Chapter 32: Investigation

Chapter 32: Investigation

The person in front of her had dull yellow hair, but it was neatly combed. She looked up upon hearing the sound, revealing a haggard face.

Their eyes met. When "Li Yujia" saw who it was, her mouth twitched, revealing an uncontrollable emotional fluctuation.

Qiong Cang was struck by an inexplicable sense of familiarity. She studied his face for a long time before tentatively calling out, "Qiong Cang?"

He Jueyun’s expression remained cold, pretending he didn’t understand.

Qiong Cang lowered her head and laughed quietly.

He Jueyun could no longer maintain his surface-level calm. He clenched his teeth, the muscles on his cheeks tensing.

"Why did I have to be laughed at twice? What the hell!"

"Are you going to ask or not?" He Jueyun said impatiently. "Don’t forget your job. If you can’t take your work seriously, do you even deserve that badge on your shoulder? What kind of police officer are you?"

Qiong Cang stopped laughing, one eyebrow raised, not understanding why he was reacting so strongly.

With a dark expression, He Jueyun urged, "Ask the questions properly, hurry up."

"Alright."

Qiong Cang coughed, sitting down next to him. She gestured to the female police officer across from them. The officer understood and left quietly, giving them some privacy.

Once the female officer left, He Jueyun visibly relaxed, no longer bothering to play the part of a resentful family member. He slouched heavily in the chair, signaling for Qiong Cang to get on with it.

Qiong Cang smiled, pulling out a notebook and a pen, opening it to a blank page in the middle. She said, "There’s a surveillance system installed in your house. I checked the camera positions, and their coverage is extensive. Most of the rooms are covered, and some cameras even point at the entrances to the bathroom and bedroom. If a family doesn’t have pets or children, they usually wouldn’t install that many cameras, right?"

He Jueyun said, "Because the media was bombarding us with reports about... Dongdong Ning being released from prison and seeking revenge. Wu Ming was one of the witnesses back then, and he became very paranoid. Recently, he felt like he was being followed, so he installed the cameras to give himself some peace of mind."

Qiong Cang asked, "Did you check the surveillance?"

"No, I just got back. When I returned, Wu Ming was already dead, so I called the cops right away," He Jueyun said, "The police arrived within ten minutes; I didn’t have time to check the footage."

Qiong Cang nodded, staring at his face. "That night, you two had a heated argument."

He Jueyun said indifferently, "Yes. Later, I stormed out."

Qiong Cang: "Where did you go?"

"To a friend’s house. You can ask them," He Jueyun said, "If you don’t believe my friend, I drove myself out. You can check the GPS records in my car, or look at the road surveillance footage."

Qiong Cang pinched her pen between two fingers, tapping it against the notebook.

"What did you argue about?"

"It was mostly everyday family stuff. But to some people, it probably just sounded like complaining," He Jueyun said with a sarcastic snort, "He’s dead now, so I’m not afraid to tell you. You’ll find out anyway. Neither of them had any sense of decency. Wu Ming went from an unknown, rootless country boy to the city’s most promising young entrepreneur. When he first rose to success, I supported him. But once he became rich, he changed. Or maybe he just revealed his true nature."

As He Jueyun spoke, despite his attempt to maintain a cold expression, a fierce resentment appeared on his face. "Two days ago, his mother, Zhou Langxiu, pushed me down the stairs. I was crying in pain on the floor, but they didn’t even call an ambulance for me. I crawled up the stairs by myself and called emergency services on my phone. They watched me the whole time, coldly. Can you imagine how coldly they watched me? What kind of people are they?"

Qiong Cang played along, adding, "I really can’t imagine."

He Jueyun glared at her before continuing, "Afterward, neither of them visited me in the hospital. They probably wished I was dead. I never got any respect from them. I was angry and argued with him. Isn’t that normal?"

Qiong Cang said, "I don’t want to judge family matters. We’ll check your medical records at the hospital to verify the details."

He Jueyun asked, "Is there anything else you need to know?"

Qiong Cang closed the notebook and tucked it back into her clothes. "I just saw a lot of medication in the house."

"It's mine," He Jueyun said. "I thought having a kid with him would bring us closer together. I wanted us to go further, but it turns out I was naive."

Qiong Cang gave a meaningful "Oh..."

He Jueyun pursed his lips and added, "This is my testimony, not something I made up."

Qiong Cang nodded. "I understand, I understand."

He Jueyun: "Hmm."

Qiong Cang stared at him for a long while before asking, "The attitude you're showing now, is it because you're a terrible actor, or is it because Li Yujia really doesn't bother hiding her hatred for Wu Ming?"

"You doubt my acting?" He Jueyun flared up, more angry than when he mentioned his "late husband." He leaned forward towards Qiong Cang, glaring fiercely. "You? Doubting my acting? Do you even know what a character persona is, or what OOC means?"

"I know, I didn't mean anything by it," Qiong Cang said, pressing a hand on his shoulder to calm him. "What I actually wanted to ask is, what kind of feelings does Li Yujia have for Wu Ming?"

He Jueyun's lips tightened, clearly still unable to let it go, but he finally lowered his gaze and said plainly, "I loved him once. But there are no feelings left between us."

Qiong Cang was affected by his superb acting, feeling a shared sense of melancholy. She gave He Jueyun a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Don't let a jerk change who you are. He's not worth it."

He Jueyun looked at her with a very complicated expression, then let out a strong, disdainful clicking sound.

The audience in the live stream burst out laughing.

"I'm standing right in front of you, how much of a jerk do I look like? 【doge】 This couple is giving me major drama vibes."

"Tsk tsk. What a douchebag. Where's your gentleness, boss?"

"Men, when they turn their backs, they're ruthless."

"The boss's self-reflection is always so profound and on point."

"Q-bro's acting is on point, I'm really getting into it."

"As we all know, players in crime analysis might not be good at being a detective, but they sure know how to put on a show. 【Excellent】"

·

When Qiong Cang had asked enough, a commotion started near the entrance of the villa. It sounded like a middle-aged woman was wailing loudly.

Qiong Cang hurried over and found that it was the victim's family member, Zhou Langxiu, who had arrived.

Zhou Langxiu was standing near the main entrance, forcefully grabbing a police officer and pulling down the officer's clothes despite their resistance.

Outside the police line, a large group of residents who had gathered early in the morning stood watching. Some were still in their pajamas, holding up their phones to take pictures.

"My son, how could he have died so tragically? It must be that Ning Dongdong. Why haven't you police gone to arrest him yet?! He's already killed three people, and you're still covering for him?! What are you trying to do?! What’s his deal?!"

Zhou Langxiu's makeup was smudged from crying, with two black streaks of tears running beneath her eyes. Her neatly styled red curls had become a messy tangle.

She had gotten dressed early and stormed into the villa, ready to confront Li Yujia. She hadn't seen the body yet because the officers advised her against it, fearing the gruesome scene would be too much for her to handle. After hearing the police describe the wounds, she was on the brink of losing it.

"Give me back my son's life!" Zhou Langxiu demanded, directing her outburst at the police. "You must go and arrest the person! My son can't have died so tragically!"

The officer's shirt was half-torn off, leaving a deep red mark around the neck from the collar. The officer's face had turned red from the struggle, but they didn't dare to fight back, only patiently trying to calm her down. "We will find the murderer, ma'am, please calm down."

Zhou Langxiu let out a shrill, heart-wrenching scream, "How can I calm down? Didn't you see that my son was cut to pieces? Neighbors, friends, tell me—how can anyone stay calm? My son was torn apart! He’s my child, my life. I feel like my own life is slipping away! I’d rather it had been me. That damn Dongdong Ning, ah—!"

Her cries soon turned into sorrowful wails, but her hands still desperately clung to the officer's clothes, refusing to let him go.

Qiong Cang raised the police line and entered, with He Jueyun silently following behind her.

Catching sight of her daughter-in-law from the corner of her eye, Zhou Langxiu’s sobs faltered, and her expression turned fierce. She no longer accused Ning Dongdong of being the murderer, instead shifting all her rage toward Li Yujia.

"Is it her? Is she the one who killed my son? Officer, I’m telling you, it has to be her. My son was a good person. She was the only one who wished for his death every day. Not long ago, they had a huge fight. Pui! A low-life who deceived her way into our family. My son couldn’t even get a divorce. It must be her. Officer, I accuse her!"

The officer said, "We’re still investigating. Please go to the side and rest for a bit. We’ll inform you immediately if we find anything, okay?"

Zhou Langxiu wasn’t listening. "My son was only in his thirties, so young, and now he’s gone, leaving me behind. How can I go on living? Arrest her! It’s her!"

He Jueyun stood nearby, watching the scene unfold with cold detachment.

Qiong Cang stepped in. "Whether or not she’s the murderer is determined by the evidence. I wouldn’t advise you to publicly accuse someone of being the killer."

Relieved to see Qiong Cang take over, the officer called out, "Boss, what should we do? Should we have the victim’s family talk to you?"

Hearing there was a higher-ranking officer, Zhou Langxiu immediately let go of the junior officer and rushed toward Qiong Cang.

Qiong Cang quickly grabbed her hands to prevent her from colliding and said, "I understand your grief, but if you get too emotional, it will only hinder our investigation. If you have any clues, please follow our colleagues to give a statement. We also hope to catch the real murderer as soon as possible. Your cooperation is needed."

Zhou Langxiu sniffled, letting out a trembling sound.

As she began to calm down, He Jueyun, in a way that only made things worse, said, "If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving. I have an appointment with a lawyer and other matters to attend to."

Zhou Langxiu glared at him with pure hatred, a harsh snort escaping her nose, the grinding of her back teeth audible.

Qiong Cang said, "Wait a moment."

She confirmed with her colleague over the communicator, "Has Li Yujia's alibi been verified?"

A female voice came through, "I just contacted the friend Li Yujia mentioned and the property management of that neighborhood. It’s confirmed that what Li Yujia said is true. Her car entered the neighborhood gate around 1 AM, with both the license plate and her face clearly captured on camera. Because it was so late, the security guard still remembers her. Based on the distance between the two locations and the time of Wu Ming's death, she couldn’t have been the murderer."

Qiong Cang replied, "Understood."

She then told He Jueyun, "You can go. But please keep your phone on. We may need to contact you at any time."

He Jueyun nodded and, as he turned to leave, provocatively curled his lip at Zhou Langxiu, sending the already agitated woman into a rage before he left with an air of nonchalance.

Qiong Cang thought, *Was he always like this? Always looking to stir things up?*

Seeing that He Jueyun had really left, Zhou Langxiu fell to the ground and continued her unrestrained shouting. After a while, she got up and declared she was going to contact the media to expose them.

The young officer’s eyes welled up, and he looked ready to beg.

"Try to calm her down first and make sure she doesn’t disturb the evidence at the scene. Let her take whatever photos she needs, but close the door," Qiong Cang patted the young officer on the shoulder, ignoring his pained expression, and addressed everyone, "Those who are free, come for a meeting. Those who aren’t, report the visitation findings."

Five minutes later, Qiong Cang sat back in the cramped car, listening to her colleagues reporting over the radio.

"We spoke with the neighbors, and they had a pretty good impression of Wu Ming. They found him gentle and polite, easy to talk to. Since he was in the influencer business, he always paid attention to his image and hadn’t offended anyone. Last night, the two neighboring households said they didn’t hear any suspicious noises. We also asked some residents for their alibis, but because it was late at night, most of the residents were asleep, and there was no clear evidence."

"I find Li Yujia very suspicious; she should be the one with the strongest motive. But she seems unnervingly calm. When I questioned her, she didn’t hide her hatred for Wu Ming and his mother at all. Most people would at least try to conceal it."

"But she didn’t have the time to commit the crime."

"With such a mother-in-law, even if she wanted to hide it, she couldn’t. It’s better to be straightforward."

"Could it be that she hired someone to commit the murder? There were no signs of forced entry on the door. Either the murderer had a key, or Wu Ming opened the door willingly."

"The surveillance was turned off by Wu Ming himself. Why would he suddenly turn it off for no apparent reason?"

Qiong Cang asked, "What about the neighborhood surveillance?"

"The security guard on duty fell asleep and didn't see anything. However, according to the surveillance footage, at around 1:00 AM last night, a man wearing a cap slipped into the neighborhood. It's unclear who he was there to visit. A late-night visitor raises some red flags. Nevertheless, both Zhou Langxiu and Li Yujia said they didn't recognize him after looking at the photo."

They were relieved that Wu Ming's time of death was in the middle of the night, when fewer people were around. This made checking the surveillance footage easier, and any incongruent details would be clearly exposed.

Qiong Cang asked, "Have the photos been compared?"

"Unfortunately, the surveillance didn't capture his face."

"Sigh..."

"He probably came by car. We're currently working with our colleagues from the traffic department to obtain nearby street surveillance. Let's see if we find anything."

"I’m going to go cross-eyed looking at this."

Qiong Cang said, "Send the screenshot to me."

Soon, Qiong Cang received a photo of the man on her phone.

The photo was taken from behind him.

The man was thin, and although his face was hidden by a cap, his figure and walking posture were distinctive. Anyone who knew him should be able to guess who he was just by this back view.

Qiong Cang immediately forwarded the photo to He Jueyun.

He Jueyun quickly replied: Don't know him.

Qiong Cang: I suggest you tell the truth. Although this camera didn't capture his face, there is surveillance on the nearby streets. We will definitely find out, it's just a matter of time. However, if we discover that you deliberately pretended not to know, thereby obstructing the progress of the investigation, I wouldn't mind telling Zhou Langxiu about it.

Qiong Cang: I can invite you to the police station for investigation, and I'll also ask Zhou Langxiu to come over.

Qiong Cang: Think about it carefully.

That’s a pretty harsh move.

He Jueyun could hardly believe that this person had comforted him just twenty minutes ago.

You’re such a hypocrite and heartless.

He Jueyun: Zhao Ye, a private investigator. I found Wu Ming's behavior strange. He often had different perfume smells on him, so I hired him to follow Wu Ming and investigate his activities.

Qiong Cang: Phone number, company address.

He Jueyun sent the information reluctantly.

Qiong Cang: Thank you for your cooperation. Have a pleasant day.

He Jueyun spat in disgust.

Talk about shameless.

Qiong Cang informed her colleagues about the detective's information, and the team got excited as soon as they saw the info.

"No way, that quick? How did you figure that out, boss? Did you know him before?"

"Boss is truly a genius!"

"So we don't need to review the surveillance footage? Boss, you really are my idol!"

Qiong Cang humbly said, "Not at all, I just have contacts all over."

The others continued with their flattery. Qiong Cang assigned a few of the guys to go and bring Zhao Ye back for questioning.

After an hour, Qiong Cang sat in the interrogation room with the lights blazing, facing the private investigator who was forcing a smile.