Chapter 315: The Murderer’s Memoir

2022-05-20

Maybe she was finally exhausted. Jiang Xiaochun stopped moving, slumping into herself. She kept holding herself tightly, head buried low. From the looks of it, Jiang Xiaochun was determined to stay silent no matter what I said.

An uneasy silence settled between us—three people sitting face to face and not a word spoken. I studied Jiang Xiaochun. The ring she’d worn on her finger before was gone. That proved I was right; there was no other reason for her to take off the ring unless what I said was true. It also suggested that Xu Man hadn’t lied.

Seeing that Jiang Xiaochun refused to talk, I could only start piecing together the whole sequence of the crime.

I turned to Jiang Xiaochun and spoke. “The killer never knew who exactly murdered Lü Zhiqiu, so the plan became simple: wipe out everyone. Over seven years, the killer tracked down everyone’s address. But to move freely, the killer needed an excuse to leave—if there wasn’t a reason, she’d have to make one.”

Shaking my head, I went on. “And so, the plan began. She started putting on an act, pretending something supernatural was going on. The killer couldn’t be entirely sure about Hu Pei, but she knew Hu Pei was connected to Lü Zhiqiu’s murder one way or another. Still, she couldn’t kill Hu Pei first. She knew that if she started killing, there’d be no stopping. Fleeing right after a murder would make her an obvious suspect.”

“That’s why she began with those living out of town, before circling back to Dongxing City for the rest. That way, suspicion would shift far from her. So, the killer created an illusion of hauntings to unsettle Hu Pei, who already had plenty to hide. Naturally, Hu Pei fell for it.”

“As expected, Hu Pei did exactly what the killer had anticipated—he became convinced there were ghosts. If your partner is playing tricks, it’s easy to believe something’s off. For his daughter’s safety, Hu Pei sent her back to their old home. The killer followed right along.”

As I spoke, I couldn’t help speculating, “But not long after, the killer told Hu Xiaoxue’s mother that she needed to leave on a business trip. Hu Xiaoxue’s mother didn’t think much of it and continued looking after her granddaughter. Did the killer really go on a trip? No. She left to kill. After she finished with the people outside the city, she returned home.”

I kept shaking my head as I explained, “The hardest crimes to solve are when a stranger kills you out of the blue. When there’s no rhyme or reason, no connection. The local police probably never even guessed the killer was tied to a case from seven years ago.”

Rising to my feet, I glanced at the bookshelf, saying, “Once the killer came back, her plan continued. She went to the new house and scared her husband to death using nothing but a photo—Lü Zhiqiu’s photo. How could Hu Pei have guessed everything he did had already been orchestrated by the killer?”

“She deliberately left that old phone with Hu Pei. When the investigation began, everyone started following the trail the killer had laid out. When they saw the photo, it was only natural to link the incident back to Lü Zhiqiu’s case seven years ago. The killer was clever. She didn’t immediately frame Deng Xuemei; instead, she spun another lie on top of her first. That was her greatest strength.”

Realizing this, I studied the woman in front of me. Her scheming went deeper than anyone else’s. But then, it had to—any woman who’d been hiding for seven years couldn’t be simple.

I continued, “From that moment on, the killer started steering the investigation step by step. I didn’t understand her killing pattern at first, but now it’s clear: she deliberately slipped us a false lead, drawing us right into her trap.”

With a cold laugh, I added, “First, she scared Hu Pei to death and left behind the phone to guide our search. The rest was just waiting for more victims to appear. When we went to find Hu Pei’s family, another tragedy unfolded. I suspect when the killer accompanied Hu Xiaoxue’s mother out to buy groceries, leaving her daughter at home, she did it on purpose.”

“The killer had already decided on her method. There were two reasons for killing Hu Xiaoxue. First, to test her chosen method—if it failed, no one would believe a little girl could give a clear account, and nobody would suspect the real killer. Second, killing Hu Xiaoxue would divert suspicion from herself. After all, who would believe a mother could be cruel enough to murder her own daughter?”

I noticed Jiang Xiaochun’s body tense, but she quickly stilled again.

I pressed on, “If we hadn’t discovered that Hu Xiaoxue wasn’t the killer’s biological daughter, I wouldn’t have suspected any of this. The killer thought she had wiped out everyone who knew her secret, but she didn’t realize—if you want to keep a secret, you have to bury it so deep you forget it yourself.”

Shaking my head with a sigh, I explained, “The killer had been watching closely and knew Hu Xiaoxue liked to secretly wear her mother’s contact lenses. So, she added corrosive fluid to their case. It wasn’t strong enough to hurt anyone with brief skin contact, but once you put those lenses on, the pain kicked in hard.”

I continued, “Excited, Hu Xiaoxue tried on her mom’s lenses and immediately felt a searing pain in her eyes. It was agony mixed with an unbearable itch, like she wanted to claw her own eyes out. Panicked and in pain, she fumbled to get the lenses out, but couldn’t manage it.”

Thinking back to the scene when we found Hu Xiaoxue’s body, the memory still filled me with regret. I said softly, “Hu Xiaoxue was driven to her breaking point. At just seven years old, she made the biggest decision of her life. Blind and alone, she sat with her back to the wall, waiting for her mother to come home and save her.”

“When the killer and Hu Xiaoxue’s mother returned and saw what had happened, even the killer was startled by her own handiwork. But she didn’t forget her mission. She screamed, collapsed to the floor, and when she finally stood again, she pulled out a knife and carved a smile into Hu Xiaoxue’s mouth.”

“She cut again and again. I’m sure she was terrified, but once she started, there was no turning back.”

“With this, the killer successfully passed herself off as a mother driven mad by grief. She went around insisting it was a ghost that killed her daughter. By throwing her weight behind the ghost story, and with the next eye-gouging murder, fear only grew.”

I couldn’t help sighing. “Who would’ve thought the killer trained in architecture? She should’ve studied psychology—she knew people far too well. When we finally exposed the ghost theory, we ran straight into another false lead she’d prepared.”

“But I’m going off track,” I said, bringing myself back. “From that point, she became a madwoman in everyone’s eyes. Anyone who saw her carve her daughter’s face believed she’d truly lost it. The killer had achieved her goal—she cleared herself of suspicion and gained complete freedom of movement.”

I glanced toward the doorway. “I remember when I first met Hu Xiaoxue’s mother, she was in poor shape but not like she is now. Just now, her mental state seemed utterly broken. It’s clear now: when someone developed mental illness, Hu Xiaoxue’s mother bought sleeping pills and tranquilizers—supposedly for her mad daughter.”

“But the drugs didn’t end up in the killer’s mouth, did they? No, she fed them to Hu Xiaoxue’s mother,” I said. “She picked up an odd habit—eating only food others had tasted first, drinking only raw water. I used to think she was afraid the killer would poison her after failing to kill her, but now I see that’s not it at all.”

I held up a finger and shook it. “The killer was only pretending to be mad. She wasn’t really. But everyone else believed she was long gone. She refused medication, because the side effects of antipsychotics are brutal on a healthy person. At the same time, she worried that Hu Xiaoxue’s mother might try to mix sedatives or tranquilizers into her food, so she developed those odd eating habits. It only made her seem more insane.”

“So the killer would eat only what she’d seen others sample, drink only running water. There was no way for anyone to slip her drugs that way.” I looked straight at Jiang Xiaochun. “But where did all those pills go? I’ll bet you fed them to Hu Xiaoxue’s mother. She’s old, naps are a given, and she always goes to bed early. Lacing her food or water with sleeping meds, she’d sleep right through until dawn.”

“That gave the killer plenty of time to go out and carry out the rest of her plans. From the beginning, she’d managed to separate herself from the heart of the case, so no one ever suspected her. And what came next made her brilliance even clearer.”

“She took a long detour, leading suspicion far away…”

I let out a helpless sigh. “There was one thing we never figured out before…”