Chapter 78 Suspicion
"Zheng Yunqing suffered from depression." Lin Yu put on gloves, took out several other bottles of medicine, and counted them one by one. "These four bottles of medicine were all taken at 8 pm, and each contains 36 pills, one pill per day. Today is the 27th. Tentatively, we can infer that her time of death was between the 23rd and 24th. Counting backwards from the 31st, the remaining number should be between 13 and 12 pills, but there are 14 pills here."
Qin Zhenyang continued, "That means she didn't take any medicine on the day of her death."
Lin Yu took out the individually bagged medicine, poured it out and counted it. "This medicine is marked to be taken after lunch, one pill per day. According to the calculation just now, the remaining amount is wrong. There are 4 pills missing. I checked the drug ingredients. It has a strong sedative effect. 3 pills are enough to make people drowsy. In severe cases, it can even suppress the respiratory center."
"You mean, someone switched Zheng Yunqing's medication for the day?" Qin Zhenyang looked at the shape and size of the four pills and frowned. "These pills look too similar. Could they be accidentally ingested?"
Lin Yu shook his head. "Zheng Yunqing is a very careful person. She would definitely not make such a simple mistake. The murderer must have switched the medicine. And this person knows Zheng Yunqing's personal habits very well."
"But there is a logic that doesn't make sense. Since Zheng Yunqing knew that there was something wrong with the medicine, why did she still take it?" Qin Zhenyang leaned against the railing, tapping the table casually with his fingers, thinking about Lin Yu's previous calculation steps. When he was about to speak, a police officer came over and asked when Luo Xia would give a statement.
"You go first. There is definitely something hidden in Zheng Yunqing's case. You need to investigate carefully." Qin Zhenyang patted his shoulder and said, "I'll leave it to you."
Lin Yu nodded, his expression solemn, "I will definitely find out the truth."
Before going to the interrogation room, he first went to the technical investigation department and asked about the fingerprint and DNA comparison.
"Captain Lin, this is the fingerprint comparison report. The glass found in the bathroom only had the deceased's fingerprint on it. There were two fingerprints on the bathroom door handle, one belonging to Luo Xia and the other to Zheng Yunqing." The officer handed the report to Lin Yu and pointed to the computer screen. "But we found a third person's fingerprint on the apartment door and bedroom door handles. We need to use the database to match them, so it will take some time."
"Get it done as soon as possible. Thank you for your hard work." Lin Yu took the report and remembered Li Ying's existence. This strange fingerprint might be related to this person. He returned to the department and asked Zhao Yuan from the team to go to the pizza shop to investigate Li Ying's matter.
After Zhao Yuan accepted the task, he went straight to the pizza shop, and Lin Yu went to the interrogation room.
Luo Xia was sitting behind the desk, still trembling with fear. As soon as she saw him, she kept explaining, "Officer, I'm really not the murderer. I really don't know why she died..."
Lin Yu lowered his eyelids, concealing some of his sharpness. He gave her a gentle smile, took a cup of hot water and pushed it in front of her, saying, "It's just a statement. There's no need to be so nervous."
She took the water with some trepidation. The cold sweat on her palms hitting the warm wall of the cup only added to the torment. She said in a trembling voice, "Officer, I'm innocent. I had no reason or time to kill her. If you don't believe me, you can look at my schedule. The housekeeping company and my clients can all vouch for me."
Lin Yu raised her eyebrows slightly, thinking about her shift schedule, and called a police officer to check the situation. Once the time of death was determined, it would become an important basis for proving her alibi.
From the perspective of micro-expression psychology research, Luo Xia's panicked state from the time she reported the case until now did not seem to be fake, and she did not have an obvious motive for committing the crime.
After a brief pause in the recording, Lin Yu continued questioning her, "We'll verify it during working hours. Now I want to ask how much you know about Zheng Yunqing, including her personality, hobbies, and lifestyle."
The fact that the drugs were swapped made Lin Yu realize that the perpetrator must be very familiar with Zheng Yunqing's personal habits, otherwise he would not have been able to do it so perfectly.
Lin Yu's attitude was very calm, which made Luo Xia feel much more at ease. She drank half a glass of water carefully, thought for a few minutes, and replied, "I don't have much contact with Miss Zheng, but I know that she is a very clean and self-disciplined person, and she has a strict schedule for her work and rest time."
Lin Yu nodded, drew a red line under the heading of work and rest time, and motioned her to continue, "What is Zheng Yunqing's daily routine like?"
"I don't know about her details. I just remember that she never ate dinner to maintain her figure." Luo Xia pressed her palms, and her anxiety subsided a lot. "And she had to go to bed at 10 o'clock at night. These are the only two things I remember."
"Not eating dinner?" Lin Yu remembered the pizza's order time, 9:45 p.m., and the box had already been opened. It was definitely not eaten for breakfast. "Is there no exception at all? Does she usually like eating pizza?"
Luo Xia shook her head in confusion. "There shouldn't be any exceptions. She always emphasizes controlling carbohydrate intake, but I don't quite understand that either. And I saw the pizza you mentioned today, but I don't think she would eat it because it looked like it had pineapple on it."
"Zheng Yunqing doesn't eat pineapples?" Lin Yu felt like he had grasped a thin thread and continued to ask, following Luo Xia's words, "Is it because of an allergy?"
"Well, she said it would give her a rash. One time, I bought her a drink and she scolded me because she had a little bit of pineapple juice in it."
"Then who do you think it was bought for?" Lin Yu frowned, observing her expression, and said slowly, "It seems that the person who hired you was not Miss Zheng. Could the employer have bought the pizza?"
Listening to his slow and measured speculation, Luo Xia scratched her fingers. The sharp pain made her even more nervous. She hastily lowered her head to avoid his scrutiny. After a while, she stammered, "Officer, that's all I know..."
Sensing her reservations, Lin Yu raised his hand to smooth his brows, a shadow falling in his eyes. The real employer was Feng Yan, which he had known for a long time. Luo Xia did not dare to say it out of protection of her own interests. After all, there was the precedent of Zheng Yunqing.
After a moment's silence, he suppressed his doubts for the time being. Investigating a case requires a step-by-step process; being impatient would only alert the enemy.
The truth of this case has already taken shape.
Lin Yu leaned back, distanced himself from Luo Xia, and intertwined his fingers, resting them on the table. Ling Ran's aura relaxed considerably, and his gentle smile returned. "Thank you for your cooperation. Let's stop here for today. Go back and have a good rest."
The autopsy results had not come out yet, so there was no rush to make a conclusion. Lin Yu got up and left, sending someone to send Luo Xia home to await further notification.
He returned to the department, sorted out the oral report, combined it with the on-site investigation records, checked Luo Xia's testimony, and at the same time thought about the subtle doubts.
The surveillance was covered, the number of pills was wrong, and there was pineapple on the pizza. If these three points can be connected into a line, murder is confirmed.
Lin Yu pasted a photo of pizza on the whiteboard, wrote down Zheng Yunqing's schedule, and drew red circles around the two points of not eating dinner and going to bed at 10:30, looking thoughtful.
"The confession doesn't seem to have any problems." After reviewing the confession and the fingerprint report, Qin Zhenyang asked him, "Could this unfamiliar fingerprint be that of the delivery driver?"
Lin Yu came back to his senses and looked at her, "Maybe. I've asked Zhao Yuan to look for him. I'll go and see the autopsy results first." After thinking for a moment, he took away a bottle of medicine.
"Okay, go ahead." Qin Zhenyang nodded and returned to his workstation to review the trace detection in the investigation records to restore the dynamic situation at the death scene.
Lin Yu strode to the forensic room and saw the forensic doctor covering the case with a white cloth through the glass door. He pushed the door open and walked in, asking, "Any results?"
The forensic doctor shook his head. "Not yet, but we can infer that the specific time of death was three days ago, between 10 and 12 o'clock on the evening of the 23rd. The gastric fluid test also detected undiluted alcohol, which also explains the red wine residue on the ground."
Lin Yu nodded in understanding. "Besides this, we should be able to detect any drug reactions. Zheng Yunqing suffered from depression. According to the time of death you mentioned, she must have taken medication around 10 pm. I think we can investigate this aspect."
"Can you show me the antidepressant so I can compare it?" The medical examiner's gaze fell on the white cloth and he spoke slowly, "To be honest, I'm a little surprised by the autopsy results."
Lin Yu handed him the medicine and looked over there, "Did you find any external injuries?"
"These aren't external injuries, but rather signs of multiple internal surgeries. Her uterus was completely removed." The medical examiner sighed as he mentioned the latter part of the sentence. His daughter was the same age as Zheng Yunqing, so he felt a little sad. "I guess this girl didn't have a good life."
In order to ensure the accuracy of the examination results, the forensic room keeps the air conditioner on even in winter. The cold temperature deepens the silence and heaviness of death.
Hearing his words, Lin Yu recalled the first time he met Zheng Yunqing. Even in the dim interrogation room, her face was still bright and beautiful, and her posture was as proud as a peacock.
However, due to her lack of confidence, the pride and arrogance she displayed seemed more like bluffing. She was not a peacock but a bird in a cage.
The forensic doctor repeatedly examined the drug composition. "This drug contains a large amount of benzodiazepine. After alcohol is metabolized, it produces acetaldehyde. If taken at the same time, it will have a double inhibitory effect on the nervous system. In severe cases, it can even suppress the respiratory center and endanger life."
Lin Yu's eyes grew even colder when he heard this. "I checked all her medicines. Four pills are missing from this bottle, but none of the pills she should have taken are missing."
The medical examiner raised his hand to scratch the bridge of his nose and looked up at him. "I know you don't think she committed suicide, but I think since the deceased took medication every day, it would be obvious that the medication had been switched."
This rather obvious flaw left Lin Yu at a loss, but he still refused to accept the theory of suicide: "Wait until the autopsy report comes out and see if there are any new clues. Thank you for your hard work."
"Okay, the results won't be out until tonight. I'll let you know then." He waved the medicine bottle in his hand towards Lin Yu. "As far as I know, this medicine can't be purchased through formal channels in China. You can look for clues by checking the buyer's list."
After the two talked about the case again, Lin Yu was called to the technical investigation department.
"Captain Lin, this is Luo Xia's worksheet, as well as the testimony provided by her client." After handing the information to Lin Yu, the officer added, "That Li Ying has also been brought to the police station. Are you still in charge?"
Lin Yu took the information and thanked him. "I'll verify this timetable. First, I'll record Li Ying's fingerprints and compare them."
"OK."
He returned to the department with the worksheet, looking through it for any errors. The 23rd was the date of Zheng Yunqing's death, and Luo Xia was cleaning at her employer's home, providing ample proof of her absence. After writing a "doubt" on his profile, he happened to get Li Ying's fingerprint report.
Colleagues from the Technical Investigation Department couldn't hide their joy: "Captain Lin, after multiple comparisons, the results show that Li Ying's fingerprint is the same as the unfamiliar fingerprint!"
Lin Yu nodded, handed over his work to Zhao Yuan, and entered the interrogation room again. He glanced at the information in his hand and was a little surprised. The word "Ying" made him preconceived that it was a female. Unexpectedly, the gender column said male, age seventeen.
After Lin Yu sat down, he raised his eyebrows slightly and met the gaze of the yellow-haired young man opposite him. Before he could say anything, he was interrupted impatiently by the young man, "How long will this take you? I have several orders to deliver, it's urgent!"
A sister who has read the book made the illustration for me. I am so grateful!!!
I said some depressing things yesterday, but even as I was saying them, I still worked until 3 a.m. to finish the manuscript. I'm very grateful to everyone for their votes and favorites. I was constantly praised for my driving yesterday. So shy, I got a 94 on the review board! (By the way, if possible, I hope everyone can help with ratings, for the book reviews! Please!)
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