Chapter 68 [VIP] The Murder Case at the Secret Room Airbnb (7)

Chapter 68 [VIP] The Murder Case at the Secret Room Airbnb (7)

Xia Sulan's teeth ground together with a click. She lifted her tear-blurred eyes and spoke.

"I do hate her, so what if I do? I earn so little in the soap factory that it’s not even enough for my daughter’s milk powder. Her gifts can be exchanged for money, at least to ease some of the pressure on our life. I envy her, I am jealous of her, and I wanted to take her life too, but... I just couldn’t..."

Xia Sulan choked up, as if using all her strength: "As long as she keeps giving me these valuable things, even if she is my enemy, I will still treat her well. I have nothing, and if there is any good fortune left for someone to remember, let her take it..."

By the end, she was sobbing uncontrollably, her shoulders trembling, though less violently than Sun Yuanyuan, it was clear she had lost control.

Meng Siqi felt the interrogation could only go this far. She glanced at Han Changlin, who understood, “Alright, let’s stop here.”

Everyone left, but Meng Siqi lingered last to pour Xia Sulan a cup of hot water. This time, Zhao Leiting waited for her to return. On the way back, Zhao Leiting said, “I feel like this is tough. Have they already coordinated their stories so tightly that no one will speak?”

Meng Siqi was tired and didn’t respond. Two interrogations were over, leaving only Ding Qian. She knew Ding Qian, who was more rational compared to the other two. If neither of them confessed, Ding Qian would be even harder to crack, but no matter how slim the hope, she had to try.

Considering Ding Qian’s calm demeanor and strong sense of self, perhaps she was the mastermind.

Sure enough, when they entered the interrogation room, Ding Qian was the most composed. Her gaze followed everyone as they entered, sat down, and arranged their papers and pens, as if ready for the interrogation.

Meng Siqi knew Ding Qian would be a tough nut to crack, but she had to break her. She got straight to the point, “Ding Qian, we have evidence against you. Please listen carefully.”

Ding Qian slightly raised her chin, as if preparing to listen.

“Ding Qian, after leaving the textile factory, you must have had many thoughts and dreams about your future. After changing jobs a few times, you quickly met your ex-husband, Lu Pengfei. Lu Pengfei is from the city, with a decent family background. Living in the countryside, you were attracted to his urban household registration, and you married quickly.”

“At first, Lu Pengfei might have treated you well, and you may have even dreamed of spending your life with him and having a child…”

Meng Siqi observed Ding Qian’s expression as she spoke. She noticed that Ding Qian’s expression didn’t change much, even appearing somewhat cold, suggesting she was indifferent to those times.

She continued, “But married life was different from what you imagined. The sweetness of courtship was gone, replaced by the daily grind of cooking, washing clothes, and even washing Lu Pengfei’s feet. Lu Pengfei, being from the city and pampered since childhood, saw you as a servant. But you had no choice because this was the result of your own careful selection. You had to endure the bitter fruit.”

At this point, Meng Siqi finally noticed Ding Qian’s eyelids twitch, as if she didn’t want to hear the description but was also trying to control her emotions.

“But the good times didn’t last. Lu Pengfei wasn’t the man you thought he was. After a few years of hard work, your hands became rough, and you aged prematurely. You slowly realized that you looked older than your peers, and Lu Pengfei began to find fault with everything you did. As the saying goes, marriage has its seven-year itch, but Lu Pengfei didn’t even wait that long. He started to complain about your age and appearance and found a new woman outside the home.”

“You are a strong-willed woman. You could tolerate his tyranny, but you couldn’t stand the betrayal of your feelings. So you asked for a divorce, which surprisingly suited Lu Pengfei. He agreed, and despite his infidelity, you thought you could get some property. However, Lu Pengfei was prepared. He didn’t leave you a penny and even took your money. With little education and a weak legal awareness, you didn’t know how to protect your rights. In this marriage, you were a complete failure…”

As Meng Siqi spoke, she noticed Ding Qian biting her lip, her eyes showing signs of evasion. She seemed resistant to the topic but powerless to stop others from recounting it.

“After the failed marriage, your life was bleak. But another person, Long Shanwen, who always treated you like a sister, lived a colorful life. She invited you to her birthday party again and told you that she wanted to exchange her gifts for your good luck. You must have despised her, but you couldn’t refute her. You took her gifts, but you didn’t keep them as you claimed. You sold the watch and necklace at a low price to relatives and friends. You disliked Long Shanwen, you hated her for taking away your luck, so you decided to kill her.”

When Meng Siqi finished speaking, Ding Qian showed some discomfort. She shook her neck a few times, and her lips, tightly clenched, had turned red with blood, though she didn’t notice.

She was struggling with herself, on the verge of breaking, trying to pull herself back together.

Suddenly, she lifted her head and stared directly at Meng Siqi. Meng Siqi didn’t see tears in her eyes, but she saw a few red blood vessels.

Ding Qian almost glared and said, “What right do you have to say I killed her just because I’m not doing well? My life is indeed difficult, but that’s my own misfortune. What does it have to do with Long Shanwen? Just because Long Shanwen is doing well, you think I would kill her? There are so many people in this world who are doing well. Could I possibly kill them all?”

This statement hit Meng Siqi hard. Ding Qian was right; not everyone who is jealous would have a motive to kill. Perhaps Ding Qian wasn’t like that, but with so many unresolved questions, Ding Qian’s words didn’t prove anything.

Similarly, Meng Siqi’s narrative didn’t prove anything either. The crime scene was too perfect, leaving no clues. Only solid evidence could convict Ding Qian.

She calmly said, “Wishing for a lucky break won’t help, Ding Qian. We’ll wait for the evidence.”

Back in the office, Meng Siqi’s mood plummeted. The entire interrogation seemed to have failed.

Feng Shaomin seemed to sense her mood and approached her, speaking calmly, “Meng, don’t worry. This is a normal part of the interrogation process. No suspect will easily confess; otherwise, there would be no unsolved cases.”

“Master, will they leave the police station soon?”

Feng Shaomin nodded and immediately added, “Don’t worry. As long as we have new evidence, we can still bring the criminals to justice. Next, let’s delve deeper into the details and gather more evidence from the Airbnb. I believe that even the most perfect crime scene will have loopholes.”

“I understand. Thank you, Master.”

In the following days, Feng Shaomin led them in searching for clues and interviewing people who knew them, including Xia Sulan’s husband Dong Dahu, Ding Qian’s ex-husband Lu Pengfei, and Sun Yuanyuan’s ex-boyfriend Jiang Tian. Their opinions of the three women were generally similar: they were hardworking and enduring, and their relationship with Long Shanwen was not well understood.

Due to the pressures of life, they had developed a tendency to endure and accept whatever came their way, making them often victims in their lives.

During the interview with Long Shanwen’s husband, Shen Song, his emotions were relatively stable, but he would pause and breathe heavily whenever Long Shanwen’s name was mentioned. He hoped the police would solve the case soon so he could give Long Shanwen a proper burial and ensure she passed away without regrets.

To Meng Siqi, Shen Song had deep feelings for Long Shanwen. He might have loved her, making Long Shanwen the happiest among the four.

After several days of investigation, all the leads related to the three women seemed to fade, and Meng Siqi fell into self-doubt.

She repeatedly reviewed the statements and compared the on-site inspection reports and autopsy reports, finding no overlooked clues. The three women’s statements were too perfect, especially regarding the use of the knife, which they described similarly.

If it was a conspiracy, then everything made sense, but unfortunately, there was still no solid evidence.

Meng Siqi also noticed something else: she hadn’t received any visual impressions from the crime scene, suspects, or the body, which usually provided her with insights. She wanted to re-examine the body, hoping for new discoveries.

Walking into the forensic office, Chen Jierong was at her desk. Meng Siqi explained her reasons, and Chen Jierong immediately agreed, leading her to the morgue.

Long Shanwen’s body had just been autopsied and was stored in the morgue’s cold room. The staff placed the body bag on a metal slab, and Chen Jierong pulled the zipper open, carefully extending it to the bottom to fully expose the body.

Long Shanwen’s body was fully visible to Meng Siqi. Compared to before, Meng Siqi’s psychological threshold for dealing with corpses had significantly increased, and with Chen Jierong present, she wasn’t afraid at all. She stepped closer, standing next to the body to observe the details closely.

Compared to the crime scene, Long Shanwen’s eyes were closed, her eyelids a purplish color, and her nostrils and lips also had this hue. Meng Siqi knew this was due to the cooling of the blood after freezing.

The deceased’s face was pale, her mouth slightly open, revealing her teeth. At first glance, it was somewhat frightening, but from the facial features, Long Shanwen had been a beautiful woman.

Over the past few days, Meng Siqi had collected photos of the victim, showing a beauty that was memorable at first sight, with delicate features. Although she had been poor, her early photos showed a thin, yellowish face, but recent years had clearly improved her, giving her very fair skin.

Lower down, there was a long incision on the deceased’s chest. The incision had been cleaned, with no bloodstains, and the inside was reddish-brown, with neat edges. The size of the incision was larger than the blade of the fruit knife, likely due to the skin flaring outward.

Meng Siqi had read Chen Jierong’s detailed description in the autopsy report. The incision was caused by the contraction of the skin and muscles around the wound, causing the edges to flare outward.

The fatal injury was caused by the fruit knife at the scene, as determined by the autopsy. Apart from this lethal wound, there were no other cuts or even noticeable bruises on Long Shanwen's body, indicating that the murderer had prepared in advance and precisely targeted the vital areas, delivering a single, deadly blow.

At this moment, the familiar dizziness struck again. Having experienced it multiple times, Meng Siqi was already accustomed to this sensation. She gently pinched her fist and supported her temple as if foretelling something.

A scene appeared before her eyes: it was a dimly lit night, and on the ground, she could see patches of light, likely from colored lights that hadn't been turned off.

The scene seemed to be viewed from her perspective, looking down. A hand wrapped in a yellow napkin steadily grabbed a wrist covered in blood. Meng Siqi deduced that it must have been the murderer holding Long Shanwen's wrist after her death.

As the murderer's hand moved, Long Shanwen's index finger traced a circle on the ground, leaving a trail of blood. The circle was incomplete, breaking at the one o'clock position, possibly due to a brief misalignment between the murderer's action and Long Shanwen's finger.

Then, the murderer moved Long Shanwen's palm to the center, with her index finger stopping at the circle's center. The murderer made a downward motion, but the blood on Long Shanwen's fingertip had already been wiped away.

There was a brief pause, and the murderer lifted her wrist, perhaps intending to use her index finger to pick up more blood nearby, but the action halted, and the murderer decisively released her palm.

In an instant, the scene seemed to be sucked into a vortex, gradually shrinking towards the center until it vanished.

The aftermath of the vision was not intense; compared to previous visions, this one was less disturbing, at least without the direct sight of blood.

However, the feeling still caused Meng Siqi a momentary dizziness. She tried to steady herself, not wanting Chen Jierong to worry about her.

She lingered by Long Shanwen's body for a while longer but found no additional information. Perhaps the vision had already filled her mind, leaving no room for further investigation.

Turning to leave, she noticed a faint concern on Chen Jierong's face. It seemed her dizziness had been evident. Chen Jierong didn't offer immediate help, but once they stepped out of the morgue, she gently held Meng Siqi's hand. "Siqi, make sure you get plenty of rest. The Long Shanwen case isn't something to rush."

"Thank you, Sister Jierong. I'll take care of myself."

After examining Long Shanwen's body, it was past working hours. Meng Siqi felt increasingly heavy-hearted. She picked up her bag from her desk and slowly walked towards the police station's main door. Dark clouds gathered overhead, threatening a heavy rain.

Colleagues who recognized her called out as she left, "Meng, remember to bring an umbrella."

She nodded instinctively, quickening her pace towards the street and the bus stop where she waited every day.

Suddenly, she felt that she was wrong, that all her deductions were incorrect!