Nightmare under the Sydney sun

Author: Jiang Jianning
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: A hidden leaf is the best place in the woods. — Borges
Murder is the epilogue, and the story has been unfolding long ago. — Agatha Christie
Life is full of snakes tempting us everywhere. — Mark Twain
Novel Summary: After graduating from Renmin University of China, Su Lei went to Sydney to join his older brother Su Guang, planning to study for an MBA at the University of Sydney. This was his first time leaving home and his first time going abroad. However, his older brother, who had promised to pick him up at the airport, never showed up. Su Lei waited at the airport for five long hours before finally calling his childhood friend Yang Cheng, who had come to Australia years earlier, asking him to pick him up. The two rushed to Su Guang’s apartment, only to find it thoroughly searched and ransacked as if it had been robbed. Phoebe, Su Guang’s goddaughter, and her mother, Song Meijie, who had arrived after hearing the news, were also at a loss. Soon after, Su Guang’s long-time colleague Fu Xiaomin and his university classmate Jiang Han also arrived.
Soon, Su Guang’s body was found by the sea, and the police formed a special task force to investigate. Just as Detective Rogers and Maggie Liang went to find the last witness who had seen Su Guang in Chinatown, the restaurant owner Liu Dajiang, who was the witness, was killed in a public parking lot in a northwest community.
On the other hand, Su Lei not only wanted to find the real killer of his older brother but also wanted to learn about his brother’s life abroad over the past eleven years. To his surprise, he discovered that after quitting his job as a journalist, Su Guang had not been doing business in Sydney as he had claimed but was instead involved in drug trafficking. Later, he also found that Su Guang had a secret safe deposit box at Bank of China. Su Lei, Yang Cheng, and Phoebe went through various dangerous situations and finally managed to open the safe under perilous circumstances, only to find it empty.
At this point, Yang Cheng was involved in a car accident and became a vegetable. Su Lei also received a threatening letter and a venomous spider. The police went down several wrong paths, and the case made no progress. As major issues, such as the long-standing feud between Edward, a Labor Party MP, and Su Guang, came to light, along with the appearance of a dark BMW seen near the scene of the crime that night and a mysterious phone number, the case became even more baffling.
At this time, Jiang Han’s wife was killed in a car accident on a rainy night. Determined, Detectives Rogers and Maggie relentlessly pursued the case and finally tracked down the killer’s trail. Su Lei accidentally obtained evidence left by his older brother, suspecting that the real killer was Edward, the MP. However, just after he confronted the MP, Edward suddenly took his own life in an election office. Soon after, Phoebe also disappeared.
Su Lei and Jiang Han privately formed an alliance to find the real killers of their older brother and his wife. On a rainy night, they were guided by a mysterious phone call and traveled across half of Sydney, eventually arriving at a remote seaside cliff. The killer promised 100,000 yuan in cash to reveal the truth. Meanwhile, the police received a court order and rushed to the seaside to arrest the culprit.
The ending was unexpected—Phoebe was saved, and all the truth was finally revealed.