As she spoke, Qiao Xiao rolled up her sleeves in front of us. Seeing the expensive gold jewelry on her hand, I knew the woman wasn't lying. Before coming, we had investigated Qiao Xiao's income. She was just a kindergarten teacher and didn't have that much money.
"If only I could have monitored him 24 hours a day and not let him leave. This kind of thing is already very serious, and I wasn't vigilant at all. Wuwu, perhaps this is why my brother had an accident!"
"No, you can't blame yourself for this either. If it were me, I might not have expected my own brother to be gone the next day."
"Sigh, I am responsible to some extent. It's too hateful. I had promised his parents to take good care of him."
"His parents? Weren't you..." Liu Yuning asked.
Qiao Xiao nodded vigorously. "I adopted my brother from a welfare home when his parents were gravely ill. They said it was some strange illness, I don't really know what kind of illness it was. Anyway, they entrusted him to me. I happened to be at the welfare home at the time. It seems like fate brought us together!"
"How old were you when you adopted him? You've been relying on each other all these years, haven't you?"
"I was 28. Perhaps because I was lonely, I went to the welfare home."
"Then why didn't you find a man?"
My and Liu Yuning's voices were almost simultaneous.
"This... actually, I have a problem with my body. I was born without a uterus!"
"I'm sorry, we shouldn't have brought up your painful memories!"
I comforted her. Qiao Xiao shook her head. "It's okay now, I've gotten used to it over the years. Some men touched me before. At first, they all liked me. I'm quite attractive, you know. But after they found out about my condition, they all left. After that, I didn't want to look anymore. Honestly, at such a young age, I lost hope in love. If I don't find something else to occupy myself, life would be so boring!"
I could tell Qiao Xiao was telling the truth, but I would still have someone verify the welfare home situation later. Also, regarding her brother's situation, I asked when Qiao Junfeng had changed, and Qiao Xiao said, "March 1st, 2019."
"I'm very curious, Miss Qiao, how do you remember so clearly?" Liu Yuning asked.
Qiao Xiao gave an embarrassed smile. "On that day, my brother got his driver's license and excitedly took me out to play. We went up the mountain, and then in the car..."
"Ahem, it seems your relationship isn't simple. But that's your private matter. Before your brother changed, did he hint at anything to you, or did he know any strange people?" Liu Yuning continued.
Qiao Xiao thought for a moment before saying, "Could it be that my brother did something bad? His income increased greatly over the years, and then recently his dealings were exposed, and then he..."
"Miss Qiao, don't jump to conclusions. Really, it's not beneficial to the case!" I said.
"I understand. He wasn't as abnormal as he is now back then, but he seemed to have gone to some place for training. He told me the environment there was very good, with experts all around. He didn't want to come back at first, but now that he had learned everything, of course, he had to stay by my side. I thought he was attending some kind of training, like for work. But now, it doesn't seem like it."
"Did he tell you where this place was?"
"He said it was in a small town called Leicester."
"Leicester?? Is it foreign?" Liu Yuning and I were both a bit surprised.
Qiao Xiao shook her head. "I don't know about that, but you can go and see. Perhaps you'll find some clues. This is all I can provide. You really are different from other police officers; you're asking the right questions."
"You flatter us. Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Qiao. It would be best if you don't leave Guangming City recently, as we might need to find you again at any time."
"Certainly. Don't worry, my work is all here. How could I leave!"
We said our goodbyes and went down. On the way back, Liu Yuning said to me, "Do you think Qiao Xiao's story is true?"
"Most of it is true, except... well, she and her brother are probably lovers!"
"They're not related by blood, so what's there to fear? On the contrary, I think it's quite romantic. From adoption to living together, then developing feelings, and becoming intimate..."
"Holy crap, you have a brother complex too?"
"Get lost with your brother complex! Drive!"
"Yes, my wife!"
We drove back to the provincial department first. When we returned, others told us that the victim interviews were complete. That was good, so I asked everyone to gather in the criminal case conference room. I planned to synthesize the information from all the victims to see if there were any commonalities.
When everyone had gathered, I realized that before the incidents, these victims had all engaged in acts of atonement and repentance. Some were kneeling on the floor in their rooms, some in the living room, and some in the bathroom. A strange triangular symbol appeared on the walls at the scenes. It wasn't the North Star, but it looked like the shape of a roof. We don't know what it means yet.
"After extensive interviews and investigations, combined with the current clues, it appears that Su Simiao, Qiao Junfeng, and several other victims had all visited a place called Leicester around 2019. We searched for this place on the map, but it doesn't exist." He Xin stood in front of us, pointing at some of the victims' photos on the whiteboard with a laser pointer, and circled "Leicester" with a red question mark.
"If several people mentioned this place, then it's definitely not just one person lying, unless they were all forced by someone, otherwise, this situation wouldn't occur!" I said.
"Exactly, but that possibility is very small. Perhaps what we need to think about now is to go to this town called Leicester. He Xin, can you really not find it?" Dao Zhiyong urged somewhat anxiously.
"Brother, of course, I'm looking, but everyone is so busy and hasn't found anything. What can we do!"
"Actually, shouldn't we try investigating from a different angle?" Xia Xiaoling suggested.
"Different angle, let's try. Yuan Hezhi and I will broaden the scope, don't worry!"
Yuan Hezhi didn't speak. He was operating the computer the entire time, his gaze never leaving the screen, as if he had merged with it.