The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 157 Time Anchor
Qi Fei placed the aluminum lunch box flat on the evidence table. The oily metal surface reflected tiny spots of light under the fluorescent light.

Wu Shanqiu put on gloves and carefully pried the edge. With the sound of a rusty buckle "clicking", the smell of old ink that had been deposited for forty-two years instantly filled the air.

There were several yellowed photos on the inside of the lunch box.

Qi Fei picked up the top one with tweezers. There were mold spots on the edges. The photo was of a woman in her thirties with short hair that reached her ears and slightly curled ends. Her cotton jacket was washed white and there were fine lines at the corners of her eyes. "Chen Afeng, 1983.7.17" was marked on the back of the photo in blue-black ink.

The remaining four photos, without exception, are all of the victims of the "Magic Mirror Case" that year. The name and date are marked on the back of each victim.

However, this date is different from the date Qi Fei is familiar with.

"Strange, Chen Afeng was the first deceased to be discovered on July 7th, but the date written here is July 19th. The second deceased, Wang Lijuan, was discovered on August 7th, but the date written here is August 17th..."

Wu Shanqiu also noticed this problem: "Really? The dates on the back of each deceased person's photo are basically the same, but not exactly the same. It's so strange."

However, Qi Fei soon made a discovery: "These dates are all earlier than the date the deceased was found. Is it possible that they are the date of their death? Because I remember the autopsy report at the time, for example, this Wu Meiling, the estimated time of death was around 10 days. The date that Old Ye noted for her is exactly November 11th, which is within the estimated time of death."

"Well, this is reasonable. However, even with current technology, it is impossible to determine the time of death so accurately for a corpse soaked in sea water. If your guess is correct, Brother Fei, how can Old Ye be sure that this time of death is correct?" Wu Shanqiu said in confusion.

Qi Fei knew that what Wu Shanqiu said made sense.

"But Old Ye has devoted all his energy and energy to the 'Demon Mirror Case'. These dates definitely aren't his fault. Wait!"

In addition to these familiar victims, Qi Fei found a note with an unfamiliar name, Xu Chunxia, ​​and the date marked as 1983.12.12.

Qi Fei, Wu Shanqiu and the other two looked at the thin, crisp yellow paper.

All I could hear was Wu Shanqiu mumbling, "Who is this Xu Chunxia? The treasures that Old Ye asked Sister Zheng to preserve for so many years, these are all she has..."

Behind them came the sound of high heels. In the police station, only one person would wear these shoes. Sure enough, Zhong Kui's sweet voice came: "I heard that you found the key clue?"

"The key is the key, but we didn't understand it." Wu Shanqiu straightened up and said to Zhong Kui.

Zhong Kui stroked her hair and moved closer to Qi Fei: "Honey, relax a little. Let me see what the problem is."

Qi Fei's ears turned red at what she said. He whispered, "Inside Ye Ming's box, there were only photos of several victims and the date on the back. However, the time written by Old Ye is inconsistent with the time the bodies were found in the file. Shan Qiu and I are worried about what's going on."

"Let me see?" Zhong Kui said as he put on rubber gloves. His fingertips gently stroked the mold spots on the edges of the photos. He slowly flipped through the photos one by one. His eyes stopped at the date written on the back. He raised the corner of his mouth and said, "That's right." "Huh? Right to what?" Qi Fei didn't understand what Zhong Kui meant.

"It seems that Old Ye has finally found the pulse of the murderer. I think he has embarked on the right path in investigating this 'Magic Mirror Case'." Zhong Kui said as he placed the five photos on the table in order with the dates facing up.

Then, picking up the piece of paper with Xu Chunxia's name on it, she said, "As far as I know, some religions regard mathematics as the core carrier of sacred knowledge or universal truth. In the Middle Ages, some Western monks believed that mathematics was the key to deciphering God's blueprint for creation."

As she spoke, Xu Chunxia placed the piece of paper dated December 1983.12.12, , behind the five photos. "I think Old Ye has found an undiscovered victim through deduction."

"Reasoning?" Qi Fei looked at the photos arranged in order by Zhong Kui and seemed to have found some clues in them.

"It's not a difficult problem. It's just an arithmetic progression. The months increase and the days decrease. Old Ye suspects that the murderer is carrying out his murder plan according to a 30-day cycle. Although I don't know where he got this conclusion from, he found Xu Chunxia, ​​the undiscovered victim, and..." Zhong Kui picked up a pen and paper beside him, wrote down a number and placed it behind the piece of paper with Xu Chunxia.

Qi Fei took a look and saw that it said: "1984.01.11". This was the day when Lao Ye disappeared, a day that the entire Nancheng Police Station would never forget.

"I think that on New Year's Eve forty-two years ago, Old Ye found the murderer's murder cycle, so he hurried out. But how did he confirm the location where the murderer appeared?" Zhong Kui also had trouble figuring things out.

"Xinhua Square in the JN District is a half-hour walk from the Nancheng Old Church." Qi Fei murmured, "He told Zheng Aiyuan not to hand over the lunch box to anyone because once the murderer knows the pattern here, the killing cycle will be broken, making it more difficult to catch the murderer."

As they were talking, Wu Shanqiu's phone rang. After hanging up, Wu Shanqiu said to them, "There's a new discovery about the button in Old Ye's hand."

As she said that, she handed the picture she received on her mobile phone to Qi Fei.

The copper button had regained its original luster after being cleaned, and four numbers "0111" were clearly engraved on the back, exactly the same as what Zhong Kui had written just now.

This should have been engraved on Ye Ming's button in advance, just in case something happened to him, to remind the investigators of his death date. Qi Fei looked at the numbers with mixed feelings and couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that he was already prepared to sacrifice himself when he left. If he died, it would be the most accurate link in this time anchor."

Zhong Kui didn't share Qi Fei's emotional fluctuations. She tapped the piece of paper with Xu Chunxia's name on it. "As far as I know, this person doesn't appear on the list of deceased people found in Dongji Town. Also, you said that after the series of female corpses were discovered, Dongji Town strengthened its security, and there have been no more cases of missing women since then. So, how did Old Ye find Xu Chunxia?"

"Well, if the time of Xu Chunxia's death that Old Ye inferred was December 1983, 12, that means we have to look for a list of missing and unfound people in the entire Nancheng before this date," said Wu Shanqiu.

　Good night, I will post the next chapter during the day.

　　(End of this chapter)