Chapter 31

The afternoon sunlight was cut into pieces by the old-fashioned windows and fell on Chen He's white skirt.

She leaned against the sofa, staring at the news about the alley cremation case on her phone.

The incident happened last night. Although the identity of the deceased was not disclosed in the press release, the high degree of consistency between the location of the crime and the manner of death makes it easy for people to connect the case with the comics.

She opened the comic. The comments section went wild.

[It came true again!]

[They died in exactly the same way!]

[Did Teacher Feng really appear in spirit?]

[We must believe in science. There are no ghosts in the world. The author must have killed them. Otherwise, how could he have predicted a murder?]

[I think it was a good kill.]

[First release a preview with comics, then put it into action, is the author so arrogant?]

[Murder is against the law, scumbags deserve to die, but it's not worth getting yourself into trouble. Author, you are confused!]

Chen He turned the phone over, feeling uneasy. Things were taking an unexpected turn.

Her first thought was that it might have been done by Sister Qin. In this world, there should be no one who hates Xu Candong more than Sister Qin.

I thought about calling Sister Qin, then pulled my finger back. It was past ten in the morning, and Sister Qin should be cleaning the B&B downstairs. Better to talk in person.

She put on a shawl, slipped on her slippers, and went out quietly.

Song Zhou was on duty at the hospital all night last night and didn't get back from get off work until after eight in the morning. He is sleeping now and we can't disturb him.

She gently closed the door, went downstairs, and walked into the side hall. She saw Sister Qin sitting at the table. She called out, "Sister Qin..."

The sound stopped abruptly.

Only then did she realize that Sister Qin was sitting stiffly and tensely, with someone sitting opposite her. Because the chair back was high and facing the door, Chen He didn't notice it at first glance.

The man with the spiky buzz cut turned around and saw Chang Ting in plain clothes. Zhou Zhengzheng was sitting next to him.

Chang Ting waved his hand naturally: "What a coincidence, I just happened to want to talk to you, why don't we go together."

Chen He stood for a while before walking forward and sitting down next to Sister Qin. The vigilance in her eyes was like a cat ready to attack at any time.

Chang Ting didn't care and went to the bar to get a cup of coffee.

At this moment, Chen He looked at Sister Qin, and Sister Qin also looked at her. The two of them could not communicate verbally, and could only stare at each other, neither of them understanding what the other meant.

Why did Chang Ting suddenly come to see Sister Qin? Did he discover something? Amid the buzzing sound of the coffee machine, Chen He tried to calm herself down.

When Chang Ting returned with the coffee, Chen He regained her composure and said, "Thank you."

At the same time, Chang Ting had already taken a sip from the cup. Chen He was speechless. It turned out that the shot was not for her.

Zhou Zhengzheng also looked at his master with contempt.

Chang Ting was thick-skinned and not embarrassed at all: "I heard that drinks here are free. I just had lemon tea and was thinking of trying coffee. If you want to drink, you can make it yourself."

"No need." Chen He said weakly.

"Then let's get down to business." Chang Ting put the coffee down next to the teacup. "Last night, a murder and cremation occurred in our city. The deceased has been preliminarily identified as Xu Candong. We will conduct routine questioning of you according to procedure."

Sister Qin and Chen He both looked a little nervous. Sister Qin lost her temper and said, "What are you asking us? It's none of our business."

"Qin Xiuzhu." Chang Ting's face turned serious. "I already knew that you had deliberately rented the apartment across from Xu Candong's house to get close to him to get information, but I didn't verify it with you because I felt that whether you were trying to rescue Xu Xixi or to find evidence in the case of my mother, Teacher Feng, your motives were good, and you did rescue Xu Xixi.

"But now it seems that killing Xu Candong to avenge your mother is your real purpose, right?"

Chen He said dissatisfiedly: "Officer Chang, this is just speculation. You can't say anything without evidence!"

Chang Ting raised his eyebrows. "I'm here to verify this, aren't I? According to the investigation, both of you have motives for committing the crime. It's possible that you both committed the crime alone or in collaboration! Not summoning you to the police station for questioning is already a courtesy. I hope you'll take it to heart!"

He first attacked Chen He: "Chen He, in your comics you express strong hatred towards 'Xu San' who is based on Xu Candong. In reality, Xu Candong's death was exactly the same as in the comics.

"You've seen the online buzz right now, haven't you? The majority of netizens are leaning towards you being a righteous killer who warned first and then took action to eliminate the threat. It's hard for us not to label you a suspect. Tell me, where were you between midnight and 2 a.m. last night?"

The time the video was uploaded, eyewitness testimony, and forensic analysis confirmed Xu Candong's time of death to be 12:40 a.m. Extending the two times further, the crime was committed between 12:00 and 2:00 a.m.

As Chang Ting asked questions, Zhou Zhengzheng took notes in his notebook.

Chen He replied: "Sleeping at home."

"Can anyone prove it?"

"No."

"That means there are no witnesses."

"Do you suspect that I killed Xu Candong?"

"You are indeed a suspect."

Suddenly, a voice came from behind: "Who do you think is a suspect?"

The three of them turned their heads and saw that it was Song Zhou who had come over at some point.

He had obviously just crawled out of bed, wearing his bear pajamas, his curly hair was a mess as if it had been blown, and he was standing at the door of the side hall angrily.

Chen He was surprised and asked, "Why are you up?"

Song Zhou came forward and squeezed in next to her: "I didn't see you when I woke up, so I came down to look for you."

The double bench was quite crowded with three people, so Sister Qin wisely moved inward and now sat against the wall.

Chen He raised her hand and smoothed down Song Zhou's curly hair. "You go to sleep. I'm just chatting with the two officers."

Song Zhou held her hand and asked, "Did they give you any trouble?"

"Hey." Chang Ting, unable to bear it any longer, rapped his knuckles on the table to interrupt them. "Can't you just go home and talk about your relationship? We're working a case here!"

Song Zhou turned around, his expression filled with anger behind his glasses: "Didn't I tell you not to approach her alone when I'm not around?"

Chang Ting frowned so hard that he could kill a mosquito: "We need you to arrange our work? Besides, I didn't find her, she just came down and ran into me!"

Chen He patted Song Zhou and said soothingly, "He's right."

Song Zhou shut up, still with a sullen face.

Chang Ting tutted and said disdainfully, "Look at you. You're already an adult, and you're still grumpy even after a nap, right?"

"You..." Song Zhou's fair face turned red with anger.

"Oh, by the way, could you tell me whether Chen He was home last night? Although you two have a close relationship, it would also be a piece of evidence for reference."

Song Zhou hesitated.

Chang Ting's eyes flashed: "What? You can't prove it?"

Song Zhou said reluctantly, "I don't want to lie. I was on night shift last night and wasn't home."

Chen He also nodded: "That's right, I'm home alone."

Song Zhou took one of her hands and held it, feeling slightly nervous. "But it couldn't have been Xiao He. This is her painting hand. How could she have killed someone?"

Chang Ting remained noncommittal: "We're on duty on Sundays, so we don't have a weekend off?"

"The wards and clinics can't be shut down. We doctors don't have two-day weekends off, we take turns. Do you think you can have two-day weekends off?"

Chang Ting was working overtime and was getting angry. He glared at me and said, "You... did I say anything to attack me? You're like a curly-haired wolfdog..."

Song Zhou was about to explode when Chang Ting turned his attention back to Sister Qin: "Qin Xiuzhu, where were you from 12:00 PM to 2:00 AM last night?"

"I'm at home." Qin Xiuzhu replied.

"Can anyone prove it?"

"I live alone."

"That means there are no witnesses."

Chang Ting peppered Qin with questions, causing her to stammer and hesitate. She twisted her clothes for a moment, then suddenly looked up and said, as if resolved, "I'll be honest."

Chen He's heart skipped a beat and she turned to look at Sister Qin. Was it really Sister Qin who killed Xu Candong?

A scene came to mind - Sister Qin once said with hatred: "My mother's spirit in heaven will definitely make sure Xu Candong gets the punishment he deserves!"

Chen He's head buzzed.

Yes, Sister Qin saw that Xu Candong was released very quickly after being arrested, and felt that revenge would be impossible, so she took action herself in anger!

This was not the result she wanted. At this moment, she deeply regretted dragging Sister Qin into this situation.