Chapter 035: The Hammer Demon Case (4)

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October 23, 2019. The weather was clear and pleasant.

At noon, a strange man riding a bicycle arrived in Little Li Village. He was short and wore a crudely tailored gray suit. A cluster of red balloons printed with animal patterns bobbed from the bicycle frame.

He neither called out to customers nor displayed the haste and urgency typical of a tradesman.

From beside the small shop at the eastern edge of the village came the sound of children at play. The short man’s spirits lifted, and he soon pedaled over. He stopped within sight and watched from a distance as a girl played hide-and-seek with her younger brother.

In an instant, another evil plan took shape in his mind.

He particularly enjoyed violating girls around ten years old. Watching them being abused at will filled him with a satisfaction he had never known before.

That afternoon, despite the drizzle, the short man took a bus to Dawan Town, where Little Li Village was located, and began putting his wicked plan into action.

After getting off in the market town, he sought shelter from the heavy rain at a recycling station. There, he noticed a large quantity of collected aluminum goods and briefly considered changing his target. Stealing aluminum could bring in a substantial sum of money.

At midnight, he quietly approached the recycling station. Just as he was looking for a place to break in, he heard someone speaking inside.

Realizing that he could not steal anything that night, he decided to carry out his original plan instead.

The road from Dawan Town to Little Li Village stretched for six or seven miles, all of it winding and rugged dirt track. It had been raining continuously for two days and two nights, but the short man hurried on through the mud.

He did not stop until he reached the home of the little girl who had been playing hide-and-seek with her brother. Seeing that no one was around, he quickly opened the spring lock on the courtyard gate. Then he swallowed hard and removed from his waistband the newly purchased four-pound octagonal hammer.

With a few blows, he pried open the flimsy door lock and entered the house, his eyes darting about in search of a target. Three people were sleeping in the main room: an old woman and a little boy lay on a bamboo bed pushed against the door, while the girl slept on a wooden bed in the room to the west.

After looking around, the short man turned sideways and squeezed through the gap beside the western end of the bamboo bed. He switched on his flashlight and saw the girl asleep with her head to the east and her feet to the west. Apart from the two beds and a few household and farming implements, there was nothing else worth stealing.

His gaze settled on the girl.

He disliked being disturbed while indulging himself. Once he had chosen a target, he never left anyone alive. Without hesitation, he raised the iron hammer and struck the old woman twice, then brought it down on the little boy’s head.

After confirming that neither the old woman nor the boy was moving, he went to the girl and smashed her on the head as she lay in bed, killing her with a lecherous grin.

“Only a corpse that can’t resist is any fun.”

He had completely lost his humanity. Blood no longer frightened him.

He reveled in the pleasure brought by such cruelty, regarding it as the only solace in his life.

Believing that he had eliminated the old woman as a threat, the short man felt no fear at all. He stripped the girl naked and violated her without restraint. But he never expected the old woman to cling to the last thread of her life and seize him from behind, locking her arms around him.

The short man was terrified. He picked up the hammer from the floor and brought it down savagely on the old woman.

Once, twice… He no longer knew how many times. At last, the old woman collapsed onto the floor.

After letting out a long breath, he searched the old woman’s trouser pocket and found seven yuan. He pulled the quilt over her body, put on his trousers, and left calmly.

The night rain poured down, swelling the stream with peach-blossom water.

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An evil figure disappeared into the curtain of rain.

Early the next morning, a neighbor came to borrow a bucket. When he pushed open the door, he found blood everywhere on the floor. The grandmother and her two grandchildren were all covered to the head with quilts, and the room was in complete disarray. When he lifted the quilts, he was so terrified that his soul nearly left his body.

The old woman’s head had been crushed out of shape and was smeared with blood. Her grandson and granddaughter had also met gruesome deaths.

Before long, the wail of police sirens shattered the village’s tranquility. By then, the short man had already fled dozens of miles to the city, where he wandered through a shopping mall as though nothing had happened.

…

Li Rui stood outside the Zheng City Public Security Bureau. In the distance, he saw a black Mercedes speeding toward him.

The black Mercedes glided to a halt like a cheetah. The instant the door opened, a pair of long, shapely legs appeared first.

Wenrou stepped out elegantly in slender high heels. Her black professional suit outlined her graceful curves, while her waist-length hair drifted lightly in the wind. She removed her sunglasses, revealing eyes clear as autumn water, and parted her red lips.

“Medical Examiner Li, has there been any progress on the case?”

Li Rui caught the faint scent of jasmine on her. His throat tightened, but he merely nodded. “Director Wen, you arrived quickly.”

“The case is urgent. I had no choice.”

“Have you finished the leave Director Han approved?” Li Rui asked stiffly.

“No hurry. I’ll have plenty of time to take the rest later.” Wenrou walked up to him and leaned closer. “Are you concerned about me?”

“Cough, cough.” Li Rui’s face reddened. He pretended to cough and instinctively stepped back. “Well, Captain Lei is still waiting for you inside. You should go in.”

Wenrou looked at him. “Aren’t you coming?”

“I’m going to the Xiping District Bureau,” Li Rui replied.

“Medical Examiner Li is getting into the role quickly.” Wenrou adopted a deliberately businesslike tone. “Very good. Go ahead.”

Li Rui had taken only two steps when Wenrou called after him.

“Wait. I’ll go with you.”

“What about Lei Chen?”

“It’s fine. I’ll call him.”

Li Rui said nothing, merely nodding.

“Ride with me,” Wenrou said briskly.

“Driving in high heels isn’t a good idea,” Li Rui reminded her.

Wenrou rolled her eyes. “Stop fussing. You sound like an old woman.”

Soon, the black Mercedes roared out of the city bureau once more.

On the way, Wenrou called Lei Chen and told him that she was heading to the Xiping District Bureau with Li Rui. If anything came up, they could discuss it when she returned. She then asked, “What’s the current situation in the Hui County case?”

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“There are three victims. The killer used a relatively heavy blunt object to strike all of them in the head and face. The old woman also had marks indicating that a rope had been tightened around her neck, while her grandson had suffered strangulation with a strip of cloth. Both died from brain injuries. There are also signs that the suspect sexually assaulted the girl,” Li Rui said.

“If the killer used a blunt weapon, why resort to rope as well?” Wenrou asked.

“Judging from the strangulation marks, the rope was not the fatal cause. Our preliminary assessment is that it was used to prevent the victims from making any noise,” Li Rui replied.

Wenrou drew a deep breath, her anger already apparent, but she restrained herself and asked, “Can the suspect be identified?”

Li Rui shook his head. “It will be difficult. If the two cases in Xiping were committed by the same person, then the killer is operating across different locations. Someone like that is almost certainly not a local. With no fixed residence, he’ll be very difficult to track down.”

“So you’re going to the Xiping District Bureau to determine whether the cases were committed by the same person?”

“Yes.” Li Rui nodded. “Although it’s highly likely that they were, I actually hope they weren’t, because if they were…”

Wenrou pressed harder on the accelerator, her gaze turning fierce.

“If that’s the case, the killer may strike again!”

The car soon arrived at the Xiping District Bureau.

Xiping bordered Hui County’s main urban district. Hui County lay south of the Xiping River, while Xiping lay to the north. Little Li Village was located in southern Hui County.

Judging from this, the killer had likely traveled south from Xiping, committing crimes along the way.

As soon as Li Rui and Wenrou arrived, District Chief Liu Dezhi hurried out to greet them.

“Director Wen, Medical Examiner Li, forgive us for not welcoming you sooner. Forgive us.”

Wenrou extended her hand. “Chief Liu, it’s a pleasure. You’re too kind.”

“You’ve had a long journey. Please, come inside.”

Chief Liu’s enthusiasm made Li Rui distinctly uncomfortable.

Enthusiasm was not necessarily a bad thing, but this much enthusiasm suggested that something was amiss.

Sure enough, when Wenrou requested an autopsy, Liu Dezhi began making excuses and putting up obstacles. First he claimed that the bureau’s own medical examiner was already examining the bodies; then he said that the victims’ family refused to permit dissection. The two sides soon reached an impasse.

At that moment, Deputy Chief Yang Wenbin stepped forward and said firmly, “The two of you, our bureau has already solved this case.”

“Solved it?”

The moment he said this, Li Rui and Wenrou were both stunned.

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