None of the group members who partic.i.p.ated in fight under the black walnut tree were caught; in the end, the matter was left unresolved and forgotten. Then again, the state university was plagued by another campus murder, so it was only natural that the university had no time to focus on some rather trivial school violations.

The focus of the students" attention wasn"t Reggie anymore; rather, it was Quentin, the city sheriff"s son who went through the troubles of serving as an unofficial spokesperson, using his ident.i.ty to probe into the details of the case investigation and release it to the public little by little.

"The police had enough evidence to suspect this homicide is connected to the homicide that occurred in Forest Park five months ago. The murderer may be the same person."

"The scattered bouquet of roses found at the scene of murder in Forest Park and the rose petals left at this crime scene are both traces the murderer deliberately left behind—as you all know, many serial killers like leaving symbols unique to them either at the scene of the crime or on the victims, kind of like the "Night Stalker", Richard Ramirez1, and his inverted pentagram."

"Serial? Yeah, only two victims have been discovered so far, and according to police standards, Interfector Rosa isn"t yet qualified to be considered a serial killer. But as long as he isn"t captured, he"ll definitely strike again; the victim count will eventually reach three or more, and when that time comes, he can then be gloriously promoted [to a serial killer]."

"His main targets? According to the criminal profilers, the murderer has so far been targeting people of color as well as h.o.m.os.e.xuals. His manner of killing reflects his psychological disposition of hatred and anger; he"s most likely extremely racist and h.o.m.ophobic."

"Speaking of which," one of the boys in the audience suddenly interrupted, "Didn"t Clyde and Collin go at it yesterday? One of them being the murderer and the other being a victim, respectively, is quite fitting. Maybe they can shoot some sort of sadomasochism film where their hatred eventually grows into love. Now that"d be a hit."

At the gallows humour, the crowd hooted and roared endlessly.

Only Reggie scrunched his brows and scowled, grumbling to Li Biqing, "In Latin traditions, there"s a superst.i.tion that one shouldn"t mess around with death and talk rubbish about ill omens because it brings even more bad luck."

Li Biqing whispered back, "Our country also has a similar saying—what one says will come true2." He uttered the last phrase in Chinese. Reggie glanced at him; he seemed to have vaguely understood the meaning of the saying.

Facts proved that this wasn"t merely an ominous premonition. Fourteen days after the homicide, another campus murder shocked the entire city of Portland.

The first person to discover the scene of murder was a girl who loved jogging in the mornings. As she was doing her usual morning run between the campus and the lakeside of Forest Park, she came across a body floating on the waters near the sh.o.r.e. Frightened by the sight, she immediately pa.s.sed out. The police received the report and soon salvaged the corpse that was drifting in the lake overnight. After identifying the body, they found it was also a student who attended the state university.

In the morgue of the [Portland] City Police Department, Forensics Medical Examiner Doug retrieved a body bag from the freezer and placed it on top of the autopsy table. He pulled down the zipper, revealing the dead body of a young, red-haired male inside. A toe tag was attached to the corpse; the name of the deceased as well as the date of birth was written in black ink: "Collin Miravich, 05/01/19933."

"Poor kid. He just had his 20th birthday." Policewoman Amanda"s eyes were red.

In the room stood two federal agents wearing FBI badges on their chests. A glamorous female agent with light golden curls, Thea, spoke to the gloomy-faced head officer, Terry. "This is the third victim—we now have reason to believe that Oregon may have another serial killer after the Nightmare."

Chief Officer Terry"s expression was haggard and drawn; he appeared to have aged several years. He stared at the bloodless face that would forever maintain its juvenile looks and heaved a heavy sigh, "I know this boy. He"s a cla.s.smate of my son, Quentin. They"re best friends…Doug, tell us what you found."

The middle-aged forensic medical examiner with gla.s.ses nodded and explicated, "Similarly to the other corpse, the cause of death with this corpse was excessive blood loss resulting from visceral rupture. The chest, abdomen, lower back, hips, b.u.t.tocks, and thighs were all stabbed with a sharp instrument. The wounds are irregular, inflicted before death. The deepest amongst all these wounds is the one at his a.n.u.s. A sharpened branch that was 3 inches in diameter and 1.2 feet long perforated his intestines, reaching his stomach. Unlike how the weapon created clean injuries on his torso, a stick was coa.r.s.ely inserted into the deceased"s throat; his tongue and esophagus were torn. After identification, we found that the rose petals that were found at this crime scene are of the same species as the ones that were found at the scene of the previous homicide."

"Do you have any suspects?" Thea asked Terry.

"There is one. It"s a student who also attends the state university. His name is Clyde. Before this crime took place, more than one eyewitness saw both him and Collin in a serious conflict. In front of everyone, he openly threatened to kill Collin."

"Does he have any criminal records?"

"Drag racing, driving under the influence, getting into major fights. But these are all undoc.u.mented. In addition, according to the testimonies of the university students and the professors, he often expressed extremely racist and h.o.m.ophobic views."

"Great. Racist, h.o.m.ophobic, plus a liar! He"s already eligible to run for Congress!" Thea sardonically exclaimed. "And why exactly won"t you arrest him already?"

The African American officer hesitated then admitted, "He"s the eldest son of the Brandy family and the primary successor to the Brandy Consortium. His father"s a member of the Senate. All those previous criminal actions were all erased from the records because of Senator Brandy"s interference."

"In other words, the police cowered and retreated; is that right? All because the suspect"s father"s business holds a lot of shares and "donates" a hefty amount of cash every once in a while4?" Thea raised her chin in contempt. "If all of you dare not do anything, then allow the FBI to act." She turned to her a.s.sistant and ordered, "Catch him! Don"t forget to read him his rights!"

The arrest of Clyde Brandy sparked a raging tide of public opinion. One after another, various television stations and newspapers began using this as their headline, broadcasting constantly and publishing nonstop. The stark contrast between the victims coming from middle cla.s.s families and the suspect coming from an extremely influential multimillionaire family rapidly gave rise to public outrage, quickly causing the public to support one side. Loud debacles pertaining to how this rich second generation evildoer should be severely punished for his heinous crimes and how the police should never succ.u.mb to the influential elites broke out every day.

Regardless whether the young suspect was innocent, the public attacked the police, criticizing their inability to uphold their duties. Under the oppressive public opinion, they appeared so weak and powerless. This matter even gravely affected the reputation of the honorable Senator Brandy as well as his status in the legislature. The case was still under investigation, but the media had already regarded Clyde Brandy as guilty, already calling him by the "Campus Serial Killer" and "Interfector Rosa".

In the rented apartment, Li Biqing lowered the newspaper he was reading; feeling conflicted, he peered up at the federal agent who was sipping black tea—the man recently seemed addicted to drinking Lapsang Souchong.

"What do you have to say?" Leo questioned.

Li Biqing repeatedly hesitated before voicing in a hushed whisper, "I don"t think…I don"t think Clyde"s the killer."

"Why? Do you have any evidence?" Leo placed down his cup of tea.

"No. But—"

"In other words, this is all based off of intuition?" Leo chuckled. "Sorry to say, but the courts don"t accept any sort of evidence labeled as "intuition", boy."

Li Biqing threw the newspaper aside in discouragement, "I"ll find some evidence then."

"I will not allow you to interfere with this homicide case, Li Biqing!" Leo warned him.

"On what basis? I"m not a minor, and you"re not my parent. As a matter of fact," the Chinese youth grinned as if he harbored malicious intentions, "seeing as I"m your older brother-in-law, doesn"t that technically mean I"m considered your guardian?"

"I"m an officer." Leo replied, unmoved. "If you insist on wading in muddy waters, I will immediately pull you out of your cla.s.ses and lock you in this apartment!"

"Fine. You won." Li Biqing raised his hands in surrender. "I promise not to meddle in this matter."

"I hope you keep to that promise." Leo stated. "Otherwise, I will inform Molly—you know she called yesterday to find out whether you"ve become accustomed to living here. Almost every two to three days there"s a call; I"ve never seen this woman so concerned about another person like this before. If you dare make her sad, I will put a bullet in your heart—and I"m dead serious."

"—Although my credibility isn"t high, I truly am serious in my mind." Li Biqing admitted defeat. "I swear to keep to that promise."

"Good boy." With the tone an elder uses on a child, the younger brother praised his future brother-in-law, who was, in fact, several years his senior.

Just when the federal agent thought this matter was over, a familiar number showed up on the screen of his cell phone. At the time, he was dining at a j.a.panese-style restaurant located near Portland j.a.panese Garden with Rob and several other colleagues he worked with from one of the FBI offices in Oregon.

"Where are you? I have something important that I have to discuss with you." Li Biqing"s voice sounded from the other end.

Leo told him the address of his location, then asked, "What"s so urgent that you need to find me and tell it to my face?"

"Wait for me for a minute." The other side hung up the phone in a hurry. Twenty minutes later, the Chinese boy"s figure appeared at the j.a.panese restaurant. Rob caught sight of him and happily beckoned. "Hey, Biqing! Here! I guessed it was you when Leo started talking on the phone in Chinese. Come and eat with us–waiters, add a seat!"

Now sitting down on the new cushion placed on the tatami mat, the Chinese boy recovered his breath after running here in a haste.

Rob introduced the agents one by one, and he greeted all of them politely, "h.e.l.lo, nice to meet you. Please treat me kindly."

"What"s up? You wanted to discuss something with me alone?" Leo asked.

"No, there is no need to avoid everyone." Li Biqing fished out two small, transparent plastic bags and placed them on the table. The plastic bags contained a dead flower and remnants of petals.

"What"s this?" Leo wondered. "It looks like a rose."

"It is not just a rose, it is a j.a.panese Rose5."

Rob interrupted, "There"s a difference? They"re all the same anyway."

"No, they are not the same. This is Rosa multiflora6." Using the botanical term, Li Biqing earnestly proceeded to explain. "It belongs to the Rosaceae family, but it"s still a different species

"And?" Dr. Clement, the silver-haired criminal psychologist who sat directly in front of him, patiently waited for him to continue.

"These both came from the two murder scenes. This bag," he pointed to the plastic bag with the withered flower, "came from the murder scene I first discovered. And this bag," he pointed to the other bag which contained the petal remains, "I collected it near the lake where Collin"s corpse was found." He paused. Before Leo"s face could change, he quickly said, "I do not know if these flowers were also found at the crime scene at Forest Park, but I am sure these are significant pieces of evidence to the two cases; this will help the police gain a lead."

"I still don"t understand." Rob looked puzzled. "What"s the relationship between these roses and the j.a.panese roses left behind by the murderer? It doesn"t matter if we a.n.a.lyze them and break it down. The suspect has already been captured."

"I do not know how to say it. My English is not very good…" Li Biqing deliberated how he should express himself. "It is kind of like, uh, like how different symbols in literature can create different moods and hold different meanings. It could show the killer"s different state of mind…to put it simply—it might not be very appropriate to say this, but I do not know any suitable way to word this—the red rose represents femininity, while the rambler rose represents masculinity that leans towards femininity. If one had to use metaphors, the red rose represents a beautiful woman, but the rambler rose represents a beautiful young man."

Dr. Clement"s deep-set eyes narrowed behind his lens, as if something had touched a sensitive nerve in that split second…

"Hah. How can I say this? This is honestly incredible and iffy; doesn"t this seem more of a biased theory?" Rob smiled disapprovingly. "This is really amusing, kid; go on and keep playing detective."

Li Biqing"s face expressed frustration and dejection. He also knew this theory was too far-fetched, but something like this could only be grasped intuitively, not explained in mere words. There truly wasn"t any strong, convincing evidence that would prove the killer didn"t only commit murder out of hatred and repulsion.

"No, whatever he said suddenly shed light on some things; it just gave me a burst of insight…wait, I have to catch these thoughts completely!" Dr. Clement mumbled. "The murderer"s state of mind…" He abruptly slapped his hands on the table and stood up. "I have to take a trip back to the crime lab!"

"What are you going to do?" Rob asked at his hastily departing figure.

"A spectral a.n.a.lysis of the murder weapon!" Dr. Clement yelled back without turning around. Rob, Thea, and several other agents glanced at each other in dismay. Unable to comprehend what just happened, Rob simply shrugged and said, "Never mind that. Let"s eat. Leo—"

His partner stood up and forcefully hauled the Chinese boy to his feet. "You guys just enjoy your meal. We"ll be leaving a little ahead of time!"

He practically dragged the boy back to his car. Rage was written all over Leo"s face, and he angrily demanded, "What is it that you"re doing?! Li Biqing, I believe I"ve already warned you once—"

"Yes. I made a promise, but I broke it. I was wrong." The Chinese boy sincerely admitted his mistake. "But I can"t just stand by and watch on. Collin was someone I knew, and although he couldn"t really be called a friend just yet, we still talked. I still remember the lively expression on his face, how his eyes would shine every time he told stories. But then he suddenly turned into an ice-cold, emotionless corpse riddled with holes—I had to do something, Leo! Even though I know that I cannot actually accomplish anything with my meager strength, I know that I am powerless—but I still had to do something! Leo, can you even understand this feeling?" He raised his big, chestnut-brown eyes that glistened with tears; seemingly on the verge of crying, he pitifully gazed up at the federal agent. "If you truly can understand, then that means you can feel the pain I suffered through these past sleepless nights…"

Leo froze. These words, that sense of desolation resonated with his soul; the anguish penetrated the depths of his heart. Especially the very last sentence. As a fellow sufferer, he knew that heart-wrenching pain, that suffering, all too well.

He slowly released his grip; his expression was somewhat bleak. "Looking at your eyes, I just knew it—this person isn"t the type to give up so easily…" He let out a wry smile. "Exactly like me."

Li Biqing sighed with relief and promised once again, "I know that you are worried about my safety. I promise to keep a sense of proportion. I definitely won"t do anything that causes me to be in danger."

"You credibility has been greatly reduced, so I will no longer believe in the promises you make." declared the dark-haired federal agent, unimpressed. "As you wished, Dr. Clement has gone back to re-examine the weapon. I have no idea why he was so moved by your words, and I have no definite means of knowing whether he"ll manage to discover a clue, but your dangerous actions will end here—I don"t want to imprison you, but if there is a next time, I will immediately put you in handcuffs and send you straight to the police station for obstructing a law enforcement officer! And I swear to that! Do I make myself clear?!"

Li Biqing heard that dark, resolute tone of voice and knew this wasn"t merely an empty threat or intimidation; Leo would undoubtedly act on his words. Faced with the overbearing pressure of an imposing national law enforcement officer, he had no choice but to nod obediently, "Fine. I won"t intervene again."

1American serial killer who terrorised residents of California. Convicted of 13 counts of murder, 5 counts of attempted murder, 11 counts of s.e.xual a.s.sault, 14 counts of burglary.
2 一語成讖–yī yǔ chéng chèn. Ill words will come true; what one says is an augury; careless remarks will unexpectedly come true; a saying has unfortunately become reality, etc.
3Original was 1993.5.1 (year, month, day), but I changed the date format to 05/01/1993 (month, day, year).
4This part is slightly different from the original, as I couldn’t translate it literally because it made no sense–to me at least. But the implications should be about the same.
5He talks about two different roses: 玫瑰 (left) and 蔷薇 (right). 玫瑰 is referring to those red roses most people think of when one says "rose", while 蔷薇 is multiflora roses/j.a.panese roses/Rambler roses/etc. Every time "rose/red rose" is written down, it"s 玫瑰, while the other names will be used interchangeably; they will be referring to 蔷薇.

6Originally in English