The 80s Female Detective's Guide to Self-Preservation [Criminal Investigation] - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“Are your memories shared with Tan Liu?” Xia Qiuyuan asked, flipping through the chronological file of Tan Liu’s life.

Since the primary personality, Tan Liu, was unable to face questioning, they had to rely on “Tan Yi” for everything. The truth behind why Zhao Yuanming and Jin Wu repeatedly targeted her, and the reality of the suicide at the Xiatang primary school, rested solely on the shared memories within that single body. Otherwise, the investigation would hit a dead end.

“Yes, we share the memory bank. That’s the only way she can hide and dump her messes on me,” Tan Yi said. She shifted her legs, and the shackles—clunky iron chains found in a storage room—clattered noisily. “You know why she moved, right? It was after Liang Xiangxue jumped from the school roof.”

“Actually, Liang Xiangxue sought out Tan Liu right before she jumped,” Tan Yi continued calmly. “Jin Wu was a complete scumbag. He used to corner Tan Liu at school, get handsy with her, and tell everyone her father was marrying her off to him. It isolated her. People whispered that she was ‘shameless’ for being with someone like him. Being high schoolers, their words were knives.”

“Tan Liu tried to endure it. she thought it would end after graduation because Jin Wu was too stupid to get into college. She thought college would be her escape.”

Tan Yi let out a short, cynical laugh, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Because the school was in the city, they had to board. Liang Xiangxue was her roommate because they were from the same village. That arrangement shattered Tan Liu’s plan.”

According to Tan Yi, Liang Xiangxue came from a decent family but had terrible taste in men. She had been charmed by Zhao Yuanming and followed him blindly.

“Blind and stupid, but a tragic figure nonetheless,” Tan Yi remarked.

Once Liang Xiangxue started dating Zhao, she tried to force Tan Liu and Jin Wu together so they could be “family.” Tan Liu couldn’t stand Liang Xiangxue reporting her every move to Jin Wu, nor could she stand the girl’s delusional fantasies of their “future.” They fought constantly, but the soft-hearted Tan Liu always ended up forgiving her.

“I think Tan Liu was being ‘domesticated,'” Tan Yi said. “She once told me she thought about just giving in to her fate. But then, Liang Xiangxue came knocking on her door.”

Liang Xiangxue was wearing a floral dress, her hair in braids. Tan Liu felt something was wrong but couldn’t name it. Liang stood there, rambling about trivial school gossip, until finally, as she turned to leave, her floral dress swirling, she whispered, “I’m sorry. Stay away from Jin Wu and those people. Don’t let them ruin you.”

“What… what do you mean?” Tan Liu had asked, reaching out, but she hesitated. She feared it was another trap to lure her out for Jin Wu.

Liang Xiangxue just looked back with a faint smile. “Just stay away.”

She vanished quickly. Later that day, chaos erupted. Someone screamed that a girl had climbed onto the primary school roof, demanding to see Zhao Yuanming. Tan Liu ran there, but when she arrived, all that remained was a scrap of a floral dress caught on a roof tile, fluttering in the wind.

The sight of the blood and the broken body was seared into Tan Liu’s mind. Tan Yi added, “For a long time, I had to share her crushing guilt over Liang Xiangxue.”

“Did Liang ever say why she jumped?” Xia Qiuyuan asked.

“No,” Tan Yi shook her head. “But I’m certain it involved Zhao and Jin.”

“The officer who handled that case was Zhao Guoying. Do you or Tan Liu remember him?”

“Never heard of him. After the death, Tan Liu’s mental state plummeted. She started sleepwalking, standing outside the school at night, staring at the spot where Liang died. Her father, being in the funeral business, feared the dead girl was trying to ‘take’ his daughter. He forced the village leader to let them move to Shangyao Village overnight.”

But for Tan Liu, moving was just a placebo. It didn’t cure the root cause.

“And then?”

“I don’t know,” Tan Yi shrugged. “Tan Liu blocked me out after that. I don’t know why she jumped into the river.”

Xia Qiuyuan checked the files. “Tan Liu dropped out a semester after the suicide?”

“Yes. She was suicidal. She kept climbing the school railings. The school was too scared to keep her, so they sent her home.”

“Did you know Jin Wu and Zhao Yuanming dropped out shortly after as well?”

“No,” Tan Yi said. “Who cares what trash does?”

The interrogation reached a stalemate. Xia Sui looked at the “Tan Yi” personality with unease. Tan Yi’s disregard for life was chilling—she justified the murders simply because Jin Wu had attacked Tan Liu.

According to the evidence:

Tan Yi cut off the men’s reproductive organs as “revenge” and came up with the idea to put the intestines in the pig’s mouth to terrorize Liang Chunhua.

Tan Liu was the one who lost control and hacked the intestines into pieces when she briefly regained consciousness.

One was a chaotic breakdown; the other was a cold-blooded rejection of social morality.

“There is a way to bring Tan Liu out,” Professor Wen Yaru intervened. “But I need to apply for specialized medication. The Medical School has a small batch of imported drugs that can stabilize the transitions and alleviate severe anxiety.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“It’s my pleasure. It’s rare to observe Dissociative Identity Disorder this closely.”

Xia Sui looked confused. “Dissociative Identity Disorder? Is that different from schizophrenia?”

“Very,” Wen Yaru explained. “Schizophrenia often involves hallucinations and paranoia. DID is when a body develops different personalities—each with its own name and history—usually as a result of severe trauma. It’s a defense mechanism to separate the self from a reality that is too painful to bear. But those personalities are often dysfunctional, like Tan Yi, who views violence as a normal solution.”

Suddenly, the woman in the chair twitched. Her cold, mocking expression dissolved into a look of absolute, hollow terror.

This time, it wasn’t the violent “Tan Yi” or the screaming “Tan Liu” they had first met.

Tears welled in her bloodshot eyes. Her voice trembled as she looked at Xia Qiuyuan, pleading:

“Please… help me… I don’t want to… I don’t want to be forced to be a prostitute.”