The Last Killer

In a meeting room of the FBI's Chicago branch, the projector had just finished playing the murder scene and evidence, and the dark room fell into a brief silence.

When the lights came on, Alfred, the leader of the Chess serial homicide task force, broke through the solemn air with a slightly difficult tone: "The clues we have are so pitiful that they are not even enough to give BAU (behavior investigation support) Section) provide sufficient information.”

Rob continued: "If the sudden attack on the street in the middle of the night and the shot that flew over the prison wall that day can still be said to be traceless, then the murder that happened in the office of the Drug Enforcement Administration has no witnesses or surveillance video. It’s really unbelievable.”

"There are no witnesses, no video data, no remnants that would reveal his identity, and no clues for us to track down. The murderer planned carefully in advance, and his methods were crisp and neat. The efficiency is as high as a killing machine..." The young man The black detective Mann became more and more frustrated as he spoke, and his volume gradually decreased until he became silent.

"Don't be so listless, guys, you can't lose without a fight!" Leo tapped the table with his knuckles, raising his voice to boost morale, "There is no perfect murder in this world, as long as it is man-made, there must be flaws. You know, sometimes the key to solving a case lies in a seemingly insignificant strand of hair. Go through the investigation again carefully, including the scene, evidence, murder weapon, vehicle, probe, possible witnesses, even half of the people in the crevice of the roadside. A cigarette butt—in short, all imaginable and unexpected places must be thoroughly searched! Behavioral science analysts, urge them to give a profile, even if it is only a vague outline."

Alfred pulled himself together, and said while packing up the documents: "I'll take a few people to the scene again, Maien, you go to the Evidence Identification Section to see what new discoveries are found. Leo, I'll leave it to you from the BAU. gone."

It wasn't until twelve o'clock in the middle of the night that Leo and Rob returned to the lakeside villa covered in sweat.The two were so tired that they didn't even want to eat dinner. After saying good night to each other, they took a cold shower and went back to their respective rooms to rest.

Leo tossed and turned on the bed for more than half an hour, but still couldn't fall asleep.The simulated portrait of "Finishing" who traveled thousands of miles from Portland in his suitcase was stuck on the wall behind the desk as always, and came into view as soon as he turned over.In the mercury moonlight pouring in from the window, three handsome faces with different appearances were quiet and evil, like strange beasts lurking in the dark jungle, staring at him with deep meaning, as if they would speak on paper at any time.

Sha Qing, why are you one step ahead of us every time to find and kill those serial killers?Because you are the same kind of people, can you smell the blood on each other's body in the vast crowd?Or is it part of your instinct as a hunter to track prey?Leo asked silently.

The mock portrait on the wall answers with silence.

At this moment, Leo had lost all sleepiness, and got up to find a can of beer in the kitchen refrigerator.When passing by Li Biqing's room, he found a soft white light from under the door.It's already one o'clock in the morning and you haven't slept yet?It seems that he often stays up late... Leo frowned disapprovingly, and tapped on the door twice.

The door was not locked. When he opened the door and walked in, the owner of the room seemed not expecting that there would be a visitor in the early morning, and turned to look at him in amazement.

Facing the door is an empty wall. The original white lime wall has been occupied by pieces of paper of various shapes, densely packed with words. If you look closely, they are all cut from various newspapers, red and blue. Oil-based markers left dots and lines on it.

Leo thought this scene looked familiar.He immediately reacted: In the FBI Criminal Division office, there is also such a wall or a large blackboard, which is filled with all the photos and written materials related to the murder.

The Chinese boy was marking the newspaper clippings with an oil-based pen. Seeing him coming in, he showed an expression of being caught off guard, faintly flustered, "...Leo, are you still up?"

"I should ask you this, don't you have to go to class tomorrow?" Leo approached the wall covered with newspaper clippings—these were all kinds of reports from various media on the four serial murders in Chicago. Very keen interest.Obviously, this guy's suspenseful detective habit has committed again, he thought helplessly, and then warned in a serious tone: "I said, don't meddle in the police's affairs, that's not your responsibility. Stay away from my case , Bi Qing!"

Li Biqing retorted unwillingly: "Why? I didn't interfere with your investigation of the case. This is indeed not my responsibility, but it is my interest. You can't deprive it of it for no reason! Besides, you didn't agree, I Can you 'cut in'?"

"I agreed, but that was before you were targeted by a serial murderer! Didn't you also promise me that you would not put yourself in danger? What was the result? Finally, kill Lei Zhe in time, and the bloody corpse in the rose bushes will be you! When you knew that the other party was a murderer and followed him in a daze, did you ever think about the serious consequences of such stupid and brave behavior? Anger gradually appeared in Leo's eyes, like the sparks jumping on the surface of the dark blue sea, and it seemed to be rippling with a deeper level of gloom and contradiction, "When you go your own way, don't you think that the people around you will suffer? How much worry? In case something happens, do you want me—my sister Jasmine to be heartbroken?"

Li Biqing lowered his head slightly, and said in a low voice after a while: "I'm sorry, I broke my promise again... But, I can't do nothing, Leo, you understand this feeling, when a certain desire drives you to do something When it does, your mind, your emotions, and even your blood are crying out—do it! Do it! You can't turn a deaf ear to these voices unless you're ashamed!"

Leo was silent, and said in a muffled voice: "I regret agreeing to Jasmine to take care of you. You know how dangerous my job is. If this kind of care is at the cost of threatening your life, maybe I should let you go."

"You're wrong. Even if I was in danger, it wasn't because of you. Even if I didn't know you, I might have met Lei Zhe, or another guy with a ulterior motive—to be honest, I have encountered such a lot before. Humanoid, they always seem to regard me as a soft persimmon and want to squeeze it all the time, do I have the words 'very easy to bully' written on my face?" Li Biqing looked up at him, looking a little confused, He sighed softly, which made him look more and more like a glutinous rice dumpling boiled and rolled in sugar, pure and harmless, suitable for all ages.

Leo's desire to stay away from him crumbled again.

In any case, the consequences of letting this guy go will only be more serious. At least for now, he can still protect him as much as possible. If he is left alone on the street, who can he turn to for help when he is in danger?

"If my personal interests really bothered you that much, I would choose to leave, find another language school, and finish my university courses. If Dr. Claremont was willing to write me a letter of recommendation , I will accept his kindness and help and work with him." Li Biqing said with determination.

His last words hit Leo's soft spot.

No!I don't want to be a colleague with you at all, even if it's not in the same department!The federal agent rubbed between his brows in frustration, sighed and said, "Okay, you win. I won't block your interest anymore, as long as it doesn't interfere with my work - remember, you can only 'cut in', Can't interfere!"

"No problem!" The Chinese boy's face cleared up in a blink of an eye, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to the desk.

It was only then that Leo realized that there was a chess set on the table, and the wooden black and white chess pieces were strictly on standby at their respective positions.

"I've been studying the news in the newspaper for several days, and I've always wanted to talk to you about some ideas, but you're always busy." Li Biqing pressed him on the chair with great interest, and began to release an exclusive research report. The first sentence The words surprised Leo: "I think the murderer is not alone!"

"...Be clear."

"Four homicides, four chess pieces, I found a pattern, in two cases who died by shooting, the black chess pieces were left on the scene, while those who died by cutting their throats and stabbed their necks left white chess pieces— —Is there any meaning in this? Why would the murderer use two completely different ways of killing? You must know that for serial killers, the way of killing is generally relatively fixed, which is the same as the patterns and words they leave on purpose, all of which are self-affirmation It is a symbol and a show-off of one's own ability. An unarmed person may give up a knife and a gun because of the pursuit of greater power, and a person who can skillfully use a gun, why should he put away the weapon at hand, and choose a more difficult weapon? How about a big pen as a murder weapon?"

After Li Biqing said this in one breath, he added some fresh air.Seeing that Leo stared at the chessboard in front of him and fell into deep thought, he went on to say: "Reminiscent of the confrontational nature of chess, I can't help but have this guess: Could the murderer be two people, one with black pieces and the other with white pieces?" , and compete with each other to kill with the method they are good at, and the target of attack is also the scope and limit agreed by the two in advance."

The experienced federal agent immediately grasped the crux of the problem: "Then, regarding the scope and limitation of the target, I think it has something to do with the chess pieces left behind, right? Three pawns and one knight."

"Yes, that's exactly what I want to continue," Li Biqing picked up the pieces one by one from the chessboard, and placed them in front of him, "Three little soldiers—traffic police, city police, prison guards, and a knight— —The director of the Office of the Narcotics Control Agency, the chess pieces correspond to the classes they represent respectively, which also proves from another angle that this is not an ordinary serial murder, but a game between white and black; it is a contest between cold weapons and hot weapons; It's a game between two killers using cities as chessboards and human lives as chess pieces!"

Leo frowned deeply.Although it is still at the level of speculation or imagination, if Li Biqing's conclusion is correct, the FBI will undoubtedly encounter the most difficult kind of murderer this time: with professional killing knowledge, rich killing experience, and sharp killing methods , and a heart that completely ignores life and is as cold as ice.The gap between those ordinary murderers who are addicted to alcohol and drugs or have a distorted childhood and them is just like a wild cat and a Bengal tiger. Although they are both cats, there is a world of difference in aggressiveness and danger.The most troublesome thing is that the number has to be multiplied by two.

The Chinese boy standing next to his seat continued to expound his personal opinion: "In addition, I think there are many subtleties in the interval between each murder case. The second case happened after the first case. The third case occurred on the eighth day after the second case, and the fourth case occurred three days later—1, 8, and 3. Are these three numbers just accidental, or are there any connections and laws that we have not yet discovered? It's a pity that I have too little first-line information!" He looked at the black-haired federal agent with regret and longing, leaned over and clasped his shoulders with both hands, "I need on-site inspections, autopsy reports, and evidence analysis. , need to keep the details hidden from the public in the confidential archives, not the news stunts full of speculation and bombast in the TV and newspapers!"

He was too close, almost sniffing each other, which made Leo feel a sense of violation of his personal space being invaded.He wasn't used to this feeling, and he could have moved the chair back, or pushed the other person away quietly, but for some reason, he didn't do it.The skin on his shoulders pressed by the palms of his hands radiated heat, and this burning sensation was transmitted directly to his chest like an electric current, making his chest tighten like a twitch, and it seemed that there was a soft and sharp claw scratching at his heart. Scratching lightly as if itchy... His Adam's apple involuntarily slid a few times, only to feel his mouth dry, like clusters of small thirsty flames suddenly burning in his throat.

However, this boy who was close at hand was still adding fuel to the fire-he grabbed his shoulder and shook it, and said in a tone similar to that of a younger brother begging his elder brother to buy a baseball glove: "Leo, are you here?" Listen? I mean, you can do it, right? Take me to your office building and look over the case, just like last time in Portland, I swear I won't get you in trouble, instead, I It will bring you unexpected gains..."

Leo finally couldn't help moving the chair, letting his shoulders slide away from his palm. The moment the two people's body temperature no longer touched, he breathed a sigh of relief, and tried hard to calm down the strange feeling in his chest, so that he forgot for a while. reply.

"Leo?" Li Biqing asked suspiciously.

"...Give me a profile and give it to the behavioral science analysis experts. If they can get their approval...well, I will take you there." The federal agent replied after thinking twice.

"Aha!" Li Biqing laughed in surprise, "No problem! I'll make a copy for you—" He frantically went to fetch paper and pen.

"Wait a minute!" Leo grabbed his arm, "Not now, you must sleep for eight hours first, you have plenty of time to write tomorrow."

His resolute tone made the other party shrug eagerly: "Okay, I'll go to bed. I don't have class tomorrow, so I'll bring it to you as soon as I finish writing it."

Only then did Leo let go and said, "Go to bed and turn off the lights. Then I'll go."

The last trace of luck was broken by him, and Li Biqing had to obediently turn off the headlights and climb into bed, and got into the bed, leaving only a small dim bedside lamp. "Good night, Leo." He hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Did you not sleep well recently?"

A touch flashed in his eyes, and Leo asked nonchalantly, "What?"

"You have dark circles under your eyes. You have been really busy these days." Li Biqing looked at him sympathetically, "No matter what, your body is the most important thing. Get a good sleep and don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Leo nodded slightly and reached out to turn off the bedside lamp for him, "Good night, boy."

"It seems that you are much older than me, but I'm your brother-in-law..." He heard the other party mutter under the quilt, and wanted to laugh, but couldn't.

When he turned to leave the room, he heard a soft good night from behind him: "Sleep well, Leo, and have a good dream." His footsteps faltered, and then he closed the door with his backhand.

Back in his bedroom, Leo was quite sure that with his current state of mind, he would not be able to fall asleep even if he went to bed with his eyes closed and brewed until dawn.When he is extremely sleepy, he may take a short nap for three to five hours, but he will soon wake up from all kinds of anxiety, tension, and endless nightmares-two years ago, he thought he had gotten rid of these damn symptoms , but no, the sleep that finally calmed down lasted only more than a year, and now he had to take out the pills that he was determined to quit countless times from the medicine bottle with the label torn off.But even so, the effect of the medicine was constantly weakening, but he was so busy that he didn't even have time to visit his personal doctor again.

After this case was over, he had to take a few days off to see the doctor. He gave himself an order, then opened the cabinet above the washstand, shook out two pills from the white medicine bottle and swallowed them directly, hesitating for a moment. He poured out two more pills and swallowed them in one gulp.

After lying on the bed, groggy sleepiness began to descend.Before a new day of busy work, he will have a full eight hours of dreamless sleep, ordering his tense nerves to get enough rest time, whether it is the murderer who is currently hunting down, or the "killing" that he has been obsessed with, or The crying of the innocent soul for a long time can no longer sneak into his brain.

After waking up, he is still the energetic and resolute FBI agent, the courageous, upright law enforcement elite who punishes rape and eliminates evil.