At 6 p.m., the last wave of visitors left the amusement park just before it closed for the day, and the area began to return to tranquility. The sounds of laughter and noise that had filled the air all day slowly faded, replaced by the cold whisper of the wind. Deep within the park, in a rarely visited mirror maze, the yellowish lights reflected the glass surfaces, creating the illusion of a space folded over itself.
A scream shattered the quiet of the night—
A janitor, while on his routine patrol, discovered a man's body deep inside the maze. The victim lay on the floor, his throat slit by a sharp object, blood pooling around him and splattering across the mirrors. The scene was grotesque.
After receiving the report, the Criminal Investigation Division quickly arrived at the scene."Seal off all entrances and exits to the amusement park," Lu Chenzhou ordered, his gaze cold. He stepped into the maze, feeling a slight tingling on his scalp. Dozens of mirrors reflected countless versions of "himself," each with a blank expression, silently encircling him like a quiet siege.
Su Wanqing, dressed in a white lab coat, moved swiftly around the scene. She crouched down to closely examine the body, then looked around at the blood-stained mirrors."The victim is an adult male, and preliminary estimates suggest the time of death was within the last hour," she said, pointing to the blood spatters on the mirror. "The direction of the blood splatter is radial, indicating that the killer attacked from the front. The throat-cutting was very swift and deliberate, showing clear intent."
"But..." She stood up and gently touched one of the bloodied mirrors. "The mirror arrangement here is very complicated, making it easy to lose one's sense of direction. To successfully ambush the victim in such an environment, the killer must be very familiar with the layout."
"Familiar with the layout?" Lu Chenzhou immediately caught onto the key detail. "Are you saying the killer might be someone from within the park?"
"Very likely," Su Wanqing answered softly.
The amusement park quickly provided the victim's details. His name was Li Zhendong, a business manager from an amusement equipment supply company. He had entered the park earlier that morning for a maintenance check. Surveillance footage showed that he was last seen at 4:30 p.m., after which he entered the mirror maze and was not seen leaving before his death.
"Maintenance staff should have accompanied him during the inspection," Lu Chenzhou said as he looked at the records. "He was alone?"
"Yes," the park manager answered, sweating. "We were short-staffed at the time, so we let him go in alone... we didn't expect this..."
Meanwhile, the technical team reviewed the park's surveillance footage. Due to the complex structure of the mirror maze, cameras could not be installed inside, and the surveillance only covered the external entrances and exits.
However, one key person was noticed on a piece of footage—At the entrance to the mirror maze, an employee in the park's uniform was seen following Li Zhendong into the maze, and no exit record for him was found thereafter.
"Who is he?" Lu Chenzhou asked.
"He's an old employee from our maintenance department, named Song Qiming," the manager replied. "He's in charge of the daily maintenance, including looking after the maze."
"Find him."
The police immediately launched a manhunt, and when they arrived at Song Qiming's dorm room, the door was half open, but the room was empty. However, they found an unsigned IOU and a letter in a drawer.
The IOU revealed that Li Zhendong had lent Song Qiming 50,000 yuan, with a promise to repay the debt by the end of the month. The letter, written in an angry tone, was clearly penned by Song Qiming—"I'm not refusing to pay, I just really don't have the money. You keep saying 'the higher-ups want the money,' but did you ever think you dragged me into this? If you keep threatening me, I'll make sure you never speak again."
"There's an obvious financial dispute," Su Wanqing analyzed softly. "And with blame-shifting, pressure, and accumulated resentment, this could easily serve as a motive."
Lu Chenzhou led a team to search the park and eventually found Song Qiming in a basement equipment warehouse on the park's east side. He was agitated and tried to struggle with a tool knife, but was quickly subdued.
In the interrogation room, Song Qiming initially denied the crime, but after seeing the IOU and bloodied clothes as evidence, he finally lowered his head.
"I didn't mean to kill him..." he muttered. "At first, Li Zhendong said we were friends, that if I helped him alter some equipment inspection forms, we could both pocket some kickbacks. But then the company started holding him accountable, and he pushed all the blame onto me."
"He didn't help me. Instead, he threatened to report me, saying I stole park keys and falsified documents... I begged him for more time, but... ha, he said someone like me doesn't deserve to be in this industry."
That day, he followed Li Zhendong into the mirror maze with a special maintenance tool. When the victim tried to leave, he silently circled around the maze's "visual blind spots" and ambushed him successfully. The dim lighting, the cramped space, and the mirrors' distorted reflections gave Li Zhendong no chance to react.
"I just wanted... to scare him," Song Qiming mumbled. "But when the knife went in, his blood spilled too quickly... I got scared, and I just ran..."
The case was solved, but the amusement park's reopening was still a distant prospect. The bloodstained mirrors left an indelible shadow in the minds of the public.
At 10 p.m., Su Wanqing and Lu Chenzhou took a brief break outside the police station. The night wind was cool, and she looked up at the stars, yet she couldn't shake the feeling of heaviness in her chest.
"The mirror maze..." she said softly, "It's really like the human heart. What you see isn't always the truth. You think you can find your way, but you're already trapped."
Lu Chenzhou didn't speak but handed her the warm coffee in his hand, his tone steady."Then let's walk out together."