Xu Wenchao took a deep breath and covered his face, not denying it. “She died, but the nightmare continued. I realized that child…Su Luozhan…was a carbon copy of her. I didn’t meet the requirements to adopt her, so I’ve been racking my brains to think of something. I let her out of my sight once, and she…she actually contacted those guys by herself. Can you imagine how shocked I was to hear about that girl going missing in Xiling, and then to be summoned here immediately so that you guys could ask me about that case twenty years ago?” Xu Wenchao stared at Luo Wenzhou with red eyes. “Arrest me, so I can be free from all this. I’ll never have to—”
Before he could finish, Luo Wenzhou’s phone vibrated, and a voice message from Lang Qiao came in. “Boss, I caught the bastard! He won’t admit it, even now that he’s seen the photos. He insists he didn’t know anything. Just wait until I find the others!”
Xu Wenchao’s sob story didn’t move Luo Wenzhou. After listening to Lang Qiao’s message, he put down his phone, and his previously calm tone suddenly changed. “Don’t be so eager to vent your emotions. I have a few more questions. You said that you couldn’t control Su Luozhan and didn’t know anything, right, Mr. Xu? But that wasn’t it, was it? That wasn’t what she said. She said you were very cooperative, and that you dressed up as an old blind man to follow Zhang Yuchen. You waited until she was alone to scare her, then had Su Luozhan appear so that she could gain Zhang Yuchen’s trust. Did that happen?”
The Su family was always in control of how their group operated; those who “innocently” purchased their services just had to pay and enjoy themselves. With the customers unwilling to involve themselves in risky kidnappings, the Su family must’ve chosen the victims. Everything from choosing a target to following them to the actual kidnapping was one single, strictly controlled process. Singling out Chenchen a month earlier, gradually learning her daily routine, and then making a move at the right opportunity—it fit that pattern.
That meant that the “ring” they’d envisioned, in which each culprit chose their own target and then sent Su Luozhan in as bait, was impossible.
Xu Wenchao was way too smart. After recovering from his shock, he’d deduced what clues the police had found and made up a story that fit what they knew but exonerated him as fully as possible. He was just hiding the crime for the person he loved; he was merely an accomplice who helped get rid of the bodies. But his statements—combined with Su Xiaolan’s diary—unwittingly gave away the core strategy with which the crimes were committed.
That meant he was the one who’d followed Chenchen. There was no one else. He hadn’t been forced to keep the secret—he was one of their main culprits!
But then, why had Qu Tong’s case happened so unexpectedly? And why was Xu Wenchao so shocked to be summoned for questioning over Qu Tong’s case and learn that Su Luozhan was copying the cases from twenty years earlier?
The only explanation was that Su Luozhan had kidnapped Qu Tong all on her own. Xu Wenchao had lost control of the girl. Trying to free herself from the “cleaner” she looked down on, she’d accepted a “private job” from a customer.
“Xu Wenchao, you were disgusted to discover the relationship between Wu Guangchuan and Su Xiaolan. You suspected Wu Guangchuan of rape, but you didn’t tell anyone that. Instead, you started spying and secretly taking photos.” Luo Wenzhou watched him intently, not giving him time to react. “Did you enjoy it? Were you satisfied? Did you still crave it all these years later?”
Xu Wenchao pursed his lips, but his pupils dilated slightly. Small beads of sweat formed on the tip of his nose, and he couldn’t control the bob of his throat.
“You said that you saw Su Xiaolan with an unfamiliar girl, and you didn’t approach them. Why couldn’t you say hi to a classmate when someone else was around? It was because you didn’t plan to say hi at all, right?” Luo Wenzhou suddenly stood and grabbed Xu Wenchao’s collar. “Su Xiaolan was cutting up a floral dress at home, but you found her. How, huh? The dress would incriminate her as a murderer—wouldn’t she have hidden it before she opened the door? It was because you broke in, right? When Su Hui was away, you took the chance to break in while the girl was all alone… What were you planning to do, Xu Wenchao?”
“I didn’t—”
Luo Wenzhou lowered his voice. “You never touched those girls,” he said in Xu Wenchao’s ear, “because you can’t get it up. You put a photo of Su Xiaolan at thirteen with her urn, and glued an old photo from twenty years ago to the window, because you were in love with that cold, perverse, unflinching murderer—not the ‘lamb’ who was frightened by Wu Guangchuan’s death, who could only be controlled by you and her twisted mother.
“Let me ask you.” Luo Wenzhou’s smile was almost malicious. “Would you only get excited if you saw her kill someone and dismember the body, just like all those years ago?”
Xu Wenchao tried weakly to pull Luo Wenzhou’s hand off of him. “I…”
“How come you suddenly wanted to marry Su Xiaolan? Because, twenty years later, you saw that Su Luozhan had grown into a carbon copy of her mother.” Luo Wenzhou let go, just like Xu Wenchao wanted, and let him fall back into the chair. He looked down at the suspect. “Are you an animal? Of course not. Animals are better. They can work or be slaughtered for food. Would you even be worthy of that?”