Chapter Ten: Paraphilia!

I asked curiously, “So how did you answer?”
The young nurse replied, “I just said I’d recently seen a news story about a man who underwent gender reassignment to become a woman, and after a uterus transplant, he became pregnant.”
The uterus—again, the uterus! An ominous premonition stirred faintly in my heart.
Director Wang sighed, “You’ve done enough, go back to your duties.”
The nurse hurried out.
Director Wang waved his hand, “Alright, this case is yours now. I need to return to report on my work.”
With that, Director Wang departed. Before leaving, he told me he would arrange for the officers chasing the suspect to contact us directly.
After Director Wang left, I asked Tang Jingjing, “How did you know the nurse had something suspicious about her?”
“I smelled it,” Tang Jingjing answered smugly.
“You smelled it?” I looked at her cute little nose, “Like a dog’s nose?”
“Shut up.” Tang Jingjing glared at me. “I caught the scent of the murdered man’s corpse on her.”
“So you really do have a dog’s nose?” Li Xingchen exclaimed in surprise.
Before the officers could contact us, Director Wang called me first, saying that the experts sent from the provincial bureau had already checked in with him and would soon be in touch with me.
Not long after, I received a call from an unfamiliar number. I told them to come directly to the psychiatric hospital to join us, as we desperately needed extra hands.
After hanging up, Tang Jingjing asked who had called. I guessed it was someone sent to assist us by the provincial bureau.
Tang Jingjing gave a wry smile. “Let’s hope they don’t make things worse.”
Soon, a Honda police car pulled up in front of the hospital. Three people got out:
One was a sturdy man, all muscle, moving with powerful strides—clearly a trained fighter.
The second was a thin, almost skeletal fellow with shifty eyes, who gave off the unmistakable impression of a pickpocket.
The last was a kindly elderly man in a leather jacket, wearing black-rimmed glasses, gentle and benevolent.
“Member of Major Crimes Unit Seven, Li Hong.”
“Member of Major Crimes Unit Seven, Mouse.”
“Member of Major Crimes Unit Seven, Lin Kangtai.”
We had no time to review their dossiers, so we asked them for brief introductions.
Li Hong was a retired soldier from special forces, extremely skilled. Years ago, when his father’s wages were withheld by a construction foreman, he went to demand payment and was attacked by more than twenty gangsters. Armed only with a baton, he easily disabled fifteen of them—not just injured, but left them permanently crippled.
Lin Kangtai, whom we called Old Lin, was a criminal psychology expert. He had worked for the CIA in America and had returned to serve his homeland.

Mouse was the official driver.
I welcomed them warmly, then asked Old Lin if he’d studied the case file.
Old Lin nodded, saying he’d examined it carefully.
I recounted everything that had happened today. Old Lin seemed thoughtful.
It seemed my previous deductions were off the mark.
I asked Old Lin for a detailed analysis.
He explained, “I used to think the killer was a cannibal with extreme perversions, who enjoyed watching others eat human flesh. This isn’t unusual worldwide. But when another migrant worker asked if a man could get pregnant, I realized it might be more than just cannibalistic tendencies—possibly something like cross-gender fetishism.”
“What’s cross-gender fetishism?” I asked.
“It’s the desire to fantasize about being the opposite sex. That migrant worker might have a warped psyche, longing to become a woman, wishing to bear a child. There have been similar cases in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where suspects ate another’s sexual organs, hoping to transform into the opposite sex.”
“Damn, that’s truly twisted,” Li Xingchen cursed. “But eating organs—does that mean he thinks he can become the opposite sex? That’s just stupid.”
“Suspects usually have very low education levels…” Old Lin adjusted his glasses.
Just then, the officers involved in the search called to report. They’d searched Lin Yunshan’s residence and workplace, but found nothing; it was as if he had vanished into thin air.
I assigned the officers another task: investigate whether Lin Yunshan had a history of cross-dressing or longing to be the opposite sex.
They were puzzled by my request, but I insisted it was crucial.
We then hurried to Lin Yunshan’s home, hoping to find any clue.
Lin Yunshan was a migrant worker, his family living in a dilapidated urban village. The area was chaotic, roads so narrow that our car couldn’t enter, so we had to proceed on foot.
When we arrived at his home, the officers were just leaving. On seeing me, they quickly reported, “According to his relatives, Lin Yunshan never showed signs of cross-gender tendencies. He always seemed normal.”
“That’s odd…” I sighed, fearing the lead had gone cold.
Then I noticed Tang Jingjing sniffing, inching toward a certain spot. I followed, puzzled, “Tang Jingjing, what are you doing?”
“Don’t talk.” Tang Jingjing walked straight to a gap between rundown buildings and pointed at a red sedan parked there. “Check who owns this car.”
I immediately called Director Wang, asking him to contact the traffic department and trace the license plate. But the plate and the model didn’t match—clearly a fake plate.
“What did you smell?” I asked.
“I think there might be a corpse inside,” Tang Jingjing replied. “But I’m not sure; the car’s sealed too well.”
Mouse grinned nearby, “Need a hand?”
I looked at him, “You can do this too?”

“To be honest, I’m very skilled at unlocking things.”
With that, Mouse produced three silver-plated steel pins and fiddled with the car door for five seconds—then the lock clicked open.
Li Xingchen gazed at him in awe. “Brother, since we’re colleagues now, could you teach me a trick or two sometime?”
“No problem!” Mouse replied proudly.
I asked Tang Jingjing to bring Lin Yunshan’s family over, while I put on gloves and searched the car.
The first thing that caught my eye was a photo on the dashboard—it was indeed Lin Yunshan.
In the trunk, I found a suspicious bundle wrapped in red cloth, bulging with unknown contents.
I hadn’t opened it yet when Lin Yunshan’s family arrived. I asked them, “Do you recognize this car?”
They all shook their heads, saying they’d never seen it before. They were all laborers—how could they afford a sedan?
Actually, the BYD hatchback wasn’t expensive, but perhaps they’d never seen one and assumed cars were luxury items for the wealthy, unattainable even with a lifetime’s savings.
“You’ve never seen Lin Yunshan driving it?” I pressed.
“Never,” they replied. “Our old man won’t even take the bus to work, let alone drive a car.”
They didn’t seem to be lying, so I asked them to wait while I quickly opened the bundle.
At first glance, its contents were ordinary, but odd: all baby items—bottles, pacifiers, swaddling blankets, pajamas, as if the owner was a pregnant woman ready to give birth.
We canvassed the nearby households and finally found a major lead!
They had seen Lin Yunshan return in this car, driven by a woman—quite attractive, with long hair. The two appeared close; when Lin Yunshan got out, they even kissed.
Lin Yunshan’s wife, hearing this, broke down. “That bastard, how could he cheat on me? So shameless! Our son is about to get married—how can I ever show my face again?”
I asked the neighbor, “How old was the woman?”
“She had great skin—no more than forty, at most.”
“A city office worker falling for a shabby old migrant worker?” I frowned, unable to make sense of it. I looked to Old Lin for answers.
Old Lin forced a smile. “I’ve never encountered this kind of situation—a white-collar woman attracted to a migrant worker.”
“So maybe she wanted Lin Yunshan to do something for her, and got close to him deliberately?” I suggested.
Old Lin nodded. “That’s certainly possible.”
At that moment, the psychiatric hospital called: the gatekeeper had died!