Chapter 363
Xiaotao asked if I had any clues but instead of answering, I asked, "Can we get all the officers in the station together?"
"It’s 9:00 pm now,” Xiaotao glanced at her watch. “Many of them are off work. Tomorrow then!"
"Tomorrow morning it is," I nodded.
"Why do you want to see them?” Xiaotao asked uneasily. “Do you have a plan? I have to let Sun Tiger know in advance. "
"None!” I chuckled. “I just want to meet them!"
Xiaotao frowned and complained, "How annoying! You’re making me guess again!"
The next morning, I arrived early at the station. Xiaotao took me to a conference room where the officers were waiting. "Is this all of them?" I swept my gaze across the room.
"One-third of the force," replied Xiaotao.
I closed the door and addressed the room, "Please cooperate with me on one thing. It’s related to the case we’re currently investigating. I can’t disclose the details, but don’t worry, it’s definitely not something that will put you in a difficult spot."
They were all trained officers so no one questioned me when I said so.
I asked each of them to walk up to me and speak in a normal tone, "We’ve checked the school and found nothing suspicious."
This was the exact sentence the Imitator said to me at the school last night. But at the time, I didn’t doubt him at all and felt a sense of familiarity as if I had seen him before.
The Imitator could perfectly clone a person’s character, behavior and manner of speaking, so I suspected he was impersonating an officer here.
Each officer came up to me and recited the words, then left through the back door. I went through a room full of officers but failed to find the one I was looking for.
Xiaotao got the second group of officers to come in. This time, when one of the officers repeated the sentence, I experienced a sense of déjà vu and shouted, "Please repeat the sentence!"
The officer paused for a moment and slowly repeated himself.
"Thank you for your cooperation. The rest of you can go back,” I said. “As for you, please stay." The officer looked at me in confusion. When I described the incident, he seemed caught on the hop. "Why did the murderer choose to impersonate me?" he asked.
As I recalled, he wasn’t part of the operation last night. "The reason is simple,” I chuckled. “It means he sees you often. So tell me where you live and the places you frequent."
He reported several locations–his home, the restaurant he frequented, and lastly, his parents’ home.
Catching my drift, Xiaotao said, "I’ll assign a few officers to check these three locations at once!"
"No, this is the only clue we have now,” I waved my hand. “We mustn’t startle him. Let’s change into some casual clothes and visit the locations ourselves."
"Your outfit is casual enough,” remarked Xiaotao. “Give me a moment, I’ll change right now!"
After a few minutes of waiting at the door, Xiaotao came out wearing a pair of shorts, a white T-shirt and a cap. My gaze flickered towards her deep cleavage. "Aren’t we supposed to keep a low profile?" I smirked.
“This whole outfit is worth less than 300 yuan! Isn’t that keeping a low profile?” Xiaotao knuckled me in the head.
Then she noticed my gaze and said, "What are you looking at? It’s not like I have a choice. My breasts are obvious in everything I wear!” She sighed, “It’s such a predicament being so voluptuous. I’m considering getting a breast reduction."
"There’s no need for that,” I refuted. “Staying natural is the best. If you go for that surgery, I guarantee the morale around here will take a huge dip."
Xiaotao grabbed me by the ear and laughed, "You mischievous rascal! Since when have you learned to be so glib?!"
I begged for mercy and changed the subject. "Let’s take a cab there!"
The officer’s home was the closest to the station so we headed there first. With Xiaotao’s hand in mine, we strolled around the neighborhood. Passers-by couldn’t resist staring at her.
"Do I look like a policeman in this outfit?" Xiaotao asked, worried.
"Your temperament can’t be changed," I smiled.
"I should probably learn from the Imitator. How does he hide himself so perfectly?"
"I think he’s an extremely insecure person who’s disgusted with himself and lives based upon the evaluation of others,” I theorized. “He’s also likely to suffer from a mental illness."
"Are you making a psychological assessment of the Imitator?"
I nodded, "After reviewing the cases, I have a rough outline of the man in my head although he’s been switching personas this whole time.”
I couldn’t categorize this sort of mental illness. The man might have suffered an inferiority complex from an early age and was eager to be recognized by others. So he imitated the words and deeds of the people around him. This sort of imitation gave him a sense of security. And over time, he lost himself in the process...
Philosophers endeavored to answer the ultimate question: "Who am I? Do my experiences define me? Or is it my body or my consciousness?" The self isn’t created at birth, but a concept gradually forms.
Children do not use the word "I" when they first learn to speak. For example, they might say, "Yangyang is thirsty," or "Yangyang wants to play for a while," which suggests they have yet to form the concept of "I.”
With the continuous development of the brain and a deeper understanding of the world, children eventually realize one thing–the name others call them refers to themselves. Thus, they gradually learn to use the word "I" and gain their own reflective consciousness.
The Imitator was a person who had no self-identity. Like a computer without a program installed, he could easily “load and unload” someone else’s personality.
We circled around the neighborhood, looking for the property and inquiring about the tenants. Then we "trespassed" several homes but failed to find the Imitator’s hideout.
Thus, we headed to the next location–a street filled with restaurants and food stalls.
"I’m starving,” cried Xiaotao. “Won’t you treat me to some beef soup!"
"It’s still a little early, isn’t it?" I said, glancing at my watch.
"I only had a glass of soy milk in the morning to lose weight," pouted Xiaotao.
"Let’s go have something then!"
We visited the restaurant the officer frequented. During checkout, I asked the restaurant owner, "Does an officer come here often?"
"You mean Xiao Wang? He comes every day,” answered the restaurant owner.
"Have you noticed anyone observing him?" I continued.
The restaurant owner hesitated, "What a strange question you ask. Who the hell are you?"
Xiaotao quickly dragged me away and chided, "How can you ask him like that? You cautioned me, but it looks like you haven’t forgotten your consultant status either!"
On our way out of the restaurant, I noticed several windows on the second floor of the opposite building. I immediately turned around and asked the restaurant owner, "Is there a unit for rental across the street?"
"Yes, are you looking to rent a space?"
"Do you have the landlord’s number?" I added.
I keyed in the contact number but left it at that. Xiaotao walked straight to the opposite building that was already occupied by vendors on the first floor while the second floor was a residential space. There was a staircase in the back leading to the corridor on the second floor lined with doors.
I checked them one by one, finally stopping in front of a door that was covered with advertisements and leaflets. My intuition told me that this was the one! Glancing around to ensure there was no one else, I grabbed my lock-picking tools and unlocked the door.
Upon entering the room, I immediately felt a sense of déjà vu at the sight of the shabby furnishings. There was no way I was wrong about this—the Imitator lived here!
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