After a while, Huang Xiaotao knocked on the door. I opened it and saw her already dressed and ready to go. Without thinking, I asked, “That was quick! Didn’t you say that girls need at least half an hour to get ready?”

“You idiot! I didn’t want to keep you waiting so I got up early,” said Huang Xiaotao.

“Oh, okay. I’ll be ready in five minutes!”

I hurriedly put on my clothes, then swiped the room key card and came out with Dali.

“Xiaotao-jiejie!” cried Dali. “You look so beautiful today!”

“I’m beautiful every day,” retorted Huang Xiaotao sarcastically. “Is your cold better now?”

“Of course!” answered Dali enthusiastically. “My body is as tough as iron! A little cold can’t do anything to me!”

Huang Xiaotao went over to Wang Yuanchao’s room and knocked on his door. He opened it seconds later, wearing a sleeveless shirt that exposed his bulging muscles. Dark chest hair showed through the neckline of his shirt. He had a gun on his waist, and as he leaned on the door frame with one hand, his other hand was holding a flat silver alcohol flask. He also had a cigarette in his mouth. That rough, unshaven, and muscular look, paired with the grave expression on his face made him look like one of the special agents you’d often see in movies.

“It’s this early in the morning and you’re already smoking and drinking?” quipped Huang Xiaotao. “No wonder your wife left you!”

Wang Yuanchao let out a sigh of indifference, took a sip of alcohol, and closed the door. After five minutes, he reappeared, dressed and ready to go.

“After spending two days with him,” said Dali, “I think Old Wang is a really cool guy.”

“A really cool guy that can’t be counted on, that is,” countered Huang Xiaotao. “Once you hear his history in the love department, you’ll change your view on him pretty quickly.”

“What about a guy like me, Xiaotao-jiejie?” Dali asked. “Do you think I can be counted on?”

Huang Xiaotao gave him a look.

“A useless pig like you is even worse!”

Dali was deflated by Huang Xiaotao comment, but he kept on asking, “What do you think of Song Yang, then? Is he the type of guy you can count on?”

Huang Xiaotao glanced at me. I blushed, then she replied coldly, “I don't know!”

After the four of us left the hotel, I told them the information that Lao Yao found.

“So they were killed by a curse?” asked Dali. “How do you solve a case like that?”

“The problem isn’t how to solve the case,” mumbled Huang Xiaotao. “It’s how to convict the culprit.”

She was right. There was no law against cursing people. Otherwise, the prisons would be overfilled with people who shouted expletives on the street every day.

“But this curse has been confirmed to exist,” I said. “We must not let more people fall victim to this curse. I think I can ask the Director-General for a special exception.”

Huang Xiaotao nodded. “That’s true, but we saw it work with our own eyes, so we know that the curse is real. I can imagine the other police officers, especially the high-ranking ones, shaking their heads in disbelief at this explanation.”

I told her that it wouldn’t really matter, because the way this curse worked could be simply summarized and proven. Firstly, the culprit would place the cat figurine inside the victim’s house. Secondly, the curse would work at a certain time. Finally, once the murders occurred, the culprit would then sneak into the victim’s house to take the figurine away and hide the truth.

Although it was a curse, it was not as all-powerful as everyone imagined, and it couldn’t kill as arbitrarily as people might fear. This curse had fixed scope and principle within which it would work. This meant that there were still clues to discover that would eventually lead to the real culprit who put the curse there.

Also, I had no intention of revealing the information about the curse to the rest of the task force in order to prevent what Huang Xiaotao feared would happen.

We came to the conference room on the second floor of the police station. The breakfast that Huang Xiaotao ordered had already been delivered, and everyone was eating breakfast around the table. I noticed that Officer Liao was also there. When we walked in, everyone stopped eating and all the voices died down, but I waved my hand and said, “It’s fine, we can talk while we eat.”

Firstly, we summarized our progress so far. Two police officers who went to the hospital last night said that the girl was emotionally stable. She called her aunt early today and went back with her.

Then someone found some business dealings with the deceased. The information gathered was quite unorganized, but I was sure that there probably weren’t much here worth following.

Bai Yidao discovered some clues about Yu Jun. He was a product manager of a company. The company mainly received contracts for the production of some imported electronic products, which would then be exported and sold around the world, and it was considerably successful.

The husband in this case was a long-term partner of this company. Yu Jun himself said that there was a settlement of the goods before the two people, because it was through an intermediary transaction, so the money would naturally be transferred to him after death.

I asked Bai Yidao, “Have you met him?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

“Had everything he claimed been verified?”

Bai Yidao slowly leaned on his chair and claimed, “I’ve been investigating non-stop yesterday. Yu Jun is a busy man — I had to wait outside the factory for a whole day before I could see him. When I was done questioning him, it was already late at night. Where would I find the time to verify anything?”

I frowned slightly and thought, nevermind. I would have to go meet Yu Jun myself later.

As Bai Yidao was reporting his finding, a policeman in the room was visibly horrified. He seemed as if he had something to say. I asked him if he discovered a clue, and he replied, “Consultant Song, do you remember the empty house opposite the murder scene that you wanted me to investigate?”

“Yes, why?” I asked.

“The person who rented the house is also called Yu Jun!”

“How long has he been renting the room?” I asked, my eyes already lighting up.

“The landlord said that he had rented the room for a month. After the murder, he felt it was a bad place so he left. He didn’t even take the deposit which was about two thousand yuan!”

“When exactly did he leave?” I asked excitedly.

“The day after the murder,” he replied.

The whole room got excited. After a long stalemate, we finally had a breakthrough. Although there was still a lot of uncertainties, it was undoubtedly a single bright light in the dark. Everyone seemed optimistic and enthusiastic, but I noticed that there was a glimmer of doubt on Bai Yidao’s face. Could it be that the guy was hiding something from me?

At this time, Officer Liao raised his hands, “Song Yang, I don't know if I should say this…”

“Please go ahead and say it,” I urged.

“When I heard the name Yu Jun, I thought it sounded familiar. And then I suddenly remembered that in the last murder case, he also had a connection with the previous family. But after the initial investigation, this person was cleared off the suspect list because it was impossible for him to commit the murders.”

“What kind of connection did he have with the previous family?” I asked.

“Yu Jun and the male deceased of the last murder case were competitors in the same company. Both of them competed for the position of product manager. After the incident, Yu Jun naturally rose to the position without any competition. Later, we investigated his case and found that he had a sound alibi, so I think this is just a coincidence.”

“So, you think that it was a coincidence that he had a connection with the previous family and this family as well?” I asked, “And that it was also a coincidence that he was the one who rented the empty house opposite the murder scene?”

Officer Liao turned silent. I then added, “These two cases are very abnormal. The murderer’s weapon is neither a knife, nor a gun, nor a drug. In fact, it has completely eluded all our expectations. I think...”

I paused and looked around at the astonished faces in the room before continuing, “I think the murderer of this case used a kind of biological magnetic field that can make people lose their minds!”

The room suddenly became awkward, and the police whispered among themselves for a long time. I informed the police officers of the Murder Reenactment we performed at the murder scene last night, and of the mysterious cat figurine that Zhang Liuer mentioned.

There were clear indications that Yu Jun was obviously the murderer of this case. He must have a mysterious figurine that can make people’s temperament change aberrantly. Before and after the murder, Yu Jun had been living in the house opposite of the murder scene. Judging by these points, it seemed that Yu Jun didn’t have complete control of the figurine’s power.

Later, he snuck into the victims’ house and took the figurine away. My guess was that he took advantage of the chaotic moment when the neighbors rushed into the victims’ house after the murder had just been discovered.

When I was done explaining my theory, the atmosphere of the room could be described as riotous. Everyone exchanged lively discussions with each other, and they all looked eager to chase this latest clue to finally solve this case. All except Bai Yidao—who looked restless and worried.

I suddenly turned to Bai Yidao and asked him, “Do you have any opinions?”

“No... No, I don’t.” He scratched his nose and mumbled, “I’m just not so sure about this mysterious figurine theory of yours. Don’t you think it’s a bit too out there, Consultant Song?”

I knew it, I thought. The bastard is hiding something up his sleeve.