Yan Hai City was drowning in a flood of news. Almost every TV program was reporting the latest developments in the serial murder case at the same time. A popular TV channel even invited a well-known expert to deeply analyze the terrifying serial killer.

On the big screens in the squares, online platforms, small street shops, and even car radios, the same message was being broadcasted: Women around 20 years old should not be alone, whether it’s day or night, at home or outdoors, because the killer might be among us…

An intense sense of unease filled every street.

At the Public Security Bureau, after the higher-ups inspected the work, they demanded the case be solved within a week.

All eight interrogation rooms were occupied, and the police were tirelessly working. The lab was also working overtime to provide the latest test results.

Gu Yuan looked at the latest report on the computer screen. It showed that there were no signs of sexual assault on the kindergarten teacher and nurse. A small amount of sevoflurane (an inhalation anesthetic) was found in their nasal cavities, and no DNA other than the victims’ was found in their fingernails or oral secretions.

So far, the biggest suspect in the case was still Zhang Haiyan.

Li Meng conducted a thorough search of Zhang Haiyan’s home and indeed found evidence.

Li Meng slapped a bag containing an Ethernet cable plug onto the police station’s table: “We found the murder weapon for the kindergarten teacher case at Zhang Haiyan’s home. This Ethernet cable is the same one used for the kindergarten teacher’s hanging. The cable was cut, and the cut matches perfectly.”

Yan Ji from the trace inspection team compared Zhang Haiyan’s fingerprints, and they matched the ones on the Ethernet cable.

Several police officers took turns interrogating Zhang Haiyan. She kept her head down, her legs trembling uncontrollably, but she refused to say a word from start to finish.

Mo Lin sat on a computer chair, leaning back to make his spine more comfortable. The computer screen was playing hospital surveillance footage, fast-forwarding, requiring high concentration.

“Stop, rewind… stop… right here, zoom in…”

After several repetitions, they finally spotted a familiar figure in the enlarged footage. She noticed a woman wearing a mask.

The woman was wearing a loose purple hoodie on top, black skinny jeans on the bottom, and her hair draped over her shoulders, flashing past the surveillance equipment.

“Zhang Haiyan?” Xiao Ze noticed that the woman in the enlarged surveillance footage seemed to be Zhang Haiyan.

“It’s her.” Mo Lin got up to get some coffee. “But don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence?”

Xiao Ze didn’t understand why he used the word “coincidence.” For him, more evidence meant getting closer to solving the case.

Xiao Ze’s coffee was finished, so he put it back on the desk and turned to enter the interrogation room.

Sitting in the chair, Zhang Haiyan seemed startled when she saw him come in, her nerves on high alert.

Li Meng saw Xiao Ze and gave up the seat directly facing Zhang Haiyan to him.

Xiao Ze: “Zhang Haiyan, what were you doing at the People’s Hospital at 11 a.m. yesterday?”

Zhang Haiyan suddenly looked up: “I went… to get a check-up… my stomach hasn’t been well, so I wanted to get a gastroscopy.”

“What a coincidence, the nurse in the gastroscopy room was killed at 12, and you were caught on camera at 11 in the gastroscopy room? Just admit it… did you kill her?!”

“I didn’t kill anyone, I really didn’t kill anyone!”

“All the evidence points to you now. You’re connected to all three victims, so what’s there to deny? If you insist on not confessing, we’ll prosecute you directly.”

“I really didn’t kill anyone, and I don’t know why the Ethernet cable at home was cut, or why there was my stuff in the trash can. I’m being framed!”

“You say you’re being framed, by whom?” Xiao Ze was starting to lose patience.

“I don’t know… but for the past two days before coming to the police station, I always felt like someone was outside my window, but every time I opened it, there was no one there!”

“Someone outside your window? You live on the second floor, how could there be someone outside your window!”

“It must be the killer, he’s trying to frame me! I’m innocent!”

Xiao Ze rubbed his temples and said to Li Meng, “Organize the evidence for the case, we don’t have time to listen to her nonsense.”

*

Gu Yuan stood outside the glass wall of the interrogation room, lost in thought. This serial murder case seemed just one step away from being solved.

“What is Zhang Haiyan holding out for? If she confesses, everyone can relax!” a female police officer behind him complained.

Everyone hoped Zhang Haiyan would confess, so they could give the public an explanation.

The families of the three victims set up tents outside the police station, refusing to leave until Zhang Haiyan confessed.

TV reporters followed the daily lives of the victims’ families, and everyone was demanding the police close the case quickly.

*

“Doctor Gu, what do you think?” Mo Lin placed a coffee on Gu Yuan’s desk, not seeming to intend to leave immediately.

“There are many doubts…”

“Yeah, even you noticed.”

The tone of his voice made Gu Yuan look up, not very friendly: “What do you mean by ‘even I noticed’?”

“I think I might have underestimated your intelligence.”

Mo Lin pulled out a chair, sat directly opposite him, and stared at Gu Yuan’s hand for a long time without looking away: “Did you hurt your hand?”

“Yeah, I pierced the glove while dissecting a corpse yesterday.”

For a forensic doctor, piercing a glove is quite normal.

Mo Lin frowned: “Can you be more careful next time?”

“I know. Do you have anything else?”

Mo Lin’s fingers tapped the table twice, seemingly unintentionally: “Who do you think the killer is?”

Gu Yuan put down his work: “If the killer isn’t Zhang Haiyan, what is the real killer trying to do?”

“That’s a good question. I also want to know the killer’s true motive.” Mo Lin leaned back, stretching his neck, his expensive shirt revealing a large area of his collarbone.

“What do the words in the wax block mean?” Gu Yuan asked.

“First night, game, lie…” Mo Lin covered his eyes with his wrist, the incandescent light falling on his arm, the curve of his muscles disappearing into his shirt along the shadow.

“His story isn’t over yet. The three cases in Yan Hai City are just the killer venting his anger.”

Gu Yuan: “Will he continue to kill?”

“For now, he shouldn’t. If he kills, it proves Zhang Haiyan is innocent, and all his efforts to frame her would be in vain.”

“As long as he doesn’t continue killing, we have time to drag it out with him!” Gu Yuan pressed the pen’s switch heavily.

“We can’t afford to drag it out. The higher-ups want us to close the case in three days.”

Gu Yuan: “But… we currently have no information on the killer. If this continues, then Zhang Haiyan…”

Mo Lin suddenly stopped talking, staring straight at Gu Yuan: “Do you trust me?”

Gu Yuan hesitated: “What?”

“Trust that I can catch him!”

Gu Yuan slowly stood up: “With your credentials, I trust you.”

Mo Lin stood up, leaning on the desk, his body leaning forward, less than 30 centimeters from Gu Yuan.

“As long as you trust me.”

He suddenly smiled, his eyes slightly raised: “Then if something happens next that you find hard to accept, don’t get too worked up.”

Gu Yuan’s attention wasn’t on the conversation but on Mo Lin’s suddenly approaching body. By the time he realized what was said, Mo Lin had already opened the office door and walked out.

Mo Lin walked straight into the interrogation room, locked the door, and unplugged the audio and video power supply.

“What is Teacher Mo going to do?” Li Meng was momentarily confused.

Xiao Ze, hands in his pockets, eyebrows furrowed, had a very serious expression. He remembered the last time such a scene occurred was five years ago.

Back then, he had only been working for two years. At that time, the 21-year-old Mo Lin was recognized as the most promising genius in criminal psychology. He took only twenty minutes to get the criminal to confess and admit to everything. No one knew what they talked about in the interrogation room.

The key was that the criminal had been interrogated by the police day and night for two weeks without confessing, yet Mo Lin solved it in just 20 minutes.

Xiao Ze had a premonition that from the moment Mo Lin entered the interrogation room and unplugged the power, there would be a crucial breakthrough in this case.

Mo Lin stood with his back to the glass window, and everyone could only see the back of his head and Zhang Haiyan’s face.

Before long, that sallow face looked at Mo Lin with an incredulous expression, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets, her fists clenching tighter, as if a string in her heart was taut.

The next second, Mo Lin stood up, using his body to completely block Zhang Haiyan.

It was clear that the two were still communicating. Just as everyone was speculating, Mo Lin returned to his original position.

Zhang Haiyan lowered her head, her hair covering her face.

She slowly raised her head, her eyes blankly staring at the table in front of her, then slowly uttered three words. From her lip movements, it was clear she said: “Fine, I confess.”

After saying those three words, it was as if the string in her heart snapped, and she collapsed back into the chair like a deflated balloon.

Mo Lin pushed open the door, one hand rubbing his temples, seeming a bit tired. Noticing everyone’s eyes on him, he suddenly smiled: “She’s willing to confess. Aren’t you going in?”

“So what just happened?” Li Meng was too shocked to speak.

Xiao Ze walked up to Mo Lin: “I admire you.”

“Don’t speak too soon.”

Mo Lin and Xiao Ze were about the same height, standing together like two walls in the middle.

“You’re always too modest. I’m thinking about applying for some kind of award for you… like, fastest interrogator? What do you think?”

“I don’t like the first two words, you’d better change them.”

“What do you want to change them to?”

“Change ‘fastest’ to ‘handsomest,’ and I might accept it.”

Xiao Ze: “…”