Chapter 7

Close to one o’clock in the morning, the rain was still falling in City A.

When Shen Chu arrived by taxi at the Special Crime Division’s main entrance, she was still wrapped in a hotel bathrobe.

Bao Xiao and Bai Shizhou came out of the bureau together and were taken aback to see her in a bathrobe.

“Why are you outside in just a bathrobe?” Bao Xiao immediately stepped forward, holding the umbrella over her head and grabbing the large collar of her robe to prevent any exposure.

“I have clothes underneath,” Shen Chu reassured him. Inside the bathrobe, she was wearing the shirt and trousers she had worn earlier that day. “It’s raining outside and I didn’t have a coat, so I just threw this on.”

Bao Xiao then remembered that Shen, as an intern detective, hadn’t brought any luggage when she reported in today.

“What did you discover?” Bai Shizhou asked curiously. A few minutes earlier, she had suddenly called Bao Xiao, urging him to take her to the crime scene immediately, sounding very urgent.

Since Shen Chu was an intern, she was unarmed and not authorized to enter a crime scene alone.

“When you called me, the chief happened to be working late nearby,” Bao Xiao explained. “Did you think of something crucial? Why the rush?”

“Yes, I want to take another look at the fourth crime scene,” Shen Chu said, eager to verify her suspicions.

Bai Shizhou didn’t question further and personally drove them, along with Bao Xiao, to the crime scene.

The cold rain of early winter made the car interior chilly, but soon the scent of citrus and cologne filled the space.

Bai Shizhou recognized the fragrance—it was the scent of the shampoo from the Damashi Hotel where he often stayed.

He glanced at Shen Chu through the rear-view mirror; she seemed to have hurried out of the hotel after washing up, her black hair dampened by the rain.

He turned up the heat and sped up.

※※

The villa district was especially quiet at night. The car stopped in front of the crime villa, and Shen Chu pushed the door open without waiting for Bao Xiao to turn on the lights, swiftly equipping herself and running upstairs to the bedroom.

The scene reeked of blood. In the darkness, she pulled open the wardrobe of the fourth victim—inside, several expensive coats were covered in dusty blue garment bags, silently displayed before her eyes.

That’s it! The connection!

Her heart pounded with excitement.

The lights clicked on.

She turned to Bai Shizhou at the door and said, “I know who the killer is!”

Bai Shizhou stopped in his tracks, seeing her clutch a coat inside a garment bag with excitement as she approached him.

“Garment bags!” she exclaimed.

Then to Bao Xiao, “All the victims had the same garment bags! Don’t you remember?”

She was so excited she seemed to radiate heat.

Bao Xiao hurried over but couldn’t quite keep up with her pace.

“Looks like they’re the same. The garment bags are from the same brand?”

“Luxury coats owned by wealthy people are all cared for by specialized dry cleaners,” Shen Chu said, pulling the garment bag off and placing it in Bai Shizhou’s arms, her tone commanding. “Call the housekeeper and ask which dry cleaner their employer uses, or check nearby high-end dry cleaners that use this kind of garment bag.”

Bai Shizhou immediately understood. He called the victim’s housekeeper but got no answer; it was too late, and most people would be asleep.

“The housekeeper lives nearby. I’ll go check,” he said, turning to leave quickly. As he descended, he called the rest of the Special Crime Division to investigate all dry cleaners near the victims’ residences, looking for chain stores, and to identify any that all the victims had visited.

He also instructed, “Check the victims’ consumption records for any dry cleaning services in the past year.”

Shen Chu grabbed Bao Xiao’s arm and hurried downstairs with him, explaining on the way, “You ask the villa district’s property management which dry cleaners often provide door-to-door service here. Without a police uniform, the management probably won’t cooperate with me.”

“Do you suspect the killer is a dry cleaner’s employee?” Bao Xiao realized. Since all the victims had identical garment bags and dry cleaners often provide home pickup and delivery, Shen Chu suspected the killer worked for the dry cleaner.

If that’s the case, it explains everything—the killer could wear shoe covers, avoid registration at the gate, and enter the victims’ homes, even their bedrooms, openly.

“I found that the hotel provides dry cleaning services, and several garment bags of a similar material hang in the wardrobe. Guests put dirty clothes in these bags, which are collected and later returned after cleaning,” Shen Chu said. After hearing about the “common point” from Zhang Dian, she recalled the first three victims seemed to use the same garment bags. Seeing the white garment bag in the hotel wardrobe reminded her of the fourth victim’s bedroom, where the killer had turned from the wardrobe and strangled the victim.

That’s why she hurried to confirm if the fourth victim’s wardrobe contained the same garment bags. If yes, it almost confirmed the killer was a dry cleaner’s employee committing the crimes during home visits.

“A dry cleaner’s employee openly entering my room wouldn’t raise any suspicion,” Shen Chu said.

Exactly!

Bao Xiao gripped Shen Chu’s hand excitedly and headed swiftly to the villa property management.

Meanwhile, at the bureau, An Jiashu led other team members to investigate all dry cleaners, identifying the relevant chains.

Past one in the morning, the Special Crime Division floor was brightly lit, each member at their post. Strangely, Sikang, usually the most active and practically living at the bureau, was absent.

An Jiashu called him to report the breakthrough, but Sikang unexpectedly took a three-hour leave.

An Jiashu wanted to ask if something was wrong, but Sikang hung up quickly.

He must be ill; his voice had sounded weak and trembling.

※※

The rain-drenched City A was unusually cold.

Bai Shizhou knocked on the housekeeper’s door, his shoulders soaked through.

The sleepy housekeeper, puzzled by his inquiry about the dry cleaner, shook her head. “I’ve only worked there for less than a month. I usually cook and clean, then go home. I don’t know which dry cleaner he uses.”

Bai Shizhou was unsurprised. The victims chosen by the killer all lived alone without live-in help, giving the killer ample time to act.

But they had found a lead, and following it, they uncovered the needle in the haystack—Bao Ge, an ultra-luxury dry cleaner.

This global chain specializes in high-end garment care, with twenty branches in City A alone.

They partnered with two luxury brands, providing free after-sales dry cleaning services. That’s why victim consumption records showed no charges—because the service was complimentary.

※※

The Special Crime Division soon narrowed down the twenty branches to one owner who managed after-sales dry cleaning for luxury coats across three districts—the same districts where the four victims lived.

Just after four in the morning, the Special Crime Division’s car parked near the dry cleaner’s shop, keeping a discreet distance.

Bao Xiao led other officers to lie in wait around the area as a precaution, while Bai Shizhou brought An Jiashu and Shen Chu closer.

The dry cleaner’s storefront was modest, located beneath a commercial mall in a bustling area, with two floors—the shop on the first floor, the owner’s family living upstairs.

“The owner is Gao Jie, sixty-eight years old, divorced and remarried, living here with his wife and children,” An Jiashu quietly reported. “He has fourteen employees total, six of whom are men aged between twenty-one and thirty-six.”

“Check the employees’ schedules and find out who did the home service on the days of the murders—case closed,” Shen Chu said, having removed her soaked bathrobe, now wearing only a thin shirt. Cold, she rubbed her hands together, sucked on a mint, and approached the security shutter, banging loudly.

Soon, the upstairs lights switched on, accompanied by an angry voice asking, “Who’s there so early?” as someone descended the stairs.

Footsteps stopped at the door. The black security gate opened, revealing the face of an old, overweight man.

Before he could speak, Shen Chu flashed An Jiashu’s police badge. “Police. We have a few questions.”

Bai Shizhou’s eyelids twitched; was this how they were taught at the academy? She sounded less like a cop and more like a thug.

An Jiashu began to speak formally, but Shen Chu elbowed him to stay quiet.

“Open up! What are you standing there for?” Shen Chu lied smoothly. “There have been reports of thefts by your employees during home pickups. We need to check the employee schedule.”

The owner, still groggy, was startled and hurriedly opened the gate, clutching his nightwear. “Theft? Impossible, officer. All our employees are professionally trained veterans. No way they’d steal. Maybe you’re mistaken?”

“Mistakes are checked for,” Shen Chu said, demanding the schedule.

The owner led them to the counter to view his computerized roster.

The dense rows of times and names made Shen Chu step aside. “You handle this,” she said to An Jiashu, who had an exceptional memory and could efficiently correlate incident times, death times, and call times.

Bai Shizhou observed the shop and had to admit that Shen Chu was very clever, sharp, and tactful—she knew exactly how to conceal the case details yet get cooperation, telling lies effortlessly.

She looked over the row of garment bags—identical dusty blue ones like the victims’—and at three or four matching gray-blue toolboxes in the corner, likely used for home service visits.

The killer probably carried a backpack or toolbox containing the murder weapon, tape, and cleaning supplies.

Recalling Sikang’s profiling analysis, she opened a toolbox: inside were shoe covers and a portable iron.

A shadow flickered on the narrow staircase leading upstairs.

Who was that?

Shen Chu moved quickly, coming face to face with a young, thin man, looking no older than nineteen or twenty, shyly avoiding her gaze.

“Who are you?” she asked, eyes scanning him carefully.