I understood this point, of course. When I left the director's office, I felt like I had lost my soul, not knowing what to do. I couldn't help but open my phone, wanting to ask that "Dad" for advice again. Before I could even send a message, he seemed to know I was looking for him and sent a message directly: "Can't figure it out?"
A wave of surprise washed over me, and I immediately replied with my current situation. After a moment, "Dad's" WeChat showed the typing indicator.
About a minute later, he replied: "I understand, framing is certain. You can investigate by checking on some island country people you knew before, give it a try, or if you get the chance!"
Island country people? Knew them before? Does that matter?
I didn't really want to investigate at the time, but since "Dad" suggested it, I wanted to try. After all, he had helped before, and the clues he provided were always useful.
I agreed. Although he wasn't a coroner and didn't have Grandpa's autopsy skills, he was better than anyone else at criminal investigation and reasoning. If it hadn't been for that incident back then, he would have been at least a director by now.
If he were a Mycroft, I could have been a Sherlock Holmes.
I browsed through my phone's call logs and contacts, and found the number of Takeda Yuko. This girl was a classmate I met with Zhang Keying when we went for our internship.
She was the only person I knew among the island country people. I thought "Dad" meant for me to investigate her.
I dialed Yuko's number. Without hesitation, she answered quickly: "Konnichiwa!"
"Konnichiwa!" I greeted her and immediately switched to Chinese: "If your Chinese is good, just use Chinese. I am Officer He!"
"Ah! It's you? I thought it was someone else!"
So, she hadn't saved my number. I remembered we exchanged numbers during the last interview, but maybe she deleted it after the case was closed.
I went to her house for an inquiry. Yuko rented a place with her father. It's said she's from a single-parent family, and her mother passed away when she was young.
It was a room less than 60 square meters. It was clear their living conditions here weren't great, no wonder they wanted to go back home.
"Here's the situation, I've encountered another case recently. Do you know what I discovered?"
"I don't know. What's wrong? Why are you looking for me? I don't know anything. I'm preparing to go back home now, sigh, I can't find a job here!"
"Don't rush. I want to ask you, does the character for 'Niu' (cow) have any other meaning in your island country?"
I asked tentatively, just wanting to gauge Yuko's reaction.
"Cow? Do you mean the dairy cows in your country? Isn't it just an animal? What else could it mean?" Yuko replied as a matter of course.
I observed her reaction. She seemed completely unaware of the deceased's situation. But why did "Dad" tell me to find her earlier? Was I mistaken?
But I had no other island country acquaintances. And that apricot, I didn't know where she had gone. So it definitely wasn't her.
I asked a few more questions about the time and place of the incident. Yuko stated that she had been busy with her return home preparations during this period and had not been anywhere. I contacted Xiahou to verify, and he replied before I even left Yuko's house that Yuko was not lying.
I changed the subject. "In your country, does 'cow' have any other meanings?"
"Hmm... let me think about it. But for this kind of question, I think Father would know."
"Alright, where is your father?"
"He's out on business. We should be able to get our return documents done today, and we'll be leaving tomorrow or the day after."
Then I had no choice but to wait here. I couldn't miss today's opportunity, or I wouldn't have a chance to ask.
I waited for about an hour, and Yuko's father, Takeda Yutaka, finally returned.
He was a slightly overweight man wearing a cheap blue shirt, with a face full of freckles. He looked only about 35 years old, but half of his hair was already white. He must have faced a lot of stress in life over the years.
Knowing I was the police officer who had helped Yuko last time, Takeda Yutaka was very enthusiastic: "Officer He, it's you! I'm curious why you're here?"
I explained my reason for coming, and Takeda Yutaka said, "So you want to know this information, Officer He?"
"That's right, please tell me."
"Actually, in our country, Japan, cattle are used for sacrifices. It's not like here, where cows are just for eating. We regard cows very highly. Since the early introduction of Buddhism, Japan had no indigenous religious forces, so Buddhism immediately received strong support from the rulers, and Buddhist thought was vigorously promoted. Japanese culture merged with Buddhist thought, and Japan also enacted a decree prohibiting the killing of cows, making the consumption of beef a long-term taboo."
"Buddhism? I understand. So, if someone killed a cow, how would your people treat them?"
"In ancient times, they would certainly be punished with branding. This means that using high heat to leave some handprints on these people. These handprints are very small and made of steel."
"Small handprints? Do you mean something like this? Mr. Takeda?" I showed Takeda Yutaka a photo of the deceased. As soon as he saw the area, he said, "Yes, yes, it seems you've encountered an interesting case!"
"Thank you for telling me this. It seems I know what to do now."
"That's good! I'm honored to be able to help you!"
I shook hands with Takeda Yutaka. Now I finally understood that my father's mention of island country people referred to Takeda Yutaka.
After getting the information, I returned to the Public Security Bureau and gave it to He Xin: "In ancient Japan, those who killed cattle had to die. They would be punished with branding and executed, leaving traces of infant handprints. This is the killer's intention. The killer is likely Japanese, between 25 and 30 years old, solitary and eccentric in personality, with an extremely twisted and terrifying belief. He believes that those who kill cattle bear significant sins and must be executed! This is his motive for killing!"
"But those were children! How could they have killed cows?"
"Perhaps their parents did."
"The parents of those children..."
"No, I'll check the资料."
I wouldn't have known if I hadn't checked. After checking, I discovered that the children were orphans. Then, based on historical records of cattle killing in Japan, I quickly reached a conclusion: "If parents die, their sins are borne by their children."