Profiler (Fang Mu Eastern Crimes Series Book 1) (6 page)

And yet this sort of killer was not actually some ultra careless scatterbrain; rather, he was merely someone who frequently devolved into one.

So the question was: what exactly did the mental disorder that caused this behavior to happen have to do with
blood?

At the library, Fang Mu typed the keywords "blood" and "psychological disorder" into the computer, which then responded that the library's third floor reading room had several books on these topics. After copying down their titles, he went directly there.

Because Fang Mu often borrowed books from the library, the librarians working in the third floor reading room were quite familiar with him. After no more than a brief hello, Fang Mu handed Sun, one of the librarians, his book list, and asked where he could find the titles.

"Oh?" Librarian Sun looked at the book list. "Aren't you at the law school? These are all medical titles. What are you doing researching this stuff?"

"Nothing. Just curious, really."

From behind his glasses, Librarian Sun looked closely at Fang Mu. Then he smiled. "They're over in that corner, shelves Z1 and Z3."

Fang Mu followed where Librarian Sun was pointing and found the books. Heading back to check them out, he grabbed a newspaper off one of the tables. One page held an article about the two most recent murders. Above it was a sketch of the killer.

"What do you think?" asked one of the librarians, seeing what Fang Mu was reading. "An article in the paper and an order for the suspect's arrest—won't the vampire be getting out of here as soon as he can?" He sighed and gave the paper a disdainful flick.

"No way," said Fang Mu, not even looking up. "This kind of person generally doesn't pay attention to the news."

"Oh, is that so?" Librarian Sun suddenly became interested. "Where'd you learn that? In class?"

Fang Mu laughed. "It's just a wild guess." But he didn't say anything more. After taking the books from Librarian Sun, he quickly left the library.

After shutting himself in the dorm for an entire day, Fang Mu called Tai Wei. First he asked him what had come of the hospital investigations; however Tai Wei replied that, given how many there were, it would require some time. At this point they had yet to turn up anything of value. As for their interviews with those living near the crime scenes, those were still underway. Fang Mu then told Tai Wei that he had just read several books on blood diseases and psychological disorders. He now felt that the killer had probably been treated at a mental institution—or at least had gone in for a consultation.

"So when we have time," said Fang Mu, "you and I should go to some psychiatric hospitals and check things out." He paused. "However, the sooner the better, because a guy like this is going to strike again—and soon."

"You're back."

"Are you busy? I'm not bothering you, am I?"

There was a laugh.
"Not a problem. Come in."

"Were you reading?"

"Aimlessly. Something to drink? Coffee or tea?

"Coffee sounds good."

"I only have instant. That okay?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, my mistake. I'd better give you water instead. You're already not sleeping well."

Another laugh.
" That's fine too."

"Hey, careful. It's a little hot."

"Thank you. Whoa, the books you're reading look so complex.
Blood Disease and Psychological Disorders
,
Psychogenic Disorders
, and this one,
A Study of
..."

"
A Study of Agoraphobia
."

"Agoraphobia? What's that?"

"Putting it simply, agoraphobia is one of those things where a person fears a situation that he knows will cause him to feel helpless and terrified. "

"Oh, so it's just another phobia?"

A chuckle.
"More or less."

"You're really something, knowing all that stuff."

"Oh, it's no big deal. I just like to read a bit in my spare time. Now, about that method I taught you last time—how was it? Effective?"

"Um, not bad."

"In that case, can you tell me what it is you're afraid of?"

"There...really isn't anything."

"Relax."
A short laugh.
"With many things, so long as you change your perspective, your view of the thing will change as well. For example..."

           
A mouse is clicked.

"Which of these animals are you afraid of?"

"Um, the rat."

"Okay then, the rat. Look, here's a photograph of a rat
.
"
A small chuckle, but not condescending.
 "No need to be nervous. Look at the screen. Are you afraid?"

"Of—of course."

"That's fine, don't be nervous. Were you bitten by a rat when you were young?"

"No."

"In that case, who among your family is scared of rats?"

"My mom."

When you were young, your mother would often take you out to play, correct?"

"Yes."

"When you and your mother were together, did you ever see a rat?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"One time my mom was carrying me to preschool. We were passing through a park when a rat sprinted across the road in front of her. My mom screamed at the top of her lungs and ran, nearly dropping me. Another time when we were returning home there was a dead rat outside our door. My mom was too scared to get close. She just held my hand tight and we stood there for a very long time. We didn't go back inside until our neighbor finally picked it up and took it away."

A chuckle, and then:
"I understand. Do you love your mother?"

"Of course."

"If your mother were in danger, would you be willing to protect her?"

"Of course."

"How old is your mother?"

"Um, fifty-one."

"All right, imagine this scene: Your gray-haired mother—wait, is your mother's hair gray?"

"Yes, on her temples."

"Okay, let's continue. It's wintertime, a strong wind is blowing outside, and your gray-haired mother is standing in the wind, shaking. Crouched before her is a rat, blocking her path. The rat is huge, with black fur and red eyes. And it's staring right at your mother. Don't tremble now, you must be brave."

"O—Okay."

"Your mother tries to go left, she tries to go right, but no matter what, she can't get past. Her fear and worry increase. Tears drip down her face. She mumbles to herself, 'What do I do, what do I do?' Will you help your mother?"

"Yes!"

"Sit down. Now look. It's less than a foot long; with one stomp you could turn it into a pulp and make sure it never frightened your mother again."

"That's true."

"All right then; protect your mother! Come over here, stomp the thing to death."

 
A chair is suddenly knocked over. There follows the bang-bang-bang of someone stomping on the floor.

"Good, good. Calm down. Want some water?"

"No, no. I'm okay. Thank you."

"Deep breaths. Very good, very good. Now, take another look at this picture. Is the fear still there?"

"It's a little better."

"This is just a hateful little thing, unworthy of your fear. For your mother, you can be brave."

"Yeah, yeah, that's much better."

"Wipe your sweat with this."

"Thanks. You should be a psychologist."

"A psychologist? No, I merely enjoy investigating peoples' minds."

"Man, when I'm with you I feel so relaxed, so happy."

"That's good. I'm more than willing to help."

"You know, you remind me a lot of one of my friends."

CHAPTER
6
Bloodlust

I
t was already the second time Tai Wei was pulling Fang Mu out of class.

This time it was Criminal Procedure. Fang Mu and Meng Fanzhe were sitting in the last row. Meng Fanzhe looked relaxed and self-satisfied. The reason for this was that he and Fang Mu had developed a plan; whenever attendance was called, Fang Mu would answer for him, saying Meng Fanzhe's name out of the corner of his mouth. Although Fang Mu didn't mind helping out, this did mean that he and Meng Fanzhe would have to attend every class together. Having gotten used to being alone all the time, Fang Mu found this rather difficult. And he also knew that it was doing nothing to solve the problem itself.

As Fang Mu followed Tai Wei out of the room, he sensed that Meng Fanzhe was again becoming anxious and upset. Fang Mu wished he could reassure Meng Fanzhe that Professor Song was highly unlikely to take attendance a second time that day, but he didn't have time. The look in Tai Wei's eyes made him too nervous to think about anything else.

When they reached the hallway, Fang Mu asked Tai Wei in a whisper: "What is it?

Did something else happen?"

"Yes. No deaths, but another girl has gone missing."

The words slipped out of Fang Mu's mouth. "She's young, isn't she?"

There was no need to respond. The look in Tai Wei's eyes made the answer obvious.

At around 10 p.m.. the night before, Police Substation Eight in the Hongyuan District received a report that a female first-year student at
Number
Eight
Middle School
had gone missing. According to those who gave the report (the student's parents), she was a 13-year-old named Xu Jie. Normally Xu Jie would head straight home after school, arriving around 5 p.m., but by 10 p.m. there was still no sign of her. Filled with worry, the parents searched for her every way they could, all without success. Finally, they notified the police. 

During the subsequent investigation, an important piece of information was provided by the owner of a street-side barbecue stand. At around 4:40 p.m. on the day of the disappearance, the owner had seen a girl fitting Xu Jie's description speaking to a very thin, slovenly-dressed young man. Feeling that this man's physical characteristics were very similar to those described in the so-called "vampire's" arrest warrant, the officers of the local substation immediately contacted the city bureau's special investigation team.

Fang Mu and Tai Wei soon arrived at the address where the witness had seen Xu Jie and the young man. As Fang Mu surveyed the area, Tai Wei asked him, "You think this is our guy?"

Fang Mu didn't respond. Instead he asked: "You have a map of this area?"

"One step ahead of you," said Tai Wei, as he reached into his car and grabbed one.

Realizing they had been thinking the same thing, Fang Mu smiled.

After all this time the kid finally smiles
, thought Tai Wei as he opened the map.

"Seems you've also noticed how geographically concentrated the murders have been," said Tai Wei. He pointed at a section of the map. "Here, here, and here—they all took place in this same area. And the little girl disappeared somewhere around here as well." He looked up at Fang Mu. "Normally, when a suspect commits multiple crimes in roughly the same place, we assume he's unfamiliar with the area, and most likely is not from around here. So then why do you think he lives nearby?"

"This guy's an exception," said Fang Mu, shaking his head. "His crimes are highly random—and he puts essentially no thought into choosing his victims. However, this time is a little different." He raised his head to look at Tai Wei. "He's begun picking children."

Tai Wei thought for a moment. "In that case, you think this little girl is still alive?"

"It's possible." Fang Mu checked the calendar on his watch, and then thought in silence for a moment. "The killer normally commits a murder every twenty days, more or less; however, this time it's been only a week since his last crime. He's probably hoping to store-up some blood reserves, so that when he needs them, they'll be easy to get."

It was a bright and sunny morning, but hearing this, Tai Wei couldn't help but shiver. "
Storing
"
a living human being until the time you should need her. Then slaughtering her like a pig and drinking her blood. What kind of person would do that?

"Let's head to the psychiatric hospitals," said Fang Mu, hopping into the car. "If I'm right then we still have some time. We'll catch him for sure before he feels the need for blood."

Most hospitals in
Jiangbin
City
contained a psychiatric ward, but when it came to stand-alone psychiatric hospitals, there were only two in the whole city. Tai Wei told his subordinates to visit the regular hospitals (emphasizing that they were not to let the PSB director know), while he and Fang Mu would investigate the psychiatric ones. 

They were looking for someone who had either sought consultation or been admitted to the hospital for paranoia in the last five years—particularly blood-related paranoia. The staff at the first hospital was actually quite cooperative; unfortunately, they had no record of such an individual. At the second hospital, however, the moment Tai Wei explained their reason for coming, the hospital director immediately thought of someone.

The person in question was a man named Feng Kai. Two years ago, when Feng Kai was 26, his father and older brother died within months of one another, and he became severely depressed. After being admitted to the hospital, Feng Kai responded well to treatment, and his depression appeared to be going away. But then one time, while a nurse was walking the grounds outside the hospital, she saw Feng Kai catch a small bird and drink its blood while it was still alive. After that, he began demanding that the hospital give him a blood transfusion, believing that he was afflicted with a serious case of anemia. But when the hospital gave him a detailed physical examination, they found his hemoglobin count to be perfectly normal. Feng Kai refused to accept this result, however, and continued to believe he was dangerously anemic. It was because of this that the hospital discovered he was also suffering from paranoia. After receiving treatment for paranoia for a period of time, Feng Kai suddenly left without a word.

According to the doctors and nurses, Feng Kai was about
5'8"
, very thin, and a slob. His room was always a total mess.  Feng Kai did not enjoy socializing with others, and no one ever came to visit him. The hospital did try to locate him after his disappearance, but they learned that the address he had registered with was a fake.

This discovery made Fang Mu and Tai Wei unbelievably excited. Thinking that Feng Kai was probably a fake name as well, Fang Mu advised Tai Wei to investigate city records for a father and son who, in the last two years, died one after the other from a blood disease. He also told him to search the whole city—and Hongyuan District especially—for a man fitting the description of this "Feng Kai."

It took two days for the search to finally bear fruit.
Jiangbin
City
had over 1,244 people named Feng Kai, and not one fit the description. There were also no cases within the last two years of a father and son surnamed Feng each dying of a blood disease. However, in 1988 and 1999 respectively, a father and son surnamed Ma had died of aplastic anemia. The father, Ma Xiangwen, was a widower with two sons. Within a year of his father's death, Ma Tao, the elder son, contracted acute aplastic anemia and died soon after. The younger son, Ma Kai, inherited the father's home, where he lived now, at
83-4 North Evergreen Street
in Hongyuan. The address was no more than three miles from the locations of the five crimes.

"That's him!"

They were in the housing registry room of the Hongyuan Police Substation, and Fang Mu had just been shown a picture of Ma Kai. There wasn't a trace of doubt in his voice.

In the picture, Ma Kai's hair was neat and clean, his expression composed. But in his slightly dull-looking eyes, Fang Mu could see a reservoir of anxiety and despair.

At this point, Tai Wei was still very cautious. He had the witnesses from the fourth murder case (victims: Yao Xiaoyang and Tong Hui) and the kidnapping case (victim: Xu Jie) brought to the station. The witness to the kidnapping could not be certain that Ma Kai was the man he had seen that day. The food stand proprietor, however, was absolutely certain that Ma Kai was the man who had bought a bottle of mineral water from him on the day of the double murder.

"I'd bet anything!" he said. "He was a little thinner than in the picture, but it has to be him!"

They couldn't hesitate any longer. Tai Wei immediately asked the department to assemble a squad to arrest Ma Kai. When they were ready to leave the substation, Tai Wei asked Fang Mu whether he would rather wait there or return to school.

Fang Mu quickly replied that he would wait at the substation for news of what happened. After telling his colleagues at the station to look after the kid, Tai Wei turned and was about to go when Fang Mu grabbed his arm.

"Be careful," he said. "This guy is extremely dangerous."

8:22 p.m. that night.

It was an old building, built more than 20 years ago at least. According to their investigation, it served as family housing for workers from the Red Light Tractor Factory. Tai Wei looked up at the window of Ma Kai's third floor apartment. Deep blue curtains covered it completely, but a faint orange light could be seen from within.

Accompanying Tai Wei were nine policemen. He had divided them into three groups: attack, rescue and support. The attack group was responsible for subduing the suspect after the room was breached, the rescue group was responsible for saving the girl (if she was still alive), and the support group was responsible for sealing off the corridor and window, so the suspect couldn't escape.

To ensure the operation was successful, that afternoon Tai Wei and another officer had disguised themselves as workers from the gas company and inspected one of the first floor apartments. It was a two-bedroom residence, the layout identical to Ma Kai's. Tai Wei concluded that the girl was most likely being held in the small northern bedroom. He told the rescue team that the moment they entered the apartment, they needed to get inside that northern bedroom as soon as possible and save the little girl. The others would worry about grabbing the suspect.

At 8:25 p.m., the rescue mission began on schedule.

Tai Wei led the attack and rescue teams as they crept up to the third floor. At last they stopped right outside Ma Kai's apartment. There was no peephole. Once the attack team was in position on either side of the door, Tai Wei knocked.

No response. Tai Wei heard soft footsteps from within. Then the light leaking from under the door went out.

Tai Wei knocked three more times. Still no response.

"No one's home," said Tai Wei in a loud voice. "Let's go to the apartment across the hall."

After walking to the apartment opposite, Tai Wei knocked on the door. Almost immediately, a woman's voice sounded from inside. "Who's there?"

Still speaking in a loud voice, Tai Wei said, "We're from Pharmaceutical Plant Three. Recently we've been developing a new product called Happy Blood Enrichment Pills. They're specially made to cure various kinds of blood deficiencies and anemia. To reward our many customers, we're holding a special Million Pill Giveaway. We've come to your house today to present you with some pills, and I assure you that they're completely free."

"Really? Wait one moment." The door opened and a middle-aged woman with a big puff of hair stuck her head out and asked, "They're really free?"

At almost the same time, the door across the hall suddenly opened.

The attack team charged through the doorway and leapt on the man standing there. With no time to react, he was knocked to the ground.

Leaving the woman staring wide-eyed in fear, Tai Wei crossed the hall and rushed into
Apartment
302
.

Inside, the man was being pinned tightly to the floor by several policemen. Grabbing his hair, one of them yanked it back and ordered, "Speak. What's your name?"

At a glance Tai Wei knew it was Ma Kai. Without stopping, he followed the rescue team heading to the northern bedroom.