Chapter 31

Back at the bureau, Ruan Mingxi immediately instructed the video team to analyze the footage they had copied.

Through special processing, the video captured by the repaired doorbell became much clearer than before.

“It’s Liang Sheng!” Lin Cheng exclaimed loudly after seeing the man’s face clearly in the footage.

When they had earlier shown photos to the elderly couple across the hall, Jiang Xuzhou had already suspected this. Now they had solid proof.

“He’s holding a black bag identical to the one we found at the body-dumping site. The timing matches too. He’s the one who dumped the bodies!”

The group continued watching the footage segment by segment. Since the doorbell had only been repaired recently, there weren’t many recordings.

But what was certain was that from the 20th onward, Liang Sheng had appeared at crime scenes more than once.

Moreover, the doorbell had not captured any footage of the fifth victim, Liu Hui, entering Gao Hai’s home. This meant Liu Hui must have entered before the doorbell was repaired, that is, before the 20th.

“Lin Ke said Liu Hui’s time of death was within the past 48 hours. During that period, the only person entering Gao Hai’s home was Liang Sheng.”

Ruan Mingxi’s expression grew grave. They had the evidence, yet the killer had been kidnapped.

Strange cases were not uncommon, but one this bizarre was something he had never encountered before.

At that moment, a call came in from the hospital.

Their colleagues at the hospital reported that Liang Sheng’s wife had calmed down emotionally, but the child’s condition was not good.

Because of Qin Zhen’s health issues and a breech pregnancy, she had undergone a cesarean section when the baby was just over seven months, not yet eight.

After birth, the child had to stay in the neonatal department for nearly two months before being discharged. Due to prematurity, the baby’s heart and lung function were weak.

On top of that, the child had inherited Qin Zhen’s asthma. The couple treated the child as precious, protecting him with utmost care.

“Three months ago, red rashes appeared on the child’s body. Because they were discovered early, the situation was controlled fairly well. The hospital diagnosed the child with lupus.”

Porphyria is a genetic disease, and current medical technology cannot cure it.

Ying Shi said “Having seen his father and elder brother suffer from this illness, Liang Sheng would naturally fear porphyria. The child’s rashes would constantly remind him of this ticking time bomb.”

“The missing blood, in Liang Sheng’s eyes, was his life-saving medicine.” Jiang Xuzhou said, turning to Ying Shi. “You learned that Qin Zhen had the habit of feeding the child animal blood. It may be necessary for the forensics team to check their home.”

Ying Shi nodded, “When Qin Zhen came to the station to report the kidnapping, I used the excuse of searching for clues to visit their home. I took a sample from the blood bowl in the refrigerator and already sent it to the lab for testing.”

“Also, when we inspected the house, there was only one blood bowl in the fridge. If Liang Sheng really replaced its contents, he must have a separate place where he hides these things.”

After all, when they searched Gao Hai’s home, aside from the corpse, they had not found any of the “missing” blood.

“Another point: apart from the first ransom call to Qin Zhen, the kidnappers never made a second call.”

Jiang Xuzhou’s words made everyone tense.

Ruan Mingxi immediately reached for the mouse and clicked to play Qin Zhen’s recorded phone call.

Qin Zhen had a work habit: since clients often gave verbal instructions for projects, she recorded her calls to keep a trace of requirements, making it easier to verify functions after completion.

Thanks to this habit, they had preserved the kidnapper’s ransom audio.

The voice on the phone was electronically distorted, clearly processed through a voice changer.

Ruan Mingxi listened to the recording once, then replayed it. Realizing something was wrong, his gaze turned cold, “He is not the kidnapper.”

“What?” Lin Cheng was startled by Ruan Mingxi’s bold conclusion, having never dealt with a kidnapping case before.

“Why? From where did you see he wasn’t the kidnapper?” As the team’s newcomer, Lin Cheng lacked their experience and couldn’t immediately grasp the point.

At that moment, Chu Liyang, who had been listening quietly, also noticed something off. “If the kidnappers truly wanted ransom, why didn’t they provide a way to deliver the money? That doesn’t make sense.”

“And another thing: from the garage video just now, it’s clear the kidnapper’s target was specifically Liang Sheng. Doctors do earn higher salaries, but demanding tens of millions in ransom contradicts what we know about Liang Sheng’s situation.”

The flood of information was overwhelming, and Lin Cheng felt his mind struggling to keep up.

Ruan Mingxi said, “The kidnapper must be someone very familiar with Liang Sheng’s daily habits. That’s why he dared to act during rush hour.”

“During rush hour, there are many office workers rushing to work. Even if the garage isn’t densely packed, it’s still a place with plenty of people and eyes. One careless move could expose him. Yet he chose to act there. Most likely, the kidnapper knew that at a certain time, no one would be around, giving him enough time to carry out the crime.”

Ying Shi immediately added, “Here’s the situation. We checked the parking lot. Liang Sheng’s family bought two parking spaces. The car Qin Zhen usually drives was sent back to the factory for repainting because of scratches, so the adjacent space was empty.”

“With two spaces side by side, and one car missing, the view became much more open. Plus, we learned that several nearby spaces hadn’t been sold yet, and tenants without purchased spaces didn’t rent them. In that environment, it shouldn’t have been a good place to act.”

Ying Shi glanced at Lin Cheng, “But the kidnapper not only acted, he even brazenly looked straight at the surveillance camera. Unless he’s a fool, this proves he was very confident he could carry out the kidnapping at that time without being caught.”

From this, they concluded that the kidnapper knew Liang Sheng and the surrounding conditions extremely well. That made the ransom demand unreasonable—it wasn’t really about money, but about another purpose.

“If it wasn’t for money, then what did the kidnapper want?” Lin Cheng felt like his brain was overheating.

His very first case in his career was this complicated. Once it was solved, the experience would be enough to study for years.

Ruan Mingxi looked up at Jiang Xuzhou, “Consultant Jiang, why don’t you figure out what he wanted?”

Jiang Xuzhou almost laughed in exasperation, “I’d love to help you ‘calculate,’ but unfortunately my specialty is criminal psychology, not fortune-telling.”

Just as they were struggling, a duty officer suddenly came in carrying a box.

“Consultant Jiang, your junior brought this for you. He said Professor Wei asked him to deliver it.”

Hearing this, everyone’s eyes turned toward the box in the officer’s hands.

Ruan Mingxi asked, “Did you ask Professor Wei to help analyze the case?”

“No. I know the rule that case details can’t be casually disclosed to non-task-force members.” Jiang Xuzhou frowned. “My teacher didn’t call me, and there were no text messages either.”

If this delivery were genuine, why was there no prior notice at all? That did not match Professor Wei’s usual way of doing things.

“He said he was my junior. Did he provide any proof of identity?” Jiang Xuzhou pressed.

The sudden caution changed everyone’s expressions, especially the police officer holding the box.

“I checked his ID card and student card. When I saw he was a student from Gong University, I accepted the item.”

Jiang Xuzhou walked forward, “Where are his documents?”

It was not easy to deliver items into the Public Security Bureau. Even if something was sent, identity registration was required.

Since the item had already been delivered, there must have been a record.

“Here.” The officer quickly handed over the documents.

At the same time, Ruan Mingxi, unable to move conveniently, signaled with his eyes for Chu Liyang to go check.

Chu Liyang received the “message” and immediately stepped forward.

As soon as he saw the documents, his face changed. Chu Liyang asked, “Where is the person who delivered this?”

“Out… outside.”

The words had barely left his mouth when Chu Liyang rushed out at once. Jiang Xuzhou suddenly felt a chill in his limbs.

Seeing the situation was wrong, Ying Shi also hurried out.

The item delivered was a file envelope. It felt like documents inside, and it was marked “Confidential.” That was why the officer thought it might be urgent and brought it in.

Ruan Mingxi asked, “What’s wrong?”

“The student card is fake. The official seal is incorrect, and there’s no student named Liang Xu in the senior year at Gong University.”

Jiang Xuzhou took a deep breath. “Give me a pair of gloves.”

Lin Cheng quickly pulled some out of his pocket and handed them over, only realizing afterward, “Consultant Jiang, maybe I should do it instead.”

But Jiang Xuzhou had already put on the gloves, “I’ll do it.”

The moment the file envelope was opened, the stench of blood mixed with the smell of ink rushed out, foul and nauseating.

Jiang Xuzhou pulled out several sheets of paper—color-printed photographs.

The first showed bags of blood stored in a refrigerator, the sheer quantity enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

The second photo froze Jiang Xuzhou in place.

“Damn!” Lin Cheng cursed involuntarily when he saw it, his scalp prickling.

Ruan Mingxi could no longer stay seated. Forcing himself upright, he snatched the papers from Jiang Xuzhou’s hands with his gloved grip.

Once he saw the contents, he immediately understood why Jiang Xuzhou and Lin Cheng had reacted so strongly.

Inside a freezer were four severed heads, frosted white, the sight horrifying.

If one didn’t know what they were, they almost looked like candied hawthorn skewers coated in sugar, crudely pierced by tools.

Even Ruan Mingxi, who had handled many brutal cases, found it hard to look. For the two rookies, it was even worse.

Ruan Mingxi wrapped an arm firmly around Jiang Xuzhou’s waist, steadying him. His strong grip anchored Jiang’s shaken nerves.

“Don’t look too close. Watch outside.”

Just as Jiang Xuzhou tried to look further, Ruan Mingxi held him back. The two were so close that his warm breath brushed Jiang Xuzhou’s neck as he spoke.

Jiang Xuzhou’s heartbeat, which had been racing, gradually calmed at those words.

Outside, the city lights glowed. Behind him, Ruan Mingxi stood.

Meanwhile, when Chu Liyang and the others rushed out, the man who had delivered the package bolted at the sight of them.

“Stop! Why are you running!”