The Lost Bayonet

The Lost Bayonet is a long detective novel by Huolang (real name Chen Zhi), a writer and former military officer. The story opens on a rainy spring night in Jiangzhou City: the popular film star Lancao has been back at her suburban villa for less than ten minutes when an intruder brutally murders her, in a manner strikingly similar to an old case at the Liren Bay beauty salon that left six women dead. In that case, which remained unsolved for a year and was listed as a priority investigation, the killer spared only one working girl, leaving behind the terrifying rumor of a "flower-picking bandit." With the new case, the long-shelved old one is reopened, and the special task force begins its pursuit. Director Xin Ying, developer Ni Shuhao, a car washer, and others come under police scrutiny one after another, and the complex relationships between the victim, the director, and the developer bring more motives to the surface. Leads break off again and again; the truth seems within reach several times, only to turn murky once more. In the end, a single fiber left at the crime scene brings the investigation to a turning point. The novel uses the "bayonet"—an old military blade—as a linking thread, drawing out grudges and hidden histories spanning years; through the cat-and-mouse chase and the painstaking unraveling of the case, it portrays the contest between justice and evil and writes of human nature twisted and struggling under the pressures of reality. The book runs about thirty-two chapters with a strong cinematic eye and tight pacing, marking the author's attempt to move from military fiction to suspense detective fiction.