Chapter 70: Deep Affection and Coldness, Two Men and One Woman...
Although Liang Zhiya was refined, his physique and demeanor were definitely not those of the murderer revealed in the surveillance footage. However, his fingerprints were found at the scene, so his arrest was entirely justified.
Shen Zhenzhu arrived at Liang Zhiya's old country house in a Cherokee. In the idyllic village, there was an elegant and modern villa that stood out from the rest of the environment.
Shen Zhenzhu jumped off the Cherokee, and Lu Ye and Zhao Qiqi went around to the back door of the villa to ambush her.
Gu Yanzheng drew his pistol and nodded to Chen Zhenzhu, who then rang the doorbell.
The nanny, who was in her forties, opened the door. When she saw the police officers in olive green uniforms standing at the door, she panicked.
"Stand still and don't call for help." Shen Zhenzhu stuck her foot out to block the door, and Gu Yanzheng slipped inside.
Wu Zhongguo stood behind them, keeping watch over the nanny and observing the situation in the villa garden.
The fact that the Liang and Fu families were able to become engaged suggests that they possessed a certain level of cultural refinement and taste back then. At least the somewhat old villa in front of Shen Zhenzhu still reveals a rich cultural heritage after those years.
The villa has four floors and covers more than a thousand square meters. The garden on the first floor had a rockery and a koi pond, but unfortunately, it has fallen into disrepair over the years and the rocks, water, fish and insects are no longer visible.
The sound of a piano drifted from the study on the second floor, along with the faint sounds of men and women talking and laughing. Gu Yanzheng stood guard at the top of the stairs, while Chen Zhenzhu went to the back door and let Lu Ye and Zhao Qiqi into the backyard.
"Is Comrade Liang Zhiya here?" Shen Zhenzhu ran upstairs, followed the sound to the door of the study, and saw a woman playing the piano in the corner of the bookshelves on both walls.
Liang Zhiya, who had been lounging on the chaise lounge, immediately sat up straight and buttoned up her open shirt: "Why are you here?!"
He showed resistance to the uninvited police officers, frowned, stuffed something into the crack of the chaise lounge, and then casually got up and said, "What business do you have to come to my house to find me?"
The woman playing the piano, wearing a silk sundress, closed the piano lid, glanced at Chen Zhenzhu, and picked up her wine glass to leave the room.
Gu Yanzheng, who was guarding the door, stopped her and said, "Please wait in another room."
The woman was surprised by the policeman's handsome and aloof appearance, and then glanced back at Liang Zhiya with annoyance.
Liang Zhiya raised her chin and said, "Go."
The daughter then said to Gu Yanzheng, "Okay." After saying that, she gave him a flirtatious look and whispered, "Could it be about President Fu? Are you still not going to give us a definite answer about whether she's alive or dead? We can't let Zhiya hang herself on one tree."
Gu Yanzheng did not answer, but walked to the next room, opened the door, checked around, and let her in.
Shen Zhenzhu said to Liang Zhiya, "Mr. Liang, we suspect that you are involved in President Fu's disappearance. Please come back for investigation."
Liang Zhiya is thirty years old this year, and when he frowns, several forehead wrinkles appear. Normally, someone his age wouldn't have these, so they're probably congenital.
"What makes you think I'm involved in my fiancée's disappearance? I was most worried about her safety! It was Fu Panxia and I who reported it to the police! You couldn't possibly be unable to find her, so you just grabbed someone to fill the gap?"
Shen Zhenzhu said expressionlessly, "Please cooperate."
Liang Zhiya paced back and forth in the study in a huff, her footsteps carrying the smell of alcohol with them, which made Chen Zhenzhu frown.
“I will not cooperate! Her fate is unknown, and her parents are abroad. If I go back in, who will seek justice for us!”
Shen Zhenzhu walked to his side, lowered her head and pulled out the item that Liang Zhiya had hidden—women's underwear.
"'We'?" Shen Zhenzhu draped the women's underwear on the chaise lounge, clapped her hands in disgust, and said, "I'm not here to invite you, I'm here to arrest you. You're currently suspected of a criminal murder case. Either you walk out yourself, or I'll handcuff you and take you out."
Liang Zhiya: "...A murder case? I, I—"
Crack.
Shen Zhenzhu pulled out the handcuffs and cuffed them to his right hand, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes looking at Liang Zhiya's left hand, hoping he would know what was good for him.
Upon hearing that a murder case was involved, Liang Zhiya became obedient. Her hands trembled as she was handcuffed in front of her. She nervously swallowed and said, "Section Chief Shen, I've heard so much about you. Please don't let the kind people be wronged. I really don't have the courage to kill anyone. We are just ordinary people who can't even kill a chicken."
Shen Zhenzhu ignored him and escorted Liang Zhiya into the police car.
The village was full of villagers who loved to watch the excitement. They usually didn't dare to approach this wealthy house, but today, seeing three police cars arrive, they surrounded it in circles.
Upon hearing the news, the village secretary rushed over and stood respectfully by the police car door, hoping to find a kind-looking policeman to inquire about the situation.
The first one to come out, Gu Yanzheng, exuded a fierce aura and was not someone to be trifled with.
Shen Zhenzhu, who was holding Liang Zhiya back and kept rolling her eyes, also looked like someone not to be trifled with.
The two tall, imposing figures, resembling door gods, remained unmoved by the woman's shouts and curses, and they didn't seem like people to be trifled with.
Finally, he turned his attention to the older police officers, but upon seeing Wu Zhongguo's smiling tiger expression, he immediately felt that Wu was slippery and untrustworthy, and that he would not be able to get a single truthful question out of them, and would only be confused by their charade.
In the end, the village secretary got nothing out of the three police cars and watched helplessly as they drove away.
"It's been said for a long time that the Liang family is getting worse with each generation. In the past, at least the older generation had some education, but now these young people only think about making big money. They're not down-to-earth and want to be gigolos!"
"Hey, hey, don't talk nonsense. These intellectuals are good for nothing but fighting lawsuits and arguing. Be careful not to get yourself into trouble."
"Who got into trouble? It's more like that Liang kid got into trouble. He's always flirting with women, he deserves to be arrested!"
......
Back in the criminal investigation team's interrogation room, Shen Zhenzhu entered as the lead interrogator, while Wu Zhongguo took notes beside her.
Zhao Qiqi, being relatively inexperienced, sometimes struggled to catch Shen Zhenzhu's unexpected questions, while the shrewd and calculating Wu Zhongguo kept up with Shen Zhenzhu's interrogation skills. The two of them, working in tandem, often left the suspects bewildered.
Despite being sidelined, Zhao Qiqi remained undeterred, observing Liang Zhiya's demeanor and the details of her questions from outside the interrogation room.
Liang Zhiya sat in the interrogation room, bewildered as to why he was there. He was clearly a victim's (almost) family member, and should have been treated with care.
"Do you recognize this pencil?" Chen Zhenzhu pointed to the evidence bag and said, "Why are your fingerprints on the pencil found at the scene? What is your relationship with the deceased?"
“What deceased? I don’t know them at all.” Liang Zhiya glanced at the pencil, closed her eyes and thought for a moment before saying, “I often go to the fields to sketch, and when children ask me for pencils, I always give them to them. This pencil might have been given away by me sometime during the day.”
“You’d better tell me the truth. If you want your name cleared, you’ll have to be sincere.” Shen Zhenzhu stared at him sternly, as if she could find any clue in the slightest detail of his speech.
Liang Zhiya was terrified to see her like this. She was completely different from the person she saw outside. Section Chief Shen seemed like a different person. She was usually so gentle and kind to people outside, but now she had a squinting, insincere smile on her face, which was quite frightening! Where did she learn this from!
“I swear I’m telling the truth. I’ve used this brand of pencils since I was a child, both for studying and for drawing.” Liang Zhiya said, her mouth dry. “I’m not lying at all.”
Chen Zhenzhu jumped around the topic, trying to keep the interrogated person guessing: "What is your relationship with the woman who plays the piano?"
The woman's back that Chen Zhenzhu saw in the Heavenly Eye's retrospective was somewhat similar to the woman from before, but with a more upright posture. Unlike the woman in the interrogation room next door, who seemed boneless. Given her strength, it was impossible for her to subdue the deceased with one hand and saw off the deceased's neck with her bare hands.
“That’s my piano teacher.” Liang Zhiya licked her lips, trying to lower her head to hide her panicked gaze.
“You’re lying.” Shen Zhenzhu said decisively, “I’ll give you one more chance, but don’t lie to me.”
Liang Zhiya's face drained of color, and he said in a panic, "It's...it's the piano teacher, no, but later...later she became interested in me, and I just went along with it half-heartedly. She seduced me, I was forced into it."
“I’m not Fu Shengnan, I don’t need you to explain so much,” Shen Zhenzhu said to Wu Zhongguo. “We are lovers.”
Liang Zhiya was so ashamed she wanted to disappear into the ground, especially since she had once asked the other party to solve the case as a victim's family member, and now she looked rather embarrassed.
Wu Zhongguo listened to Shen Zhenzhu's interrogation, and he had his own considerations.
The identity of the headless female corpse is still under investigation. He speculated that the investigation could be conducted by examining the relationships between Liang Zhiya and the women around her. Perhaps the murder was indeed caused by a change in their relationship.
They were conducting the interrogation inside, while Zhou Chuanxi and Lu Ye were questioning the woman in the next room.
Gu Yanzheng then invited a portrait expert from the city to the forensic lab to create a virtual portrait of the headless female corpse.
Zhao Qiqi had heard enough, and he was assigned to go to Zhang Jie's place to look for missing persons files to see if there were any matches in terms of age, height, and personal characteristics.
Having finished her questioning, Shen Zhenzhu decided to leave Liang Zhiya waiting for two hours. Hearing that the portrait expert had arrived, she rushed to the forensic lab to try and "interfere." After all, she had indeed seen the deceased's face in the Heavenly Eye's retrospective.
When Gu Yanzheng saw her arrive, he readily assigned the task to her. Originally intending to observe from the sidelines, the eldest brother received a call from Park Heung-sung, whose arrogant tone seemed to thrive on chaos: "The younger brother in your team's missing person case has arrived with his male mistress; they're probably here to confront Liang Zhi-ya."
Shen Zhenzhu really has to believe that Mai Hai's feelings for President Fu are as deep as the sea.
He was helped out of the car by Fu Panxia and led into the meeting room. He no longer possessed the confidence and charisma he had shown when they first met; his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked haggard with dark circles under his eyes.
Lu Ye waited for Chen Zhenzhu at the door and whispered, "That mistress of yours is really something. She cried even harder than her fiancé when President Fu got into trouble. President Fu's brother, on the other hand, has it tough. He's with this brother-in-law today, and that brother-in-law tomorrow—"
Shen Zhenzhu raised her hand to slap him, but Lu Ye quickly said, "Sister Zhenzhu, please have mercy! I'll buy you a soda!"
"Room temperature." Chen Zhenzhu rolled her eyes and entered the meeting room: "What brings you here?"
Fu Panxia stood up politely and said apologetically, "Your men said they found a headless female corpse and are looking for her family to claim it. After Xiao Hai heard about it, he insisted that I take leave to come and accompany him to see it."
Mai Hai raised his head, his double eyelids turned into triple eyelids from crying, and looked at Shen Zhenzhu with teary eyes, saying, "Section Chief Shen, I have no official title, so I have no choice but to do this."
Shen Zhenzhu pursed her lips and nodded, her expression serious. "I understand. But you don't need to worry. The blood type of the headless female corpse we found doesn't match that of President Fu, so it's confirmed that it's not President Fu's body. I'm really sorry to have made you come all this way for nothing and given you a fright."
Suddenly, Mai Hai slammed his fist on the table, shouting erratically, "I knew that Liang guy had ulterior motives! He killed another woman this time, and next time he might kill President Fu! He clearly wanted to curry favor with President Fu while pretending to be aloof, and he often argued with President Fu. He even hit him once! This time, he must have accidentally killed President Fu!"
“Violent tendencies?” Lu Ye brought three cups of tea to them, but the one in front of Chen Zhenzhu was bubbling with tiny, transparent bubbles.
Fu Panxia recalled, "That happened at the end of last year. He was drunk and knew that my sister and Xiao Hai had gone out for drinks. He argued with my sister. They were probably exchanging heated words, and he pushed my sister."
Shen Zhenzhu has completely lost any goodwill towards Liang Zhiya.
Seeing Shen Zhenzhu's serious face, Mai Hai said with a look of satisfaction, "But I fought back immediately that time, and together with President Fu, we pressed him down and slapped him several times."
Chen Zhenzhu: "......"
She pulled out a few tissues and handed them to Mai Hai: "Secretary Mai, calm down."
Mai Hai wiped away her tears and said sadly, "I want to calm down, but I can't."
Fu Panxia explained on his behalf, "He's been working with my sister for a year. She's been good to him; she's like a mentor to him. He hasn't had an easy time since she disappeared. Several shareholders in the company still have their eyes on my sister's position, and there are several bids to compete with rival companies. All of these things need to be handled by the first secretary."
Shen Zhenzhu was surprised that Mai Hai was quite capable, able to take on the company's important responsibilities after the boss disappeared. Such a secretary could indeed become the boss's right-hand man.
"Several people from Xinxiang Construction tried to invite her out several times, but she wouldn't come. Maybe they sabotaged President Fu. Also, the editor-in-chief of Cultural Weekly is pursuing her. Perhaps he was rejected and embarrassed, so he forced President Fu to do many things she didn't want to do."
"Secretary Mai, you should calm down." Shen Zhenzhu felt that he was exaggerating more and more. Before the case was clear, too much speculation would have a bad impact on the victim's family and colleagues' emotions.
Mai Hai was so grief-stricken that he spoke incoherently, and Fu Panxia helped to explain.
"You said your sister mentioned canceling the engagement to Liang Zhiya?" After listening to Mai Hai's rambling complaints, Shen Zhenzhu turned to Fu Panxia and said, "Why are you only telling me this now?"
Fu Panxia said, "Because we haven't broken up, I'm afraid Zhiya will lose face."
Shen Zhenzhu sighed deeply and said to him, "Sometimes a breakup can become a motive for murder. Especially for the party with strong feelings, the breakup can lead to irreversible consequences."
Fu Panxia hurriedly said, "I'm so sorry, I'll definitely tell you immediately if this happens again."
Shen Zhenzhu knew that people nowadays had a weak sense of law and were even more clueless about criminal investigation.
"It's okay, it's not too late to know now."
Shen Zhenzhu frowned, took a sip of lychee-flavored Beibingyang soda, and the sweet taste filled her mouth, making her frown even deeper.
She "saw" a female murderer, but the actual investigation revealed that the motive for the murder was male. Could it be that Fu Shengnan's case and the headless female corpse are truly two separate cases?
"I heard your parents are not in the country. Do you have any other properties you can visit?" Shen Zhenzhu thought of Fu Shengnan's situation before her disappearance and wanted to investigate further.
“No, the only one I still live in is the apartment I used to live in.” Fu Panxia put down her water glass, glanced at her watch, and said, “It’s getting late, and I still have classes. The monthly exams are coming up soon, so I need to get the students on track.”
Even though Mai Hai knew the headless female corpse wasn't Boss Fu, he was still worried and insisted that Shen Zhenzhu take him to the forensic room for a look at it at the building entrance.
Shen Zhenzhu had no choice but to ask Fu Panxia, "Do you want to come along?"
Fu Panxia remained indifferent to the headless female corpse: "I'll just wait here."
Mai Hai seemed to want to say something, but hesitated. Shen Zhenzhu saw that Fu Panxia had driven Mai Hai there, so she said, "Okay, we'll be back soon, so you won't be late for class."
Mai Hai and Shen Zhenzhu went to the forensic room. Shen Zhenzhu also wanted to take another look at the image of the murderer in the Heavenly Eye Recall.
Mai Hai trembled with fear before the headless female corpse, but still managed to glance at it. The almost mummified body drained all color from his face.
"No, it shouldn't be." Mai Hai was a little unsure.
Shen Zhenzhu asked doubtfully, "You...can't confirm it?"
Mai Hai said innocently, "We have a very pure superior-subordinate relationship."
"......" Shen Zhenzhu: "...I hope you can make your own explanation in the future."
As Mai Hai walked upstairs from the forensic lab, he again wore a hesitant expression. Shen Zhenzhu, not missing his fleeting micro-expression, stopped and said, "Is there something you want to say behind Fu Panxia's back?"
Mai Hai licked his lips, walked back a few steps, and waved to Shen Zhenzhu.
Shen Zhenzhu looked outside and saw Fu Panxia still standing by the car at the gate.
The corridor of the forensic department is painted with white walls on top and blue walls on the bottom. The clean and orderly environment is filled with the smell of disinfectant, and perhaps formaldehyde as well.
Mai Hai looked back absentmindedly, making sure Fu Panxia wasn't there, and lowered his voice to a whisper: "President Fu's hometown is in Zhuang County, where there is an ancestral house. President Fu didn't live there for very long, but Fu Panxia grew up there with her mother. Later, because she was going to take the college entrance exam, President Fu bought a villa in Liancheng."
"Doesn't she live with them?" Shen Zhenzhu asked.
Mai Hai said, "We don't live together. Mr. and Mrs. Fu are strict and have many rules. They only show up when it's time to give us living expenses each month. They usually live in Zhuhai Jiayuan, which is the same community as me. Many people say that we live together, but that's not true at all."
Shen Zhenzhu said knowingly, "I've been to Zhuhai Jiayuan, and there's no trace of her living with a man there."
Mai Hai said, "I always said that we have a very simple superior-subordinate relationship."
Chen Zhenzhu sighed and said, "Do you know the address of the ancestral home? Why is Fu Panxia unwilling to mention it?"
Mai Hai pulled out a business card from Mr. Fu's pocket, wrote the address on the back, and said, "It's all because of my bad childhood memories. I was locked in the ancestral home with my neurotic mother, who would beat and scold me all the time. A lot of unpleasant things happened."
According to Mr. Fu, once Fu Panxia was tied to a sycamore tree outside the ancestral home and whipped by her mother. All the villagers saw it, but no one intervened. She was tied up for three days! It was only because Mr. Fu was so anxious during those two days that he called the village, learned of the incident, and rushed back to rescue Fu Panxia. It's understandable that he doesn't want to talk about it; he hasn't been back for many years…”
“No wonder he didn’t tell me. Thank you for telling me. This matter may be very important.” Shen Zhenzhu took the address he gave her and glanced behind him.
Mai Hai shuddered in fright and quickly looked back. He saw a forensic doctor coming down and said, clutching his chest, "I have to go back right away. There are some things that a secretary can't get involved in. But since it involves President Fu, I'll tell him everything I know. If Fu Panxia finds out, don't say I told him. I need to keep a good relationship with him."
"Does a simple superior-subordinate relationship still require maintaining a good relationship with the boss's younger brother?" Chen Zhenzhu asked, her mind racing.
Mai Hai paused, a subtle smile playing on his handsome face with two dimples: "What if?"
Shen Zhenzhu accompanied him upstairs, all the way to Fu Panxia's car. Fu Panxia was still standing there, staring blankly at the shadowy trees by the roadside. When she saw them return, she asked, "Why did it take so long?"
Shen Zhenzhu shook her head and said, "When the forensic department heard that he wasn't a family member, they had to beg and plead before they allowed Secretary Mai to go and take a look. In the end, he was quite frightened."
Fu Panxia nodded and said, "Thinking about it, it's quite scary, but I still want to go see it."
Secretary Mai opened the passenger door and explained, "I'm just afraid of what might happen, so I wanted to check it myself to put my mind at ease."
Fu Panxia retorted, "What can you possibly see?"
Secretary Mai got into the car and stopped talking. Fu Panxia started the car, rolled down the window, and stared at Chen Zhenzhu.
Shen Zhenzhu subconsciously followed his gaze and smoothed her hair: "What's wrong?"
Fu Panxia said, "It's okay, a leaf was blown away. You see, summer is over, and even fallen leaves have to leave if they don't want to."
“Your words are quite poetic. Be careful when backing up.” Shen Zhenzhu watched the road for him and said, “I’m really sorry to have made you take the day off today. Don’t worry about the case. I will work hard to solve it and reunite with President Fu as soon as possible.”
“My parents aren’t around, so I’m the only one who can worry about my sister.” Fu Panxia patted the steering wheel and said sadly, “They don’t know what’s going on with them overseas, and I really don’t want to upset them. There’s something else I can ask you.”
Chen Zhenzhu asked, "What is it?"
Fu Panxia asked, "Was Zhiya arrested by you? Did he really hurt my sister?"
"It's still under investigation, and I can't disclose anything at this time," Shen Zhenzhu said. "But if we find any leads about your sister, we will definitely let you know as soon as possible."
"I believe in your crime-solving skills," Fu Panxia said, tapping her head. "After all, you're much smarter than most people."
"Thank you. I appreciate the compliment."
After seeing them off, Chen Zhenzhu headed towards her office.
Just as she reached the fifth-floor corridor, she heard Lu Ye call out to her, "Sister Pearl, Liang Zhiya is threatening suicide in the interrogation room, saying she wants to die with Fu Shengnan—"
"'To die together' my foot, that's called 'love suicide'." Shen Zhenzhu turned and walked towards the interrogation room.
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Author's Note: Lu Ye: Go and see for yourself, see if I'm right.
***
See you tomorrow, there's a red envelope coming! [Let me see]
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