Chapter 26 "Eat your fill before you talk!"
For adults, rain is a hassle. Even with an umbrella, rainwater can still seep into their collars and soak their trouser legs, leaving them looking disheveled.
But the child didn't seem to think that only clear skies meant good weather.
After leaving the dormitory supervisor's room, Shengfang nestled next to her niece. Even with half of her calves soaked in the rain, she acted as if she were playing, her lips curving into a smile that never faded.
"Wash your own shoes if they get wet," Zhu Qing said.
"It'll dry if you let it air out, Qingzai."
Zhu Qing: "That would smell terrible."
"Okay." The child didn't argue further. "When I wash my shoes myself, can I put in lots of bubbles?"
He doesn't look like the pampered young master of the Sheng family anymore.
He became a good-tempered baby uncle.
The niece took her uncle with her, while Aunt Ping left alone, taking a completely opposite route.
It was pouring rain, and Zhu Qing felt she was troubling Sheng Fang. Since Sheng Fang couldn't reach her shoulder, she patted her arm and started lecturing her.
The young master paid Aunt Ping a very high salary, which included her commuting time.
Just like his niece told him, every penny is hard-earned and should be cherished, and now the boy is putting that into practice.
“This is work,” Sheng Fang said. “Even on a typhoon day, do senior inspectors give you time off?”
Zhu Qing instantly pictured the annoying face of Inspector Weng Zhaolin.
She quickly shook her head: "Impossible."
“That’s right.” The young master said very seriously, like a little adult, “Making money is hard work.”
The minor villain in the original story, who always seemed to be standing on a cloud, subtly conveyed the difficulty of earning money.
That's because it's windy and rainy right now, and his niece has just finished work. She must have eaten something random to fill her stomach again, and her uncle is worried sick about her.
Raindrops pounded down, sliding down the smooth surface of the umbrella.
Aunt Ping hurried along, rushing to catch the last minibus. As she approached the school gate, she turned back and saw Zhu Qing and the young master's figures getting further and further away, until they finally became black dots.
They should have arrived at the dormitory by now.
And she would have to spend a long drive back.
Aunt Ping suddenly felt that this was not appropriate.
They went to stay in a cramped pigeon coop, while he himself took a car back to someone else's hillside mansion...
That's so embarrassing.
...
In the early morning, sunlight shines on every corner of the police academy.
When Zhu Qing drew back the curtains, she was caught off guard by the intense sunlight, which made her squint. It was as if the heavy rain of the previous night had never happened, the gloom had dissipated, and everything was welcoming new life.
As the past grievances between Zhan Weiqiang, the purchasing director of the academy, and the deceased Zheng Shihong gradually surfaced, the police were finally no longer at a loss. With a pager, she no longer needed to go back to the police station; she had already contacted her colleagues early in the morning, and they would meet at the entrance of the Feman International Beauty Academy in Causeway Bay at their work hours.
They came specifically for Zhan Weiqiang.
Last night's torrential rain caused the ferry service returning from Lamma Island to be suspended. Police investigations confirmed that Zhan Weiqiang did indeed go to Lamma Island early yesterday morning, but why did he suddenly do so?
The security guard at the college gate heard yesterday that Dean Zheng had died in the classroom. In their description, the death was so gruesome that it was like a scene from a horror movie. He was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat just standing in the corridor outside the classroom. He was so nervous that his tongue was tied when he spoke, and he was unable to cooperate with the police to complete the statement properly.
Now, after a whole night, he had finally calmed down a bit. When Zeng Yongshan approached him with her notebook and asked why he hadn't asked for leave, the security guard shook his head. Principal Zheng was gone, but everything in the academy had to continue operating normally. The upcoming makeup design competitions couldn't be postponed, and for professional reasons, the lecturers felt they should stand guard until the very end. As a security guard, he had to do the registration work and couldn't leave his post.
"Is everything... normal today?"
The security guard took out a registration book, which recorded the license plate number of every car that drove into the college.
He is meticulous and responsible in his work, and he records every letter and number very clearly and neatly.
"There were half as many cars this morning," he said. "Many people have taken the day off, and this should continue for a while."
As he said this, he suddenly remembered that he should ask the two madams to sit down, and turned around to look for them: "Strange, where are the plastic stools? I'm sorry, the logistics department borrowed them last time and hasn't returned them yet."
“It’s alright.” Zhu Qing asked again, “Yesterday, Principal Zheng’s secretary, Tracy, said that she heard Zhan Weiqiang and Principal Zheng arguing in the office around 10 p.m. the night before last. Were you on duty the night before last?”
“I’m the only security guard here,” he said. “It’s been me every day since I started working here.”
Yesterday, when the vice-principal and finance staff were taking statements, they mentioned that Principal Zheng, being older, had become more conservative, trying to minimize revenue generation and maximize cost reduction. The security guard's workload is minimal, mainly time-consuming; therefore, the college has only retained one position in this role.
The security guard said that the beauty academy provides room and board, and the salary isn't low; such jobs are hard to find. Zhan Weiqiang, being the academy's director, was worried that he might lose his job if he said anything inappropriate.
When answering Madam's question, security guard Ah Kang took out his work documents that were hidden under the glass of the table.
Every night at nine o'clock, the trainees finish their classes. Within fifteen minutes, he will close the gate, and then around ten o'clock, he will patrol once more, which completes his work for the day.
“At 10 p.m. the night before last, I was on patrol and happened to see Brother Qiang going to Principal Zheng’s office.”
“I patrolled every classroom, and on my way downstairs I passed the principal’s office, where they were arguing.”
"What's all the noise about?"
"It's for the cosmetics supplier," A-Kang said. "I don't understand their work."
"How was Zhan Weiqiang's mood at the time?" Zeng Yongshan asked. "Did he throw things? Or yell at people loudly?"
A-Kang shook his head and spoke up for Zhan Weiqiang.
"Brother Qiang is a good person."
"Only Brother Qiang would nod and greet me when he went to and from get off work."
"It's normal to have a few arguments about work-related matters; they're all doing it for the good of the college."
Zhu Qing kept her head down taking notes, and occasionally when she looked up, she saw the security guard looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated.
What do you want to say?
Ah Kang placed his hand on the register and asked hesitantly, "Madam, could the murderer still be in this school?"
“Have you seen the news? Crime experts have been analyzing the killer’s motives and target groups,” she said. “You’re only twenty years old; you’re not his target.”
Zhu Qing put away her pen and closed the notebook.
It's only natural to worry. Last night, the three-and-a-half-year-old boy in her family was also very afraid that something bad might happen to him.
“But I’m twenty-five…” A-Kang quickly said.
Zeng Yongshan burst out laughing: "Same here, don't worry!"
...
After leaving the gatehouse, Zeng Yongshan first led Zhu Qing to Yi Dongmei's office.
She said that the beauty academy has been established for more than ten years. When she was a child, she would take the tram to see her mother after school and her favorite food was the fried chicken leg in the academy's cafeteria.
Principal Zheng is a sentimental person. Over the years, the restaurant has still been contracted to the original owner, and those lecturers who have worked hard with him all the way, even those who are no longer keeping up with the times, have not been eliminated by him.
"Teacher Zhang's makeup techniques are rather old-fashioned, and this style is no longer popular... A few years ago, students stopped signing up for his classes. Even if some students signed up for his courses without knowing the instructor beforehand, they still asked to transfer to another class later."
"He caused Principal Zheng a lot of trouble, but Principal Zheng didn't look down on him... He just transferred him to the office to organize registration forms and such. Actually, now, the young staff in the office have already started using computers to organize files. Teacher Zhang can't learn it, so he's just wasting his time there."
In the office, several lecturers were about the same age as Yi Dongmei.
They all lamented Principal Zheng's passing when they recounted these past events. When the police inquired about his relationship with Tracy, the group initially hesitated, saying "the dead are the greatest men," and were reluctant to discuss it further. It wasn't until the two policewomen made their stance clear that they belatedly realized what was going on.
Now it's not a young woman chatting idly; it's a police officer questioning her. They can't just say they won't talk and then not talk.
I don't know who started it, but slowly, people began to chime in.
“Tracy used to be a makeup model. Although she didn’t have a diploma, she was beautiful and her students all liked her.”
“Models are paid hourly, and they get extra bonuses if they can convince students to sign up during trial classes. If they work hard, their monthly salary, including commissions, is more than ours. Tracy comes from a poor family and worked very hard at first, but later she got fewer and fewer classes.”
"Other models who are close to Tracy said that she feels that applying and removing makeup several times a day is bad for her skin. It's normal to want to look pretty..."
“About five years ago, Principal Zheng’s wife passed away from illness. From that time on, Tracy became very close to Principal Zheng. However, we never expected that she would become the secretary in the principal’s office.”
Tracy lacks the necessary qualifications and is simply not qualified for the position of secretary.
However, she was young and beautiful, while Principal Zheng was twenty years older than her.
"On several occasions, Tracy took Principal Zheng's car home after get off work."
“Last time she brought a friend to enroll, her friend thought it was too expensive, so Tracy called Principal Zheng directly and immediately gave her a 50% discount... The lowest discount our lecturers recommend is only 20%! Tracy is acting like she’s the mistress of this academy.”
"I think she really wants to become Mrs. Zheng, but Principal Zheng probably has no intention of remarrying, and his children certainly wouldn't be able to accept such a young stepmother... Anyway, let's just leave it at that."
Someone lowered their voice: "Principal Zheng's skills, and as for business, everyone can see the scale of the Feman Beauty Academy. But through the Tracy incident, I've discovered that once he takes off his suit, Principal Zheng is no different from any other lecherous old man."
These words were rather harsh, and the lecturers didn't respond.
Zhu Qing asked, "What was Zhan Weiqiang's reaction when Tracy and Principal Zheng approached each other?"
The lecturers thought for a moment but couldn't recall.
"I don't know, it happened several years ago, and they wouldn't be going around publicizing it with a loudspeaker."
"Whether it's Tracy and Principal Zheng, or Ah Qiang, they are all very low-key."
"Madam, you're asking this... could it be that Tracy and Ah-Qiang killed Principal Zheng?!"
...
When Zhan Weiqiang and Tracy were taken to Yau Ma Tei Police Station, they were both surprised and denied any involvement in the murder of Zheng Shihong.
“We’re not saying you committed murder right now,” Uncle Li said. “We’re just cooperating with the police investigation.”
They bumped into each other at the corner of the corridor outside the interrogation room. At first, they looked surprised, but soon their faces darkened and they glared at each other fiercely.
It's as if there's some deep-seated hatred between them.
In the two interrogation rooms, glaring lights shone brightly, illuminating the faces of Tracy and Zhan Weiqiang respectively.
Tracy placed both hands on the interrogation table, leaned forward, and hurriedly tried to defend herself, raising her voice eight octaves, but trembling with panic.
"It really has nothing to do with me! How could I possibly kill someone?"
"That's right, Shih-hung and I... but neither of us is married, we're just dating."
"Besides, we were already on the verge of breaking up."
"Why?"
“Shih-hung is very stingy. We’ve been dating for so long, and he still won’t buy me a single pearl necklace.”
“Even when I occasionally went to his house, he would only fry me a steak at most… One time it was late and I stayed overnight at his house. I thought, why don’t I move in with him from now on? But I didn’t expect that Shih-hung wouldn’t even give me a key to his house.”
"I want to break up with him, but this job pays well and is very easy. With my qualifications, I won't find a job this good elsewhere, so..."
“So—” Xu Jiale interrupted her, bracing himself on the interrogation table with both hands, “you killed him.”
Tracy was stunned. She hadn't expected that every word she had just said would become a motive for murder.
She immediately denied it, her voice trembling with tears: "That's not true, I couldn't have killed anyone... And didn't you say it was a serial killing case? How could I have such abilities, officer? I really didn't kill anyone."
"It must have been Qiang who did it. He held a grudge against Shihong ever since he didn't get the kickbacks the last few times. And they even had a big argument that day. Why didn't you investigate him?"
At this moment, Uncle Li stood in front of the one-way glass, staring at the scene inside the interrogation room.
He almost laughed, crossed his arms, and shook his head: "Is Jiale practicing interrogation techniques?"
"A waste of time." Mo Zhenbang pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "It couldn't possibly be her."
On the other hand, Zhan Weiqiang's reaction was not as strong as Tracy's.
This shrewd marketing director had seen it all, and even when facing the police, he showed no fear whatsoever.
Regarding his relationship with Tracy, Zhan Weiqiang said there was nothing to hide. At the time, he and Tracy were both young, and they hit it off immediately. Initially, it was certainly sweet, but after confirming their relationship, he discovered that she had actually gotten married back in her hometown. It was said that both he and Tracy had tacitly agreed to each other's extramarital affairs.
Zhan Weiqiang couldn't accept it, broke off their relationship, and never contacted her again. Unexpectedly, not long after, Principal Zheng's wife passed away, and Tracy became his secretary, soon after which she divorced her husband.
“Our relationship was never going to last anyway. You can tell from the fact that she divorced her husband for Principal Zheng. How could she possibly be interested in me?”
“I admit, I had an argument with Principal Zheng. Sir, is arguing a crime?”
"Tracy and I are in the past. Everyone has dated a few times. To kill Principal Zheng for her? Does she have that much charm?"
“We’ve argued more than once over the years; if we were going to kill each other, we would have done it long ago.”
Zhan Weiqiang recalled that day when he and Zheng Shihong argued about a cosmetics supplier.
In the end, it all boils down to the same thing: Principal Zheng thinks he is only interested in profit, while he thinks Principal Zheng is stubborn and conservative.
The officer tapped on the time on the case file: "Between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on July 19th, where were you, what were you doing, and who testified for you?"
"Officer, think before you ask questions. We taxpayers work hard to support you."
"At this hour, everyone's definitely sleeping. I'm single, who can vouch for me?"
"If you didn't kill anyone, why are you running?"
"You mean Lamma Island? I already had an appointment to discuss samples. Work is important, I'll definitely have left early this morning. Do you think I—"
"When was the appointment made?" The officer slammed his hand on the interrogation table, his voice rising abruptly. "We checked the Liyan Cosmetics Company on Lamma Island, and there's no record of your appointment. You went there on the spot that day!"
"I'm warning you, don't try anything funny."
Zhan Weiqiang froze, his earlier arrogance diminishing considerably.
Later, he heard the officer ask the same questions a few more times.
Where, what, and who can testify.
It's just that the timing is different.
These three time points correspond to the times of death of Ma Guohua, the container factory foreman; Feng Yaowen, the breakfast stall owner; and Zhang Zhiqiang, the manager of the Xinjing Hotel.
...
"Knock knock knock—"
A knock came at the door, and Haozai and Zeng Yongshan peeked out one after the other: "Mr. Mo."
Mo Zhenbang looked up and saw that the third person on the camera was Zhu Qing.
Uncle Li looked amused.
Has the ice queen learned to integrate into the group?
"Inspector Mo, we've found connections between the deceased Ma Guohua, Feng Yaowen, Zhang Zhiqiang, and Zhan Weiqiang."
Before joining Manfei International Beauty Academy, Zhan Weiqiang worked as a back scrubber at Jinchi Sauna.
Haozai handed a copy of Zhan Weiqiang's massage therapist license to Mo Sir.
Seven years ago, Zhan Weiqiang worked as a back scrubber at the "Golden Pool Sauna" in Causeway Bay.
“Just now, Zhu Qing and I asked Ma Guohua and Feng Yaowen’s families,” Zeng Yongshan said. “Seven years ago, Ma Guohua was still carrying heavy loads at the container factory, and Feng Yaowen would knead dough for hours at a time. They were both regulars at ‘Jinchi Sauna’.”
As Jinchi Sauna grew larger, its staff changed many times. Now, the former supervisors couldn't remember Ma Guohua and Feng Yaowen, but she clearly remembered the third victim in this case—
Zhang Zhiqiang, manager of Xinjing Hotel.
"That day, Zhang Zhiqiang came to Jinchi Sauna. At first, he wanted to choose a female masseuse. He was an unruly person who always touched women inappropriately and often took advantage of them. Many female masseuses were unwilling to serve him, and the ones who were willing were busy and couldn't leave."
"So the supervisor at the time sent Zhan Weiqiang. When Zhang Zhiqiang first saw that it was a man, he was already dissatisfied, but because he had other friends with him, he was too embarrassed to replace him directly, but he was very picky. Later, when he saw the name tag on Zhan Weiqiang's chest, he said something even more unpleasant—saying that since their names both had the character 'Qiang' in them, their fates were different; one was destined for wealth, and the other was destined for a lowly life. Zhan Weiqiang didn't dare to argue back, but I heard that later, Zhang Zhiqiang still complained about him, saying that he served with a dark face, which made him feel nauseous. Zhan Weiqiang was fined and worked for nothing that night."
"I don't know about Ma Guohua and Feng Yaowen. But he works in the service industry, so he encounters all sorts of people. Sometimes it's hard to avoid being mistreated. Maybe they've both offended Zhan Weiqiang in some way?"
This is where Zhan Weiqiang's connection with the first three victims in the Rainy Night serial murder case intersected.
As for the fourth victim, Zheng Shihong, their relationship was even deeper. After resigning from Jinchi Sauna, Zhan Weiqiang planned to change careers. He first tried learning makeup, but finding he lacked talent, he went to curry favor with Principal Zheng, who was the owner of a beauty academy. Principal Zheng appreciated him and gave him an opportunity to start from the bottom in the purchasing department.
Since then, he has successfully transformed himself from a back-scratcher into a purchasing director with a car and a house.
...
To date, Zhan Weiqiang has been unable to produce an alibi for the four cases that occurred.
When he learned that the police had found out he had worked at Jinchi Sauna, his expression changed, and he remained silent for a long time.
The investigation has finally made progress, and Mo Zhenbang's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.
Several police officers sat at their workstations, talking about Zhan Weiqiang.
"It's actually quite normal that I can't provide an alibi. At that time, I would definitely be sleeping... If I were to provide an alibi, I would have to ask my mother to testify."
"If it was because you were looked down upon, would you have held a grudge until now because you didn't act back then? It's been seven or eight years!"
"You can tell he's petty just by looking at Zhan Weiqiang's face! None of the triangular-eyed people I've ever met are magnanimous."
"Hey! When did you learn to read faces?"
"That's not the point! This Zhan Weiqiang, now he drives a nice car, everyone calls him 'Boss Zhan,' think back to how he lived before, it was so stifling. The more he thinks about it, the angrier he gets, so he just decided to take down all those who looked down on him back then..."
"That eyebrow trimmer is sold in very few places in all of Hong Kong; he has a whole box of it at home!"
"As Teacher Yi from the beauty academy once said, makeup also depends on talent. Zhan Weiqiang is not talented enough. He made those dead people look like that... Isn't this ruining the reputation of Feiman? Even Principal Zheng would be angry enough to come back to life."
The investigation finally made a breakthrough, and my colleagues' tone became more relaxed.
As everyone was discussing having a nice afternoon tea, they heard Uncle Li chuckle.
"I haven't had lunch yet, but I'm already thinking about afternoon tea."
"Should we fill out the takeout order first?"
“Finally, I can catch my breath—” Zeng Yongshan leaned closer to Zhu Qing, “Are you planning to buy an apartment?”
"I need to schedule a time with the real estate agent," Zhu Qing said.
These past two days, Zhu Qing's pager has been ringing from morning till night. Aside from her child complaining and urging her to come home early, most of the time it's calls from Manager Wang.
At first, she told Sheng Fang that she needed to give the real estate agent a hard time in order to master the art of negotiating prices. Now that the agent was being ignored, he gradually became flustered and kept pushing the price down.
When this issue came up this morning, the young master of the Sheng family was very confused. Why was the price they had agreed on for a "fire sale" suddenly reduced? Should they wait a little longer before letting the real estate agent talk, and then try to get a few more floors off the property?
Qingzai told him that if the house was left to air out for a few more days, it might actually be sold.
At that moment, the young master was deeply confused. His round face wrinkled up again, and he shook his head. The adult world was too hard to understand.
“Everyone is waiting in line. Even if the disciplined forces dormitories are approved, it will take one or two months. And the living conditions aren’t comfortable either. They’re tiny, and you have to squeeze into a room with other colleagues, with no privacy at all,” Zeng Yongshan said. “Now it’s much better; we can move to a bigger place!”
Zeng Yongshan's workstation was right next to Zhu Qing's.
I saw her calculating house prices on paper a couple of days ago, and I knew she was finally moving.
Several colleagues overheard their conversation and turned around at their workstations.
"Moving into a big house is such a joyous occasion, we definitely need to have a feast!"
"How about we throw a housewarming party at Zhu Qing's house?"
"Me too! Me too!"
"I'll be in charge of bringing the beer!"
Zhu Qing froze: "No—"
"Those who don't come will have to treat the whole team to afternoon tea!" A cool, sweet voice came from outside the CID room.
Zhu Qing: ?
A flurry of glances fell toward the doorway.
The young master of the Sheng family walked with his hands behind his back, swaggering around. Aunt Ping hurriedly followed, gesturing apologetically to everyone.
"I'm so sorry, I'm really sorry..." Aunt Ping waved her hands repeatedly, looking embarrassed.
Sheng Fang had already walked up to his niece, who was in a daze.
Fangfang said, "Uncle came to visit the set!"
...
She wasn't filming on set, so why was she visiting the set?
Just as Zhu Qing said that, the child took a file folder out of his schoolbag.
"You big scatterbrain," the child said seriously. "You forgot to bring it."
Zhu Qing suspected that the young master of the Sheng family used all his shrewdness to outwit his niece.
As a "male" who might be targeted by the murderer, Sheng Fang thought he had to protect himself. However, he was bored to death in the pigeon coop, and the police academy's training ground was not fun either. He was so small that the trainees might kick him away if they weren't careful. This was what his niece had scared him about when he went to the public bathhouse last time.
What is the murderer most afraid of?
Of course, it was the police. When the young master remembered this, he immediately put on his little schoolbag and asked Aunt Ping to take him away.
He was going to stay at the Yau Ma Tei Police Station for the entire day.
Who would dare to lay a hand on him!
Fangfang's uncle knew that he couldn't visit the police station empty-handed, so in addition to toys, his backpack also contained his niece's file folder.
She sometimes took that document bag with her when she went out, and sometimes she left it at home. Today the bag was empty, so the child casually put a bottle of ink in it, which became a reasonable excuse for him to be here at this moment.
"Qingqing," Aunt Ping said hesitantly, "Look..."
The little girl, Shengfang, has already taken her seat at her niece's workstation.
His legs were short and couldn't reach the ground. He swayed as he held an Iron Man model in his arms, adjusting its pose.
At this moment, Iron Man, exuding a cold and hard aura... has his hands clasped together.
It's as if they're saying, "Please."
"..." Zhu Qing asked, "Does Iron Man know that he's pleading for a child?"
The little one seems to know how to radiate his charm.
Like Iron Man, put your two chubby little hands together, pout your mouth, and have clear, watery eyes.
"Let him stay," Zhu Qing said. "We'll be eating soon."
Aunt Ping's expression was visibly relaxed.
The child wouldn't take up space, but as an adult, she had no reason to linger at the police station. Aunt Ping, suddenly given a chance for a lunch break, happily went out to stroll around the area.
Shengfang stayed at the police station. Before Zhu Qing could even begin to set some rules for her, she made a "zipper" shape with her little hand at the corner of her mouth.
"Qingzai." He said in a milky voice, "Shh."
When the case made any progress, Inspector Weng would generally not come in person, but would only listen to his subordinates' progress reports via internal phone. Mo Zhenbang, on the other hand, came and went several times, each time with case files or confessions in his hands, always in a hurry.
Suddenly, he stopped flipping through the notes, turned around, and called out, "What was the name of that worker at the New Territories North District United Hospital last time?"
“Zhu Daxiong,” Zhu Qing replied, “the eyewitness to the first case.”
“It’s him,” Mo Zhenbang said. “Call the hospital and ask if he’s been discharged yet—didn’t Zhu Daxiong see the murderer’s back?”
In his statement, Zhu Daxiong said that he had personally witnessed the murderer who killed the foreman Ma Guohua.
The murderer was interrupted before he could dispose of the body and escaped through the back door of the container factory, leaving only a fleeting glimpse of his back.
A man who is about 1.7 meters tall and weighs about 150 kilograms.
Wearing red.
Mo Zhenbang ordered: "Arrange for identification."
"Yes, sir!"
The suspect, Zhan Weiqiang, even matched the figure Zhu Daxiong had seen from behind.
The identification procedure that Inspector Mo mentioned refers to the police arranging for six to eight people, each with a number on their back, to stand behind a one-way mirror and have witnesses identify the suspect from a group of people with similar features.
Uncle Li couldn't help but reminisce about the old days.
Such physical characteristics are not difficult to find. You know, in a bank robbery case back then, the suspect was 1.9 meters tall. It took the Major Crimes Unit B a whole week to gather eight people to stand in front of the witnesses.
"There's no need to bother recruiting volunteer citizens; our own police officers are enough to fill the quota."
"Ah Jie, you go."
"Call Chen Sir from the traffic department and tell him I need to borrow someone from him."
"Call Calvin from the forensic department over here too, and remember to make him take off his white coat."
"Is there any more—"
The young master raised his head at that moment.
He craned his neck to watch the officers assign tasks for identifying people, and fell into deep thought.
Liang Qikai looked over.
No one could have imagined that the wealthy young master, whom they parted ways with hastily at the villa halfway up the mountain, would later have such an intricate connection with Zhu Qing. It seems that the niece and her uncle are getting along well lately; at least the usually cold-faced Madam has shown some emotion in her eyes when talking to the child.
Children are always innocent and carefree, wanting to participate in everything they see.
With a smile, Liang Qikai couldn't help but tease him, "Would you like to sign up for the identification game too?"
"?" Sheng Fang looked at him like he was an idiot. "Sir, I'm a child."
...
The child was kept extremely discreet in the CID room, all to avoid attracting the attention of her niece's superiors.
Otherwise, it will cause trouble for the child.
It was finally lunchtime when the young master became lively again, following Zhu Qing around like a chattering little sparrow.
I'm already quite familiar with the lady at the police station restaurant. I braced my hands against the glass countertop and stood on tiptoe.
"Sister Xiao, it's been a long time."
Sister Xiao was beaming with joy: "They call me Sister Xiao, but you should call me Aunt Xiao."
"Where have you seen an auntie so young!" The young master of the Sheng family exclaimed in shock, then asked, "Sister Xiao, are there children's meals today?"
Those who come to eat in the police station canteen are all internal staff. Even if children come to see their parents, they just sit for a while and leave, or when it's time to eat, they drag their parents to the tea restaurant around the corner downstairs for egg tarts.
There's only one child like Shengfang in the entire restaurant, even if you searched the whole place.
When the little one first came, he had a round head and bright eyes like two black grapes. As soon as he stood in front of the counter, Sister Xiao was completely overwhelmed. That time, Sister Xiao asked the kitchen to make him a children's iced milk tea with extra condensed milk and a cream cloud on top. It was purely a treat to make the kid happy and didn't make any money at all.
Now, Shengfang has come for the third time. Not only is she adorable, but her sweet talk is also as sweet as honey. The restaurant staff is so happy to hear her coaxing that they turn to the serving area and shout, "Make a police badge special drink!"
A few minutes later, Uncle Ming from the kitchen handed over a special drink: "When I retire and open a dessert shop, I'll ask this little kid to be my spokesperson."
Zhu Qing's eyes widened.
This restaurant's special drink has a base of frozen fresh milk, layered with chocolate, and a gold-flecked medal hanging from the straw.
This is actually a hidden menu item!
Police Badge Special Drink.
The kitchen lady generously said, "This drink is on me, Xiao Jie's treat."
The niece looked at her uncle, forgetting that her mouth was still open.
He accepted the cup with both hands: "Thank you, Sister Xiao. I'll treat you to tea when I grow up!"
The child, holding a drink, familiarly sat down in his usual spot.
While my niece was ordering food, she let her uncle's two little feet dangle in mid-air and slurp down her special drink.
The kitchen staff served food with great efficiency, and the police station restaurant turned over tables every ten minutes. Zhu Qing was also eager to get back to handle the case as soon as possible.
In the original storyline, was the Zeng family tragedy caused because Zhan Weiqiang was not arrested?
Furthermore, the case emphasized "red clothing," but it seems that the color of the clothes the perpetrator wore during the crime had no impact on the case. Was the original plot description redundant?
As Zhu Qing turned around with the tray, her mind was filled with these questions, and she accidentally bumped into someone.
"Madam, watch where you're going."
Cheng Xinglang was holding a sandwich, just like yesterday.
Zhu Qing apologized and made way for him, then suddenly noticed that he was holding a report in his other hand.
"Is this the forensic report on the Ma Guohua case?" Zhu Qing asked, looking at the bolded case name and number on the document cover.
The case at the container factory a year ago was not handled by Dr. Cheng at the time.
He only took over after the cases were merged and discovered some problems with the data.
“I was just about to go see your Inspector Mo,” Cheng Xinglang said. “By comparing the ligature marks from a year ago and a year later, the force applied by the murderer was different.”
Zhu Qing: "Could it be that the murderer is not the same person?"
Cheng Xinglang opened the report: "The angle of the strangulation marks in the four cases is almost identical, and the thickness of the ropes and the texture of the indentations are also consistent, so it should be the work of the same person. However, in the last three cases, the strangulation marks are much shallower than those in the Ma Guohua case a year ago."
"You mean—" Zhu Qing immediately realized, "the murderer's strength has decreased?"
Why?
It's clearly the same person... how come their strength has decreased after a year?
"Qing! Boy!" The young master suddenly appeared, taking a steaming hot pineapple bun from the tray. "You don't need to go hungry while investigating a case. Eat your fill first!"
As soon as the words were finished, the younger elder, with an air of worldly experience, slowly said—
"I've lost weight, just like Marissa, who's always saying she wants to keep fit."
...
Ten minutes later, the colleagues from Group B came downstairs one after another to have lunch.
When they were ordering, they saw three people sitting at a table in the corner.
Zhu Qing, Dr. Cheng from the forensic department, and Sheng Fang, a child.
"The kid's right—"
Shengfang interrupted him: "Who's the brat!"
“This gentleman is right,” Dr. Cheng said. “It’s not that he’s become weaker, but rather that his weight has changed significantly.”
Zhu Qing realized: "I saw photos of the body dumping case at the dock last year when I was doing case analysis at the police academy. In the early stages, the tissues were swollen, but as the body decomposed, the muscles atrophied, causing the original bindings to..."
Xu Jiale strained his ears: "Are they sure they want to talk about bloated corpses during dinner?"
"Won't the child be scared and cry?" Haozai asked sympathetically.
The officers in Group B turned their attention back to the children in the garden.
The child held the glass with his left hand, took a small bite of the chocolate police badge, and stuffed French toast covered in condensed milk into his mouth with his right hand.
"Qingzai, does a bloated corpse look like an inflated balloon?"
"Eat your food."
Fangfang's uncle turned his head away.
Hmph, chew, chew, chew.
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