Sha Qing

Chapter 25: Tinder

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After seeing the corpse half-buried in the mud at the bottom of the lake, Leo returned to the wooden house and immediately called the local police-it was a girl of about ten years old, with her hands tied back with ropes, and a circle of lead for load-bearing running was tied around her waist. Bag, his face pale and swollen by the blister, a pair of gray-blue eyes opened indefinitely.

Li Biqing has been sitting on the boardwalk with her knees, burying her face in her arms. Leo knew how uncomfortable he was now, and no one could remain indifferent after seeing the murdered body of such a young child.

Due to the remote location, the police car of the New Jersey State Police arrived more than an hour later. After checking Leo’s documents, the lead white police officer named Eden was kind and respectful, and asked him about the discovery of the body. . Routine records were quickly completed. The little girl's body was salvaged, put in a bag and put into a police car. Some police officers stayed and continued to investigate the scene, while others were going to take the body back to the forensic doctor.

Li Biqing's face was still a little pale, but he seemed to have returned to calm. He walked to Eden, who was talking to Leo in a low voice. He told the state police: "I suggest that the police search the entire bottom of the lake."

"You mean..." Eden couldn't figure out the relationship between the Chinese boy and the FBI, but obviously it's not the time to care about this.

"I think it's possible—even though I don't want this to happen—but I still ask you to search the bottom of the lake thoroughly," Li Biqing turned again and again, and finally spit out: "I suspect that there is more than one corpse like this."

Eden's face changed: "You mean... this is a serial murder?" He spends most of his work patrolling highways. He has never seen such a formation. If the boy's guess is not unfounded... Damn it. , New Jersey has not had a series of vicious incidents of homicide for seven years. Why is it that he is not in his post this time? This type of case has a high media attention rate, high pressure from the top, and the murderer is extraordinarily cunning and cruel. The police handling the case has to bear considerable pressure. For Eden, who always only wants to patrol the roads, it is a complete chore.

What evidence do you have? Eden wanted to refute this, but the FBI criminal team leader who was as handsome as a movie star seemed to trust the boy's judgment. The black-haired agent frowned and said, "Perhaps you should set up a larger martial law area and evacuate tourists first. If it is a serial murder, I will take over the investigation of this case."

The state policeman who was worried was anxious to throw the hot potato out, and immediately agreed: "Okay, I will send more people to search the bottom of the lake, but the lake is too big, and I can't guarantee that there is no omission."

"Do your best," the agent said.

This will take at least two or three days. I am afraid that the lakeside wooden house will not be able to live in. Even if the warning belt can be ignored, the two are unwilling to spend a holiday under the attention of a group of busy state and county police.

"What to do?" Li Biqing asked.

Leo said: "Go back to New York first, or find a nearby town to live in."

Li Biqing chose the latter, although New York is not far away. The hair of the little wronged soul at the bottom of the lake is not just his feet. Until now, he still feels chills on his ankles, as if a cold, damp little hand is still holding it tightly.

He couldn't help but get excited. The cool breeze in the mountains at night was refreshing, Leo took off his coat and put it on his shoulders, "It's already dark. Let's stay in the wooden house for one night, and then leave tomorrow."

At night, the police left a bright yellow on-site warning belt and several on-duty personnel and then left one after another, waiting for dawn to come again.

Li Biqing sat on the window sill and stared at the lake in a daze. Leo walked up to him and said, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid the planned vacation will be lost."

"It's not your fault," the boy whispered. "And you saved my life. I haven't thanked you yet."

"Do we need to be so polite between us, not to mention the old Chinese saying that you don't want to thank you for your kindness."

"That's what I said." Li Biqing smiled, "But that sentence usually has an afterword:'Take care of yourself.'"

Leo was stunned for a few seconds before he basically understood the meaning of the idiom. He suddenly felt a little short of breath, "...what does it mean?" He brushed off the little paw that had scratched his heart, and asked calmly.

Li Biqing tilted his head to look at him, the federal agent's handsome and serious face has a serious temperament, just like the glass cover on the diamond showcase, which makes people have the urge to break it with a hammer.

The joke is almost here, and it's a bit too much further down, he reminded himself. But an irresistible force pushes the wheel and deviates a little bit from the set track... His fingers seem to have independent consciousness, lightly hooked at the black-haired agent, motioned to get closer, and then After the opponent walked two steps closer, he hooked his finger to the second button on the shirt and slowly pulled his upper body down.

Leo allowed this finger to drag and dominate his body, and countless voices buzzed in his head, but he couldn't hear a word... It was like a demon! He wondered in his heart, both joy and pain, this is really an exam question set up by the devil, just to test a mortal’s self-control and the limit of restraining desire...

It’s too close, so that you can clearly see your projection on the opponent’s pupils, and feel the slight trembling of the very soft hairs on the opponent’s lips... Is this a joke? It seems that it is no longer a joke. The Chinese boy who seems uncomfortable even to say the word gay, with his gentle and introverted character, is unlikely to make such an overdone joke... Or, this is actually a temptation. ? Is it a suggestive suggestion? Leo was confused and guessing, but now he couldn't think normally at all. The fragmented reason was getting further and further away from him, only his desires and emotions were infinitely clear.

A second before the dike collapsed, Hongfeng changed its course—the boy’s lips were brushed across his cheeks, and his other hand pulled a short-winged, long-legged bug from his hair: a dead water strider, Or some other bug. That is not important, what is important is that the thick and ambiguous illusion from the previous moment disappeared.

"There is a worm in your hair." Li Biqing said seriously, pinching the corpse of the worm with two fingers, his expression was so simple that Leo vomited blood.

"... Don't worry about it! What did you just want to say?"

"What? I forgot... Oh, that idiom means that the body is now yours. Fry, stir, cook, stew, whatever you want."

Leo was silent for a moment.

"This joke is not funny at all, boy, it reminds me of a serial murder and cooking corpse I took over three years ago. When I caught the perverted ogre, he was sprinkling pepper into the bone soup." He showed his face. An unbearable look.

Li Biqing gagged his mouth with his fist, "Sorry..."

"Is it a joke? No way."

"No, for dinner later... I just made a pot of bone soup and sprinkled it with pepper."

"God..." The federal agent sighed, pressing his finger against the corner of his forehead, "You are such a genius, Li Biqing."

"How about I re-cook a pot of fish soup?"

"Use the fish in this lake? No, thank you, I don't want to think about what fattened them."

"Then only microwave hot dogs."

"Is there an unfinished lunch in the car today? Well, I'd rather nibble on that."

The scene that was almost out of control was pulled back, and the two returned to a relaxed and happy atmosphere. The previous impulsive passion was buried in the ashes like a extinguished fire.

Fortunately, there is still room for change, a man thought with joy and regret.

Fortunately, he didn't deviate too far from the track, the other man thought equally fortunately and regretfully.

The next morning, a message came from the state police that the identity of the deceased had been confirmed. Nine-year-old Renee? Duer, from a nearby place called "Shuixia Town". Leo and Li Biqing decided to take the lead to the small town. As for whether there were other victims, Eden would call to tell them the situation after the whole lake bottom was turned over.

When they arrived at an ordinary residential building in Shuixia Town, the local county police had already taken control of the scene and planned to take a middle-aged woman away. She has a bloated body and a cold and sluggish look. Her golden brown hair is cut too short and looks dull. Maybe she had been beautiful more than a decade ago, but her life was drained and she was only obese.

After showing his credentials, Leo talked with a tall and thin county policeman.

"She's Bellely, the mother of the deceased-in the genetic sense." The county policeman glanced at the woman in disgust.

"How to say?"

"She didn't deserve to be a mother at all, abused children, beat and scolded them, didn't give them enough food and clothing, and even more vicious, she drowned her six-month-old son in her bathtub, more than two years ago. ."

"Not sentenced?" The federal agent asked, anger began to gather in his eyes.

"Several doctors diagnosed her as suffering from schizophrenia and could not bear legal responsibility, so she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. In May of this year, the hospital said that her condition had improved to a level that would not affect her daily life, so she was released. She came out. As soon as she came back, she asked the church in the town for the custody of her two daughters. The two poor children had been taken care of by Father Bai Si-if only they had been taken care of by the priest, it would be great. That is not at the bottom of the corpse lake, that is a pretty little girl..." The county police sighed sympathetically.

"You now suspect that Bellely killed Renee?"

"It's not difficult for her, isn't it, it's just that the bathtub is bigger." The county police said coldly. "What's even better is that she still has a shield,'schizophrenia', what a good talisman. ! As long as you change your hospital and convalesce for another three to five years, you can come out again and continue to harm your last daughter."

Li Biqing stood behind Leo, not knowing what expression to use to face these words. A mother! How cold does it take to drown his six-month-old son in the bathtub? Is her heart made of snake teeth, scorpion tail thorns, and hell flames? He would rather believe that she is a real schizophrenic patient, without knowing what happened.

Belleri moved stiff steps towards the police car. No one cared about her life or death, and she didn't seem to care about everything around her.

Leo walked toward the dilapidated house with a sullen expression. There is a small body hidden in the shadow on the side of the steps under the porch. It is a curled up girl of about five or six years old, wearing a dirty white skirt. Two county police officers are squatting on the ground and whispering. Appease her. But she hugged her knees without saying a word or moving.

This is probably the little girl, Leo thought pityingly, poor child, sister and brother are dead, mother is the murderer, this world is like a terrifying nightmare that she can never wake up. He couldn't help approaching her.

The little girl suddenly lifted her face, as if she had sensed something, and looked straight at him.

That face—Leo took a step back!

The girl has long, lush, light blonde hair like seaweed. Although it is untidy and neglected, she still wears cute little curls. Her blue eyes are as clear as the sky washed by rain. She is beautiful. little angel.

As if struck by a flash of lightning, Leo's face solidified in extreme shock and unbelief, and he took two more steps back.

Li Biqing noticed the abnormality and stepped forward and held his arm, "Leo?" He looked at the cold sweat rolling down the black-haired agent's forehead, feeling that his muscles were trembling, and couldn't help but urgently asked: "What happened? Leo, your face is ugly... "It's like seeing a ghost. He dared not say the second half sentence.

"... Debi, can you come out? Don't be afraid, we will protect you, Debi?" The squatting policewoman gently called the little girl's name.

Leo's face became paler and paler, and his blood faded away, like a cancer patient who was dying, only the breath that he could not swallow was the contact with life.

"Let's go, let's get back into the car first." Li Biqing was anxiously worried, but couldn't figure it out, so she could only grab his arm and bring it to the car. Leo let him drag, as if his soul had drifted into another world.

Li Biqing stuffed him into the back seat, feeling like he was stuffing a walking dead, "Leo!" He was really scared, and slapped him severely on the opponent's face: "Wake up!"

Half of Leo's cheek immediately swelled, but this also successfully awakened his mind, and the feeling of living creatures returned to his eyes.

Li Biqing regretted it as soon as he shot it: How could he slap him in the face not long after his upper jaw had been operated on? The chest, legs, buttocks, anywhere is good, but you shouldn't be slapped in the face, it's really a moment of dizziness.

"Are you okay, Leo?" he asked nervously, "what's the matter?"

"... It's okay, people are a little uncomfortable." Leo replied, his unassuming voice was like snow foam floating in the air.

"Sick? Let's go to the hospital!"

"No! It's better now, I just want to lie down..."

Li Biqing hesitated, seeing the black-haired agent look extremely tired, and decided to follow his instructions and find a hotel to rest first.

At the end of the street, there is a small hotel with a neon sign at the entrance that says "Green Season Hotel". Li Biqing didn't care about the environment, so he parked his car in the courtyard and drove Leo straight to the lobby. "Open a room!" he said sharply to the thin middle-aged woman behind the counter.

"One or two?" The woman lifted her face with heavy mascara and eyeliner to look at them.

"Whatever!" Li Biqing replied impatiently.

"Is it one! Or two!" The woman glared at them, her scarlet lips rolled down dissatisfied.

"one!"

Leo is in a bad state, he has to take care of him.

"Two single beds or a double bed?" the woman continued.

An unnamed fire surged, Li Biqing slapped the counter and slapped the plastic box with the coloring page of the hotel's introduction directly into pieces: "Have you fucked the end? Give me the key!"

The scared woman hurriedly opened the drawer, grabbed a key, and quickly handed it over. Li Biqing grabbed the key, took out a stack of banknotes from his pocket and threw it on the counter, then pulled Leo up the stairs.

The woman subconsciously wanted to call the police. After picking up the microphone, she suddenly found that the stack of banknotes was much thicker than she expected. After counting carefully, she put down the microphone with satisfaction, and began to skillfully fill in the resident registration card: "Jack? Smith, Tom? Wilson, home address..."