The Sin Profile

My name is Chen Mo, a former star detective in Binhai City and a criminal profiler. I have a special ability: I can "empathize" with a crime scene, reconstruct the killer's soul in my mind, and draw what he looks like. A year ago, I used this remarkable skill to send the serial killer known as "the Butcher" to the executioner's block. The case shook the entire city. I thought it had all been settled long ago. Then, a year later, a perfect "art murder" shocked the city. The victim had been arranged to resemble the world-famous painting The Death of Marat, and not a single clue could be found at the scene. The bizarre method was identical to the Butcher's! Was it a copycat, or a spirit returned from hell? Amid everyone's doubts, I was forced back to the crime scene. When I "empathized" again, I was plunged into the mind of an elegant soul who saw murder as art. I understood at once: I had been wrong. A year ago, I had personally created a colossal miscarriage of justice! The real killer had never been caught. He was putting on one lavish death exhibition after another for me. He treated the whole city as his canvas and human lives as his paint, while I was his one and only "invited critic." He knew everything about me, even a private symbol I had drawn seven years ago. He kept leaving clues only I could understand, forcing me to interpret his "works" as he played cat and mouse with me. And behind this frenzied exhibition, a mysterious organization called the Muse Club was emerging. They seemed to regard real crimes as the ultimate entertainment. To atone for my sins, and to uncover the truth, I had to pick up my paintbrush again. This time, I would draw more than the killer's face. I would also reveal the familiar face smiling at me from beneath the devil's mask.