"Big brother, what exactly did you see that day? Could you tell me about it?"
"Oh, it was nothing much. That guy had too much to drink, then saw a stray cat trying to eat some scraps of meat and got annoyed. He took it out on a kitten. The cat's head was split open, and it could barely run. Poor thing."
"I see. Do you remember which way it ran?"
"Probably toward that greenbelt. Was that your cat?"
"No, we just wanted to have a look."
"Oh, well, suit yourselves. But there really have been a lot more strays around here lately."
"Has that been happening?"
"You bet! Strays come looking for food around my stall all the time. Last time, one crafty little thing even stole a fish right off me!"
"Haha! That's hilarious!"
"What's so hilarious about it!"
On April 17, 2006, searched for the injured stray cat. Neither the cat nor its body was found. A pool of blood was discovered in the greenbelt and sampled. Sample No. 03520060417.
On April 19, 2006, the blood sample analysis came back: human blood. Collected blood samples from Kong Rongde and Su Zhuoqin. Sample Nos. 03520060419(1), 03520060419(2).
Attachment: Analysis report for Sample 03520060417.
On April 20, 2006, learned that Zhu Bin had died suddenly in 2004. Contacted Zhu Bin's uncle. Audio file 03520060420.wav.
"Ah Bin died not long after he came back. My sister-in-law cried herself nearly blind. My younger brother died early, and she raised that boy all by herself. Then her son died—how could she not be devastated? Her health hasn't been good since."
"As far as we know, Zhu Bin died suddenly, despite having been in good health before that. Do you know what happened before and when he died?"
"Well... I'll tell you this in confidence, but don't put my name down when you write it up."
"Don't worry. We'll be interviewing many people, and we won't name our interviewees when we publish."
"Oh, good. I reckon Heaven took Ah Bin!"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I watched him grow up. He had two older sisters and a mother, so he was the only man in the family. Of course they spoiled him rotten. He was out of control from the time he was little. The other young men in the village went away to work and sent money home. But he was the only man in his family, and instead of staying home to farm, he left his mother and two married sisters to tend the fields for him. Then, every year when there was a harvest, he still had his family send him money. Tsk!"
"Is that what you meant when you said 'Heaven took him'?"
"That's not all! He'd never done farm work or even gone into the kitchen. He'd never killed a chicken or a fish, either. I remember one New Year, my sister-in-law killed a chicken, and he happened to see it. Oh, goodness, he threw up right there! Honestly... The Spring Festival that year, he came back and lazed around. His mother was cooking, and she knew he was scared, so she wouldn't let him in the kitchen. But that day, he went in on his own and helped kill a chicken. My sister-in-law was over the moon. She went around telling everyone he'd finally grown up. But I didn't think that was it at all. He butchered that chicken so badly, its head was chopped to pieces and its guts were a mess. My youngest daughter said he was like one of those whatever-you-call-them crazies on TV..."
"A psychopathic killer?"
"That's right, one of those! The kind who kills lots of people!"
"You think he did something bad somewhere else, and that's why Heaven took him?"
"Exactly! Otherwise, why would a perfectly healthy person die like that?"
"Besides the chicken, was there anything else... um, any evidence?"
"Evidence..."
"Dad, that cat at Grandma Qi's!"
"Hey, you! Why aren't you doing your homework? Why'd you come over here to eavesdrop? The adults are talking. Don't interrupt!"
"I was reminding you!"
"Little girl, what do you mean by the cat at Grandma Qi's?"
"The cat Grandma Qi keeps at the east end of the village. A big, fat cat. It's really old and hardly moves anymore. But that day, when it saw Brother Binbin, it jumped up and ran away. It was so nimble!"
"Oh, I see."
"The little girl's right. Old cats become spirits. That old cat must've sensed something."
"We haven't been able to get in touch with Zhu Bin's two older sisters. Could you help us reach them?"
"They won't want to talk about it. I'll be honest with you: while Zhu Bin was alive, they were often criticized by their husbands' families. They didn't help with the work over there, but kept running back to their parents' home to work for their able-bodied younger brother. What kind of thing is that? Their mothers-in-law cursed Zhu Bin behind his back. Once he died, they didn't dare bring it up anymore, did they?"
"By 'cursed,' do you mean they swore at him?"
"What else would I mean?"
"Oh, nothing."
On April 23, 2006, obtained the results of the audio file analysis. 03520040415(1)G(1).wav.
"We got the results for that file from last time."
"Oh? What did it sound like?"
"Listen to this."
click!
"...Get out of the way! Ah! Bang!... rustle... rustle... Ah! Aaoaoaoah!..."
click!
"Well?"
"Still just noise. There's nothing there."
"Huh? A-Ye, you didn't hear anything either?"
"No. What did you hear?"
"Someone talking! A man's voice!"
click!click!
"...rustle... rustle..."
"He said, 'Fei Wen, you hired someone to kill me.' Cough, cough. Let me do it again. Tsk—Fei Wen!!! You hired someone to kill me!!!"
"Cut it out. Why are you yelling so loud?"
"That's how he shouted."
"Have you heard that voice before?"
"Hmm? I don't think so."
"Doesn't it sound like Su Zhuoqin?"
"No. A-Ye, you think it's Su Zhuoqin..."
"Yeah, looks like it isn't."
"Could it be Kong Rongde?"
"That's possible, too. But we don't have a recording of Kong Rongde's voice."
"Then I can't help."
On April 25, 2006, received a call from the client. Call recording 200604252149.mp3.
"Come save me, quick!"
"Mr. Fei Wen?"
Meow—
"It's me! Come save me, quick!"
"Where are you now? What happened?"
"I'm at the courier station! I saw cats! Lots of strays! They're right outside the station! They keep meowing, and some are climbing up the windows, just staring at me! Send someone to save me!"
Meow! Hiss! Meow!
"Okay, we're on our way. Don't panic. Do you still have the talisman we gave you last time?"
"Yes, yes! It's right here in my hand!"
"Hold on to it. You'll be fine. We'll be there soon."
On April 25, 2006, hurried to the courier station and found a group of strays, numbering more than twenty. One of them looked unusual, but they failed to catch it. Confirmed that the client was safe and brought him to the office.
On April 26, 2006, asked the client about what had happened. Audio file 03520060426.wav.
"Mr. Fei, can you tell us what happened yesterday?"
"It was just like that... I was sleeping at the courier station and watching TV when I suddenly heard a cat meow. It scared the hell out of me. The cat only meowed once. I listened for a while, but there was no more noise, so I relaxed and went to the bathroom. When I came out, I heard something scratching at the shutter outside, like something was trying to get in... It scratched for a while, then must've realized it couldn't get in and stopped. I thought it had left, but then I heard the cat meow again."