Red Makeup Serial Murder Case (22)

On the way back to the police station, Meng Siqi told Lu He about Zhao Yuting's testimony. When he mentioned the white mask, Lu He was also surprised. He said, "Hasn't the white-faced man been brought to justice?"

"I think so too. Will it be..." Meng Siqi felt worried. She remembered Jiang Sheng once told her, "I am just the beginning of the darkness. You can never imagine how big the darkness is. What is the end of the darkness? What is really hidden under that white mask?" She always thought he was being mysterious.

Seeing her frown, Lu He hurriedly comforted her, "Siqi, the white-faced man Jiang Sheng has been brought to justice. I guess someone else also used a white mask to imitate the white-faced man to conceal his identity."

Meng Siqi nodded, "Maybe." She felt that it was impossible for the Seattle Club to have two white-faced people, at least Jiang Sheng must be a white-faced person. This was also confirmed after the interrogation of the Seattle Club staff.

The White-Faced Man is not a secret. Many people know about this, and at least the media has been following it. If someone made a white mask to cover up a crime, it would be a good way to cover up the truth.

But Meng Siqi was just worried, could it be that the real white-faced man was not Jiang Sheng, but someone else? Jiang Sheng concealed this fact for some reason, but maybe Jiang Sheng didn't know the real identity of this person. There is another possibility, the white-faced man is like a metaphor, he is actually a symbol of a mysterious organization.

But now there is no evidence to prove her speculations, so she cannot make any assumptions and should just wait for today's trial.

"There is another feature. Yuting said the suspect has a scar on his right wrist." Meng Siqi added.

"A scar?" Lu He thought for a moment, then said, "Meng Tingzhe and Zhong Yanbin don't seem to have scars on their wrists."

"Yuting is very scared. She is not sure, but is it possible? Because it is a criminal duo, could this person be an accomplice of Meng Tingzhe or Zhong Yanbin?"

As for the "another person" mentioned by Zhao Yuting, the person who said "Ah Ou Ah Ou", Meng Siqi also made a reasonable guess. She believed that the two people Zhao Yuting saw after the TV interview that day, one was the white-faced man and the other was the man in the raincoat who said "Ah Ou Ah Ou", might both be related to the case and might be the two members of the "Twin" criminal duo.

One of them had a scar on his wrist.

That morning, Zhong Yanbin was the first to be summoned to the police station. Meng Siqi and Lu He participated in the interrogation. After asking about the basic situation, Meng Siqi asked directly: "Zhong Yanbin, where did you drive to on July 16, which was last Saturday from 9 pm to 1 am?"

This time is the time given by the comrades who investigated, and Zhong Yanbin returned to his residence at 1 o'clock that night. This time is consistent with the time when the crime was committed at the Great World Billiard Hall.

Zhong Yanbin looked aggrieved. "Police comrade, I really don't know why you want to investigate me. Is it because I cared about the TV station's case?"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Lu He suddenly got angry. He rarely got angry, maybe he was too anxious. "Speak!"

"This is all my personal matter and really has nothing to do with your case..."

"Are you going to tell the truth or not?" Lu He roared, and a new comrade who was taking the statement shuddered with fear.

Zhong Yanbin was so scared that his neck shrank. He licked his lower lip slowly. "I said, I said, isn't that enough? I know a woman I like. I have been in touch with her. I went to see her last night."

Lover? Wasn't Zhong Yanbin pursuing Chen Jierong recently? He even went on blind dates with her twice? Meng Siqi simply couldn't believe it. Was this a lie or was this just his nature?

"I didn't lie to you!" Zhong Yanbin said affirmatively.

Lu He was also stunned. He probably didn't dare to believe what Zhong Yanbin said. Whether what he said was true or false, it was disgusting.

"Yes," Zhong Yanbin said as if he had given up, "You must say that I am promiscuous, but I am not married. I am just having fun. As long as I can win over Forensic Doctor Chen, I will definitely become a good husband..."

"Fuck you..." Meng Siqi gritted her teeth, but she held back the next word. She really wanted to slap him.

Lu He glanced at her, with a hint of doting in his eyes. Fortunately, he controlled his emotions and said to Zhong Yanbin sternly, "You said you went to find your lover. Who can prove it? Can she prove it?"

"You can go ask her. I was at her place the night before last. I slept there and left in the middle of the night. I used a condom. Why can't she prove it?"

Meng Siqi was speechless for a long time. Fortunately, Lu He remained calm. He continued to ask Zhong Yanbin about the details, and Zhong Yanbin answered them one by one.

Finally, Lu He suddenly took out a replica white smiling face mask and asked, "Do you recognize this?"

Meng Siqi carefully read Zhong Yanbin's expression. He seemed to be stunned for a moment, and then he asked them to confirm: "Is this the mask of the white-faced man? I know something about it because I want to write a suspense novel."

He really knows a lot, but Meng Siqi feels that this cannot confirm the true relationship between Zhong Yanbin and the white-faced man. Lu He said, "Okay, thank you for your cooperation."

After asking, Lu He asked Yan Chun and Liang Yunfeng to go to the lover that Zhong Yanbin mentioned to confirm.

At noon, Yan Chun and Liang Yunfeng came back. The details matched, even the color of the underwear and some details that might be overlooked. Meng Siqi was always full of doubts and said hurriedly: "Lu He, if Zhong Yanbin and his lover colluded on the details in advance, this cannot prove that he was not there at all."

Lu He said: "These details are too small to match them up. But we cannot completely rule out his suspicion."

Yan Chun suddenly said mysteriously: "Captain Lu, I have some small insights. The lover might be a sex worker, the kind who runs a restaurant by herself and has regular customers. It is very likely that this is why Zhong Yanbin chose to go there on a rainy day, so as to hide his identity."

Meng Siqi frowned and made no comment. Lu He said, "How about this, let's interrogate Meng Tingzhe again in the afternoon to see how things go."

That afternoon, Meng Tingzhe was summoned to the police station, but Lu He asked Meng Siqi to recuse himself from the interrogation because Meng Tingzhe was her brother in the legal sense and he had to recuse himself.

Lu He personally attended the interrogation, and Meng Siqi was not worried at all.

Coincidentally, during the interrogation of Meng Tingzhe, a 25-year-old man named Gao Han suddenly came to the police station to report a case, claiming to be Meng Tingzhe's friend. He said that the night before yesterday, Meng Tingzhe wanted to kill him and he had evidence that the other party wanted to kill him.

Lu He temporarily withdrew from Meng Tingzhe's interrogation. Considering that Meng Siqi wanted to avoid suspicion, he asked Luo Xiaoguo and Yan Chun to question Gao Han.

At the door of the inquiry room, Meng Siqi saw the 25-year-old man. He was tall, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and he was very handsome. On his neck, one could still see a red mark caused by a rope-like object.

She immediately checked his right wrist, which seemed to have marks from being tied with ropes. Could that be the "scar" that Yuting mentioned?

If he was Meng Tingzhe's "boyfriend", he should have taken such intimate photos with Meng Tingzhe.

Meng Siqi recalled carefully that there were many photos of men in the album in the drawer of the dressing table in Meng Tingzhe's dark room, but Gao Han did not seem to be there.

What is their relationship? Why did he come to the police and claim that Meng Tingzhe wanted to kill him the night before yesterday?

Meng Siqi was unable to attend the questioning and interrogation. She sat anxiously in an office waiting for the results of the interrogation. More than an hour later, Lu He and Luo Xiaoguo all returned.

The two also told her about the interrogation. Lu He said that Meng Tingzhe had maintained a cold attitude from beginning to end and was not very cooperative, but after hearing that Gao Han had come to report the case, he compromised and confessed why he appeared in Fuping District that night.

It turns out that his hobbies are different from those of normal men. He said he is bisexual and likes boys, and Gao Han is his new "boyfriend".

They liked to play some SM (sexual sadomasochism) games. They might have been having a bit of fun that night. Gao Han cried and yelled for him to use more force. He was a little too heavy-handed and Gao Han thought he was going to kill him. In fact, he liked Gao Han very much. He also emphasized that Gao Han had abused him, and that he had bitten his fingers on his little hand and almost broke them.

Finally, Meng Tingzhe even asked the police to keep these secrets for him, especially Meng Siqi. He knew that his hobbies were rather special and his parents could not accept them, so he had been hiding them. Even when he went out, he did it secretly. The night before yesterday, it was raining heavily, and he took this opportunity to hide the fact that he went out to play from his father.

Meng Siqi said: "Don't worry, I will definitely not tell your parents about Meng Tingzhe's privacy in private." Although Meng Tingzhe is a criminal suspect, she must respect his personal privacy.

Luo Xiaoguo also introduced Gao Han's inquiry. Gao Han admitted that he had a close relationship with Meng Tingzhe. He was spotted by Meng Tingzhe at a party. Meng Tingzhe liked to dress up as a woman and play some private games with him. He had a strong possessiveness towards him. Meng Tingzhe was tough and rich, so he half-heartedly accepted Meng Tingzhe's love.

But the night before yesterday, he asked Meng Tingzhe for money to treat his mother's illness. Meng Tingzhe did not agree, so Gao Han pretended to threaten him that he would tell each other's parents about their affair. The two had a quarrel because of this. Meng Tingzhe was very angry at the time and wanted to strangle him. If there had not been a sirens outside the house at that time, he would have been strangled to death by Meng Tingzhe.

Meng Siqi recalled that the sirens the night before yesterday were most likely sounded by Cai Shuangxi and his team when they were looking for Meng Tingzhe, so Gao Han might not have lied.

Gao Han also explained why he took two days to call the police. He said he was very scared, and the more he thought about it, the scareder he became. He knew Meng Tingzhe's character, who was vindictive and ruthless. He knew that Meng Tingzhe would kill him sooner or later, so he had no choice but to call the police.

Lu He finally said that there were no loopholes in the testimonies of the two, so Meng Tingzhe probably did not go to the Great World Billiard Hall that night. The deep scars on Gao Han's wrists were caused by SM.

Meng Siqi felt something was wrong, and she said, "Captain Lu, is it possible that this was Meng Tingzhe's trick? He deliberately arranged for Gao Han to call the police to clear himself of suspicion?"

If you want to completely clear him of suspicion, then although this method may seem a bit self-destructive, it is very effective.

Lu He and Luo Xiaoguo also fell into deep thought. Luo Xiaoguo said, "Xiao Meng, don't worry. I've sent Lin Tao to Gao Han's house to collect evidence. I believe there will be results soon."

Finally, Lu He also said that they both had seen the white mask, but both claimed that they didn't know what it was, and judging from their expressions, it was true, so Lu He didn't continue to question them about the mask.

More than an hour later, Lin Tao called and said that he had indeed collected Meng Tingzhe's personal belongings and his fingerprints at Gao Han's home. At about 10:30 p.m., there was a sudden power outage at home, and Gao Han went to a neighbor's house to borrow a fuse. The neighbor testified that he saw Gao Han that night and also vaguely saw a man behind Gao Han, but he didn't see it clearly.

This shows that Meng Tingzhe did have an alibi for the Great World Billiards Stadium that night. In addition, there is no evidence to prove that Meng Tingzhe had been to the Great World Billiards Stadium, so the suspicion of Meng Tingzhe harming Zhao Yuting was passively eliminated.

Although Gao Han claimed that Meng Tingzhe wanted to kill him, there was indeed SM activity between them. According to the principle of presumption of innocence, it is difficult to establish the suspicion that Meng Tingzhe harmed Gao Han.

Although Meng Siqi still had doubts, she had no choice but to believe in the evidence. Even if Meng Tingzhe was still detained in the police station, he could still leave safely if there was no new evidence after twelve hours.

At around seven in the evening, Meng Siqi went to the parking lot to push her bicycle, preparing to go home after get off work. She pushed the bicycle to the gate of the police station and was about to get on the bicycle when she heard a voice behind her: "Meng Siqi!"

Meng Siqi looked back and saw that the man was Meng Tingzhe. Meng Tingzhe was summoned to the police station in the afternoon. If there was no evidence to incriminate him, he would be released within twelve hours. Even though it was not yet twelve o'clock in the evening, Lu He decided to release him early because the evidence was obviously insufficient.

It was past seven o'clock and the light outside was still good. Meng Tingzhe was standing under a camphor tree near the police station, his figure in the shadows. He had his hands in his suit pockets and his face was cold. If she hadn't known that he liked to dress up as a woman, she would never have believed that he was a "hermaphrodite."

She pushed her bicycle to him and found that he had a bandage on his right little finger. That should be what Luo Xiaoguo mentioned, that Meng Tingzhe and Gao Han were bitten by each other when they were playing SM. She still greeted him in a friendly way: "Brother, is your hand okay?"

"You don't need to worry about this."

She knew Meng Tingzhe must be in a bad mood at the moment, and she didn't want to care about it. "If there is nothing else, let's get together another day."

"Sister is in such a hurry to leave, is she eager to complain to daddy?"

Meng Siqi frowned and said, "I don't know what you mean?"

"You don't know?" Meng Tingzhe sneered, "You dare to say you don't know?"

Meng Siqi curled his lips and did not respond.

"If it weren't for your good mother, I would never be like this today. Are you satisfied now?" Meng Siqi asked doubtfully, "What do you want to say?"

"Remember the day you went to the mall? You entered my darkroom. Don't tell me you didn't know what you saw?"

Meng Siqi pursed her lips tightly and felt a little nervous. She didn't know how Meng Tingzhe discovered that she had entered the dark room.

Meng Tingzhe's mouth twitched: "Okay, now you can't wait to tell the old man that I like to play sex games with men, right?"

Meng Siqi almost scolded him coldly: "Meng Tingzhe, who do you think I am? I don't care about your hobbies at all. I don't care to tell others. Whether you are willing to talk about it is your own business. It has nothing to do with me."

"Those who want to tell my secrets will not have a good ending, Gao Han. I really want to kill him, and I want to bury him in our yard to grow flowers." Meng Tingzhe showed a strange and charming smile, "But what can I do if I tell you, I'm just thinking about it."

Meng Siqi looked at him coldly. He said these words just to warn her not to tell his secret.

"Sister, I have a story to tell you. When I was six years old, Meng Hui took me from the orphanage to the Meng family. I thought I had found true happiness. But when I got home, I realized that I was your substitute. I am five or six years older than you. Logically, I should not be a substitute. But it was your good mother who dressed me in skirts and put flowers in my hair all day long. She also put some lipstick on me when she put on lipstick."

Meng Tingzhe's tone has never been as self-deprecating and depressed as it was today. He seemed to be complaining about his past misfortunes: "Sister, do you think I like this? If it weren't for Ye Xiuhui, I would never have become the half-human, half-ghost I am today. But at least, I thought I was still a member of the Meng family. But one day, you came back. You don't know how happy Meng Hui and Ye Xiuhui were during that time. I have never seen them so happy about me on their faces. This shows that I am not even a member of the Meng family."

"Because of you, I have to work ten times harder. I have to devote myself to the business world and work day and night just to satisfy Meng Hui." Meng Tingzhe suddenly smiled. "Facts have proved that your parents are inherently sons-over-daughters. As long as I can continue the family line and work hard for the Meng family, the older they get, the more they will value me and the more they will rely on me... Sister, no matter how much you hate me as your brother, even if you tell them in person how bad I am, you won't get their love because you are a woman..."

The handlebars of the bicycle creaked in Meng Siqi's palm. She controlled her emotions and sneered, "This is your self-proclaimed noble theory, this is your self-righteous gender theory? You said so much, aren't you just trying to tell me not to make your hobbies public? You can rest assured that I am not a mean person like you. Moreover, you can rest assured that even if I am a woman of the Meng family, I - Meng Siqi will rely on myself to win everything!"

"Haha... I really underestimated you. I didn't expect you to win the third-class merit and make Meng Hui happy for several days. I also didn't expect you to be so successful in the police station. I was still wrong..."

"Meng Tingzhe, I'm not interested in what you say at all," Meng Siqi said coldly, "I have a lot of things to do, goodbye!"

Meng Tingzhe laughed and said, "You are still pretending to be noble in front of me. You said you don't care? But you suspected that I was related to the red makeup murder case, which shows that you suspected me with tinted glasses from the beginning!"

"I am a police officer," Meng Siqi retorted, "Everything I did today was for the truth. Doubt is the spirit of the police."

"There are so many people like me in this world, why don't you doubt it? Because you, Meng Siqi, you are still brooding over what happened back then! Do you think it was me who made you apply for the wrong major? But don't you think that with your score at that time, you might not be able to get into the police academy? You just came to the Meng family, and the school is closer to home. Shouldn't you accompany your parents? Do you think it is necessary for me to take you to accompany the big boss for drinks? I can find a hostess for a few hundred yuan, why would I need you? I want you to see the world and get rid of the image of a rural bumpkin. Everything I do is for you, but what about you?"

"So, you did all this for me? You introduced me to Jiang Jianlong and Jiang Sheng all for me? That was for your own career investment and for your selfish life." Meng Siqi gripped the handlebars tightly and responded coldly.

The corner of Meng Tingzhe's mouth twitched and he smiled: "Sure enough, you have this attitude. You know why your parents don't like you. You have never followed the rules!"

"Sister, don't think that Meng Hui's giving you 100,000 yuan is a sign of his love for you. Do you know how much a shopping mall is worth? It's just that Meng Hui thinks you have brought a little glory to the Meng family, so it's his little compensation to you." When Meng Tingzhe mentioned "a little" and "a little bit", he repeatedly used the orchid finger to compare them. He smiled and said, "But you have to remember that everything in the Meng family will belong to me, Meng Tingzhe, and you won't get a penny from the Meng family in the future!"

"Meng Tingzhe, you don't have to tell me these words," Meng Siqi became even calmer. She had faced countless interrogations, but now she was calmer than ever. "The Meng family is not yours, it belongs to my parents. You must always remember that I am the real Meng family member, and you - are not! If you are good, I will still treat you well. If you have any tricks, I will reveal the label of your fake!"

Meng Tingzhe's orchid finger suddenly trembled, and he gritted his teeth: "Meng Siqi! Who is the fake! Who is! Just wait and see!"

Meng Siqi said firmly: "I warn you, don't do anything illegal, otherwise I will arrest you first. We don't allow scum to appear in our Meng family!"

Meng Tingzhe felt as if his throat was being strangled by an invisible hand, his face was stiff and pale, and he was trying his best to control his anger, his clenched fists trembling slightly.

The heavy shadows cast by the leaves fell on his face, making it look grey and ugly.

Meng Siqi snorted coldly, turned around, pushed his bicycle in another direction, and walked into a warm yellow light.