A Bad-Hearted Doctor is Unbearably Beautiful - Chapter 20

The Criminal Investigation Division of the Shencheng Public Security Bureau.

Lu Xiao put out his cigarette right before entering the building. Just as he stepped through the main entrance, Director Gao appeared out of nowhere.

Lu Xiao tried an emergency dodge maneuver, but it failed. Director Gao stopped him directly.

“Lu,” he said.

Lu Xiao shrunk his neck, turned his head, and put on a sincere, harmless smile. “Huh? What is it, Chief?”

Director Gao’s face was expressionless, and he spoke slowly, but every word made Lu Xiao’s heart pound.

“I just had lunch with the division, and they were praising you. They said you’re a cop who doesn’t get bogged down in details. They mentioned you didn’t just mobilize three police cars to catch one shady suspect, but you also totaled the suspect’s car and wrecked a section of the highway guardrail.”

The more Lu Xiao listened, the worse his face got. How did they find out?!

Good news never gets out, but bad news travels a thousand miles!

Xie Yunfan!!! You dog!!!

Lu Xiao smiled sheepishly. “That… Old Xie has always been jealous that I solve cases faster and more often than he does, as you know. What he said was malicious slander, pure nonsense! Chief Gao, I’ll make sure to give him a good talking-to next time I see him!”

Director Gao couldn’t take it anymore and smacked Lu Xiao on the head with his briefcase.

The sound of his head being smacked echoed in the lobby like a watermelon being thumped.

Wu Di and Wang Deng, who were hiding around the corner, were peeking out and snickering.

“I don’t care how much of what he said is true. This case must be closed as soon as possible. It’s too embarrassing to have it linger over the New Year!”

Lu Xiao nodded, agreeing and saying, “Yes, yes, of course. You’ve worked hard, Chief. Take care.” He bowed and ushered the big Buddha away.

“Still watching?!” Lu Xiao walked around the corner and hit Wu Di and Wang Deng on the head with his briefcase.

“All the physical evidence, testimonies, crime scene photos, relationship charts, autopsy reports, and Old Third Song’s latest interrogation records—get it all ready for me! You have…”

Lu Xiao stopped halfway through his sentence and looked at the time on his diamond-encrusted Patek Philippe watch, calculating how long it would take to get Shen Zhao here.

“Two hours! If you can’t get it done, you’re all working overtime tonight!”

Wu Di: “We’ll get it done, guaranteed!”

Wang Deng: “Huh?”

Wang Deng’s inner thought: Damn, kids who just graduated are so resilient. They’ve never been beaten down by the evil god before!

After shooing the two of them away, Lu Xiao sat in the conference room, organizing the current situation.

There were a few key questions:

Why was Old Third Song at Zhang Dalong’s apartment complex three days before Lunar New Year’s Eve?

What was the relationship between Zhang Dalong and the scar-faced man?

Who was the killer of the two victims?

Why was the scar-faced man at the hospital? Was he there to silence someone?

The black-windbreaker killer hasn’t appeared again. Are the killer and the scar-faced man part of the same group?

Lu Xiao sorted through the case information, hoping that the details they gathered would be enough to form a complete narrative and close the case.

He lowered his head and messaged Shen Zhao.

[Teacher Shen~ (pouty face)]

[?]

[Come to the city bureau~ The one I took you to before (silly face)(silly face)]

[Is something wrong?]

[I’m holding a case discussion meeting this afternoon. You should come too and give us some advice.]

[The hospital is a bit busy right now.]

[Wang Deng and Wu Di from my team said they really miss you! They really hope you can come!! (pouty face)(pouty face)]

[Starts at 3:40 PM. Waiting for you (rose)(rose)]

Shen Zhao closed his phone and rubbed the pressure points near his eyes… He was starting to regret getting involved in this case with this scoundrel.

In the serious crimes team’s conference room, Lu Xiao glanced at his phone, which showed 3:20 PM. He didn’t know if Shen Zhao would show up.

He leaned back in his chair at the long conference table, stretching his legs as far as they could go, and relaxed for five minutes.

The heads of the various departments, guided by Wang Deng, were starting to take their seats. The table was already filled with the coffee and fruit platters Lu Xiao had ordered.

Lu Xiao kept one eye half-open, constantly checking his phone. Finally, a message popped up.

Shen Zhao: [I’m at the entrance.]

Lu Xiao didn’t reply. He immediately shot up from his chair, ran to the door, and ushered Shen Zhao in.

Shen Zhao smiled. “That was fast.”

Lu Xiao bowed humbly. “How could I be slow when Teacher Shen is gracing us with his presence?”

After everyone was seated, Lu Xiao lifted his chin, and Wang Deng pushed a mobile whiteboard to the front. It was covered with photos of all the key people in the case, some crime scene photos, and a timeline of events.

Lu Xiao stood up and knocked heavily on the whiteboard. “Thank you all for coming. The case discussion meeting for the ‘February 4th Medical Center Explosion Case’ will now begin. Get your spirits up!”

“This case involves many people, and the suspect is armed with a gun! I’ve asked you all here today to quickly piece together the clues you have so we can close this case as soon as possible!”

Lu Xiao looked around, then at Qin Sheng, who was twirling a pen in his hand. “Old Qin, let’s start with you. Is the forensic report out?”

Qin Sheng nodded. “That kid of yours keeps rushing me every day. It’s out, it’s out, like he’s rushing me to my grave!”

Qin Sheng: Male, 34 years old. In his 11 years of practice, he has autopsied 1,067 bodies. He likes to carry a pen and a menthol balm. He keeps antacid tablets in the left pocket of his lab coat to prevent acid reflux. His phone has 6 GB of cat pictures and videos to cope with his high-stress job.

Qin Sheng picked up his report and cleared his throat.

“The time of death for both victims is confirmed to be extremely close to the time of the explosion. It’s very likely that they died on the spot during the explosion. It’s worth noting that both of them had varying degrees of comminuted fractures in their skulls. It’s highly likely that their deaths were caused by a fall from a high place combined with the immense impact of the explosion.”

Lu Xiao nodded. A fall from a high place aligned perfectly with their speculation at the explosion site.

“So, they were still alive before the explosion. Okay, continue.”

Qin Sheng said, “But in the pathological tests, I detected metabolic products of barbiturate sedatives. These drugs would have caused both victims to fall into a deep, prolonged coma, which means they would have completely lost their ability to move and could be handled at will.”

Lu Xiao: “Brother Zhen, who was the last person the two victims saw before they died? Do we have a conclusion on that?”

Forensics technician Zhang Zhen took over. “We checked Zhang Dalong and Liu Tingting’s call records before their deaths. Besides their regular takeout orders, there were no special findings. However, surveillance footage clearly shows that three days before the incident, Old Third Song visited Zhang Dalong’s and Liu Tingting’s homes. He stayed at Zhang Dalong’s for about forty minutes and at Liu Tingting’s for less than five minutes.”

Lu Xiao said, “Besides that, did these two see anyone else?”

Zhang Zhen: “We checked their consumption and activity records before their deaths. We found that apart from work, they rarely initiated contact with people. Based on the surveillance, we can’t determine if there were other suspects yet. However, besides their work, they had many overlapping activities in their lives.”

Lu Xiao and Shen Zhao exchanged glances. They both thought of the bouquet of roses at Liu Tingting’s apartment.

Did these two have a romantic relationship?

Forensics technician Lin Xue took a sip of coffee to wet her throat. “Captain Lu, I have something to add.”

Lu Xiao nodded.

Lin Xue tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ears. “The keyless lock on Zhang Dalong’s door had Liu Tingting’s fingerprints in addition to Zhang Dalong’s. Coupled with what Zhang Zhen just said, we can pretty much conclude that these two were in a romantic relationship.”

The boss and his HR manager?

“Was Zhang Dalong single?” Lu Xiao narrowed his eyes. He didn’t believe a wealthy older man like him wouldn’t have a wife.

Lin Xue said, “He was married, but his wife took their child on an international winter study trip and just returned these past two days.”

Lu Xiao said, “Does his wife know about their relationship?”

“Her reaction was quite calm, so it’s possible she knew.”

“Any other discoveries?”

“We collected one of Old Third Song’s fingerprints from the entryway of Zhang Dalong’s apartment. The white porcelain shard you brought back, Captain Lu, also had two of Zhang Dalong’s fingerprints on it. But we didn’t find a single fingerprint belonging to the scar-faced man.”