Forty-three feathers

By the time the two drove home, it was already late at night. The darkness was as dark as ink, and the road was no longer noisy as it was during the day. The dark asphalt road, illuminated by neon lights, looked like smoothed silk, stretching into the distance.

Occasionally, a few sports cars would whiz past on the road in the dark, racing against each other.

Ye Linghan was holding a paper target he had taken from the casino. There was a bullet hole next to the red circle in the center. It was left by Yin Chen. He wanted to take it home, so he took it off.

His hands were clenched tightly, his head tilted to one side and leaned against the car window, and he could hear the sound of even breathing.

While waiting for the traffic light, Yin Chen tilted his head and lowered his eyes, then leaned over and gently kissed Ye Linghan on the lips.

The other person's eyelashes fluttered like butterflies, but he did not open his eyes.

If they didn't have any additional identities, they might just be an ordinary couple, and they wouldn't have to go through so many life and death moments and could live a peaceful life.

— —

The next day, when Ye Linghan opened his eyes, the seat beside him had become cold. Yin Chen had already gone to the company at some point. The harsh and strict boss did not let go of his employees, nor did he let go of himself.

They were returning to an apartment in the city, so they still had plenty of time. Therefore, Ye Linghan simply packed up and headed to the Investigation Office.

When we arrived at the investigation office, the lights were on in the room.

"Good morning." Ye Linghan spoke first.

"Good morning." Yao Qingluan heard the commotion and popped her head out from a pile of documents. "You're just in time. A few test reports just arrived. Come take a look."

Finally there was news, Ye Linghan hurried forward.

Those evidences have been submitted for some time, and the results have not come out until now, but fortunately we can get the test report more quickly now.

"Are you alone?" He looked around and saw only Yao Qingluan in the room, no one else.

"Oh, Brother Mo went to the police station for a meeting. I don't know when he will be back."

"Xiao Liao..." She paused before continuing, "He said he would come over after he finished dealing with his mother's affairs."

"Yes, I understand." Ye Linghan just nodded and didn't say much.

Public is public and private is private. Although the other party's suspicion has not been cleared, humanitarian care is necessary in this situation.

Everyone felt sorry for what happened to his mother Jiang Wanru, especially Liao Xihe, who suffered the biggest blow. He came to the Investigation Bureau with great expectations, but the second case he handled was about his mother. They even dug up an old case from decades ago. The combination of new and old cases was a torture both mentally and physically.

Of course, these are also a challenge for Ye Linghan and his team, because the deeper the case goes, the wider the scope involved. In addition, due to the shortage of manpower, it is impossible to list Liao Xihe as a relative of the person involved in the case and make him recuse himself. This is even more of a test of human nature.

Therefore, it depends on how Liao Xihe makes a decision between family affection and conscience, whether to choose to keep the clues he has learned to himself or share them.

Ye Linghan took the report from Yao Qingluan, which was the test results of the skeleton they found in Zhao Xingjian's house.

It says: DNA identification shows that these bones belong to Wang Yinghong, and she and Zhao Xingjian are biological mother and son.

"Wang Yinghong is his mother?" Considering that Zhao Xingjian's information showed that his father died of illness and his mother was missing, everything seemed to begin to connect gradually.

"Well, but look at this." Yao Qingluan nodded and pointed to the latter part of the report. "This matter is far more difficult than we thought."

Ye Linghan looked in the direction of Yao Qingluan's finger, and sure enough, it said that the bones were detected to be from more than one person.

In other words, the bones belong to Wang Yinghong and another deceased person.

"This skeleton actually came from a different person!"

Ye Linghan felt a chill down his spine, and looked back and forth at the report in his hand in disbelief.

"Hmm." Although Yao Qingluan looked quite calm at this moment, she had actually been shocked once when she received this report.

So who was the other deceased? He searched the entire page but couldn't find a single person. It was as if this person didn't exist in the database.

And who was behind this, secretly replacing one body with another, and what was their purpose? Where were the missing parts of the two corpses?

When this series of questions is raised, more and more branches are involved in the case, and we have to diversify our thinking to think about more counterintuitive ideas.

From any perspective, this is not just an ordinary case.

At this moment, the sound of a door opening was heard. Ye Linghan and Yao Qingluan turned their heads and looked outside the door, only to see Liao Xihe walking in with a haggard and tired face.

The two stood up and looked at each other, then Yao Qingluan said: "Xiao Liao, you..." She wanted to comfort him, but when the words came to her lips, she didn't know how to start. She always felt that comforting him was not right, and not comforting him would seem unkind.

But how can just a few words alleviate the pain in the heart of the person involved?

Her eyes flickered as she looked at Ye Linghan, but she didn't say anything else.

Ye Linghan had mixed feelings at this moment. Although he had little contact with Jiang Wanru and did not know her very well, for some reason, he respected her from the bottom of his heart. He admired her but also felt regret for her. Therefore, when he saw Liao Xihe, he did not know what to say.

When Liao Xihe saw the two of them, his mood wasn't that bad. After all, they had worked together and had some feelings for each other, but it wasn't much better either.

He noticed the hesitation between the two and forced a bitter smile, "I'm fine, you don't need to comfort me."

Liao Xihe walked in as he spoke. A few days ago, when I saw him, he still looked young and his every move was full of longing for life and the future. The few of them were chatting and laughing. But when I saw him today, he looked much older. There was a dark circle under his eyes, and his eyes were bloodshot. Maybe he hadn't slept well for a few days.

During the two days of recuperation, Ye Linghan had thought in his free time about whether he should involve Jiang Wanru. Even if it was an unavoidable link, could he choose a different way of investigation, or delay the arrival of this day?

But that would definitely be unfair to the victims involved in the case, and most importantly, it would not be possible to redress the injustice done to the young Jiang Wanru.

As a victim when she was young, she would have hoped that justice would be on her side.

He had convinced himself countless times that since there had to be a so-called "bad guy" to bring this matter up, he might as well be the one to do it.

But when he saw Liao Xihe, those complicated emotions surged up again, and he didn't know how to face him.

The other party noticed Ye Linghan's predicament and walked over to face the two of them. "Just follow all the procedures normally. Everything will be handled impartially. While it's true that many of the results are unacceptable, I have professional ethics. You can rest assured about that."

The truth is very important to everyone. There is no family affection in the face of justice, and Liao Xihe had no choice.

"I..." Ye Linghan lowered his eyes, and a black shadow suddenly flashed before his eyes. Then his body was hugged tightly by Liao Xihe.

He patted Ye Linghan on the back and said, "Thank you. I believe my mother is not at fault. It's those people with evil intentions who are at fault. I will make them pay the price. Truth belatedly revealed cannot be called justice, but it can bring punishment to the wrongdoers."

He exhaled heavily, releasing the turbid air that had been trapped in his chest for a long time. "I believe my mother had her reasons for speaking out, and I also believe that you can redress her injustice."

Ye Linghan's eyes were filled with tears. With just one sentence, the haze in his heart instantly dissipated. He also patted Liao Xihe on the back and said softly, "Don't worry, leave it to us."

It is a mission and a commitment.

At the police station, the three of them met up with Su Mo.

In the interrogation room, Su Mo and Yao Qingluan sat in front of Jiang Wanru, with a female auxiliary police officer beside them. Ye Linghan and Liao Xihe sat outside the glass window and watched.

Everything they say and do inside the house will be heard or seen simultaneously outside, and special measures are taken during special periods. They equipped Su Mo and Yao Qingluan with headsets so that people outside can ask questions if they have any, and the people inside can convey them at any time.

Ye Linghan tapped the earphone, and Su Mo coughed lightly to indicate that he could hear him.

Jiang Wanru, who was sitting opposite, seemed to be very perceptive. She noticed their actions and looked up at Ye Linghan outside the one-way glass. Although she could not see anything from the inside, the two of them looked at each other across the wall, and Ye Linghan could not help but be touched.

Although she was in prison with her hands chained with cold iron chains, Jiang Wanru's resolute temperament remained undiminished, and the expression on her otherworldly face remained calm, as if she was not the one being interrogated.

In comparison, Ye Linghan was obviously inferior in terms of courage. Even though he knew that the other party could not see him, he still lowered his eyes and did not look at him. Those eyes seemed to be able to see through people's nakedness.

What a strong feeling of oppression...Ye Linghan thought.

But his mental quality was not low either. He calmed himself down and adjusted his state quickly.

The interrogation began. Su Mo leaned back in his chair with a sullen face, looking at Jiang Wanru who was smiling in front of him. He looked like a child wearing adult clothes. He tried hard to show an aura that was enough to suppress others, wanting to make himself look more mature.

Such a strong aura...Su Mo had the same feeling.

He raised his hand and knocked on the evidence photo on the table.

Yao Qingluan understood what she meant and picked up one of the photos of the light red cloth found in Zhao Xingjian's home, then stood up and walked to Jiang Wanru and handed it to her.

Combining Wang De's confession and some clues, Jiang Wanru and Zhao Xingjian also have an unusual connection, so they just took it as a chance.

"Do you know him?" Su Mo asked.

Jiang Wanru looked at the photo, rubbing it with her fingertips, as if she was not looking at a cold photo, but the real thing, and the sharpness in her eyes also faded a little.

She was comforting her younger self...

Jiang Wanru raised her eyes and said, "I know him, he's mine."

Her answer was decisive and without any hesitation.

"This shouldn't be hard to guess, right?" Jiang Wanru asked, "But I guess you haven't found any DNA information on it."

"Brother Mo, don't answer her."

Su Mo heard Ye Linghan's voice, "Ask her when this piece of cloth was placed in Zhao Xingjian's house."

They really couldn't find out who the faded cloth belonged to, and there was no one who could match it in the DNA database.

But they cannot reveal anything in front of Jiang Wanru and cannot be led by her. Otherwise, once they fall into her verbal trap, it will not be easy to get the words out of her.

Jiang Wanru's eyes curved as she played with the photo in her hands.

After hearing what Ye Linghan said, Su Mo asked, "Why did you leave this piece of cloth in Zhao Xingjian's house?"

Jiang Wanru raised her eyes to look at Su Mo, "You are very smart." But while speaking, she turned to look at Ye Linghan.

Zhao Xingjian is dead and cannot be convicted, but Jiang Wanru must be cleared of all charges.