Rebirth of a Rose

50. Trust no one (part 1)

Captain Ma Yo was back at his house. It had been three days, yet there were no signs of where the chief was. They had made his search a priority yet there was nothing found.

He wondered how the killer operated without leaving evidence behind. Or maybe Su Zhan was right, he was just toying with them. He is very close, yet seemed far. He also got into their system to delete the mail.

He received a text message from the guys who were told to keep watch on Feng Sui. The boy had vanished somewhere and they didn't know whom to follow anymore. Ma Yo asked Sam for his whereabouts and the other assured him, he is taking a small vacation and would be back.

But that didn't ease his mind. Since Feng Sui was a party of interest in the crime, he had to recheck twice. He asked someone to pull out Sui's phone records. Ma Yo couldn't help but laugh. This boy was facing problems with his love life. And here he was, single forever trying to find who killed whom.

He thought for a while and left his house. He started his car and went to Su Zhan's place. He understood why this man took early retirement. Chasing cheating wives were way better than chasing criminals.

Ma Yo knocked on his door. Su Zhan opened it, he seemed tired and sleepy. He lived alone in a small one-bedroom apartment. The neighbourhood was old and dirty. There was no security of any kind in the area. One could tell that Su Zhan wasn't doing financially that well. Ma Yo entered and observed that his place was a mess. There were empty food containers, paper, and plastic. "Is this how you live?" Ma Yo asked.

"I have been very busy lately, no time to clean. Follow me." Ma Yo followed Su Zhan into a room. Surprisingly, this one was very clean. There was a one-person bed in the corner and a whiteboard on the opposite side.

Three months ago Ma Yo had informed Su, the information needed to find the mole, but he had done more than that.

The murder board was crammed with information. Zaro's image was placed in the center. Su Zhan pointed at it. "His death was the one that triggered the serial killer to murder others or he started with him."

"There were thirteen people who were killed after Zaro. All were murdered using different methods and within a selected time frame. Stabbed with a knife, shot in the head, fell from the stairs, poisoned on food, hanged, strangled, slit throat, electrocuted, bitten by a poisonous snake, broken neck, died by drinking liquid nitrogen, drowned in the bathtub, overdosed on heroin. They were very well planned. Some even seemed like an accident. There were no fingerprints, no murder weapon trail, no camera, no witnesses. As if they were killed by a ghost."

"All these victims had a connection to the Sanokaya laboratories. They were either major shareholders, scientist, board members, in short, key managerial personnel."

"These murders were less bloody and the victims weren't tortured as much. What drove the serial killer crazy to start killing brutally was him." Su Zhan pointed out the photo of Feng Sui.

"According to the information you gave me, his car accident was premeditated. Someone tried to kill him. That was when the killer started planning his moves. We will find the answer at the end."

"The first person to die was the gardener. He didn't have a connection to the lab, but his old boss did. I will explain the connection further. I believe the gardener was paid by the old man to attack Sui. Reason Why? I will tell you the answer too."

"Everything was well until the death of Micheal Owens. I believe there are two killers. Killer 'A' murdered all these people including Owens. Whereas, the death of detective Yan, the deputy, the minister, and the judge was an excellent work of killer 'B'."