He discovered that the two not only shared such a peculiar hobby but were also involved with each other, which is why he was so enraged?
If someone could be driven to such anger, wouldn't it be someone intimately close to both victims?
The only people close to Quan Yingzhen were her uncle and aunt, though there might be other connections we haven't uncovered. As for Fu Yongyuan, it goes without saying, it was his wife.
Police typically identify the victim, determine the time of death, review surveillance footage, find clues, and then, after establishing a motive, they begin to investigate individuals close to the deceased. This is the basic procedure for police investigations.
We have now reached the stage of investigating suspects based on possible motives. I had someone keep an eye on Fu Yongyuan's wife and then conducted another thorough investigation into the personal relationships and information of the two victims.
I believe that by digging deeper into this information, we will undoubtedly find more clues, and perhaps even identify the perpetrator.
We must hurry, or a third victim will appear.
While everyone else was busy, I continued to meticulously retrace the last known locations of the two victims before they disappeared. Using surveillance footage, mobile phone signals, and ID information, I discovered that they both disappeared near Longkui East Road. Could the killer have abducted them from this area?
I drove here alone, not expecting much. Upon arrival, I saw only a busy road with cars and bustling shops. In a place like this, it shouldn't be easy to abduct someone, unless it was late at night.
The time of the victims' disappearance perfectly matched my investigation, and the phone signals indicated the alleyway adjacent to this Weile Chess and Card Room. This was information provided by the officers after a later review. I cautiously entered the area. It was daytime, so visibility was excellent, but as I walked in, I found it was a dead end, surrounded by stacked goods.
I was curious about the numerous beverage crates. Upon asking the manager of the chess and card room, I learned they used the area as a warehouse, storing drinks, snacks, and tobacco and alcohol for their customers.
I reached the end of the alley. While climbing up directly would be difficult, with a few stacked crates, it became much easier. However, considering the killer had to transport a body, it would be impossible for one person to accomplish this under these conditions. Based on the scene, we had previously surmised that the perpetrator was part of a group, or at least more than one person, which now seemed to fit.
I pushed several crates together and carefully stepped onto them. From the perspective of the perpetrators, I climbed onto the wall and then cautiously jumped down. Beyond this wall lay a stretch of sea without surveillance. If they escaped by water, they would need a boat, as dragging a corpse across the sea would be impossible.
I reached the seaside and noticed scratch marks from boats and scattered footprints. How did I observe these? Experience, of course. I gazed out at the deep sea and took out the drone controller, the bracelet, that He Xin had given me. I began to turn it, deploying the new drone, "Cang Ying" (Eagle). The little "Dou Dou" was already wrecked.
Once Cang Ying was deployed, I saw the distant scenery on the screen of my bracelet. I wondered if they had escaped to some deserted island again, but as I moved the drone, the view remained of an endless ocean. After an unknown period, it was still the same. At that moment, I started to wonder if I was mistaken and if those people had not escaped by sea at all. Perhaps they had created these traces solely to mislead me?
I scanned the surroundings, letting the drone continue to fly. Eventually, I walked the entire coastline but found no special traces. After all, people leave their mark, just as geese leave their sound when they pass. If someone had been there, they would have left traces. If not, it proved that no one had been there.
This area is quite secluded, and normally, no one would reach it. However, there are numerous roads crisscrossing the vicinity, meaning it would be difficult to identify suspects based on the time of the victims' disappearances. With no other options, I had to recall the drone and temporarily retreat.
In fact, I had discovered some footprints here and photographed them all. Back at the forensic department, I handed them over to my colleagues, who would use the depth and specific texture of the shoe prints to determine information like height and weight.
At this point, He Xin finally discovered a secret about the body disposal sites and asked me to go to the information department.
As soon as I arrived, she excitedly stated, "We confirmed this information through the chat logs of two individuals. Before they were murdered, both were members of an S/M association and were deeply involved. Moreover, their rendezvous point was precisely where the killer disposed of the bodies. This is what we discovered through their activity tracking."
"I see. It seems the killer was likely enraged by their relationship and thus committed the murders. If it was a group, could it have been formed by the lovers of those involved?"
"Not by their lovers. It's likely that other members of the association will face danger one after another. If I'm not mistaken, it's a criminal 'gang' formed by the families who discovered their loved ones had joined such an association."
"Formed by families? It could also be someone close to them, like a husband or wife."
"Yes, that's right. But it doesn't seem like they would torture them to this extent. Further investigation is needed. I feel the matter is not as simple as it appears."
As He Xin and I chatted, her fingers flew across the keyboard with renewed intensity.
Soon, she provided me with a list: "These are the people from the S/M association during the same period. Besides Quan Yingzhen and Fu Yongyuan, there are several others. They introduced each other during activities and seemed to be engaging in partner-swapping games, even group..."
"That crazy? It reminds me of those 'adult films' from the island nation."
"Sigh, people nowadays are becoming more and more wild. Look here, they even posted some explicit messages. Actually, when I looked at the social media of the two victims before, I found it strange. They always posted pictures of gates of various places. Now I realize, that was where they used to engage in S/M activities. They seemed to like leaving mementos in these places, perhaps because they felt proud to participate in such events. People these days have no shame."