It was a warm evening in late summer when Zhan, together with his new bodyguard, the police chief, and his neighbor, Wen Rouhan, sat on the porch of his parents' country house, watching the crackling campfire in front of the house and watching Zhan's parents sizzle a few slices of meat and sausages in that fire. It was the last evening before Zhan and Wen Rouhan headed back to the city.

Zhan had been with his parents for the eighth day and had used these past few days to recover a little from all the terror and horror. And although he wasn't really allowed to, he had told them everything that had happened to him since his last visit, down to the smallest detail. His parents were shocked and very worried about their son. His mother even cried because she couldn't believe what her pretty son had been through.

Of course, Zhan had also told them that they hadn't inherited the house from a distant uncle, but that it was a gift from Isla Isari for them instead. But his parents hadn't said much about that. They simply didn't know what to say. But they were happy for Zhan that he at least knew who his biological parents were. And, of course, they were also sad because they were both dead. When Zhan's dad cried, he explained that he was very sad because they never had the chance to see their wonderful son grow up and see what a great young man he had become. Afterwards, they all cried and held each other in their arms.

They also talked about Yibo. After Zhan had told them what had happened and how he had felt ignored by Yibo, how he felt about it and what thoughts had gone through his head and how much he hated Yibo and never wanted to forgive him, his mother had asked him a question that really left Zhan speechless. Because it didn't even occur to him to ask this himself. "How was Wang Yibo supposed to know what his supervisor, this Agent Lee, was really up to with you?"

This one question made Zhan look at his mom speechlessly, while his brain started to rattle and Zhan had to ask himself how Yibo could have known what Agent Lee was up to? No one suspected Agent Lee of anything. And then the realization that Wang Yibo was fucking innocent hit him like a hammer blow! Suddenly Zhan remembered all the harsh words he'd thrown at Yibo on the phone and how hard he'd tried to hate Yibo. And that made Zhan feel the worst guilty conscience in the world that he could possibly imagine. He would have liked to apologize to Yibo. But how? He still didn't have a new cell phone and he still didn't know Yibo's number by heart! Then it just had to wait until he was back in the city!

That last evening, as he sat on the veranda with Wen Rouhan, Wen Rouhan was finally ready to tell Zhan how it came about that he kept appearing in the stories Zhan was told. "It all started when I had just been transferred to another police station. My partner and I were on patrol duty when we were told by headquarters that a fire had broken out in a birth house and that we should go there. When we got there, the fire department was already there fighting the fire. Flames were coming out of the windows and the roof of the birth house. A couple of firemen took it in turns to run into the building in pairs to look for survivors. But, well, they only found bodies. At first, everyone assumed that the fire might have been caused by a technical fault. The house was old and so was the electrics. But when two firefighters came out of the burning house after another tour and said that they had found lots of bodies, but no babies, it was clear that the fire must have been set."

"Yes, that's understandable." Zhan replied.

"Well, while the bodies were taken away one by one and the fire department finally managed to put out the fire, we started our work. For some reason the homicide department, it was clear it was murder because the fire didn't start on its own and the babies were missing, pulled me into their investigation. And so I worked with them and two other departments. One department was responsible for the abducted babies. And that was my wife's department. At the time, she and the other investigators suspected that the perpetrator or perpetrators were only after the babies. I disagreed after I found out who the dead were. But nobody listened to me. I was just a simple police officer who normally drove a patrol car and had to solve disputes or investigate thefts. I had worked for the drug squad for almost six years. But after everything I experienced there, I wanted to do something else. Something simpler and joined the police patrol service."

"So they underestimated you."

"Yes, they did. While they followed their theory, I followed my theory. And after I told my wife about my theory and explained to her why I thought it was actually about the judge and his wife the prosecutor, she agreed with me and joined my investigation. But our investigation stalled when a couple of gruesome murders took place a few weeks later. Again, my partner and I were the first on the scene and again I was told to assist the investigators. My wife, she was damn smart, made a connection to the birth house fire. She found out that the old couple had taken in a young pregnant woman who had been at the birth house that night and returned to the couple's apartment that same night with a big pregnant belly and two babies. One of the babies was taken away by the couple in the early hours of the morning. The other baby and the woman's baby were seen on and off for several weeks. But after about 6 weeks, first the one baby was gone, then the woman's own baby and finally the woman was gone too. Shortly afterwards, the couple was murdered. And also the couple she had worked for in their restaurant. My wife even found out the name of the young woman. Isla Isari!"

"Wow."

"We told all the investigators what my wife had found out, but nobody wanted to believe any of our theory. They said it was nothing more than coincidences. And then, 12 weeks had passed since the fire in the birth house, I was on night duty and was back on patrol with my partner when my wife called me and told me she finally had a name. Pete Kapajewski! And she told me that she knew where he was. I told her that she should definitely not go there alone. She laughed and asked me if I thought she was a beginner and said that she would never do anything alone. She had informed her supervisor and the team would be on their way before this Pete Kapajewski could leave. Four hours later, my partner and I were called back to the station. There I learned that my wife had been murdered."

"What?" Zhan was shocked.

"Yes. She and her team stormed the building where Pete Kapajewski and his men were hiding. But they obviously already knew that my wife and the team were coming and were prepared. They welcomed them with machine guns. They killed the men immediately. They dragged the two women, including my wife, with them, raped them both and then just left them lying there with shots to the stomach. My wife and her colleague bled to death. Just like Mrs. Isari. That was Pete Kapajewski's trademark. He raped and shot the victims in the stomach and then left them to die slowly and agonizingly."

"That fucking asshole!"

"While I was on leave so I could mourn my dead wife, four more female bodies were found, all of them just as badly beaten. Back then, Pete Kapajewski didn't just kill for the pleasure of it, but also occasionally on behalf of others. And Isla Isari made it her business to find out who he was killing for."

"Then I assume she found, tortured and killed these men?"

"Perhaps. I suppose so. But there should be a lot more on the USB stick." Said Wen Rouhan. Zhan nodded silently. He and Wen Rouhan had already tried to see what was stored on the USB stick. But they got nowhere because the data on it was encrypted and you need special software to decrypt the data. And they don't have this software. Nor is it easily available on the open market.

Wen Rouhan then told him that bodies had been found from time to time that clearly bore Pete Kapajewski's handwriting. But because he knew that no one would listen to him, he collected all his investigation results over the years and hoped to find someone who would believe him and finally follow up his leads. Zhan had then told him that he should submit all this to the agency and that they would certainly be interested. Wen Rouhan then said that he could give it a try.

Later that night, as Zhan lay in his bed thinking about the story Wen Rouhan had told him, he wondered if he shouldn't be discouraged? Shouldn't he be trying like hell to get out of working with the agency? After all, saving his own skin was more important than chasing after some seriously disturbed murderers. Especially since he wasn't even an agent and didn't even know how to fight. He had also never been in a fight in his life. And yet he was willing to work with the agents of this run-down agency and go after killers?

But Zhan actually knew exactly why he would still support the agents. Firstly, because he loves Yibo and would do anything to support him. And secondly, because he no longer wants to be afraid. And he wants to know what happened to the kidnapped babies. He wants to help Wen Rouhan get revenge for the murder of his wife. And he would do it for Mrs. Isari, who, after all he had learned about her, he now only felt sorry for.

The moment he thought of Mrs. Isari, Zhan was annoyed again that he had forgotten her letter at home in his apartment. He wanted to take it with him and read it in front of his parents. But when he arrived at his parents' house and unpacked his bag, he realized that he had completely forgotten to put the letter in his bag. He was so curious to read what Mrs. Isari had written to him that he was even briefly tempted to ask Wen Rouhan to drive him home again just so he could get the letter.

When tiredness finally got the better of him, Zhan switched off the bedside light, closed his eyes and nuzzled his cheek against Yibo's sweater, which Yibo had left at Zhan's and which Zhan had taken with him because it smelled so much like Yibo. Even though he simply hated Yibo at that moment, he still wanted to have something of him with him. And every night since he had arrived here, he fell asleep with his face pressed against Yibo's sweater and didn't even have nightmares.

When Zhan woke up in the morning, he was rested and refreshed. He took Yibo's sweater and put it in his pocket. There was no way he was going to forget it. Then he showered and went downstairs, where his parents were sitting at the kitchen table with Wen Rouhan and had already started breakfast. Zhan sat down with them, took one of his mom's freshly baked rolls and listened to the "grown-ups" talking about different farming methods. Not a topic Zhan was interested in.

After breakfast, Zhan hurried outside to play with the baby cats. Six weeks earlier, Zhan's parents had discovered the baby cats and their mom in their shed and had been lovingly caring for them ever since. On his last visit, the kittens were still too small and the mother cat wouldn't let anyone touch them. Now, however, the mother cat allowed it and cleaned herself comfortably while Zhan stroked the kittens and played with them.

An hour later, the kittens had played until they were tired, had drunk milk from their mother and were fast asleep. And it was time for Zhan and Wen Rouhan to say goodbye. They had to make their way back. Wen Rouhan would have to go back to work that very evening. And Zhan could hardly wait to call Yibo and ask him for a chat.