“We had an incredibly productive day today. We interrogated Zhou Chuan and Chen Pei, as well as Chen Pei’s two lackeys, arrested Chen Pei’s girlfriend, and seized a sum of stolen money.” Cai Qiang crossed one leg over the other. “Peng Fei will be here soon. Victory is within reach.”
Gong Yingxian said, “Ever since we caught Zhou Chuan on Fourth Perspective, he became more cautious. He stopped using his own computer for some important communications and instead went to places like Internet cafés and libraries. He said we were misled by that ‘arson exchange’ post. That post has nothing to do with the Wanyuan Community case, at least. A post like that is obviously made by a newcomer, or is simply someone bragging. Anyone who is actually planning to commit a crime would never leave any trace of public communication on Sachiel.”
“Then how do they communicate?” Ren Yi hesitated. “Could we have guessed wrong from the beginning? Were the Wanyuan Community case and the car-burning case not an arson exchange?”
“Whether it was an arson exchange or not, we’ll probably have to dig the truth out of Peng Fei. According to Zhou Chuan—and Xiao Tan recently made a similar discovery—Sachiel has an internal loyalty rating for its users. Based on factors such as how long a user has been registered, their level of activity, how much they spend, and how radical their statements are, users are gradually admitted into more secretive, higher-level areas. It’s a dark web within the dark web. Only people inside the organization know about it. Zhou Chuan never got in.”
“Then what evidence does Zhou Chuan have that can implicate Chen Pei?”
“Zhou Chuan said that, like him, Chen Pei doesn’t have an arson fetish. They were both ‘hired.’” Cai Qiang picked up the conversation. “By someone called ‘Red Flame.’”
“‘Red Flame’?” Qiu Yan murmured. “I missed too much this morning. Is ‘Red Flame’ a member of the organization?”
Cai Qiang nodded. “Zhou Chuan said that half of all the information he had about fires came from the media, and the other half came from this person called Red Flame. Red Flame had once paid him to set a fire, but he didn’t dare, so he only filmed and livestreamed things. He had heard the name Chen Pei from Red Flame before, but he didn’t know his real name and had never met him. Once Chen Pei was arrested, he put two and two together. And when Chen Pei set the fire, he must have recorded it, because that way he could not only collect his commission, but also sell the recording for a good price. Chen Pei’s recording is the best evidence.”
“Then where is the recording? And how did he communicate with Red Flame?”
“He wants to use the information about Red Flame to exchange for a reduced sentence. He won’t tell us yet. As for the recording, Chen Pei must still have it hidden somewhere. The police are investigating the case now, so Chen Pei would definitely wait until things quiet down before selling it.”
“So we still have to find the recording?” Ren Yi said. “Isn’t that like looking for a needle in a haystack?”
Gong Yingxian sneered. “One of Chen Pei’s lackeys has already confessed.”
Ren Yi slapped his hands together. “Great!”
“In the recording, you can tell that Chen Pei didn’t expect the fire to get out of control. He tried to stop it from spreading westward. Then his phone rang. He asked what he should do because the fire was too big, and the person on the other end instructed him to close the western windows and the stairwell door, while keeping the eastern windows and stairwell door open. During the conversation, he mentioned ‘2212’ twice—that is, Peng Fei’s home.”
“Can the call records be traced?”
“No. It was a disposable phone.”
“With evidence like this, Chen Pei can’t deny it anymore, right?”
“We’ve gone up against this guy seven or eight times. He’s always played dumb and refused to cooperate. This time, with the evidence conclusive, he finally confessed. He said he received a sum of cash to ignite the garbage piled in front of 2209 at a specified time and place. He thought it was broad daylight and the fire would be put out quickly. He didn’t expect it to get out of control. Then the person who hired him suddenly called, asked about the situation, and instructed him how to control the fire, specifically telling him not to let it burn 2212.”
“So Red Flame was nearby.” Ren Yi fell into thought. “Arsonists like to watch their masterpieces from around the crime scene. But… they usually like to do it themselves, because the process of setting the fire is what gives them the greatest pleasure. Why would he hand over such an ‘enjoyable’ process to someone else? This Red Flame partly fits the characteristics of an arsonist, but partly doesn’t.”
“That also confuses me. I have a theory,” Gong Yingxian said.
“What theory?”
“Do you know what a red flame is?”
Ren Yi froze for a moment. “…A red-colored flame.” For a moment, he couldn’t think of anything special about the name.
Qiu Yan’s eyes lit up. “Could it be referring to the temperature and color of a flame?”
Ren Yi suddenly understood. “I see! A red flame has a relatively low temperature compared with other flames!”
“Exactly. If the organization Zhou Chuan described really exists, there must inevitably be differences in rank among its members. That’s something no organizational structure can avoid. Let’s assume ‘Red Flame’ is a lower-level member. Then his actions may have been directed by someone higher up, so we can’t use his behavior to determine whether he has an arson fetish.”
Qiu Yan narrowed her eyes. “When Chen Pei set the fire, Red Flame was watching nearby. He probably realized that the fire was getting out of control, so he called Chen Pei and warned him not to let it burn 2212. But what is the relationship between Peng Fei and Red Flame? Based on what we know so far, the two are unlikely to be the same person.”
“I agree. They aren’t the same person. Both Zhou Chuan and Chen Pei said that Red Flame always contacted them through a single line. They had no way of contacting each other, so there was no way to trace the connection. Chen Pei had often done dirty jobs for people in the past. Red Flame somehow obtained his number, and he paid very readily. But Chen Pei had never met Red Flame. All he could determine was that he was a young or middle-aged man.”
“Then regarding your situation…” Ren Yi looked at Gong Yingxian. “Chen Pei learned about you from Red Flame too?”
Gong Yingxian shook his head. “As for that question, Chen Pei says he won’t answer until he sees me. Captain Qiu told me not to meet him for the time being, so it won’t affect the Wanyuan Community case.”
Qiu Yan said, “Chen Pei is a desperate criminal, not someone like Zhou Chuan who can easily be intimidated. He knows he’s unlikely to escape the death penalty, yet he’s still holding onto this secret and refusing to talk. He must have another purpose. I don’t think we can let him distract us right now.”
“Anyway, with all this evidence, I’d like to see how Peng Fei can still wriggle his way out of it.” Cai Qiang gave a heavy snort.
“The whole thing is becoming clearer and clearer. We just don’t know how Peng Fei became connected to Sachiel or that mysterious organization.”
Gong Yingxian said coldly, “We’ll wait for him to tell us himself in a little while.”
Although Ren Yi really wanted to see Peng Fei’s reaction to all this evidence with his own eyes, there was a leadership inspection that afternoon. Looking at the time, he realized he had to hurry back.
Gong Yingxian walked him to the meeting-room door. “Go back and take care of your work. I’ll call you tonight and tell you the result.”
“Okay.” Ren Yi looked at the slight dark circles beneath Gong Yingxian’s eyes. “Make sure you get some rest. Solving the case is important, but so is your health.”
“I’m fine. The closer I get to the truth, the more energetic I feel.” Gong Yingxian’s voice was low and solemn. “What we’re facing may not just be one or two arsonists, nor merely a website. It may be a criminal organization. Just thinking about that makes me feel like sleeping is a waste of time.”
Ren Yi pressed a hand against Gong Yingxian’s shoulder. “You can’t think like that. First, you’re not alone. You still have me, me and… Captain Qiu. Second, the more serious something is, the less likely it can be solved overnight. Don’t push yourself. We’re getting more clues every day. Victory will absolutely belong to justice, to us. Don’t be too impatient.”
Gong Yingxian looked at Ren Yi. “No wonder you’re a station captain. You’re pretty good at motivating people.”
“I’m good at lots of things.” Ren Yi grinned. “You’ve got plenty of time to discover them slowly.”
Gong Yingxian smiled faintly, then hesitated. “When will you be free again?”
“What is it?”
“When we interrogate Chen Pei again.” Gong Yingxian pursed his lips. “I want you to be there too.”
It wasn’t that he was afraid of Chen Pei. No matter how afraid he was of fire, he would face it, let alone one person. It was just that he had discovered that whenever Ren Yi was by his side, he became braver when facing anything. He could even approach the nightmare that had haunted him for his entire life for Ren Yi’s sake. With Ren Yi there, he felt that he could do more.
Ren Yi was delighted. “Of course. Absolutely. I’ll be there.” An indescribable warmth rose in his heart. The feeling of being valued and trusted by Gong Yingxian made him feel exceptionally secure and fulfilled.
Gong Yingxian’s heart also warmed. “Then, see you.”
“Bye.”
After saying goodbye to each other, neither of them moved even an inch. They continued staring at each other without blinking, as though both were waiting for the other to turn around, yet neither was willing to be the first to leave.
When they realized what they were doing, they both suddenly became inexplicably awkward.
Ren Yi pointed at the meeting-room door. “Y-You go in and get back to work.”
“…Mm.” Gong Yingxian nodded and retreated into the meeting room.
Ren Yi turned around and leaned against the wall, pressing a hand over his heart. A bitter smile appeared on his face.
He used to think that liking someone was simply a hormonal impulse, an intense desire, an endlessly erupting passion. And he wasn’t wrong. None of those things were wrong.
But it wasn’t until he met Gong Yingxian that he understood that before all of that, there was also the act of placing the other person on a pedestal and not daring to intrude upon them; that even an unintentional glance could make his heart race; even the slightest brush of elbows could set his thoughts running wild; even the rise and fall of someone’s voice at the end of a sentence was worth pondering over again and again.
This careful, fragile, glass-like affection.