Po Sir's Police Affairs: The Hunter

Guo Deming's studio was dark.

Jiang Bo and Zhou Xiao stood at the gate, which was ajar and opened easily. The yard was dark inside, with iron materials and tools piled up in the corner, their outlines obscured. Jiang Bo took out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and shone it inside.

The workbench was empty, the hammer still on it. The iron painting on the wall was still there, the old cabinet in the corner was still there. But Guo Deming was not there.

Zhou Xiao walked to the door, but it was locked. He peered through the window, but it was pitch black inside, and he couldn't see anything.

"Polish Sir, he's not here."

Jiang Bo stood in the center of the courtyard, looking around. Suddenly, he saw something reflecting light on the ground under the workbench. He walked over and shone his flashlight on it—it was a bronze medal, exactly the same as the one he had seen before, with the character "Guo" engraved on it.

He picked it up and turned it over to look at the back. On the back were engraved a few small characters: "Guo Jianjun, born in 1993".

Jiang Bo gripped the bronze medal tightly, his mind racing through the lines.

Guo Jianjun, 31 years old, a bricklayer from Wuwei. He is the son of Guo Jianshe, the son of Ma Xiulan, and the brother of Azhen's daughter. He should know about his background. How much does he know?

My phone rang; it was Liu Tong calling.

"Police officer, Guo Jianjun's location has been found. His phone is on, and there's a signal—by the river, near the Zhongjiang Pagoda."

Jiang Bo hung up the phone and rushed out of the yard. Zhou Xiao followed behind, asking as they ran, "Should we call for backup?"

"It's too late." Jiang Bo opened the car door. "Let's go."

The car sped through the streets late at night. The road surface gleamed after the rain, and traffic lights flashed by one by one. Jiang Bo gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, but his mind was wandering to another image—a small corpse lying in the reeds by the river in 1999.

That child was Guo Jianjun's younger sister. His half-sister. Guo Jianjun was about seven or eight years old when she died. Did he know she was dead? Did he know who killed her?

The car was parked in the Binjiang Park parking lot. Jiang Bo got out of the car and ran towards the river, with Zhou Xiao following behind, his hand already on his holster.

We've arrived at the observation deck.

No one is empty.

Jiang Bo stood by the railing, looking down. The river was pitch black, and all he could hear was the rushing sound of the water. He raised his phone and shone the flashlight onto the rocks. There was nothing there.

Suddenly, Zhou Xiao tugged at his sleeve and pointed to the side.

A person was sitting on the steps next to the viewing platform.

He stood with his back to them, facing the river, motionless. He wore old work clothes, his hair was disheveled, and he held a wine bottle in his hand.

Jiang Bo walked over slowly, his footsteps clearly echoing on the stone slabs. The man didn't turn around; he simply raised his bottle and took a sip.

"Guo Jianjun?"

The person finally turned around.

A young face, around thirty years old, with thick eyebrows, a square face, dark skin, and bloodshot eyes. He looked at Jiang Bo for a while, then grinned.

"Officer Jiang, you arrived quite quickly."

Jiang Bo stopped, standing three or four meters away from him. Zhou Xiao remained on the other side, keeping his distance.

Did you know we were coming?

Guo Jianjun nodded and patted the ground beside him: "Want to sit? The night view here is quite beautiful."

Jiang Bo didn't sit down. He stood there, looking at the young man. Guo Jianjun didn't seem to care either, took another sip of his drink, and turned to look at the river.

"I knew you would come looking for me," he said. "My cousin, Ding Laosan, called me. He said the police were investigating Ah Zhen's case. I knew it; what's meant to happen will happen."

"Who is Ah Zhen to you?"

Guo Jianjun was silent for a moment, then said, "My mother."

Jiang Bo was taken aback.

"The mother who gave me life," Guo Jianjun said, "but not the mother who raised me."

He stood up, turned around, and faced Jiang Bo. In the moonlight, his face appeared calm, even somewhat gentle.

"My biological mother is Ah Zhen. The woman who raised me was Ma Xiulan, my uncle's woman," he said. "I know everything you've found out. I've known it since I was a child."

Jiang Bo looked at him: "How did you know?"

"My uncle told me," Guo Jianjun said. "Guo Deming, my uncle. He raised me."

Suddenly, the fragments in Jiang Bo's mind came together.

Guo Deming. Isn't he Guo Jianshe's brother? How come he's raising Guo Jianshe's son?

Guo Jianjun seemed to sense his confusion and gave a bitter smile: "My uncle and my dad are brothers, but they're not the same. My dad is a beast, and my uncle is a good man. My mom, Azhen, got pregnant with me, and my dad ran away. My uncle found my mom and sent her to the countryside to give birth to the child. When my mom gave birth to me, she had a severe hemorrhage and didn't make it. My uncle then took me away, saying that I was an orphan he had adopted."

He lowered his head and looked at the wine bottle in his hand.

"Later, my dad came back with a little girl. That was my sister, another child my mom, Ah Zhen, had. My dad dumped her with my uncle and then ran away again. My uncle raised us both until—"

He couldn't continue.

Jiang Bo continued, "Until 1999, your sister died."

Guo Jianjun nodded. His shoulders were trembling, but he didn't cry.

"That night, she ran off to play alone and never came back. My uncle searched all night and found her by the river the next morning. She was already—" He took a deep breath, "already dead."

Jiang Bo remained silent.

Guo Jianjun looked up at Jiang Bo: "Officer Jiang, do you all think I killed those women who were jogging at night?"

Jiang Bo remained silent.

Guo Jianjun smiled, a bitter smile: "I didn't. I'm not that kind of person. I know what you've found out. I rented my cousin's boat, I went to the riverbank. But I didn't kill anyone. I just—I just wanted to see the place where my sister died."

He walked a few steps toward the observation deck, stood by the railing, and looked down.

“Every year on the anniversary of her death, I come here to sit for a while. I’ve been doing this for over twenty years,” he said. “This year when I came, I saw a woman running along the riverbank. I thought of my sister; if she were alive, she would be about this age. Then I left.”

Jiang Bo walked to his side and looked down at the river. The moonlight shone on the river, breaking into pieces of silver light.

Where were you the night Fang Min died?

Guo Jianjun thought for a moment: "At the construction site. I was drinking with my coworkers until midnight. They can testify to that."

"What about Li Hongmei? The one from last year?"

"I was working in another city last year, not in Jiangcheng," Guo Jianjun said. "You can check."

Jiang Bo looked at him. The man's eyes were clear, without any evasion or fear, only a deep, deep weariness.

"Then why are you running?"

Guo Jianjun was silent for a while, then said, "Because my uncle called me and said you were investigating A-Zhen's case. I know that as long as you keep investigating, you'll eventually find out about me and my uncle. My uncle made one mistake in his life—he didn't tell my sister that she wasn't my biological sister, but that she was born to my father and another woman. He was afraid she wouldn't be able to handle it."

He turned to look at Jiang Bo: "My sister never knew until her death that she had two mothers. She always thought she was born to Ma Xiulan."

Jiang Bo stood there, listening to the sound of the river crashing against the rocks. This case, after so many investigations, had finally uncovered the truth from thirty years ago. But sometimes, the truth is heavier than a lie.

Where is your uncle now?

Guo Jianjun shook his head: "I don't know. After he called me, he said he was going to go into hiding for a few days. He said he was afraid you would find out about him, and that he was responsible for not reporting the case back then and not protecting my sister."

Jiang Bo remained silent.

Guo Jianjun suddenly asked, "Officer Jiang, have you found the person who killed my sister?"

Jiang Bo looked at him.

"It's been twenty-four years," Guo Jianjun said. "I come here every year, and every year I ask her, 'Who killed you?' She has never told me."

Jiang Bo's hand twitched. He wanted to touch that railing—that rusty railing that the little girl might have grabbed more than twenty years ago.

But he didn't.

He looked at Guo Jianjun and said, "We will find out the truth."

Guo Jianjun nodded and poured the wine from the bottle into the river.

"This bottle of wine is for my sister," he said, "and for that little girl running along the riverbank."

The wine fell into the river and vanished instantly. The river continued to flow, gurgling and rushing, just as it had twenty-four years ago, just as it had a hundred years ago, just as it had a thousand years ago.

Jiang Bo stood there, looking at the river under the moonlight. Suddenly, an image flashed through his mind—not one he saw with his abilities, but one he imagined: a little girl, wearing a floral dress, running and laughing along the riverbank, and then suddenly disappearing.

The scene was so real, so real, that it made his heart ache.

Zhou Xiao walked over and whispered, "Officer, should we take him back?"

Jiang Bo shook his head: "Let him stay a little longer."

He turned and walked away, but after a few steps, he looked back again. Guo Jianjun was still standing by the railing, facing the river, motionless. The moonlight stretched his shadow long, casting it on the ground like the shadow of another person.

On the way back to the city, Zhou Xiao asked, "Officer Bo, do you trust him?"

Jiang Bo didn't answer. He looked out the car window at the rapidly receding night view, his mind replaying the words he had heard that evening.

What Guo Jianjun said all sounded reasonable. His relationship with Ding Laosan, his annual habit of going to the riverbank, and the phone call from his uncle Guo Deming. But—

Jiang Bo suddenly remembered something.

That bronze medal. The one found on the floor of Guo Deming's studio, with "Guo Jianjun, born in 1993" engraved on the back. If Guo Jianjun really was Ah Zhen's son, he would have been six years old in 1993, and he should have had that medal. But why was it with Guo Deming?

And then there's that letter. The letter Guo Jianshe wrote to Guo Deming, saying, "I'm sorry to her, that child is mine." In that letter, is "her" Ah Zhen or Ma Xiulan? And is the "child" Guo Jianjun or the little girl?

Jiang Bo rubbed his temples. His headache was starting to flare up again. He closed his eyes, letting the fragments slowly piece together in his mind.

As the car entered the city, neon lights flashed past the windows. Zhou Xiao's phone rang; he answered it, listened for a few moments, and his expression changed.

"Polish Sir," Liu Tong said, "the DNA comparison results for the Li Hongmei case are in."

Jiang Bo opened his eyes: "What do you mean?"

Zhou Xiao looked at him and swallowed hard: "It doesn't match up with Guo Jianjun. But it matches up with someone else."

"Who?"

Zhou Xiao handed over his phone; a photo was displayed on the screen.

Jiang Bo took it and glanced at it.

He recognized the person in the photo.

Guo Deming.