The Last Killer

After breakfast, Leo and Li Biqing decided to go to the church in the town.

According to the information provided by the county police, before Bailey came back, the two daughters were adopted in the orphanage set up by the church, under the care of a priest named Bai Yisi.Bellerie is now being detained as a suspect, and her youngest daughter, Debbie, is still being raised by a priest.

"Father Bai Yisi? Are you familiar with him?" the federal agent asked the county policeman.

"Yes, he has served the church in this small town for nearly 20 years." The other party replied, "I have never seen a more devout clergyman than him. He lives a simple life and is kind to others. In his eyes, every child is an angel. Therefore, I never tire of the tedious affairs of the orphanage."

"Sounds like a saint." The Chinese boy commented in a low voice.

The federal agent shrugged: "I don't deny that there are true saints, but these days, the ratio of villains to saints is like the lake you swim in and the cup of coffee in my hand."

"It's not so exaggerated." Li Biqing smiled, "We might as well visit the priest and talk to Debi by the way—can you, Leo?"

The black-haired detective nodded, looking calm.

The only Catholic church in the town is located in the outskirts, close to the forest, ancient and quiet.

When they found Father Boris, the grey-haired man in his 40s was half-kneeling on the floor, listening intently to a three or four-year-old black boy stuttering and describing his paintings.

"What is this...whale? Yes, it looks a little skinny, would you like to feed it some food... small fish? Yes, it eats those... do you want them too? No problem, I will confess love Sister Mary, shall we have fried small fish tonight..."

Leo stepped forward and said, "Father—"

"Please wait a moment." The priest replied without raising his head, and continued to whisper to the child until he left with the picture book in his arms, and then he got up and said to Leo: "I'm sorry, if you don't let the children express what they want After finishing talking, they will be very disappointed... What do you want from me?"

The federal agents and their companions looked at the priest: he had a slightly elongated face, a broad forehead, deep and clear gray-blue eyes, and a thin body, like a tall and straight bamboo under the old and clean black robe, Seems like a respectable elder.

Leo showed his ID, "We are here for Renee's case. I heard that her sister was adopted by the church's orphanage?"

Father Bai Yisi showed a look of disapproval, "Debi is only a five-year-old child, I don't think I can help the FBI."

"How do you know if you don't try?" The detective asked back, "Are you worried about that child? I promise we will try our best to take a gentle approach so as not to irritate her."

Father Bai Yisi hesitated for a moment, and reluctantly agreed, "Come with me, I'll take you to her room." He turned his head and said as he walked, "When you ask questions, you can let me stay in the room too. Is it here? I'm afraid the child will be born."

"No problem," said the detective.

When Leo and Li Biqing saw Debi, she was sitting on the carpet next to the crib, playing with an old tape recorder.The tape recorder was in the shape of a pink rabbit, the tips of the two ears were worn away, and one side was cracked. It looked like a girl's toys and collections for many years.

Li Biqing felt that Leo's muscles stiffened the moment he saw her.He calmly put his palm on the other side's waist, and stroked it as if encouraging.

No matter what happens, I'm by your side.

Leo knew the meaning of this movement, and the nervous and anxious nerves that had started miraculously eased down.He stopped three meters away from the little girl, hesitated, and took another step forward.Li Biqing passed him, walked up to the little girl and squatted down, and asked in a gentle and light tone: "Hey, Debi, what are you playing?"

The little girl looked up at him, as if she had no interest in answering, then lowered her head and fiddled with the buttons on the tape recorder.

The tape recorder has no sound.

"The rabbit is so cute, but I think it is hungry and has no strength to sing." Li Biqing said to her.

Debbie stopped and looked up at him again. "She, not it." She corrected with an accent, and asked, "What does she like to eat? Carrots?"

"No, I think she likes to eat batteries." Li Biqing winked at Leo, beckoning him to get the batteries, and then took out something from his trouser pocket, which was a puppet that could be put on his hands to play talking games. A furry raccoon with a big tail.He bought it from a toy store on the way to church for the kids to use. "Plus she feels lonely and needs a companion to play with while you sleep. What do you think of this raccoon? He's a great boy!"

Debbie took the blue raccoon from him and asked the pink rabbit, "Do you like him, Renee?"

Li Biqing said in surprise: "Renee? Isn't that your sister's name?"

"She said she likes it, but she can't play with him." Debbie said to herself, throwing away the raccoon doll and hugging the pink bunny radio in her arms. "Mom will beat her."

Li Biqing thought about the information revealed in the childish words, and asked cautiously: "Does mother often beat Renee?"

"Yes, hit her, with a slap, sometimes with a stick."

"why?"

"Mum said she was bad, a bad girl."

"What do you think? Do you think Renee is a bad girl too?"

"I don't know." Debbie thought for a moment and said, "Renee would yell at me, hit me on the head with her hand, and sometimes buy me candy, and donuts, half good and half bad."

"Where did she get the money for the candy and the donuts, Mommy?"

"I don't know, mother won't give us money." Debi seemed to feel a little bored, and refused to speak again after she finished speaking.

It seems that she doesn't want to mention her mother, so she has to find another starting point, Li Biqing thought.He pointed to the long ears of the rabbit radio: "You said she was Renee? Is she your sister?"

Debbie gave him a strange look, as if she thought the question was silly. "She's a rabbit," the little girl said softly, "but Renee sings in a rabbit."

"Renee... singing in the rabbit? What do you mean?" Li Biqing asked.

"She loves that song, she hums it a lot," Debbie said.

Li Biqing thought about it, but couldn't figure out the vague words, so he changed the subject and asked, "Does Renee have any friends? Besides you and mother, who else does she often hang out with?"

Debi looked up at Father Bai Yisi who was standing in the corner of the room.

"Oh, I know, the priest has adopted you for more than two years, except the priest?"

"I don't know." The little girl said listlessly, digging the buttons of the tape recorder with her nails, making a weak creaking noise.

Father Bai Yisi, who had been very quiet all this time, stepped forward and said, "I'm sorry, I think you've asked enough, the poor child doesn't know anything, she just remembers her mother and sister beating her. I believe time can wash away Let go of bad memories, but the premise is that no one will always bring up the past in front of her."

Leo came into the room at this moment, bringing some batteries.Li Biqing took it and handed it to Daibi: "Do you want to feed the rabbit something?"

The little girl nodded.

He put the batteries in the old radio and hit play.

The micro-tape spun, hissing softly, like the moan of a wounded fragment of time, and then a piece of music floated out, accompanied by slow and strong drum beats, it sounded a bit like church music at first, with a low and ethereal mezzo-soprano , with choral piety, holy and spiritual.But Li Biqing always felt that something was wrong.

After listening for a while, he suddenly found that the tune was full of indescribable gloom.No, it's not just gloom, it's dark, solemn, oppressive, fearful, a mysterious wound, a mournful moan, a tremor of the soul, like a pale, long-haired ghost wandering among the tombstones, dripping Cold tears, singing sad mourning songs...

"Youlie, silenttherebeforeme (silently, you lay before me)

Yourtears, theymeannothingtome (your tears mean nothing to me)

Thewind, howling at the window

Thelove, younevergave, Igivetoyou, Reallydon'tdeserveit

butnow, there's nothing you can do (but now, there's nothing you can do)

Sosleepinyouronlymemory (so sleep in your only memory)

Andweep, my dearest mother (weep, my dearest mother)

Here's a lullaby to close your eyes, goodbye

It was always you that Idespised (I always despised you)

Idon'tfeelenoughforyoucry, onmy

Here's salullaby to close your eyes, goodbye, goodbye... (This is a lullaby to close your eyes, goodbye, goodbye...)"

Anyway, it's not a song for a nine-year-old girl to listen to.

Li Biqing suddenly pressed the stop button as if being stabbed by a needle.

"...Is this the song Renee likes?" he asked Debbie.

The little girl nodded.

"This song... sounds very evil," Father Bai Yisi frowned deeply, "especially the line 'Farewell', which is like the whisper of a ghost."

Li Biqing opened the door of the tape recorder, took out the small tape, and said to the priest, "I want to borrow this tape and return it in a few days, is that okay?"

The priest replied: "As long as its owner agrees."

Li Biqing turned to the little girl and asked, "I want to hear Renee sing, can you lend it to me?"

Debbie stared at him with big doll-like pale blue eyes. "Nenee doesn't like to be heard. Mommy will beat her up if she finds out."

"I hid and listened secretly, and promised not to be known by others, and neither would my mother."

"……you promise?"

"Yes," Li Biqing pulled the expressionless Leo over, and showed her the badge pinned to the inside of the suit, "in the name of the police."

"Well, trust the cops, that's what the grown-ups say." Debbie put her head down, put her hands inside the stuffed raccoon, and started fiddling with her new toy.

"I'm sorry to bother you." Li Biqing nodded to Father Bai Yisi, and the two said goodbye politely.

It wasn't until he walked out of the church that Li Biqing felt the tight body of the black-haired detective relax a little bit.He held the other's arm with concern, "Are you okay, Leo?"

"Fortunately, it's easier than I thought." Leo forced a smile, "I try not to look at her face."

Li Biqing hugged him and patted his back comfortingly, "It will get better slowly, until you are completely relieved."

Leo returned a tighter hug, buried his face in the hair next to the Chinese boy's ears, and greedily smelled his body odor—it was the most effective sedative, and it was also a highly seductive hallucinogen.

At this moment, the cell phone in his pocket rang uncomfortably.

Leo delayed for at least half a minute before letting go and took out his cell phone to answer.Soon he ended the call and said to Li Biqing: "It's Eden. There was news from the search team that there were no other fresh corpses at the bottom of the lake except for four old skeletons. Those four people and those nearby There was nothing suspicious in the mud, and they suspect they died by accidental drowning."

"That is to say, there is only one victim like Renee?" Li Biqing frowned in thought, and murmured, "No, this does not conform to my speculation..."

Leo thought about it, and tried to choose words that would not hurt him: "Perhaps, the murderer has only killed Renee so far? It is not ruled out that he has other targets, but he has not had time to strike..."

Li Biqing thought about it, but didn't speak.

Leo pulled him into the car, annoyed that he couldn't put his words in a better way, "Anyway, the clue seems to be completely broken. Although we believe that Belleley didn't kill her daughter, there is no real evidence." , The court will not be trusted, we can only continue to work hard, hoping to find some clues about the murderer."

"...I want to listen to this tape carefully." Sitting in the car, Li Biqing was silent for a long time, and then suddenly spoke.

"No problem, I will pass by the electronic product store later, and I will buy a tape recorder." The detective said.

Back at the hotel, Li Biqing stuffed the tape into the newly bought radio, pressed the play button, and the gloomy and mysterious singing wafted in the room again.

Leo searched the Internet with his laptop, and quickly found information about this song.

"The name of the song is "Room of Angel". It is an episode of a horror game. The lyrics should express the complex emotions of a child who was abandoned by his mother when facing his dead mother. On the one hand, she has always ignored and rejected her mother. On the other hand, she loves her deeply, even though she thinks her mother has never loved her. She offers a lullaby to her mother to send her away, but at the same time, she will not die for her. A tear."

Li Biqing pondered and said: "Actually, it was not the mother who died, but the daughter... Renee loved to listen to this song before she was alive, and it is likely that she found emotional resonance from it. It is a pity that this precocious girl is very fond of Bailey. Li's complex feelings of love and hate, that mentally ill mother may never be able to detect it."

Leo said nothing. The subject weighed heavily on him.

The song that was sung repeatedly was coming to an end, and the two seemed to be trapped in the secluded environment it created. When the song was played, only the hiss of the tape was left, and they remained silent.

I don't know how long it took, maybe five or six minutes. Just when Li Biqing got up and was about to turn off the tape recorder, some weak and strange sounds suddenly came from the stereo...

Li Biqing was taken aback.

"—what's that sound?"

Leo put his ear to it and listened carefully, "...the sound of footsteps, so light that it was almost inaudible. And... the sound of the bell?"

Li Biqing nodded, "It doesn't sound like an ordinary bell, but an old-fashioned, big one, similar to a bronze bell in a temple?"

"...It's the bell of the church! I noticed it just now. That Catholic church has a tall bell tower with a gazebo-like top, and a metal chime hanging from it. By visual inspection, it's about one meter high. It should be the sound of the hammer hitting the big bell." Leo said.

"That is to say, the following paragraph is actually a recording? The location is in the church. Was it recorded by Renee? Why?"

"It's not clear yet, let's listen again."

Then there was another silence.

The two listened patiently until rustling footsteps sounded again, accompanied by the creaking sound of rusty door shafts, the footsteps began to reverberate.They can almost imagine the scene: Renee, wearing a black long dress uniformly issued by the orphanage, hugging a pink rabbit-shaped tape recorder, floats ghostly through the atrium and corridors of the church, opens a door that is rarely opened, and walks in. A narrow, echoing space—perhaps a staircase leading to the cellar.She was a little curious, a little nervous, and a little scared, holding the rabbit tightly with her fingers, and accidentally pressed the recording button...

Then there was another long silence.

Suddenly, a burst of strong footsteps suddenly broke through the silence, as if a dusty mirror had been accidentally knocked down and shattered into pieces—the sound of hurried running and rapid panting was recorded in the rotating tape very clearly and faithfully , The beating of the drum generally hits the heartstrings of the listener.

Renee, what was it that spooked her and made her run in a sudden panic?Or, did she peep into some secret that frightened her?

The two listened very carefully with their ears upright, but all the sounds stopped abruptly, the play button automatically jumped up, and the tape ended.

Leo and Li Biqing looked at each other, seeing each other's eyes full of doubts and determination to explore to the end.

"...It seems that we need to go to the church again."

"But if you go directly like this, I'm afraid you won't be able to find out anything. Unless you apply for a court search warrant, but I think if the suspect is the only Catholic church in this town that is famous for its pious and conservative, then it may not be easy to deal with."

"Did you know that there is an idiom called 'Dark Chen Cang'." The Chinese boy said.

The federal agent laughed slowly. "That doesn't sound right, boy, but you've always been like that."

Li Biqing smiled back and asked, "What about you?"

"I only do what I think is right—but you, just stay in the hotel."

"Do you want to leave me alone, no way!"

"I can also handcuff you to the bedrail."

"Come on, let's do this again!" Li Biqing said dissatisfiedly, "It's just a church, and it's not a dragon's pool or a tiger's den. What danger can there be? You have to let me follow, otherwise..."

"What else?" The dark-haired detective narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"Otherwise I'd be very, very bored, and maybe call a group of strippers to have a party in the room or something... Oh, don't think I'm afraid to do it, if Jasmine finds out, I'll tell her, actually I wanted to go to church to cleanse my soul, but her younger brother refused, so I had no choice but to fall." The boy said slyly.

"...Okay, you won. But you have to follow me closely and follow orders." Leo reluctantly compromised.

The winner shouted happily: "Yes, sir!"