"Brother 39? What kind of name is that?" Lin Dongxue said.

Chen Shi asked Ai Ying, "Then what is your name in the group?"

"Hehe, I’m Brother 13, because I own 13% of the shares, and Brother 39 naturally has 39% of the shares. In addition, there’s Sister 22, Younger Brother 11, and Younger Brother 4. We usually call each other by numbers when we chat. Apart from these long term members, there are some marginal shareholders who don’t have much voting power and don’t really matter."

"What you said wasn’t very helpful." Chen Shi said, "In that case, what is the background of this Brother 39?"

He thought to himself that he might not know.

Ai Ying spread out his hands and said, "I don't know either. We don't know any real information about one another. In fact, when 39 first asked Chang Juan to help solve the case, everyone else opposed it, but 11 who liked to participate in drama sided with him. So the minority obeyed the majority and could only follow 39's wishes. When you talked to Chang Juan previously, 39 was answering you and Chang Juan was just passing his words on as the intermediary."

"This person knows a lot about the details of the case." Lin Dongxue thought that they had finally found this mysterious guy. "I feel that 39 has a lot of say. Did he have so much equity since the beginning?"

"No, at first everyone only had one or two shares in hand. Later, some people stopped playing and sold their shares. 39 bought them at that time and gradually became a major shareholder."

"Does Chang Juan's stock ever stop rising?" Chen Shi asked curiously.

"That depends on how many buyers want to buy, and how many sellers want to sell. An interesting thing happened. After Chang Juan turned 18 years old, her stock suddenly appreciated. Maybe it was because she had become more 'valuable'." Ai Ying paused. "I'll give you some advice. Don't talk to Chang Juan alone next time and use the signal-blocking device to block the signal like today. Doing this will only enrage the shareholders. Just investigate the case and stop investigating us all the time. It’s meaningless!"

There was nothing left to ask. Chen Shi let Ai Ying go first. It was already getting late. He planned to spend the night in the town tonight. Of course, he went to the hotel to book a room by himself.

After he left, Chen Shi frowned and said, "This 39 is definitely not a victim's family member or anything like that. He must know more than the police and the victims’ families. Otherwise, he wouldn’t need to let Chang Juan participate in the case. Using such a roundabout way, I am certain that 39 knows the murderer, and may even have a very close relationship with the murderer."

Lin Dongxue pondered, "Haii, this guy is so detestable. He isn’t willing to show himself no matter what... Actually, we have two strategies right now. One is to get to the bottom of it all and find out first who 39 is. The other is to follow the shareholders’ rules of the game and wait for 39 to provide information to help us arrest people."

"I'm wondering if there’s any conspiracy behind this? 39 hopes that we will catch the murderer. What is in it for him? Being kept in the dark always causes the misperception of being used as a gun. I lean towards figuring everything out before deciding anything."

Lin Dongxue looked at her watch. "It seems that we haven't finished our meal yet?" They had heard the sound of the car being smashed and rushed out halfway through the meal. It was probably all cold now.

Chen Shi looked at the time, and it was already 11:00. He felt a wave of exhaustion and said, "I’m not going to eat. I’ll head back to sleep."

The next morning, Chen Shi asked Lin Qiupu to fax over a copy of Chang Juan’s parents' case from ten years ago. He carefully studied it. Chang Juan’s parents, Chang Qing and Shen Yan were researchers at a biotech company and they were working on genetically modified crops. Their income level was very high at the time.

On the 15th anniversary of their marriage, the two went to a place called Xianghezhuang on vacation. Someone sneaked in and killed them in the middle of the night, and Shen Yan was brutally raped before her death.

There were similarities between that case and this one. For example, Chang Qing had been tied up and forced to watch his wife being abused by the murderer. There were also differences. The biggest difference was that the deceased had been strangled first and then stabbed a few times in their chests. It seemed that the murderer had been afraid that they wouldn’t die and added those stabbings.

When the murderer left the scene, he took some of their personal belongings, seemingly to fake a robbery-cum-murder.

Lin Dongxue hadn’t been idle that morning either. She got some clues from the town’s public security bureau which mainly consisted of a three-page list of outsiders who had been to the town before and after the incident. Electricians, construction workers, delivery men, drivers etc. Lin Dongxue said, "Great detective, where should we start the investigation?"

Chen Shi couldn’t figure out much either just by looking at a bunch of names. “The time of the incident was November 18th. The investigation should start with the people who had been to the town that day, and then people from the 17th.”

However, it was only the sixth day of the first lunar month, and many people weren’t at work and couldn't be found. The investigation had to be postponed.

Chen Shi suggested, "It's better to see Chang Juan again and see what other information 39 knows. I think he can give us an address or even a name, but I don't know if he will be willing."

"Don't annoy the other party anymore."

"I won’t!"

The two called Chang Juan over to a tea room in the town. Staring into her eyes, Chen Shi felt like he was on a phone call. He said, "Now, both of us have a certain understanding of each other. 39, you shouldn’t play around like this anymore. Whatever information you know about the murderer, just tell us directly so that that person can be brought to justice earlier. Isn’t this also your wish?"

After a moment of silence, Chang Juan said, "Mr. 39 asked me to tell you that the basis of cooperation is unconditional trust, but you’ve never trusted Chang Juan and the general assembly of shareholders before. Right now, you haven’t shown any trust but you’re asking me to help you, no way!”

The other party actually withdrew, which made Chen Shi even more convinced that 39 had a deep connection with the murderer. 39 was no longer willing to provide information about the murderer when he was about to be exposed himself. This was a form of self-protection.

Chen Shi said, "It’s absurd to negotiate terms with the police. Every citizen is obliged to assist the police with solving cases. If you don't cooperate, then we don't need to respect you anymore. We will investigate to the end!"

"Hahaha!" Chang Juan laughed hollowly three times as if she was reading out loud, and said, "Don’t tell me you’re going to prosecute me?"

Lin Dongxue asked, "Let’s compromise, what do you want before you can trust us again?"

39 replied via Chang Juan, "Leave the town and leave the matter alone!"

After their channelled conversation was over, the man called "39" angrily said in the shareholder group, "This group of police is too much. Why should I give them all the information? Their skin is as thick as a city wall. From now on, I’ll figure out what to do myself!"

13: "You mean you’re going to catch the murderer yourself?"

39: "There’s no need to catch him. I want to set a trap to draw him out!"

22: "Hey, that man is a serial killer and a rapist. Who do you plan to use to draw him out?"

39: "Of course it’s Chang Juan!"

13: "That won’t do! I don't agree!"

39: "Don't make a fuss. Vote. As long as the number of votes in favor is over 50, we’ll get Chang Juan to seduce the murderer tonight."