In spite of his requests, Internal Security refused to grant Qin full access to the video. All he got was that low-resolution picture presenting the intimate scene of Xiang and Geng holding each other in a massage room.

‘But what could that possibly mean for our investigation, Qin?’

‘For one thing, with the video posted online almost immediately after Xiang’s death, it has further convinced Internal Security in their original theory about the case being a political one, as they have suspected from the beginning.’

‘So they no longer take it as a possible part of the serial murder case?’

‘They see no connection among the victims, the first three being ordinary people, and then Xiang in relation to Geng being anything but ordinary. They are bent on pushing forward in the political direction. It’s being investigated as a deliberate attack against the Party image by making an example of a senior Party cadre like Geng.’

‘Then it’s not a case for our bureau.’

‘No, they do not say so. They cannot afford to rule out the possibility of its being a serial murder case yet, but they do not share the information with us. Not even the video. The way they talked, they may have had some leads. At least that’s the impression I’ve got. Anyway, Party Secretary Li is like an ant crawling on a hot wok, saying it’s not just an ordinary serial murder case involving ordinary people.’

‘Come on. No murder is an ordinary murder,’ Yu said crossly. ‘Any clue about the identity of the man who first posted the video online?’

‘Believe it or not, it was put on a computer in an Internet bar with a fake ID. The owner of the Internet bar could only remember that it was a middle-aged customer wearing a large mask and amber-colored glasses, which seemed not to be something so suspicious in these smoggy days, and he left just about ten minutes later. The surveillance camera there only got a blurred picture of his back.’

‘So it’s been well planned. But here’s a different question, Detective Qin. Xiang and Geng got married in spite of their age difference. The video about their intimacy in their prenuptial days – however graphic or pornographic – could only have been a huge embarrassment, but not an irrecoverable political disaster for him.’

‘I’ve thought about the same question too. And the Internal Security officer named Lao refused to give me any relevant details in that aspect. “Too politically confidential!” That’s about all Lao said to me. So how could it have led anywhere?’

‘For a political case, the release of the video at this moment does not make much sense.’

‘Could all the other killings have been something like the preparation for this final one? With all the public attention drawn to the killings, the old man would have been landed in a really tight spot.’

Yu did not think he could rule out the possibility, but it was too far-fetched.