Chapter 65: Deduction

Qiong Cang and He Jueyun sat in the car. The young officer hunched his shoulders as he got out, quickly running back upstairs to verify things with the nearby residents.

Qiong Cang pulled out her phone to check the time. At this hour, many people were still at home or getting ready for work.

Resting one hand on the steering wheel, He Jueyun tried to recall all the previous details. “Thinking about it now, Shen Sui’s behavior did seem a bit strange,” he said. “Her muscles were tense, her eyes were evasive, and she was highly guarded against you. She seemed more nervous than sad. She also interrupted her son several times. Was she afraid Ding Xihua would reveal something to us?”

Qiong Cang chatted with him for a few minutes. About ten minutes later, the young police officer returned.

He had clearly sprinted all the way back in his haste, and his breathing was still uneven when he spoke.

Pulling out his notebook, the young officer said, “I asked the nearby residents. The one who opened the door for me just now was a nanny. She said she usually gets up around five in the morning to buy groceries, and then takes the child out to the park a bit later. Based on when she usually runs into Shen Sui, Shen Sui doesn’t normally show up until around ten. She wears makeup every time she goes out, dresses up nicely, and cares a lot about her image. Judging by how long it takes to do her makeup, she probably gets up around eight or nine on a normal day. Right?”

Qiong Cang said, “Probably.”

The young officer said, “Then the fact that she was up before six-thirty today, and even fully dressed, seems highly abnormal. It’s almost as if she was waiting for me to come and notify her. Could she have anticipated Ding Tao’s death?”

Qiong Cang remained noncommittal. “Anything else?” she asked.

“Oh, also, Ding Xihua came back a few days ago. The nanny said she happened to see him when she went out for a walk yesterday evening.” The young officer gripped the back of the seat, asking in a pleasing tone, “What do you think, Captain?”

He Jueyun turned around, suspicious. “Then why was his room cleaned so thoroughly? It looked like no one lived there. Was it cleaned on purpose?”

Qiong Cang said, “It’s not a holiday right now, and his university should have classes. Why would he suddenly come back?”

He Jueyun tapped his fingers against the wheel, frustrated. “Why is every single one of them so suspicious?”

“A complicated mystery is better than groping in the dark. Finding suspicious points is a good thing,” Qiong Cang said calmly. “If we can connect them with sound logic, we can establish a direction for our investigation. So, hypothesize boldly.”

No one spoke in the car. Pedestrians were already starting to walk to and fro along the roadside.

After a brief moment of silence, the young officer in the back seat grew restless again. He poked his head forward like a hamster, asserting his presence.

He Jueyun was startled by the large face suddenly appearing near him, deeply suspecting that this kid was a clone forced upon him by one of his subordinates.

“Could it be…” The young officer slammed his fist into his palm, his cheeks flushing with excitement as he imagined a massive family drama. He guessed boldly, “Could Ding Xihua not be Ding Tao’s biological son? Maybe Ding Tao found out, got furious, and decided to kick them both out. So Shen Sui hardened her heart and decided to silence him to keep the secret!”

The officer bared his teeth and made a throat-slitting gesture. “Or maybe Shen Sui had an affair, and Ding Tao wanted to drag her down with him. She plotted and killed Ding Tao, and because his father was already dead and he couldn’t bring himself to turn in his mother, Ding Xihua had no choice but to help cover it up. That’s why Shen Sui repeatedly tried to stop Ding Xihua from speaking during the questioning just now, fearing his resolve would waver. Am I right?!”

Qiong Cang scratched her eyebrow, finding it a bit amusing. “So what should we do then?” she asked.

The young officer eagerly raised his hand. “I can apply to get a DNA test done for Ding Xihua. I’ll head to his school right now and see if I can find any hair or skin flakes for the test.”

“Tone it down a bit, will you?” He Jueyun said, caught between laughter and tears. “Ding Tao and Ding Xihua practically share the same face. Do we really need a DNA test?”

The young officer thought about it carefully and realized he had a point.

He Jueyun said, “Besides, Hong Jun is also very suspicious. He lied too. And his motive is much more plausible than Shen Sui’s.”

Qiong Cang glanced at the rearview mirror with amusement, wanting to see the young man’s reaction. “Indeed, Hong Jun is also very suspicious,” she said.

The young officer plunged into a brainstorming session once more, pressing his hands to his temples as if channeling his inner power to search for a signal.

Seeing this, Qiong Cang decided to assign tasks first. “Verify the rest of Hong Jun and Shen Sui’s statements as quickly as possible,” she said. “Hong Jun claimed he stayed home all night and delayed going to work by an hour and a half today. Shen Sui claimed she was watching television at home last night. Moving Ding Tao’s body to the suburbs would definitely require a vehicle. First, check the surveillance cameras near the crime scene. Second, check the vehicle entry and exit records of this residential area^[1] from last night. Go straight to the property management now and ask for the surveillance footage.”

He Jueyun lowered his head and sighed.

From the back, the young officer suddenly slapped the seat and called out, “Captain, I’ve got it!”

Qiong Cang, fully expecting his bizarre train of thought, asked, “You’re not going to say that Shen Sui’s affair was with Hong Jun, are you?”

The young officer reasoned with great gravity, “No, no. My theory is that Shen Sui wanted to kill Ding Tao, so she approached Hong Jun. Since they shared the same motive, they hit it off immediately and decided to work together. They covered for each other and shared information to commit the perfect crime. In fact, they are both the murderers!”

Qiong Cang thought to herself that this case was a far cry from a perfect crime. What was with this kid always being out of sync?

The young officer added, “What do you think, Captain?”

“Your captain wants to entrust you with a very important task,” Qiong Cang said. “Go filter through the residential area’s surveillance footage and see if Shen Sui drove out between yesterday evening and one in the morning.”

The young officer nodded vigorously. “On it!”

He got out of the car full of energy, stood at the intersection to get his bearings, and then strode toward the property management office.

He Jueyun let out a sigh of relief. “He’s finally gone.”

Qiong Cang smiled and said, “He’s a pretty cute kid.”

He Jueyun froze. He slowly turned around, raised an eyebrow, and asked, “You like that type of guy?”

Qiong Cang also slowly turned around and said with a serious expression, “He Jueyun, your line of thinking is very dangerous.”

He Jueyun pointed at himself. “Me?”

“How could you think that?” Qiong Cang scolded. “He’s still just a kid^[2]!”

He Jueyun: “…”

Was this the… best possible way to use the phrase “he’s still just a kid”?

He Jueyun gave a dry laugh. “I thought you high-IQ types would prefer simple-minded^[3]… I mean, more innocent guys.”

Qiong Cang gave him a meaningful look, nodded, and said, “Heh, I suppose so.”

He Jueyun keenly sensed that something was slightly off. As he processed her words, his gaze turned accusatory.

Are you fucking taking a jab at me?

Qiong Cang changed the subject, saying with an air of righteousness, “Let’s go back to the crime scene for another look, or head back to the station to check the files. We should also nudge forensics and trace evidence. Let’s go.”

He Jueyun quickly switched gears and dutifully started the car. But before they had even driven fifty meters, the phone in his pocket rang again.

His pants were on the tighter side, and he felt too awkward to ask Qiong Cang to retrieve it for him, so he had to pull over to the curb again. Before he could fish out his phone, Qiong Cang’s device also rang.

The two of them lowered their heads in unison to check their messages. After reading the contents in silence, they looked up and met each other’s eyes.

“A very important clue,” He Jueyun said. “It pretty much points to who the murderer is.”

“Same here.” Qiong Cang made a gesture, signaling for him to go first.

He Jueyun said, “I had the local officers go to Ding Tao’s company to ask around, and they found something. Yesterday at noon, Ding Tao went to inspect the factory, wearing a black suit at the time. A designer brought him the sketches for the new season and served him a cup of coffee. The two ended up arguing over the fabric of the clothing, and the designer accidentally knocked over the cup, spilling coffee all over Ding Tao. That’s why Ding Tao changed into his spare blue suit, which is the one he was wearing when he was killed.”

Qiong Cang nodded.

He Jueyun added, “Also, according to Ding Tao’s secretary, Ding Tao didn’t usually wear blue suits to the office. He felt the color was too gaudy and would only wear it when hosting clients or attending banquets.”

Shen Sui was lying. This came as no surprise to either of them.

The fact that Shen Sui had instinctively answered Qiong Cang’s question by stating Ding Tao was wearing a blue suit yesterday proved she must have seen him, and it had to be after noon. But the moment she answered, she realized her mistake and immediately began scrambling for excuses, looking both flustered and ridiculous.

Why was she trying so hard to deny it? Was seeing her own husband some kind of unspeakable secret?

It was far too conspicuous of a cover-up.

Qiong Cang said, “This can’t be used as direct evidence. Shen Sui could easily refute it.”

“But it helps us narrow down our investigation. Didn’t you say that yourself?” He Jueyun asked. “What about your end?”

Qiong Cang leaned against the car window, resting her forehead on one hand. “The medical examiner found a white pill inside Ding Tao’s shirt. It’s been confirmed as a sleeping pill. In addition, they found a small amount of partially dissolved white particles in his vomit. Although the exact blood concentration results aren’t back yet, the medical examiner has sufficient reason to believe that Ding Tao was fed an overdose of sleeping pills while heavily intoxicated, which caused his death. He was still alive when he was brought to the crime scene, slowly stopping breathing and dying while in a deep coma.”

He Jueyun was puzzled. “Sleeping pills?”

Qiong Cang nodded, looking at her phone screen as she continued, “They checked Hong Jun’s medical records and confirmed he suffers from chronic insomnia and has been taking diazepam. The last time he picked up his prescription from the hospital was just three days ago. They suggested I apply for a search warrant immediately to check Hong Jun’s home and see if there are any remaining pills.”

“I’ll help you file the application. But I don’t think the sleeping pills belong to Hong Jun.” He Jueyun knew it was wrong to solve cases based on intuition, but… “His reactions always make me feel like he isn’t the murderer.”

Qiong Cang said, “Also, the preliminary footprint analysis from the scene is in. There’s a fresh size 43 footprint on the ground, leading step-by-step from the edge to where Ding Tao collapsed, putting him down, and then turning to leave. An analysis of the tread pattern confirmed that the shoes are the standard-issue footwear distributed by the sanitation department to street sweepers. And Hong Jun’s shoe size just happens to be 43.”

Her fingers flew across the screen as she drafted a message, asking the technicians to perform a pressure point analysis on the footprint and run a comparative test with Hong Jun to confirm if the footprint really belonged to him.

He Jueyun fell silent for a moment, then said, “You win. Your evidence is more solid. There are just too many coincidences.”

“Looking at it this way, it should be that kid who won,” Qiong Cang said. “He bet on both.”

At a time like this, He Jueyun actually found her dry humor somewhat touching.

…What a tragedy. He was actually getting used to it.

He Jueyun shook his head to clear his mind.

“In other cases, we can’t find a murderer. In this case, everyone looks like the murderer. It’s quite interesting.” He Jueyun paused, then asked, “Do you also think the two of them might have conspired?”

Qiong Cang put down her phone, wiped her face with her hand, and braced herself. “Who knows? Bring Hong Jun to the station. I’ll question him myself.”

He Jueyun: “And Shen Sui?”

Qiong Cang: “Not yet.”

·

An hour later, in the closed interrogation room.

Qiong Cang walked in carrying a file and sat down at the table.

Hong Jun was still wearing his yellow work vest. He sat in the opposite chair with his head lowered, his eyes vacant. There was neither anger nor resentment on his face, as if he had lost the capacity for emotion.

Qiong Cang asked, “Have you had breakfast? Meat buns or vegetable buns? Sweet soy milk or savory soy milk^[4]?”

Hong Jun looked up, his gaze landing on her face.

Qiong Cang smiled. “If you don’t mind, I’ll have someone bring you a bit of everything.”