Chapter 33: Speculation

When the police caught Zhao Ye, he was lying in bed, completely oblivious to everything. Even after arriving at the interrogation room, he still had not snapped out of it.

However, he appeared quite calm. He looked around as if he were watching a novelty, even finding the leisure to constantly size up the cramped room.

He wiped his nose and asked, “Officers, what’s this about?”

His voice echoed in the empty room, sounding exceptionally loud. Even Zhao Ye was startled by his own voice.

The colleague beside her slapped the table. “Keep playing dumb. Go on, keep playing dumb.”

Zhao Ye cried out, “I’m not playing dumb!”

The officer rested his fingers on the keyboard and interrogated him, “Where did you go last night?”

Zhao Ye said, “I was just lying at home, sleeping.”

The colleague asked, “On the night of the twenty-seventh, Wu Ming reported to the police that someone was stalking him. Was that you?”

Just as Zhao Ye was about to deny it, Qiong Cang spoke up out of nowhere, “Li Yujia has already identified you. We only need to check the street surveillance footage to see if your white van was following Wu Ming’s car to determine if it was you. If you confess on your own, it will save us some work, and we can count it as a cooperative attitude.”

Her voice was devoid of warmth, and her eyes were as deep as a pool of freezing water. When Zhao Ye looked at her, he felt a sudden chill run through his entire body.

He shifted his weight, sitting up straight to make himself look more confident. Then, he twitched the corner of his mouth, no longer daring to wear such a playful grin.

Qiong Cang continued, “At around one o’clock early this morning, you appeared at the entrance of Wu Ming’s residential community and slipped inside while the security guard was asleep. Then, you took the opportunity to murder Wu Ming.”

“Huh? I didn’t!” Zhao Ye cried out in panic. “Stalking and murder are two different things, right? I was only after money! Did Wu Ming really die? How did he die?”

The colleague sneered, “A fine act. Didn’t you go there last night? Did you somehow not see him?”

Zhao Ye said, “I really didn’t see anyone!”

“What a coincidence,” Qiong Cang said, the corners of her lips curving up with interest. “The time you appeared happens to be the exact time of Wu Ming’s death. If you didn’t see a living person, did you see a corpse instead?”

The colleague chimed in, “Listen to yourself. In the dead of night, he invites you to his house as a guest. What kind of business can’t be discussed during the day that it has to wait until the middle of the night?”

Zhao Ye said, “He was dead drunk and said he wanted to talk business with me. So… of course I went, didn’t I?”

The officer asked, “How much money was this business worth?”

Zhao Ye said vaguely, “Not much.”

Seeing him still beating around the bush, the colleague slammed the table in anger. “Hey! You little punk!”

Qiong Cang did not get angry. She simply looked at the files in front of her and read from them at a leisurely pace, “Last night, Wu Ming was heavily intoxicated and lacked the strength to resist. There was a clear impact wound on the back of his head, and his time of death matches your movements.”

Qiong Cang continued, “Wu Ming had a pretty good reputation. We investigated all his friends and family, and the only one who had a bad relationship with him was you. You grabbed him by his weakness and blackmailed him. Someone capable of doing such a thing is bound to be insatiably greedy, but Wu Ming was a cautious man. Consequently, the two of you failed to reach an agreement and got into an argument. You accidentally killed him and fled in a panic.”

Zhao Ye said, “How many times do I have to tell you? I didn’t see him!”

Qiong Cang raised her head. Her gaze clearly landed on him, yet it felt as if she wasn’t looking at him at all. “I don’t think you realize the severity of this matter yet. Asking you to tell the truth is a sincere piece of advice to help you. But you are simply wasting time.”

Qiong Cang said, “Wu Ming was a wealthy man with several famous internet celebrities under his agency. Now that he has been murdered, countless media reporters are waiting outside for a result. The police will not let any clue slide. Can you withstand a dragnet search by the police and a torrential storm of interrogation from the media?”

Zhao Ye began to panic under her relentless pressure, a thin layer of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

“I didn’t go in!” Zhao Ye pressed his hands on the table. In his state of extreme tension, he could no longer speak smoothly. “Wu Ming called me and told me to come over. But after I got there, I couldn’t get in touch with them. I didn’t have the key to their house, and I didn’t dare to shout outside. I thought he was playing me. I know that breaking and entering is a very serious crime. In the middle of the night, if they wanted to frame me, I wouldn’t be able to clear my name. So I stayed for a little while and then went back. Go check for yourselves, I never even entered their house!”

“That ‘little while’ you claim to have stayed was long enough for you to kill him,” Qiong Cang sighed softly. “The footprints inside the house were wiped away, but in the garden, the only male footprints left are size 44 and size 42. Wu Ming wore size 44, and you should be a size 42. Now, both witness and physical evidence are complete. What do you have to say to that?”

“I didn’t, it wasn’t me!” Zhao Ye screamed frantically. “It wasn’t me! Don’t frame me!”

The lights illuminated the shifting expressions on Zhao Ye’s face with absolute clarity. In almost an instant, all color drained from his lips, leaving them deathly pale.

“But the surveillance footage of the residential community last night shows that you were the only person who appeared during that time frame. If it wasn’t you, who else could it be?” Qiong Cang rested her elbows on the table, leaning in slightly as she said in a light, airy voice, “You have a prior record of stalking and blackmail, and you had a bad relationship with Wu Ming. The time of your appearance last night was also incredibly coincidental. Do you think the judge and the public will believe you?”

Zhao Ye’s eyes darted around as he asked urgently, “What about Li Yujia? She hated Wu Ming even more!”

Qiong Cang said, “She wasn’t home at the time.”

“What a coincidence! Go investigate her!” Zhao Ye thumped his chest and said, “Li Yujia was the one who hired me to investigate him in the first place!”

“I know, she told me,” Qiong Cang said. “And the results of your investigation? Was Wu Ming having an affair?”

“Wu Ming wasn’t having an affair at all, I lied to her!” Zhao Ye lowered his voice, taking a deep breath before speaking cautiously, “Wu Ming was a freak. He liked to cross-dress. He bought a whole apartment just to secretly wear women’s clothes. He was also impotent, which is why they didn’t have children for so many years. I saw him covering his face and sneaking into the hospital to buy Viagra. He was clearly the one who couldn’t reproduce, yet he claimed to the public that his wife had issues. Ha, if his wife really had issues, he would have divorced her long ago. He was never some loyal, righteous guy. I… I just wanted to use this to ask him for a little compensation for my hard work. It was a willing transaction, it doesn’t count as blackmail.”

A colleague rolled their eyes. “Which dictionary defines ‘mutual consent’ like that?”

Qiong Cang asked, “Did you hear anything when you arrived at Wu Ming’s door?”

“No, nothing at all! It was completely quiet inside. The living room light was on, but no one opened the door for me,” Zhao Ye said. “It really wasn’t me!”

Qiong Cang stood up, clutching the files, and said coldly, “Let’s go check out that apartment you mentioned first.”

Before long, a police car carrying Zhao Ye drove toward a residential community in the city suburbs.

It happened to be peak rush hour in the city center, so it took them twice as long as usual to reach the entrance of the community. After negotiating with the property management, they called a locksmith to help open the door.

Qiong Cang pushed the door open. Her gaze swept inch by inch across the furnishings in the room as she stepped inside, as if walking down a path she had trodden once before. She murmured under her breath, “Transvestism…”

While taking photos for evidence, an officer sighed, “People really aren’t what they seem. Wu Ming cared a lot about his reputation; he definitely wouldn’t have allowed those photos to get out. I think Zhao Ye is highly suspicious.”

Qiong Cang pressed her forehead and said, “I keep feeling like this scene is familiar. It’s not right.”

The officer walked over and asked, “Captain, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Qiong Cang said. “Stay here and search the place thoroughly for any useful clues. I’m heading back to the station.”

“Okay.”

·

By the time Qiong Cang returned to the station, the subordinate she had sent to look up information this morning had just gotten back as well.

“I have two big pieces of news… I can’t really say if they’re good or bad.”

The female officer took off her cap. Even though it was a cold February day, she was drenched in sweat.

She held up two manila folders, and the surrounding colleagues immediately gathered around, waiting for her to report her findings.

“First, the police reports you asked me to look up, Captain. Ten years ago… actually, eleven years ago to be exact. In August eleven years ago, on the very day Ning Dongdong committed the murder, an armed robbery occurred about two kilometers away. The victim was stabbed in the abdomen, but fortunately, the wound wasn’t fatal, and they survived after emergency treatment. The police found a fresh set of footprints at the crime scene. Based on the victim’s statement, they determined the suspect was likely a young male wearing size 44 shoes, about 185 centimeters tall, weighing around 71 kilograms, dressed in fast-fashion¹ clothing, and wearing worn-out shoes. Wu Ming fit all of these descriptions perfectly. However, because he acted as an eyewitness for Ning Dongdong’s case back then, it actually created an alibi for him, ruling him out as a suspect. To this day, the perpetrator has not been found.”

An officer frowned deeply and said, “Are you saying Wu Ming committed perjury back then? So the meaning of that note was actually accusing him of the stabbing?”

The colleague shrugged. “I don’t know. We can only speculate like this for now. But very few people should have known about this. Even the victim didn’t see the culprit’s face. It’s very strange.”

“Generally, when a murderer chooses to desecrate a corpse, it almost always holds some special significance. Intense hatred, lost justice, displaced anger, or venting,” Qiong Cang said slowly. “The first three cases had ‘lies’ written on them, which clearly referred to Ning Dongdong’s case. That makes sense, because Ning Dongdong has already been in prison for ten years, and his grievance could no longer be redressed. However, Wu Ming’s death points to the stabbing, condemning him from the perspective of the victim from all those years ago.”

Qiong Cang picked up a paper cup from the desk, her fingers squeezing it until it deformed. “Back then, the victim didn’t know Wu Ming was the robber. If he did, he could have just gone to the police, and he would have had a chance at revenge. Why would the murderer harbor such intense hatred over an unrelated person and a matter that still had room for resolution? Although the sequence of events matches, the focus and the logic are all wrong.”

Everyone’s expression turned grim. There was a troubling implication hidden within this, one they didn’t dare to dwell on.

A colleague clapped his hands. “So now we can be sure that this case is indeed a copycat crime! The only people who could know Wu Ming’s secret are those closest to him! It’s either a private investigator who followed him like a shadow, or his wife.”

Everyone began arguing again.

Qiong Cang asked, “Where is Li Yujia’s medical report?”

“Oh, it’s here.” The colleague handed over the second folder. “Li Yujia had an injury assessment done at the hospital. She has multiple bruises on her body, and there are signs of blunt force trauma to the back of her head. The doctor extracted two pieces of broken glass from her wound. However, her injuries are relatively fresh, so it doesn’t seem like long-term domestic violence. During this hospitalization, she was diagnosed with stomach cancer.”

Hearing this, a colleague sighed. “She’s had it rough, hasn’t she?”

The colleague who delivered the report said, “The stomach cancer was caught relatively early, but the bigger issue is that she also has HIV.”

Several people were startled. “HIV?”

The colleague nodded. “According to the CDC² records, she was diagnosed with HIV last year and has been taking her medication regularly. However, she hasn’t picked up her prescriptions for this month or last month.”

“Could it be that Wu Ming found out she has HIV? That would give Li Yujia a reason to kill him.”

“Li Yujia is indeed highly suspicious. Right now, she has the strongest motive. Even though she has an alibi, I can’t rule her out as a suspect. I suspect she hired a hitman.”

“Boss, who do you think is the murderer, Zhao Ye or Li Yujia?”

The arguments died down as everyone turned their gaze in unison toward their captain, who had remained silent for a while.

Qiong Cang looked at the person who asked the question, a faint smile appearing on her face.

The colleague shivered instinctively and said, finding it rather chilling, “Boss, with that smile… do you already know what happened?”

“Can we be sure?”

Qiong Cang set down her cup and drew a curved line on the desk with her finger. Analyzing the situation in a matter-of-fact tone, she said, “Zhao Ye came out less than half an hour after entering the community. Given his walking pace, he stood at the door of Wu Ming’s villa for five minutes at most. He simply didn’t have enough time to commit the murder.”

A man muttered, “But other than him, no one else had the time to commit the crime.”

Another person quickly countered, “No, what if there’s an entrance to the neighborhood that bypasses the security cameras? If it’s someone familiar with the area, they might know about it.”

Qiong Cang said, “The injury on the back of Wu Ming’s head has nothing to do with Zhao Ye. Li Yujia was the one who hit him. When Wu Ming walked out of the bedroom, he was pressing his hand against the wound. The external injuries on his body were all inflicted after death, which is why there wasn’t much blood at the scene.”

“The autopsy report isn’t out yet,” an officer said in surprise. “If there were no fatal external injuries, then how did Wu Ming actually die?”

Qiong Cang paused, then said, “I think it might have been an accident. There is no direct murderer.”

These words were like a sudden clap of thunder, freezing everyone in the room in their tracks.

“An accident?! But the state of the scene and an accident… there’s a bit of a gap, isn’t there? It doesn’t look like an accident at all!”

“Does the boss mean that Wu Ming died in an accident, and the murderer only staged the crime scene to frame Ning Dongdong?”

“But why? This cover-up isn’t very clever. Do they really think the police are incompetent?”

“Public opinion is a sharper knife. Maybe the murderer never expected the frame-up to succeed, but as long as the police can’t solve the case, they can use public opinion to drive Ning Dongdong to his death.”

“How much must they hate Ning Dongdong? Just who is this person?”

Qiong Cang remained unaffected by their emotions, speaking in her usual slow manner. “You can’t guess the murderer’s thoughts because there might be details you don’t know about. There’s no need to make such assumptions. Regardless of whether the theory holds up, the logical chain of evidence points to this conclusion.”

Everyone listened intently to her explanation.

Qiong Cang said, “If Zhao Ye isn’t the murderer, he has no reason to lie. Zhao Ye said that when he arrived, the lights in the house were still on.”

The colleague who had conducted the interrogation with her earlier nodded. “Right!”

Qiong Cang looked at him and smiled.

“Wait, that’s not right!” another person cried out. “When we responded to the scene this morning, their main power switch was off. Officer Liu was the one who turned it back on.”

“Huh?” the colleague said. “Committing a crime in the dark? Did they really have to turn off the power? Why?”

“Because of the surveillance.” Qiong Cang’s voice and tone always had a unique quality that unconsciously drew people into her train of thought. “That person must have known there was a surveillance camera in Wu Ming’s home. To prevent any evidence from being recorded, he turned off the main power switch first. But what he didn’t expect was that Wu Ming had already turned off the camera himself. His action was actually redundant. But he didn’t know that.”

Several of them nodded.

Qiong Cang continued, “Zhao Ye was called over by Wu Ming. If Wu Ming had still been alive then, he would have definitely opened the door for him. But there was no response from inside, indicating that Wu Ming was already incapacitated, or dead. After Zhao Ye left, another person came to Wu Ming’s home. He cut the power and mutilated Wu Ming’s corpse, staging a brutal murder scene. That’s why the wounds on Wu Ming’s body were all inflicted after death. When that person arrived, Wu Ming was indeed already dead.”

Hearing her explanation, everyone felt a sudden sense of enlightenment. It was just that the turn was too sharp, making it a bit hard for them to fully wrap their heads around it. Intuitively, it made sense, but logically, they seemed to have hit a dead end.

“It’s just… so sudden. But why? Who on earth is it? What’s the motive? A frame-up? Or did he actually want to kill someone in the first place?”

Qiong Cang said, “Wu Ming’s camera was installed just two days ago, and very few people knew about it. The door lock has been inspected, and there are no signs of it being picked. The murderer likely opened the door directly with a key.”

After Qiong Cang finished speaking, she looked at them encouragingly.

The officers grew cautious, terrified of saying the wrong thing. Under Qiong Cang’s gaze, they felt like failing students facing a teacher’s concerned look during a makeup exam.

“Li… Li Yujia?”

Qiong Cang nodded. “I lean toward her.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. A young officer blushed and said sheepishly, “But why? I still don’t get it.”

Qiong Cang said, “The following is just my speculation. The surveillance footage shows that Li Yujia pushed Wu Ming, and then ran away in a panic. Wu Ming only walked out of the room a long time later. He might have been unconscious at the time. When people are in a panic, it’s easy to make wrong judgments. Especially since Wu Ming was drunk at the time and in poor physical condition. Li Yujia might have mistakenly believed that she had killed Wu Ming.”

Everyone frowned in thought.

Qiong Cang continued, “Li Yujia was too panicked. It was only after she left that she remembered there was a surveillance camera at home, which might have captured the scene. So she found someone to go back and clean up the scene for her. However, after that person finished staging the scene and spoke with Li Yujia, she realized something. Wu Ming was lying in the living room at the time and hadn’t died from her push. Therefore, the surveillance footage actually became her alibi. So she had them leave the footage intact.”

Put this way, many of the details really did line up.

Her subordinate said excitedly, “Then should we go arrest Li Yujia for interrogation right now?”

Qiong Cang smiled and said, “No need to rush. We don’t have evidence yet. Let’s wait for the autopsy report first. Just make sure to have someone keep an eye on her.”

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Translator’s Notes

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1. fast-fashion: The source text uses ‘快销品牌’ (fast-moving consumer goods brands), which in Chinese crime reporting often implies inexpensive, mass-produced, and easily replaceable clothing. This detail is used by the police to profile the suspect’s socioeconomic status and lifestyle. ↩
2. CDC: Refers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In China, this is the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (中国疾病预防控制中心), which maintains national health registries, including those for infectious diseases like HIV, making it a standard institutional reference in police investigations involving health records. ↩