There was a big box in the room. Lin Qiupu saw it at a glance. He put on his gloves and checked its corners. He said, “Why does this box feel so familiar?”

“Do you think it matches the indentations found on the crime scene?” Chen Shi asked.

Lin Qiupu opened it. There were some clothes inside. There was a bottle of unidentified tablets, a wrench, a bundle of ropes, a pair of labour gloves, and around a thousand yuan in cash. There were also several pornographic publications.

While he checked the box, Chen Shi opened the bedside table and looked into it. There were condoms and some porn cards, which are common in little motels.

Chen Shi said, “I told you there were hidden prostitutes here!”

Lin Qiupu ignored him and went to the window to look outside and said, “Come here!”

“What happened?”

“The corpse was only found two kilometers away from here. Together with the physical evidence we found, it can basically be concluded that the headless female corpse was killed by the wanted criminal.”

Chen Shi shook his head. “I don't think so.”

“You just said that the death time is more than forty-eight hours. The time of our wanted criminal’s activities in Long'An City is almost around three or four days ago. Do you dare say that there is no connection between the two?”

“Little officer, do you know how much self-deception is in those words you constantly hang around your mouth? Yes, I admit that everything can be connected, but this type of connection is not necessarily the kind of connection that you think. I don't think Jia did this.”

“Reason?!”

Chen Shi showed him the small card in his hand. “There are prostitutes here. If Jia wanted to satisfy his desires, he just needed to spend some money. Also, why would he dump a corpse so close to his motel? Isn’t that starting a fire that would burn himself? The most important thing is, if he was to abandon the body, he could just abandon it. Why should he cut off the head of the deceased? The behavior of cutting off the head indicates that the identity of the deceased is unfavorable to the murderer. Jia is from a foreign country. They definitely wouldn’t be linked.”

“Then how do you explain the box?”

“Box?” Chen Shi smiled. “Such a large box, if he were to put a body inside, do you know how heavy it would be? Two kilometers is not far from here, but if you’re carrying dozens of kilograms, it’s not easy at all. So the murderer must have a car. Since there is a car, he would choose a location further away to dump the body.”

“You can't completely convince me with just that.”

“It’s just that you are not willing to accept it. Ah yes, quickly contact the police station in this district to check the secrets here. I am sure that the motel and the prostitutes would be linked. We just revealed our identity, the store owner will inform the other party to run and hide. We need to be quick.”

As a policeman, there was no reason to not be involved in this. Lin Qiupu immediately called the police station in the area, especially warning them that they should not drive the police car, so as not to alert the other party.

Chen Shi said, “Jia put these small cards in the drawer, indicating that he is likely to have conducted a transaction with them. Once the human desire is satisfied, there will be a period of contentment, so he will not commit any crimes during this period. I am sure that there will be a prostitute in the ones we will find later that had sexual interactions with Jia.”

Lin Qiupu shook his head. “These are your personal opinions. Do you want to convince me with the little experience that you’ve had?”

“Experience? You are not qualified to say that to me, right?”

“Oh, I have solved more cases than you have broken. Don’t try to show off in front of me.”

“Can we not waste time talking about whether I’m qualified to talk to you about something? Let’s talk about the matters at hand. Captain Lin, are you going to continue investigating around Jia who is unconscious right now?”

Lin Qiupu did not want to disclose his plan, but he since they had already discussed this much, he confirmed, “Yes!”

“Then you find proof for what you believe in, and I will also follow my ideas to investigate.”

Lin Qiupu looked at Chen Shi. “Who do you think you are? Have I said that you can participate?”

Chen Shi smiled disapprovingly. “I feel like you’re trying to bring your task force into the ditch again. I just want to make some effort and help out.”

“I’m taking the task force into the ditch?” Lin Qiupu was so angry that he laughed. “Don't think that you are an expert just because you have broken two cases.”

“Qualification theory again!” Chen Shi reminded.

Lin Qiupu thought, this guy just loves interfering, every time he finds reasons to meddle. Since he can't stop it, he might as well let him check it out. This time, Lin Qiupu was confident that Chen Shi’s hypothesis must be wrong.

He said, “Okay, I’m allowing you to assist in our investigation.”

“No, I have to investigate the case alone, but I have to ask you for two people...”

“My sister can't!”

“Lin Dongxue and Xu Xiaodong. I am familiar with both of them. If I succeed, they can take the credit. Of course, you will also receive credit as the team captain.”

“I already said you can’t have my sister!”

“You ask her if she wants to do it then. Whether she is willing to work with me or is willing to do some peripheral work in the task force.”

Lin Qiupu was so angry that he grit his teeth. Chen Shi just smiled at him. After some thinking, Lin Qiupu said, “We can set up some rules of compromise. The first, you three must act together; the second, the intelligence sharing, we’re not allowed to hide anything; third, if the task force needs to dispatch personnel in case of emergency, all priority is given to the task force.”

“Deal!” Chen Shi extended a hand.

“Who wants to shake hands with you!”

“The ceremony of cooperation.” Chen Shi smiled.

Lin Qiupu reluctantly reached out and shook hands with him.

At this time, the sound of a door getting kicked in from upstairs and people outside yelling, “Put on your clothes!”

The two men came to the corridor, and the police comrades had arrived to arrest the prostitutes. A pair of men and women were pulled out from a room and squatted in the corner. A policeman recognized Lin Qiupu and said, “Captain Lin, thank you for your information.”

“You're welcome. Ah yes, we are investigating a criminal case. Arrest these prostitutes first and then my team will come to investigate.”

“This doesn't have to be said, we will definitely have them under control.”

“Do not leave even one out of custody,” Chen Shi added.

“This is...” The policeman had not seen Chen Shi before.

“I am his friend.” Chen Shi said.

Lin Qiupu glared at him. Chen Shi’s identity really wasn’t easy to describe. He said, “He’s my friend that’s helping to solve the case. You can call him Lao Chen.”

Hearing this, the policeman went back to his work when Lin Qiupu said, “Help me move things out of the house!”

The two carefully scanned the house and did not miss out on any details. Even the garbage bags were taken away, giving off quite an organized feeling.[1]

All the miscellaneous items were put into the trunk of Chen Shi’s car. The car just got on the road when Xu Xiaodong called Lin Qiupu and said urgently, “Captain Lin, the wanted criminal...”

“What happened!?”

“His surgery and hospitalization costs are more than 40,000! I don't have that much money on me. I can't leave the hospital!”

Lin Qiupu breathed a sigh of relief. “Can you not talk in bits, boy? What happened to Jia now?”

“Lying in the ICU ward, unconscious.”

“I am going back to the station right now, I will transfer you the money in a bit. How many policemen are there?”

“Xiao Li, some civilian police comrades, and myself.”

“Remain at the hospital tonight, just guard there...”

Chen Shi pointed to himself, meaning that Xu Xiaodong had already been promised to him. Lin Qiupu understood his gesture and said, “Wait, just go back. Come over tomorrow. I have another job to give you, I will send others to the hospital to monitor.”

1. The actual words could be translated as “three-light”. It’s an idiom that means that they are very busy, but has not made a mess of things. They have done this in a step-by-step manner.