Killer Nights

Chapter 21: The Fifth Murder

Jiang Zhengkai’s police cruiser rolled quietly out of the Ju’an Estates residential compound.  He didn’t notice that behind the floor-to-ceiling windows on the third floor, a young woman stood in silence as she watched him depart.

Two lines of tears streamed continuously down A-Jiao’s face.  She could only stand there quietly as she watched Jiang Zhengkai leave.  As a prostitute, she knew her social status placed her at the very bottom of China’s societal hierarchy.  She didn’t have the luxury to pursue her own happiness, especially not with a cop who had witnessed her violation.  She stood there blankly until nightfall, when she picked up her suitcase and quietly left this home of hers, this familiar city of hers.

The exchange on the intercom wasn’t some beautiful misunderstanding.  Since A-Jiao had already decided to leave, she had pre-recorded several messages on the smart intercom system.  They were no more than the traces of a woman...