CYCGS 08

Chapter – 08

Doodle

Yan Tuo had just returned to his office after a long day out when Cao Yiman knocked and entered.

“Captain Yan, Li and his team screened past assault cases but didn’t find anything useful. Those cases generally place a strong emphasis on protecting victim privacy, and any image records we have don’t match up. The guys we sent to the gay bars haven’t turned up anything either. What about the Jinhua minivan? Any progress?”

This was hardly unexpected. Yan Tuo pinched the bridge of his nose.

“We found the vehicle, but it had already been abandoned and thoroughly cleaned—no biological samples recovered. We haven’t been able to reach the owner yet; we’re still following up. Based on the surveillance footage of the vehicle’s movement range, the primary crime scene is likely in the lower city district. We need to re-examine that area more closely. I’ll send the surveillance videos to your email later. Take a look and see if you notice anything new.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cao Yiman acknowledged, then hesitated before asking in a lower voice: “Captain Yan, is the provincial department getting ready to take over this case?”

Yan Tuo shot a glance at his subordinate. “Where’d you hear that?”

Cao Yiman, being somewhat blunt and straightforward, grinned wryly. “Does anyone need to tell me? The Yu case—that minor celebrity’s case—caused such a massive public uproar. The bureau and Captain Li have hauled you in for criticism multiple times. Standard procedure. Isn’t the ‘fruit-picking’ crew about to show up soon?”

Yan Tuo didn’t indulge his bad attitude and criticized him directly: “What do you mean ‘fruit-picking’? Where’s this petty, small-minded thinking coming from? If we weren’t falling short ourselves—if the May 21 case has been dragging on for two months without any leads—would the bureau have needed to bring in outside help?”

After the reprimand, not wanting to crush the morale of his trusted lieutenant, he added more reassuringly: “Since we’re consolidating these cases into one investigation, this involves inter-departmental cooperation across two provinces and three cities. It’s only reasonable for the provincial department to form a special task force to lead it. Don’t overthink this. Solve the case, cooperate proactively when asked, and focus on catching the real perpetrator as soon as possible—that’s the right approach.”

Cao Yiman didn’t have the nerve to keep complaining. His eyes wandered, then he exclaimed in surprise: “Hey, Captain Yan, your birdcage door is open—did your pet escape?”

Yan Tuo followed his gaze. The cage was indeed empty. A quick scan of the office revealed no sign of the little white ball.

“Tangyuan?”

A watermelon-like head popped up from the gap between the bookshelves, letting out two “chirps” in response. After a moment’s hesitation, it spread its wings, flew over, and obediently landed on his right shoulder.

“Damn, this bird is way too smart—it can even understand when someone calls its name.” Cao Yiman praised it and reached out to try to play with it.

Tangyuan dodged, quickly turning around with its back facing him in an aloof “don’t bother me” posture.

Yan Tuo explained on behalf of his pet: “It doesn’t like strangers. All those people dropping by last night really scared it—it hid in its nest and refused to come out. Don’t tease it.”

Cao Yiman didn’t take it to heart and muttered with a grin: “Little thing’s got quite the attitude, huh? Alright, I’ll get back to work.”

Once Cao Yiman had left and closed the door, Yan Tuo lightly poked at the little bird’s tail feathers and teased: “You’ve got some nerve giving people the cold shoulder. This pile of sketches all scattered across the desk—that was your doing, wasn’t it?”

With a “chirp,” the little white ball’s tail feathers perked up. Then it spread its wings a little, covering its rear, and turned its head to give him a look with those tiny eyes—thoroughly embarrassed and indignant.

This butt-covering move was incredibly human-like. Yan Tuo felt a mischievous urge, changing his poke to a gentle rub as he joked: “What, you don’t think I should criticize you? Wasn’t it you who messed them up?”

Bai Yiyi couldn’t take it anymore. Having his butt rubbed—even if he was just a bird—was far too stimulating for someone who’d never been in a relationship. He fluttered his wings a few times and darted back into his coconut shell. He didn’t want to deal with that straight guy who had no idea he was stirring up trouble. He just wanted some peace and quiet.

Yan Tuo couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle. Shaking his head, he started tidying up after his pet.

Before he could gather all the sketches together, a smudge of red dots on one of them caught his attention. Yan Tuo pulled it out and froze.

Had Dr. Zhao specifically redrawn this one? Or had someone randomly doodled on it at some unknown stage?

Like those famous portraits in elementary school textbooks that kids had defaced, one of the short-haired suspect sketches had been heavily altered with dense red dots and fine lines. What now appeared was clearly a soft-featured woman with long, wavy hair.

Looking more closely, the facial structure and facial proportions had barely changed—all that was added were long hair, eyeliner, and red lips. It was as if a beauty filter had been applied, transforming the appearance completely yet without the slightest sense of incongruity.

A flash of inspiration seemed to dart through Yan Tuo’s mind. He instinctively raised his phone to scan the image, then hastily called Cao Yiman back in.

The First Brigade captain was also surprised: “This… Dr. Zhao drew this? I didn’t see this one earlier.”

Yan Tuo wasn’t entirely sure either. “Maybe. It was sandwiched in the middle of the stack. Perhaps he wasn’t certain about it, and it was an accidental byproduct?”

Cao Yiman’s expression turned more serious: “If this inference holds, then our previous direction was completely wrong. The killer is a woman, not a man?”

Then he fell into confusion: “But the victims were assaulted… that’s also established evidence. How do we explain that? Could there be two perpetrators?”

This new inference introduced too many variables. Two perpetrators was possible; the assault could have been carried out using tools; or the killer could be a cross-dresser who presented as female in daily life—anything was possible.

Because the victims had been sexually assaulted before death, since the case was filed, their investigative direction had consistently pointed toward a male perpetrator.

The homosexual male demographic in particular had been heavily scrutinized, with substantial police resources invested in multiple rounds of screening.

Unexpectedly, a nonsensical doodle had revealed an entirely different possibility.

Years of case experience told Yan Tuo that even the slightest doubt, even without a complete chain of evidence, couldn’t be dismissed without pursuit. These unexpected flashes of insight often became the critical turning points in solving cases.

He immediately ordered: “Pull some people and switch tracks. Focus on the lower city district, and prioritize checking hospitals, beauty salons, wellness centers—places with female staff.”

Cao Yiman quickly took the order and left. Yan Tuo stared at the doodle for a long while. Moments after sending the scanned image on WeChat, he received Zhao Tao’s reply—it wasn’t his work, he had no knowledge of it, and he was extremely curious, shocked, and in agreement with the possibility.

Then who could it have been?

One of Zhao Tao’s students or children? Someone who had access to the stack of sketch copies and did it as a playful prank?

Or someone from within the Municipal Bureau?

No—no one in the bureau would have the audacity to come into his office and scribble all over things.

Yan Tuo was utterly perplexed. To be on the safe side, he called in Sun Lei from the desk at the entrance to ask.

Sun Lei knew nothing about it either. Throughout the entire day, aside from the cleaning lady, she hadn’t seen anyone else enter the office. Even the cleaning lady had only stayed two or three minutes, swept the floor briefly, and left.

So where did this drawing… come from out of nowhere?

Yan Tuo examined the dots and lines again, then glanced at the open ink pad on the desk.

Confirmed—the red was unmistakably ink pad color.

This drawing had been altered right here in this office, on his desk.

The surface of the ink pad had been smoothed over, leaving no trace. The trash can under the desk was now clean—even if there had been tissues or other evidence, the cleaning lady had already taken it away, and it was now in the garbage cart.

For reasons he couldn’t quite explain, Yan Tuo stood up and walked over to the birdcage.

“Tangyuan, come out.”

He quickly reached in and gently grasped the little white head that had just poked out. Yan Tuo examined its claws carefully—they were pink and pristine, with not a single trace of red.

Yan Tuo let out a long breath, then laughed at his own inexplicable train of thought.

What was he thinking? It was just a little white ball. Had it really become a spirit, capable of drawing? And so professionally, with highlights and shadows no less?

Reality didn’t give Yan Tuo much time to dwell on this. Before he could track down that mysterious artist, a little over an hour later, while he was eating dinner in the cafeteria, he was caught off guard by an urgent distress call from Cao Yiman.

Corn in hand, half-eaten, Yan Tuo gave the order. The dozen or so criminal investigation team members remaining at the bureau mobilized in full force. Three police cars, blue emergency lights flashing, roared toward Nanmen Pedestrian Street in the lower city district.

What a coincidence. After receiving his orders, Cao Yiman and his partner Liu Bin had arrived in the lower city district. The very first beauty salon they visited—they stumbled right onto the needle they were looking for in that haystack.

It was a well-known large beauty salon on Nanmen Pedestrian Street called Tina’s Flower. Besides standard beauty treatments, it also offered some simple medical aesthetic procedures.

The moment Cao Yiman showed the altered sketch photo, the receptionist immediately recognized it, telling them it looked just like their boss lady, Zhang Liling. At that moment, she was at the bank next door handling business with the cashier, Sister Wang.

The two officers turned around from the front desk and hadn’t even started walking out when they locked eyes with a fashionable woman with long wavy hair just outside the glass door.

Perhaps it was the aura of their combined decades of police experience, or perhaps it was guilt on her part—the woman’s expression shifted noticeably. Instead of coming in when she reached the door, she urgently grabbed the middle-aged woman beside her, around forty-something, and turned to flee.

Cao Yiman and Liu Bin naturally gave chase. Joined by two other colleagues nearby, the four of them eventually cornered Zhang Liling at the dead end of an alley.

She didn’t surrender peacefully. From her handbag she produced a military knife, pressing it against the middle-aged woman’s throat as a hostage, putting up a desperate resistance.

With the hostage’s life threatened, the four officers dared not act rashly and could only send out a distress call.

In the police car, Fang Ping reported to Yan Tuo based on the information he’d just received: “Zhang Liling, height 169 cm, former name Zhang Yansheng. Her registered residence is in a village in Town X, City C, neighboring province. Seven years ago, after gender reassignment surgery, she applied to change her gender and name. She moved to this city three years ago and opened Tina’s Flower on the pedestrian street in the lower city district. No criminal record.”

Yan Tuo pondered for a moment: “It does match Dr. Zhao’s profile somewhat.”

Next to him sat Instructor Zhao Ge, who had also joined the operation as a negotiation expert. He asked with concern: “She’s taken a hostage—what are her demands?”

Yan Tuo shook his head. “Reportedly, she hasn’t made a sound. At this point, I don’t know if Old Cao and the others have made any progress.”

He then turned to the driver in the front seat and asked, “How much longer?”

Sun Lei, who was helping with the navigation, replied, “About twenty more minutes. We’re still in the evening rush hour, so it’s pretty congested.”

No matter how urgent he felt, there was nothing else to do for now. Yan Tuo checked his service weapon, ran through various emergency response plans in his head, then picked up the radio and instructed the two snipers in the following vehicle:

“Once we arrive on scene, get into position within 10 minutes and await the order to fire.”

At 7:15 PM, Nanmen Pedestrian Street in J City’s lower city district was bustling with people. Long lines formed outside several famous food stalls, the chatter and hawking cries mingling together in a lively midsummer evening scene.

Not far away in a side alley, the situation was starkly different. At the alley’s entrance, officers from the district police station had already set up a long yellow”cordon”.

Inside the cordon, a desperate fugitive with no escape held a hostage, facing off against several officers. Outside, a large crowd of onlookers had gathered, curiously watching the spectacle.

Yan Tuo and Zhao Ge crossed the “guard”line and slowly advanced forward. Before long, under the bright lights from nearby shops, they could clearly see the scene.