The man from just now was Jiang Keyang. If that were the case, the situation had become somewhat out of control. Jiang Kexin's good friend, Hu Xiaoyu, had gone missing while tracking Jiang Keyang, and this was no simple matter.
"Be careful, perhaps we should..."
I tried to dissuade Jiang Kexin, but I couldn't find suitable words. However, Jiang Kexin understood my intention and shook her head resolutely.
"I must find Xiaoyu."
There was no other way, so I had to accompany Jiang Kexin into the apartment building to investigate. Jiang Kexin was the first to examine the keyhole. This was not an old neighborhood, so many of the security doors had flat openings. I clearly remembered Jiang Kexin showing me Jiang Keyang's key, which was cylindrical.
"Why would your brother use a cylindrical key?"
"Is that a key for a common bull lock?"
Bull lock?
Although I wasn't a locksmith, I had some common sense. Ordinary locks have their cylinders inside the door when installed. A bull lock, however, is fixed to the outside of the door, with the cylinder passing through the gate. Such locks are now generally used for courtyard gates and are rarely seen in apartment buildings.
"Why would your brother use a bull lock?"
"Any lock is as good as nothing to a locksmith. But a bull lock is different; it's more amenable to mechanical modification. This kind of modified lock operates on a different principle than a locksmith's approach. How can I put it? It's simpler, but to unlock it would be like trying to solve an addition problem using multiplication. It's something simpler, but due to different rules, it becomes impossible to solve."
...
I chuckled helplessly. Everyone has their own expertise. Based on my limited understanding of Jiang Keyang, he was a habitual thief with some skill in lock picking, so he was wary of locksmiths.
Now, the problem was, if this lock had been mechanically modified, could Jiang Kexin open it? I asked her, and she shook her head, saying, "The mechanism inside is a locking mechanism. If there's even the slightest mistake, the door will be completely jammed, and to open it, we'd have to resort to brute force."
"Then how do we get in if we find it?"
"Thieves don't always pry open doors; sometimes they climb through windows. The weather is so hot right now, most people leave their windows open. We'll go through the window."
"What if the window isn't open?"
"I haven't thought that far ahead."
...
Speaking of the hot weather, I thought of Jiang Kexin's attire. I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, but she was in a hooded jacket, even though it was made of sun-protective material. It looked very hot. Therefore, Jiang Kexin's choice of clothing might also be a sign of preparation.
Indeed, after finding Jiang Keyang's location, Jiang Kexin carefully examined the keyhole. Unlike before, she didn't take out a hairpin to try and open it. She said seriously, "It won't open. I'll see if I can climb through the window."
"I'll go!"
"You~"
"Yes, me!"
Since 2000, I had been learning rock climbing and combat. Although I rarely used these skills, I never gave them up. I smiled slightly and left the hallway.
A little while later, I opened the door from the inside.
The room was nothing special, looking like a normal living space. The kitchen was a bit narrow, perhaps because they used a chest freezer instead of a refrigerator. I walked back and forth several times but saw no unusual traces.
"Did we come to the wrong place?"
"Judging by the modified structure of the bull lock and the alarm device at the door that sends messages, this must be where my brother lives."
"But we haven't found anything here? It's quite ordinary, just the freezer is a bit large."
As I said this, Jiang Kexin's eyes widened as she looked at me. I was bewildered. "The freezer is a bit large, so what?"
"The signs of daily life here aren't particularly strong. Would they need a large freezer?"
After speaking, Jiang Kexin walked towards the freezer, lifted the lid, then covered her mouth and stumbled back a few steps before collapsing onto the floor. Inside the freezer was a dismembered body, wrapped in plastic bags, stored there.
...
I called Da Zhou from the criminal investigation unit, and they arrived quickly, cordoning off the scene. Throughout this whole time, Jiang Kexin had been crying. When the freezer was opened, I had already seen the head in the plastic bag. The victim was Hu Xiaoyu.
Before the body had even been fully processed, Hu Xiaoyu's parents arrived, and the scene became chaotic. Shortly after, Shi Ying also arrived. Jiang Kexin hugged Shi Ying and cried, while Shi Ying looked pale, biting her lip.
...
In this matter, Jiang Kexin showed no favoritism. She firmly insisted that the killer was her brother. Under these circumstances, Da Zhou had no choice but to summon Jiang Keyang for questioning.
Jiang Keyang knew nothing about the bull lock. He admitted to having been in the apartment complex. However, his purpose was to find a man named Gerard. Gerard was the head of security at the Bai Xue Club, and Jiang Keyang had contacted Gerard because he wanted to resolve Chen Ling's issue. As for why there was a modified bull lock in this complex, he had no idea.
...
Da Zhou was around forty years old, looking somewhat disheveled, likely due to being too busy. He came to the outside of the interrogation room. Seeing me in the corridor, he called me into the courtyard. He offered me a cigarette, but I shook my head. Da Zhou chuckled, "You don't even smoke, what a good man."
I smiled politely. Da Zhou couldn't do without cigarettes; he was a heavy smoker. He soon became enveloped in smoke and then said to me, "Tang Nan, we're pretty familiar with each other, aren't we?"
"Yes, Brother Zhou."
"Then let me ask you, why are you waiting here?"
I smiled helplessly. "Jiang Kexin's statement might be a bit willful, but I want to know what the police think. Is Jiang Keyang really the killer? Otherwise, I won't be able to explain it to Teacher Wang Ren."
Da Zhou sighed, exhaled a plume of smoke, and said to me helplessly, "This case is very strange."
"Why?"
"Among the criminals we apprehend, they usually don't dig their own graves. Crimes generally fall into two categories: crimes of passion and premeditated crimes. Crimes of passion are attempts to conceal guilt and often have logical flaws. Premeditated crimes indicate a high level of intelligence from the suspect. In such cases, we meticulously sift through the evidence to prove the suspect's guilt."
"Jiang Keyang's situation isn't like either of those."
"As expected of Tang Nan, known as The Schemer, you're very clever. You've guessed correctly, Jiang Keyang isn't like either of those."
"Why is that?"
"Jiang Keyang isn't the criminal, and he trusts the police implicitly, so he's telling the truth."
"So, Jiang Keyang can be released without charge."
"That's what should have happened, but Jiang Keyang dug a hole for himself?"
"What hole?"
"Jiang Keyang said there's a peculiar relationship between keys and locks, especially with modified locks. One key can only open one lock. So, Jiang Keyang gave us his family's key. Then, we used this key to open the lock at the crime scene."
"What's going on?"
"Jiang Keyang kept trying to prove it wasn't his house, yet he ended up proving that the crime scene was his house."
Hearing this, my brow furrowed deeply. I asked Da Zhou, "What about Gerard?"
"Gerard is missing."
"He fled?"
"I don't know. According to people at the Bai Xue Club, Gerard offended a figure from the underworld yesterday and took leave."
"Was that underworld figure Ke Yingying?"
"That's right!"
...
Initially, I thought Hu Xiaoyu had seen something she shouldn't have and was silenced. But based on how things are developing, this is a setup. The adversary is meticulous, handling events like surgery on a patient, with each step intricately connected, leaving appropriate wounds but not fatal ones.
Among those capable of such elaborate setups, I know few. Zhu Guang, Senior Sister Cao Qian, Li Jiu. But besides Senior Sister, the older generation, Zhu Guang and Li Jiu, are both deceased.
Could it be Senior Sister Cao Qian? No, Senior Sister Cao Qian is the last person who should be involved. She's completely tied up with Gao Ziyan and couldn't possibly be here!
Who could it be?
...
Regardless of anything else, Jiang Keyang cannot leave the police station today. It's already very late at night. I was wondering whether to visit Teacher Wang Ren's home when I received a call from Teacher Wang Ren.
"Where are you?"
"Martial Uncle, I'm at the criminal investigation team."
"I'll give you an address. Go to Da Yang's house."
"Now? At this hour?"
"Yes, you must protect the modified lock at Da Yang's house. If it's too late, you must also find out who destroyed that lock."
"Okay!"
After receiving the message, I immediately went to Jiang Keyang's house. The lock had already been damaged, and the room was in disarray, as if someone had been searching for something.