“Really!” Yu said. “Your paper must be an interesting one, but first tell me about the contradictions in the case.”
“Let me start by telling you about my paper, briefly,” Chen said. “I’ve read a few classical romance stories, and I’ve been confused by their contradicting messages. This reminded me of something in the red mandarin dress.”
“Or vice versa,” Yu said grumpily. That was just like his bookish boss. They had three murder victims, and the chief inspector actually wanted to discuss his literature paper.
“In psychoanalysis, a patient may have problems or contradictions beyond his own comprehension, and an analyst is supposed to find the cause embedded within the subconscious. I tried to focus on the contradictions in this case too, especially with regards to the red mandarin dress. So I have put together a list.”
“Now you have another list.”
Chen ignored him. “To begin with, the contradiction between the graceful dress and the obscene pose.”
“I think we discussed that last time. He could have been hurt by someone wearing such a dress,” Yu said. “And, according to Liao, by a girl in the sex business.”
“That leads to another contradiction relevant to Liao’s theory,” Chen said. “The dress is too conservative for a three-accompanying girl. Too old-fashioned. According to Mr. Shen, it was probably made more than ten years ago, and made in a style that dates back even further. There was no entertaining business at that time, nor three-accompanying girls.”
“No, I don’t think there was.”
“Then there is all the attention to the details of the dress. It’s not a dress likely to be affordable for a three-accompanying girl. The dress is exquisite, made with high-quality craftsmanship.”
“Yes, Mr. Shen has mentioned that.”
“And then the torn slits on the dress. White Cloud did an experiment for me.”
“So you have her working as your assistant,” Yu said, remembering what Peiqin said about the possible relationship of the two. “What experiment?”
“Well, she knows much more about the dress than I do. She demonstrated that there’s no way that the slits could be torn accidentally, no matter how roughly the dress is put on. In other words, the criminal must have deliberately torn them. With no sexual assault, no penetration or ejaculation, why would he insist on such an appearance? There must be a reason for it.”
“You mean it’s not for the sake of misleading us, but a reason understandable only to himself?”
“Possibly not even understandable to himself. More like a ritual. Only with the victim in the mandarin dress, with all the details observed, like torn slits, bare feet, loose bosom buttons, and the obscene pose, of course, does the ritual become complete. For him, only part of the kick is physiological. The other part may come from the ritualistic behavior that accompanies acts of sexual perversion. Again, not unlike those romantic stories, the contradictions may hardly be comprehensible to the author. So why?”
“Why?” Yu echoed, noticing another group of people swarming around the shrub grove. There was also a TV station car pulling up nearby, causing a temporary traffic jam. “I haven’t studied psychology, but I know a patient has to sit and talk in front of a doctor. In our case, with no clues as to the identity of the criminal, how and what can we analyze?”
It was an issue Yu had raised last time, and Chen hadn’t been able to give him a real answer.
“Well, by analyzing those contradictions, we may still come to know something.”
“Really, Chief!”
“To begin with, the style and material for the dress probably came from the sixties. Possibly the early sixties, but not after the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Based on Mr. Shen’s opinion, we may assume it’s a conservative style for a married woman in her thirties. If this original mandarin dress wearer were alive today, she would be in her mid-sixties or seventies.”
“So you are now talking about the original mandarin dress wearer thirty years ago?” Yu asked.
“Doesn’t Liao also believe that the case is related to the original mandarin dress wearer? For me, it’s just another wearer, of different social status and age than Liao assumed. And following that, it leads to the man connected to her. Let’s assume for the moment that he was the same age. If so, now he would be in his sixties or possibly seventies.”
“Yes?” Yu said in exasperated confusion. “How does all that come into your picture?”
“Now for our serial murderer. Three victims in three weeks, the bodies dumped at three public locations. Do you think an old man could have been up to the task? Just now I stood by the shrub grove for several minutes. Not once could a car have slowed down or pulled up there without other cars behind it honking like mad. So if he pushed the body out while driving, most likely he would have been seen by the cars behind him, even at night. He must have driven around several times, I believe, before he would have been able to pull it off.”
“That’s true. To dispose of the bodies like that, one would have to be really quick and agile.”
“So the murderer has to be no older than a middle-aged man. But if so, the one connected to the original mandarin dress wearer was, at the time, only a boy.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“That’s another contradiction, to be sure, but again in these psychological studies, there’s something called Oedipus complex.”
“Oedipus complex?” Yu repeated.
“A son’s subconscious sexual desire for his mother.”
“What? That’s supposed to help us find a boy who grew into a middle-aged man who is capable of committing three murder cases in three weeks?” Yu said without trying to conceal the satire in his tone. “That’s totally beyond me.”
Yu had never heard of the so-called Oedipus complex. Absurd as it might sound, however, it was not unlike the chief inspector, who was known for his unorthodox ways.
“No, I don’t think it’s too likely, either,” Chen said in an unperturbed way, “but according to the theory, he’s probably a middle-aged man with a traumatic experience in his childhood, possibly during the Cultural Revolution. And he must have had conflicting feelings toward the woman who wore the original mandarin dress.”
“That’s a novel theory indeed,” Yu exclaimed. “So after waiting twenty years, his passion for his mother suddenly drove him into a frenzied killing streak.”
“It’s not my theory, Yu,” Chen said. “Still, it explains some of the contradictions.”
Yu regretted his satirical comment to his boss. After all, Chen had been thinking hard about the case, checking through his books. Still, his approach appeared to be too psychological, too academic.
“Oh, some people are talking about your vacation during the investigation,” Yu said, changing the subject.
“Let them complain. Just tell them I’m too busy with my paper.”
“But even Old Hunter says that you could put your paper aside for a short while.”
“That’s exactly what I am going to do, but we don’t have to tell the others.”
A young couple came over. After looking around for several minutes, they chose to sit on the bench, beside the two cops. This wasn’t unusual on the Bund. While there were more and more places for young people in the city, the Bund was still the number-one spot. There were all the colorful vessels sailing in the background and the romantic memories of the city still vibrant in the impressive neocolonial buildings. Besides, it was free. So lovers would take any available seat on the Bund. That made it impossible, however, for Chen and Yu to continue their discussion of the murders.
“So are you going to push ahead with your theory?” Yu said, rising.
“It’s just a theory in books,” Chen said. “In fact, your focus on the possible triggering factor in Jasmine’s murder may be the right direction. But we may have to move back further in history.”