Chapter 61 Wrong, all wrong
The evening glow, like melted honey, dyed the sky over Nan'an Village a gentle orange-red. Yu Hao took a detour on his way home from work; he wanted to see Sun Lei. Ever since he'd seen him at the parents' conference, the boy had vanished from the face of the earth. The village committee said he'd locked himself up at home after school, and dinner had to be passed through the crack in the door. Yu Hao pocketed two cartons of milk and a bag of chocolate, bought at the canteen, hoping they might get the boy to talk. He reached the playground below Sun Yong's house and was about to start his ascent when his sight was caught by a figure beneath an old locust tree. The woman stood with her back to him, her head tilted upward, staring blankly at the window of Building 201, her fingers unconsciously twisting the strap of her canvas bag. She looked to be in her thirties, wearing a lightweight down jacket. Yu Hao estimated her to be a little over five feet tall and probably weighed less than forty kilograms. Standing in front of the shabby residential building, she looked like an elementary school student, backpack on her back, waiting for her parents. The woman was so engrossed in her gaze that she didn't notice Yu Hao approach within three meters. It wasn't until his long shadow stretched out at her feet that she snapped back. Her eyes widened instantly, Yu Hao's figure reflected in her pupils. She shrank back half a step like a frightened fawn, her canvas bag slipping from her arm. "Don't be afraid," Yu Hao hurriedly stopped, raising his hands to his chest to signal his innocence. He pulled his police ID from his pocket and handed it over. "I'm from the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Yu Hao." The woman stared at the photo for three seconds, then looked up at Yu Hao himself, her gaze flickering between the fine lines at the corners of his eyes and his straight nose. Her tense shoulders gradually relaxed, and she picked up the canvas bag again. "Officer...what's going on?" Yu Hao looked at her face, a strange sense of familiarity washing over him, as if he'd seen it before on a summer night over a decade ago. "What are you doing here?" Yu Hao asked, retracting his ID. Seeing Yu Hao's innocence and his police credentials, the woman's panic faded considerably. She raised her hand, her knuckles gently tapping the window of Room 201, where faded blue curtains hung. A smile, uglier than tears, curled up at the corners of her mouth. "I... I used to live here." Yu Hao's breath hitched. They had been searching for the original resident of Room 201 for so long, but they hadn't expected to bump into him like this! No wonder he looked familiar; he must have seen him many years ago. "Are you Liu Lu?" Yu Hao's voice was strained. He remembered the original resident's name from the file, having looked at it on his computer screen no less than a hundred times. The woman was stunned, her eyes...
The evening glow is like melted honey, dyeing the sky of Nan'an Village a gentle orange.
Yu Hao took a detour after work because he wanted to see Sun Lei. Ever since he saw him at the parent-teacher conference, the kid seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.
The village committee said he locked himself in his house after school, and dinner had to be handed in through a crack in the door. Yu Hao had two cartons of milk and a bag of chocolate in his pocket, which he had bought at the canteen, thinking that maybe he could get the child to talk a little more.
He walked to the playground downstairs of Sun Yong's house and was about to go upstairs when his sight was caught by a figure under the old locust tree.
The woman stood with her back to him, staring blankly at the window of Room 201 with her head tilted up, her fingers unconsciously twisting the strap of her canvas bag.
She looked to be in her thirties, wearing a light down jacket. Yu Hao estimated her to be a little over five feet tall and weighing less than forty kilograms. Standing in front of the mottled residential building, she looked like an elementary school student, backpack on her back, waiting for her parents.
The woman was so absorbed in watching that she didn't even notice Yu Hao approaching within three meters. It wasn't until his long shadow stretched out at her feet that she suddenly turned around.
Those eyes widened instantly, with Yu Hao's figure reflected in the pupils. He shrank back half a step like a frightened fawn, and the canvas bag slipped from his arm.
"Don't be afraid." Yu Hao quickly stopped and raised his hands to his chest to indicate that he meant no harm. He pulled his police ID from his pocket and handed it over with both hands. "I'm from the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Yu Hao."
The woman stared at the photo for three seconds, then looked up at Yu Hao himself, her gaze flickering between the fine lines at the corners of his eyes and his straight nose. Her tense shoulders gradually relaxed, and she picked up the canvas bag again. "Officer...what's up?"
Yu Hao looked at her face and suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he had seen her on a summer night more than ten years ago.
"What are you doing here?" Yu Hao took back his police ID and asked.
Seeing Yu Hao meant no harm and revealing his police identity, the woman's panic faded considerably. She raised her hand, gently tapping the window of Room 201, where faded blue curtains hung. A smile, uglier than tears, curled up at the corners of her mouth. "I... I used to live here."
Yu Hao's breathing suddenly hitched. They had been searching for the original resident of Room 201 for so long, but they hadn't expected him to appear in this way! No wonder he looked so familiar; he must have seen him many years ago.
"Are you Liu Lu?" Yu Hao's voice was a little tense. He remembered the name of the original resident registered in the file and had read it on the computer screen no less than a hundred times.
The woman was stunned for a moment, her pupils suddenly contracted, and then she nodded vigorously, her ponytail swinging behind her head: "It's me. Do you know me?"
"We've been looking for you." Yu Hao felt sweat on his palms. He tilted his head towards the concrete steps at the edge of the playground. "I have a few questions about Rooms 201 and 202. Is that convenient?"
Liu Lu looked down at the dust on the steps, then looked up at the gradually darkening sky, and finally nodded, "Anyway... I'm fine."
Yu Hao walked over first, took out a tissue from his pocket, squatted down and carefully wiped the dust off the steps.
Liu Lu sat down next to him, with the canvas bag beside her legs, her hands placed stiffly on the bag, her fingertips still trembling slightly.
"It's so late, why are you coming back here alone?" Yu Hao was the first to break the silence, his eyes falling on the street lights that were gradually lighting up in the distance. The dim halo spread in the twilight like spilled egg yolk.
Liu Lu's fingers slid across the zipper of her canvas bag, making a small, crackling sound. After a long pause, she whispered, "I just returned from the US. I flew here straight after getting off the plane." She paused, her Adam's apple rolling slightly, and a hint of relief etched itself in her voice. "I came back this time to put the past behind me."
"Break up?" Yu Hao turned his head and noticed that the small silver ring on her earlobe had turned black and the edges were worn smooth, as if it had been worn for many years.
"Yeah." Liu Lu raised her head, her eyes reflecting the last rays of the setting sun. "I've settled down in the US and am getting married next month. My fiancé is Chinese, a programmer, and he's very honest." She smiled, her dimples slightly sunken at the corners of her mouth, a subtle sadness hidden in her smile. "Maybe... I won't be returning to Qindao anymore."
Liu Lu didn't understand why she suddenly told so much about herself to a stranger, but she said it anyway, perhaps because at least there was someone listening to her.
Yu Hao didn't respond. After being a policeman for a long time and seeing many joys and sorrows, he learned to remain silent.
"I want to take a last look at this place and see him." Liu Lu's gaze fell back on the window of 202, and her tone was as light as a sigh that dissipated with the wind.
"He?" Yu Hao grasped this pronoun sharply.
Liu Lu was silent for a moment, as if gathering her courage. She pulled a photo frame from her canvas bag. The plastic frame was chipped and the cherry blossom stickers on the corners were curled.
The photo shows two young smiling faces. The girl is thin and petite, wearing a washed-out T-shirt, and the boy is tall and straight, with holes worn out at the knees of his jeans.
The two smiled brightly under the cherry blossom tree, petals falling in their hair and shoulders. "He's my ex-boyfriend. We rented an apartment in this building back then. I lived in 201 and he lived in 202."
Yu Hao stared at the boy in the photo. He had a high nose bridge and a shallow dimple on the left corner of his mouth when he smiled.
"We were college classmates, in the Computer Science Department." Liu Lu gently stroked the smiling face in the photo with her fingertips, the tenderness in her eyes enough to make tears drip. "After graduation, we worked hard together in Qindao. At that time, our wages were low and we couldn't afford to rent a good house, so we chose the cheap price here. 300 yuan a month, including utilities."
She suddenly laughed out loud. "You know what? There were several classmates living in this building at the time. We always liked to gather in the hallway to cook, and we joked about going on a group blind date. We were shy at the time, and afraid of being laughed at, so... we didn't live together, but rented two rooms instead."
She paused, a blush spreading across her face, "He secretly punched a hole in the wall between the two rooms."
Yu Hao's breathing suddenly tightened, and he subconsciously leaned forward, "Hole?"
"Yeah," Liu Lu nodded vigorously, gesturing with her hands, forming a small circle with her thumb and index finger, "It's about this wide, less than 30 centimeters. Just enough to fit me."
She patted her shoulder in self-mockery. "My build is that of an elementary school student, so it's easy for me to squeeze in. He's 1.85 meters tall, and his shoulders are over 50 centimeters wide. He definitely can't get through."
boom--
Yu Hao felt like something had exploded in his head, a buzzing sound. Countless fragments whirled and collided in his mind—the hole Sun Yong had indicated in the interrogation room wasn't this big...
Sun Yong is 1.8 meters tall, weighs 82 kilograms, and his shoulders are so broad that they can block the entrance tightly - how could he possibly fit through a 30-centimeter-wide hole?!
This means Sun Yong is lying! A complete lie! There is no way he could have entered 202 through that hole and killed Wang Shun!
Why did he fabricate the story of the murder in the tunnel? What about the fingerprints that were used to pin the blame on Liu Feng? Who actually entered Room 202 through the hole? The tiny figure who could fit through the 30-centimeter tunnel...
Thinking of this, a flash of lightning flashed through his mind again. Sun Yong was not found at the scene of the car accident, and his confession of the details of the scene was a bit vague. Suddenly, he had a new guess. Perhaps, this guess was more appropriate...
Yu Hao's fingers dug deep into his knee, the pain snapping him out of his trance. He forced himself to calm down, but his fingertips couldn't help but tremble, and even his voice trembled.
"What did you use to block the entrance to the cave?" He tried to make his tone sound calm, as if he was talking about the weather.
"Two wardrobes," Liu Lu answered immediately, her eyes lighting up as if she had just remembered something interesting. "We picked them out at the flea market. They're the exact same style, dark brown with peony flowers printed on them. Even the paint chips are similar. He said that way they wouldn't be noticed."
She smiled and shook her head, her ponytail sweeping back and forth. "But when we checked out, the landlord still found out and fined us 500 yuan each, which was more than a month's rent at the time. Back then, 500 yuan could have bought a lot of things. I was heartbroken for several days."
Yu Hao's heart beat faster. He recalled the two old wardrobes he'd seen during his site inspection. Their dark brown paintwork and the peony patterns on the corners—it wasn't a coincidence! Someone had deliberately preserved the original layout!
"That hole... where is it located?" His voice trembled a little.
"It's at the very bottom of the closet," Liu Lu pointed to her waist. "You have to squat down to see it. He said it's the most hidden. Who would squat down and look under the closet for no reason?"
Yu Hao closed his eyes, and the layout diagram of 201 and 202 emerged in his mind - the hole that Sun Yong confessed to was in the middle layer of the wardrobe, about one meter and two meters from the ground, and it was not in the same position at all!
He's lying! He's lying about every detail!
"Comrade police officer? Are you okay?" Liu Lu looked at him worriedly, her finger halfway extended and then retracted. "You look so pale. Are you feeling unwell?"
Yu Hao suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Liu Lu with an anxious look in his eyes, "Ms. Liu, can you... stay in Qindao for one more day?"
Liu Lu was stunned, her pupils shrinking slightly: "But my flight is tomorrow afternoon... and my fiancé is still waiting for me to try on wedding dresses."
"Just one day!" Yu Hao leaned forward, his knees almost touching her canvas bag. His tone was pleading, unnoticed, like a drowning man grasping for driftwood. "I have some details I'd like to verify with you about that cave, about 201 and 202. This might... be related to a murder."
Liu Lu's eyes widened instantly, her mouth slightly open, and shock was written in her light brown pupils: "Murder?"
Yu Hao nodded without elaborating. Some things shouldn't be said until they're fully understood. "Trust me, this is important." He pulled out his phone and called Lu Chao.
"Lu Chao! Notify the team immediately and call an emergency meeting!" He growled into the phone, his voice remarkably clear in the quiet evening. "Everyone, gather, including Forensic Doctor Sun! Have the technical department retrieve the photos of the wardrobes in Rooms 201 and 202, as well as the videotape of Sun Yong's interrogation. Bring them all! Now! Immediately! Immediately!"
After hanging up the phone, he realized that Liu Lu was looking at him nervously, holding the canvas bag tightly in both hands.
"I'm sorry for scaring you." Yu Hao took a deep breath and tried to soften his tone, the anger and shock still surging in his chest.
Although Liu Lu didn't know what exactly happened, she vaguely felt the seriousness of the matter from Yu Hao's serious expression.
She bit her lip, leaving a faint red mark on her lower lip. Finally, she nodded, her voice trembling slightly. "I can change my ticket."
“Thank you so much!”
Yu Hao didn't continue speaking. His eyes fell on the dark window of Room 201, and he felt like a huge rock was pressing on his heart.
Why did Sun Yong lie? If he didn't kill through the passage, what was his true method? What was he trying so hard to cover up? Could that thin figure who could fit through the narrow passage be...
Thinking of this, Yu Hao felt a pang of pain in his heart. It was wrong, all wrong. From the very beginning, we fell into Sun Yong's trap.
All the street lights in the playground were on. In the dim light, the shadows of the locust leaves swayed on the ground, like a group of ghosts with bared fangs and claws.
Yu Hao knew this night was destined to be sleepless, and the secret hidden in the hole in the wall might be even more terrifying than he imagined.
He glanced at Liu Lu beside him. This thin woman might not know that what she inadvertently revealed might be the most critical loophole in the entire case.
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