Chapter 6: Opening the Door to Memories

Soon, the identity of the deceased was revealed, and the common link among the three was a middle school in the city.

Su Tianmu immediately organized a visit to the school.

By checking the student records, they discovered that the three had once been in the same class. Their homeroom teacher at the time, though now elderly, was still working at the school.

Su Tianmu and Xiao Wang promptly visited this teacher, whose surname was Sun.

He was the kind of teacher whose kindly and approachable nature was evident at first glance. Though somewhat advanced in years, he was still ruddy-cheeked and spirited—a sprightly old gentleman.

“Hello! Is there something I can help you with?” Teacher Sun, a chubby man, greeted them with a smile.

“Thank you very much! We do need to ask you about something,” Su Tianmu said, reaching out to shake his hand and then handing over a list with the three victims’ names.

“Do you recall these three students from back then?” he asked.

Teacher Sun took the list, examined it carefully, then tilted his head and squinted as he tried to remember. After a moment, he spoke.

“I remember now—they were graduates of the class of 2008.”

He looked up at Su Tianmu again. “Why? Has something happened to them?” His expression suddenly grew grave.

“All three have been murdered, but so far we have no leads on the killer,” Su Tianmu explained briefly.

Teacher Sun was taken aback. Hearing that his former students had been killed was shocking enough, but to learn that all three had died together was almost unbelievable.

“How could this have happened? What a tragedy!” Teacher Sun shook his head in sorrow.

“I remember these children were quite lively back then! Although they weren’t the top students, their all-around talents certainly made them stand out at that age,” he recalled, clearly making an effort to bring back old memories.

“If I’m not mistaken, they often took part in extracurricular activities and various competitions. They were quite the prominent figures among their peers!” Teacher Sun’s face showed a trace of sadness—he was truly grieving for his students.

“Do you remember if there were any students in that class who were frequently bullied by their classmates?” Su Tianmu pressed further.

“That, I’m not really sure about. Kids at that age are all quite lively, so a bit of roughhousing seemed normal,” Teacher Sun replied.

It seemed he wasn’t fully aware of what went on among the students, or perhaps the children were simply good at hiding it. From this, it appeared that the teachers knew little about any bullying that might have taken place, meaning that any victims had suffered in silence.

No wonder, then, that such a child might have harbored so much resentment deep inside.

Su Tianmu produced another document—this one contained a photograph of the symbol found at the crime scene.

“Please take another look. Do you recognize this symbol?” he asked.

Teacher Sun put on his glasses and examined the photo closely.

“This… seems to be the design of a trophy we used to have at the school.”

A glimmer of hope appeared in Su Tianmu’s eyes. “What kind of competition was it? Was it connected to those three students?”

“Wait, let me think!” Teacher Sun slapped his bald head in excitement. “I remember now—it was for an essay competition. A school-wide essay contest!”

He handed the photo back to Su Tianmu and continued, “I recall it was a competition for lyrical essays. The topic was… what was it now…?”

“That’s right—it was called ‘Words to Myself.’”

No wonder he had such a sharp memory after so many years of teaching language arts.

“So did these three students participate in that contest? What happened at the time?” Su Tianmu continued to probe.

“They must have entered—it seems they were members of that interest group. But the winners weren’t them; I think the top prize went to someone named Ding… er, I can’t remember the full name,” Teacher Sun admitted, a little embarrassed. Clearly, that student hadn’t left a deep impression on him.

“Thank you so much for your cooperation! It’s a pity about your students, but you’ve provided us with extremely valuable clues. I hope we can solve the case soon,” Su Tianmu said, shaking Teacher Sun’s hand again in gratitude.

“Let’s hope the killer is caught soon,” Teacher Sun replied, his expression solemn.

Now that they had the symbol as a clue, uncovering its meaning became the top priority.

“Xiao Wang, you go ask around with the other teachers to see if anyone else remembers that contest. I’ll head to the school’s archives and see if I can dig up anything,” Su Tianmu said. With that, the two went their separate ways.

The school was a historic one. Though many renovations had been made, its original character and cultural atmosphere remained intact.

With permission from the administrator, Su Tianmu entered the archives.

The archive was huge, taking up an entire floor of the administration building. Rows upon rows of shelving held countless files, and there were several exhibition halls as well.

Relying on the time period Teacher Sun had mentioned, Su Tianmu located the relevant records. The file folders were covered in a thick layer of dust—no one had touched them in years. He brushed the dust off, opened a folder, and took out the contents.

These were materials from various extracurricular clubs of the time. Since he only knew the appearance of the trophy and not the name of the competition, finding the right documents would not be easy.

He searched for a long while but still found nothing related.

Suddenly, with a soft thud, a stack of old photos slipped out from between the records and fell to the floor.

He bent down and picked them up, looking through them one by one.

He stopped when he reached a group photo of children. Stepping out into the hall where the light was better, he held up the photo and examined it closely.

In the image, a group of beaming children stood in two rows, each holding a certificate. Three children stood at the very front, each holding a trophy identical to the one whose image had been found at the crime scene.

“I’ve found it!” Su Tianmu allowed himself a small, triumphant smile.

At the bottom of the photo, the caption read: “First Place: Ding Chaoyue, Second Place: Chen Feng, Third Place: Liu Tao. October 11, 2007.”

“Ding Chaoyue”—the name of the first-place winner—immediately caught Su Tianmu’s eye.

He looked again at the group and quickly identified the top winner.

But what astonished him was that this child appeared to have a disability…