Chapter 13

The two finally had enough of their quarrel and seriously took out their transcripts to continue the topic they had just started. Wu Tong pointed out the phrase "emotionally sensitive" and said, "When you were interrogating her, she was almost desperately trying to control her emotions, but her facial expressions and movements gave her away."

Xiao Yuncheng recalled Gu Yuan's extremely unnatural expression and tone at the time, and agreed with this point of view. He then asked, "What about this manic-depressive tendency?"

Wu Tong looked where he pointed and said calmly, "This is just my guess. I've seen patients with bipolar disorder before, and I think her symptoms are somewhat similar. Of course, this is just my unfounded judgment, so don't take it too seriously."

"Then what do you think about that footprint?" Xiao Yuncheng looked at Wu Tong. "Could it be hers?"

Wu Tong was about to say something when he was interrupted by the police who suddenly rushed in: "Captain Xiao, we found Du Wenzhou's address!"

Xiao Yuncheng was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then he stood up and said sternly, "Call the technical investigation and trace inspection people and drive over now! Where's Lin Chen?"

"Hey, here..." Lin Chen jumped out from the side.

Xiao Yuncheng took out his phone, glanced at it, and said, "Call Shi Qian and Sister Xuan as well. Let's go now."

Several police cars drove out one by one with their sirens blaring, the sirens still echoing as they disappeared into the distance.

Under the buildings in the community, the roads are surrounded by trees and grass. It seems that the community gardeners maintain them frequently. The grass stands neatly on the roadside, like a green wall. The fresh scent emitted from the plants fills the area. It can be said that it is a very fresh and pleasing environment.

The police opened the door of Du Wenzhou's house, and a group of people rushed in and filled the house.

"Search every inch and leave no trace. Go check the shoes in the shoe cabinet to compare the footprints. Sister Xuan, come here."

Xuan Li walked over, confused. When she looked up, she saw the unfamiliar face of Wu Tong. Just as she was about to speak, Xiao Yuncheng interrupted her with his foresight: "My friend, the consultant, is here to help."

"Oh, Counselor, hello, I'm Xuan Li, from the Forensic Department."

After hearing this, Xuan Li enthusiastically extended her hand to Wu Tong, and Wu Tong politely shook hands back: "Hello, Miss Xuan Li, Wu Tong."

"Okay, they just said hello and shook hands..." Xiao Yuncheng muttered as he looked at the two clasped hands.

Xuan Li glanced at Xiao Yuncheng with disdain and said teasingly, "Oh, such a treasure?" Xuan Li didn't waste any time and asked directly, "What did you find?"

Xiao Yuncheng looked at Wu Tong. Wu Tong thought for a moment and said to Xuan Li, "Your forensic doctor said that he found a needle mark on Du Wenzhou's left hand, with carbonic acid crystals remaining on the surface... Is that true?"

Xuan Li nodded and asked what happened. Wu Tong pondered for a moment and said, "I just thought of a possibility - could he have died from being injected with a carbonated drink..."

"...carbonated drinks?" Xuan Li frowned and looked at him. It seemed as if he had suddenly realized this possibility. "It's possible! I've heard of similar cases before."

After that, Xuan Li told the trace examiners to pay attention to whether there were any objects or bottles with carbonated drink residue. He then turned to Wu Tong and said, "Go on."

"Combined with the non-fatal injuries on Du Wenzhou, this hypothesis is indeed valid, but..."

Wu Tong walked towards the living room and beckoned Xuan Li to follow him. "Du Wenzhou isn't the kind of person who would be so foolish as to let someone inject him with drugs. I want to set up a scenario with you."

"What's the situation?" Xuan Li followed Wu Tong's instructions and stood next to the coffee table. Wu Tong stood opposite her. He paused and said, "'What do you think of my relationship with her?'"

Xuan Li immediately understood what Wu Tong meant and continued, "How could you two not be related?! Why do you have so many chat records? Are you cheating?!"

Xiao Yuncheng, who was confused at first, suddenly had an epiphany after hearing these two sentences - if Gu Yuan questioned Du Wenzhou after discovering the relationship between Du Wenzhou and Qin Xuanyu, and then injected Du Wenzhou with a syringe filled with carbonated beverage after he fell asleep, then everything makes sense!

Xiao Yuncheng immediately turned around and rushed into the master bedroom. The trace examination officer tactfully handed Xiao Yuncheng the tools. Xiao Yuncheng quickly put on gloves, squatted next to the trash can beside the bed, and dug out half of a broken syringe from under the trash bag. "Holy crap!"

Wu Tong and Xuan Li rushed in upon hearing his voice. After a trace test, they said, "There are traces of carbonated beverage inside—the ingredients are from Coke!"

"Captain Xiao!"

They rushed out upon hearing the noise, and heard the trace examiner who was rummaging through the shoe cabinet shout, "The shoe prints match! They're Gu Yuan's shoes!"

"Arrange all the evidence and take photos. I'll see how she can deny it!"

Xiao Yuncheng dragged Wu Tong out the door, and the others quickly followed. This investigation didn't even take an hour, which could be said to be unprecedentedly fast. After getting in the car, Xuan Li handed Wu Tong a bottle of water and asked him, "How did you think they would quarrel?"

Wu Tong took it and thanked him before saying, "We already knew that Gu Yuan knew about the relationship between Qin Xuanyu and Du Wenzhou, but Du Wenzhou wouldn't be so foolish as to let his wife do it. Even after they were discovered, Du Wenzhou rarely came home—this can be seen from the chat records on Du Wenzhou's phone."

"That would only happen after they had an argument. After an argument, couples usually sleep in separate rooms to avoid being upset. Gu Yuan would then sneak into Du Wenzhou's room after he fell asleep. Speaking of Coke, injecting it into the veins can cause blood clots, which can kill Du Wenzhou in just a few minutes. This actually happened in Australia in 2014."

Xiao Yuncheng listened attentively, and suddenly realized that something was wrong. He said, "That's not right..."

Wu Tong looked at him, and Xiao Yuncheng asked doubtfully, "If Du Wenzhou died at home, whose male footprints were found in the woods?"

“······”

Xuan Li's brows twitched fiercely, and he spoke word by word, "So there was more than one person who committed the crime?"

Xiao Yuncheng slammed on the brakes and slid into a parking space. The Municipal Bureau had already appeared nearby. Xiao Yuncheng shouted angrily, "Fuck you! There's an accomplice?!"

But what he didn't realize was that Wu Tong hadn't said a word since he mentioned the "footprints." After returning to the police station, Xiao Yuncheng immediately rushed to the interrogation room, and soon Gu Yuan was also brought in.

"What's wrong, officer? Why did you call me here again?" Gu Yuan had calmed down considerably since she first arrived, but she still looked exhausted. Xiao Yuncheng didn't waste any words. He simply threw the half-filled syringe in front of Gu Yuan and pointed at the evidence bag. "This was found in the trash can in your master bedroom. It contained carbonic acid and your fingerprints. How do you explain this?"

"Officer, this is just something I use to inject into the bottle." Gu Yuan said without changing his expression.

Xiao Yuncheng sneered, took a report from Wu Tong, and placed it in front of Gu Yuan. He leaned his hands on the table, staring at Gu Yuan's face and said, "Then what about the carbonic acid crystals found in your husband's body?"

"What bottle do you need a syringe to inject into? What's your purpose in doing this?"

Gu Yuan frowned and looked at Xiao Yuncheng, who was obviously answering the wrong question: "I don't know what you are talking about."

This unyielding attitude made the police officers present look even more serious. However, Xiao Yuncheng remained unhurried and gestured for Wu Tong to speak. Wu Tong coughed softly, walked forward and looked at Gu Yuan: "You are very smart. You can think of using Coke to kill people."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yuan suddenly looked up at Wu Tong. Her eyes were already bloodshot, and the bloodshot extended all the way to her pupils. Her eyes were wide open, looking a little scary. Gu Yuan still mechanically repeated, "I don't know what you are talking about."

"You must have known that." Wu Tong shook his head, took a step closer, and said calmly, "You started planning this murder three days before the incident. You first asked someone for a method or searched online, and then decided that killing with Coke was a better method. On that day, on your way home from the company, you were holding a water cup filled with iced Coke, right?"

This was discovered by Xiao Yuncheng and Wu Tong when they were watching the surveillance video in the office. The water cup was very small, with a capacity of only about 500 ml. It was hidden in Gu Yuan's arms at the entrance of the community, but the sharp-eyed Xiao Yuncheng discovered the clue.

Wu Tong continued, "You discovered Du Wenzhou's infidelity a week ago. You confronted him many times and argued with him countless times, each time ending in a bad mood. Finally, three days ago, you couldn't stand it anymore. You didn't expect your husband to side with the mistress so much, so you decided to take revenge on them."

"First, you got Qin Xuanyu's WeChat and pretended to be a colleague asking her to work overtime. Then you sent a message to Du Wenzhou asking him to come home quickly because you had something to discuss with him. It just so happened that Du Wenzhou and Qin Xuanyu had spoken on the phone at noon that day, and he had decided to divorce you."

The color on Gu Yuan's face visibly drained away until it turned completely pale. Her pupils trembled at a tiny frequency, and after a long while, she spoke word by word, "I didn't."

Xiao Yuncheng raised his lips and said, "It's no use saying you don't have it. The physical evidence and surveillance footage are all there. Why should you resist? If you tell the truth, the police might be lenient with you. Otherwise, they will be strict with you for resisting."

Finally, Gu Yuan had nowhere to escape. She buried her head in her arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Xiao Yuncheng and Wu Tong said nothing, just waiting quietly. After a long time, Gu Yuan cried enough. She looked up at Wu Tong and said in a hoarse voice: "He betrayed me, why can't I take revenge on him? Then what are these ten years between us? He wants to divorce me, so what are the ten years he wasted on me? Are they garbage?!"

Gu Yuan said fiercely, "The relationship between us for ten years is actually not as good as this bitch he has only known for two months?! Haha, doesn't he deserve to die? He has to pay me back for everything! Time, energy, and feelings, I want him to pay with his life!"

Gu Yuan looked at Xiao Yuncheng and said, her tone softening a bit: "At that time, I asked him to come back to talk, which was already giving him a chance, but he actually asked for a divorce from me. I couldn't stand it. My heart hurt so much, as if he was stabbing it with a knife. That night, I went to his room while he was sleeping and injected Coke into him..."