Netherworld Investigator

Chapter 409

Early the next morning, I headed to the station to see Xiaotao. It turned out she had stayed up all night checking the bank accounts of the four young masters all the way till dawn before laying her head on her desk for a short nap.

I went out and got us coffee and breakfast. When I called out to her, Xiaotao lifted her head and rubbed her eyes sleepily, "Song Yang, you’re here!"

"Why work yourself so hard?" I sighed, feeling rather distressed for her.

Xiaotao tore open the sandwich bag and took a bite, "The old man was crying for his daughter in the detention room last night. How could I go home and sleep with a peace of mind? What happened last night seemed to fuel the entire task force. We all agreed that the murderers cannot escape the law, otherwise we’d be forsaking the badge we so proudly wear."

“Did you find anything?" I asked.

Xiaotao made a quick phone call and an officer soon sent over a document. "Captain Huang, we’ve checked their bank accounts, credit cards and insurance. The largest expense they’ve made is 200,000 yuan."

"I don’t think that’s enough to pay for the Dog Trainer," I said, shaking my head.

Xiaotao opened the file, glancing through before handing it over to me. The details of their recent income and expenditures were included. The daily consumption of these second-generation rich kids was nothing short of incredible. The money was paid to a wine company; they spent 200,000 yuan just to buy a bottle of wine.

The total expenses of these four young masters added up to more than two million yuan a week. However, the transactions were all separate and used for miscellaneous items. It seemed we hadn’t found the clue we were searching for.

A thought suddenly crossed my mind, "Did they call the lawyers yesterday?"

"No, the lawyers came by themselves!"

I chuckled, "We’ve completely ignored something important. It wasn’t the kids who hired the Dog Trainer to clean up after their mess. It’s their rich daddies!"

"Check the transactions made by the suspects’ fathers," Xiaotao instructed the officer.

Shortly after the officer left, there was a commotion outside. Wang Yuanchao returned with four people in custody. Last night, Xiaotao ordered Wang Yuanchao to investigate the latest murder. He visited the residents nearby and managed to obtain the surveillance videos in the area. The license plate number of the murderers caught on camera led him to them.

The four suspects were a muscular man in his forties, a skinny middle-aged man who wore glasses, a sixty-year-old man, and an effeminate man with beautiful skin who resembled a model or makeup artist.

I grabbed one of them by the hand and found all his fingerprints corroded by chemicals.

"What do the four of you do?" I asked.

They answered one after the other, reporting their occupations–chefs, teacher, retiree and advertisement model. What surprised me was how different they were from each other yet committed a crime together.

"How much did the Dog Trainer give you to do this?" I added.

"I don’t understand what you’re saying,” replied the effeminate man. “We committed the murders and now you’ve arrested us. We’re guilty!"

Xiaotao waved her hand, "Alright, take them away for interrogation."

The four confessed to the crime which was undoubtedly arranged by the Dog Trainer. The man actually managed to find four people willing to take the blame.

During the interrogation, I watched outside the room. Xiaotao asked if I made any discoveries. "Their expressions are strange, very numb. When they confessed their crimes, it was as if they were talking about someone else, completely ignoring the fact that they might lose their lives."

"Were they hypnotized?" speculated Xiaotao.

I shook my head, "They are awake and conscious. It doesn’t seem like hypnosis but perhaps voluntary sacrifice. I don’t understand how the Dog Trainer managed to persuade them. Even if he gave them all the money in the world, what’s the point if they lose their lives?"

Xiaotao suddenly blurted, "Remember the guy from the human pig case?"

The realization suddenly dawned upon me as I recalled the fake Kong Hui with the same look of numbness.

"Where’s that man now?" I asked.

"At the time, he was arrested for obstructing justice. After all, he hadn’t really killed people so he was soon released. However, according to case files, this man has no fingerprints. We’ve been unable to determine his true identity."

"Dog Trainer..." I wondered out loud. "It seems that the ‘dogs’ he trained are the people who volunteer to die for the organization. This guy has amazing skills!"

Although the case was concluded, we could hardly muster up any enthusiasm. At the end of the interrogation, I said, "Let’s speak to them!"

Xiaotao told the interrogators to switch with us. Then, we entered the room and sat in front of the effeminate man.

"What else do you want?” he snapped. “Haven’t I already confessed to everything? You guys are so inefficient!"

I fired three questions in a row, "What’s your name? What do you do? Did you participate in all three murders?"

This was a technique used in lie detection, combining irrelevant questions with important ones. The man answered them one by one with the same blank expression which seemed all the more bizarre. His eyes were dull as if he had no soul, and he rarely made eye contact with us.

"Why sell your life to the Dog Trainer?" I stared fixedly into his eyes.

"I don’t know what you are talking about," the man smiled.

Right then, Xiaotao took out a bottle of milk and placed it on the table. As I activated the Eyes of Yama, the man broke out in ear-splitting screams. When I finally looked away, his expression had undergone a dramatic change, his voice laced with panic. "Master, master! I will always be your most loyal dog, I will not betray you. Woof, woof... Woof, woof!"

Xiaotao and I exchanged a meaningful look–the man was crazy. Just as I was about to go over to check the authenticity of his crazy act, Xiaotao stopped me. "Don’t touch him. The monitor is still on. If something happens, we’ll have one more thing to deal with."

I rubbed my temples, helpless at the situation. Having used the Eyes of Yama so many times, I was well aware that it induced extreme fear in the intended party. However, the mind of a normal person was able to resist to a certain extent. This was the first time I had ever made a person go mad.

Looking at the effeminate man behaving like a dog, I was suddenly struck by a thought. "He was brainwashed!" I exclaimed.

"What?" Xiaotao was baffled.

This was the Dog Trainer’s unique skill. He imprisoned people and forced them to obey by various methods which were a form of training.

The self was protected by a shell, better known as willpower, which varied from person to person. The trainer used different means to make the trainees obey, gradually shattering their willpower so they completely lose their personality and become obedient ‘dogs.’

The self could be shaped by behavior. Watson, the founder of behavioral therapy and an American psychologist, once said this: “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in. I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, even a beggar and a thief.”

The Dog Trainer was undoubtedly a master at this. I finally understood why he kidnapped witnesses instead of killing them. He could turn anyone into his own dog!

This was more horrifying than hypnosis. Once successfully trained, these victims would lose their self-identity!