Chapter 65

Chapter 65

“He is trying to show me his life.”

Bo Jinyan is standing under the light.  Tall body, highly handsome face, superior intellect… he always manages to stand out in the crowd.  

What Bo Jinyan said is like a laser beam that cuts through the darkness.  Suddenly there’s a place to start.  Everyone looks at the white board again.  The words seem to become more meaningful now.  They try to link the thoughts together.

But Bo Jinyan can’t wait for them to catch up.  He puts the white board marker in the table, then he starts to speak: 

“Whipping, is the most direct and powerful way to convey anger and hatred. It’s more intense than cutting flesh or slow torture such as draining the blood.  Therefore, he hates woman.  

And usually, the cause of hatred for women stems from the lack of maternity love.  Men who grow up in a healthy and normal childhood usually remains psychologically stable even though they are treated badly in their teenage years or adulthood by other woman.  Therefore, it’s most likely that his mother abandoned or left him when he was young.

Skinning is a complicated and tedious process.  But he managed to complete the task almost to perfection.  It’s not the first time he had done that.  You should investigate all the skinning cases in the US in the past ten years.  There might be some clues there.  

Skinning suggests plunder and pillage.   Even though there’s no sex involved, it’s a type of punishment.  Perhaps it’s linked to his lack of maternity love during his childhood. But there is also a possibility that he was sexually abused by an older woman in his teenage years.”

The room is quiet after Bo Jinyan stops.  Jian Yao thinks about what he says.  Most psychopaths in the US had a rough childhood.  No.1 might come from a rich family, but psychological damage can happen regardless of background. 

Bo Jinyan continues: “He dismembered the man’s body, and he removed his heart.  This is also a sign of depredation.  He wants to take away his self-worth and pride.  The man suffered a lot of injuries when he was alive.

Almost all psychopaths form their fantasies during their teenage years.  This man probably represents his father.  He and his father did not have a close relationship.  I think his father may have abused him, either physically or mentally when he was growing up, but over a long period of time.  He has no respect for his father’s character or values. Emotionally, what he did to the man requires more patience than what he did to the woman.  Just like the hatred he has for his father is accumulated over a long period of time. ”

Jian Yao starts to understand the difference between the methods he used for torture.  They are all cruel.  But one method requires more patience than the other, and it’s closely tied with his emotions and how he wishes to express his angers. 

This is the most reasonably explanation of why he used so many different ways to kill.  He carries different types of angers from his life experiences. So, this is how he is ‘showing his life’ to Bo Jinyan.  

“The old man signifies death.  He didn’t suffer any physical abuse.  This is out of character for him.  Perhaps, the fact that no one can escape death, is a natural fear that he has to live with.  But he slit the old man’s throat to signify that he has the power to control life and death…. at least, for other people.

The child and the dog signify his perilous childhood.  It was full of suffering and pain.  The child died of poisoning.  It is a peaceful way of killing his victim.  After the child died, he chopped off his hands.  The symbolism of this is that he is taking away hope.”

Bo Jinyan starts to summarise and profile: 

“Based on these findings, we have a picture of him:

1. He is between 25 to 35 years old. American Chinese.  He has lived in the US for a long time.  He is between 180 to 185 cm tall.  Not thin or fat.  He has a good command of both English and Chinese language.  

1. He is wealthy. He puts in a large amount of time, effort and money towards his crime.  He doesn’t have to work.  His money is inherited.  

1. His mother abandoned him when he was young, and that scarred his life.  He was also abused by his father and other older female member(s) in the family.

1. Strong anti-society sentiments.  He is also very temperamental.

1. Extremely intelligent, and very egotistic.  He might be paranoid and have delusions about things.  But currently, it’s not too serious.  It has not evolved into illness yet. He is still sober and fully conscious of everything he is doing.  Based on his family background and his abilities, he studied in one of the top universities in the US.  However, he didn’t have friends and he couldn’t integrate into the community.  There is a strong possibility that he dropped out before completing his degree.
2. His knowledge on criminal psychology and mind control is beyond most amateurs.  I believe he studied the subject in university.

1. He has accumulated a lot of crime experience. His first crime was committed when he is a young adult.   I will contact the US Police for information on skinning cases in the past decade.

—————

It’s late at night.  But there is still much work to be done.  

After Bo Jinyan’s briefing, all of the officers look impressed.  Anam walks up to him.  He adjusts his glasses and says: “That’s incredible.  Well done.”  Then he walks out of the conference room.  He needs to get some rest too.

Everyone is gone.  There are only two people left in the conference room.

Jian Yao is busy typing what he just shared with everyone onto the computer. When she is done, she turns the screen to Bo Jinyan: “Do you want to double check that I didn't miss out anything?”

Jian Yao is so proud of her man.  The Flower Cannibal No.1 tried to mislead the team, but in front of Bo Jinyan, it’s like child play. 

Bo Jinyan stands in front of the white board.  He frowns.  Jian Yao glances at him.

• There’s hesitation in him.  Why is that?

He turns to Jian Yao, and gives a faint laugh: “No.  If we follow this profile, we will not find him.”

Jian Yao: “…why?”

Bo Jinyan leans back on his chair.  His fingers tapping on the table.  

“Hum…. it’s too easy.”  He smiles mockingly. “This profile is a profile that he wants me to believe.” 

Jian Yao’s heart misses a beat: “The profile is incorrect?  It’s a ploy to distract us?”

“No.” Bo Jinyan clarifies: “The profile is real.  Like I said, he is temperamental pervert. If he didn’t tell me anything about himself, there’s no fun for him. But he confident that we won’t be able to find him based on these informations alone.”

Jian Yao looks at the white board.  Bo Jinyan points to a few of the points: “There are a lot of people that fit these basic points.  We have seen his ability with hacking into computer systems.  What if he changed his education records, for example, we would spend a lot of time and effort without finding him. And in the meantime, he is ready for his second crimewave.” 

“If I am just an arrogant professor, and rely on the profile he gave me, then I am going to lose this game.” Bo Jinyan continues. “But I am more intelligent than that.  He underestimated me.”

Jian Yao smiles at his confidence. 

“So..” she ask: “What should we do then?”

But then she doesn’t expect Bo Jinyan’s response.  

He wipes everything off the white board.  Then he takes one white board marker and gives another one to Jian Yao: “What’s the hurry.  If it’s not the right path, let’s start again.”

—————

A lot of people are destined to have a sleepless night in Hong Kong. A mad man is on a killing spree, it’s enough to make the whole city’s police force jittery.   But thousands of miles away, Yin Ziqi’s mood and fate is also governed by development of this case.

She is wearing her nightgown, sitting in the study. She is reading the news on Lin Yi Yang’s case.  Ever since his disappearance, she has not smiled.  They have been together for many years.  Besides, he has a direct impact on her life, and the future of her company.  After all, it’s also an arranged marriage based on commercial reasons.  

However, there’s not much news on the case.  Police force from both Hong Kong and China are very careful not to leak any information to the media.  There’s no indication as to the whereabouts of her fiancé, and whether he is alive, or dead.

Her mobile phone rings.  She checks the caller display.  It’s Lin Yi Yang’s mother, the wife of the chairman of Lin’s Corporation. 

She hesitates, then decides to answer the call: “Hello, Auntie.”

Mrs.Lin sounds anxious: “Ziqi, do you have any news on your side?”

“Sorry, not yet.”

Mrs.Lin pauses for a while, then she says with a low and slightly coarse voice: “I have news.”

Lin’s Corporations is bigger than Yin’s Corporations.  They have more connections and influence.  

Mrs. Lin speaks with a low voice: “This is confidential.  The police says Yi Yang is brought to Hong Kong.  He is still alive, but they don’t know where he is.”

Yin Ziqi is relieved to hear that he is alive: “Thank God he is alive.  But…”

“Ziqi.  Yi Yang’s father has had a heart attack.  I know your brother is leading this investigation.  Can you please go to Hong Kong, and do everything you can to save him.  When Yi Yang’s father is better, we will come and join you.”

“Sure.  I will be there tomorrow.” Yin Ziqi replies.  “Nothing to will happen to Yi Yang.”

After she hangs up, Mrs Lin gives a sigh.  She is sitting on a luxurious and expensive sofa, her eyes are filled with tears.

Suddenly, her phone rings.  She picks it up.  She says with a trembling voice: “Yi Yang!  Yi Yang!”

On the other end, comes the familiar of voice of his son: “Mom, is Ziqi coming?”

“Yes, she will be in Hong Kong tomorrow.” Mrs.Lin asks anxiously: “What’s happening?  I know you have nothing to do with those cases.  But why are you not contacting the police?  Does he want money? How much does he want?”

“Mom…. just don’t call the police… goodbye.”

—————-

Dawn.

When Jian Yao wakes up, Bo Jinyan is not in bed anymore. 

She looks around.  Bo Jinyan is nowhere to be seen.  His briefcase and trench coat are still on the sofa.  Where can he be?

Suddenly, she is scared.  She quickly gives him a call on his mobile phone.

A familiar voice answers after just one ring: “What is it?”

Jian Yao relaxes: “Where are you?”

———————-

Early morning.  The roof top of the hotel.  The wind is quite strong today, and Jian Yao feels a little shaky while walking on the concrete floor.  She wraps her hands around her shoulders to walk towards Bo Jinyan. She smiles when she sees him.

There is a helicopter pad on the roof top.  A large yellow circle is drawn on the ground.  A man with a white shirt has his back to her.  That’s her Bo Jinyan. 

“Hey.” She calls him softly.

“Yeah.” He replies without even looking up.

The roof looks out the stunning views of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong.  But he is not there for the scenery.  He has a piece of chalk on his hand.  On the floor, it’s filled with numbers, words, symbols…. and a few cartoon drawings of Chen Mo.

That’s so cute.  But if the hotel staff sees this, they might not be so amused.  

Jian Yao sits down next to him.  She asks: “Why did you come up here?”

“It’s quiet here.” He answers  “It helps me to concentrate and think.”

“Did you stay awake the whole night?”

He gives her a disapproving glance: “Do you think it would take me a whole night to work this out?”

Jian Yao laughs.

He seems a little more relaxed than when he said they have to start from scratch last night.  

“You made progress?”  she asks.

“Of course.” He smiles.

Jian Yao smiles too.  Of course.  She said to herself.

The wind is strong.  Jian Yao is starting to shiver slightly.  Bo Jinyan pulls her into his arms.  They sit down together to watch the sunrise over the harbour.  

“There are some contradictions in his behaviour.  Of course, he is not aware of them himself.  What a pathetic lunatic.  He is within our reach now.”