Chapter 79 Li Ying
Lin Yu adjusted his mood and got straight to the point. He pushed Zheng Yunqing's photo in front of Li Ying and said indifferently, "Li Ying, on the evening of the 23rd, did you go to Room 103 of Ninghua Apartment to deliver a pizza? Did you see the person in the photo?"
Li Ying stared at the photo for a few seconds, frowned, and nodded. "Yeah, this sister is pretty. What's wrong with her?"
"A witness found her dead in the bathroom at 9:30 this morning. The time of death was exactly the evening of the 23rd." Lin Yu observed Li Ying's expression intently. Seeing his undisguised surprise, he took out the fingerprint report and said, "We found your fingerprint at the deceased's home. This one is on the bedroom door handle. Why would you enter a customer's bedroom while delivering a pizza?"
Li Ying rubbed his eyes fiercely, very surprised: "This beautiful sister is dead? You called me here for this matter?" After seeing the police officer across from him nod, he sighed, put away his nonchalant attitude, held up the fingerprint report, and after repeated comparisons, said with a bitter face: "No... Uncle Police... I can explain... I definitely didn't kill her. I was just delivering a takeaway that night. Let alone killing someone, I didn't even touch her finger! I am absolutely innocent!"
"Really?" Lin Yu leaned forward slightly to look him in the eye, adding to the pressure. He placed his hands on the table and tapped his knuckles twice, the thumping sound hammering at Li Ying's heart. "Then please tell me everything that happened after you entered Ning Hua Apartment on the night of the 23rd. Did you have any direct contact with the deceased?"
"Yes, I rang the doorbell and she was the one who opened the door for me." Li Ying was a little intimidated by him. She shrugged and pointed at the photo and said, "After we entered the house, she asked me to put the pizza on the dining table and opened the lunch box."
Lin Yu nodded: "What happened then?"
"After she opened the door for me, she went into the bathroom. I vaguely heard the sound of water running, so I guessed she was taking a shower. I was planning to leave, but before I left, I heard her say something."
"Just read the original words."
"Let me think..." Li Ying scratched her head. After a moment, she suddenly said, "I didn't bring a bath towel. Hurry up and get one from the bedroom."
Lin Yu paused while recording, "Have you known her before?"
"Absolutely not! To be honest, I was quite confused at the time, but after looking around the room and seeing no one else, I assumed she was really anxious for a towel, and it was a piece of cake. But I had no idea where the bedroom was, and I had an urgent order, so I left first." Li Ying clasped her hands together, "Uncle police, I was there for a maximum of five minutes. I couldn't even smoke a cigarette, let alone kill someone. I really don't know anything."
Lin Yu glanced at the report. Li Ying's search for a towel could explain his fingerprints on the bedroom door handle, but one point in the testimony seemed a bit illogical. "Since you and her didn't know each other, why would she let a stranger, like you, get a towel in the middle of the night?"
"Actually, I was also quite confused at the time. You said you couldn't even find the door, let alone find the things." Li Ying curled her lips, met Lin Yu's solemn gaze, and said angrily, "Officer, everything I said just now is true. If you don't believe me, you can look at my delivery records. I remember that the order on the 23rd was close to 10 o'clock, and then two more orders came in, and I left her house. You have to pay attention to evidence when investigating the case. I have a solid alibi!"
Li Ying was a well-known gangster in school and a frequent visitor to the police station. Even though he was regarded as a murder suspect, he felt more excited than panicked. He leaned closer to Lin Yu and said, "Really? If you don't believe me, you can check the surveillance video. The surveillance cameras at Ninghua Apartment and Baichao Community must have captured me. I didn't have enough time to commit the crime. Besides, I have no motive."
Listening to his clear and logical words, Lin Yu pressed his forehead and looked at him: "You seem quite calm."
"That's how it's played out in TV dramas." Li Ying clicked his tongue twice, crossed his legs again, and then gave a dry laugh under Lin Yu's cold gaze before returning to a serious posture. "Uncle police officer, you really have to trust me. Although I don't look like a serious person, I'm definitely not the murderer. Otherwise, how could you have caught me? I'd have disappeared long ago."
Qin Zhenyang, who was standing outside the isolation window, was amused by Li Ying's absurdity: "This kid is really bold."
Hearing the voice, Lin Yu turned around and looked at her for a moment, with a look of helplessness on his face.
"The surveillance cameras at Ninghua Apartment are overwritten. We'll check the other community you mentioned. I have a few more questions for you." Lin Yu looked at him again, "Be serious."
"Any questions you want, I promise to tell you everything I know!" Li Ying raised his hand and swore. His serious expression coupled with his weird yellow hair made him look insincere.
Lin Yu was silent for a moment, then spoke word by word: "First, did you see anyone else in the apartment? Second, did you hear any strange noises, footsteps, or voices? Third, besides opening the pizza and handing over the towel, did the deceased say anything else?"
"I was in a hurry and didn't look closely, but there shouldn't be anyone else there. I didn't see her anyway, and I paid even less attention to her voice. She only said two words to me, unpacked the lunch box, and handed me a bath towel." Li Ying held her head in her hands, her elbows resting on the table, looking thoughtful. After a while, she looked up at Lin Yu, "That's all I know. Do you have any other questions?"
Before interrogating Li Ying, Lin Yu already had a vague inference about the truth of the case. After hearing him say that Zheng Yunqing asked someone to pass a bath towel, he became even more certain that there was something else hidden in this case.
If Li Ying and Zheng Yunqing really didn't know each other, then there must have been a third person in the room on the night of the 23rd.
Qin Zhenyang retrieved the surveillance footage from Baichao Community and found that Li Ying was indeed photographed at 10:26 pm on the 23rd. The vehicle entry and exit records of Ninghua Apartment also showed that he had indeed only stayed there for about 7 minutes, providing sufficient proof of his absence.
"Beautiful sister, can I leave now?" Li Ying approached Qin Zhenyang with a smile after seeing her come in. "I believe you can definitely give me justice and clear my name!"
"Little brother, flattery won't work. At the moment, you're not a big suspect." Qin Zhenyang smiled slightly after noticing Li Ying's joy. He said coldly, "But we will continue to investigate you. We may summon you at any time before the case is solved."
"You still need to summon me!" Li Ying rolled her eyes, slumped her shoulders, and muttered, "I've already said everything I need to say, why are you still looking for me..."
Lin Yu pondered for a moment and replied, "Your confession still needs to be verified. Until the truth is revealed, you cannot leave the city or the district without permission."
"Okay, okay, okay. Got it. Any other requests?" Li Ying scratched her hair impatiently. "I'm really anxious to get back to the store!"
Qin Zhenyang added, "Also, do not disclose any details of this case to the outside world. You cannot tell anyone about your testimony just now. It must be kept strictly confidential."
Li Ying: "That's it?"
Qin Zhenyang: "Yeah."
The confession statement came to an end for the time being. Lin Yu stood up and glanced at the outside of the interrogation room. Heavy snow had begun to fall again without him noticing. Only a vague outline remained of the tall building opposite. "The weather is bad. The police will send a car to take you back to the store."
Hearing this, Li Ying breathed a sigh of relief. "That's pretty good." Before leaving, he took out a few takeout orders and handed them to Lin Yu and Qin Zhenyang. "If you need to order food, feel free to contact me. Forget about the investigation."
After finishing the confession, the two returned to the department together and held a meeting to sort out the progress of the case. The forensic doctor sent the autopsy report, which showed that the fundamental cause of death was a shock reaction after the nerve center was suppressed, leading to drowning.
"Just like your speculation, the last medicine the deceased took was this bottle." After handing the medicine to Lin Yu, the forensic doctor sighed, "Based on the dilution level and the volatilization effect of the medicine, the time of taking the medicine should be around 8 o'clock in the evening."
Lin Yu looked at the words "Take in the afternoon, 1 pill per day" on the label, his brows furrowed, and his dark pupils were filled with coldness.
The Zheng Yunqing case was taken over by the second team under Lin Yu's jurisdiction, and Qin Zhenyang was responsible for supervision. After all the police officers in the team arrived, a case seminar was held.
Lin Yu pasted the photos of Zheng Yunqing, Luo Xia, and Li Ying on the whiteboard one by one, and marked the relationships below with a red pen.
"Luo Xia was the first eyewitness to the death, and Li Ying had contact with the deceased on the day of the incident. Both of them are currently known suspects." Lin Yu glanced at the colleagues in attendance and continued, "But Luo Xia was cleaning at another client's home on the 23rd, which provides a sufficient alibi."
"Although Li Ying entered the scene and left fingerprints, the deceased took the medicine at 8 pm, so the time doesn't match."
After crossing out both suspects, Lin Yu showed the photo of the pizza and the confession, "The deceased was allergic to pineapples, but he ordered a pizza with pineapples."
Qin Zhenyang raised his hand to his chin, "This should be the clue the deceased left us about the real murderer."
"There's something quite illogical about Li Ying's testimony. The deceased, a woman living alone, allowed a stranger into her room at night and even asked him to find her a towel. Team Leader Qin, do you think this is possible?"
Qin Zhenyang shook his head, and the other officers also looked skeptical. Lin Yu continued to elaborate, "Besides, this was Li Ying's first time at her house. She had no idea what was going on, let alone what she was looking for. So my theory is that there was a third person in the room at the time, the real murderer."
"This person knew the deceased very well. They must have been an acquaintance." A red pen scribbled on the whiteboard, outlining a timeline. "At 8 PM on the 23rd, the deceased took the switched medication. At 9:45 PM, he met Li Ying. The approximate time of death is between 10 PM and 12 PM. On Sunday, the 27th, Luo Xia entered the apartment for work, discovered the body, and reported it to the police."
After Lin Yu put the cap on the pen, he leaned over, supporting himself on the table with both hands, his eyes sharp. "The surveillance footage cannot be accessed because it covers seven days. This means that this person may have been at the Zheng family from the 20th to the 26th."
This inference was so chilling that several police officers subconsciously touched the back of their necks, feeling uneasy.
"This is a murder case," Lin Yu concluded, handing the bottle to his colleagues from the Technical Investigation Department. "There's no legal way to buy this medicine in China. Go investigate the list of buyers and identify those who have had dealings with the deceased."
"yes."
The case was almost complete, and the suspicious points were listed one by one. Qin Zhenyang looked at the photo of Zheng Yunqing on the whiteboard, thought for a moment, and said, "The identity of the deceased is quite special. We must investigate secretly. We will declare it suicide. The identity of the witness must also be kept confidential. Do you remember all this?"
“Remember!”
Lin Yu knew why Qin Zhenyang proposed a secret investigation. Since the murderer knew Zheng Yunqing very well, it was very likely that he was someone arranged by Feng Yan, or even Zheng Yunqing himself. If a high-profile investigation was conducted and attracted his attention, it would definitely be stopped.
Qin Zhenyang glanced at the dark sky outside the window and said, "The snow is so heavy. It's not safe to go home any later. Everyone should go back and have a good rest and think about how to solve the case."
The gloomy atmosphere in the meeting room eased a lot because of these words, and then people left one after another.
Lin Yu lowered his eyes to look at his watch and found that it was already past eleven o'clock. He returned to the department, took some documents, casually put on his coat, and went straight to the garage.
Qin Zhenyang watched him rush out of the police station like a gust of wind. After a moment of surprise, he remembered that Lin Yu had shown off his girlfriend to him, and he couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion.
He is mature and steady when investigating cases, but still like a teenager when it comes to love.
Because of the snow, the main road was still very congested even late at night. The red traffic light was reflected on Lin Yu's handsome features, and his eyes seemed to hide stars. He rubbed the steering wheel repeatedly, intending to send a message to Chen Wan, but was worried that she had already fallen asleep. After struggling for a while, he finally passed the congested section and returned home smoothly.
After Lin Yu opened the door carefully, he saw his slippers placed at the entrance and the dim light extended to the living room.
The blurred light and shadow outlined Chen Wan's slender profile, and her long eyelashes cast a shallow mark on the bridge of her nose. Perhaps it was because she let down her guard after falling asleep, and her usual sense of alienation was replaced by softness.
Lin Yu saw the hamster cage on the coffee table. Yuwan was also sleeping there, his soft little belly rising and falling like a ball that was constantly inflating and deflating.
The man and the mouse lived together peacefully, and he couldn't help laughing.
Perhaps hearing some noise, Chen Wan slowly raised his head and looked around sleepily. When his eyes met Lin Yu's, his gaze gradually brightened and he smiled and said, "You're back."
Lin Yu leaned over and ruffled her hair. "Well, I'm back."
Oh, there's only one draft left in my draft box. Today I'm revising the finale. I don't know how to put it, but this story might end rather blandly, not a happy ending for everyone. It's just very bland (just a heads-up, hehe). Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your money and support! Thank you, shirts, and the "Kuaisai" players, and Li Ge, and my sweet Ming Ming Yue! And the one who told me I write well about relationships! And the other day I said I was discouraged, but! I won't give up on writing, because this story has taught me where I'm lacking and what other topics I can explore, so I'll keep working on it! Thank you, everyone!
Good morning, beautiful ladies!
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