Extra 6

A number of serial killings happened in early February in Tung City.

The police in Tung City are furious and eager to crack the cases as soon as possible.  Since the famous criminal psychologist Professor Bo Jinyan and his assistant Jian Yao is in town to visit their family, the Tung City Police Department has invited them to join in the investigation.  

——————

On the day of the first meeting.  

It is a sunny day with a cool breeze.  It’s 7:30am.  The police officers arrive at the crime scene.   The meeting with professor Bo and Jian Yao is scheduled at 8:00am.   When they walk past the area that is cordoned off to the public, they see a beautiful lady in her twenties. With plastic gloves and shoes on, she is bending down and examining the blood stains on the ground.  A man stands behind her.  He is leisurely drinking a cup of Starbucks coffee.  

The lady looks up when she sees the officers.  She gives a sweet smile: “Hi.  I am from the Criminal Psychology Team under the Department of National Securities. My name is Jian Yao.“

All the police officers that came are men.  Their faces brighten as they realise they will be working with a pretty lady.  They take turns to introduce themselves to Jian Yao.  One of the officers in his thirties recognises her: “Xiao Yao, I am Li Kun.  Do you remember me? I used to keep you and  Li Xunran entertained when you guys came to the police station.  Wow, you have grown so much!  You are such a pretty girl now!”

Jian Yao is about to reply when they hear a faint mocking smile from behind.  

Jian Yao is slightly embarrassed. Bo Jinyan walks up and nods to the crowd.  Then he introduces himself: “Hi.  I am Bo Jinyan.”

Everyone is silent.  They wait eagerly for what Bo Jinyan has to say about the case.  But instead, Bo Jinyan turns to Jian Yao and says: “I will wait for you in the car.”  Then he turns back to face everyone else: “Goodbye.”

So everyone watches as the alleged super detective walks off without giving any contribution.  

“Well…”Jian Yao smiles and turn everyone’s attention onto her again: “Let’s profile the criminal.  Here’s a list of things you should concentrate on…”

——————-

The case went well.  Based on the profile Jian Yao provided, the police identified seven suspects.  They took five days to interview the suspects but they could not figure out who is the killer. Then Jian Yao came to the office.  It only took her one day get a confession.  Superior interrogation skills, lie detection, micro expression observations… she uses a variety of tools, and she is very proficient in all of them.  It’s an eye opener for the Tung City Police.  

Compared to Jian Yao, Bo Jinyan is like the arrogant man who has no actual skills.  They have decided his fame is overrated.  When Jian Yao was briefing the team, Bo Jinyan was taking a nap in the car.  When Jian Yao was interrogating the suspects, he came in with two bento boxes with sashimi for Jian Yao and himself.  And he left promptly after dinner.  Even though the bento boxes did look impressive, he is not a house husband… surely?  He is supposed to be a very good detective, but he certainly doesn't act like one.  

Li Xunran is no longer working in Tung City.  The officers that were involved in the ‘killer machine’ case years ago have either retired or transferred elsewhere.  The new bunch of officers in Tung City have not worked with Bo Jinyan before.  And based on what they have seen so far, they have a very mediocre impression of this legendary detective.  

 ———————-

The day after the case is closed.  

Two officers, Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li are resting in the garden courtyard  inside the Police Station complex.  

Xiao Zhang:  “That Professor Bo didn’t care about the case at all.”

Xiao Li: “Yeah, it’s solely Miss Jian’s effort.  It’s a hard case to crack, she is a brilliant detective.” 

“Mmm…. I heard that they are a couple.  If this is true, then I must say, he is a lucky man.  He may be hopeless in solving cases, but he has a pretty and smart wife.” 

“I think the rumours are true.  Yesterday, as Miss Jian is leaving, I saw Professor Bo resting his hand on her shoulder as they walked.  Oh, what a shame!  She deserves a better man…”

Xiao Zhang: “I think Professor Bo sponges off his wife.  Obviously, he only managed to be the team leader because she is silently helping him do all the work behind the scenes”  

………

Unknown to the two officers, Jian Yao and Bo Jinyan are sitting behind them, blocked by a hedge.    

Jian Yao turns to look at Bo Jinyan.  She is surprised that he seems to be unperturbed by the comments.   He continues to drink his mineral water leisurely.  

Jian Yao reaches out her hand to pat his face: “They said you are sponging off me.  Aren’t you angry?”

Bo Jinyan smiles and reply: “Such short-sightedness.”  He takes a glance of her: “The measure of a superior detective is not about many complex cases he can solve, but his ability to train a rookie into a great detective like him.” 

And before Jian Yao can speak, he adds: “And, he is able to successfully stand out from the many suitors to become this great detective’s husband.”  

Jian Yao laughs.  She leans over and whispers in his ear: “I love you.”

Bo Jinyan smiles.  

After a short pause, Jian Yao says: “I don’t mind that you pass me the simple cases.  Like the one I just worked on.  But the reality is that, complicated cases are few and far between.  We have not seen any in the past 12 months.” Then she looks in his eyes: “Well, if you keep ‘resting’, will this  brain of yours that you are so proud of start to deteriorate due to lack of stimulation?” 

What is meant to be a small joke is not taken very well by Mr. Bo Jinyan.  Jian Yao immediately regrets what she said as she sees an angered look on his face.  

But a few seconds later, Bo Jinyan smiles and speaks with a sweet tone: “My dear, you are so cute.” He leans over to kiss her forehead.  “ A Porsche is still a Porsche even if it’s not driven for a while.  But if the Porsche is forced to go at slow speed everyday because it has crawler tractor attached to it, then it will wear out and deteriorate.”    

Jian Yao laughs at his analogy: “Ok, Ok… You are a Porsche, I am a …” Her smile freezes: “Wait a minute… are you trying to say I am a crawler tractor?”

The “Crawler Tractor” comment has great consequences. 

For the next three months, Jian Yao refused to take on any simple cases.  She insisted that Bo Jinyan needed some first hand experience of  what it felt like do the job of a ‘crawler tractor’.   

Normally, Bo Jinyan calls the shots at work and at home.  But Jian Yao threatened him a ‘don’t come near my bed if you don’t agree to this’ statement, he said ‘yes’ straight away.  

And of course, the benefit this arrangement brought was that Bo Jinyan was able to solve many cases at an alarmingly fast speed, and the rumours of him ‘sponging off her’ vanished.  

When the officers mentioned Bo Jinyan, they described him differently- 

“Oh, that grumpy detective who is also a hen-pecked husband….  “