Case Files Chapter 21: Angel of Death (1)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

Night fell, but the neon signs in the distance still lit up the night sky. However, on this path concealed by large trees, the only source of light came from the dim streetlights. Wu Meng had just gotten off her night shift at the hospital, and she was hastily walking on the path. The trees’ shadows danced on the ground, and there was the occasional chirp of crickets. Wu Meng had always been faint-hearted, so she was always scared when she walked this path after her night shift, and she wished she could reach the end of it in a few steps.

As she walked, Wu Meng suddenly heard footsteps behind her. She abruptly stopped and turned around, trembling. Besides the swaying tree shadows on the path, it was empty. However, Wu Meng inexplicably felt even more scared, and she stumbled backwards. Then, she turned back around and began sprinting away…

*****

When Guan Jin walked into the office, everyone was still as relaxed and lazy as before. Although Wen JingHan had given them arduous training for a week, he lost interest quickly, and it was often hard to even catch a glimpse of him nowadays.

“Ah, it’s almost summer. I reckon the criminals all left to escape the heat.” Ding Ding flipped through a book, overcome with boredom.

Guan Jin sat down listlessly. Recently, Tony, still hadn’t sent any new replies, and besides that detestable sham of a psychic and that baffling Min Yan occasionally harassing him with phone calls, his days were as plain as boiled water, causing him to fall into a numbing routine.

“But I have a different feeling about today,” Chen QiaoYu said suddenly.

“Tsk, a feeling? Do you think you’re a prophet?” Zheng Fei didn’t believe her.

“Hey, our leader was the first to arrive today, and he’s been making phone calls ever since. And, he has a weird smile on his face,” Chen QiaoYu said quietly, pointing to his office.

Everyone focused their gazes on Wen JingHan’s office. Suddenly, the door opened.

Wen JingHan was standing in the doorway, and he happily looked at the team members. “You’ve all arrived quite early today. Good, since I have good news I want to announce today.”

Everyone’s expressions didn’t look like they were receiving good news. They understood their evil boss too well, and to him, good news was only beneficial for himself, but was a pain in the neck for everyone else.

“A new and special member will be joining us today, so our team will become even more capable. Everyone will benefit a lot from this,” Wen JingHan said solemnly. “When the member arrives, I’ll formally introduce them to everyone.” Wen JingHan smiled his signature smile and left.

“Special member?” Lin Bai typed on his keyboard randomly. “Could it be a police dog?!”

“Police dog?” Gu Xiang was very fond of animals, and his eyes lit up immediately.

“Impossible. Even if there was a police dog, we wouldn’t be able to raise it here in the office. The police dogs we use are always borrowed from the Police Dog Unit,” reminded Ding Ding.

“Perhaps it’s a beautiful liaison officer? Just like in those American dramas,” Zheng Fei said excitedly.

“You’re dreaming!” The only two women in the team denounced him at the same time.

“Guan Jin? What’s up with you today? How come you’re not talking?” Gu Xiang had attentively noticed that Guan Jin was frowning and silently staring at the table.

Guan Jin shook his head. “Nothing, I have no idea.”

Actually, Guan Jin felt very uneasy, and he kept feeling that something was going to happen. He rubbed his temples helplessly. Was he thinking too much? It wasn’t like an old enemy would come knocking on the police station’s door. Who cared who the new colleague was, as long as they didn’t have anything to do with Hei Xiao.

Reality proved that Guan Jin had been too naive. Things in the past were merely of the past, but when he saw the person Wen JingHan brought inside, Guan Jin could feel impending doom.

“Everyone, stop what you’re doing.” Actually, they weren’t doing anything. “Let me introduce our new member: renowned psychologist, consultant, and psychological counselor who was specially invited by the police station, Lu YunYang.”

Lu YunYang was wearing rimless glasses, and he smiled elegantly and warmly at everyone. “I’m flattered. I hope that everyone won’t mind my sudden addition. I’m only a nonemployee here to provide you with assistance, so I won’t affect everyone’s normal work.”

Everyone’s mouths were half-open, speechless at having their thoughts guessed.

“Professor Lu, you’re not a criminal psychologist, right?” Guan Jin raised an eyebrow.

“That’s indeed not my main research direction.” Lu YunYang grinned at Guan Jin. “I only wrote a few books about criminal psychology, as well as a textbook for the police academy.”

“…”

“Recently, criminals have become more sophisticated with their crimes, and there is a rising number in syndicate crimes as well, so it is harder for police who solve problems using criminal investigation. However, no matter how their M.O.s ¹ change, people’s behavior patterns and psychological motivations are traceable, so in order to increase our efficiency, we need a professional psychologist and behavioral research expert to provide us with suggestions. At the same time, he can help give us psychological counseling. Being a police officer has always been a dangerous profession, so a lot of people have serious psychological problems. The bureau has been very thoughtful.” Wen JingHan said earnestly, “I hope that we’ll have a happy cooperation with Professor Lu.”

“Boss, I agree.” Chen QiaoYu stood up. “Professor Handsome, welcome. I’m Chen QiaoYu.” She extended a hand, palm face-down.

“And me!” Lin Bai rushed over and put his hand on top of Chen QiaoYu’s.

The others walked over and piled their hands on top of each other.

Lu YunYang looked at Guan Jin, who was still sitting there.

Guan Jin still didn’t move.

Wen JingHan turned to Guan Jin and smiled.

…Guan Jin reluctantly stood up and walked to them, placing his hand at the bottom of the pile.

“I hope that I can become your backup and support.” Lu YunYang also placed his hand at the bottom of the pile.

Everyone lifted their hands and exclaimed, “Welcome!”

After the simple ceremony ended, Lu YunYang put his hand down. “I like you guys, and I believe that I will also like this experience very much.”

Guan Jin looked down at his palm, and the veins on his forehead bulged. That bastard! He had used his finger to poke his palm!

“As for where you’re going to work at…” Wen JingHan looked around, continuing, “you can work at Guan Jin’s desk, since it’s the largest. You can sit next to him.”

“That half of my desk is for files!” protested Guan Jin.

“Why would a pile of files need a desk? Clean them up and put them into the archives.”

“I——”

“Okay, it’s settled.”

“Then I’ll go ahead and report to the chief of police. Gu Xiang, you and the others can get acquainted with Professor Lu.” After saying this, Wen JingHan turned around and left.

“Professor, you’re so young. You must’ve skipped some grades,” Ding Ding said curiously.

“It’s not that impressive. I just like psychology, and when people are doing something that they love, they will have a lot of potential. Also, call me YunYang, I’m your colleague now, not a teacher, so don’t call me professor.”

“I’ve read that textbook you wrote.” Gu Xiang also liked academics and research, and he seemed to have finally found a confidant.

Lu YunYang began to talk about various experiments, and the others asked questions with interest, “Actually, that experiment was like this. We connected an electronic pulse to the white mice’s brain’s pleasure centers, and then…” 

Guan Jin’s expression was somber as he organized the files on his desk into a pile and started moving them towards the archives.

“Little Jin.” That person suddenly appeared behind him.

“What?”

“I came to help you.” Lu YunYang reached out to take the files.

“No need, you’re very busy.”

“Does my presence bother you?”

“Bother? You’re thinking too highly of yourself.”

“Okay. I offer to provide my cleaning services for our desk, please be sure to approve.” Lu YunYang wasn’t annoyed.

Guan Jin glanced at him. “These are my lovers, so you have to cherish them and handle them with care.”

Lovers? Lu YunYang took the flies. “Of course, I’ll definitely take care of them like they’re my own lovers.”

After he moved the files to the specified shelf in the archives, Lu YunYang happily locked away Guan Jin’s ‘lovers’ on the shelf.

When he returned from the archives, Wen JingHan walked in, “We have a case. Everyone, come here.”

Everyone rolled their chairs towards him.

“Last night, on Jinshan Street ², a homicide occurred. The victim was a female nurse at the hospital nearby. The case has just been transferred to us from the district police station.”

“The Serious Cases Unit can handle a homicide case, right?” Chen QiaoYu didn’t understand.

“It’s because this is the third homicide case to occur in this city in the last two years. The victims were all women, and they were nurses at the hospital. The murderer is still at large.”

“Is it a serial murder?”

“This is all I know right now, since the data related to the case is still in the process of getting transferred. The crime scene is still under protection, so we must act quickly. QiaoYu, Zheng Fei, and Guan Jin, go investigate at the crime scene. Ding Ding and Gu Xiang, go to the hospital the victims worked at and inquire about the situation of the victims before they died. Little Bai, gather and organize all information about these cases you can find online. I’ll ask the other units who have handled the other cases so they can provide as much materials and evidence as possible, and Le Fan can go extract the evidence.” Wen JingHan clapped once. “Off you go.”

Everyone quickly gathered their things.

“Uh… JingHan, what about me?” asked Lu YunYang, who was ‘invisible,’ as he pointed at himself.

Guan Jin looked at the forgotten person and thought smugly, I’m finally considered an older member, and it sure is nice to see the newcomer unused to things.

“Oh, silly me, I forgot that we have one more person now. How about this, you can choose yourself. After all, you know what would be more helpful to you the best.”

Lu YunYang adjusted his glasses. “I’ll go with Guan Jin and the others to the crime scene. That’s the most direct place to find out more about the murderer’s behavior and psychology.”

Guan Jin turned around abruptly and glared at him.

“Guan Jin, look after YunYang, it’s his first time going to a crime scene.”

 

Did he really need looking after? Ridiculous!