I found a small bottle and put in some of Yu Jun's blood. Since he had confessed everything, I had to keep my promise and make sure he wouldn't die today!
We went downstairs and saw Group Leader Liao and a bunch of police officers waiting downstairs. People who didn't know the situation probably thought there was going to be an earthquake tonight. I said, "The suspect has confessed. Go upstairs and take his statement."
Liao Leader was shocked. "Song Yang, how did you get him to confess?"
I smiled. "Just a little trick. It's 11:30 now. I'm going to feed Yu Jun's blood to the Fortune Cat Statue. No one will be in danger. Go on home."
I knew they weren't cowards. They had seen the power of the curse firsthand and didn't fully understand this kind of bio-magnetic field. That's why Yu Jun's threats had scared them. So I didn't blame them.
The Fortune Cat Statue was in Liao Leader's car. We asked for his keys and went to the parking garage. But when we found the car, we were surprised to see the window glass had been smashed and there was nothing in the back seat!
Huang Xiaotao turned pale. "How could this be? These are all cars here. If someone smashed the glass, the alarm would go off and the whole parking garage would be blaring. We're at the police station. Why didn't we hear anything?"
"Unless some supernatural force was at work..."
I took out some flour and sprinkled it on the car door. A small handprint appeared. I immediately thought of the little girl from that night!
Huang Xiaotao said, "Wasn't she picked up by her relatives?"
I recalled the scene at the time. The little girl and the cat statue had appeared together. There was a possibility—the little girl had also been on the cat statue's hit list, but for some reason it had spared the girl, on the condition that she help it escape.
This reasoning had gone completely beyond reality, but logically it was possible.
I said, "Let's split up and search. Get it back before midnight. We can't let the suspect just die like this!"
We split up to search. Time trickled away. Near midnight, Huang Xiaotao called to say she had found the little girl on an overpass, along with the cat statue.
I rushed over. Wang Yuanchao had gotten there first and they stood at both ends of the overpass, guns raised. The little girl hugged the cat statue in the middle.
"Be good and give that to me. Don't make trouble!" Huang Xiaotao held out her hand.
The girl's eyes were normal—she wasn't possessed by the statue. She clung tightly to it without saying a word.
I urged, "Huang Yuanyuan, your parents' killer has confessed. He will get the death penalty. You don't need to punish him like this to such an extreme!"
Seeing she paid me no mind, I took a step closer. "Listen to me. Give that thing to big brother!"
The girl suddenly raised both hands and held the cat statue outside the bridge. Our hearts leapt into our throats.
In a soft voice she said, "After my mom and dad died, this little cat found me. It confessed to me that it had killed my dad and mom, but I'm not mad at it at all, because it wasn't acting on its own will..."
I said in surprise, "You can communicate with it?"
"I can understand its words." The girl nodded.
I had heard that children have innocent eyes and can see supernatural things. This seemed to be true.
The girl went on, "I know bad people forced it to do that. It's pitiful too, so I decided to help it out a bit."
"The bad people will be punished by law. Just hand that thing over to us." I said.
The girl spoke passionately. "No! It's not a thing. It's just a poor little kitty! I don't believe you adults. In your eyes it's just a tool to get rich. Once you get it, you'll keep using it to do bad things."
"You're wrong. Adults have good and bad too." I explained.
But she shook her head vigorously. Her slender arms held up the heavy statue, as if she could barely support it anymore.
Huang Xiaotao reminded me, "Song Yang, there's one minute left."
Just then, the girl threw the cat statue off the bridge. It smashed onto the road below. We cried out at the same time. I rushed to the railing and searched below with my Cave Abyss Eyes, but the cat corpse inside the shattered fragments of the statue was gone without a trace.
Then I heard a "meow." I looked up to see a pitch black cat perched in a roadside tree, gazing at us meaningfully, perhaps saying thanks to the little girl who had helped it regain its freedom. Then it leaped away out of sight.
"It's free!" The girl jumped up happily.
"Will it go back to take revenge on Yu Jun who enslaved it?" Huang Xiaotao asked.
"It's possible!"
I had Wang Yuanchao take the girl back, then Huang Xiaotao and I hurried to the police station. On the way we ran into Wang Dali, who had finally arrived. He asked, "Did you find him?"
Huang Xiaotao scornfully glanced at him. "Relying on you to be useful? Pigs will climb trees first."
When we got back to the police station, it was past midnight, but Yu Jun was still alive. We all breathed a sigh of relief.
The case was finally closed. Judicial proceedings would follow, but that wasn't our concern anymore. The day had worn us out. We went back and slept until 9am the next morning. At noon Huang Xiaotao treated us to a nice Sichuan restaurant. In the afternoon we got ready to leave.
Liao Leader and the other officers saw us off. As we left, Liao Leader said, "Song Yang, we have you to thank for cracking this case. I won't go on about who did what. If the killer hadn't been caught, many more would have fallen victim and we would have been helpless. On behalf of the people of Wuquan City, I thank you!"
He and the officers saluted me. I was so embarrassed by this scene. I just smiled humbly. "You're praising me too much, Liao Leader. I just got lucky."
Liao Leader sighed. "With your earthshaking talents, it's a shame you don't become a cop."
I laughed. "Not being a cop doesn't mean I can't make contributions to society. We have the same goal—to punish criminals and resolve injustice."
"You're always welcome to come play in Wuquan," Liao Leader said. "The whole Wuquan police force owes you a huge favor. If you ever run into any trouble here, we'll surely help you with all our might!"
"You're too polite, Liao Leader. I'll come visit when I have time."
From Liao Leader I learned Yu Jun had been transferred to detention center. Chief Cheng had personally gone to the provincial high people's court to discuss how to try this special case. Next I asked about Bai Yidao and Luo Weiwei's circumstances. Liao Leader said, "Bai Yidao was disciplined by the bureau for dereliction of duty—suspended for one year. Luo Weiwei came to work today, but she seems to really dislike you."
Of course Luo Weiwei disliked me. Huang Xiaotao jeered, "Having a chief dad is nice. You can commit huge mistakes and not go to jail."
I also asked, "What about the little girl? She damaged evidence. You won't charge her, right?"
"She's only 12 years old, so she's not criminally responsible. But her relatives did have to pay for the damage to my car window." Liao Leader laughed. "What do you think, Song Yang?"
"Let her off the hook. She was right. In all our eyes the cat statue was just a tool, but she knew it was just a little cat longing for freedom. I think this outcome was probably heaven's arrangement." I looked up at the bright blue sky.
Liao Leader nodded thoughtfully.
After bidding Liao Leader farewell, we drove back to Nanjiang City. Wang Dali slept in the back seat, having eaten too much at lunch. Wang Yuanchao relaxed with a little wine.
Huang Xiaotao and I didn't talk the whole way, but at one point she accidentally brushed my hand. We looked at each other and smiled tacitly.