According to Xiaotao, the mayor mentioned a girl named He Jiajia during the meal. He said she was a friend’s daughter who had recently disappeared. The mayor hoped that we could help find her while we were here.

“She’s his illegitimate daughter, isn’t she?” I asked.

“I think so too,” Xiaotao laughed. “He looked too concerned for the girl to be a friend’s daughter.”

“These officials have such messy private lives!” Bingxin exclaimed. “If I ever find out that my dad has an illegitimate daughter, I swear I will run away from home!”

“Perhaps Song Yang is your half-brother!” Xiaotao joked.

Bingxin threw a pillow at Xiaotao and yelled, “Shut up!”

“I’m joking, I’m joking!” Xiaotao laughed. “How can your dad ever be related to Song Yang? His body is too thick and muscular, and his skin is too dark!”

Bingxin pursed her mouth, “By that logic, I can’t be related to him either!”

“Maybe you should get a DNA test, just in case,” Xiaotao shot back.

“Ah, stop it Xiaotao-jiejie!” shouted Bingxin. She then burrowed herself into the thick blanket and disappeared.

By the looks of it, it seemed that the relationship between these two had really improved.

I coughed and muttered, “What else happened?”

“Oh, right! The mayor was worried that his daughter might fall prey to the serial killer, which is why he pleaded for us to speed up the investigation and catch the killer as soon as possible.”

I shook my head, “But we don’t have any evidence yet! You should order some officers to follow the couple anyway, just in case the worst happens.”

“I’ll do that, but it can’t be that much of a coincidence, right?”

According to the period of time between the murders committed by the killer, there was a real possibility that another murder had occurred, but I said nothing.

Yuanchao didn’t return to the hotel that night, as he went back to the city to check for some clues. The officer that Xiaotao instructed to investigate the victims’ whereabouts returned, but he couldn’t obtain any information at all since it happened too long ago. This meant that we weren’t able to confirm if the victims did visit the tailor’s shop.

At noon the next day, Yuanchao called us and said he’d asked all the hospitals in the province but found no records of Li Qin suffering any mental illnesses.

This was not good news to me at all. Did we really get it all wrong?

“Why do you think she’s mentally ill?” asked Xiaotao.

“The man who attacked me that night was most likely the tailor, so I thought that Li Qin probably had a split personality, and the motive for the murders was in fact…”

“What is it?” urged Xiaotao. “What’s the motive? You’re killing me with the suspense, Song Yang!”

“No, no…” I shook my head. “It’s a far-fetched idea, not to mention that I have no evidence to back it up now.”

“Just tell me anyway!”

“The motive was to cure Li Qin!”

“What?” Xiaotao stared at me. “Where did that come from?”

I told her that when we went to the tailor’s shop that day, I noticed that Li Qin was a bit nervous, especially when Xiaotao asked her about her plastic surgery. I thought she might’ve suffered mentally after the botched surgery, which triggered her mental illness, especially when she saw beautiful young women. Her husband might kill those women to help alleviate her condition.

I read a similar case file in the bureau before. A few years ago, there was a serial killer case where the real killer turned out to be a shy and introverted girl. She had dual personality. Her other personality was completely different—she was confident and cheerful. This personality was awakened every time she was in high distress. When the introverted girl fell in love with a man, she would kill someone before going on a date with him just so she could switch to her alter ego. No one would’ve ever thought that that would be the real motive behind the murders. In fact, if the girl hadn’t surrendered and confessed, she probably would’ve gone scot-free.

Some time ago, I read a bunch of case files and carefully analyzed the motivation behind each case. I came to a conclusion—if you can’t find the motive with normal people’s logic, try abnormal logic instead because murderers aren’t always logical or normal!

But now that Li Qin did not seem to have a history of mental illness, my speculation was most likely completely wrong. I couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged.

“It doesn’t matter if you can’t determine the motive,” Xiaotao comforted me. “We can just ask them about it after arresting them!”

I shook my head. “But we have no evidence and we still can’t determine the killer’s motive. How can we arrest them now? You don’t plan to be like Dr. Qin and catch the wrong person, do you?”

“Then what if we just confront them directly? Why don’t we go meet them at the tailor’s shop again?”

“We can’t just barge in there without a reason!”

“But we do have a reason!” Xiaotao smiled. “Didn’t you order a down jacket from them? It should be ready today!”

I burst into laughter. I’d completely forgotten about it!

Xiaotao asked Xiaozhou for a photo of the molds of the footprints taken that night. As we got out of the police station, we bumped into Bingxin who was carrying her bag of tools. 

“There won’t be any autopsies today,” said Xiaotao. “What are you doing carrying your bag around like that?”

“I got bored staying in the room all day,” replied Bingxin. “I’m here as the intern coroner, after all! I have to do something!”

“Why don’t you leave your stuff here and follow us to the tailor’s shop?” I suggested.

Bingxin jumped with excitement. “Awesome!”

Xiaotao laughed. “Silly girl! We’re going to investigate a murder case, not a party!”

It was at the close of the year, so Zhang Qiang’s tailor shop was very busy. When we arrived, he told us to take a seat and wait for a while. I told him not to worry because we weren’t in a hurry.

The couple actually lived there at the shop, so their personal belongings were all over the place. Xiaotao pretended to look at the clothes as she eyed the shoe shelf. I stood up to cover her from the couple’s sights. She picked up the shoes one by one and examined the soles.

“None of them match!” cried Xiaotao, shaking her head.

I checked the shoe size and said, “But the sizes match!”

Xiaotao sighed. “They probably threw away the shoes they wore that night.”

That got me excited. “If they really did that, it proves that the couple must really have something to hide!”

I turned around and found Bingxin engaged in a conversation with a middle-aged woman. Li Qin was sitting at the sewing machine staring at Bingxin. She got so distracted that the needle of the sewing machine pierced her finger. She let out a sharp cry, and Zhang Qiang immediately went over and checked her hand, asking her if she was okay.

I noticed the intense jealousy in Li Qin’s eyes as she was staring at Bingxin. This little detail intrigued me.

At that moment, a tall and muscular man walked in and shouted, “Is my coat ready, Qiang?”

“Ah, Wang-ge!” Zhang Qiang answered. “Yes, it’s on the rack over there!”

The man grabbed the coat and asked, “How much do I owe you?”

“Don’t be silly, Wang-ge!” Zhang Qiang waved his hand. “Just take your coat! You don’t owe me anything!”

The man laughed and said, “Right, I’ll buy you a drink later! Thanks for this!”

Seeing that the man was Zhang Qiang’s friend, I turned to Xiaotao and whispered, “I’ll go talk to him!”

Just as I was about to leave, Bingxin ran after me and shouted, “I’m going too!” Then she whispered, “That lady is so annoying! She’s been asking me a million questions! She even offered to introduce me to a young man!”

Xiaotao laughed. “You should be glad that you’re so popular! Both of you go on ahead, I’ll stay here to keep an eye on the couple.”

Bingxin and I followed the man. He crossed the street and went into a hair salon. There were a number of women in that hair salon wearing skimpy clothes. It was obvious at first glance that this was an unsavory place.

“Are we really going in there, Song Yang-gege?” 

“Absolutely!” I nodded. “This is our perfect chance!”