seen before. If his eyes drift down and to the left, this means he's thinking of a sound or a voice; if they drift down and to the right, it means he's remembering something he's perceived with his eyes or another sense."
"And the color red? How'd you guess that?"
"From Luo Jiahai's facial muscles. Usually, when a person is remembering something red, it will evoke a more nervous state of mind and thus cause his facial muscles to stiffen. And if he's remembering something yellow, not only will his facial muscles stiffen, but an expression of aversion and unease will appear on his face as well." Hurrying on, Fang Mu caught his breath to continue. "Yesterday at one point Luo Jiahai seemed deep in thought. I had previously noticed he was holding the knife in his right hand, so when his gaze drifted first up to the left and then back down to the right, and his face went stiff but retained a calm appearance, I guessed that he was thinking of a female. I then took a risk and inferred that he was thinking of a girl wearing red clothing."
"Hmm." Bian Ping nodded thoughtfully. "I don't doubt that at the time he was indeed thinking of a girl, but she wasn't wearing red."
"What do you mean?" Fang Mu's eyes went wide.
"A week ago, three students from Jiangbin City Technical College went missing. They were none other than Luo Jiahai, plus two female students named Shen Xiang and Sang Nannan." Bian Ping paused a moment. "At the time, Shen Xiang was wearing a white dress and Sang Nannan was wearing a yellow T-shirt and black shorts."
Fang Mu remembered what Luo Jiahai had said: "...Shen Xiang and I didn't want to leave this world with the weight of such a crime on our backs..."
When he was deep in thought he must have been thinking about that girl Shen Xiang.
A white dress… with red…
He suddenly frowned and lifted his head, faced Bian Ping with a searching look, and slowly said, "A white dress stained red."
"That's what I thought, too." A solemn look came over Bian Ping's features. "At least one of these two girls might already be dead."
Fang Mu thought a while and asked, "What can we do?"
"Relax." Bian Ping turned the LCD monitor on the desk so that Fang Mu could see it. "Have a look at this."
On it a video was playing and appeared to be part of a television program. Fang Mu recalled having seen a video camera on the floor at the scene of the crime, still recording.
"Was this recorded by that camera that was at the crime scene?"
"Yes it was." Bian Ping stretched out comfortably on the office couch. "Go ahead and watch it; I'm gonna to take a nap. Stayed up all night last night."
Through the first 10 or so minutes of the video, nothing was out of the ordinary; it was the same as any show that might normally be seen on television. Fang Mu did notice, however, that Luo Jiahai's face looked gloomy the whole time, probably because he was feeling apprehensive about what he was about to do. When it got to the part when Luo Jiahai pulled out a knife and lunged toward Teacher Qin, the place exploded into chaos. The video's perspective tilted suddenly to the side, and Teacher Qin's tragic cry could be clearly heard amid frantic screams from the TV crew. As Fang Mu watched attentively, the camera's continuously shaking view made him feel dizzy. The shaking seemed to go on for several more seconds, after which everything on the screen rose abruptly upward, turned upside down, and then stopped moving.
The cameraman must have dropped the camera on the floor before running away, Fang Mu thought. He had to tilt his head sideways to look at the screen. Thinking of how Bian Ping had been rubbing his neck a few moments ago, he laughed in spite of himself.
A pair of legs wearing light green shorts came into view. Immediately after, there was a piercing scream, and in the background Fang Mu could barely make out the sound of Luo Jiahai's heavy breathing. The owner of the pair of legs ran through a door across from the camera and banged it
"And the color red? How'd you guess that?"
"From Luo Jiahai's facial muscles. Usually, when a person is remembering something red, it will evoke a more nervous state of mind and thus cause his facial muscles to stiffen. And if he's remembering something yellow, not only will his facial muscles stiffen, but an expression of aversion and unease will appear on his face as well." Hurrying on, Fang Mu caught his breath to continue. "Yesterday at one point Luo Jiahai seemed deep in thought. I had previously noticed he was holding the knife in his right hand, so when his gaze drifted first up to the left and then back down to the right, and his face went stiff but retained a calm appearance, I guessed that he was thinking of a female. I then took a risk and inferred that he was thinking of a girl wearing red clothing."
"Hmm." Bian Ping nodded thoughtfully. "I don't doubt that at the time he was indeed thinking of a girl, but she wasn't wearing red."
"What do you mean?" Fang Mu's eyes went wide.
"A week ago, three students from Jiangbin City Technical College went missing. They were none other than Luo Jiahai, plus two female students named Shen Xiang and Sang Nannan." Bian Ping paused a moment. "At the time, Shen Xiang was wearing a white dress and Sang Nannan was wearing a yellow T-shirt and black shorts."
Fang Mu remembered what Luo Jiahai had said: "...Shen Xiang and I didn't want to leave this world with the weight of such a crime on our backs..."
When he was deep in thought he must have been thinking about that girl Shen Xiang.
A white dress… with red…
He suddenly frowned and lifted his head, faced Bian Ping with a searching look, and slowly said, "A white dress stained red."
"That's what I thought, too." A solemn look came over Bian Ping's features. "At least one of these two girls might already be dead."
Fang Mu thought a while and asked, "What can we do?"
"Relax." Bian Ping turned the LCD monitor on the desk so that Fang Mu could see it. "Have a look at this."
On it a video was playing and appeared to be part of a television program. Fang Mu recalled having seen a video camera on the floor at the scene of the crime, still recording.
"Was this recorded by that camera that was at the crime scene?"
"Yes it was." Bian Ping stretched out comfortably on the office couch. "Go ahead and watch it; I'm gonna to take a nap. Stayed up all night last night."
Through the first 10 or so minutes of the video, nothing was out of the ordinary; it was the same as any show that might normally be seen on television. Fang Mu did notice, however, that Luo Jiahai's face looked gloomy the whole time, probably because he was feeling apprehensive about what he was about to do. When it got to the part when Luo Jiahai pulled out a knife and lunged toward Teacher Qin, the place exploded into chaos. The video's perspective tilted suddenly to the side, and Teacher Qin's tragic cry could be clearly heard amid frantic screams from the TV crew. As Fang Mu watched attentively, the camera's continuously shaking view made him feel dizzy. The shaking seemed to go on for several more seconds, after which everything on the screen rose abruptly upward, turned upside down, and then stopped moving.
The cameraman must have dropped the camera on the floor before running away, Fang Mu thought. He had to tilt his head sideways to look at the screen. Thinking of how Bian Ping had been rubbing his neck a few moments ago, he laughed in spite of himself.
A pair of legs wearing light green shorts came into view. Immediately after, there was a piercing scream, and in the background Fang Mu could barely make out the sound of Luo Jiahai's heavy breathing. The owner of the pair of legs ran through a door across from the camera and banged it
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