The man threw himself into the crowd, shoving people aside like a cornered dog making a frantic break for safety. The door was almost within reach, and a flicker of desperate hope rose in his eyes.
But just as he was about to take that final step to freedom, his shoulder suddenly felt as though it had been crushed beneath an overwhelming, irresistible force. His knees buckled, and he dropped straight to the floor, unable to rise.
His right hand went cold. A bright pair of handcuffs snapped shut, securing him firmly to the armrest of the nearest seat.
Shi Ting looked down at the man — who appeared to have exhausted every last recourse — and spoke to Bai Jin as he came running over: “Transfer him to the Taishan County precinct.”
“Understood.” Bai Jin let out a sharp hiss of breath and gave the man a kick he could not entirely suppress. “Nearly bit clean through my arm, you — “
The train remained at Miaodong Station for five minutes before pulling away again. The next stop was Taishan County, the final destination.
The man was escorted back to the compartment where the victim had been killed. When he saw the female corpse lying motionless on the table, he scrambled back to the doorway, trembling too violently to approach.
“Get in there.” Bai Jin shoved him from behind, and the man stumbled forward until he was face to face with the body — staring directly at the dead woman’s swollen, bruised face and the tip of her protruding red tongue. He let out a broken wail and fell to his knees, knocking his head on the floor again and again. “Xiuling — Xiuling, you can’t blame me for this. Your family pushed me too far. They left me no choice.”
Bai Jin directed E Yuan to tend to his bitten arm, and at the same time asked, “Tell us: your name, where you’re from, and how you killed your wife.”
The man lowered his head. His face was difficult to read — caught somewhere between fury and fear. After a long silence, he finally spoke in a flat, hollow voice.
“My name is Zhou Zhengwen. I work as a clerk at the Taishan County Agriculture and Commerce Association. My wife was Yan Xiuling. She was from Shun Cheng — her family dealt in seafood trade. Half a year ago, she came to Taishan County with her father to purchase stock, and I was assigned to receive them. Over the course of those few days, Yan Xiuling developed feelings for me, and I held some regard for her as well. After that, she made the journey from Shun Cheng to Taishan County to see me regularly. Our relationship progressed steadily. Yan Xiuling was twenty-six this year; her family was pressing urgently for her to marry, so they pushed us to complete the wedding three days ago. I thought I had found myself a prosperous and virtuous woman. But on our very wedding day, she took issue with kneeling to offer tea to my parents and overturned the entire table. I reprimanded her, and she came at me with both fists and curses. After that, she demanded we relocate to Shun Cheng — live in her family’s grand house, take up the position her father arranged. I said I was willing to go, but I wanted to bring my parents along so I could care for them in their old age. She refused outright, and then she pointed at my parents and cursed them as worthless old people. We quarreled, and she hit me.”
Bai Jin blinked and glanced again at the motionless body.
Zhou Zhengwen drew a slow breath. “Yesterday I accompanied her home for the family visit. Her family looked down on me too — called me a useless clerk who does nothing but push a pen around all day. During the meal, one of her brothers had too much to drink and let something slip: Yan Xiuling had a psychiatric condition. She had apparently been married three times before — each husband eventually fled, unable to endure her violent and unreasonable behavior.”
Everyone present thought at once of Yan Qing’s earlier observation: that the deceased very likely suffered from a psychiatric disorder. Perhaps this was the killer’s motive.
—