chapter 11
I called to arrange a meeting with Ms. Wu.
But after obtaining all the blood paintings, Ms. Wu seemed unwilling to meet. On the phone, she refused to see me, using work as her reason.
Since we couldn’t meet, I could only speak with Ms. Wu over the phone.
Dian Deng: “Ms. Wu, I’d like to take a few minutes of your time over the phone.”
Ms. Wu: “Please be quick.”
Dian Deng: “First, I’d like to borrow those three paintings from you.”
Ms. Wu: “Sorry, I’ve already put those three paintings away and I don’t plan to lend them out.”
Dian Deng: “Is that so? What a pity. Then, Ms. Wu, next I’d like to share an idea I’ve had. I hope you’ll listen to the end. It’s about the third person in the painting.”
Ms. Wu: “There isn’t a third person.”
Dian Deng: “I already said it’s just an idea-please hear me out.”
Ms. Wu: “Fine, go ahead.”
Dian Deng: “I suspect that besides kidnapping you, the perpetrator may have also kidnapped a second girl. The third person in that blood painting is another kidnapped girl.”
Ms. Wu: “Nonsense. There was no third person at the scene, and the police didn’t find a third person.”
Dian Deng: “What if there once was a third person, but she was killed several months before the police arrived?”
Ms. Wu: “What are you saying? Are you suspecting me? I was the victim!”
At that moment, I thought:
No one ever said a person can’t be both a victim and a perpetrator.
But I certainly couldn’t say that out loud, so I continued to soothe Ms. Wu.
Dian Deng: “Please don’t get upset. As I said, this is just a theory-please listen to the end.”
Ms. Wu: “Get on with it!”
Dian Deng: “When we first met, you said the perpetrator approached you with a knife, and you thought he was going to kill you too. There was a particular word in that sentence.”
‘Too.’
“Why would you say ‘too’? Did the perpetrator already kill someone before that?”
“If that’s the case, why did you never mention a third person after you were rescued, and instead keep silent about it?”
“Could it be that you also didn’t want the police to know about the third person? What are you afraid of?”
“Is it because that person’s death is related to you?”
Ms. Wu: “Nonsense.”
Dian Deng: “There’s a psychological condition called Stockholm syndrome. It refers to a mental disorder where, after prolonged oppression by a perpetrator, the victim loses their independent personality and begins to develop dependency and affection for the perpetrator.”
“Ms. Wu, you were in contact with the perpetrator for much longer than the third person. Is it possible that during this year of torment, you felt escape was hopeless, and thus developed Stockholm syndrome?”
“When you learned that the perpetrator had brought back a second girl, you felt jealous, believing the second girl was taking away the perpetrator’s attention to you.”
“On a certain day afterward, for some reason, the perpetrator decided to kill that girl. Because you had developed Stockholm syndrome, you joined in when the perpetrator acted.”
“You killed that girl together, and you became an accomplice.”
“Following this line of thought, on that day in 2017, you killed the perpetrator.”
“Though you claim it was in self-defense because you thought the perpetrator was going to kill you,”
“I believe there’s another possibility: you knew very well that the perpetrator intended to hold you hostage to negotiate with the police, not to kill you. But you quickly realized something else-if the police captured the perpetrator, then in his statement he would mention the existence of another girl and also reveal that you and the perpetrator killed her together.”
“If that’s really the case, you’ll be sentenced. You’ve already been imprisoned for two years, and you can’t bear the thought of losing your freedom again after being rescued.”
“So at that moment, in order to keep it a secret forever, you snatched the knife from the criminal and killed them.”
“I know I’ve said a lot, and you might feel I’m offending you, but I just don’t want to miss any possibility. I hope you understand.”
Ms. Wu listened to me, took a deep breath, and after a long pause, finally spoke.
Ms. Wu: “I’ve already said, the third person in the painting is just my imagination, and that character was a slip of the tongue. You don’t need to overthink it.”
Dian Deng: “But what if it’s true?”
Ms. Wu: “How can you prove it’s true?”
Dian Deng: “As long as you give me those three blood paintings.”
Ms. Wu: “…”
Dian Deng: “What’s wrong?”
Ms. Wu: “I have no obligation to give them to you.”
Dian Deng: “I’m afraid you can’t produce them anymore. My friend saw you burn the paintings with their own eyes. Why did you lie and say you hid them?”
Ms. Wu: “…”
Dian Deng: “Actually, I found it strange from the very beginning. If an ordinary person had gone through all that, they’d want to stay as far away from those memories as possible. But you actually wanted to collect the paintings from that time as keepsakes.”
“What’s even stranger is that you said you wanted to keep them as mementos, but secretly burned them? And you burned them immediately after getting them.”
“You’re obviously so busy, yet you made time in your hectic schedule just to burn a painting?”
“Why?”
“I’m afraid it’s because one of those three paintings could prove the existence of a third person.”
“These are blood paintings. As far as I know, DNA in blood can be preserved for a very long time under certain conditions.”
“Could it be that on the third blood painting, there’s blood from another girl?”
Ms. Wu: “…”
Dian Deng: “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Ms. Wu: “You tell a good story. I’m busy, I’m hanging up.”
Dian Deng: “Ms. Wu, do you know where I am right now?”
Ms. Wu: “Where?”
Dian Deng: “I’m standing in front of the house where you were imprisoned.”
Ms. Wu: “What are you doing there?”
Dian Deng: “According to the police report, after they rescued you, the case was closed. That means they didn’t follow homicide procedures to collect evidence at the scene. All these years, no one has lived in this house because of the kidnapping case, and the basement has remained untouched. If I call the police now and tell them about this possibility, is it possible they could extract that girl’s DNA from the basement?”
When Ms. Wu heard this, she was completely flustered.
Ms. Wu: “What do you want? Money? I have plenty of money.”
Dian Deng: “I want the truth, Ms. Wu. Please tell me the truth. Back then, you developed Stockholm syndrome and became the criminal’s accomplice, and together you killed another girl, didn’t you?”
Ms. Wu’s psychological defenses collapsed. She panicked and screamed at me.
Ms. Wu: “It wasn’t me!”
After saying that, Ms. Wu hung up.
I tried calling again, but no matter what, I couldn’t get through.
I stared at my phone, a bit dazed.
“It wasn’t me”?
What does “It wasn’t me” mean?
…