The police vehicle was speeding on the highway; JI Bai leaned back on the seat with his eyes closed. The sound of the engine and of the wind became fuzzy …
Suddenly, he felt a little heavier, he opened his eyes to see Yao Meng beside him had lowered down to put a red shawl over his chest.
Ji Bai sat up straight.
Yao Meng looked up at him: “You should sleep a little more. You stayed up the whole night; your body won’t be able to take it. I’ll call you once we get there.”
“No need, thank you.” Ji Bai lifted the shawl and handed it to her.
The case happened in Ma Po village. Ji Bai drove the whole night, and had just changed to the car of the county police. Ji Bai seized the chance to take a nap while on the road.
The sun was shining outside the window, JI Bai placed his hand on the door armrest while staring at the fleeting landscape outside the window, he did not speak. Yao Meng looked at his tall stature and stern handsome face, her chest slightly pained.
There was silence for a moment, she handed him a stack of documents: “I have sorted the information that you needed.”
“You’ve worked hard.” JI Bai took it and lowered his head to look over the documents.
Yao Meng didn’t speak. Whenever Ji Bai finished with a part, she offered to take them. Whenever he needed other documents she quickly handed it to him, and quietly cooperated with him.
The rural road was full of potholes; the field was green and lush under the sunlight. The group got out of the car and walked along the trails on the edge of the field to go further in. The area ahead was surrounded by a bunch of farmers and the local police were trying to maintain order.
Ji Bai sullenly pulled the police tape and strode inside. Yao Meng followed behind him.
On the vacant lot next to the field were dry bloodstains and muddled footprints on the field while the body was transported to the city police station (Public Security Bureau).
The county criminal investigation captain called Su Mu who was over thirty years old explained: “The victim is Ma Rong Rong, sixteen years old, female, from Q district of H province.
H province was several districts away from Lin city, across several provinces, Yao Meng raised her doubts: “How did you identify the victim so quickly?”
Su Mu replied: “Half a year ago, Ma Rong Rong went missing, she highly likely was trafficked. Her parents alerted the local police and her DNA was entered into national anti-trafficking system so after the comparison last night, we got the result.”
He paused then added: “Ma Rong Rong was deaf, her parents were also the same. After her disappearance, her parents went looking for her throughout the country. I heard that they’re poor; after they spent all their savings trying to find her they became beggars. We contacted them this morning, they should be here by tomorrow.”
Both Yao Meng and Ji Bai did not speak, Su Mu handed them a stack of photos of the scene.
In the photo, a girl laid curled up on this empty lot in front of them. The girl was wearing a T-shirt and washed out jeans, and bleeding a lot, but they could clearly see the delicate and white look of hers.
Su Mu said: “We asked the locals but no one has ever seen the victim before. Perhaps the victim had just been brought to this town yesterday. There were countless old wounds on the victim’s body; arms and neck have signs of struggles. Her clothes were messy, and the belt hadn’t been properly fastened. Also, we found footprints of another man at the scene. We suspect it’s from the trafficker or a buyer who attempted but failed to rape the victim so ended up murdering the victim.”
The sun was blazing; the local police quietly and anxiously waited outside. The locals were curious and excited to see two young good-looking police officers who had come from the city to investigate.
Upon receiving the report, Su Mu immediately ordered the town police officer to close off the site. Because the time of the incident was at night, in a remote place so the suspect’s footprints were preserved relatively well, almost entirely. Ji Bai squatted down next to the suspect’s trail of footprints to observe for a moment then said: “According to the length and depth of the footprints, we can infer that the suspect’s height is around 165 cm to 175 cm, and he wore a pair of leather shoes.”
Yao Meng crouched beside him and held out a voice recorder. Su Mu also quickly took a pen and paper to record.
Ji Bai continued: “Around 18 to 30 years of age, a little fat, weighs over 80 kg. During the crime, he had a heavy bag on his shoulder.”
Yao Meng and Su Mu were stunned, Su mus asked: “Why?”
Ji Bai was still focusing on observing the footprints, explained slowly: “The force used of the front footprint was uniform and at a steady pace, this is a characteristic of youth. If it were an old person, friction marks of the heel on the mud would be more obvious. Moreover, the modest pace and the str