Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Teacher Lu’s white cotton shirt…
Finally gaining the upper hand in the interrogation, everyone in the corridor breathed a sigh of relief.
In the room, Ji Yinhe showed no sign of relaxation. He said in a deep voice, "We can make some concessions. As long as you cooperate with us, everything will be fine."
"I'm not being uncooperative, Madam!" Chen Honglang felt very aggrieved. "I really slept at home last night!"
The inquiry hit a dead end again, and Ji Yinhe lowered his eyes and took a sip of tea.
Her intuition told her that Chen Honglang was not lying. The handwriting on the suicide note could not be determined to be Bai Mei's, but this Hong Kong businessman was too far away from all the abnormalities seen in Lijing tonight - he was most likely just put forward to confuse the police.
"Okay." She decisively skipped the question and asked, "Since you and Bai Mei had such a good relationship before, why aren't you sad at all when she died?"
"I'm sad, but she's gone, and sadness can't make me happy. I have to take care of myself first!"
Ji Yinhe: "..." Merchants value profit more than separation, the ancients were right.
"No matter what, I believe you must want to find the real culprit." She changed her angle. "What is Bai Mei's personality like? Has she ever told you about her personal situation?"
Chen Honglang thought for a moment, "All I know is that his parents are gone, he's got a pretty aggressive personality, and he doesn't get along well with the people in the nightclub!"
This fact matched the testimony of the other dancers. Ji Yinhe recalled what he had seen and heard at Lijing tonight and asked, "Did you give Baimei flowers during her performance?"
"Yes!" He lost himself in reminiscence, a smile playing on his lips. "The first time I saw Meimei, I was captivated by her swaying waist and gave her a big bouquet of white roses!"
"And then?" Ji Yinhe pretended to ask casually, "The waiter took you away to see Bai Mei?"
"No! I sat there until the whole show was over, then I went backstage to meet Meimei!"
Ji Yinhe's eyebrows moved imperceptibly.
It seems that Chen Honglang is not the "distinguished guest" as Manager Yu said, but just a businessman who accidentally broke into the nightclub.
"Did Bai Mei and Yu Yexiang have a fight?"
"We've argued! Meimei has her own ideas about performances. Unlike that manager, who always forces her to sing some songs she dug up from obscure corners. They're awful..."
Ji Yinhe pressed on: "Does she have a big conflict with Yu Yexiang?"
"Honestly, two women fighting over hair isn't serious enough to warrant murder!" Chen Honglang yawned in boredom. "...Madam, I've told you everything I know. Now I'm leaving it to you. Just let me go back to bed, okay?"
"not good."
Ji Yinhe felt that he had not dug to the bottom yet, but the person opposite him could not open his eyes.
She could only close the confession book and angrily said, "Just sleep here. I'll let you out when the time comes."
*
"...Xiao Ji is still amazing!"
Outside the interrogation room, Cheng Mo couldn't help but praise him.
Che Zhiwen muttered softly, "That's because Teacher Lu accompanied her to the Lijing Nightclub at night and found new clues!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a slightly mocking chuckle sounded from behind him, "If Deputy Captain Che wants to go, no one will stop you now."
“…”
Che Zhiwen turned around in shock, only to meet the calm face of expert Lu, so he had to shut up awkwardly.
After Ji Yinhe came out of the interrogation room, Tang Ci cleared his throat and told everyone what the two comrades had discovered in Lijing Nightclub.
He also criticized Xiao Ji's unorganized and undisciplined behavior.
Ji Yinhe said he would not do it again, blinking his eyes and asking, "Captain Tang, can I go on a field trip tomorrow? I want to talk to someone who knows the situation, and I also want to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau."
Tang Ci looked at the dark circles under her eyes and didn't ask her what she was going to do. He just said, "We'll talk about it tomorrow. Go upstairs and rest first."
Ji Yinhe went upstairs without hesitation, lay down in front of the desk, and found a comfortable position to catch up on his sleep.
Yu Yexiang is a serious suspect, and I also need to ask Su Yue about Ding Tongguang's situation...
She was too tired, her mind still hazily thinking about what to do next, and she fell into a deep and sweet dream in an instant.
The autumn wind before dawn is the coldest, but her body temperature gradually warmed up again, as if someone had put a coat on her.
When I opened my eyes again, it was already bright outside, and the aroma of fried chive dumplings wafted from the cafeteria downstairs.
She raised her head suddenly, and a white cotton shirt fell to the ground, leaving only a light fragrance lingering around her nose.
"——Are you awake?" Lu Zheng was wearing a denim shirt and leaning against the metal cabinet.
Ji Yinhe rubbed his eyes and picked up the shirt on the ground. "Is this yours?"
“…”
Lu Zheng said nothing, took the shirt from her hand, and only reminded her: "Go wash up quickly, Captain Tang is waiting for you downstairs."
"Oh... huh?!" Ji Yinhe jumped to the window and looked out.
In the courtyard, Tang Ci was squatting beside the jeep and eating a pancake.
It was normal for criminal police to be on night duty, and the office was equipped with toothpaste and towels. She grabbed the supplies at the speed of a 100-meter race, rushed into the bathroom next door to wash up, and then rushed back with a face pale from being soaked in cold water.
"Thank you, Teacher Lu." Comrade Xiao Ji smiled with his white teeth. "When I come back, I'll invite you to Lianjie Snack Shop!"
"..." Lu Zheng nodded, "Okay."
Ji Yinhe felt very happy thinking that after making this expert happy, he might be able to read FBI textbooks and go to the provincial department for training.
She ran downstairs in two steps, shouting, "Good morning, Captain Tang!"
"Good morning, there's food. Let's talk in the car." Tang Ci said briefly.
Ji Yinhe climbed into the car and grabbed the food bag on the armrest box, which contained the slightly greasy buns from the cafeteria.
"Where do you want to go?" Tang Ci stepped on the accelerator and drove out of the city police station. "I've been thinking about this for half the night. If Chen Honglang didn't lie, Yu Yexiang is currently the biggest suspect. But we need more evidence to arrest her. Chen Honglang's confession also said that the conflict between them was not enough to cause murder. So I was thinking, why don't we go to Yu Yexiang's hometown, and then on the way back, we can look for the insider you want to ask—"
Ji Yinhe frowned tightly.
She instinctively knew that this wouldn't work. After last night's performance, the nightclub had most likely completed the transaction with the foreigners. Tang Ci's idea wasn't wrong, but it was too far-fetched. By the time they got some information from Yu Yexiang's hometown, Li Jing and her group might have destroyed the evidence and escaped from Jiangtan.
But it was just her guess, without any real evidence.
After thinking for a moment, Comrade Xiao Ji asked politely, "Captain Tang, if possible, I'd like to meet the insider first. He's in the Su family's small building nearby. Is that okay?"
Tang Ci tilted his head and asked, "Who are you meeting?"
"Su Yue." Ji Yinhe answered softly, looking straight ahead. "The night Bai Mei got into trouble, she was nearly molested... but her fiancé, Ding Tongguang, showed up at Lijing Nightclub last night."
*
Half an hour later, in front of the Su family's small building, Su Yue, holding up the hem of her light green dress, got on the back seat of the police jeep.
"Tang Ci?" She opened her beautiful eyes wide and looked at the person in the main car, "You came to find Ya--"
"No, Xiao Ji and I want to ask you something about the case."
"Oh, I heard about it." Su Yue's face showed a hint of sadness, "The dancer who helped me is still..."
Ji Yinhe reached out from the passenger seat and patted her shoulder comfortingly, "Can I ask you why you appeared in Lijing Nightclub the night before last?"
Su Yue paused, "Tongguang and I are getting married next month. After marriage, we will focus on taking care of our husband and children. I just want to find a place to have a couple of drinks and relax. Tongguang has been to Lijing before and praised it highly after he came back, so I..."
"Ding Tongguang has been to Lijing before?" Ji Yinhe narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, he works in sales at my dad's company, so he inevitably has some social engagements."
The carriage was silent for a moment, and Ji Yinhe asked Tang Ci softly, "Can I have a private chat with Miss Su?"
Tang Ci glanced at her, opened the car door, jumped out of the jeep, and walked to the side of the road not far away to smoke.
Ji Yinhe took a deep breath and said, "Ms. Su, if you feel uncomfortable with the next question, it's okay if you don't want to answer it."
Su Yue nodded.
Ji Yinhe asked in the most gentle tone of her life: "...Do you still remember what the person who molested you that night looked like?"
Su Yue shuddered, and the corners of her lips twitched slightly.
After a moment, she lowered her eyes: "I can't remember the specific appearance..."
Ji Yinhe said okay in his heart, and was about to call Tang Ci back when a soft voice sounded in the car:
"I originally wanted to sit at the bar, have a drink, listen to some music, and then leave, but the waiter took me into a private room. After I sat down, I felt something was wrong and found the door was locked." She pursed her lips. "The room was stuffy and hot, and there happened to be an unopened bottle of drink on the coffee table. I took a few sips and felt dizzy. Later, a masked man pushed the door open and pushed me down on the sofa. He was very strong and I couldn't resist at all... Miss Bai was passing by in the corridor and heard the noise. She helped me out and took me out of the room, preventing the man from succeeding. After I left the nightclub, I found a public phone to call Tongguang and went to the hospital for gastric lavage and examination... You know everything that happened next."
Ji Yinhe paused for two seconds and asked, "Ms. Su, why didn't you choose to call the police?"
"I can't ignore my father and Tongguang's reputation..." She wrung her hands tightly together on her knees, and a dark pool of sweat appeared on the hem of her light green skirt. "Besides, he didn't do anything to me, did he?"
“…”
Ji Yinhe gently held her slender fingertips, wanting to give her some comfort, but Su Yue trembled violently and kept muttering in a low voice:
"It doesn't matter, it's all over...it's all over..."
Ji Yinhe felt a little ashamed. She knew she shouldn't expose Su Yue's scars, but there were some things she had to ask clearly.
"I'd like you to close your eyes and carefully recall the scene, such as the man's hair, clothes, and smell..."
Su Yue raised her head, her eyes sparkling, "Did he kill Miss Bai?"
Ji Yinhe said solemnly: "It's hard to say, but maybe it will help."
Su Yue took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she was told.
"...His hair seems longer than an average person's." She raised her hand and pointed at her eyelid. "It landed here when he pounced on me."
"Very good." Ji Yinhe encouraged.
"He seems to be wearing a vest over his shirt. It's made of velvet and very shiny." Su Yue frowned. "Judging from the sound of his breathing, he shouldn't be very old."
She opened her eyes and said, "Officer Ji, this is really all I can remember."
"Okay, that's enough." Ji Yinhe paused, staring into Su Yue's clear black and white eyes, "Did you know that the owner of Lijing Nightclub is a young woman?"
Su Yue shook her head in panic, "I only know that their manager's last name is Yu. Tongguang told me this last night—"
She seemed to suddenly remember something and her pupils shrank slightly.
Ji Yinhe asked sharply, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Su Yue laughed self-deprecatingly. "Not long after I returned to the Su family, I kept seeing her... Su Yiyun secretly met with the school cleaning lady after school and even called her mom. I didn't dare tell my parents about it at the time, but she still... pushed me down the stairs. Later, I broke my right hand and could no longer hold a paintbrush."
She lifted her sleeves, revealing the scar on her forearm. Ji Yinhe couldn't help but ask softly, "You want to talk about that middle-aged woman who met Su Yiyun..."
Su Yue turned her gaze steadily:
"If I remember correctly, everyone calls the cleaning lady Sister Yu."
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