Dad's words brought back no memories at all. This was completely different from what had happened with Little White. Just hearing a few words from him hadn't sent me into a dream, either. According to Dad, I had entered dreams long ago and possessed the dead. That meant there was no way I could see that part of the past now.
Instead, Dad and Mom were the ones who had been drawn into their memories by the story.
"I still remember. The news on TV was reporting on a gang of robbers. It happened right here in Minqing. They broke into houses in the middle of the night and killed the people inside. They always struck in remote places, like the suburbs. Two of the victims lived in villas. The whole development had just opened, and only a few families had moved in. A lot of the homes were being renovated, and two households were murdered. That gang killed seven or eight people in a month, from four households, all in remote areas. The day after the news came out—or maybe the third day—there was another home invasion and murder in the city. It was a new development with few residents, and lots of people were still renovating their homes. The police suspected it was a renovation crew. The reporters interviewed people all over the place and showed lots of photos."
As Dad spoke, he looked at me. "You were eating dinner then, and you pointed at the TV and said it was that man..."
I couldn't help staring at him. "The TV station filmed him?"
"Yeah. They interviewed a renovation crew. The foreman seemed like an honest fellow. He said he'd been doing renovation work for more than twenty years, ever since he left home with some fellow villagers