Back at the bureau, Mu Mian reproduced the other drawings that Yuanyuan had made.
The first drawing depicted: A little boy curled up in a narrow oval cabinet lying on its side, with several eyeballs embedded in the side of the cabinet. Outside the cabinet stood two monsters in long robes, their faces fierce as they stared intently at the boy inside.
The second drawing showed: A naked little boy lying on the ground, with countless hands reaching out from the walls and floor. Long, thin fingers held needles, all poised to stab into his body.
The third drawing portrayed: A huge room filled with many children, each with a bowl of beads in front of them. Behind them stood a hairy monster holding a spoon, seemingly forcing the children to swallow the beads.
After seeing these drawings, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
"Good heavens, could this be a coffin?" Zhang pointed at the cabinet in the first drawing and said, "Who puts cabinets on their side like that? This orphanage must be incredibly dark to abuse children in such a way."
The children at "Star Home" were closely monitored by the staff, making it difficult for Fang Rui and his team to interact with them alone, let alone investigate whether they were being abused.
Child abuse cases were not easy to investigate openly. Firstly, there was no substantial evidence, and if it turned out to be false, the orphanage would likely file a complaint against them. Secondly, even if child abuse was occurring, it would need to be handled delicately.
Star Home was not only home to over thirty children but also the hope for many families with disabled children. If a hasty investigation damaged Star Home's reputation and they couldn't raise charitable donations, many families would lose their support.
Fang Rui made an agreement with Teacher Jiang to bring Yuanyuan to her autism intervention center for hypnotherapy in two days. They could use this opportunity to conduct a full body examination on Yuanyuan to check for signs of abuse.
Zhang and Chen Xue were outside the classroom, secretly luring the mischievous Guoguo out with candy.
Although Guoguo had coprolalia, he was clever. He slipped out while the teacher was playing music for them, using the chaotic sounds to mask his uncontrollable outbursts and avoid detection.
"Pretty sister, are you, woof, woof, going to give me candy?" Guoguo struggled to control his tics but still made strange noises. He quickly covered his mouth, afraid of being disliked by Chen Xue and Zhang.
"Yes, all these candies are for you," Chen Xue handed him a large handful of sweets. "Guoguo, sister has some questions to ask you, is that okay?"
"Go ahead and ask, I'm honest Guoguo, I'll definitely tell you," Guoguo unwrapped a piece of candy and eagerly started eating.
Chen Xue first examined his arms. Apart from scars from vaccination shots, there were no needle marks or other scars.
Chen Xue breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Guoguo, does anyone stick needles into you?"
"When we get vaccines, they do. It hurts a lot. But Mommy Director says we have to get them, it's for our own good, to prevent diseases."
"What about other times?"
Guoguo's eye twitched, "No needles. Except for Mommy Director's sewing needle, we don't have any needles at home. Woof, woof. Mommy Director uses her needle to embroider pretty flowers and our names on our clothes. Pretty sister, where did Mommy Director go, woof? I haven't seen her for many days."
Looking into Guoguo's sincere eyes, Chen Xue's eyes also grew moist. She said, "Mommy Director went to a faraway place. She'll be back a bit later."
"Then she shouldn't come back too late. I'm afraid I might fall asleep at night, woof, woof, and then I'd have to wait until tomorrow to see her. Woof, I'll try hard not to fall asleep. I stayed awake all last night, I wanted to wait for Mommy Director, woof, to come back."
"Guoguo, what I mean is, Mommy Director won't be back for many days."
"Pretty sister, how many days is 'many days'?"
"Sister doesn't know either."
"Okay. Mommy Director must have her own things to take care of. We'll be good and wait for her to come back here." Guoguo said understandingly.
Chen Xue continued to ask, "Guoguo, does anyone lock you in cabinets?"
"No. Mommy Director doesn't let us climb into cabinets. She says it's very dangerous, woof, if we get locked in, we might die if we can't get out. There are monsters in the cabinets, woof, that eat naughty children. But Yuanyuan can climb into cabinets, the monsters don't eat children like him."
"Is Yuanyuan often locked in cabinets?"
"Yuanyuan likes to climb in by himself. He doesn't talk, so we don't know what he's thinking."
Chen Xue asked, "Do they force you to eat strange things?"
"Yes. We're often forced to eat yucky carrot cubes and small green vegetables, and we're not allowed to spit them out after eating."
"Have you eaten anything round, like beads?"
"You mean little tangyuan? They're delicious. But Mommy Director says we can't eat too many, glutinous rice is hard to digest."
Chen Xue and Zhang discovered that there didn't seem to be any child abuse occurring at the orphanage, and the deceased Director Zhang appeared to be a very loving person.
Zhang asked, "Guoguo, have you always lived here? Do you go anywhere else to play?"
"I've always lived here, but Yuanyuan, Xiao Bai, Zhu Zhu, and others go somewhere else with Mommy Director. I don't know where."
Zhang remembered that these children all had autism.
"Alright, Guoguo, thank you. Please don't tell anyone that we talked to you, okay?"
Guoguo looked troubled at the large pile of candy in his hands, "Okay. Can I share the candy with the other kids?"
"Of course you can."
As Chen Xue and Zhang were about to leave, they found Guoguo tugging at their clothes. "Pretty sister."
"What is it, Guoguo?"
"They said my mom went to a faraway place. I kept waiting, waiting for many years, but she never came back to find me. Later they said my mom had died. Is Mommy Director also dead? Is that why she's not coming back?"
Chen Xue didn't know how to answer this question. She gently hugged Guoguo.
The results of the financial investigation into "Star Home" came out quickly. All donations to "Star Home" went through official accounts, and most of the outgoing funds were transferred to foundations under "Star Home's" name.
Director Zhang had previously been in business and kept very clear accounts. The destination of every transfer could be traced.
She didn't own any property, nor had she ever rented a house. She had always lived in the orphanage's dormitory. No valuable items or cash were found in her office or living quarters.
From the financial records, it appeared that Director Zhang had not embezzled any public funds.
Director Zhang's phone has not been found to this day. The police searched the entire orphanage but couldn't find the missing phone. Director Zhang rarely used computers, and no suspicious clues were found on her computer.
The diary found at the scene was confirmed through handwriting analysis to be written by Director Zhang, and based on ink analysis, the actual writing times mostly matched the dates written on the paper.
The diary entries began ten years ago. She didn't write frequently, sometimes writing one entry every month or two, and the entries were not long.
After reading her diary, everyone felt that although Director Zhang couldn't shake off the psychological shadow of her son's death, she had redirected her attention to other autistic children. By taking care of them, she filled the void and found inner peace for a long time.
Everything changed a year and a half ago. At that time, Director Zhang seemed to be facing some difficult choices. She began to frequently think about her deceased son, wrote in her diary more often, and her mental state deteriorated.
