Chapter 13: Chapter 13: ’Smoking’, Someone Turns Themselves In
Xu Huo was familiar with the interrogation rooms of the Jiangdong District Criminal Investigation Division in Jiangsan City.
He’d even experienced an interrogation firsthand.
Unlike last time, however, Xu Huo was now the one sitting on the other side.
"Sun Jiang, right?"
The interrogation room door opened. Xu Huo dropped into a chair and slid the file in his hand across the table.
"See if any of this is wrong."
Across from him, the handcuffed Sun Jiang instinctively looked up at the sound of his voice. Seeing the file, he raised his cuffed hands to take it.
Name: Sun Jiang... Age: 17... Address: Penglai City...
"That’s me."
A somewhat hoarse voice spoke up. It wasn’t pleasant to the ear, and certainly not the kind of voice you’d expect from a seventeen-year-old.
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. He’d noticed something but acted as if he hadn’t, speaking in a casual tone.
"You asked to see me?"
Sun Jiang nodded instinctively.
"What for?" Xu Huo asked.
Sun Jiang seemed taken aback, then he went quiet.
After a long pause, he finally spoke, his voice barely a whisper.
"Nothing... I just wanted to see..."
He averted his gaze, bowed his head, and fell silent once more.
The Police Officer and Li Jianye, standing to the side, were stunned. They had seen plenty of culprits demand to see someone—usually to make threats or cause a scene—but this guy... ’Just to have a look?’
"Since you have nothing to ask... then I’ll ask you a few questions on behalf of the Penglai City police department."
Xu Huo ignored his demeanor. ’He really did just want to see me.’
"The ruined temple case in Penglai City, back in ’99. What was the name of the girl who was killed?"
"Bai Xuhong. She was fourteen, an orphan. I’d lived with her since I was eight. An old homeless man raised us. He died when I was thirteen, and after that we wandered around together, getting chased from place to place in Penglai City..."
Sun Jiang spoke automatically, his eyes losing focus as he fell into a reverie.
Time had neither dulled his memory nor erased his hatred.
But a knife could. And that’s exactly what he had done.
"Bai Hong, or Xuhong?" Xu Huo suddenly asked, his point of focus a little strange.
"Bai Xuhong," Sun Jiang replied, snapping out of his daze.
"And how are those characters written? The ’Bai’? The ’Xu’? Is the ’Hong’ the character for ’red’?" Xu Huo pressed.
"’Bai’ is the character from ’white snow.’ ’Xu’ is written with the ’double-person’ radical next to the character for ’surplus.’ And yes, the ’Hong’ for the color red," Sun Jiang replied after a moment of thought.
"Mm."
Xu Huo nodded and jotted down a few words in his notebook.
"Tell me what happened on the day of the incident..."
Sun Jiang’s account was very detailed. He was still young, and his memory was sharp.
The events of that day replayed in his mind, again and again. He could never forget.
The evening of February 16th, 1999. It was the Spring Festival.
Two young vagrants huddled together, grinning at the mud caked on each other’s bodies. They decided to ignore the warnings of the old homeless man who had raised them and let Bai Xuhong take a bath and change into clean clothes for the festival.
She sat in the ruined temple watching the fireworks. The temple was on a hilltop with a perfect view. The black night sky became a canvas, splashed with gorgeous, vibrant colors.
Sun Jiang watched with Bai Xuhong. When he heard her stomach rumble, he went down the mountain to beg for some New Year’s Eve leftovers.
The meal had fish, meat, chicken, and duck. They were only leftovers, but Sun Jiang was thrilled. A feast like this was a rare treat.
But he never got to eat it.
When he returned to the mountain, he saw four people. And a corpse.
The bowl of food fell from his hands and shattered on the ground. Sun Jiang chased after them, crying. They ran. He kept chasing. The four figures turned on him, beating him unconscious.
Later...
"After that, the police opened a case, but the investigation went nowhere."
Sun Jiang said, the look of reminiscence slowly fading from his eyes.
"Okay. I’ll pass this on to the Penglai City police, word for word."
Xu Huo nodded, his face impassive. But before gratitude could well up in the boy’s eyes, he paused, then added abruptly:
"I have a few questions of my own."
"Bathing during the Spring Festival... It would have been well below freezing outside in the north. Where did she bathe?"
"When you were beaten unconscious, you would have never survived in that weather if someone hadn’t found you... Who saved you?"
"After the police opened their investigation, why didn’t you provide them with any information?"
One sharp question after another came from Xu Huo, and the room was plunged into silence.
Xu Huo stared at Sun Jiang, looking him straight in the eye.
"And one more thing..."
"Where did you learn to read?"
Li Jianye froze. His mind flashed back to the file Xu Huo had handed over, and a look of astonishment spread across his face.
’This kid... He planned this trap the moment he walked through the door!’
’Back in ’99, illiteracy wasn’t uncommon. For a homeless kid to be able to read...’
Sun Jiang froze. He instinctively averted his gaze, then lowered his head and refused to say another word.
With his voice gone, the interrogation room fell completely silent.
Seeing his reaction, Xu Huo didn’t press him, but spoke again.
"Someone stopped you, I’m guessing."
"Why did they stop you?"
"Was it because you couldn’t get revenge on your own?"
"According to the information I’ve gathered, four years ago, in February, the four assailants were thirteen, fourteen, thirteen, and fifteen years old."
"..."
Sun Jiang went completely silent, making no sound at all.
Xu Huo didn’t speak, and neither did Sun Jiang. Li Jianye glanced between them, sighing to himself.
After a long while, Xu Huo finally stood up, the legs of his chair scraping sharply against the floor.
"Let’s end this interrogation here."
"On behalf of the Penglai City police, thank you for your cooperation."
With that, Xu Huo ignored the boy with the bowed head, left his notebook for Li Jianye, and walked out.
After a long moment, a rustling sound came from behind him.
Xu Huo’s steps slowed to a halt. He turned to look back.
He saw Sun Jiang, head bowed, one hand covering his face as large teardrops squeezed through the gaps between his fingers.
"Officer... why... Just why...?"
Sun Jiang choked out the words. He looked up at Li Jianye, his red-rimmed eyes fixated on the officer.
Li Jianye’s lips moved for a moment, but he ultimately remained silent.
The other police officers in the room said nothing either.
Only in that moment did they truly see him for what he was: just a boy.
"What right did they have!?"
Sun Jiang’s face was contorted with rage. He slammed his cuffed hands onto the table, then collapsed onto it, burying his face and sobbing uncontrollably.
"What right..."
The only sound in the quiet interrogation room was the echo of his voice.
Xu Huo shook his head, sighed, and turned his gaze away before walking out.
...
"Want a smoke?"
Outside, Li Jianye, his face expressionless, pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and offered it to Xu Huo.
His movements were practiced. Veteran detectives were always veteran smokers.
Xu Huo took it but didn’t light it.
Li Jianye paid him no mind, lighting one cigarette after another. Smoke billowed around him, leaving a trail of its scent wherever he went.
Neither of them spoke. The only sound was Li Jianye inhaling, exhaling, and inhaling again.
After a long while, just as the two of them were about to reach the main office building,
a voice suddenly crackled to life.
"Chief, we have a situation!"
A voice came through the walkie-talkie. Li Jianye paused, holding the cigarette between his fingers, and raised the radio to his lips.
"What is it?"
"Someone’s turned themselves in!"
Comments