The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 160 Ocean Currents
"It seems that the murderer knew that we were investigating similar places and deliberately chose to dump Lin Suzhen's body here to provoke us." When Li Jianjun said this, his hands couldn't help but grip the handles of the rattan chair, and he still can't let it go.

"I see that among the five deceased in Dongji Town, Lin Suzhen's file is the thickest," said Qi Fei.

"Of course," Li Jianjun said immediately. "I believe you've already read Lin Suzhen's autopsy report. You should know that Lin Suzhen is different from the other victims. She was already suffering from severe malnutrition before her death, and she died a month after her disappearance. This means that there is more trace evidence on her body. At the time, we used her as a key breakthrough in the 'Demon Mirror Case', and we did find something."

"I know..." Qi Fei's words had a hidden meaning.

Li Jianjun smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that you have really read the file carefully. Let me put it this way, Lin Suzhen was supposed to be an important starting point in this case, but unexpectedly, she has become the biggest doubt in our entire case."

"Hmm?" A hint of curiosity flashed across Zhong Kui's eyes as he looked at Qi Fei.

Qi Fei said, "The forensic doctor found some pine sawdust in Lin Suzhen's fingernails. Carbon dating showed the tree was about 80 years old. Furthermore, an abnormal amount of deep-sea diatoms was detected in the mud on her shoe soles..."

At this point, Li Jianjun took over Qi Fei's words: "In order to find the first crime scene, we compared various algae found on the Dongji Town coast with this algae, but did not get a satisfactory result. Later, Ye Ming consulted an expert from the Institute of Oceanography, and he told him that this diatom usually lives in trenches below 200 meters and cannot appear in shallow waters.

As you all know, Dongji Town is a newly built city constructed from reclaimed land from the sea. At the time, the entire town was only thirty years old, and there was no pine wood growing nearby. A type of wood that didn't grow in the town, and algae that couldn't possibly be found in the shallow waters, made the investigation even more difficult. On October 10th, Zhou Xiaomei's body was discovered. On November 13th, the body of Wu Meiling, the last Dongji Town victim, was found at the Yuxing Island dock. All were treated in the manner you know: eyes gouged out, tied up, and hung with mirrors.

This once peaceful seaside town seems to have been cursed, and with those desperate relatives, Old Ye and I are burdened with too much expectation and pressure."

"You just said that Ye Ming became absent-minded when investigating the case. Do you remember when it started?" Zhong Kui asked.

Li Jianjun took a deep breath and stared at the photos on the wall: "When..." He recalled, "At the beginning, I didn't pay much attention to Ye Ming's changes until he disappeared on New Year's Eve. I kept thinking about it, and if I had to say a turning point, it was probably after Wu Meiling's body was found. Ye Ming started to disappear frequently, not coming to work or at home..."

"Judging from the circumstances of Ye Ming's murder, he should have found the key clues related to the murderer at that time. You are his partner, why didn't he tell you?" Zhong Kui looked at Li Jianjun with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Li Jianjun didn't have any intention of making excuses, but was immersed in his own doubts: "Old Ye and I were considered the golden partners in the bureau back then. There has never been a case where Old Ye was so secretive and reserved with me.

I remember that because the case had reached a dead end and there were no new leads, I suggested going back to Dongji Town to see if there were any new discoveries. Old Ye suddenly lost his temper and yelled at me, saying that the murderer was in Nancheng, not Dongji Island. At the time, I just thought he was under too much pressure and in a bad mood. It seems... "He sighed deeply, "I was too careless. The murderer is not only in Nancheng, but also Old Ye..."

"When did this happen?" Qi Fei asked immediately.

"December 1983, 12, left a deep impression on me because the next day was New Year's Day. Xiao Zheng came to me and complained that Old Ye hadn't been in the mood for the New Year because of the 'Magic Mirror Case,' and his house was a mess. After Old Ye disappeared, we investigated his home and found a large number of ocean-related books, many of which were borrowed from the Nancheng Oceanographic Research Institute. That's when I learned that when he disappeared alone, he often went to the Oceanographic Research Institute.

I found the researcher he had contacted and asked him why Lao Ye contacted him. The researcher said that he always came to ask questions about tides and ocean currents, because of the five people who died in Dongji Town, except Lin Suzhen who was found in the air-raid shelter, the others were thrown into the sea and washed ashore.

I think Old Ye wants to find the exact location where the body was dumped by analyzing the ocean currents."

"If that's all, why is he so sure the murderer has already made it from Dongji Town to downtown Nancheng?" Zhong Kui sharply disagreed. The sun was setting outside the window, and the golden sunset filtered in through the window, like gold dust sprinkled into her pale eyes. "What's interesting is that the discovery in the old church in Nancheng proves his reasoning is correct."

Li Jianjun was silent for a moment, then looked at Qi Fei and Zhong Kui for a while, and recalled the year he retired.

The iron door of the archives room made a dull thud as the draft blew through. He took out a pen and wrote a line of small words next to the serial number: "Related to 83JA, pending review by Sandielang."

"After Old Ye disappeared, I found some information he had left at his home. Most of it was about geography and ocean currents. I read it over and over again before I retired, but since Old Ye was gone, I never understood the secrets. I think it's time to hand it over to you."
-
In the winter of 1983, at Ye Ming’s home.

Outside, the north wind whipped dead leaves against the glass, leaving cigarette ash on the shoulders of Ye Mingjun's coat. He extinguished his fifth cigarette, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the crisscrossing case maps on the wall. The yellowed calendar was riddled with circles in red and blue marker, and the photos of the five victims were pinned to the corresponding boxes according to the date of discovery.

"If it's thirty days..." He dipped his pen into the tea stain and drew an arrow on the calendar, the tip of his pen almost piercing the paper.

The ink smeared the grid of January 1984. Ye Ming's pupils suddenly contracted. He grabbed the crumpled ocean current map and ran his fingertips over the coordinates marked with red circles where the body had been dumped: Dongshan Reef, Qingbang Wharf, Air Raid Shelter, Hudao Beach, Yuxing Wharf...

With the tip of the pen suspended in the air, Ye Ming's gaze moved back and forth between the ocean current map and the physical evidence examination report.

"Mercury mirrors..." he muttered as he flipped through the book "A Study of Religious Artifacts in Nancheng" borrowed from the archives. "St. Paul's Church in the JN District, 1903, fifty custom-made glazed windows and mercury mirrors."

The first firecracker of the new year was heard outside the window. Ye Ming was startled and when he turned around, he saw only the shaking curtains.

In the distance, in the dilapidated old church of Nancheng, a missing corner of the mirror accompanied the explosion of fireworks, and from time to time a huge inverted pentagram pattern flashed on the ground...

(End of this chapter)