Death Notice

by Zhou HaoHui

  “Your plan…It was all for your plan…” Pei looked at Yuan and shook his head in disbelief. “All to become this so-called Eumenides?”

  “You think that I’m Eumenides?” Yuan laughed grimly. “You’re wrong, Pei. After all, you and Meng were the ones who created Eumenides in the first place. You are Eumenides. As was she. You could say that there’s a Eumenides inside many of us. People need Eumenides to exist.”

  Pei struck the table with his fist. “No. People need laws.”

  “The law doesn’t bring justice. The powerful and influential can break rules however they please, and the law can’t touch the people who hide in the shadows.” An icy cruelty crept into his voice. “This is the reality I awoke to eighteen years ago. Are you telling me that after eighteen years on the force, you still can’t see it? Or are you abandoning justice simply to refute my theory? All because you lost the girl that you loved?”

  Pei was at a loss for words.

  Meanwhile, stress had burned Guo Meiran’s nerves to a crisp. She was catatonic. Raising his right hand, Yuan yanked the woman closer to him. She let out a weak shriek.

  “Just look at this one. Once upon a time she was a server in this very restaurant. With the help of her youth and good looks, she seduced the owner and eventually convinced the sucker to abandon his wife and come running into her arms. And just like that, the former server became the boss’s wife. Now she runs the shop.”

  Pei fixed his gaze on Guo. The young woman seemed both frightened and perplexed.

  “I do love a good rags-to-riches story,” Yuan continued. “But Guo here just couldn’t bear it when her new husband’s ex-wife took half the property in the divorce. Every day she would call the woman to harass her. She would say a few choice words—maybe tell her how she and her ex were getting along in the bedroom. The poor woman couldn’t bear the humiliation. She began to suffer from depression. In the end, the ex-wife went and swallowed a bottleful of pills. Dead, just like that.”

  Pei just looked at Guo.

  “It makes you angry, doesn’t it? Guess what—the law won’t touch people like her. She did every despicable thing she could, yet still she lives a comfortable life, pampered by her rich husband and squandering the rightful property of a dead woman. Can you tell me that, when faced with a crime like this one, some part of you doesn’t hope for Eumenides to appear?”

  Yuan turned to her. The young woman had turned ash-white.

  “Open the letter,” he commanded.

  She dared not defy him. With meek and obedient movements, she opened the sealed envelope she had removed from his trench coat earlier. A slip of paper was inside, one that contained only five lines of precise, written script:

  DEATH NOTICE

  THE ACCUSED: Guo Meiran

  CRIME: Second-degree murder

  DATE OF PUNISHMENT: October 25

  EXECUTIONER: Eumenides

  Even through the fog of terror surrounding her, Guo understood the implication.

  “No,” she pleaded through sobs. “I’m so sorry! I’ll never do anything like it again. Please, I’m begging you, both of you—forgive me, just this once—”

  Yuan pulled Guo closer toward him. Pointing to Pei, he said, “Ask this police officer. Can the law forgive a killer who promises to change their ways after they’ve already committed a murder?”

  A shiver shook Guo, and a pungent, sour smell reached Pei’s nostrils. He heard a gentle trickling against the floor.

  Wrinkling his nose, he forced himself to collect his thoughts and break loose from the path Yuan was attempting to lead him down.

  “Eumenides…Someone who can reach beyond the limits of the law and punish those who commit crimes. Sure, we’ve all had fantasies about being a superhero or a vigilante, but—” Pei shook his head in frustration. “But no one in their right mind would actually try to apply this idea to real life! Even if Meng and I did create this character, we only did it to match wits through a few practical jokes. The idea of killing couldn’t have been further from our minds.”

  “That’s because neither of you ever faced the choice I did!” Yuan shouted, his voice like steel nails on concrete. “Everyone has crazed thoughts, but only a small number of people actually go mad. This isn’t because most people are better than the rest, but simply because they lack the experiences to drive them insane! I have been through things no one else will ever understand!”

  Rage deepened his voice, and he began recounting the painful history of his journey into madness nearly two decades earlier…

  * * *

  It began on March 16, 1984, with the narcotics seizure that sent shockwaves through law enforcement circles throughout the province. In truth, there was far more to this case than most people would ever know.

  Deng Hua—still known to the world as Deng Yulong—was barely twenty at the time but had already demonstrated extraordinary resourcefulness as well as a sharp mind. These traits would prove essential in making him an influential figure in the success of the narcotics bust. He emerged from its aftermath far richer and more powerful than anyone could have foreseen.

  It was Deng who instigated the firefight with the gang members after the police surrounded them. He then ambushed both gangs, allowing the police to arrest Liu Hong’s gang and the Southeast Asians. In the end, he claimed half of the drugs and money for himself.

  Despite Deng’s meticulous planning, Xue Dalin had seen right through him. The day following the raid, Xue called Deng into his office for questioning. However, perhaps out of reluctance to abandon the secret weapon that he had spent so much time and effort training—or maybe because he had no desire to cast a pall over his own shining reputation—the conflict between the two ended in mutually favorable terms. The silver-tongued Deng promised to destroy the drug cache he’d stolen if Vice Commissioner Xue would officially close his investigation. And in the interest of fairness, Xue took 50 percent of the drug money Deng had stashed away.

  But the matter did not end with that meeting. Things became more complicated when another individual entered the picture: Xue’s secretary, Bai Feifei.

  The department had recently purchased a batch of imported state-of-the-art Japanese surveillance equipment. Xue had received his own set, which he left in the care of his secretary. The girl was curious about new gadgets like these, and she often entertained herself by toying with the devices while in Xue’s office. Despite not having been present during Xue’s secret conversation with Deng, Bai had heard and recorded the entire conversation through one of the office’s new hidden microphones.

  Bai was a young intern, and her experience with the harshness of the real world was meager. She snapped when she realized that the man she considered not only her superior but also a hero, had stooped so low as to make a deal with a criminal. She confronted Xue and confessed that she had overheard his conversation with Deng. She pleaded with him to rethink his actions. The deal he’d made with Deng, she told him, could ruin his career and even his life.

  Xue was surprised at the young woman’s heartfelt appeal, and used her naïveté to outwit her. Bai was the only person who had overheard the conversation; she had come to him before taking the time to share the incriminating tape with anyone else. Pretending to be persuaded by her plea and contrite, Xue told his secretary that he would hand all the stolen money and drugs over to his superiors. And he swore that Deng wouldn’t get away with it. Bai was ecstatic to hear it—so much so that she even handed Xue the tape recording of his exchange with Deng.

  Two nights later, Bai drowned in a river on the city outskirts, a short distance from the path that the girl took on her way home after work.

  As Bai’s supervisor, Xue publicly confirmed that the young woman’s recent romantic misfortunes had caused her to fall into an unstable emotional state. According to his statement, she had even confided
in him her suicidal thoughts on multiple occasions. Bai’s former classmates corroborated his remarks about Bai’s romantic life, and the investigation of the young secretary’s death soon wrapped up as the police announced that she had committed suicide after enduring severe emotional stress.

  Bai’s ex-boyfriend, Yuan Zhibang, was blamed. But Yuan knew the truth. He had been framed.

  Yuan had indeed been fond of young women. While his kind of serial but earnest romantic history might have raised far fewer eyebrows in twenty-first-century society, in the 1980s it had given him quite a scandalous reputation.

  Yuan and Bai’s relationship had gone through an initial period of tenderness, but as time went on their personalities grew to be incompatible. The abortion had been the breaking point, but the decision to go through with the procedure had been a mutual one. The two remained friends after their breakup, and they spoke in person at least once a week.

  The investigation’s conclusion that Bai Feifei’s emotional problems had led to her suicide may have convinced everyone else, but it could not deceive Yuan. Ultimately, it took Yuan little effort to discover the truth behind Bai’s death.

  After confronting Xue, Bai had been thrilled at his apparent change of heart. She wanted to share this good news with someone, and Yuan was the first person she thought of. She told him the whole story from beginning to end. At the time, he had assumed that the matter was relatively cut-and-dry. Every student at the academy idolized Xue, and Yuan was proud of her for bringing their hero back from the brink.

  Yuan never could have anticipated what happened next—Bai perished in a mysterious drowning, and Xue blamed her death on him. Yuan did not need to be a criminal-investigation genius to know there was more to these events than met the eye.

  How was he supposed to handle such an abrupt twist of fate?

  Even though he and Bai had severed their romantic ties long before her passing, that made little difference to Yuan. He vowed to avenge her death.

  He had once promised Bai that he would always protect her. If anyone ever took advantage of her, he would find the person who had wronged her and make them pay.

  As an academy student just weeks away from graduation, it was only natural for him to seek justice through the law. However, the only evidence supporting his story—the recording of Xue conspiring with Deng—was in Xue’s hands. Furthermore, Xue and his allies had enough power and influence to silence Yuan if he pursued any legal action. Yuan realized that if he wanted to exact justice on Xue Dalin, he would have to act outside the law.

  Torn between grief and anger, the young man who had spent years preparing to uphold the law began to harbor deep reservations about the very thing he was supposed to protect. He saw that villains could escape legal punishment, and that there were dark corners of society where the law would not reach.

  Professor Yang, the academy’s head of the criminal investigation department and one of the institution’s most-admired instructors, often said that police officers and criminals were actually two sides of the same coin. Yuan now did something he had never imagined himself capable of.

  He decided to use his skills and training to bring Xue and Deng to justice.

  He knew that what he was considering could destroy his chances of becoming an officer, his lifelong dream. Then, an idea came to him by way of two fellow students at the academy—his dear friend Pei; and Pei’s girlfriend, Meng.

  Eumenides, the vengeful trickster that had sprung from the depths of Meng’s imagination, had been stirring up trouble at the academy. Pei and Meng may have been able to fool everyone else with their game, but not Yuan. He was as sharp as either of them, and even shared a room with Pei. Eumenides took on an entirely different meaning for Yuan, one more daring than anything Meng had ever conceived. In Yuan’s mind, Eumenides transformed from a prankster into a true vigilante—one who could exact justice upon those whose crimes went unpunished.

  In order to carry out his plan, Yuan had to set off down a path from which there was no return. His main goal: to kill Xue Dalin and Deng Yulong.

  Four years at the academy had taught him to master the skills and knowledge that were mandatory for any officer on the force: explosives, lock-picking, combat, and the techniques and methodology that drive every police investigation.

  Yuan knew that murdering Xue and Deng would not be easy. Deng’s years of criminal experience had made him as crafty as a wolf. He maintained a high level of vigilance at all times, and had strong instincts that kept him alive. Yuan would have one shot to kill Deng. If his attempt failed, Deng would retaliate without mercy.

  He was also aware that while his own skills would be invaluable in helping him accomplish these goals, they could also ultimately be his undoing. The province’s police force was brimming with expert analysts and investigators. Anything could become a threat if it would lead the police straight to him. With such a large net spread out for him, where could he possibly hide?

  After a long period of contemplation, Yuan knew that there was only one solution to this problem. Yuan Zhibang had to vanish. He had to become Eumenides.

  Eumenides needed to be someone who had never existed. An individual without any records or files, someone whose very existence was untraceable. No matter who he went up against—whether they were a powerful criminal or the police—he would always remain out of their grasp.

  Yuan needed to fake his own death. Only then could he become someone who no longer existed.

  He could not do it alone. Yet at the same time, he could not reveal his plan to anyone else.

  Only Pei and Meng could help him accomplish this task.

  First, Yuan struck up an exchange with a nonexistent pen pal. His forged correspondence would substantiate his own supposed unfaithfulness, and disrupt the future police search for Eumenides.

  Then, early on the morning of the eighteenth of April in 1984, Yuan slipped into Xue Dalin’s residence with the help of his lock-picking kit while the vice commissioner slept. After he slid his razor blade across Xue’s throat and set a death notice on the apartment’s dining room table, Yuan located the drug money that Xue had hidden inside the apartment. The bundle of cash would eventually finance Yuan’s life following his disappearance.

  Yuan hid the money later that morning and made his final preparations to end his normal life. One by one, he severed each of his emotional attachments with the world.

  He pretended to meet with his pen pal that afternoon. Before leaving the dormitory, he adjusted the room’s clock to make it run two minutes fast, thus covering up any chronological holes in his plan. With that step complete, he left the next death notice—his own—in the stationery pouch on the door to his room. A grim sense of satisfaction flowed through him when he penned this particular notice.

  Once he finished these preparations, Yuan left the dormitory. He ran across Meng outside, wanting her to believe that it was a chance meeting. He told her where he was going, and mentioned that Pei would be back in his room soon. Pei wanted Meng to wait for him inside their room, Yuan told her, and specifically asked her to bring her radio.

  Yuan had already planted a disruptor inside the radio, so that he could kill the signal when necessary. Next to the disruptor, he had installed an additional countermeasure mechanism containing a small amount of gunpowder—essentially a tiny bomb. It would be strong enough to stun anyone who was holding the radio up near their face, rendering them unconscious long enough for Yuan to detonate that bomb’s much larger, and deadly, brother.

  Meng spotted the death notice as soon as she arrived at the room. Naturally, she had assumed that Pei had penned the immaculately inked characters. After leaving a note of her own in the room, she rushed to the location that Yuan had happened to mention during their encounter outside.

  To her surprise, the location turned out to be an abandoned warehouse. Despite her reservations, she entered the
building. Inside she found Yuan chained to the wall, with an explosive device strapped to his chest.

  Yuan had already changed into the scrap collector’s clothing by this time, but Meng’s panic at seeing the explosive overshadowed any suspicious thoughts that might have otherwise occurred. Her immediate reaction was that he needed to get in touch with Pei, which was exactly what Yuan had planned for. As 4:13 drew closer, he prepared to trigger the signal disruptor inside Meng’s walkie-talkie, cutting off the call.

  As Meng struggled to disarm the bomb according to Pei’s desperate instructions, Yuan thumbed the remote control stashed in his clothes. The disruptor killed the radio signal, and the tiny bomb exploded in Meng’s hand. The blast stunned Meng, knocking her out as planned.

  Back in his dorm room, Pei heard a short burst of static come from his radio…and then nothing. He glanced up at his clock at that very instant. Even as shock rooted his feet to the ground, he saw the time: 4:15.

  Yuan moved quickly. He pulled Huang Shaoping, a beggar he had befriended in anticipation of this day, out from the cement tunnel the man called home. He handcuffed Meng and Huang together. After checking the time, he set the deadly bomb to detonate at 4:15, in two minutes. This would ensure that Pei’s testimony would confirm the actual time of the explosion, and also give Yuan just enough time to escape the blast.

  In 120 seconds, the man known as Yuan Zhibang would die bathed in flames. Eumenides, an individual without a single personal record or file, would emerge from the ashes of the demolished warehouse.