Chapter 30: A Gateway?

(Page 1 of 3)

“An open-box mark?”

Shen Ting stared at the photograph in the file, his face full of astonishment.

On the Hummer’s front passenger-side door, trace examiners had discovered a dark brown stain.

Analysis confirmed that the stain was blood.

Its DNA matched that of the deceased man strapped into the passenger seat, who was identified as one of the bodyguards.

The forensic technicians suspected that the victim had written it in his own blood shortly before dying.

He must have been trying to leave a clue for the investigators.

Which meant it was very likely connected to the perpetrator.

“But the mark clearly wasn’t finished.”

The open-box symbol was merely Shen Ting’s guess.

In reality, only the long vertical stroke on the left was complete.

Of the horizontal and vertical strokes on the right, the vertical one was only half as long as the left stroke.

The downward hook that should have completed the symbol was missing.

“It may not even be a character. It could be some kind of symbol.”

Shen Ting frowned slightly. Too much of it was missing; there was hardly anything to go on.

“Still, whatever it was, this bodyguard was certainly loyal to Liu Furen.

“The fact that he failed to finish writing it means his condition must have been extremely grave. He was on the verge of death.

“Yet in his final moments, he did not try to save himself. Instead, he struggled to leave behind a clue…”

Shen Ting let out a sigh.

His electric scooter arrived at the Chaoyang Public Security Bureau.

As a consultant, he was not actually required to work regular hours.

If not for the Luohe kidnapping case, he would never have needed to come in.

“Now that is a nice car!”

The moment he entered the compound, Shen Ting noticed a black luxury vehicle parked in the lot.

Luxury cars were all far too cheap for his taste, so he could not even recognize the brand.

But judging by the model, the one-million reward offered for the Luohe kidnapping case could probably buy… one of its wheels.

Shen Ting entered the lobby and immediately saw Zheng Yuanqiao speaking with a formally dressed middle-aged man.

The man had an imposing bearing, but there was a trace of sorrow in his eyes.

Two tall bodyguards followed behind him. They wore sunglasses and black suits.

The instant Shen Ting entered the lobby, both men cast wary glances in his direction.

Zheng Yuanqiao spotted Shen Ting as well, and a smile immediately appeared on his face.

“President Liu, this is our consultant, Shen Ting.

“He was the one who discovered your father’s Hummer.”

“Shen Ting, this is President Liu Qitong.”

“Good to meet you, President Liu.”

Shen Ting put on a polite social smile.

The information he had shared on Liu Furen included details about Liu Qitong.

He was now the head of the entire Furen Group, with assets exceeding one trillion.

“So young?”

Liu Qitong stared at Shen Ting, momentarily stunned.

He had instinctively assumed that the person who found his father’s Hummer would either be an older expert or a veteran police officer with many years of service.

He had never expected someone so young—perhaps not even as old as his own daughter.

“Young and capable indeed. Truly young and capable!”

Liu Qitong took the initiative to shake Shen Ting’s hand, then produced a black-and-gold business card.

It was not made of paper, but something more like a thin piece of wood. Golden material had been used to engrave Liu Qitong’s information upon it.

“Brother Shen, the Liu family owes you a favor—a very great favor.

“Whatever difficulties you encounter in the future, or whatever you may need, call the number on this card.”

Liu Qitong’s expression was utterly serious.

Shen Ting accepted the card casually. “Then thank you, President Liu.”

The two bodyguards behind Liu Qitong stared fixedly at the business card.

Soon, they looked back at Shen Ting, unmistakable envy in their eyes.

Shen Ting was not certain how valuable the card was, but they knew.

The number printed on it was the only one that could directly reach President Liu.

(Page 2 of 3)

Even Liu’s own family members could use that number only in an emergency.

And only ten of these cards had ever been made.

The material was genuine agarwood of the highest grade, and the lettering was pure gold.

Quite apart from the contact information, the card itself was worth a fortune.

As far as the two bodyguards knew, fewer than five had been given away.

It was the kind of thing that could truly change a person’s fate.

Shen Ting was more concerned with the case. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he left.

From the forensic office not far away came the sound of anguished wailing.

“Father! Oh, Father…”

“My son, how could you die? How are your father and I supposed to go on living?”

“This can’t be true. It can’t be. My son must still be alive somewhere…”

They were the families of the three victims.

Shen Ting stopped, sighed silently, then made his way to the First Criminal Investigation Unit’s office.

Although he was not required to work regular hours, he still had a desk of his own.

After sitting down, he opened the case discussion group.

Forensic Doctor Qin Ming: “According to the forensic report, the causes of death for all three men in the Hummer have been confirmed.

“They all suffered mechanical damage to their internal organs, resulting in severe blood loss.

“The murder weapon was a bow and arrows.

“To put it simply, they were shot with arrows that damaged their internal organs, and they did not receive medical treatment in time.

“The most critical fatal injury in all three cases was an arrow penetrating the heart.

“In addition, two of them had three other arrow wounds, while the third had four.

“The unusual case was that of the bodyguard named Luo Yongjin.

“In addition to the arrow wounds, he had numerous injuries caused by beatings.

“It would not be wrong to call it torture.

“Both arms, his right leg, and several ribs were fractured.

“Perhaps he resisted especially fiercely, which led to this?”

Guan Hongfeng, known as Brother: “The trace examiners and other technical personnel have confirmed the identities of the three bodies inside the vehicle.

“They were the two bodyguards and the driver who accompanied Liu Furen that day.

“Liu Furen was not among them.

“Secondly, no fingerprints, blood belonging to other individuals, hair, or other physical evidence has been found inside or outside the vehicle so far.

“The perpetrator must have carefully cleaned the car before sinking it.

“Dousing it with gasoline and burning it was also intended to destroy any remaining evidence.

“The most conspicuous piece of evidence in the vehicle is something everyone already knows about: the blood-written open-box symbol left by the bodyguard in the passenger seat.

“Unfortunately, it was incomplete.

“Besides that, we collected some sand and soil from the grooves in the tires.

“After dismantling the vehicle, we also found dust, fragments of leaves, insect remains, and other material inside.

“There are many different substances, all of which are still being analyzed.

“But whether they can serve as physical evidence and help identify the killer remains to be seen.”

Detective Qin Feng: “At present, the greatest mystery in the case is this: where is Liu Furen’s body?

“Liu Furen had been missing for so many years that he must have been murdered. After killing him, why did the perpetrator not place his body in the car as well?

“This location was clearly a secure site that the perpetrator had gone to great lengths to create.”

Tang Ren: “That’s easy. Liu Furen’s body would have revealed the killer’s movements or identity, right?”

KikO: “It is also possible that the killer had some other use for Liu Furen—or his body.”

For now, that clearly could not be determined.

Hannibal: “The second mystery is the unusual posture of the three bodies in the vehicle.

“They were fixed to their seats with steel bars, in kneeling, worshipful positions.

“Such a posture usually represents repentance.

“What they were repenting for remains unknown.

“But perhaps the greatest mystery from our first discussion has now been answered.”

Shen Ting recalled the three mysteries they had identified during their first discussion.

First, why had the kidnappers disappeared without contacting the Liu family to claim the ten billion in gold certificates?

Second, why had the kidnappers spared the boatman and his family?

Third, how could the kidnappers have devised such a meticulous plan while the low level of education revealed by the ransom letter seemed to contradict it?

(Page 3 of 3)

The final mystery might have been a smokescreen deliberately released by the kidnappers.

The second mystery seemed largely unrelated to the case.

As for the most important one—the first—Captain Guan had speculated at the time that perhaps the killer’s target had never been the ten billion in gold certificates.

Perhaps the real target had been the ten million in relief funds, or Liu Furen himself.

Hannibal clearly supported Captain Guan’s original theory.

The killer had gone to great lengths to arrange the three victims in kneeling positions. It could not have been done for no reason.

It must have held some meaning.

If the posture represented kneeling repentance, did the perpetrator bear a grudge against Liu Furen?

Was this case not actually a kidnapping at all?

Was not only the misspelled wording in the ransom letter a smokescreen, but the ransom letter itself as well?

Kira Yoshikage: “Could the kneeling posture also be a smokescreen?

“Could the killer have designed it deliberately to distort the direction of the investigation?”

Jigsaw: “I disagree.

“The Hummer and the ransom letter are not the same thing.

“The ransom letter was deliberately provided by the killer to mislead us. That is perfectly normal.

“But the Hummer itself had to be concealed.

“From the perpetrator’s perspective, there was no reason to believe the Hummer would ever be discovered.

“So setting up another misleading clue inside the car would have been pointless.”

Kira Yoshikage: “But the killer may have been extremely cautious, just in case!”

“Surely no one would be that careful, would they?”

Shen Ting felt a headache coming on. He had also begun to recognize how terrifying the perpetrator was.

An ordinary investigator would be led around by the nose.

They would be distracted by things such as the wreckage of the boat in the bay and the misspellings.

A more advanced investigator would fall into the killer’s successive traps.

They would question the ransom letter itself, the place where the car had been sunk, and so on.

And the very best investigators—like the people in this group—would become suspicious of everything after witnessing the killer’s methods.

Every action taken by the perpetrator, every piece of evidence discovered, would prompt the question: could this be a trap deliberately prepared by the killer?

Such doubt created uncertainty and hesitation.

An investigative theory that was perfectly correct could fail simply because of that lack of conviction.

“Still, judging from the fact that Liu Furen’s body was not in the vehicle, it is indeed highly likely that the killer’s target was Liu Furen himself rather than the ten billion.”

Shen Ting posted in the group:

“Let me summarize.

“The greatest mystery at present is the perpetrator’s motive.

“Second, do the kneeling postures of the three victims represent repentance? If so, what were they repenting for?

“These two mysteries are fundamentally connected.

“If we solve one, we will have the answer to the other.

“Finally, what exactly did the blood-written open-box symbol on the front door mean?”

“As for the direction of the investigation…”

“The symbol may have come from a certain logo or written character. Most likely, it was something familiar to the bodyguard—something he believed others would understand.

“I will provide information about his life later. Everyone should look into it.”

“Given the kneeling postures of the three victims, the perpetrator was most likely targeting Liu Furen himself. The motive may have been revenge.

“Liu Furen’s enemies in business and in his personal life will be the key focus of our next stage of investigation.”

KikO: “I just had a thought.

“Does everyone remember the name of Liu Furen’s third son?

“Liu Qitong.

“Doesn’t the final character in his name look familiar?

“And there is something else.

“During our first discussion, we established one direction for the investigation:

“Find out who benefited the most, and who was happiest, after Liu Furen’s death.

“Isn’t Liu Qitong the one in control of the Liu family now?”