The afterglow of the setting sun spilled in through the thin window screens, covering a dim orange halo on a dark marble table in front of the French windows. In the center of the table is a chess board, black and white, with clear boundaries. Kings, queens, castles, knights, priests, and minions waited in their place, silently and solemnly, waiting for the battle to begin.
The chessboard is made of black and white crystals, which are very delicately made. In contrast, the chess pieces are a bit rough. The white chess has a lifeless gray and chalky color, and there are irregular fine lines under closer inspection; the black chess is more It is close to a thick dark brown, as if a layer of inferior rust has been brushed on the white background.
A black hand stretched out from the shadow of the sofa on the left, with a thick cocoon growing on the inside of the thumb, and the fingers with stout joints picked up the white pawn, and advanced two squares-the white pawn, E4.
As if the curtain of the stage was lifted in one fell swoop, start!
A white hand was also stretched out from the sofa on the right. The back of the hand protruded with hideous burn scars, extending into the cuffs, and the fingertips with cracked nails pushed the black pawn forward one square-the black pawn, C6.
White soldier D4. Black soldier D5. The two soldiers fought head-on.
White horse jumps to C3.
The D5 black pawn took a step diagonally and ate the first E4 white pawn in one bite.
The gray-white soldier was tightly pinched in the palm of the hand controlling its fate, and a dull man's voice came out from the shadow: "Game Start!"
Chicago, Illinois.
A small plane with an FBI logo sprayed on its fuselage landed at O'Hare International Airport. As soon as the cabin door opened, before stepping down the gangway, the August high temperature rushed in with the heat wave.
"I hate all the cities where the seasons are distinct and the highest temperature difference between winter and summer exceeds 70°C!" Rob was wiping the sweat dripping from his neck with a handkerchief, while complaining to his colleagues, "Yes, including Chicago, her temperature is the same. The faces of prostitutes in the bar are just as fickle."
The flight attendant standing at the door of the cabin smiled and replied: "You say that, this friendly city will cry. In fact, the two can also greet you with a smile forever-as long as you have enough dollars in your pocket. Alright, welcome. The world’s pig farm, the city of the shoulders!"
Leo then walked out of the cabin door, because the temperature was too high, estimated to be at least 38°C. He did not wear that uniform-like dark suit. He just paired a simple white shirt with smoky gray casual trousers, and didn't even tie a tie. .
Li Biqing, dressed in short-sleeved casual clothes, followed him down the gangway. The bright sunlight reflected from the concrete floor of the airport made him uncomfortably fascinated, and then a sun hat was buttoned on his head. The black-haired federal agent shook hands with his colleagues in the Chicago branch who came to pick up the plane. After a brief greeting, he also put on a pair of blackout sunglasses for himself. "Can you take us to the prepared residence first?"
"No problem, sir." said Mai En, a young black agent with chocolate skin, high nose bridge and thick lips, obviously mixed with white descent. "The residence is arranged in the city center. It is a beautiful two-story villa. On the shores of the beautiful Lake Michigan, I hope you will be satisfied."
Leo nodded and asked, "Is there a university nearby, the one with a language school?"
Mann was a little surprised by this question. After looking at the slightly naive Chinese boy sitting next to him, he answered clearly: "The nearest one is Northwestern University's Chicago campus. The campus is in the urban area. Life is very convenient. Provide evening school and weekend advanced courses."
"Can you apply for a language school for me? I will give you the student information tomorrow."
"Yes, sir, just give me two days to do it."
As one of the standard FBI equipment, the black Chevrolet Suburban drove into a secluded residential area and stopped in front of a snow-blue two-story house shaded by trees. This is an American-style apartment with a distinctive style, built in 1898, with a long history but a new look. The house is large, with seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, a living room, study, kitchen and dining room. The master bedroom also includes a dressing room and a private bathroom. Standing on the second floor, you can overlook the nearby park and the rippling Lake Michigan. . The living room with fireplace, the elegant open staircase, the bright sunny family room and the classic nostalgic furniture are so beautiful that they are astounding. There is also a wine cellar with a lot of red wine in the basement. The green American red maple.
Rob blew a whistle of admiration, "This is the highest treatment I have ever enjoyed-the foreword is retracted, I love Chicago!"
"This villa once belonged to the Phillin family," Maien said as he led them into the spacious courtyard like a garden, "it was later confiscated by the government."
"Fillin? Is it the one who made his fortune by selling arms, and in the end three generations of grandfathers and grandchildren were inlaid with several Magnum bullets in their brains?"
"That's the Firlin. But don't worry, this place has been cleaned up very clean." Mann comforted.
The brown-haired and green-eyed federal agent looked at Leo and Li Biqing—they looked calm and did not seem to have the psychological shadow of staying in the murder house. He had to sigh and said, "Well, I know the sky will not be in vain. Pie off."
Putting simple luggage into the bedroom of his choice, Leo said to Li Biqing: "You stay here first. Rob and I are going to the branch building. If I work overtime at night, I will call you."
"Has any major criminal case happened here?" the Chinese boy asked curiously, "A serial murder again?"
Leo frowned, not wanting to involve him in his work.
Rob replied without hesitation: "Three died within half a month, all of them were police officers."
Leo gave a dry cough and said in a deep voice, "We should start."
Rob shrugged, lost a look at Li Biqing, "This guy is so stubborn, you know", and left the room with him.
Suddenly there was only one person left in the empty house. Li Biqing strolled around the courtyard and the whole house leisurely, took out a map of Chicago city from his bag, nestled on a soft and comfortable sofa and started looking for a nearby supermarket.
FBI Chicago branch.
A 50-year-old male agent with the iconic long face and big Jewish nose enthusiastically extended his hand, and after shaking hands with Leo and Rob respectively, introduced himself: "I am Alfred Bergman, Chess. The leader of the serial homicide task force."
"Leo? Lawrence, headquarter criminal investigator, this is my partner Robrey? Simon."
"Welcome, I hope to get your help in solving the case."
"Tell the case in detail." Leo and Rob sat down on the hospitality sofa in the dedicated office.
Alfred took out a data box and opened it, and placed a pile of on-site photos, autopsy reports and other materials on the glass coffee table in front of them. "The first case occurred on South Michigan Avenue. When a traffic policeman was interrogating a speeding Ford car, the driver wiped his throat and died on the spot. From the traffic surveillance video, the man wearing a peaked cap It seems that he knows how to use the dead corner of the probe, and his face was not photographed at all. The police originally thought it was just a vicious law and order case. However, only the next day, another homicide occurred at the police station door. One just walked out of the gate and prepared to go The police officer who had lunch was shot in the heart at close range. The murderer took advantage of the chaos and escaped calmly without leaving the slightest clue. Only when the city police realized the seriousness of the matter and asked the FBI for help. We re-examined the remains of the previous case. Later, I found this thing that was once ignored."
He raised the evidence bag in front of Leo. The transparent plastic bag contained a white chess piece and a small soldier.
Leo took it and looked carefully in his hand.
"In the jacket pocket of Officer Levine, the second victim, a chess piece was also found, which was a black chess pawn. This gave us a conjecture that two homicides are closely related, and the murderer may be the same person. A week later, there was a third incident. The deceased was a prison guard. When he was on duty at the Thomson Prison tower, he was shot and headshot from a distance. Then he found a black man in an anonymous letter sent to him. Chess soldier." Alfred handed over two witness bags again. "According to the forensic doctor’s autopsy report, the two shots are in the middle of the shot, and the Magnum 9MM pistol and the Barrett M33 sniper shell are used; The stab wound was to cut off the trachea, vocal cords, and carotid arteries at once, presuming that the murderer was a middle-aged and veteran with rich murder experience and suspected of having a gang background."
Leo stretched out his hand and told Rob: "Gloves." After putting on a pair of thin white rubber gloves, he took out the chess pieces and looked at the light for a while, and then asked the Jewish agent: "Has the composition of the chess pieces been identified?"
Alfred froze for a moment, and said, "No, only fingerprint extraction was done, but no harvest-it looks like an ivory product?"
"No," Leo shook his head, "I suspect it's bones, human."
Alfred's face changed slightly, and he immediately said, "I'll go to the forensic department for identification!"
"I have a bad premonition," Rob sighed to Leo after he left. "What we are going to face this time is not only a pervert with loot collecting habit, but also a professional murder expert."
Leo did not refute his premonition, but stood up solemnly: "Go, let's go to the scene of the murder. Man, can you lead the way?"
"Yes, sir." The black boy responded very positively.
While Leo was busy running between the murder scenes, the fourth murder three days later shocked the Windy City Chicago. The director of the Chicago branch of the Drug Enforcement Administration (the U.S. Narcotics Administration) was killed in his office. The murder weapon was a Parker pen in the pen holder of the desk. It was accurately inserted into the neck artery and pulled out. The blood spattered on the wall two meters away. On the floor beside the deceased, a white chess knight was placed upright in a pool of blood.
For a time, the serial killings caused a sensation in the major TV media and newspapers in Zhicheng. Reporters flocked to the police station and the FBI office building to use "chess killer-who is the next dead game" and "chessboard killer". "Phantom reappears in the world", "64 chessboards, 64 lives-in progress: 4" and other news headlines as gimmicks are flying around the sky, and the citizens are panicking. And those "serial murderers admirers" with weird thinking and distorted interests (there are still quite a few, even creating fan forums on the Internet, and setting up fan clubs in reality), who rejoice in the rise of a dark new idol.
The detectives of the task force and the criminal investigators sent by the FBI headquarters received the eager attention of countless reporters, so that when Leo walked out of the city police station, he had to wear a poker face with sunglasses and four cold words. "No comment", struggling to escape the crowd and get into the car. The black Chevrolet SUV went away under the flashing spotlight. Rob, sitting in the back of the car, let out a sigh of relief: "It's too fucking cruel. I'd rather hunt down a dozen murderers at the same time, and don't want to face each other. To these pervasive reporters!"
"To deal with a group of flies that will never let out the smell of meat, your only way is to cover the pot tightly." Leo said as he drove.
"Damn it, I haven't had any personal time for a few days. I finally booked dinner at Spiaggia restaurant yesterday. My butt hadn't been hot yet. I didn't know where to get a reporter and rushed over with his eyes open!" Rob was angry. Grumbled, "Damn let people not eat!"
His partner joked, "You should stay in the car and eat fast food tonight!"
"Why don't you nibble on fast food?" Rob retorted in dissatisfaction.
"I can drive 5 minutes to eat delicious Chinese food, and it is in a warm and comfortable family restaurant that is not disturbed. Why do you want to eat fast food?"
Rob's eyes widened: "What... You didn't tell me that the Chinese boy cooked a good dish? Leo, you selfish fellow, be careful to go to hell after you die!"
Leo laughed: "Then I will get you-gluttony is also a big sin, isn't it."
"Fuck You!" the green-eyed agent laughed and cursed.
"Don't think about it in this life." The black-haired agent said solemnly.
The recipe for the evening was pineapple scorpion prawns, stir-fried pork with leek, and steamed salmon and Hepingqiao tofu soup. Because of many people, a plate of popular Kung Pao chicken was added, and the beverage was a bottle taken from the wine cellar. French Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon dry red wine.
Rob was devouring food, his image was extremely inelegant, he almost bit his tongue several times, and made a firm determination at the dinner table to go back to the apartment for every dinner except for overtime. After eating and drinking, he was holding a cup of Lapsang Soup slumped on the sofa, like a python that stretched its head, lazily not wanting to move, looking at the figure in the kitchen busy cleaning up the mess, he groaned contentedly: "Leo , I must find a Chinese wife."
A black-haired agent who was extremely slow in one aspect was ignorant of the metaphor in his words, and replied: "Oh, maybe you can ask Bi Qing if there is a suitable girl to introduce to you, but I will give you a piece of advice. , It’s better not to look in his hometown."
"why?"
"Because at that time, the person busy in the kitchen will be you."