Fateful Consequences: A Guardian Story

The Special Crimes Division floor was a hive of activity the following morning.

Zhao Yunlan had decided to test newbie Guo Changcheng's organisational ability by getting him to schedule the interviews with the Metropolitan University's staff and students the following day, and he was currently glued to the telephone.  Fortunately for the young officer, all the people he had spoken to on the list thus far had been reasonably accommodating.

Chu Shuzhi was also on the phone, chasing down Wen Kai's personal contacts with the help of Da Qing, and the team's forensics officers, Jiang Le and Song Ying, were gathering their gear together for a visit to the victim's home.

Zhao Yunlan himself was currently leaning over the shoulder of his tech expert, Lin Jing, as they peered at the CCTV footage from around the museum.  Unfortunately for them, the camera feed inside the building had been turned off that night for routine off-site maintenance.  It was a setback, but not an entirely unexpected one.  The killer would hardly have engineered such an elaborate tableau if he knew that his every move would be scrutinised after the fact.  Consequently, he must have known that he could go about his grisly business in secrecy.  Either that or it was simply a coincidence, and Zhao Yunlan did not believe in coincidences of that magnitude.

The police chief was not too disappointed by the lack of footage.  The fact that the murderer knew the cameras would be down that night was another mark in favour of his theory that this person was somehow connected with the museum.  Storing that thought away for the present time, he focussed his attention on the screen in front of him.

To his left, he noticed Lin Jing rubbing his face.

"We can take a break if you want," he offered.

The weary young man answered without taking his eyes from the computer.

"No thanks, Chief.  This is the last batch of footage anyway."  He clicked on another icon and a grainy image of the ramp down to the museum's loading bay appeared.

"Anything so far?" Zhao Yunlan's tone was hopeful, rather than expectant.  The museum's security systems were rather archaic, despite the priceless antiquities on display inside.

"Nothing that looks suspicious or out of the ordinary.  Just people coming and going, but it's virtually impossible to make out individual faces with this quality of recording.  Still, I can tell you that from what I have seen so far, no one entered the museum after hours, and no one left after the victim's time of death, although I have some more footage to view.  I should be finished within the next hour or so.  I'll give you a more definite answer then."

Taking that as his cue to leave, Zhao Yunlan walked back in the direction of his office.

Throwing himself into his chair, he noticed a new email notification on his laptop.  It was the forensic report from the museum.  He clicked on the attachment and began to read.

Curator Wen's office had shown no signs of blood or a struggle, but there were scuff marks on the marble floors leading from that room to the rear lobby that suggested someone wearing shoes was dragged through the corridors after the cleaners had been in and polished the floors, which was usually just after closing time.  On that basis, Wen Kai was most likely not dead, but he was unconscious when he left his office for the final time.  This matched up with the autopsy report, which listed a non-fatal blow to the back of the head among the injuries.

It was not a long journey between the two locations, but it still would have taken considerable effort to haul what was essentially dead weight down the corridors between the private staff offices and the back of the building.  Unless there was more than one killer, it was a good bet that they were looking for a male between the ages of 20 and 45, and in decent health.