At nightfall, he stalked his ex-girlfriend into an alley. She had a feeling that someone was following her, but she brushed it off. She kept on walking, when that feeling fell upon her again. She turned around, but no one was behind her. She decided to take a short cut home. Little did she know that the short cut she was taking, was the road to her deathbed. Xia Kou came up behind her and covered her move. She freaked out and stomped on his foot. He let out a light scream, but recovered it quickly.

She turned around and saw him. A sign of relief washed over her. “Oh, Xia Kou, it’s only you.”

An evil grin fell upon his face, but it was too dark for her to take notice, “you remembered me?”

“Of course I remember you,” she casually said, letting her guard down.

“Really?” he asked, “it’s been a long time since we last saw each other.”

“I know. How are you doing?” she asked him. Their conversation went on for another minute, before he ambushed her into the corner of the alley. There was only a single light flashing upon him, and she saw the scariest expression that she had ever saw on him, but by the time she noticed what he was doing to her, she was already knocked out. 

He took out a knife and slashed her three times in the chest area, once in the back and seven times across the throat. When he was done with her, he threw her body to the garbage bags in the alley and left. He was satisfied with his killing. He went home and washed away the crime from his hands and went to bed.

He woke up the next morning with a huge smile on his face. He can’t wait to turn on the TV and watched the news. He took a quick shower, got dressed and went downstairs. He brewed himself some coffee and went to his living room. He had called in sick, so that he could enjoy the scene. He his TV and flipped through the channels, waiting for the news.

A storekeeper was throwing the trash away when he saw the body in the alley. A shivered scream could be heard through the neighborhood. Everyone rushed to where the scream had come from and was shock to see what was in the alley. Someone fished out their phone and called the police station.

Wu Ying Jie was informed about the killing that had happened the night before and rushed to the crime scene, with her squad. Wu Chun and Calvin tapped up the scene with yellow types with ‘do not cross’ written all over it. Ying Jie walked over to the body and investigates it. She took out her notepad and wrote down some notes, before calling Xiao Gui over. She looked up at him, as he took pictures of the body.

“What do you think?” she asked him, once he was done taking pictures. He looked at her with a serious face.

“Well, I can’t make a conclusion on how she died by examining her body like this. I would have to take her to the morgue to do autopsy on her,” he said. She nodded.

“I can say that the person who killed her used a small knife with a blade about 3 ½ inches long and ½ an inch wide,” she stated. He looked at her in amazement.

“Wow, are you sure investigation is your field?” he asked her.

She laughed, “yes, I’m positive that investigation is my field of expertise.”

“You know, Gui, I still feel that you should work for forensics,” he said, signaling others to come and take the body away. She watched as the body was covered and taken away. Her smile soon went away, when the body disappeared from sight. Chun and Calvin walked up to her and patted her shoulders. She turned around and gave them a small smile.

“So, what’s your call?” asked Chun.

“Like I told Xiao Gui earlier, he used a small knife with a blade about 3 ½ inches long and ½ an inch wide,” she said to them.

“Why would he want to kill her in the first place?” asked Calvin, particularly not to anyone. They shrugged and continued with the crime scene. Thirty minutes later, Gui got a phone call from autopsy.

“Hello?” she said.

“You know what, you’re right. The killer did use a small knife like you said. The weird part is…wounds to was so deep and brutal that it nearly decapitate her, severing her larynx, jugular vein, and carotid artery,” he said over the phone.

“Really?” she said, sounding surprise.

“Yea, I’ve already went through autopsy on her. I was also to identify the victim’s personal information,” he said.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a bit, after we have found some clues to this case,” she said.

“Gui, I think that the clues her in her profile that I have dug out,” he said.

“Xiao Gui, are you serious?” she asked.

“Yea, I didn’t even expect this to happen, but I think that we have found ourselves a suspect,” he said. She hung up the phone and ran over to the rest of the team member.

“Hey guys listen,” she said, getting their attention, “Xiao Gui just called me and said that we have found ourselves a suspect.”

“Huh?” asked Aaron.

“I don’t know who that person is, but Xiao Gui said that clues to this case are in her profile that he had dug out during autopsy,” she said.

“Then what are we waiting for,” said Calvin. They nodded their heads and walked out of the crime scene, when they were stopped by news reporters, reporting live from the crime scene. Upon seeing them, they threw questions out at them.

“Miss Wu Ying Jie, what is the cause of death?” asked a reporter.

“A small knife with a blade about 3 ½ inches long and ½ an inch wide,” she said, annoyed.

“Who is the victim?” asked another.

“Who is the killer?” asked another.

“I’m sorry, but we can not answer any of your questions at this time,” stated Chun, pulling Gui with him to the car. Calvin and Aaron followed them and got in the car.

“Thanks,” said Gui.

“No problem,” said Chun, “we must hurry and get back to the morgue.” When they got to the morgue Xiao Gui was already waiting for them. He had a file in his hands, while he was observing her for anymore cuts. Mao Di, an intern, watched and took notes as Xiao Gui observed the body in thoughts. Gui slammed the door open, causing them both to jumped. Xiao Gui looked in her direction and a small smile crept on his face.

“Just in time,” he said. They walked to him and he handed them each a mask. They put on her masks and observed the body. Gui noticed that there was bruises around her neck area and there was a few scars on her face. The sight scared her, but she was used to it.

“So, what’s up?” asked Chun, obviously disgusted by the body in front of him.

“First of, we can conclude that she wasn’t or robbed, since her clothes was still on, and we found her purse with money still in it. Secondly, she works in our building,” he said. Everyone turned and stared at him, eyes wide and mouth opened.

“No way!” shouted Calvin, in disbelief. He turned his gaze back to the body, but he never seen her before.

“Xiao Gui, are you sure she works in our building?” asked Aaron, not believing what he had heard.

“Believe it or not, she is one of our employee,” he said.

“How come I’ve seen her before?” asked Chun. Gui observed her for awhile, when she remembered who the victim was. She gasped causing the guys to look her way. Mao Di was still taking notes off to the side.

“What is it?” asked Chun.

“I’ve seen her before. Doesn’t she work in the front of the office?” she asked Xiao Gui.

“Yea, her name is Xu Xiao Qi,” he said.

“Xu Xiao Qi?” repeated Gui. “Ah, she’s my sticky note girl!”

“What?” asked the guys in unison.

“My sticky note girl, well, she’s more of my gofer,” she said. They were still giving her a lost, confuse look. “She would always bring me coffee or my lunch when I’m busy. She also runs copies for me and takes my calls.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that you have a personal maid,” said Chun, bluntly.

“She’s not my maid; she’s a gofer or sticky note girl. She’s rather cute,” Gui said, observing her wounds. “It’s a pity, she’s gone.”

Xia Kou watched the news and he was filled with joy, when he heard that the police can not answer any of the questions, but he was kind of disappointed that they had discovered what kind of weapon he used. He took out his zodiac map, and crossed out the rat.

‘One down, eleven more to go,’ he thought to himself, in delight.

“By the way, who’s the suspect?” asked Calvin.

“Her boyfriend, He Dylan,” Xiao Gui answered, opening the file in his hand and taking out a picture. He handed the picture to Gui and she stared at it before passing it on.  Calvin took the picture from Gui’s hand and was shock to see a familiar face. Gui noticed that he had turned pale.

“What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said. Calvin was distracted by the picture that he didn’t hear what she had said to him. Gui waved her hand in front of him, snapping him out of his daze.

“I know this person,” said Calvin, in a whisper.

“What?!” asked Gui, surprised.

“He used to be my classmate, until he joined the police academy in the Untied States,” he said, “we used to be the best of friends.” With that being said, no one said a word. They were all lost in thoughts. How can it be that a person was cheerful the day before and now they’re died?

‘Why would he want to kill her?’ Gui asked herself. She couldn’t fathom as to why he would want to kill his girlfriend. After talking to Xiao Gui at the morgue, they went back to their offices. Gui was stressed out. She had two cases to pile on her and she didn’t even have time to wish her mother a ‘happy birthday.’ Sometimes she wonders why she joined the police academy and become an investigator. She sighed and went back to work.