Is This the Profile of the Killer

For the first time, Han Fei, who had always agreed with Xu Mo's views, felt that Xu Mo's judgment might be wrong.

He had a gut feeling that something was off about Xu Mo's reasoning, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly it was.

After some deliberation, however, he decided to give Xu Mo's suggestion a try.

After all, as Xu Mo had said, the only way to know if it would work was to try it—desperate times called for desperate measures.

With that thought, Han Fei immediately stood up, grabbed the case file, and walked out of the office.

Xu Mo followed closely behind.

Meanwhile, the officers in the office area were still buzzing about the scene they had witnessed earlier that morning, when Han Fei had called Xu Mo into his office first thing.

No one knew what Han Fei was up to or why he had summoned Xu Mo so early.

“They’re coming out—Captain Han and Captain Xu are coming out,” someone called out.

At that, everyone looked up and saw Han Fei and Xu Mo emerging.

The next moment, Han Fei raised the case file in his hand.

“Everyone, stop what you’re doing for a moment. I need to say something.”

Hearing this, the officers grew even more puzzled. It seemed Captain Han really did have something important to discuss.

“Three years ago, there was a case that the police station couldn’t solve, and it’s been sealed ever since. Just now, Captain Xu and I discussed it, and he came up with an idea… I need you all to help me look into whether there was someone in our district three years ago who was over thirty years old and suffering from a serious illness.”

The criteria were quite vague—there was no specific gender, exact age, or physical description provided. Almost everything was unknown, making it a challenging task.

There were plenty of people in the district over thirty, and many who had been seriously ill three years ago.

Without any precise information, sifting through the entire population of the district would be a massive undertaking. So, instead of tackling it alone on his computer, Han Fei decided to rally the officers to help, which would speed things up.

Upon hearing that it was for a case, the officers immediately got to work on their computers.

Those who had been at the station for more than three years were well aware of the unsolved case from back then. They also knew just how complicated it had been. When Han Fei brought it up, the officers who had been around for over three years instantly recalled it.

The case had been shelved due to too many unresolved questions, so it was surprising that Han Fei had decided to reopen it and continue the investigation.

But reopening the case was one thing—whether they could actually solve it was another matter entirely.

However, the officers were a bit confused by Han Fei’s request to find someone who had lived in the district three years ago, was over thirty, and had been seriously ill.

Was this a profile of the killer from that case? Why would the killer fit such a description?

Of course, confusion aside, the officers didn’t slow down their work. They were all searching for people who matched the criteria Han Fei had provided.

With many hands making light work, it took only five minutes before an officer found the first potential match.

“Captain Han, I’ve found one. His name is Tang Xingteng, male. He was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer three years ago, but he passed away three years ago at the age of sixty-four.”

Having seen the note in the pouch, Xu Mo knew the killer’s identity, but he couldn’t just tell Han Fei outright.

Xu Mo was certain that this elderly man, Tang Xingteng, wasn’t the killer.

Just then, Han Fei glanced at Xu Mo.

Xu Mo shook his head without hesitation. “It can’t be him.”

His reasoning was simple.

“Tang Xingteng was sixty-four three years ago and had liver cancer. At that age and with that condition, just getting out of bed would have been a struggle, let alone committing murder. He didn’t have the capability.”

Han Fei thought that made sense, so he shook his head at the officer.

“Not this person. Keep looking. See if there are any others who fit the criteria.”

Three minutes later, another officer found a second potential match.

“Captain Han, I’ve found one too. Her name is Shan Langli, female, with congenital heart disease. She’s forty years old now.”

This time, Han Fei also shook his head.

“Not her either. Keep searching.”

He knew a bit about heart disease. Patients with heart conditions couldn’t handle stress, as even the slightest emotional fluctuation could be life-threatening.

Someone committing murder for the first time would undoubtedly experience intense emotions—whether fear or excitement—and a heart patient wouldn’t be able to withstand such emotional turmoil.

Moreover, heart patients generally couldn’t engage in strenuous activities or heavy labor.

Murder and cleaning up a crime scene were hardly light tasks—even a healthy person would struggle, let alone someone with a heart condition.

Over the next hour, the officers identified over a dozen more people who matched the criteria, but Xu Mo found excuses to clear each one of suspicion.

None of them were the killer from the case three years ago.

Until…

“Captain Han, Captain Xu, I’ve found another one. His name is Qiu Yuanhang. He was diagnosed with liver cancer three years ago, but it turned out to be a misdiagnosis. He sued the hospital in a fit of anger and later used the compensation money to start a business. He must have done well because he’s been donating to charity ever since.”

The officer added, “Captain Han, I don’t think this is the person you’re looking for either. He seems like a decent guy—making money and giving back to society. I doubt he’s the killer from that case.”

Given that none of the previous matches had panned out, and considering Qiu Yuanhang’s charitable contributions, the officer had a good impression of him and assumed he couldn’t be the one Han Fei was looking for.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Xu Mo suddenly spoke up, sounding “excited.”

“No, Qiu Yuanhang is a suspect—a strong suspect!”

“Captain Han, I just remembered a flaw in my earlier reasoning.”

“Do you recall what I told you in the office? The killer was someone who, because of his own serious illness, grew furious at seeing young people who were perfectly healthy but constantly talked about not wanting to live. That’s why he wanted to kill those who kept saying, ‘I don’t want to live anymore.’”

“I remember,” Han Fei nodded.

Xu Mo continued.

“But there are countless healthy people who constantly say, ‘I don’t want to live anymore.’ Why did the killer only kill nine of them?”

At this point, Han Fei began to understand what Xu Mo was getting at.

“Are you saying… the killer wasn’t actually seriously ill? He was just misdiagnosed? And he stopped after nine killings because he found out it was a misdiagnosis?”

“Exactly,” Xu Mo nodded. “Of course, there’s another possibility…”