Chapter 2: Nightmare Entwined

  It was past two in the morning when Wu Hui was awakened by his own nightmare. For years, he had been having the same dream almost every night, and this nightmare had been haunting him all along.

  The floor heating had already been turned on, and the room wasn't cold at all. Yet, Wu Hui felt a chill run down his back, probably due to the nightmare he just had. He reached out to touch it, only to find that it was all sweat. So, he went to the bathroom to take a hot shower, changed into clean pajamas, and after all this commotion, he couldn't sleep at all. He lit a cigarette, sat by the window, opened it, and a gust of cold air blew into the room.

  The residential area was extremely quiet, with only the occasional sound of a car driving by on the road outside. Wu Hui stuck his head out the window and looked up at the 26th floor, where the deceased lived, so close to him. Which room did she live in? Did she live alone or with her parents? How many people would truly be heartbroken over her death?

  The cold wind blew on his face, making his cheeks slightly stiff. Wu Hui pulled his head back in, extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray, got up and put on his clothes, and walked out of the room.

  Standing at the elevator entrance, he hesitated for a moment and didn't press it, but instead turned around and left, walking to the stairwell entrance. This place had no surveillance cameras, so he walked up to the 26th floor. After Guo Yining and others left in the morning, Wu Hui went to the first floor because all users' electricity meters were on the first floor. He then recorded the electricity meter readings of all users in Building 26. At over 10 pm that night, he went to the electricity meter room again, checked the meter readings, returned to the lobby, and looked at the mailbox of Building 26 before going back home.

  Is this 2604? Today, only this household has the least electricity consumption. And in the mailbox of 2604, there are some uncollected credit card bills with only one person's name on them. All the No. 4 houses in the community are single apartments, so it should be a single-person household. Thinking of the clothes and phone used by the deceased, as well as this high-end apartment, Wu Hui thought to himself that this girl is not just a simple university student.

  It was unknown when it started raining outside, but because the building had heating, it didn't feel cold. Wu Hui took out a pair of gloves and a piece of iron wire from his pocket, put on the gloves, inserted the wire into the keyhole, moved it around a few times, and soon opened the door. Wu Hui put away the wire and walked into the room.

  The room was pitch black, Wu Hui took out a small flashlight and swept it around, the room was filled with the scent of women, Chanel perfume. Entering the master bedroom, pink wallpaper, European-style large bed, at the foot of the bed was a European-style dresser, covered with all sorts of skincare products and makeup, all world-famous brands. Looking again at the closet, full of clothes, surprisingly also not lacking in world-famous brands.

  Walking out of the master bedroom, I came to the adjacent secondary bedroom. Inside, it had been converted into a cloakroom by the victim. Pair after pair of shoes were neatly arranged in the shoe cabinet, and bags of various colors were placed on the grid.

  The kitchen had almost no cookware, but there was a large double-door refrigerator. When opened, it was filled with skincare products and face masks, as well as some health supplements. It seemed that this girl knew how to take care of herself.

  Everything is for women's use, there are no men's belongings, and no signs of a second person's life. The deceased has been dead for a whole day, how come no family members have shown up? It shouldn't be the young lady from a wealthy family.

  After Wu Hui carefully looked through it, he didn't find any valuable clues. The police had been here for a day during the daytime, and the procuratorate must have searched this place thoroughly. Even if there were suspicious things, they should have taken them away.

  Nothing valuable was found in the dead man's room. Wu Hui locked the door and returned to his own room, not having expected to find any useful clues anyway.

  When she thought of seeing the deceased on the 9th, she was dressed up and should have made an appointment with someone. He remembered that at the time, the girl was playing with her phone with her head down, and when the phone rang, she smiled and sent a voice message saying "Have you arrived? I've already set off, it'll take about 20 minutes to get there." Thinking of this, Wu Hui went out again, took the elevator to the underground parking lot on the first floor, and drove his own car. He remembered that the deceased had taken a taxi eastward that day, so he thought of simulating where the deceased might have gone.

  The car drove east on the main road, and after a while, it turned south at an intersection. After about 200 meters, the first traffic light appeared. The road to the east was lined with small shops and stalls, so she probably wouldn't go that way. The road to the west led directly to the southern gate of the residential area. If she wanted to head south, she should have taken a taxi from the southern gate instead of the northern gate. So, she must have gone south. After about 300 meters, the second traffic light appeared. The road to the left was where Wu Hui had gone to the coffee shop that day. He hadn't met the girl at the coffee shop, so it seemed unlikely that she would go there. However, it couldn't be ruled out that she might have walked down this street. The road to the west led to a wholesale market for small commodities, and she probably wouldn't go there either. Continuing straight south, the road ended at the train station. Could she have come to the train station to pick someone up? Who could it be? And where would they go after meeting? It definitely wasn't back home, because the police had said that she was killed on the night of her disappearance. Was there a connection between her murder and the person she met? From the residential area to the train station, the speed limit in the city was 40 km/h, and the distance was about 2 kilometers. Adding the time spent at two traffic lights, it should have taken around 5 minutes. The deceased had said that they would arrive in 20 minutes, so she probably wasn't going to the train station.

  If she hadn't gone to the train station but instead headed east, it would have taken her out of the city, but there was an airport that would save about 5 minutes from going to the train station, leaving about 15 minutes. The distance from the train station to the airport is approximately 18 kilometers, and the road to the airport is a main road with a speed limit of 80 km/h, with three traffic lights in between. Calculating the time, it would be roughly the same as going to the airport. Thinking this, Wu Hui turned the car around and headed towards the airport.

  The airport in Lincheng is not very big, so there are few taxis waiting at the airport, and it's not convenient to take a taxi. Generally, people will ask their family or friends to pick them up, which shows that the person who just got off the plane has a close relationship with the deceased.

  Wu Hui walked into the airport, which was very small. The first floor had ticket sales, security checks and exit gates, as well as a few boarding gates. The second floor was almost entirely boarding gates. Wu Hui took a look around and headed towards the exit gate. The exit gate was very small, and it was easy to see everyone who came out from the plane. Was the deceased standing right here that day, waiting for the person she was supposed to pick up, then walking out of the airport together and getting into a taxi parked at the entrance?

  Wu Hui searched online and found that on November 9th, from 3:30 to 4:30, the only planes landing in Lincheng were from Shanghai and Xi'an. Therefore, it is highly likely that the people who got off the plane came from either Shanghai or Xi'an.

  Wu Hui took a look at the closed-circuit TVs around the airport, shook his head, and felt that he was still not enough, he didn't have the right to check the airport's closed-circuit TVs. With this thought, he drove away with some disappointment.

  There was one thing that Wu Hui did not expect, when he returned home, Guo Yining and Fang You were actually in his house. Seeing Wu Hui return, Zhang Qiang smiled somewhat awkwardly.

  "Let me reintroduce myself, I am Guo Yining, the captain of the Lincheng Criminal Investigation Team 1. This is my colleague Fang You and Wu Hui. It's a pleasure to meet you." Wu Hui shook hands with Guo Yining politely.

  "What's the matter, Captain Guo? Just ask." Wu Hui sat down without any expression. When Guo Yining came last time, he felt that Wu Hui looked familiar. After going back, he checked some information and found something. It turned out that he had seen Wu Hui at the scene of a case in the provincial city years ago. At that time, he was a special consultant to the police and went to the scene of the crime. Guo Yining still remembered his analysis of the case vividly. He didn't expect that five years later, he would see him again in Lincheng. It was said that after the shocking "1225 Christmas serial murder case" was solved, Wu Hui disappeared without a trace.

  "It's been 5 years since we last met, but we didn't get to talk back then. I never thought I'd run into you again in Lincheng, and it's great to see you again. I think you're also aware of the recent string of murders that have taken place. I hope you can offer some insights."

  When Wu Hui saw Zhang Qiang's expression, he knew that this kid must have said something he shouldn't have again. "Officer Guo, I'm not a police officer, catching people and solving cases is the responsibility of the police, I'm just an ordinary citizen, can't help you."

  "Wu Hui, don't worry, I won't let you go to the crime scene. I just want you to take a look at the photos of the crime scene and see if you can find any clues that we might have missed." He said, taking the file bag from Fang You and placing it in front of Wu Hui.

  Zhang Qiang saw that Wu Hui didn't respond, so he took the data bag over and handed it to Wu Hui. "Yes, Wu Hui, I know you're interested in this case, take a look."

  "Team Guo, I'm sorry, I won't be able to help you." Wu Hui got up and returned to his room, ignoring the three people sitting in the living room.

  Seeing Wu Hui leave, Guo Yining smiled somewhat awkwardly, "Looks like he really didn't want to help."

  "No, Captain Guo. Put this here for now and I'll let him see it later. Don't worry about it. Give him some time." Zhang Qiang felt a bit uneasy, as he had previously told Guo Yining that Wu Hui was quite concerned about the case, patting his chest and saying that Wu Hui would definitely agree.

  "I hope you can persuade him as soon as possible, the killer's time interval between murders is getting shorter and shorter. I think the next case will happen again very soon, we don't have that much time." This serial killer's crime time is getting shorter and shorter, Guo Yining has a premonition, the next case will happen again very soon.

  "I'll try my best." After sending off Guo Yining and the others, Zhang Qiang came to Wu Hui's room. Looking at Wu Hui sitting on the sofa with a somewhat unsightly expression, Zhang Qiang didn't know what to say. He placed the case files on Wu Hui's bed and left the room without saying a word.

  Wu Hui looked at the case files on his bed, his mind buzzing with some things he didn't want to remember appearing before his eyes.

  Zhang Qiang looked at Wu Hui's door, it had been more than 5 hours, there was no movement or noise from inside Wu Hui's room, Zhang Qiang felt a bit worried.