Chapter 72 Arrest: The June 15th Rainy Night Murder Case Solved
It was 5:30 in the evening.
The afterglow of the setting sun bathed the exterior of the office building of Yan City Medical College in an orange-red hue.
Geng Lihua took off his gloves and changed into his work clothes, his face looking somewhat gloomy.
The safety inspection team from the province today made Geng Lihua uneasy with every question and every glance they gave him.
Luo Yunchen appears easygoing but harbors a scrutinizing gaze; Jiang Ling's eyes seem to see through everything; and then there's Li Zhenliang, with the scratching sound of his pen as he takes notes in his notebook.
All of this felt like cold needles pricking Geng Lihua's highly sensitive nerves.
I glanced at my watch; my daughter should have already gotten out of school.
Today is the 20th, Monday.
My daughter is 12 years old and in sixth grade. After her final exams this Thursday, she can start her summer vacation. Next semester, she will continue her studies at the medical school's affiliated high school.
Geng Lihua quickened his pace, eager to pick up his daughter and not keep her waiting.
Actually, the primary school is not far from home, only a seven or eight-minute walk, but Geng Lihua has been picking up and dropping off his daughter every day since she was in first grade, and he has gotten used to it.
Geng Lihua walked towards the bicycle shed on the west side of the office building.
Arriving at the corner of the wall, Geng Lihua looked at the spot where he had parked his bicycle—it was empty!
Geng Lihua suddenly stopped in his tracks, his pupils contracting sharply.
That familiar old-fashioned bicycle, meticulously cleaned, with sponges strapped to the back seat and covered in floral cotton cushions, is gone!
He quickly scanned his surroundings, his eyes sharp and wary, like those of a frightened wild beast.
All the other vehicles were there, but his bicycle was nowhere to be found.
Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
Really? Isn't this too much of a coincidence?
I was "investigated" in the morning, and my car was stolen in the afternoon.
Is it a warning? A test? Or... has the police already taken action?
"What's wrong?"
A voice came from behind, startling Geng Lihua.
He turned his head and saw that it was Section Chief Zhang. He suppressed the shock and doubt surging in his heart and said in a voice with a hint of anxiety that he could not hide: "Section Chief Zhang! My bicycle is stolen. It was stolen in the bike shed."
Zhang, the head of the equipment department, had already been informed by the police in advance. He immediately looked "surprised" and "concerned": "Oh dear! Mr. Geng, what happened? This thief is too brazen, actually stealing from our office building. Don't worry, quickly find the security department and ask them to help investigate!"
Section Chief Zhang patted Geng Lihua on the shoulder and reassured him, "Don't worry, we all recognize your car. The security department will do everything they can to find it. Oh, by the way, don't you have to pick up Simin from school? Don't keep the child waiting!"
As he spoke, Section Chief Zhang pushed a slightly worn-out old bicycle out of the bicycle shed: "Here, this is my bike. You can ride it to pick up the kids. The seat is a bit hard, but you'll have to make do." He stuffed the bicycle keys into Geng Lihua's hand, his smile impeccably sincere.
Geng Lihua looked at the bicycle, his Adam's apple bobbing.
He couldn't refuse the undeniable reason of "picking up his daughter," nor could he resist Section Chief Zhang's enthusiasm. He could only passively accept the keys, his voice hoarse: "Um, thank you."
Riding this unfamiliar bike on the campus roads, Geng Lihua felt as if countless eyes were staring at his back, and every step felt like walking on thin ice.
With just a little force, the ice would crack and swallow him into the icy lake.
At the entrance of the primary school affiliated with the medical school, children poured out of the school like birds released from their cages.
Geng Lihua got out of the car, parked the borrowed bicycle by the roadside, and eagerly searched the crowd. When he saw his daughter, Geng Simin, with her schoolbag on her back and her hair in a ponytail, the gloom and wariness on his face instantly melted away, revealing an incredibly genuine and radiant smile.
"Dad!" Geng Simin ran over happily and skillfully jumped onto the back seat of the bicycle. "Why did you change bikes today?"
"Oh, Dad's car had a minor problem, so he sent it to be repaired. He borrowed it from Section Chief Zhang." Geng Lihua tried to keep his voice calm and natural, concealing his inner turmoil. "Hold on tight, let's go home."
Geng Lihua pedaled his bicycle and merged into the evening traffic.
In the back seat, Geng Simin chattered about the interesting things that happened at school, her little hands wrapped around her father's waist, her little face pressed against his slightly thin back, a daughter's heartfelt trust and dependence on her father.
Geng Lihua's tense nerves relaxed for a moment, but the unease deep inside him grew stronger. He subconsciously glanced back several times, his gaze sweeping over pedestrians, newsstands, and cars parked on the roadside…
Everything seemed normal, yet there was an inexplicable eeriness about it.
I just hope I'm being too stressed.
I just hope it's not the police sending someone to spy on us.
I returned to my small but tidy home on the third floor of the old faculty dormitory.
After putting down her schoolbag and drinking a large cup of mung bean soup, Geng Simin obediently sat down at her desk to do her homework.
Instead of cooking in the kitchen as usual, Geng Lihua went into his bedroom and closed the door.
The door closed behind him, the lock clicking shut.
The gentleness on Geng Lihua's face vanished instantly, replaced by solemnity and anxiety. He sat on the bed, his right hand resting on the old wooden table, his fingers unconsciously tapping the surface.
Something's wrong! Everything's so wrong!
Experts from the province suddenly came to investigate, asking all sorts of probing questions: his work scope, mode of transportation, whereabouts on the night of the incident, past safety incidents...
Also, my bicycle was suddenly stolen.
Section Chief Zhang borrowed the car at just the right time.
And then there's the lingering feeling of being watched as I walk along.
Police! It must be the police! They suspect me!
The thought slithered into Geng Lihua's mind like a venomous snake, sending chills down his spine. He abruptly stood up, his movements displaying an almost frantic resolve.
He still has Simin to raise; he absolutely cannot sit idly by and wait for her to die!
Geng Lihua strode to the bedroom window and slammed the thick curtains shut, plunging the room into darkness.
After cutting off all outside sight, he began the silent cleanup.
He bent down and pulled an old toolbox from under the bed.
Inside the toolbox was a cleaned dark blue work uniform, the fine but clear tear at the hem stinging his eyes like a red-hot branding iron.
He grabbed his clothes and threw them at his feet, intending to cut them up and throw them in the trash later.
Geng Lihua took out another roll of thin nylon rope, somewhat hesitantly.
Should we take it to the kitchen and burn it? The rope is very ordinary, but it will smell strong when burned. Will it attract my daughter's attention?
Thinking of this, Geng Lihua threw the nylon rope onto his work clothes, intending to throw it away with them.
The toolbox also contained some newspaper clippings about the June 15 rainy night murder case, yellowed slips of paper with certain dates and names recorded on them, and the envelope hidden deep inside that contained his wife Zhao Shufen's surgical consent form and death notice.
His hands trembled as he slowly took the papers out of the box.
Keeping newspaper clippings and notes is just asking for trouble; I'll burn them later.
But Geng Lihua couldn't bear to burn the yellowed old envelope, so he put it back where it was.
Geng Lihua took out a black plastic bag, put the work clothes and hemp rope inside, and walked into the kitchen with a stack of newspaper clippings and papers in his right hand.
Turn on the gas stove and the exhaust fan. The orange flames greedily devoured the paper, and the smell of burning immediately filled the kitchen.
Numbly going through all this, Geng Lihua stared at the flickering flames, a huge sense of powerlessness and doomsday panic enveloping his entire body.
Was the person questioning me today really a police officer?
Perhaps I'm just being too nervous?
Didn't the community police bring a team to check his house early the other morning? Nobody paid any attention to him, a father in a hurry to take his child to school.
Geng Lihua was very familiar with the police's screening methods.
It's like finding a needle in a haystack.
Without evidence, it would be impossible to suspect him.
—Keep encouraging himself, Geng Lihua gritted his teeth and sped up the burning of the newspaper clippings.
The attic opposite Geng Lihua's house is a surveillance point.
Observation point A: "The target and his daughter Geng Simin have entered the house."
Observation point B: "The curtains in the target master bedroom were suddenly drawn."
Observation point C: "There is a fire in the kitchen of the target's house, and thick smoke is coming out of the chimney, confirming that the items are being burned."
Peripheral team: "The target's daughter, Geng Simin, is in her room; she is confirmed to be safe."
In the command center, Lei Xiao listened to the real-time reports, his eyes as cold as iron, and decisively gave the order:
"The target is destroying relevant evidence; we can't wait any longer!"
First, the action team is to immediately break down the door and make the arrest, with the primary priority being the safety of his daughter.
2. The search team will enter simultaneously, focusing on: all dark blue work clothes, ropes, and furnace ash.
III. Technical team, cordon off the scene and extract residue!
All units, take action!
The moment the order was given, plainclothes police officers who had been lying in ambush in the stairwell and downstairs pounced out like cheetahs.
"Bang!"
The fragile wooden door of Geng Lihua's house was smashed open in an instant by a professional door-breaking hammer!
"Police! Don't move!"
Several gun barrels instantly locked onto Geng Lihua, who was standing frozen in front of the stove, still clutching half a burning piece of paper in his hand.
"Simin, Simin..." Geng Lihua's first reaction was to look in horror toward his daughter's room.
"dad!"
Upon hearing the noise, Geng Simin ran out of the house and was quickly and gently shielded behind a policewoman at the door: "Don't be afraid, little one. The police officer wants to ask your father some questions."
Two police officers from the technical team rushed to the stove and used specialized tools to extinguish the remaining fire. They carefully removed the unburnt pieces of paper, some of which still showed faint writing.
There was a black plastic bag at Geng Lihua's feet, inside which was a dark blue work uniform with torn cuffs and a roll of nylon rope on it.
"We've found something here!"
The forensic investigators put on gloves, picked up a black plastic bag, and pulled out a dark blue work uniform and a roll of nylon rope. They carefully extracted fiber samples from the torn hem of the uniform with tweezers, while placing the entire garment into the evidence bag—this was the key source that could match the fibers under Ke Xiaoyu's fingernails.
"Quickly, put the rope away too, we'll go back and do the evidence comparison."
"The rest of you, go inside and continue searching for any suspicious items. Remember, take photos of everything as evidence."
The search team entered the master bedroom, where the old toolbox that had been dragged out from under the bed had not yet been put away.
At the bottom of the toolbox, there was the envelope containing Zhao Shufen's death certificate.
Lei Xiao walked up to Geng Lihua, who was handcuffed behind his back by the police and looked ashen-faced.
“Geng Lihua,” Lei Xiao said, holding up the arrest warrant and search warrant, his voice loud and slow, “you can’t escape.”
Geng Lihua stared intently at the arrest warrant in Lei Xiao's hand, his body trembling violently, and a strange hoarse sound came from his throat.
He turned his head and saw the policeman carrying three transparent evidence bags.
Inside those three bags of evidence were the work clothes, nylon rope, and old envelopes that he had just wanted to destroy but hadn't had time to deal with.
Geng Lihua collapsed to the ground in despair.
All the struggles and all the pretense completely crumbled.
The police arrived too fast! He didn't have time, there was simply no time...
At that moment, Jiang Ling also received news that the arrest operation was complete.
Li Zhenliang downed a large bowl of cold tea: "Luckily, luckily we acted quickly! The team leader's judgment was accurate; he knew Geng Lihua would be guilty."
Luo Yunchen, who now spends most of his time in the psychological profiling team's office, also asked, "Junior sister, how do you know he would destroy the evidence? How do you know he would be nervous?"
Jiang Ling glanced at him: "Do you think he won't be suspicious if the three of us talk to Geng Lihua?"
Luo Yunchen said smugly, "Our plan is meticulous, our division of labor is clear, and our acting skills are on point, so there will definitely be no problem."
Jiang Ling twitched the corner of her mouth, feeling somewhat speechless.
This person is constantly praising himself; I can't stand it.
Jiang Ling's face darkened, her expression turning serious: "When you asked about the time of the crime, Geng Lihua had already become wary, especially with that question about the bicycle—it was a complete blunder. That question wasn't in the plan at all, so why did you ask?"
Luo Yunchen felt a little guilty and raised his hand to touch his nose: "Well, I just improvised a bit."
Jiang Ling didn't let him off the hook: "Who gave you permission to do whatever you wanted?"
Luo Yunchen felt that Jiang Ling was not cute at all now, and was pressing him at every turn. Who was the senior brother and who was the junior sister?
However, Luo Yunchen wasn't angry. He chuckled a little sheepishly, "Okay, okay, I was wrong. Next time I'll definitely follow the plan strictly and never act on my own, alright?"
Seeing his good attitude in admitting his mistake, Jiang Ling softened her tone: "Okay."
Li Zhenliang smoothed things over: "Team leader, you mean that no matter what identity we appear in, as long as we touch on key points such as the time of the incident or the safety accident, it will arouse Geng Lihua's vigilance, right?"
Jiang Ling nodded: "That's right. So I instructed Section Chief Zhang to keep an eye on Geng Lihua's whereabouts and make sure he didn't take leave to go home halfway through. As soon as he returned to the station, Captain Lei immediately set up a surveillance mission, laying a tight net around his home. Since we've already stirred up trouble, let's turn the tables and force him to take action so we can make the arrest immediately."
Luo Yunchen asked, "So, what do we do next?"
Jiang Ling said, "Wait. The evidence team is working hard to test Geng Lihua's bicycle and other physical evidence. We'll proceed with the interrogation once all the evidence is available."
Luo Yunchen became interested: "Is it really him?"
This time, Jiang Ling was certain and no longer wavered: "It's him!"
--
After Geng Lihua was arrested, he underwent an initial search and physical examination, and was then held in solitary confinement for more than ten hours before being brought into the interrogation room.
Lei Xiao sat in the presiding judge's seat, his posture upright and his gaze piercing, like a silent mountain, exuding an invisible majesty.
Fan Wei and Lei Xiao are long-time partners who have worked together for many years and are very good at interrogating prisoners. This time, he is serving as the assistant interrogator.
Jiang Ling was in charge of taking the statements. She not only had a notebook but also a thick folder containing all the key evidence.
The technical team worked through the night again to complete all the testing work.
Bloodstains were found on Geng Lihua's bicycle wheel and dark blue work clothes, consistent with the biological traces found on Ke Xiaoyu's body.
The fibers at the hem of the work clothes are the same as the fibers in the clothes under Ke Xiaoyu's fingernails;
The nylon rope marks matched the marks on Ke Xiaoyu's neck.
On the paper fragments burned by Geng Lihua, case reports and Ke Xiaoyu's name and personal information were found.
The evidence is conclusive, but Geng Lihua's confession is still needed.
The cold incandescent light illuminated the small interrogation room as bright as day.
The bluish-gray cement floor, the snow-white walls, the cold iron furniture, and the black characters on the wall that read "Confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be punished severely" all gave Geng Lihua an invisible, heavy pressure.
Geng Lihua sat in a specially made interrogation chair, handcuffed.
He wore the gray prison uniform provided by the guard, which made him look even thinner and older. His head was bowed, his hair was disheveled, and his eyes stared blankly at the ground, like a shell whose soul had been ripped out.
In just one day, Geng Lihua's temples turned completely white.
When he was arrested, his daughter cried her heart out, and Geng Lihua felt as if his heart was being torn apart. Sitting alone in the detention center for a whole day had exhausted all his strength, leaving him with only a deathly numbness and a desperate resistance.
Lei Xiao immediately presented all the evidence.
One piece of evidence after another.
One test report after another.
One photo after another.
...
However, Geng Lihua refused to answer any questions about the June 15 rainy night murder case and remained silent on all accusations.
Lei Xiao and Fan Wei exchanged a glance.
Lei Xiao tapped the table, adjusted his facial expression, and tried to appear more gentle: "Geng Lihua, silence is meaningless. We know who you are. A technician who has worked on equipment at a medical school for nearly twenty years, a father who has been widowed for eight years and raised his daughter alone."
He deliberately slowed down his speech and emphasized the word "father".
Geng Lihua's body trembled almost imperceptibly, but he kept his head down and remained silent.
Lei Xiao continued, with a barely perceptible sigh in his voice: "Your daughter Geng Simin is very outstanding and sensible. We sent her to her homeroom teacher's house. She was very worried about you and kept asking when her father could come home."
At this point, Lei Xiao paused, observing Geng Lihua's reaction: "She doesn't know what happened, she only knows that the police took her father away. She's only 12 years old, right? That's the age when she needs her father the most."
Geng Lihua's head drooped even lower, and his shoulders began to tremble slightly uncontrollably. His fists were clenched tightly on the armrests of the interrogation chair, his knuckles turning white from the force.
“Simin, she…” Geng Lihua finally managed to squeeze out a dry, hoarse voice, with a heavy nasal tone, but he choked up after only saying half of it.
Lei Xiao fell silent at the opportune moment, handing over the reins to Fan Wei.
Fan Wei stood up, not heading towards the interrogation table, but instead moving to a spot slightly to the side of Geng Lihua to reduce the oppressive atmosphere. He had been incredibly busy lately, his clothes were wrinkled and unwashed, and he hadn't had time to shave; he looked rather disheveled.
But it was precisely this dejection that successfully lowered Geng Lihua's guard.
“Master Geng,” he used this more colloquial form of address, “tell us about your wife, Zhao Shufen. In 1985, at the First People’s Hospital of Yan City, she had surgery for uterine fibroids, followed by postoperative infection and sepsis.”
With each word he uttered, Geng Lihua's body tensed up a little more.
Jiang Ling gently pulled a photo out of the folder. It wasn't a bloody scene or cold evidence, but a yellowed old photo.
—A young Zhao Shufen holding an infant Geng Simin, her smile gentle.
Jiang Ling gently placed the photo on the table in front of Geng Lihua so that he could see it clearly.
Geng Lihua's gaze was fixed on the photograph, his lips trembling violently, and finally, turbid tears burst from his eyes, falling in large drops onto the cold table. His long-numbed body seemed to be injected with immense pain, instantly coming back to life, but he curled up in agony.
"When your husband passed away, Simin was only three years old, right?" Fan Wei's eyes were filled with pity, and his voice was full of sympathy, like a neighbor having a casual chat. But his words were like a sharp knife, cutting open Geng Lihua's deepest wound.
"Over the years, you've single-handedly raised Simin to be both a father and a mother, making her so outstanding. She's consistently ranked at the top of her class. Her teacher said that Simin's dream is to become a doctor when she grows up. Is this her dream, or yours? Are you trying to make up for the regret of losing a loved one? Are you trying to help more families so that they don't have to suffer the pain of losing a loved one?"
"No--"
Geng Lihua let out a suppressed sob, like the mournful cry of a wounded wild beast.
He suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Fan Wei, filled with pain, resentment, and endless sorrow.
"Make amends? What do we need to make amends for? Help? Bah! Why should I help others? They killed Shufen, those nurses who knew nothing! They didn't disinfect properly, they didn't detect the problem in time. My poor Shufen, in so much pain, so cold, but what... what did they do?!"
Geng Lihua was breathing heavily, the old traumas and anger engulfing him once again.
“So,” Lei Xiao began.
His voice suddenly became high-pitched, clear, and sharp, like a thunderclap splitting open a chaotic void.
"When you see Ke Xiaoyu, an intern nurse, wearing that white uniform, walking alone in the rainy night, do you feel that she is one of them? An incompetent nurse who could kill people? Do you feel that you have the right to act on behalf of heaven and judge her on behalf of Shufen?"
Geng Lihua was struck dumb, frozen in place.
Lei Xiao's words were like a sharp knife, piercing directly into his twisted and dark heart.
Lei Xiao's voice was oppressive as he held up a close-up photo of the deceased: "A trial? In such a cruel way? To let a young girl in the prime of her life, a junior in college, a girl who hadn't even started working, end her life on that rainy night?"
He slammed the photo down next to the one of Zhao Shufen and her daughter, creating a stark contrast. "12 o'clock, Geng Lihua! What does this time mean to you? Is it the time Shufen stopped breathing?"
This problem, like the last straw, completely broke Geng Lihua.
"hehe……"
Geng Lihua slowly raised his head, staring intently at the close-up of the deceased's face, a hoarse sound emanating from his throat, like the sound of a wild beast's roar.
His face was contorted, his gaze sinister, tearing away all pretense to reveal his truest self.
"Yes! Shufen left at midnight. I remember it clearly." His voice was suppressed and slow, but it concealed deep pain.
"The bell is ringing, ding! ding! ding!"
"The rain is falling, splash! splash! splash!"
“I was shouting, calling for doctors and nurses, but no one paid any attention to me. A nurse, dressed in white, coldly told me that the doctor wasn’t there and there was nothing she could do.”
“I hate it! I hate that dress! I hate them! They killed my Shufen, my Shufen… We grew up together, and we promised to live happily ever after.”
Painful memories flooded back like a tidal wave, and Geng Lihua felt a sharp pain in his chest, making it impossible to breathe. He could no longer speak, and could only frantically bang his head against the back of the chair, making dull thuds.
Fan Wei and Lei Xiao quickly stepped forward and restrained him.
Jiang Ling looked up at the man in front of her who was in a state of extreme mental collapse.
In his past life, this was the same person who killed Ke Xiaoyu and then murdered two nurses again on a rainy night.
In a past life, it was this same person who, in order to protect his daughter, drew his knife and injured Zhang Qiang.
He has now been captured.
Once Geng Lihua had calmed down a bit and was only breathing heavily, Lei Xiao asked again, "So, you killed Ke Xiaoyu?"
Geng Lihua slumped in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling, as if his soul had drifted away.
After a long while, he nodded very slowly, squeezing out an almost inaudible breath from deep in his throat:
"……yes."
The word "yes" was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, yet it was like a boulder thrown into water, creating silent but enormous ripples in the interrogation room.
yes.
Jiang Ling wrote this one word heavily on the notebook.
The June 15th rainy night murder case has been solved.
Lei Xiao picked up a photo of Ke Xiaoyu: "Why her?"
Yes, why Ke Xiaoyu?
Nine years ago, when Zhao Shufen passed away, he did not kill her.
For so many years, he worked honestly in the equipment department, passing by countless times with medical school faculty and students and nurses from the affiliated hospital, but he never committed murder.
But why, of all days, did they kill Ke Xiaoyu on June 15th?
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