Although Old Zhang didn’t understand psychology, he had years of experience in handling cases and knew that when a person suddenly gets angry, he often has something to hide.

He asked Gu You, “Miss Gu, so you knew about this hypnosis method? Why didn’t you mention it at the bureau?”

Gu You smiled, “I don't know much about the details and haven't used it in practice. I thought Old Ji would tell you. I’m not sure why he got so angry. How strange.”

“Is this type of hypnosis common?”

“It isn’t. So far, the only person I know who can do this is Old Ji.”

Old Zhang and his partner exchanged opinions with each other. Their conversation revealed their suspicion of Ji Changxin and they decided that they will pay him a visit again in the future.

In the evening, Lin Dongxue and Xu Xiaodong were eating boxed lunches in the car after coming back empty-handed. While they were eating, Chen Shi sent them a photo to show off what he was cooking that night. Xu Xiaodong said, “Place your mobile phone here. I want to look at it while I eat.”

“Take the phone yourself then!”

A blond-haired guy was playing the guitar at the entrance of the subway station, and passers-by stopped to throw coins into his guitar case from time to time.

Xu Xiaodong said, “I really envy people who have such freedom in their jobs. They can start and get off work as they please.”

“Maybe those people envy those who have a stable career... By the way, this person busks here every day at the entrance of the subway station. Could he have seen something?”

“What could he have seen? We’ve asked about May 7th the whole day today and all everyone could think of was the death of those three people.”

“Let’s try our luck. Investigating cases are all about trying your luck!”

Lin Dongxue opened the door and got out of the car. Instead of going directly to question him, she bought a bottle of mineral water first and walked forward with the water and her police badge. The blond froze and asked, “Beautiful police officer, is there something that you want from me?”

“Do you busk here every day?”

“I don’t just busk here. I go to several subway stations.” He took the mineral water and sipped it. “Thank you. I didn’t think that the police could be so humane. You’re a lot better than those urban management officers who drive me away every day.”

“I want to ask if you saw this girl on May 7th?” Lin Dongxue displayed the photo on her phone.

The blond looked at it for a while and said, “I often see this school uniform, but this girl is so ordinary, how can I remember... I'm sorry!”

Lin Dongxue was disappointed and was about to leave. The blond commented, “But on May 7th, there was actually another incident.”

“I know. You don’t need to tell me about that.” Lin Dongxue had listened to the story hundreds of times that day.

“What? You know about the train pervert I caught that day?”

“What train pervert?!”

“Haha, so you don't know about it then. If you treat me to oden[1], I’ll tell you.”

Lin Dongxue didn't want to waste her money. The police salary was only a little over 4,000 a month. Besides, she was still getting bonuses deducted as punishment lately, so she said, “It doesn't matter if you don’t want to talk about it. It should have nothing to do with my case anyway.”

“Ah, beautiful girl, listen to me! I won't ask for oden anymore, okay?” The blond stopped her.

Xu Xiaodong thought that the guy was harassing Lin Dongxue, so he came forward and said, “What are you doing?”

“Are you also an officer?” The blond asked.

“Hurry up and talk about the train pervert incident.” Lin Dongxue urged.

The blond narrated how he had bravely captured the train pervert vividly. Lin Dongxue thought that it didn’t relate to her case at all and that it was indeed just a waste of time.

At that moment, the blond said, “That guy was wearing a suit and tie and looked respectable but he committed such a despicable act. What a beast in human clothing!”

“It doesn't seem like this is helpful to our case but thank you.” Lin Dongxue said.

“I'm sorry... By the way, is there a bonus for defending justice?” The blond queried.

“The next time you encounter this kind of thing, you'd better gather evidence and call the police. Don't use violence. How old was the other party? You kicked him, and if something went wrong, you’d be responsible for it. Won’t it be a tragedy if you had to go to jail for defending justice?

“He seemed like he was in his fifties!”

“Don't be so impulsive next time.”

“Okay, okay, I understand.”

Lin Dongxue turned and left, and the two returned to the car, ready to leave. When Xu Xiaodong started the car, Lin Dongxue remembered something and decided to check it with her mobile phone. The webpage that she had previously searched for was still there. It was the news article about Ji Changxin molesting a teenage girl a few years ago.

Looking at Ji Changxin in a suit and leather shoes in the photo, Lin Dongxue had a sudden realization. She opened the car door and jumped down. Xu Xiaodong was shocked and said, “Hey, are you crazy?!”

Lin Dongxue ran back to the blond, brandished her mobile phone and asked, “Was this him? The pervert on the train?”

The blond looked at it for a while and said, “Hey, it's really him. So it turns out that this person has a previous record of doing this! And he’s a psychiatrist at that?!”

Lin Dongxue was extremely delighted with this news. It was as if she had a cold and her nose was cleared after being blocked for a few days. Ji Changxin was a highly experienced psychiatrist who understood hypnosis. He had appeared at the subway station where there were suspected hypnotic killings. All these were likely to be related.

Lin Dongxue asked the blond to recall the clothes that Ji Changxin was wearing that day. After the blond had finished describing the clothes, he emphasized a detail, “When he got out of the subway carriage, his suit was ripped by the people pulling him back, so the back was largely exposed.”

“Thank you!”

At the case discussion meeting the next morning, Lin Dongxue told everyone about her discovery. Old Zhang also described what had happened yesterday when he met Ji. When she heard about the method of physiological hypnosis, Lin Dongxue said suddenly, “The security guard who couldn’t remember anything at the school also had a mark on his neck.”

Everyone began discussing the findings. They didn't expect that the clues would be connected in this way, bringing forth suspicions towards Ji Changxin.

Lin Qiupu asked, “Captain Peng, what was the result of the autopsy?”

Peng Sijue shook his head. “The body had been taken away and cremated by the parents. I only got a post-mortem video from the medical university.”

“A little is better than nothing!” Lin Qiupu said, “Now that Ji Changxin is known to use this type of physiological hypnosis, you can try to see if there are any signs of finger pressure in the autopsy video. Has the school's surveillance video been recovered?”

The officer of the information division replied, “The person who deleted the video did not seem to understand IT very well, so it’s been recovered.”

Lin Qiupu nodded. “Look at the school and subway videos. Are there any signs that Ji Changxin appeared in them?”

Subsequent video results raised the spirits of the investigators. On the day of the student's suicide, a middle-aged man suspected of being Ji Changxin had entered the school, and someone who resembled him could also be seen in the subway station’s surveillance footage.

During a brief shot in the autopsy video, the body's neck did have an inconspicuous finger mark on the carotid artery.

According to Lin Dongxue's speculation, Fan Lixue had met Ji Changxin at the subway station on May 7th, and something happened between the two. Ji Changxin then decided to use his professional knowledge to help Fan Lixue take revenge on the group of bullies.

1. https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/06/24/32/b1/caption.jpg