A café in the downtown plaza of New York, which is a mid-range café where white-collar workers in nearby cities like to consume, will invite professional pianists to play the piano here every night, and the environment design is relatively quiet and elegant.

It was morning, and the café hadn't been open for a long time, so there were fewer people inside. NYU University Captain Joe Mangeniello sits in a remote booth in the café, like an ordinary urban white-collar worker, Joe sits quietly and ordinary. And it doesn't attract anyone's attention. This is also a deliberate situation for Joe, because he doesn't want to call a reporter or some other good guy to find out what he is doing.

Joe had a cup of coffee and a small plate of dessert in front of him, but he didn't mean anything to use it. I always look towards the entrance of the café from time to time. Soon, the person he was waiting for finally came. A strange guy in an old-fashioned English top hat.

Jo beckoned to him, which made him see Joe very quickly, and pointed to the coffee waiter, who got out of the way, and he came and sat down across from Joe.

The waiter, "What do you want, sir?"

The attendant who followed him politely took his top hat and placed it on the hanger next to the booth, while asking him what he wanted.

Bowler Hat Man, "Black coffee, no milk, no sugar, if you have whiskey, a small glass." ”

"Yes, sir," the waiter. ”

The waiter turned to leave, and the visitor showed Joe his confident, charming smile.

"Dear Joe Manganillo, how long have we not seen each other? It's enviable!"

Joe's expression was serious, "Mark Wells, my friend!

Mark's square, Soviet-style bearded face showed a mischievous expression, "May I guess? As a detective's private hobby and habit, I like to reason about everything." I'm sure you won't be disgusted with this bad habit of mine, will you?"

Joe's expression was helpless, "Mark, this matter is really important! I only trust you among my friends who can solve problems and keep secrets at the same time!"

Mark, "I'm very impressed! I know you're bothered by NYU's recent serial arson ......."

Joe, "Where did you know that!"

Mark, "Joe, don't be nervous! I asked someone to investigate for me through personal connections." It's not as serious as you think, or everyone knows about it. ”

Joe wiped the non-existent cold sweat with his hand, "That's good." However, it seems that the time has come for this matter to be solved urgently. You can handle it. Right, my friend?"

Mark didn't express any approval or disapproval, but just went into a kind of teacher's lesson, "My friend, from the perspective of a professional private detective, I can tell you that you made the right choice! Because your school is experiencing a serial arson crime that is growing rapidly, and if you continue to let it go, sooner or later something big will happen, and it will be irreversible." ”

Joe seemed to take his friend's words very seriously, and immediately became nervous, "It's not that scary, is it?"

Mark continued, "Historically, it has been easy for arsonists to develop into serial arsonists, because they are so simple to implement and often have a very large impact, so it's easy to use criminals with a drug-like addiction. The feeling of being in charge of life and death, the feeling of being noticed, is very addictive. This causes the arsonist to involuntarily feel anxious during the period when he is quiet and does not commit the crime. This anxiety can increase as this period of stagnation increases, and it becomes very boring and anxious. At that time, only arson again could eliminate this boredom. And this process of going from anxiety to boredom to arson to anxiety disappears to anxiety will only get faster and shorter. In the end, it can only be continuously upgraded and accelerated. So, Joe, we actually don't have much time!"

Joe immediately became alert, "How?"

Mark, "From what I've got, the arsonist has gone from being able to light one desk to using a time-lapse tool to light several fires at the same time. From simply setting books on fire to using gasoline and other accelerants. From my experience, I can see that our arsonist is growing rapidly, maturing and has begun to develop his own unique arson techniques and techniques, which is very terrifying. If his skills and techniques are mature, it is no longer something that ordinary police detectives can easily arrest. ”

Joe, "Why?"

"We need to know that one of the biggest difficulties in arson is that it's hard to gather useful evidence from the scene. The heat of the fire itself destroyed most of the traces of the scene, and the subsequent firefighting process was a disaster, with water and fire extinguishing agents rushing everywhere, leaving little useful stuff. So, let's be honest, Joe. I've missed the best time to catch and stop it, and all I can do now is stop something bigger and more serious before it happens. So, I think you need to have a plan to report the incident to the police. ”

Joe nodded, "I'll take your advice seriously." But I still want you to investigate first, and if not, I will not pay for my personal mistakes with the lives of the students and the property of the school. ”

Mark, "That's fine! let's get to work." ”

Joe, "Any clues?"

Mark, "I can only check it out first." I have here some basic crime statistics that I hope will be helpful to this investigation. ”

Joe, "What data. ”

Mark, "According to statistics, 82% of serial arsonists are Caucasian men between the ages of 17 and 27, and there are usually two triggers: job loss and falling out of love. Female arsonists are rare, and the typical motive is revenge. So, I'm going to start by conducting a survey of unemployed, lovelorn Caucasian men aged 17-27 in schools to find out what we're targeting. ”

Joe, "That's good! I'll have no problem on my side, I'll fully cooperate." ”

Mark, "But when it comes to case investigations, being too superstitious about data is a terrible act in itself. ”

…………………………

In the morning, last night's small fire on campus has long been forgotten by the majority of students here. This is a place where the study task is very serious, and every student who comes and goes walks quickly with his study notes in his hand. Everyone's mind is on their own learning, and few people really pay attention to this kind of event that doesn't make a difference.

Alone again, Du Ping came to the place where he had lost the mysterious man last night, jumped on the wooden fence, and reached the side of the wooden fence. There are still traces of someone walking through here last night. And not one, but many. There are at least ten or more people here, and there are traces of people jumping over and walking through here. Obviously, this is a trail that many people know, and many nights choose to climb it to save yourself the distance to reach your destination. But for Du Pingping, this is a very bad thing, because Du Pingping has completely lost the most direct clue to find the mysterious person.

Du Pingping, "What bad luck!"

Du Ping sighed in his heart, and was about to leave, when another boy suddenly climbed over from the side of the wooden fence to this side, although it was a little strange why there were people standing still here, but still did not ask much. Straight to your destination.

Du Pingping thought about it and followed the boy down.

…………………………

Du Pingping stood in a square that extended in all directions and sighed a little, although he had some psychological expectations about the failure of the investigation. But the real result is still like this, and it still makes Du Pingping feel a little uncomfortable. From that wooden fence, to get here directly, to this small square where you can reach anywhere in the school, it is equivalent to directly drawing the conclusion that Du Ping's tracking work this time has no results.

Du Ping was a little helpless, he knew that this was the case, it was better to continue tracking last night, no matter how bad the result was, it would not be much worse than now. However, there is no regret medicine to take for anything, so Du Pingping can only end his online investigation and turn to a small field investigation of several other fire sites mentioned on the forum.

When he arrived at the site of last night's fire, he found that it was actually a state of loose inside and tight inside. Although the number of guards has not increased much, every guard is very alert. Eyes as if they were about to catch some terrible crime at any moment, flashed through their eyes from time to time.

Du Pingping understood when he thought about it. Because arsonists who commit arson crimes generally prefer to revisit places for an excuse, people with a little common sense of crime will increase the observation and investigation of the people who appear at the crime scene. Du Pingping didn't want to get into trouble, so Du Pingping left the place far away, and did not approach the building where the fire broke out.

Several other fire sites in the school have basically been in such a state of looseness on the outside and tightness on the inside, according to Du Pingping's observations. So this gave Du Ping a feeling that the school must have invited professional criminal investigators or police officers to directly take over the investigation of the incident.

This kind of judgment made Du Ping's mood relax for a while, although it was the kind of idea that everything was fine, but he already had a little better sense of security.

…………………………

An office at NYU, this is a special office. Mark Wells, a well-known private investigator hired by NYU Chancellor Joe Manganiello for the serial arson on campus, is nervously conducting his own investigation here. Under Joe's assignment, the school police department has prepared hundreds of student and faculty profiles for Mark that meet the requirements of his criminal personality profile, and Mark is working on his initial research here.

NYU is indeed a university with tens of thousands of students, and a university with tens of thousands of faculty members. There are more people, and there will be fewer people who may have psychological and emotional problems. Just a preliminary profile of Mark, the school has already looked for hundreds of possible people for Mark. This gave Mark a headache and felt like he had really accidentally grabbed a hot yam.

Mark, "This man is not. ”

As Mark spoke, he returned the information of a boy who had been specially recommended by Simon Page, the school's security chief, to Simon.

I don't know if it's because of the guilt that I haven't been able to solve the incident before, or the confidence that I think I have the talent to detect. Simon showed extraordinary enthusiasm in assisting Mark with his investigation into the serial arson incidents. A suspect who had just been specially recommended by Simon was a product of this situation, and Simon was very, very feeling that this person must be the serial arsonist. So although Mark has denied his suggestion, he still sticks to his judgment.

Simon, "I think it's really possible for this guy. He was dumped by his girlfriend some time ago, and he threatened to set fire to the girl many times. You see, a Caucasian male, 17-27 years old, just out of love, violent, I think he's a criminal!"

Mark gave Simon a strange look.

Mark, "Mr. Simon, you're probably right. But there is another distinct characteristic of serial arsonists, which is introversion. So he needs the high-profile event of arson to show himself, but at the same time he doesn't want others to recognize him. This is a very typical and interesting psychology. And this boy is a naturally expressive person. So I ruled him out. But personally, I also think that there is some truth in what you said, because my judgment is only based on the general laws and characteristics of arsonists in general. Personally, I think that for this guy, you can personally conduct a follow-up survey first. Because our purpose is not to spare a bad person, right?"

Simon, "Yes, sir, I'll arrange that." ”

Seeing Simon leave excitedly, Mark shook his head, it seems that this Simon only listened to his next sentence, and the front one did not listen. The qualities of a typical township policeman, savage and overconfident, enthusiastic but inefficient.

…………………………

Another day.

In a classroom in the Department of Anthropology and Forensic Medicine, at the class desk, Du Pingping is using his laptop in his place, and in the school forum, Du Pingping is looking for information about the recent serial arson case. Unfortunately, there has been little progress. At this time, Du Pingping did not fully understand that this was the result of the school's planned and systematic message control of the recent series of arson incidents in the school. This control also left Du Pingping with basically no useful clues collected. Only on a few small forums that are not important, I saw a few small stories and small speculations that I don't know whether they are true or false.

Du Fairness is conducting an independent investigation, and Du Fairness's friend Matt has happily come to Du Fairness's side.

Matt, "Du, what are you up to? Your little girlfriend is coming looking for you." ”

Matt must be talking about Suzuki Sunha.

Du fair, "Okay. ”

Du Ping closed his laptop, put his backpack behind him, and walked downstairs.

Suzuki Sappa was still fresh, pure, and enthusiastic, and as soon as he saw Du Fair's arrival, he ran over happily.

Suzuki Sawa, "Fair, hello! Shall we go there for lunch together today?"

Since the date was confirmed, Suzuki Sawa and Du Fair have been trying to maintain a habit of eating lunch bento together. Today, too, the two of them are like a park on campus, and it is a sweet happiness to eat a lunch box prepared by Suzuki Sawa.

Du fair, "Hello, I listen to you." ”

Suzuki Sawa, "Fair-kun, don't you have your own opinions?"

"How's the little fountain going?"

Suzuki Sanda, "It's very good there! There will be music students who will perform at any time, and it is Sunaba's favorite place to go." ”

Joanna suddenly appeared and hugged Suzuki Sandwa.

Joanna, "What a loving couple!

Du Fair, "Hello, Joanna!"

Suzuki Sawa, "Welcome!"

Joanna, "I am also a light bulb at this time, and a very unpopular person, but at the behest of my classmates and friends, I have to ask if you can come to the ball at Rose Camp tonight." ”

Du Fair, "Rose Camp?"

Joanna, "Sure enough, it's nerds, we don't know about such a powerful sorority of girls in our school, but there are many, many young boys who are eager to take part in the various activities organized by Camp Rose." The Rose Camp is composed of many beautiful women with white skin and attractive bodies, and my sister is an important member of it! Are you interested, little boys? The girls in the Rose Camp are famous for their enthusiasm and boldness, and if you don't get it, there will be several beautiful women who will take a fancy to you at the same time! And there is no shortage of people who like to share their partners! Are you excited?

Suzuki Sanda, "Joanna!"

Joanna, "Our little bell is angry! Forget it, I won't talk about it! Remember the 8:00 p.m. Flame Headquarters, don't be late!"

Du Fair, "I have an experiment at night, or ......"

Joanna invaded Du Fair's body at once, and her upper chest was pressed on Du Fair's chest intentionally or unintentionally.

Joanna, "Boy, don't offend her best friend if you know if you don't know one of the taboos of chasing girls!"

Suzuki Sanda, "Joanna, are you there?"

Suzuki Sawa pulled Du away and looked at Joanna angrily.

Suzuki Sanda, "Joe, what are you doing?"

Joanna, "Nothing, just kidding. Tell him that if he offends the girl's best friend, he may die without knowing how to die!"

Du Ping's face was a little stiff, just at that moment, he did feel the huge and soft.

Suzuki Sanda, "Ignore her! Joanna, it's always been crazy like this." Still, her people are very nice. ”

Suzuki begins to comfort Du Fair.

Joanna, "Tell me, boy! ”

Sawa, Suzuki, "Let's go together, I want more sisters to meet my boyfriend." ”

Suzuki Sawa also began to persuade Du Fair.

Du Pingping nodded. Suzuki Sappa immediately jumped up with joy and passionately kissed Du Fair on the cheek.