Chen Shi took off his headset. "I was watching Luo Zuyu's interviews over the years and there were some small discoveries."

He found a video and dragged it to the middle. The host asked, "Zuyu, congratulations on your new song making the Chinese charts again. Some viewers want to ask how your creative inspiration never dries up."

Luo Zuyu answered with a smile, "Every time I write a new song, I will experience that feeling with all of my heart. Of course, it doesn't mean that I’m really falling in love! I’ve seen a foreign movie. I think it was filmed by a director from Finland or Spain. The male lead had an enemy that he wanted to kill very much. He just made a dummy at home and kept ‘killing it’ with a knife. You only experience that kind of feeling when you put yourself in a similar situation."

After watching this interview, Chen Shi asked, "What do you feel about this?"

Lin Dongxue said, "If you didn't know his background, you may think that he was just making an analogy. Now that we know, I feel that there are hidden meanings."

"Look at the next part."

This video was a recently-recorded variety show. In fact, Lin Dongxue had watched it at Chen Shi ’s house. The host asked, "Some people say that every time you write a song, you fall in love. Is that true, Mr. Luo?"

"No, creation does require experience, but this experience is not a 100% recreation. It's like making the movie called A Nightmare on Elm Street. It’s impossible for the director to have really gone out to kill people! When I create, I may take out some of the things that my former girlfriends gave me and look at them. I might take a look at some old photos and listen to CDs and the like. It’s not like I really go out and fall in love in order to write each song."

Chen Shi pressed the pause button and laughed. "This wasn’t the only time. He mentions the word ‘kill’ in a lot of interviews about new song releases. This is self-disclosure psychology[1]. For example, Xiaodong, I am your father..."

“Huh?!" Xu Xiaodong looked blank.

"I am your biological father, but your father doesn’t know about this..."

"What, I still have a father? What ethical relationship is this?"

"Don’t go off on a tangent. Say that I watched you grow up and knew that you are my son, but other people don’t know. I’ll disclose little bits of information during a conversation with others. For example, I’ll say, 'Xiaodong is such a good boy. It would be nice if he is my son.’ Others wouldn’t feel that there’s anything else implied, but when I say this sentence, I’ll feel secret satisfaction. This is self-disclosure psychology."

"Understood, it's just that the example just now was a bit..."

Lin Dongxue said, "I understand. You mean to say that Luo Zuyu's murder is related to his creation of new songs. Whether intentionally or not, he’s proudly showing off on the show.”

"You’ve got a good understanding of it!" Chen Shi opened the book. "I checked the timing of each murder case related to him and found that they all happened right before he released a new song. I couldn't help but make a bold guess that he killed them to gain creative inspiration!"

"Killing someone to write a song!" Lin Dongxue was shocked.

"This may be related to his childhood trauma. When I watched his interviews, I noticed that his descriptions of his childhood were contradictory and ambiguous. His childhood was probably not very happy. Or perhaps he grew up in an environment with domestic violence. He’s a serial killer. It’s just that he’s a serial killer with talents in music creation. He also had a brother and sister-in-law who became famous early and have successful careers. That’s why he went on-stage and became a star."

Lin Dongxue and Xu Xiaodong were silent for a long time. Xu Xiaodong said, "Such a person can actually become a star! There are so many fans who idolize him as well! How unbelievable."

Chen Shi picked up a deep-fried dough twist[2] from the bag on the table and started chewing on it. "What did you guys find?"

"A corpse."

"Really?!"

"The crime scene hasn’t been touched and is waiting for your reexamination."

"Okay, well done. Let's go now... Xiaodong, do you know how to analyze audio samples?"

Xu Xiaodong scratched his head, "No!"

"Then take Luo Zuyu's hottest songs and get the comrades at the information department to help. Include the unreleased one in the USB flash drive."

"Why do we need to analyze these?"

"What do you think?"

Xu Xiaodong didn't understand but Lin Dongxue reacted, "Do you suspect that there’s evidence in his songs?"

"Look, he’s participated in the arrangement of every song. I can't help but wonder if he added 'materials' to the arrangements. As a serial killer, intentionally or not, he’d want to showcase his ‘work’. If this serial killer happens to be a star, what would be more satisfying than having the voice of the dead being stuffed into a song to be sung by tens of thousands of people?"

While Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue were on their way to Ling Shuangshuang's house, they played Luo Zuyu's famous song "Black Farewell" that had shot him into stardom. "The roses are withered like blood. You chose to leave without saying goodbye. Your warmth lingers on my fingertips. The farewell was as sharp as a dagger..."

Lin Dongxue listened to the song quietly. When it finished playing, she said, "Now when I hear the lyrics, it sounds like this scene depicting a brutal breakup really has an undercurrent of murder."

"Love and murder are essentially the same with both being strong feelings. They have many similarities. Possessing, seizing, and mingling!"

"Is your love for me strong like murder as well?" Lin Dongxue asked.

"I think it's more like friendship. The best of friends... Love is a complicated emotion. Human emotions are just like cocktails with complicated blend of ingredients, only they have been labeled differently."

"So, I’ve already replaced Captain Peng’s position in your heart?"

"Uh…"

"You actually hesitated!" Lin Dongxue poked Chen Shi's forehead.

"Let’s listen to the songs."

The two continued to listen to Luo Zuyu's other songs. Chen Shi found that the more recent the songs were, the more subtle the lyrics were. Perhaps Luo Zuyu had several encounters with the police. He realized that being too obvious would result in people paying attention to him. He no longer brazenly showed off what was in his heart.

An hour later, they arrived at Ling Shuangshuang's house. She had locked the door before she left earlier. Lin Dongxue said, "I'm going to find a locksmith."

"No need!" Chen Shi took out his unlocking tools, which were actually just two polished ear pickers. The lock was easily opened. He thought that this skill didn’t have to be hidden anymore. It’d be more convenient to handle cases in the future like this.

"You... How do you know how to pick locks?"

"I'm so smart, can't I have learned it?" Chen Shi smiled. "I’ll teach you later on."

"Speaking of lock-picking, my brother knows how to do it as well. I have always wondered why such a stiff and proper man knows how to pick locks. I wonder who taught him."

"It definitely wasn’t me!" Chen Shi pushed open the door. "Please go in!"

1. I couldn’t actually research what the correct terminology for this is, so hopefully you can just infer from the explanation below.

2. They look like this: https://i.pinimg.com/474x/45/ea/ac/45eaacfa6c2c75bb6b16c1e1992a8435--twisty-snacks-recipes.jpg