He Xin had actually discovered this early on. She said, "He's probably run into some kind of trouble, and we haven't found his phone."
"Did he receive some message, causing him to arrive at the venue early, and then the killer had already ambushed him in the locker room, dealt with him, and escaped through the alley by the window, so no one would find him! If he had made arrangements the day before he acted, we wouldn't be able to identify him from the crowd, considering how many people practice at the venue every day!"
"That's right, that's probably why he left no trace when he committed the crime. It's a shame he actually did it on the closet doorknob..."
As we were talking, a police officer from the technical team brought us a report. I looked at it, and the fingerprints were out. They didn't belong to the deceased, but no other matching data was found. I nodded; I already knew it wouldn't be that simple. If there were no suspects, this fingerprint could only be stored.
We gathered in the homicide conference room and began to discuss the evidence collected so far.
Considering the circumstances of the three victims, did they know the same person before their deaths?
In fact, Liu Yuning's side had already investigated this many times and found no such person.
We had examined the surveillance footage until we were tired of it, and there were no useful breakthroughs.
However, as Xiahou was giving his report, he suddenly said, "Actually, there's something I haven't mentioned."
"Oh? Xiahou, tell us, what is it?" I asked.
"When I was investigating Liu Kangcheng's home, I found his wife to be very cold, as if, as if..."
"What is it? Is there a problem?" I pressed.
Xiahou looked a bit embarrassed. "That woman seemed very… lustful. She was always trying to… with me. Later, I got a bit awkward and just made up an excuse to leave!"
"Uh..." I hadn't thought much of it at first, but after thinking it over deeply, I suddenly realized something. "Considering the killer's actions towards the male victims and his wife's reaction, could it be that..."
"Are you suggesting that Liu Kangcheng and the previous victims no longer liked women!?" Liu Yuning said.
I nodded vigorously. "Have you investigated? Whether it's Liu Kangcheng or the partners of the other victims, do they all have such reactions?"
At this moment, everyone began to recall. Then, Xiao Yuande said, "No wonder, I saw Old Chen's ex-wife back then, and she seemed to really dislike Old Chen. Although she didn't say anything explicitly, now that I think about it, I realize it. We can go and confirm this again. This time, we won't hold back; we must ask clearly!"
"That's right, I can also confirm with Huang Hairren!" Then I'll leave it to those two. I told everyone to start moving, while I looked at a book about the seventy-two demons. Since no agate was found on Liu Kangcheng's body, I felt I didn't need to investigate that aspect anymore. I now focused my attention on the symbols on the deceased, hoping to find a breakthrough.
I flipped through the entire book and memorized all the seventy-two demons. Now, I could almost instantly identify the names and characteristics of the demons without looking.
Furthermore, the back of the book mentioned a ritual. It was said that the demons would return to the human world on the night of a lunar eclipse, but before that, 72 people must be sacrificed for Baal to appear. He is the first demon among Solomon's seventy-two demons. He appears in various forms, sometimes human, sometimes transforming into other images. His voice is harsh. In legends, he is depicted holding a giant hammer in his right hand, emitting lightning from his left, wearing a conical crown with two horns on his head, and riding lightning under his feet. The meaning of "Hada" originally meant "thunder." He is the king who rules the east. He possesses the ability to make people invisible.
Could it be that the killer believed that by doing this, he could summon the demon Baal and then plunder the world?
It was only when I reached the latter part of the book that I discovered that the sacrifices had to be male, and another startling discovery was that the lower part had to be pure. So that's why.
This explained why the killer had done what he did to the deceased's lower body.
I sent a message to the "Punishment Squad" WeChat group. As soon as everyone saw the picture of Baal and my explanation, the entire group exploded.
"Team Leader, you don't mean it's true, do you? If that guy is really going to kill 72 men and do that… that's too perverted!"
"It seems we've really encountered a pervert this time. This guy is definitely not driven by hatred or money!"
"I thought from the beginning that this guy was a pervert, and I don't know who it was who didn't believe me!"
"I know you're amazing. Alas, but Team Leader, this is truly a shocking discovery. Fortunately, you've figured this out, otherwise, I think we wouldn't have known what was going on even if the killer had murdered a few more people."
"Mingqiang, what are you talking about? We absolutely cannot let a fourth victim appear!"
"Captain Liu, I just… we just confirmed that the wives of the first two male victims have confessed to us that they really… like men!"
"Then the killer can use this point at any time, get close to the victim first, ask them to meet there, and then suddenly strike."
We found no signs of forced entry at any of the crime scenes. Coupled with the absence of obvious signs of struggle on the victims, it proved that the killer was someone they knew.
But if he had come into contact with three victims, it should not have been difficult to find him in theory.
However, that was not the case. This guy was like the demon Baal himself, had he become invisible from this world?
Of course, this was impossible.
Even if he truly considered himself the demon Baal, such a demon would not exist in this world. Everything was merely the product of the killer's delusion.
Although none of us wanted to see a fourth victim, the bad news arrived on the way back for Liu Yuning and the others. I was pacing back and forth in the Punishment Squad office, thinking about how to investigate, when the 110 alarm center transmitted another message: "Punishment Squad members, please note that a male body has been discovered in the New Zephyr Bar on Minghua New Road, Guangming City. Please cooperate with the criminal investigation team and rush to the crime scene immediately! Repeat..."
I received the notification and set off immediately. Since the other members of the Punishment Squad were out, only I drove towards Minghua New Road.
Before reaching the bar, I discovered that Liu Yuning, Gao Mingqiang, and others were already there. Even though Gao Mingqiang was still in his wheelchair, his movements were still very fluid. Seeing me, he said, "Team Leader, the victim is in the bar's restroom. The situation is a bit… you should go and see for yourself!"