixty-five?” I said, looking at her ID. “You look great for your age.”

She smiled. “Not bad, I guess.”

I handed back her card. “You should really keep this somewhere safe. If it gets scratched or damaged, it could affect your ability to use it later on.”

She nodded. “That’s just what the person from yesterday said, too.”

“Who was that?” I asked, confused.

She pulled out a note and handed it to me. On it was a phone number. It looked really familiar. I whipped out my phone, punched in the first few digits, and immediately a name popped up. It was Xiao Liu.

Now I understood. Xiao Liu had come by here yesterday. And I finally realized—this was the ‘key clue’ he’d mentioned: the Zodiac Murders, with all the victims being residents of the Old Town. Xiao Liu had gotten here a day ahead of us, and he must’ve discovered something, which is why he was so sure about the killer’s next move.

He was probably staking out the spot he suspected would be the next crime scene right now.

But what exactly did Xiao Liu uncover?

The old woman handed me the note. “They were here just yesterday and asked pretty similar questions to you. I’m old and forgetful, so I didn’t notice at the time. But when you mentioned leaving a number, I remembered.”

I nodded. “Did he ask about anything we didn’t?”

She tossed her ID card back in the drawer, then sat on the bed. “Yeah, I think he did. He asked a lot about our family. That young man is different from you, so thorough. He started when it got dark and didn’t stop until eleven.”

I nodded again. That really was so Xiao Liu. Whenever he learned something, he absolutely had to figure out every detail. In this, he was better than me. Back when we both worked under Team Leader Shao, he never got a chance to shine. Now, though, Xiao Liu was a different person entirely.

He asked more about the old woman’s family than we had, and maybe that’s why he figured out where the next murder would happen.

I thought for a moment, then asked, “Does your family have any members who are dogs, chickens, or pigs?”

She considered. “Yes. My parents only had two kids—a boy and a girl. My brother is a rooster, his wife is a pig, and their son is a dog. But their son is already in his thirties and never married or had kids. I told all this to that young man yesterday. Seems like something serious is going on?”

She looked up at me.

I gazed at her, and her wrinkled face and misty eyes were full of confusion.

I sighed. “Yeah. Otherwise we wouldn’t have two teams visiting you in as many days. By the way, Granny, what about the rest of your family?”

She sighed. “There’s no one else. My husband and I never had kids, so it’s always just been me here.”

“Doesn’t your brother ever come see you?” I pressed.

She shook her head. “We didn’t get along. After our father died, we stopped talking altogether.”

“Not even once?” I looked her in the eye.

She let out a heavy sigh. “Not even once. No one’s visited me for a long time.”

“Granny, why don’t you give me your phone? I’ll save my number in there so you can just call me next time.”

She waved a hand. “Don’t have one. Why would I need a phone, living alone? I forgot to mention yesterday that I don’t own a phone. If you know that young man from before, let him know too.”

“Alright then. We’ll go for now, but we’ll visit you again.”

“Alright.” She walked us to the door.

I cast one last glance at the family photo Guan Zengbin had left on the table, then turned away.

Once outside, Guan Zengbin spoke up. “So sad. Are all empty-nest seniors like this?”

I ran my fingers through my hair and muttered, “There’s something off about this old woman.”

“What do you mean?” Guan Zengbin and Gu Chen both looked at me.

I explained, “Her memory’s actually fine—you didn’t notice how she kept steering our conversation toward what she wanted to tell us?”

“What are you getting at?” Guan Zengbin frowned and playfully punched me. “Dude, you just love suspecting everybody!”

“I saw a USB-to-COM adapter cable in her drawer.”

I turned to face them. “Tell me, how does an old woman who doesn’t own a phone end up with a USB-to-COM adapter? Regular folks don’t even use that kind of thing.”