Good and Evil Chapter Twenty-Four: The Peculiar Victim

All clues emerge only after a painstaking selection from an overwhelming amount of information. Once everyone had gathered in the conference room, they began to consolidate all the available data.

The first matter on the agenda was the survey of residents living around the site of the undercover operation. Zhao Hua, who was responsible for investigating the area around Factory West Road, gave his report first.

“Based on interviews with residents near Factory West Road, that area is on the outskirts of the city. Most of the people living there are workers from nearby factories. They spend their days at work and their nights sleeping in the dormitories, rarely going out. After our investigation, we found no young man in his twenties who resembles any celebrity, nor any man in his thirties who looks like a well-known TV actor, and certainly no foreigner who resembles a Hollywood star.”

“On the night of the 18th, when the case involving Cai Fenfen occurred, did anyone hear or see anything?” Ning Yanran asked from the side.

Zhao Hua shook his head. “The incident with Cai Fenfen took place at ten-thirty in the evening. By then, the day-shift workers had already returned to their dorms, the night-shift workers had gone to the factory, and even those working overtime had gone back earlier than that. No one saw or heard anything.”

“Did you discover anything else during your survey?” Ning Yanran pressed further.

Zhao Hua flipped through his interview notes, pulled out several sheets, and handed them to Ning Yanran. “During the survey, I discovered that, aside from the five reported rape cases, there were two more that occurred near Factory West Road. The victims were also robbed and assaulted. One of them, a twenty-six-year-old female worker named Ma Xiaohua, was raped three times by the same assailant.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Lang frowned, took the documents from Ning Yanran, and started to read. Sure enough, the records detailed two rape victims. Besides the twenty-six-year-old Ma Xiaohua, there was also a twenty-one-year-old girl named Lyu Jiajia who was assaulted by the perpetrator. Both women worked at nearby factories.

Lyu Jiajia was assaulted at eleven o’clock on the night of June 15th. She hadn’t worked that day because a high school friend had come to visit her. After dining out and staying out late, she was attacked and robbed on her way home.

Ma Xiaohua was first attacked and raped at nine-thirty on the night of June 11th. The second time was at ten o’clock on June 14th, again by the same man. She hadn’t brought any valuables with her that time, so nothing was stolen. The third incident occurred at half past one in the morning on the 23rd, during which her newly bought cell phone was taken.

While Xu Lang was studying the files, Ning Yanran asked, “Why didn’t they report the assaults after they happened?”

Zhao Hua glanced at Ning Yanran, then at Xu Lang. “I’m not sure, but I suspect they were afraid of being found out.”

Ning Yanran frowned, anger flaring in her expression. “Lyu Jiajia didn’t report it out of embarrassment, fine. But how could Ma Xiaohua be raped three times in a row and still not go to the police?”

Zhao Hua scratched his nose awkwardly, unsure how to respond.

With a slap of her hand on the table, Ning Yanran barked, “Just say it. We’re police officers—there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Seeing her temper flare, Zhao Hua had no choice but to answer, “Ma Xiaohua is... well, she’s...”

“She’s what? Not good-looking?” Ning Yanran’s anger intensified.

Zhao Hua scratched his nose again. “She’s quite distinctive. ‘Ugly’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

With that, Zhao Hua pulled a photo from a stack of documents and placed it on the table.

Zhang Lei couldn’t contain his curiosity, immediately standing up and grabbing the photo, muttering, “Let me see just how ugly she is.”

“Whoa, is this really a woman? I can’t—I need to wash my eyes.” Zhang Lei barely glanced at the photo before tossing it back onto the table and yelping, grabbing a tissue to wipe his fingers as though the photo itself were contaminated.

Ning Yanran shot a fierce glare at Zhang Lei’s theatrics. She picked up the photo, and though her face was full of anger at first, her expression quickly turned awkward. After a couple of glances, she pushed the photo toward Xu Lang. “She’s certainly... distinctive.”

Xu Lang, seeing their reactions, didn’t look at the photo himself but instead slid it over to the always-silent Li Lei. “Want to take a look?”

Li Lei didn’t even glance at it, simply pushing it back to Xu Lang. “No need for me.”

Xu Lang then looked at Lu Xing, who quickly adjusted his glasses, lowered his head, and pretended not to notice.

Left with no choice, Xu Lang picked up the photo and took a look. At just one glance, the corners of his mouth twitched violently, though he managed to refrain from any extreme reaction—if even he had tossed the photo aside, the meeting would have gone off the rails.

The photo showed a woman who looked about thirty. If you ignored her face and looked only at her long hair, you might think she was quite pretty. But then came the eyebrows—thicker and messier than most men’s, clearly never groomed. Her eyes were just as remarkable: one single-lidded, one double-lidded, and the direction of her gaze revealed a lifeless, “dead fish” look. She had a bulbous nose, freckled as densely as sesame seeds, and something dark around her upper lip—perhaps a trick of the light or perhaps actual stubble. Her lips were thick, her teeth large and protruding. If not for the absence of an Adam’s apple, you’d be forgiven for mistaking her for a man.

The first thing that came to Xu Lang’s mind was the comedic character "Ruhua" from one of Stephen Chow’s films.

Yet from the neck down, it was altogether different: a voluptuous figure, a slender waist, long legs. If you saw only her silhouette, you’d think she was an absolute beauty—any man would be eager to see her face.

After seeing the photo, Xu Lang finally understood why, despite Ma Xiaohua’s appearance, the perpetrator had raped her three times. In the darkness of night, under dim lights, it would be hard to make out her features, especially since she wore her hair long.

After setting down the photo, Xu Lang silently took out his cigarette case and lit one. Zhang Lei quickly joined him, even though he rarely smoked—only doing so when a case was particularly tough. It spoke volumes about the psychological impact Ma Xiaohua’s appearance had left on him.

Seeing even the usually unflappable Xu Lang reacting this way, Zhao Hua grimaced and sighed. “Now you all see what I meant by ‘distinctive’.”

Zhang Lei coughed, his expression pained. “Distinctive? That’s an understatement. She’s extraordinarily distinctive.”

“And here’s another detail for you: Ma Xiaohua has a peculiar body odor.”

“Peculiar smell? You mean like that legendary fragrance from TV dramas?” Ning Yanran asked curiously.

Xu Lang and Zhang Lei both rolled their eyes in unison, leaving Ning Yanran puzzled.

Seeing her confusion, Zhang Lei clarified, “What Hua means by ‘peculiar smell’ is body odor—specifically, a strong one.”

After hearing this, Ning Yanran was struck speechless, unable to utter another word.

Li Lei and Lu Xing exchanged a glance. Having seen everyone else’s reactions and now learning about the body odor, they were relieved they hadn’t looked at the photo themselves. Otherwise, they might have been haunted for days, unable to sleep.

Once Xu Lang finished his cigarette, he turned to Li Lei. “How did your survey go?”

Li Lei had investigated Factory East Road. The situation there was similar to Factory West Road—no suspicious individuals, no additional rape cases.

Finally, it was Zhang Lei’s turn to report. Known for his love of lengthy stories and tangents, his summary was as follows:

From his investigation of Niwa Road, aside from the case of bar hostess Li Xinxin being robbed and raped, three other rapes had occurred at the beginning of June. Notably, Niwa Road was an area highly concentrated with prostitutes and escorts. All three additional victims were escorts, attacked on their way home after work. Since their profession already involved such risks, and since the only losses were some valuables, they didn’t bother reporting the crimes. According to their descriptions, the perpetrator was a strikingly handsome foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes. Most amusingly, when Zhang Lei interviewed them, none of the three felt victimized; on the contrary, they thought they had gotten lucky.

After hearing this, Ning Yanran and the others were speechless. Such were the times. Ning Yanran slammed her hand on the table once more. “So Niwa Road is a hotbed for prostitution. What is the local precinct doing? Why haven’t they cracked down?”

Zhang Lei replied, “They have tried. The local officers go there, but there’s never any evidence. Most of the buildings are rental units, the population is highly transient and complex, so it’s tough to make arrests in a short time.”

“Bang!” That was the third time Ning Yanran slapped the table. “Is difficulty an excuse to do nothing? Pass on to the Niwa Road precinct: if they can’t handle this, I’ll apply to have our second major crimes unit take over.”

Zhang Lei opened his mouth to say something, but seeing Zhao Hua across from him frantically shaking his head, he reluctantly kept quiet.

After venting her anger, Ning Yanran turned to the ever-silent Xu Lang. “Xu Lang, what are your thoughts?”

Xu Lang looked up at her, shook his head, and replied, “No opinion.”

“What do you mean by that?” Ning Yanran pressed.

“Exactly what I said,” Xu Lang replied without looking up.

Ning Yanran was left at a loss for words.