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When Mary walked out of the classroom, she shared with us that she had gathered some useful clues. Shortly after, Wang Mai also exited the classroom. Looking into the distance, Wang Mai ignored us and walked away on his own. The last class of the day was about to end. Watching Wang Mai's retreating figure filled me with a sense of unease, yet there was nothing I could do.
We could help Wang Mai for a moment, but we couldn't support him for a lifetime. Years of accumulation had shaped him into this state; would he be able to live well in the future?
Mary glanced at Wang Mai before turning back to us and said, "The abstract style, specifically the Constructivist period of Mark Rothko's painting, expresses a minimalist understanding of one's inner self. It reveals a person's internal conflict and impulses. I think his way of closing himself off is a sign of potential mental fragmentation..."
Gu Chen waved his hand and interjected, "Mary, please spare us the things we don't understand. Just tell us what useful information you have."
Leaning against the wall, Mary replied, "To understand a person's heart, you first need to know what they enjoy doing. He doesn't share any common language with you all, but when I mentioned Mark Rothko's name, he opened up completely. Wang Mai fell ill during this time; his family didn't have much money, so they neglected him."
We leaned against the wall as we listened to Mary's account.
Mary continued, "Afterward, he did recover from the fever, but it left him with a problem where he couldn't hear people clearly. His family didn't pay much attention to it either. He later quietly asked a doctor if he could have been treated effectively at the beginning; there might have been a chance to heal him, but now it's impossible."
Mary looked at me and said, "His hearing isn't very good; he needs to face someone directly to hear clearly. It's not that he has a stutter; it's just an issue with his hearing. When he speaks, his words can be unclear. However, every time he tries to talk, friends laugh at him. Over time, he's become increasingly afraid of being mocked whenever he opens his mouth; the less he speaks, the worse his stutter becomes."
"It's been seven or eight years now, and he's become like this," Mary sighed heavily. "But that's not all; I've obtained two crucial pieces of information. First, I found out who else has bullied him. From what he told me, I clearly learned that more than half of our classmates have bullied him at some point, but most were just following the crowd."
I nodded in agreement. "Yes, I know this too. He encountered classmates who wouldn't fight back or retort; it turned him into a dumping ground for their frustrations."
Mary continued, "We won't bother with those classmates; they either vent their own negative feelings or just join in for fun. But there are a few who are the main instigators: Liang Zhengyu from Fourth Grade Class One, Guo Li from Fifth Grade Class Two, Li Jun from Second Grade Class One, and Yang Ting from Second Grade Class One."
Mary held up four fingers and said, "These four are the ones who frequently lead in bullying him."
Gu Chen frowned as he gently tapped on the wall with his fingers. "These four aren't even from the same class or grade; how did they come together? Moreover, these second graders are only eight or nine years old—how could they bully a Fourth Grader?"
I replied, "Humans are social creatures; even animals understand that collective strength is powerful. A second grader might not necessarily be unable to bully a Fourth Grader. The real question is how these individuals came together. Their names sound like they include both boys and girls and span different ages—that's what matters."
Mary continued, "I raised the same question, but Wang Mai didn't know how they ended up mixing together. According to Wang Mai, these individuals are the troublemakers in the class who enjoy bullying others. Over time, these troublemakers got to know each other and seemed to have formed some sort of gang, appointing one person as their leader."
At this point, Mary frowned and said, "These people usually go against the teachers, getting into fights and bullying others. No one in the class dares to stand up to them; they even have sycophants running errands for them, buying things and delivering love letters."
"A gang?" Gu Chen scoffed. "They're forming cliques at such a young age."
Mary replied, "Kids these days are much more mature than you were back then. When Wang Mai was being bullied, she overheard their discussions. Although they fight together, Wang Mai never knew who their leader was; that person has always been elusive."
I gently rubbed my temple and said slowly, "Not knowing who this person is makes them seem so mysterious."
"Even if they're mysterious, they're still just a student," Gu Chen remarked. "Now that Li Jun is dead and Liang Zhengyu is dead, there are still two people left: Guo Li and Yang Ting."
"Let's go," I said to both of them. "It's been a while; the School Leader must have organized the information by now."
Gu Chen called the School Leader, and we headed to the office. The School Leader welcomed us into the office and said, "I've been waiting for you. I've already organized everything; I just didn't want to disturb you since I knew you were investigating."
Taking the documents from him, I saw that the School Leader had indeed circled everything I had previously instructed him about.
I flipped through the pages while saying to Gu Chen and Mary beside me, "The students with circles around their names are the troublemakers in class. The parents of these students have relatively high educational backgrounds and decent jobs."
As I examined the information further, I noticed that there weren't many names circled on each page, but the names of those four individuals were highlighted in red. I turned to the School Leader and said, "It's getting late; school has already let out for lunch. In the afternoon, please bring me those two students."
I was referring to Guo Li and Yang Ting.
School Leader nodded.
I continued to look through the remaining information, noticing a few more individuals circled in red, from various classes.
"And the people in this circle, let's arrange to meet them this afternoon. We'll talk to them one by one," I said.
School Leader replied, "Alright, I'll take care of that."
I kept examining the data, searching for useful information.
The parents who were circled weren't many; roughly estimating, there were about a dozen or so. These individuals fit my profile of potential suspects. They were all around thirty years old, had relatively high educational backgrounds, and held better jobs compared to others, yet they still fell into the low-income category compared to those in Dongxing City.
I spoke up, "Find these students for me this afternoon."
"Gu Chen." I pointed at these individuals and said, "Tell Chen Bo to look into their backgrounds. If this person truly has a grudge against Taishan Academy, their child may have been abused. Especially these three."
As I indicated three parents, the corresponding children who had transferred schools were two boys and one girl. All three parents had higher education levels, and since these children had transferred schools, it was quite possible that abuse was the reason behind their transfer.
After transferring, if the parents were furious enough to resort to murder, that motive seemed quite reasonable. I thought that apart from parents like Wang Mai's who were timid and endured in silence, most parents would likely want to kill if they saw such scars on their children.
Gu Chen called Chen Bo, providing him with the information about these three individuals. Meanwhile, Chen Bo was still investigating the Fishhook and fishing line case but had not made much progress. From the updates coming from Chen Bo, it seemed unlikely that we would uncover anything from that angle.
I picked up the phone and said to Chen Bo: "Hey Chen Bo, pursuing the fishing line as a breakthrough might not be successful. Send some people to investigate; we can't miss any opportunity to catch the Murderer. However, focus on investigating these three individuals' backgrounds now, especially where their children are currently enrolled."
Chen Bo responded, "No problem, I'll start looking into it right away. Has the Murderer called you back yet?"
I said, "No, but I think it will be soon. We have already investigated the potential targets of the Murderer, so I believe it will be difficult for the Murderer to strike again."
Chen Bo nodded and said, "That's good. In that case, I'll get back to work. If I find any information, I'll call Gu Chen."
After hanging up the phone, I glanced at the screen; it was already past one o'clock. I turned to everyone and said, "It's time for a meal. Let's eat, especially you, Mary. You just arrived, so today I'm treating you to a feast!"
Mary smiled and replied, "Then today I might just eat you into bankruptcy."
I chuckled and said, "With that stomach of yours, how much can you really eat?"
The three of us casually found a restaurant to dine in, ordered several dishes, and began to devour them hungrily.
I raised my glass and said, "During the investigation of the case, we could be called out at any moment, so let's skip the alcohol. For now, I'll toast with water. Here's to our victory with Mary! Now that we have three people together, it won't be long before our Special Operations Group can laugh and chat again!"
"Exactly!" Mary said. "It's great to have such an optimistic mindset. Finally, our team members are gathering together."
Just as we were celebrating, the door to our private room suddenly swung open. We looked over to see the School Leader; he knew we were here having a meal.
The School Leader was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath as he leaned against the wall, trembling uncontrollably.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Not good! Not good!" he stammered.
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