Xiaotao glanced at the fat uncle in disbelief, then turned to me and whispered, "Song Yang, are you mistaken? We’ve all seen photos of Long Bangguo. Even after twenty years in prison, he wouldn’t look like this."

My statement was half speculation and half warning, and judging by the fat man’s nervousness and microexpressions, I was right.

I pointed to the nightstand and said, "What do you see?"

Confused, Xiaotao replied, "Two cell phones, some snacks and a bottle of alcohol."

"His hair is very short and although he’s overweight, he’s not in good health,” I started. “He has bruises and scars all over his body and calluses on his hands, left behind by long-term labor. And there’s a purplish scar on his waist; the shape and position matches an injury inflicted by the stun batons prison guards use. Additionally, he looks upon the police with fear, all which suggests he was an inmate not too long ago!"

"However, the things in this room tell me that he’s pretty high up on the rungs,” I continued. “There’s a bottle of XO on the nightstand and two newly-bought cell phones–the latest Apple model and an old-fashioned Nokia. But why are there two? I’m guessing his underlings bought him the Apple but he’s been cut off from the world for twenty years so he’s not used to smartphones. Hence, the Nokia. As you can see, the treatment he’s received isn’t given to just any small fry."

"There’s also a packet of pop rocks and several fruit jellies,” I added. “Adults seldom eat these snacks but a man who’s fresh out of prison would certainly crave them after going without sweets for so long. To sum it all up, he definitely has a high position in the triad, at least the head of a gang. He’s just been released from prison and is the owner of this villa–Long Bangguo!"

Xiaotao stared at me in wide-eyed shock. "But..."

"Don't worry about the contradictions first!" Then, I turned to the fat man and asked, "What's your name?"

"Long Bangguo!" he declared, head lowered.

"What's your real name?" I demanded.

"Chai Ergou," he admitted.

"I’ve already said so much, so you might as well come clean,” I sneered. “Tell me, how did you switch identities from a life incarceration convict to a twenty-year sentence inmate and successfully hide it from the world?"

Chai Ergou suddenly fell to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly. "Officers, please spare my life! Don't send me back!” he begged. “I swear I’ve turned over a new leaf!"

He began to narrate the incidents that happened twenty years ago. Back then, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and encountered a police officer named Long Bangguo who was also incarcerated. All the criminals in prison, whether they actually knew the man or not, hated the police so much that they targeted Long Bangguo and gave him a hard time. As a member of the triads, Chai Ergou became one of the prison bullies upon entering jail. Obviously, he had a hand in Long Bangguo’s abuse as well.

Long Bangguo was almost tortured to the point of collapse when a mysterious man came to visit Chai Ergou. The man looked ordinary with nothing distinguishable about him, so much so that even Chai Ergou had forgotten his face. And this mysterious man proposed a deal–he would secretly exchange Long Bangguo and Chai Ergou’s files. This way, Chai Ergou would become Long Bangguo and be released from prison in twenty years and be known as a courageous hero.

However, the mysterious man had two conditions–the first was to ensure Long Bangguo stayed alive and the second was to hand him an object.

Chai Ergou agreed to this advantageous deal as soon as he heard the terms! It took a lot of effort to smuggle the item into prison, afterwhich Chai Ergou personally handed it to Long Bangguo. It was a skull bored with several small holes that had been sealed with wax. Chai Ergou simply couldn’t comprehend its use.

Since then, Chai Ergou made every effort to look after Long Bangguo, forbidding the others from abusing him. However, the strange thing was, Long Bangguo started losing weight, growing visibly thinner. His cellmates all teased him and asked if he was masturbating too much at night. Witnessing the drastic weight loss, Chai Ergou feared Long Bangguo would die if it continued. He discreetly saved some food from his own meals for Long Bangguo, but even then, the man grew thinner day by day and soon became a bag of bones, often fainting at work.

In the nineteenth year of his sentence, Long Bangguo suddenly died. Falling short in that final stretch meant all his efforts had gone down the drain. Chai Ergou cried all night when he heard the news. When Long Bangguo's body was taken away, he remembered that the guards were unable to find the skull; it seemed to have disappeared.

Unexpectedly, the mysterious man still kept his promise. In the twentieth year, Chai Ergou was released from prison just as he had hoped. He bought a villa under Long Bangguo’s name, celebrated his liberation, and was caught by us.

The situation was very much like I had expected. Thus, the contradictions involving the suspect were solved. The murderer wasn’t Long Bangguo.

Xiaotao took some time to recover from the shock. "Long Bangguo is no longer alive?” she said. “Then who’s the murderer playing hide and seek with us?"

"We’ll have to keep investigating,” I said flatly. “As for this man, he should be arrested to continue serving his sentence."

“Officer! Officer, please show leniency!” Chai Ergou begged as he suddenly grabbed my leg. “I swear I’ll be a good citizen from now on."

“You wasted your chance to be a good citizen twenty years ago,” I snorted. “Go back and serve the rest of your sentence."

Seeing that Xiaotao was about to phone for backup, he shuffled towards her, kneeling at her feet as he pleaded, "Don't... Don't call it in. I'll pay you! Ten million a person! How about that? You’ll never earn that much money working as an officer!"

"Shut up!" she snapped.

“Whatever amount works!” Chai Ergou mumbled almost incoherently. "You can even blackmail me! Just don't send me back to that place. Please, have mercy on me! I have a wife and kids and an eighty-year-old mother. They can't live without me."

He lay on the ground, bursting into tears but drew no pity from a disgusted Xiaotao. "You can stop acting. You might as well do the time and maybe you’ll get parole."

The man looked up slightly, his ferocious eyes alerting me to danger. "Watch out!" I cried as I pulled Xiaotao aside.

Chai Ergou jumped up flexibly from the ground. His target wasn’t us, but the woman hiding in the closet.

He wound his arm around the woman’s neck, his other hand quickly reaching for the bottle of XO on the nightstand. With a heavy crash, he shattered the bottle and held the sharp edge against the woman's throat, his reckless actions inciting terrified screams from the lady.

"This is all your fault!” yelled Chai Ergou. “You’re the ones who pushed me into a dead end and forced me to kill this woman! Anyway, I've been sentenced to life! It can’t get any worse than this!"

We stood rooted to the spot. The thought of him taking a hostage never crossed our minds.

"Fucking cops!” he shouted. “Put the phone back into your pocket!"

"Calm down,” Xiaotao responded. “Let’s talk about this!" She placed her phone back into her pocket, though the call was already connected.

Chai Ergou was well aware that killing Xiaotao was futile. With the hostage as a bargaining chip in his hands, he began to state his terms. "Officers, there’s no point in me killing this woman. I only ask that you let me go,” he began. “I’m not at all uncompromising! I’ll even give you the money now. Don’t you think it’s a win-win situation?"

"Even if we wanted, backup is already downstairs,” I deflected. “How are we to explain this to them?"

“Dude, are you stupid?” Chai Ergou stamped his foot impatiently. "Just tell them you can’t find Long Bangguo! After all, it’s him you’re looking for. Do I look like Long Bangguo to you?"

"All right,” I nodded. “You let the girl go and we’ll agree to your conditions. We’re not so stupid we’d let go of ten million yuan!"

"Ten million!” exclaimed Xiaotao as she put her gun away. “I won’t have to work anymore!"