chapter 8
We both stared at the painting, confused.
Friend: “Wait, why are there three people in this painting?”
…”
Friend: “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Dian Deng: “No way… Sorry, I need to go confirm something first.”
I took out my phone. At first, I wanted to call Ms. Wu, but thought her answer might be too one-sided, so I decided to call Officer Liu at the police station instead.
Officer Liu: “Hello?”
Dian Deng: “Officer Liu, it’s me.”
Officer Liu: “What’s up? Ms. Wu should have already contacted you, right?”
Dian Deng: “Yes, but why didn’t you tell us last night?”
Officer Liu: “Oh, about that… This case was handled by our captain. When the case happened, I was still in police academy. It was only this morning, when I mentioned the case to our captain, that he told me it had already been solved.”
Dian Deng: “Why did Ms. Wu contact us?”
Officer Liu: “I don’t know about that. All I know is that this morning, after our captain looked at those two photos, to be thorough, he specifically asked Ms. Wu to confirm the origin of the two paintings. Ms. Wu said the paintings were hers, and then asked the captain for your contact information.”
(Note: The original text contains garbled characters ‘ṱû₍’ in this section, which have been omitted in the translation as they appear to be a typing error. Please confirm with the client whether the source text is complete.)
Dian Deng: “I see. There’s one more thing I’d like to ask.”
Officer Liu: “Go ahead.”
Dian Deng: “When the police rescued Ms. Wu, were there only Ms. Wu and the perpetrator at the scene?”
Officer Liu: “Why do you ask?”
Dian Deng: “Just curious.”
Officer Liu: “That’s what our captain said. At the scene, there were only Ms. Wu and the perpetrator’s corpse. No one else.”
Dian Deng: “Did Ms. Wu mention anyone else in her statement?”
Officer Liu: “No. Why are you asking this? Did you discover something?”
Dian Deng: “No, just curious. Sorry to bother you, Officer Liu. Goodbye.”
Worried that Officer Liu would press further, I quickly hung up.
…
According to Officer Liu, there was no third person at the scene, and Ms. Wu never mentioned a third person.
Ms. Wu was kidnapped on March 11, 2015, and the date on this painting is April 7, 2016.
Thirteen months.
Thirteen months…
Come to think of it, at lunch, when Ms. Wu talked about the perpetrator coming at her with a knife, she said:
Ms. Wu: “At that time, I didn’t know the police had arrived. I simply thought he was tired of it and wanted to kill me too.”
That phrase: “wanted to kill me too.”
Why did Ms. Wu say “too”?
At that moment, a bold idea suddenly formed in my mind.
I looked at my friend and said,
“During her captivity, Ms. Wu might have been forced to give birth.”
My friend was so shocked he couldn’t speak. He picked up the blood-stained painting on the table, looked at the image, then at the date, and his mind exploded. He stammered for a long time.
Friend: “You can’t just say things like that.”
I said, “Look at the two dates: March 2015 and April 2016. That’s thirteen months – enough time to have a child! That third person is probably the child, and the date on the painting is likely the child’s birthday!”
“I just confirmed with the police: when Ms. Wu was rescued, there was no third person at the scene. Afterward, Ms. Wu never told the police or the court about a third person, but here in this painting, there is a third person.”
“Clearly, there was a third person. Why didn’t Ms. Wu mention it?”
“It means Ms. Wu didn’t want anyone to know! She must have been forced to give birth! Then, for some special reason, the perpetrator killed the child. After Ms. Wu was rescued, she didn’t want anyone to know, so she never brought it up.”
Friend: “This… this is just…”
I said, “Hurry up and arrange to meet Ms. Wu. Let’s return the painting to her in person, and I want to ask her about the child.”
Friend: “Oh, okay, I’ll set it up right now.”
…