Silent Testimony - Chapter 21

Li Hewei pursed her lips, thought for a moment, and said, “Ask them whether the new or old version of the water disinfectant was used for the water replacement and sterilization at Wanfeng City’s pool on July 23rd.”

“Got it.” Qiu Wan contacted the property management. The person replied: [Image] [Is this the new version or the old version? I’m not sure myself.]

[Look at the production date—it’s the old version.]

Qiu Wan looked up: “What do you think is going on?”

Li Hewei spread her hands: “I can’t guess either. Shall we look at the bar chart of time intervals sent by the water company?”

Qiu Wan clicked on the chat history and focused on the water usage in August.

August 1st and 2nd were normal. On August 3rd, the usage was 556 tons of water. She estimated that a private swimming pool—25 meters long, 11 meters wide, and generally 2 meters deep—happened to require exactly 550 tons of water.

“Yesterday?” Li Hewei was astonished. To dare to destroy evidence right under the police’s noses—that takes incredible guts.

“Yes. We went to Sun Luying’s villa on the weekend, and the next day, Wanfeng City replaced the water.”

Li Hewei pressed on: “Sun Hao wasn’t in Puchen yesterday. Who helped him replace the water? Zhang Xiuqin?”

“Not necessarily. She would at most provide false testimony.” Qiu Wan looked troubled, “Renovations started at Building 2 on July 29th, so there are more unfamiliar faces entering and exiting the East Gate. It will be tricky if the person who replaced the water at the villa disguised themselves as a construction worker.”

“Indeed.”

Qiu Wan let out a breath: “Tricky or not, we have to deal with it. Do you have time? Come with me into the interrogation room.”

Li Hewei straightened up: “Sun Hao has arrived?”

“He’s in the parking lot and will be up right away.”

In the outdoor parking lot of the Public Security Bureau, Sun Hao stepped on the brake, and his lawyer called immediately.

“I am the lawyer Mr. Sun hired for you.”

Sun Hao wore sunglasses, making his expression unreadable: “I know.”

“You don’t need to answer everything once you enter the police station. You can tell them you have the right to remain silent. Remember, regardless of whether you committed the crime or not, try to be a mute.”

“I didn’t… didn’t kill anyone.”

“That’s best.”

Sun Hao was slightly impatient: “What else should I pay attention to? The police are hurrying me.”

“Don’t look around in the interrogation room; you can look at the ceiling or the police emblem. Don’t make any unnecessary small movements. Keep your hands relaxed at your sides, and absolutely do not scratch or pick at the table—it will make you look nervous.”

“Why be nervous? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Good. Remember these four words: Remain silent.”

“Fine, I’m hanging up.”

Sun Hao put his car key in his pocket and pushed the door open to get out.

In the interrogation room, Qiu Wan was the lead interrogator, Xiao Liao was the recorder, and Li Hewei was responsible for observation.

Sun Hao sat opposite Qiu Wan and asked with confusion: “Hey, why are there three people? Shouldn’t there only be two police officers present in a normal situation?”

Li Hewei stood up: “I can step out.”

“Xiao Liao, please step out. Captain Li, come here.” Qiu Wan quietly asked her, “Can you take notes?”

“Simple ones, yes. You can start.”

Qiu Wan drank water to moisten her throat, her expression serious: “Are you Sun Hao, an intern at Rongke Group?”

A simple question. Sun Hao replied: “Yes.”

“Do you know Yang Guang?”

Sun Hao’s tone was disdainful: “Yes, I know him. He’s the gigolo my mother keeps.”

Qiu Wan met his gaze, exerting pressure: “What is your relationship with him?”

Sun Hao strictly followed the lawyer’s instructions, keeping his eyes fixed on the police emblem in front of him: “Why ask that? Does my relationship with him affect your case-solving?”

Calm and composed—he was clearly coached. Qiu Wan changed the question: “You don’t have to say, but I want to confirm that you left Puchen on the 20th?”

“Mhm, confirmed.”

“Why did you choose to drive instead of taking a plane or high-speed rail?”

“I wanted to experience slow living, so I had the driver take me to Lang City. Is that not allowed?”

“That is your freedom. Of course, it is.”

“The license plate Shu AU59B is your car, correct? It departed at 8:00 AM on the 20th. At 10:00 PM late on the 20th, it exited the highway at Wuguang Town, Lang City. Where did you go after that?”

“Camping. I went to Lang City Ancient Town on the 24th. You can check the surveillance.”

Camping—no surveillance. Therefore, if he left Puchen on the afternoon of the 23rd, he could indeed arrive in Lang City on the 24th. The timing was arranged so perfectly that Qiu Wan couldn’t find a flaw.

Li Hewei prompted her: “Ask directly about the water usage at the villa.”

“This is the water usage for Wanfeng City Villa No. 1 between 2:00 AM and 3:00 AM on July 23rd—exactly over five hundred tons.” Qiu Wan’s features were naturally cool and elegant; when she didn’t smile, she looked unusually stern. She displayed the image and demanded, “Who was filling your pool with water in the middle of the night?”

Sun Hao was clearly stunned, biting his lip without speaking.

Qiu Wan observed the changes in Sun Hao’s micro-expressions and pressed her advantage: “You said you left Puchen on the 20th, so who used the 180 degrees of electricity every day from the 20th to the 23rd?”

Sun Hao’s mind worked quickly: “I… I forgot to turn off the air conditioning. Sister Zhang only noticed when she went to the villa on the 23rd.”

Qiu Wan sneered: “Is that so? Should I call her right now, in front of you, to ask?”

“You… you go ahead and call.” Sun Hao took a deep breath, adjusting his composure.

The soundproofing in the interrogation room was excellent, making it quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Qiu Wan dialed Zhang Xiuqin’s number. It rang twice before being answered.

“Hello.”

Qiu Wan’s tone softened: “Hello, Sister Zhang. I’m Qiu Wan from the Public Security Bureau.”

Zhang Xiuqin was caught off guard, her voice visibly trembling: “Captain Qiu, ah, what is it?”

“When you went to the villa on the 23rd, was the central air conditioning turned off?”

Zhang Xiuqin blurted out: “It was off. I specifically checked before I left.”

“Not when you left.” Qiu Wan clarified: “Sister Zhang, you arrived at the villa around 7:50 AM on the 23rd, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Was the air conditioning on at that time?”

Hesitating more than before, Zhang Xiuqin said: “It… it was on.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

Li Hewei noticed Sun Hao instantly relax, as if a great weight had been lifted from his heart.

Qiu Wan reasoned with her: “Sister Zhang, I must stress this again: giving false testimony is a crime.”

Sun Hao immediately became furious, stood up abruptly, and yelled: “Don’t listen to the police talking nonsense! She is threatening you!”

Qiu Wan shouted: “Sit down!” Her tone was completely different from her usual kindness. Li Hewei was startled for two seconds before resuming her typing.

“I am not a criminal yet. I will definitely file a complaint about you misleading a witness once I get out,” Sun Hao had a wide range of interests and knew a bit about the law.

Zhang Xiuqin recovered her composure, perhaps knowing Sun Hao was at the police station. She spoke with conviction to show her loyalty: “Officer, I am not lying.”

The call ended, and the situation fell into a stalemate. Sun Hao suddenly said: “I’m very busy. Do you have anything else to ask?” He smirked, “Can you reimburse my round-trip airfare? I bought a business class ticket for 1740 [Yuan].”

Li Hewei countered abruptly: “Sun Hao, you still haven’t explained the reason for the abnormal water usage. Since the property management was supposed to replace the water at 8:00 AM on the 23rd, why was your villa accumulating over 500 tons of water in the early morning?”

Sun Hao pushed the problem back to the police: “How should I know? Shouldn’t you be the ones to investigate that? What if someone snuck into the villa to swim in the middle of the night?”

Cunning.

Li Hewei whispered to Qiu Wan: “Let’s not mention the August 3rd incident yet. He will definitely quibble about that too. We’ll investigate it first.”

The first face-off ended. Li Hewei carried a stack of files out of the interrogation room. Passing the nearby smoking area, she saw Qiu Wan leaning against the wall, a cigarette between her fingers, clearly in a state of complete mental blankness, deep in thought.

When she was silent, her expression was very subtle, giving her clean, delicate face an indescribable air of detachment. Li Hewei couldn’t help but wonder who would ever win her heart.

“Why are you smoking?” She walked over and handed her a piece of candy.

Qiu Wan put out the cigarette: “Only occasionally, when the stress is high.”

Li Hewei, gossiping about her love life, probed: “You could talk to your family about it, to let off some steam.”

“I live with my grandmother, and I don’t want her to worry. So, when I have time, I go dancing. After a good sweat, I feel better.”

She was still single.

“Did you sketch Sun Hao?” Qiu Wan recognized the subject of Li Hewei’s quick sketch immediately.

“Mhm. I plan to draw Sun Hao wearing a mask and a wig so the security guards can identify him.” Li Hewei stated, “But we still need physical evidence. Let’s expand the scope of the surveillance—all cameras from Wanfeng City to the tree line where the body was dumped on the 23rd. I don’t believe he could have avoided all of them.”

“Alright. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Tell me, was it easy for me to get you that hotpot?” Li Hewei’s warm smile dispelled the low pressure around Qiu Wan. Qiu Wan returned a polite, measured smile, took two steps, and reached out to press the elevator button.

Around 4:00 PM, in the technical team’s office, Zhao Xiaoting’s wailing finally broke the silence: “Oh, there are still 3 more Gigs! How long will this take to watch?”

He Ying comforted her: “Xiaoting, I have 3.4 Gigs.”

“I have 2 Gigs, too.”

Tao Ling raised a hand to rub her dry eyes: “I’m okay. I only have 1 Gig.”

Li Hewei was responsible for the traffic light at the intersection of Cheng’an Road and Mayang Road. She calculated that if luck was on her side and the killer passed through this stretch, hitting a red light, she was confident the surveillance could capture the scene.

At 2:21 PM on July 23rd, an Audi entered her view. The license plate was so familiar. Li Hewei checked her records—it was indeed the vehicle suspected of carrying the victim’s body. At the red light, the person in the driver’s seat, wearing a light yellow dress, was leaning over, motionless for 45 seconds. When the light turned green, the person slammed the accelerator and sped forward, but she managed to intercept two relatively clear images.

“Sister Wei.” Li Hewei was focused. Tao Ling, standing beside her, called her twice without a response. Only when she raised her voice a third time did Li Hewei snap back: “Hmm? What is it?”

Tao Ling looked at her monitor: “Did you also find the Audi?”

Also?

“Yes. Are your images clear?” Li Hewei quickly asked.

“Mhm, two or three of them,” Tao Ling added, “But they’re all wearing masks.”

“That’s fine. Send them to me.” Li Hewei realized in hindsight she could have simply covered Sun Hao’s mouth and nose in his photo instead of going to the trouble of sketching.

The others also gathered around. He Ying asked curiously: “What can you tell from this? Don’t all eyes look the same?”

“No, Sister He. You need to look closely at his ears. Everyone’s ears are different in length, and Sun Hao has a tiny black mole, smaller than a sesame seed, on his right earlobe.”

He Ying leaned closer: “It is! Exactly the same. But Sun Hao could still argue that there are many people in the world with similar appearances, especially when you can only see the eyes and ears.”

“We’ll find a human witness. Captain Qiu said the security guard from Wanfeng City wants a chance to redeem himself. He’s on leave today and is coming over now. If we have both human and physical evidence, we can apply for a warrant to collect evidence from the other rooms in the villa.”

“That’s good.”

At dinner time, Li Hewei did not go to the cafeteria. Instead, she followed Qiu Wan into the interview room and presented the photos for the security guard to identify.

“Doesn’t look like her. That girl has slender eyebrows, but this person has thick eyebrows.”

Qiu Wan said patiently: “Look again. Try to recall.”

The security guard shook his head: “It really isn’t. I can’t just talk nonsense.”

Li Hewei placed Sun Hao’s photo in front of him: “Do you recognize him?”

The security guard said openly: “Yes, I do. Isn’t this Mr. Sun from Villa No. 1? Although he’s not the CEO yet.”

“Does he look similar to the long-haired woman you mentioned?”

“How could he? Mr. Sun has a robust face. He doesn’t look like a woman.” He pointed to the red-light screenshot: “Sigh, this woman does look a bit like Mr. Sun wearing makeup, though—thick eyebrows and big eyes.”

At least they knew Sun Hao was still in Puchen on the 23rd. Qiu Wan thanked the security guard for his cooperation.

The security guard said confidently: “Officer, if I may say so, the security rating of our residential area is fifth in the city. How could an incident of murder and body dumping occur without being caught on surveillance?”

Qiu Wan’s words held a deeper meaning: “You only noticed the malfunction of two key surveillance cameras on the second day.”

“That was definitely an accident.”

“Look at this person again.” Qiu Wan took out Zhou Lin’s photo and covered the lower half of her face with her hand.

The security guard looked closely at Zhou Lin’s face and said without hesitation: “It looks like her. The more I look, the more I think it is!”