My House of Horrors

Hearing Chen Ge’s analysis, the officers were shocked. Chen Ge did not normally act like he was much of a quick thinker, but whenever he was at a crime scene, he would come up with discoveries like he was born to fight crime.

“Go, we’ll need to go to the other buildings to see.” Captain Yan took the arm. They rushed down the stairs to get to the second building. Like Chen Ge expected, they found another arm in the room on the tenth floor of the second building.

“Take the picture first; don’t ruin the scene. When the killer buried the body, they might have left some evidence behind.” After Lee Zheng took the pictures, they rushed to the third building. The building was only half completed, and the stairwell did not even have a railing—one wrong step, and it would be a long way down.

“Be careful!” The group climbed up the stairs, and it took them quite some time before they arrived at the tenth floor. When they did, they were greeted by a surprise. They searched all the rooms but could not find the body. However, they did find signs of the wall being pried open in one of the rooms.

“Someone came before us?” Chen Ge touched the edge of the wall and was reminded of the e-bike that came earlier. “Captain Yan, do you remember I told you someone arrived on an e-bike? That person could be the killer! It was him who took the female body’s legs away!”

“Go to the fourth building now!” The group ran to the fourth building, but they were still too late. The killer’s target was clear and knew what was important. After he took the legs, he had left immediately and given up the arms.

“Risking the chance of being exposed, he came back to take the legs. Looks like there is conclusive evidence on the legs,” Tian Lei analyzed, but Captain Yan stood in the middle of room with a dark face.

“Stealing the body parts while the police is around, this killer sure is brave.”

Chen Ge picked up the pieces from the ground and tried to piece them back. “The person came with professional tools. There’re hammer and gouges. But the question I have is, how did the killer know we’re coming tonight? Does he have a spy at Ming Yang Residence, or was the killer one of the people whom we’ve met tonight?”

Chen Ge had ninety percent confidence that it was Jia Ming who came to steal the body parts. Only Jia Ming knew that the police were going. There was another detail; Jia Ming’s home had an e-bike. He had gotten into the accident when riding one.

Captain Yan understood Chen Ge’s hint, but he had his own consideration. “The eye-gouging case and the dismemberment case, both these cases have a similarity—they’re both very ritualistic. Could the culprits be related somehow?”

“There shouldn’t be a relation. The MOs are so different.” Chen Ge was surprised by Captain Yan’s instinct. Li Wan City’s door going out of control had something to do with ghost stories society, and the change to Ming Yang Residence was technically due to Li Wan City, so if they were really splitting hairs, this case might really be related to the society.

Twenty-five minutes later, the people from Eastern Jiujiang Police station arrived. Four police cars stopped within the area. Since this was the first murder within the past year, many officers arrived, and almost all the officers on duty were called over.

“Inspector Tian, we’ve arrived!”

“Get into groups and listen to Captain Yan’s orders.” Tian Lei walked to Captain Yan. “Captain Yan, my people have arrived. There are three teams in total.”

“Team one, go and look up the nearby surveillance; focus on someone riding an e-bike. Team 2, stay to seal up the crime scene and start collecting evidence. Team 3, I need you to go keep a surveillance on these people.” Captain Yan gave a list, and it included Jia Ming and Huang Ling.

Chen Ge was standing right next to them. He planned to add more blame onto Jia Ming, but after seeing Captain Yan’s arrangement, he held his tongue. “Captain Yan, what do you need from me?”

“We’ll inform you when we have the result tomorrow. After all, this is the police’s job. You have done more than enough tonight.” Captain Yan turned to tell Tian Lei, “Get someone to drive Chen Ge home. There are no taxi at this place, and he has worked hard tonight.”

“Xiao Qing! Come over here. I have a mission for you.”

“Yes, sir!” This was Xiao Qing’s first heavy crime case, so he was rather nervous.

“You see that man? Drive him home.” Then Tian Lei left with Captain Yan, leaving behind the young officer.

“We meet again.” Chen Ge greeted the young man with a smile. “Told you things will start to get busy.”

Xiao Qing thought Chen Ge’s smile was rather scary. “Stop joking. Where is your home? The inspector told me to drive you home.”

Chen Ge looked at the time. His life officially began after midnight, so he might not be able to sleep after he got home. “Wait a minute, let me make a call.”

According to Chen Ge’s original plan, he had intended to meet Fan Chong after dealing with Ma Fu. Who would have thought so many things would happen? Taking out his phone, Chen Ge messaged Fan Chong.

To his surprise, Fan Chong was still awake, and his reply came several seconds later. He said that the game would be creepier after midnight, so if Chen Ge was not afraid, he could go now. After getting Fan Chong’s agreement, Chen Ge had Xiao Qing drive him to Fan Chong’s place.

“The first residential area at Li Wan City’s West Street? There is such a place? You don’t know the name of the residential area?” Xiao Qing looked online for a long time before he found the exact location and drove Chen Ge there. The place was close to the countryside, so it was quite isolated. The only good thing was the fresh air. The car drove into Li Wan City, and at the end of the road was a series of old buildings.

“You live here?” Xiao Qing looked at the empty Li Wan City, and he felt weirdly unsettled.

“This is my friend’s place. Since I’m in Eastern Jiujiang, I decided to pay him a visit.”

“Visiting at midnight? You sure your friend won’t get mad?”

“It’s fine. Thank you for the ride. Be careful on the way back.”

Chen Ge waited until Xiao Qing left, and he thought, Now that I think about it. It is quite interesting that Fan Chong’s home is in Li Wan City.

He made the call, and with Fan Chong’s directions, he entered the first building.

“Boss Chen, you really have come. Quick, come up.” In a tank top, Fan Dade came down to welcome Chen Ge. “My brother has been playing for a whole day already. I feel like he’s coming down with addiction. You have to help me.”

“Okay, I will.”

The two came to the top floor. The family on the right had a mirror the size of one’s palm on the door while the door on the left was half-open. Fan Dade led Chen Ge to the left door. He yelled into the bedroom, “Fan Chong, Boss Chen is here!”

Hearing that, there was a commotion from the bedroom; it sounded like something had fallen. Then the door flew open, and a Fan Chong with dark circles poked his head out. He looked so tired. Chen Ge closed the living room door. He raised his head to look at the mirror on the opposite door. He took a picture on his phone and entered the room. “Fan Chong, how is the game coming along? Any new discoveries?”

“The plot jammed. This game is really not for humans. I feel like I’m coming down with depression playing it.” Fan Chong dragged Chen Ge into the bedroom, grabbed the can of cola that was left on the table, and took a healthy gulp.

“Jammed?” Chen Ge thought about it. “How about you let me try? I can be considered someone who designs real life horror games. Tackling it from the perspective of a designer, perhaps there might be a breakthrough.”