[He hasn’t been back in three or four days]
This was the first time Gu Yingzhou had encountered such a nonsensical report. If this had happened three or four years ago, he likely would have treated Lu Ting’an as a troublemaker obstructing official business—awarding him a pair of “silver bracelets” and a guest-starring role in a prison melodrama.
But things were different now. Gu Yingzhou was no longer the hotheaded rookie of years past. He had grown steady.
“This isn’t the place to talk,” Gu Yingzhou said, turning around. “Come to my office.”
Lu Ting’an followed him, but stopped abruptly at the door.
Gu Yingzhou propped the door open with his arm. “What now?”
Lu Ting’an quite naturally shoved the brown paper bag into his hands. “I’ll need your help with this. Have someone test the blood on this jacket to see if it’s human.”
Gu Yingzhou pulled the bag open to peek inside, his brow furrowing. “Your jacket? This ‘homicide’ you mentioned, don’t tell me—”
Lu Ting’an looked at him innocently. “I didn’t kill anyone.”
Gu Yingzhou closed the bag and intentionally jabbed at him, “I’m maintaining a healthy level of suspicion.”
Despite his words, his actions were honest; he took the bag straight to the forensic pathology unit.
Five minutes later, Gu Yingzhou returned. He intended to start the questioning immediately, but paused slightly as he passed the water dispenser. “Want some water?”
Lu Ting’an shook his head. “No need to trouble yourself.” He patted the seat next to him, signaling for Gu Yingzhou to sit.
Gu Yingzhou walked over with his hands in his pockets, but he didn’t sit. His towering posture allowed his aura to immediately overwhelm Lu Ting’an. “Start talking.”
Lu Ting’an lowered his eyes and kept it brief. “Last night I picked up a cat. It was covered in blood, and I suspect it’s human.”
Gu Yingzhou listened intently, giving a simple nod. “Mm-hmm.”
After a long silence with no follow-up, he raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”
Lu Ting’an looked up calmly to meet his gaze. “What else were you expecting to hear?”
Recalling their earlier “I don’t know” conversation, Gu Yingzhou felt a wave of exhaustion. “Fine. I’ll ask, you answer. Since it was a stray on the street, it could have picked up blood anywhere. How are you so sure it’s human?”
Lu Ting’an blinked. “I’m not sure.”
Strictly speaking, it was just a suspicion. He had found it strange when he saw the pink water from the maid’s cleaning yesterday, and after the dream, his suspicion had reached 99%. Until a body was found, everything he said was merely an inference, not a certainty.
“Officer Gu, you’ve seen plenty of blood. You should be able to tell the difference between human and animal blood by the color, right?”
Gu Yingzhou indeed could. Human blood is darker than most animal blood and smells predominantly metallic and briny, lacking the gamey scent of animal blood.
“That doesn’t prove anything. Claiming a homicide took place based solely on a bit of blood is too reckless.”
Lu Ting’an explained, “The one I picked up wasn’t exactly a stray. Someone used to own it, and they raised it very well.” In this era, keeping a black cat’s fur that glossy and healthy required a significant investment of time and money.
“Even while being kicked around by those kids, it never once extended its claws. That shows it lacks a wild streak; it definitely rarely left its home. When a domestic cat suddenly flees its house covered head-to-toe in blood, doesn’t that make you think of something?”
Gu Yingzhou remained silent for a few seconds.
One had to admit, Lu Ting’an was very persuasive. Whether he was describing facts or adding a bit of local color, his explanations made it hard not to imagine the worst-case scenario.
If no crime had occurred, that was for the best. But if there really was a major case, the longer they waited, the more the evidence at the scene would vanish, making it harder to solve.
The scales in Gu Yingzhou’s mind began to tilt. He asked, “Where exactly did you pick up the cat?”
“Qinhe Road,” Lu Ting’an said. “Right by the Fu Ding Ji shop.”
Gu Yingzhou pondered. “That’s a wide area. Cats have four legs.”
“It couldn’t have gone far,” Lu Ting’an said immediately. “House cats are timid. When they go outside and experience a stress response, they choose to hide in bushes or trees. Plus, it was half-starved when it escaped; it didn’t have much strength.”
Gu Yingzhou nodded. Before Lu Ting’an could react, he braced one hand on the desk edge and leaned over, partially surrounding Lu Ting’an in his arms.
Lu Ting’an’s pupils flickered, and he instinctively pulled back to the other side.
“Don’t move,” Gu Yingzhou said, casually nudging him back. Once he had cleared a small space, he pulled open the desk drawer and took out a comprehensive map of Hong Kong.
Lu Ting’an breathed a quiet sigh of relief. ‘Scared me to death.’
Men really should maintain some distance—especially these strangely ambiguous postures that make one’s scalp tingle.
‘Though,’ he thought, ‘if it’s for the sake of a good night’s sleep, sharing a bed might be slightly more acceptable.’
Gu Yingzhou had no idea what Lu Ting’an was thinking. He spread the map on the desk and quickly circled three locations.
“Qinhe Apartments, Jiangzhou Rongli, and Jinxiu Gardens. These three complexes are all around Fu Ding Ji, and the distances aren’t that far apart.”
The area around Qinhe Road was well-developed; there were even several luxury developments that hadn’t officially gone on sale because the prices were too high. Even if they had to search for a body in that area, the scope was now narrowed down to a few neighborhoods.
The downside was that those three complexes combined housed over ten thousand families. With a cat as their only clue, the task ahead was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
…
Ten minutes later, Li Ming arrived carrying several test strips.
She placed the results in front of Lu Ting’an, her gaze landing on his cool, composed face. “It’s exactly what you thought. It’s human blood. The detailed report won’t be out so soon, but based on the color, I estimate the blood is at least three days old.”
She paused, then asked, “Can you tell me more about the cat you found? Roughly how much blood was on it?”
Lu Ting’an shook his head regretfully.
He truly didn’t know. The cat was so pitch-black that if he hadn’t wrapped it in his jacket, he wouldn’t have even realized there was blood on it. Furthermore, the blood was mostly dry and clotted, making it impossible to estimate the volume.
He could only say, “The blood wiped off its body stained a whole basin of water red.”
Li Ming gave a soft hiss. “The victim’s blood loss must have been quite substantial.”
Lu Ting’an remained silent, adding silently in his head: He’s already deceased.
In an era where the internet was not yet widespread, conducting a “carpet search” [1] a door-to-door canvass jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1650498_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1650498_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); was incredibly difficult.
Fortunately, Lu Ting’an had his own plan.
As long as something existed, it left a trail. He had prepared many photocopies featuring photos of Wu Qima. One person would go to a neighborhood acting as the owner, asking if anyone had seen or recognized the cat. Once Wu Qima’s identity was confirmed, the identity of the deceased would naturally follow.
The other person would take Wu Qima to identify its own home. He had even thought that, if necessary, they could mobilize a police dog colleague; dogs are sensitive to the scent of cats and might be able to find the path Wu Qima took when it escaped.
However, this plan was vetoed by Gu Yingzhou the moment it was uttered.
“Good thinking, but you can put that out of your mind for now. This time, it’s just the two of us.”
Lu Ting’an was incredulous. “Just the two of us? How long is that going to take?”
Gu Yingzhou looked at him with feigned calm and countered, “Who else do you think would accompany you to do something like this besides me?”
Lu Ting’an: “…”
‘He makes it sound like he’s just playing along with me. Why doesn’t he consider that if we actually find something, the credit will still go to Major Crimes Unit 1?’
Gu Yingzhou didn’t miss a single detail of Lu Ting’an’s furrowed brow. With his hands in his pockets, he said indifferently, “Dissatisfied with me? Then go by yourself.”
Lu Ting’an: “…Satisfied! Very satisfied!”
Gu Yingzhou gave a light snort, ignoring Lu Ting’an’s half-hearted compliance.
Ultimately, the investigative team grew from two people to three. Gu Yingzhou always called Ah Hai a “sidekick,” didn’t he? So, when they left the Major Crimes office, Lu Ting’an naturally dragged Ah Hai along.
As he sat in the Tiger-Head Benz S-Class with Lu Ting’an, Ah Hai was so excited he felt like his seat was burning.
‘Good Lord, I have never imagined the day I would head to a crime scene—and certainly not ahead of the rest of the Major Crimes team! Riding in a luxury car belonging to my ultimate boss’s family to an active scene… what could be more glorious than this!’
All along the way, Ah Hai couldn’t stop looking at Lu Ting’an with eyes full of gratitude and envy.
…
A very strange man appeared in the Qinhe Apartments complex. He held a stack of black-and-white photocopies, handing them out one by one to the residents entering and leaving.
“Hello, have you seen this pitch-black cat? It’s my cat; it ran away.”
A passerby waved him off with a look of disdain. “No, no. Who would keep a black cat? They’re so ugly.”
“Excuse me, have you seen this cat? It has large eyes and black fur. I can’t find it; if you’ve seen it, could you please tell me where?”
An owner frowned. “Haven’t seen it. Plenty of people in this complex keep dogs. As for your cat… I wish it luck.”
“Hello, excuse me—”
Before he could finish, a security guard patrolling nearby noticed the man with the stack of papers. From a distance, the guard immediately pointed a finger. “Who are you! Are you a resident here? I’ve never seen you before!”
Ah Hai’s hand tightened on the papers. He looked awkwardly at the resident in front of him, who had already taken two steps back.
The guard hurried over. “Are you passing out advertisements? Get out of here! We don’t allow outsiders in, especially unscrupulous advertisers like you!”
Ah Hai: “…”
Out of guilt, and because it was his first time handing out flyers, he lost his nerve when the guard approached aggressively. Clutching his printouts, he bolted, fleeing out of the Qinhe Apartments.
Panting outside the complex, Ah Hai’s delicate face was twisted in distress, looking ready to cry.
‘I’m never listening to Lu Ting’an’s empty promises again! I thought we were out here to solve a case, but instead… I’ve never been this humiliated!’
On the other side, Lu Jin was also in the Qinhe neighborhood.
Lu Jin was a helper called in by Lu Ting’an. He was cradling Wu Qima in his arms, letting the cat down at the entrance of every building they passed.
Unfortunately, the moment Wu Qima’s feet touched the ground, it crouched low, tail tucked—it looked entirely terrified and lost.
Time flies when one is busy. Several hours passed unnoticed. After hearing “I don’t know” from yet another passerby, Gu Yingzhou’s patience finally ran out.
“Lu Ting’an.” He turned to look at Lu Ting’an, who was currently staring upward. “Are you sure we should keep asking? There isn’t a single person reported missing in this entire complex.”
A disappearance is a serious matter. Residents of high-end complexes like this in Hong Kong definitely have stable jobs and identities; it was impossible for someone to be missing for three or four days without anyone calling the police.
Gu Yingzhou felt like he was losing his mind. On a rare day off, instead of resting, he was spending it circling three neighborhoods over and over again with Lu Ting’an.
Lu Ting’an was checking to see if any of the buildings had open balcony windows.
He had been looking for this the entire way. In this era, the concept of “cat-proofing” windows didn’t exist, and you couldn’t tell if a household had pets just by looking at the balcony. But since Wu Qima had escaped from a home, it meant the owner must have left a window open. Furthermore, it couldn’t be a very high floor, or Wu Qima would have fallen to its death before it could starve.
But after searching up and down the three complexes multiple times, the homes with open windows either had people inside, or the neighbors had seen the owners coming and going recently. None of them fit the criteria.
Lu Ting’an pressed his lips thin and rubbed his aching neck. “How about we just…”
Before the word “quit” could leave his mouth, his body swayed, and his eyes were pricked by sunlight reflecting off a glass pane.
As if by some psychic intuition, he snapped his head around to look at a building behind him.
He slapped his forehead with the hand that had been supporting his neck. “I forgot!”
Gu Yingzhou looked at him, puzzled.
Lu Ting’an looked at the back of the building with annoyance. “The north-facing side is where the bathrooms and kitchens are, right? I forgot that Wu Qima very likely escaped through a small window!”
As a modern person, he had seen too many news stories about cats falling from balconies because they weren’t enclosed. This led him to assume Wu Qima had come down from a balcony as well.
But in reality, no one knew exactly where it had escaped from!
Lu Ting’an’s eyes lit up, and he ran back toward a building they had already checked.
His luck held this time. After only a few buildings, he discovered a bathroom window on one floor that was cracked open. Unlike the other units, this one didn’t even have the screen closed.
“Gu Yingzhou!” Lu Ting’an shouted, pointing at the floor.
Gu Yingzhou’s tone turned solemn. “Building 12, Unit B, 4th Floor.”
Looking at that quietly open window, both men had a very strong premonition.
This time, they might have actually found it.
Jiangzhou Rongli, Building 12, Unit B, Room 410
Auntie Huang had just finished her meal and was preparing for a midday nap. She had just lain down when a sudden, urgent knocking echoed from outside.
*Knock, knock, knock! Knock, knock, knock!*
She wanted to wait for the knocking to stop before sleeping, but the sound was like it had been wound up like clockwork. Rhythmic noise is the worst kind of headache; unable to endure it, she got out of bed.
The moment she swung the door open, she saw two young men standing in front of neighboring Room 413. The taller one with the colder temperament still had his hand raised in a knocking position.
Auntie Huang was thoroughly annoyed. “Oh, for goodness’ sake! Xiao You hasn’t been back in three or four days, so stop knocking! You’re making so much noise I can’t even sleep!”
Lu Ting’an looked at the woman and called out, “Sister, sorry to disturb you.”
‘Sister?!’
Gu Yingzhou looked at Lu Ting’an’s mouth in shock. ‘Has he been stung by a bee? How did that usually poisonous tongue suddenly start dripping honey?’
Auntie Huang was also tickled pink by the address, her impatient expression vanishing instantly. “Are you friends of Xiao You? Didn’t you contact him before coming over? Maybe you should go check the university for him. I haven’t seen Xiao You come home for several days now.”
Lu Ting’an and Gu Yingzhou exchanged a look. The suspicion in their hearts solidified by another degree.
After some expert probing by Lu Ting’an, they soon gathered the real details on “Xiao You.”
Xiao You—full name Chen Shiyou—was a junior at Gangming University. He was a loner and, because his family was wealthy, he lived off-campus. He was a total shut-in; unless he had classes, he almost never left the house.
The reason Auntie Huang knew he wasn’t just staying inside but was actually “gone” was because his nanny hadn’t shown up for three or four days either.
After chatting with the two handsome young men for a while, Auntie Huang’s irritation had fully dissipated along with her lunch. She held her door, preparing to head back inside. “I’m going to sleep now. Don’t you go knocking again, alright?”
Lu Ting’an gave a gentle smile and waved. “Goodbye, Sister.”
Only when Auntie Huang’s beaming face had completely vanished behind the door did his warm expression flatten.
“Officer Gu, what now?”
Gu Yingzhou replied, “Pry open the door.”
References[+]