Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Beggars and Whores

He put on his gloves and carefully pushed the thing away. What came into view was a playing card with four suits on it, which was larger than ordinary playing cards—almost exactly like his own.The number above is 2. Early the next morning, Yi Shuicen went outside to buy some newspapers and came back. The news on "Lesing City Entertainment News" and "Lesing City Morning Post" were unremarkable, but at the bottom of the second page of "Lessing City New Newspaper", a piece of news caught his attention. At nine o'clock last night, on Baimen Street in Xinnan District, a craftsman in a handmade shop was attacked and killed.The murderer cut into the victim's chest with a 50 cm long non-pointed knife and discarded the murder weapon while fleeing from the backyard of the shop.The craftsman subsequently died of excessive blood loss.Before he died, he described the murderer's characteristics to his neighbors: The murderer's entire head was covered by a mask, wearing black leather pants and black gloves, so he did not leave any fingerprints or hair, which undoubtedly increased the difficulty of solving the case.

Coincidentally, the killer's profile was very similar to a previous homicide that was thought to be revenge.A few days ago, a man named Huang Kun was killed in front of his house. Witnesses also said that the murderer had such clothing characteristics.The difference is that the murderer did not leave behind the murder weapon last time.According to the analysis of the police, it is possible that the murderer dropped the murder weapon because he was too hasty to escape over the wall.And outside that wall was an empty alley, and no witnesses saw where the murderer went. As a result, some people think that this is a new serial murder case.The case has now been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Bureau.Police officers from the Bureau of Investigation made remarks this morning, and they believe that this is unlikely to be a serial killing case.Because the characteristic of serial murder is that the killer has a clear purpose and the victim has the same characteristics, and in these two homicides, these characteristics are hardly visible.Therefore, they think that this has more to do with seeking revenge, so the citizens don't have to panic.

Yi Shuicen read the news over and over three times.What he was interested in was not the murder itself, but the location where the case happened——Baimen Street, Xinnan District.That is the southeast corner of the city. Everything was exactly as the astrologer said.The case happened at nine o'clock last night, and the time when the astrologer was talking nonsense on TV last night was around nine thirty.Yi Shuicen still remembers that he received a call from his old friend at nine o'clock, and the other party hung up after only one word, which took less than a minute.Then he turned on the TV and saw the astrologer's remarks that there might be a murder in the southeast corner of the city.He was ambiguous at the time, but it really happened.

How is this going?Could it be that the magic stick can really predict the world through the stars in the sky?There is also a possibility that this guy is related to the case.Of course, he might really be talking nonsense and just bumped into it by chance. He began to reorganize what happened last night.First he received a call telling him that the murder deduction had begun, and then he heard the astrologer say that there might be a murder in the southeast corner of the city, but the fact is that a murder did happen some time before that. The order should be: the murder happened, the old man called, and the astrologer made a speech.

Of course it couldn't have been done by the astrologer himself, he should have been in the studio before nine o'clock. Yi Shuicen recalled the words of his old friend again. "The murder has begun," he said to himself. "Why don't you just say that the murder has begun?" Nangong Shuni came out of the headquarters building and walked into the bar on the corner.Yi Shuicen was sitting in the corner by the window again. "You're getting more and more outrageous, old man." Nangong Shuni shook her head, "I'm working, and it's hard to leave without authorization like this all the time."

"Why, are you afraid of being fired?" "Always follow the basic rules at work." "Because you are at work, you can't talk on the phone, otherwise your colleagues will know what we talked about." "What? Have you got an idea about that matter?" Nangong sat down. "Don't use the word 'eyebrow'," Yi Shui Cen said seriously, "but something did happen." "What happened?" "You should know." "Should I know? What do I know?" "I mean the murder last night." "The murder case last night?" Nangong thought for a while, "You mean the blacksmith who was killed?"

"It seems to be a craftsman, I read it in the report. Why, you don't understand?" "Oh, it was just taken over by the First Criminal Investigation Section this morning. Why, are you interested?" "It's not that I'm interested, it's that this matter seems to be related to what I encountered." "You mean the deduction of your admirer?" "I received another call last night..." Yi Shuicen told Nangong what happened, but he never mentioned the word "murder" and playing cards. Nangong touched his chin after listening: "This is really suspicious. He said that the deduction started, and then a person was killed..."

"I should have received the call after the person was killed," Yi Shuicen reminded, "but the time is not far behind." "Well, then, that astrologer blatantly said on TV that there was a murder in the southeast corner tonight. Is this a coincidence?" "I don't know, it might be a coincidence. Leaving aside the astrologer, think about the murder case and the phone call. The beginning of the interpretation seems to be marked by the murder case." "Well, the deductive method... I don't know the relationship between the logical classification and exclusion method and the time of the murder... But there seems to be a conceptual error, the word 'deductive', it makes sense to replace it with a demonstration or a performance Did...did he mention murder to you?"

"Oh, this... I think he probably meant the same thing..." "That is to say, the deductive method of murder? This is not right. The murder has already happened, so what is the deductive method? The logical classification and exclusion method should be used in the analysis of the crime... What does 'deduction' have to do with his murder?" ? By the way, did this guy ask you to solve the case?" "Solve the case? I'm not a policeman. Why, do you think the word 'deduction' should refer to me?" "Oh, I don't know." Nangong shook his head, "Who cares about the discussion of subject and object in logical analysis? I think this guy just borrowed a word he thought was cool."

"I think so, too. The word may be a hoax. But the murder was real." "It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with your old friend. Maybe he came up with those words when he knew about the murder by accident, just like those terrorists, when there is a plane crash in the United States, they claim that they did it themselves." Yi Shuicen thought of what his old friend said last night, it was really weird. "But it disturbs me," he said. "How can I put it away? Besides, there's the astrologer." "Okay, now let's talk about the astrologer, that guy's name seems to be Wang Yisheng, how wonderful, 'forget your whole life'. I really don't know how he has so many admirers, can you believe it, in the era of increasingly advanced technology, On the contrary, people seem to be more inclined to believe in mysticism. The astrologer's predictions seem to be very accurate. He has predicted several major events before, and in the end, they all happened as if they hadn't happened."

"What does it mean to happen in a non-existent manner?" "That is to say, you can explain it as he predicted, or you can think that he is opportunistic and playing language games. In fact, smart people can see what is going on, just like those fortune tellers in the past. You asked him whether he would succeed in the exam. He said that as long as you overcome your inner demons, you can succeed, do you think this is nonsense?" "I know, it means that a certain sentence can be interpreted in many ways, but what he said last night seems to be very clear." Nangong nodded, "This guy occasionally looks supernatural, and that can only be explained by mysticism. However, the study of astrology on people's personalities is indeed a science, and some things are very accurate. Maybe it is because For this reason, ordinary citizens adore this Wang Yisheng." "Then what does he usually do for a living?" "He has a planetarium." "I will take the time to find out about him, but I can't ignore the murder case last night." "What do you mean? You don't want me to get information about the case, do you? I don't know anything about the case, and the investigation has just begun." "No, I'm going to be there myself." "Are you crazy?" Nangong was startled. "I must go, otherwise what would I know?" "How are you going? You are no longer a policeman!" "This requires you to help me find a way." Nangong suddenly stood up: "Yishuicen, I warn you, if you dare to act recklessly, I will arrest you." Yi Shui Cen shook his wine glass, as if he was thinking about something, and finally said: "Nangong, I must be there. You don't want more people to die, do you?" "Do you think someone else will die?" "I don't think the matter is that simple. If the matter is aimed at me personally, the police can't do anything, because the police don't have enough evidence to connect the deceased with the murder. And I may find something unexpected when I go to the scene, because maybe... …Some things only make sense to me, and no one understands them better than I do.” Nangong was silent, obviously he felt that Yi Shuicen's words made sense. "However, crime scenes are not so easy to enter and exit." "I know that. I have a way. You come here." Nangong leaned over, Yishuicen whispered in his ear for a while, Nangong sighed, "I have to try." The forensics work for the craftsman shop on Baimen Street was completed last night.Now, the door has been surrounded by a yellow police tape. Nangong Shuni was wearing a thin short windbreaker, looking a bit like a famous detective in a movie.He parked the car outside the door and walked into the house with a man wearing sunglasses. A policeman stood inside the house: "Hey, who are you guys?" Nangong took out his ID: "I'm Police Officer Nangong from the Criminal Investigation Bureau." "Oh," the policeman said suspiciously, "someone came to take over this morning, but it wasn't you." "I know, but I need to see the scene. It might have something to do with one of our cases. Don't you mind?" The police carefully took Nangong's ID and looked at it: "Of course, please go ahead." "If it's convenient, can you go out and stay for a while?" The policeman turned around and left. The man next to Nangong took off his sunglasses, of course, he was Yi Shuicen. "Crime scene. I haven't done this job for two years!" Yi Shuicen said. Yi Shuicen began to search around the house, Nangong waited absently, Yi Shuicen's eyes moved around sharply, but he tried not to touch anything.He walked into a room in the back, where craftsmen polished their crafts.Some unknown tools were scattered on a table, and the blood on the ground was still clearly visible.Yi Shuicen walked into the yard and saw bloodstains stretching all the way to the wall, guessing that was the place where the murderer dropped the murder weapon and fled.He looked carefully at the wall, and there was an obvious footprint. Due to the strong force of the toes, the shoe print could not be seen clearly. There were only long stains dragging downward, just like when people climbed the wall. Caused by toe slipping.Even the most advanced footprint analyzers are useless for such footprints.On the upper part of the wall, there is still a footprint, but it is shorter than the lower one. Yi Shui Cen slowly walked back to the room.He squatted down and studied the bloodstains for a while, always feeling that something was wrong, but he didn't have any specific thoughts in his mind.Finally he put his energy back into the utensils in the house.He walked towards the table with messy tools, and suddenly, something caught his attention: it was a piece of white paper, which looked inconspicuous under a pile of messy utensils.He put on his gloves and carefully pushed the thing away. What came into view was a playing card with four suits on it, which was larger than ordinary playing cards—almost exactly like his own.The number above is 2. The card is thumbtacked to the table, and it doesn't have any reason to call attention to itself.Yi Shuicen cut out the thumbtack and put the card into his pocket. "If my colleagues know that I went to the scene, how can I explain it?" On the way back, Nangong complained while driving.Yi Shui Cen said nothing. "What's the matter?" Nangong asked, "What did you find?" Yi Shuicen didn't tell him the matter: "It's nothing. I feel that everything is weird, which makes me depressed." "Forget it, don't think about it, let the investigator handle it." "By the way, when I was looking at the bloodstain, I suddenly felt uncomfortable, but I don't know the reason. Tell me, is it caused by middle-aged retirement?" "Hahaha...fear of blood, maybe that's the real reason for your retirement." Back at the apartment, Yi Shuicen placed the playing cards upright on the coffee table and stared at it intently. This craftsman was also the one who received the playing cards, but he was killed.The number on the card is 2, his own number is 7, the lawyer's is 6, and the animal trainer's is 8. Could it be that he kills people in numerical order? Impossible, if the murderer kills people in numerical order, he will be the seventh person to be killed, and his identity is the "receiver", so what's the point of the people behind? He wished now that the damned old man would call right away. The lawyer, the animal trainer, and the shop owner wandering in front of his house, after receiving the card, they all followed the instructions on the note to find him on South Star Avenue. Why didn't this craftsman come to him?Maybe he didn't care about the prank at all, and was it for this reason that he was killed?No, according to the old man, this case represents the beginning of the murder interpretation.He found out the lawyer's business card and dialed the phone number on it. "Is it Yangzhuo Lawyer?" "You are... ah, it's Mr. Yi! What's wrong?" "About that note you received, you had reservations about me last time, didn't you?" "Ah, what do you mean? I told you all I know." "No, you didn't. The last word on that note was to come to me and give me my address, didn't it?" The lawyer was silent for a moment: "Yes, how did you know?" Yi Shuicen said slightly dissatisfied, "In the past two days, people who have received cards have come to me. As I expected, there should be at least thirteen playing cards, and my address is written on the slips of those people. So I suppose yours should be the same." "Well, yes, the reason I didn't say it was because I was afraid that you would think I was playing tricks. Besides, I don't know whether I should trust you or not." "I'm afraid the latter is the main reason." "What happened? So many people received playing cards, why?" "Lawyer Yang, I'm afraid you've gotten into a well-planned scheme. I don't know if you've heard about the murder that happened on Baimen Street last night, but I can tell you responsibly that the deceased was also a licensee, and the number on the card It's 2." The lawyer fell silent on the phone.For a while, Yi Shuicen thought he was offline, but finally heard him say: "You wait at home, I'll be right over." An hour later, the lawyer arrived at Yi Shuicen's apartment.He kept looking behind when he entered the door, as if he was afraid of being followed.His face was pale, like a gambler who just lost his fortune.After Yi Shuicen closed the door, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Mr. Yi, what's going on? I hope you will tell me the results of the investigation." He said eagerly. Yi Shuicen said: "Actually, I lied to you too. I was also one of the people who received the playing cards." "Ah—" There was a slight change in the lawyer's eyes, and Yi Shuicen found a trace of joy in it. The lawyer probably felt that the two of them were tied to the same rope, but a trace of doubt soon appeared in the eyes—because He realized that this game was probably set up by someone against Yi Shui Cen, and he seemed to be a victim. He is not stupid.Yi Shui Cen thought. "If you received the card, too," said the lawyer, "what did your note say?" "I don't have a note. I got a call." "Telephone?" "Yeah. A guy said to me he's going to do a murder deduction, that's a shit talk, you don't know what the concept is, deduction is supposed to be for me, he's doing the deduction and I'm doing the deduction The deduction of murder." "Using these licensees as props? What kind of thing is this!" The lawyer was a little excited. "Calm down, Lawyer Yang. I didn't necessarily bring you into trouble. This man said that every murder has a reason." "What the hell does that mean?" The lawyer began to tremble all over. "I don't know." Yi Shui Cen wanted him to calm down.He felt that a person who dealt with criminals all day shouldn't be so vulnerable. Yang Zhuo grabbed the wine bottle on the tea table, raised his head, and poured down half a bottle of whiskey. Yi Shuicen lit a cigarette and waited quietly.Half a minute later, Yang Zhuo calmed down, and he wiped his face: "I'm sorry, I lost my temper. But when I think of being played by the murderer, I will..." "It's okay, you calm down faster than I thought." "Then what shall we do now?" "Frankly speaking, I don't know what to do. You are a lawyer, so you can help analyze it." "Why didn't you tell the police?" "Think in your lawyer's head." Yang Zhuo nodded, "Because we are not threatened, are we?" "Yes, and that guy has great powers. If he wanted to hide, he might be able to hide in the center of the earth. I'm thinking about something now, the "Lessing City News" said that the case last night It was the same murderer who committed the murder a few days ago. Because they all wore the same hood, black boots, and black gloves." "Like in a freak movie?" "Perhaps, if this is the case, things will become interesting. I checked the case on the Internet. A man named Huang Kun was killed in front of his house. The police have not yet concluded. However, this Huang Kun is not What a good guy, he has been in prison and has many records in the police station, and it is said that his neighbors are still grateful after he was killed." "Do you think this Huang Kun also received playing cards?" "That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out." In the evening, Yi Shui Cen and Yang Zhuo came to Huang Kun's former residence.It was quiet all around.The two walked to the front of the house in a big way and found that the door of the house had been sealed. They entered the house through the back window, and Yi Shui Cen began to look around.Yang Zhuo also looked into every corner.On the way here, Yi Shuicen has already told the lawyer about the discovery of the playing cards in the craftsman's house, the phone call last night, and the strange remarks made by the astrologer. At this time, Yi Shuicen was wearing gloves, and carefully opened each drawer, but found nothing.He even looked under the sofa, only to find a few magazines, but not that special playing card. "Let's go." Yi Shuicen scanned the entire room again, "There is no such thing." "Don't look for it? There are still many places I haven't looked for." "No, I don't think this guy has anything to do with poker." On the way back, Yang Zhuo asked Yi Shui Cen: "Why do you say that Huang Kun didn't receive the playing cards?" "Let's assume this: If Huang Kun was the one who received the playing cards, he would probably have two reactions. One is to find me at the address on the note to find out. Or, he doesn't care about it at all and just thinks it's a Mischief. If that's the case, how did he hide his cards like a passbook?" "Perhaps he threw it away." "It's also possible. However, if Huang Kun really received the playing card, I think the killer behind the scenes should find a way to expose the card. At least he wants me to know. More importantly, he made it clear on the phone It can be said that the murder interpretation started at nine o'clock last night, so it has nothing to do with the previous case." "Can't he tell lies?" "If he's just bluffing people, what's the point of him designing it all?" "However, don't forget that the person who killed Huang Kun was dressed the same as the person who killed the craftsman." "Maybe it's just a coincidence. The murderer who killed the craftsman borrowed the costume of the previous murderer after reading the newspaper." "There is also a possibility that the playing cards were at the scene of the murder and were taken away by the police handling the case." "If that's the case, the police wouldn't miss the same card when they searched the artisan's house. The forensics officers at the scene definitely saw the playing cards on the artisan's table, but they didn't study it as a special item. In addition , I have contacted my colleagues from the Criminal Investigation Bureau, and there is nothing special in the evidence at the scene of Huang Kun's case." When the car reached the intersection of Nanxing Avenue, Yi Shuicen said, "I'll just get off here." "Are you afraid that someone will see us together?" "No, I like to walk a little way before entering the house." "Okay. However, there is one thing I want to ask you. Why did you tell me what you know instead of other licensees?" Yi Shuicen thought for a while: "I don't know, I probably think you can be trusted." "Thank you." Yang Zhuo said and drove away. Yi Shuicen walked slowly to the Savage Bar, ordered a glass of spirits, and drank half of the glass in one go. "Hey, you don't look right," the bartender said. "When was I ever satisfied?" he felt as if he was saying to himself. Yi Shui Cen looked around, but the stinky tofu was not there, and a girl in a red coat was sitting alone in the corner.Strange, he thought, this girl doesn't look like a lost drunk, she's dressed so flamboyantly that one can't help but think of those street girls in the red light district, but her face is calm and sullen, and she doesn't look like someone who works in that profession . He was about to ask the bartender about the girl, but saw her raise her hand to check her watch, got up and left the bar. Yi Shui Cen ignored it and continued to drink his wine.He looked at the small TV on the side of the bar, hoping that the astrologer would appear, but unfortunately, there was no show for him tonight. He paid for the drink and turned to leave.As he approached his apartment, he saw two figures on the steps, one standing and the other sitting. He walked up and found that the standing one was the girl he saw in the bar just now, while the sitting one was a disheveled person. "Who are you?" he asked. "I'm waiting for Mr. Yishuicen." The girl said. "I am." "Oh. That's you?" She looked at him carefully, "You seemed to be in a bar just now." "Yes, I saw you too." "I came to see you before. If you're not here, I'll sit in the bar." "Who is this person?" Yi Shuicen pointed to the person sitting on the steps. The girl shook her head: "I don't know him. He was here just now." At this time, the person sitting on the steps stood up slowly, and scratched his unkempt hair with his hands. Suddenly, a strong sour smell of sweat came to his face.The girl covered her nose and hid aside. Yi Shui Cen asked, "Are you waiting for me too?" "Yes." The man grinned and wiped his hands on his body. Yi Shuicen looked at him carefully: "Are you a beggar?" The man smiled "hehe" again, he is really a beggar. "What's the matter with you two?" "Oh, this," the girl looked at the beggar, "tell me about yourself first." The beggar showed his nasty smile again: "Mr. Yi Shui Cen, seeing the smell of alcohol all over your body, can't you buy me a drink?" Yi Shuicen didn't say anything, he took out the key to open the door, pointed to the beggar and said, "You stand here." Then he turned to the girl, "Come in." After he and the girl entered the house, the beggar let out a burst of dissatisfied hissing outside.Yi Shuicen took out a can of beer and a pastry from the refrigerator, went outside and handed them to him: "Please forgive me, your body is indeed too polluting." The beggar happily took the beer and pastries, saying that it didn't matter if he didn't go in. "Actually, I know why you are looking for me. Someone gave you a card and a note with my address on it, right?" The beggar stared wide-eyed: "How do you know?" "Let me ask you, do you know what kind of person gave you something?" "I don't know. When I woke up on the street, I found that thing in my pocket." "Okay, so why are you coming to me now? You should have found that card yesterday at the latest, right?" "Yeah," he nodded, "I found out the day before yesterday. I didn't intend to come to you, but the words on it are a bit scary. Someone may ask me to help with errands, pass some codes, etc., I think, go and see It doesn't matter what kind of person this guy on Nanxing Avenue is." "What's the number on the card?" "J, no suit." "Now that you know what I am, you can go." "Okay, you're such a nice guy." He shook the beer in his hand as he walked, "Thank you." When Yi Shuicen returned to the house, the girl was sitting on the sofa. "What's your name?" he asked as he went to get a drink from the refrigerator. "You can call me Ayang." He put the drink on the tea table in front of her. "Thank you." A Yang said, "But, you don't seem to be eager to know why I came to you." "Well, tell me." For some reason, he wanted to hear what the girl had to say.He looked at her with a man's gaze. Although she was dressed in gaudy clothes, the innocence in her face was extremely alluring.It seems that the temperament cannot be changed by powder. "Well," said the girl, "a strange thing happened to me. I received a playing card with four suits printed on it at the same time. I don't know who gave it to me. Anyway, this thing appeared in front of my eyes. The number is 10. There is a note attached, if it wasn't for this note, I wouldn't have cared about this card at all. The note said..." Then she took out the note and gave it to Yi Shuicen. "It told you to burn it after reading it, and you didn't do it. Good." "I'm afraid I won't remember the address." Yi Shui Cen smiled: "Do you know that you and the beggar just came to me for the same thing." "yes?" "Yes, you're not the only one receiving cards. It's a strange game." "Who set up the game?" Yi Shui Cen smiled wryly: "If only I knew." Ayang smiled and didn't ask any more questions. "You found the playing cards and the note two days ago, why did you come to me now?" "Uh, I've been wondering before, I don't know what these things mean. But I also guess that since there are numbers on the cards, maybe I'm not the only one who received the cards. I read the newspaper today, these two days There have been several murders, and there is a serial killer wearing a mask, which worries me. I don't think it's a coincidence. Serial murders are always reminiscent of playing cards. So I decided to come to you." "From the way you talk, you don't look very frightened." "Yeah, I don't want to die, but I'm not timid. If something happens to me, there's nothing I can do about it." "Yeah, you're special. What do you do?" "Oh, this," she lowered her head slightly, then raised it again, "I'm a call girl." "Well," Yi Shui Cen thought for a while, "You know, the last time I came here as a call girl was four years ago." They all laughed. After Ayang left, Yi Shuicen took out a notebook and recorded the known people who had poker cards on it.He wrote: 2—artisan (dead), 6—lawyer, 7—policeman (formerly), 8—animal trainer, 10—call girl, 11—beggar.The other store owner's number is unknown. "Well, interesting." He looked at the notebook and said.