Ren Yi stared at the charred ruins before him, forgetting to breathe for a long time. Anyone in such an environment would feel oppressed by the atmosphere.
Gong Yingxian handed him shoe covers and gloves. “Let’s go take a look.”
After putting them on, Ren Yi walked over step by step.
The area was covered with police barrier tape and evidence markers. As he examined the photographs, he tried to reconstruct the original positions of various pieces of evidence based on what he saw at the scene.
Following the various burn patterns, Ren Yi conducted a preliminary analysis. This was an extremely straightforward fire scene: gasoline, ignition, combustion. The key details—the point of origin, the accelerant, and the direction of fire spread—were all quite clear. Overall, the findings matched the Fire Investigation Division’s report.
Ren Yi was a little disappointed. He stood at the point of origin, staring blankly.
Gong Yingxian walked up beside him. “How is it? Have you found anything?”
Ren Yi shook his head, unwilling to give up. “I’ll take another look.”
Ren Yi examined the scene again, this time extremely carefully. Beneath a pile of charred fabric, he discovered an unusual mark. It was an incomplete square-shaped burn mark, only about the size of a palm. It was very easy to overlook for two reasons: first, it was hidden beneath the clothing; second, it was covered by the accelerant. The areas where the accelerant had flowed were marked by particularly obvious burns and scorch pits, making this mark seem very faint in comparison.
There was nothing especially unusual about it at first glance. It looked like the kind of mark left by a switch or electrical outlet, but Ren Yi remembered that none of the evidence photographs seemed to show anything similar. He went through the photographs again and, sure enough, found nothing.
Gong Yingxian crouched down. “What is this?”
“I’m not sure,” Ren Yi replied. “Judging by the size, it looks a little like a switch or an electrical outlet. But there clearly aren’t any floor outlets here. More importantly, there’s nothing of a similar shape among the evidence. It might have been washed away by the water during firefighting.”
Fire hoses exerted tremendous pressure and often washed away or damaged objects, especially things that had already been burned and had become fragile.
“Could it have been a wooden support for one of the stalls? This shelving unit is so heavy that perhaps it needed an additional support point.”
“That’s possible, too.”
“Shall we look around the scene for it?” After saying this, Gong Yingxian glanced at the hundreds of square meters of fire-ravaged ruins and drew in a sharp breath.
Ren Yi sighed. “Let’s search the nearby area.”
The two searched the surroundings for quite a while but found nothing of a similar shape. However, they made another discovery. Some incomplete shoeprints lay a considerable distance from the point of origin.
They were described as shoeprints rather than footprints because footprints were indentations caused by body weight pressing down, whereas shoeprints could reveal the tread pattern on the soles. Some of these marks displayed tread patterns, while others showed only indentations.
Ren Yi immediately became alert. Those shoeprints definitely did not belong to the firefighters or the investigators. Firefighters all wore standardized boots, and he recognized the sole patterns of every type. As for the investigators—whether police officers or members of the Fire Investigation Division—they wore gloves and shoe covers to protect the scene. Besides, these marks were in the opposite direction from the point of origin, far from the area investigators had concentrated on examining.
The shoeprints were strange. They appeared in scattered patches, disappearing and reappearing, and continued all the way to the exit.
“These prints must have appeared later,” Gong Yingxian said gravely. “During the initial investigation, no one could have overlooked such important traces. Someone came here under cover of night.”
“Didn’t you have anyone stationed at the scene?”
“We did for seven days. Eventually, we were so short-staffed that we had to withdraw them.” Gong Yingxian frowned. “These marks are so strange. I suspect the person was wearing shoe covers, but the covers were torn by something at the scene, and he didn’t notice.”
Ren Yi suddenly understood. “Right, that must be it. Otherwise, there’s no way the marks would be so strange.”
“Come with me.”
The two left Building A. Gong Yingxian took Ren Yi straight to the nearest trash can. When they reached it, Gong Yingxian raised an eyebrow, signaling for Ren Yi to check inside.
Ren Yi took a deep breath, held it, rolled up his sleeves, and plunged into the search.
“In a busy area like this, municipal garbage trucks would normally come by once a day. But now the entire area is sealed off, and only investigators and staff can come and go. These public trash cans may not have been emptied for several days,” Gong Yingxian explained.
Ren Yi searched quickly, then straightened up and gasped for air. “Nothing.”
“Let’s go around the building.”
Ren Yi had no desire to rummage through trash cans, especially not alone. But he knew that “Miss Gong” certainly wasn’t going to get his hands dirty.
Resigned to his fate, he searched through four trash cans in succession before finally pulling out a pair of shoe covers. There was a hole torn in the bottom.
Gong Yingxian held open an evidence bag. “Just as I thought. Someone came here. We just don’t know whether it was the arsonist.”
“He must have come back after you withdrew your people, and he chose the middle of the night. If we search the surveillance footage from the surrounding streets, we should be able to find him.”
“Mm. That narrows the search considerably.” Gong Yingxian gave a cold smile. “He’s left a trail after all.”
“But what did he come back to do? Take pictures? Livestream? That would be far too risky. Why would anyone take such a huge risk for a little money when the task force is keeping such a close eye on the case?”
“You’re right. The risk is far too great. It definitely wasn’t for money.” Gong Yingxian pondered. “In this situation, the most likely explanation is that he came to destroy evidence.”
Ren Yi cursed. “How did this person know when the police had withdrawn? And what evidence was he trying to destroy?”
“He seems very cautious, an arsonist with an awareness of counter-investigation techniques. He simply didn’t notice that his shoe cover had torn.” Gong Yingxian’s gaze darkened. “He knew he needed to return to the scene to destroy evidence, and he knew when the police would pull out. He’s an insider.”
Ren Yi felt his hands trembling. He could hardly imagine just how deeply the organization had infiltrated their ranks. There had clearly been a mole in the case nineteen years ago. Were they now facing the same predicament all over again?
Gong Yingxian’s expression was grim. “Although these shoeprints are incomplete, they’re sufficient for us to identify the shoe model. We have a very comprehensive shoeprint database. Once we identify the shoe, I’ll compare it against the footwear of everyone involved in the investigation.”
Ren Yi clenched his fists. Suddenly, he swung his leg up and kicked the trash can hard. He continued kicking it several times, but the furious anger surging inside him refused to subside.
In the end, Gong Yingxian grabbed hold of him. “That’s enough. You’re still injured. Don’t exert yourself like that.”
But Ren Yi turned his back, struggling to contain the hatred that made him want to kill someone.
He could remain calm and objective when dealing with other arson cases because he had been ordered to do so. But this fire had killed his brother. The resentment in his heart had never truly subsided; it was like a restless volcano. The police had originally been their greatest hope, and now he had discovered that even this hope might be unreliable. How could he not be furious? How could he not be disappointed?
Gong Yingxian watched Ren Yi’s back, unable to find the right words to comfort him. He could only stand silently beside him.
After a long while, Ren Yi finally regained control of his emotions. He turned around and looked at Gong Yingxian apologetically. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t angry with you.”
Gong Yingxian reached out and took hold of the back of Ren Yi’s neck, pressing his head against his shoulder. In a tone of voice so gentle that he himself didn’t even notice it, he said, “I understand.”
Psychologists divide the grieving process into several stages. Although the theories differ, anger is always an important and inevitable part of it. Not much time had passed since the incident, and Ren Yi’s anger was nowhere near gone. He was merely doing his best to suppress it. No one understood the pain of losing someone important better than Gong Yingxian did.
Ren Yi nuzzled his forehead into the hollow of Gong Yingxian’s shoulder, savoring this brief moment of peace and tenderness.
After all, they were standing on a public road, so they couldn’t afford to cling to each other for too long. They soon separated.
They returned to Building A, collected the shoeprint evidence, and examined the scene carefully once more. They didn’t leave until the light was fading.
Gong Yingxian drove Ren Yi back to the fire station. They continued discussing the case throughout the journey.
When they arrived at the station entrance, Ren Yi planted a quick kiss on Gong Yingxian’s cheek.
“Looks like we won’t see each other again until Chinese New Year,” he said, reluctant to part.
“Mm. It’s only a few days away. You need to be especially careful during this period.”
“Don’t worry. You too.” Ren Yi smiled. “I’ll get going, then.”
“Wait.” Gong Yingxian’s expression was unmistakably hesitant.
“What is it?”
Gong Yingxian paused, then took a document envelope out of the glove compartment. “The hospital sent this to me a couple of days ago. It’s the treatment plan for the second stage of your father’s treatment. It needs your signature. They should have sent it directly to you, but…”
“Oh, okay.” Ren Yi thought about the state he’d been in over the past few days. Even if they had mailed it to him, he probably wouldn’t have been able to deal with it. He picked up a pen and signed it without hesitation.
Gong Yingxian opened his mouth, a conflicted look flashing through his eyes. “Aren’t you going to read it?”
Ren Yi flipped through the pages carelessly and smiled. “Who the hell can understand this stuff? I recognize every word individually, but put them together and I can’t make heads or tails of it. Anyway, the first stage worked really well. Your doctors are seriously fucking amazing. Thank you.”
Gong Yingxian murmured a quiet “Mm.”
Ren Yi gazed deeply at him. “I really was upset just now. But after thinking about it, even if there are people in the police force who can’t be trusted, I trust you. You’ll catch those fucking bastards. You’ll avenge your family, my brother, and all those innocent people who died unjustly.”
Gong Yingxian’s lips trembled slightly. Slowly, he nodded.
“See you at Chinese New Year.” Ren Yi got out of the car and waved at Gong Yingxian before walking into the fire station.
Gong Yingxian watched Ren Yi’s retreating figure, then lowered his eyes to the contract on the passenger seat. Exhausted, he closed his eyes.