Skinner's Box (Fang Mu (Eastern Crimes)) by Lei Mi Page A

moment later he heard a faint ding . Feeling a bit disappointed, the child stared aimlessly out into the dark. In a few apartments in the building across from him the lights were still on, and through the thin window curtains he could still see people walking back and forth.
    A vague smile stretched across the child's face. He climbed onto the windowsill wearing nothing but his underwear and huddled against the chill, hands around his shoulders, and watched the lights of the other building in silence.
     
    The jurisdictional dispute over the case was quickly resolved. The Jiangbin City police relinquished their jurisdiction, leaving the Changhong City police in charge of overseeing pre-trial arrangements and transferring it to the prosecution. When Fang Mu heard the news, he told Bian Ping he wanted to follow up on the case. Bian Ping agreed.
    In Fang Mu's view, Luo Jiahai's motive made no sense. The case had three victims in total, of whom Shen Xiang's cause of death appeared very much to have been suicide, while the deaths of Sang Nannan and Qin Yumei had without a doubt been caused by Luo Jiahai. Sang Nannan had been stabbed more than 20 times, and Qin Yumei had met a cruel end, too. On the surface it looked like these two homicides had been done out of hatred. But what had been Luo Jiahai's fundamental motive to murder two different people in two different places? Furthermore, what was this smell Luo Jiahai kept emphasizing? If the basis of this smell was sex, then what was the story behind that?
    Fang Mu had gained access to some of the pre-trial case materials from the precinct. They showed that ever since his arrest, Luo Jiahai had been open and frank about his crimes, but had continued refusing to confess a motive. This in turn was an indication that he was already clinging to a stubborn determination to die, for he would undoubtedly be given the death sentence. However, in accordance with Chinese criminal law, if any fault of the victim had led to a crime of passion, then he could be given a deferred death sentence, which would mean a judicial review after two years of forced labor. So, if Luo Jiahai's killings were indeed found to be excusable, then he was actually abandoning his last chance to be spared the death penalty.
    To get the truth from the mouth of one who was determined with all his heart to die would be very, very difficult, but Fang Mu still planned on giving it a try. Besides, Luo Jiahai really did have a prior appointment with him.
     
    All the case-related material evidence had been transferred to Changhong City, including the corpses of two of the victims. On the day that Luo Jiahai was asked to identify the bodies, Fang Mu was at the Municipal Bureau also. He stood in the doorway to the morgue, watching distantly as Luo Jiahai was escorted down the hallway by two police officers.
    Luo Jiahai was stumbling because he was trying to walk too fast and his ankles were bound with a pair of heavy cuffs. He had his neck stretched out the whole way, and upon approaching the door to the morgue, his eyes began to tear up.
    He looked at Fang Mu with trembling lips, seeming about to say something by way of gratitude.
    Fang Mu felt rather awkward. He had not actually fulfilled his promise to allow Luo Jiahai to see Shen Xiang one more time; what was happening today was nothing more than a routine procedure to have him identify the bodies. Watching as the two cops pushed him into the morgue, Fang Mu considered this for a moment, and then pulled one of them aside. "After he's finished identifying the bodies, let him stay a while longer on the precondition that he does nothing to mess up the corpses."
    Soon the room had grown quiet apart from the heart-rending sound of weeping. The policeman was quite generous and gave him a full 15 minutes before the red-eyed Luo Jiahai was taken out, his face showing a mixture of lamentation and relief.
    Luo Jiahai wiped his nose with his sleeve, walked straight over to Fang Mu,