Silent Testimony - Chapter 24

“We finally found the key material evidence!” Five or six police officers from the Major Case Team on duty streamed into the Technical Group office. Xiao Zhou, the leader, was ecstatic. “Sister He, you are amazing.”

“It’s Tao Ling’s credit,” He Ying said. She was busy contacting a jewelry appraisal expert and shooed them away. “Don’t crowd in here; go find something to do.”

Xiao Lu grinned happily. “We’re just excited! I heard Bureau Chief Liu ordered a batch of ‘Glasses Barbecue’ tonight for us. We can eat as much as we want, and they will be delivered in batches shortly.”

“Oh right, where is the main hero?” Xiao Zhou searched for Tao Ling.

Zhao Xiaoting replied irritably, “She’s in the lab. Do you think everyone is as idle as you guys?”

“Sister, I just came out of the interrogation room. Sun Hao is making my teeth itch with anger.” Xiao Lu had completed the detention formalities and didn’t want to stay in there for a moment longer.

“Too noisy.” Li Hewei hadn’t seen Tao Ling yet and already had a temper brewing. Seeing them now was the perfect trigger. “I’m counting to three. Go back where you came from.”

Three.

Two.

She didn’t get to one. The massive crowd instantly vanished.

“Sister Wei, only you can manage them.” Zhao Xiaoting scoffed. “That Lu guy took two of my grapes, and I don’t know if he washed his hands.” The Major Case Team knew she was an easygoing person and often swiped things from her.

“I suggest you wash the grapes. I saw Xiao Lu head straight for the restroom after leaving the interrogation room.” Li Hewei asked, “Where is Tao Ling?”

Zhao Xiaoting followed her advice, picking up her lunchbox. “She and An Yu are in the lab.”

“Have they found any details?” The two women walked out of the office.

“The diamond’s seam seems to be stained with blood, but too much time has passed. Tao Ling said she doesn’t know if they can extract the DNA.”

Li Hewei’s pupils suddenly contracted. “Blood?”

Blood analysis is often the most powerful evidence to indict a murderer. If the DNA results point to Yang Guang, it will be extremely difficult for Sun Hao to clear himself of suspicion.

“Yes, but the color is faint, so we’ll need luck.”

Zhao Xiaoting turned left toward the restroom, and Li Hewei turned right. She pushed the door open. Tao Ling and An Yu were busy and didn’t notice her presence.

Li Hewei didn’t disturb them, sitting down by the door to wait. Her gaze continuously followed Tao Ling, watching her move between the workbench and the computer desk. She admitted that the slender figure before her seemed to possess an undeniable, hard-to-ignore attractiveness that made her unable to look away, prompting her to constantly pause and stare.

Is this what following a star feels like?

While Li Hewei was deep in thought, An Yu turned around and spotted her.

“Sister Wei?”

“Mhm. When will the results be out?” Li Hewei walked over.

“Hope is slim. Tao Ling and I plan to try other methods.”

“Alright, you two focus on your work. I’ll go back to the office to wait for news.” Tao Ling did not look up. Li Hewei’s gaze lingered on her profile for a moment before she turned and walked out.

She’s quite dedicated.

Unlike the quiet solitude of the lab, the office was particularly lively. Qiu Wan allowed her Major Case Team colleagues to smoke and eat skewers, releasing stress. She ‘abandoned the dark and turned to the light,’ carrying two packs of Sprite and knocking on the Technical Group’s door.

Zhao Xiaoting opened the door, saying casually, “Team Leader Qiu, why are you knocking? Just come in.”

“The rascals next door said they carried documents to see Team Leader Li this afternoon and were scolded simply for not knocking,” Qiu Wan said, placing the Sprite nearby.

Li Hewei sat quietly by the window, her eyes cast downwards. Hearing herself mentioned, she turned her head toward the door and casually said, “Female colleagues are different.”

“Is that preferential treatment?”

Xiao Meng helped pour the Sprite into paper cups, smiling as she replied, “Sister Wei is often like this. You’ll get used to it.”

Zhao Xiaoting and He Ying cleaned the surface of the office desk next to the water dispenser, spreading out five boxes of barbecued skewers with a mix of meat and vegetables.

Qiu Wan looked around and asked, “Where are Xiao Tao and Xiao An? Still in the lab?”

“Yes, the blood analysis results are even more critical than the diamond,” Li Hewei analyzed. “Yang Guang must have been hidden in the trunk. Sun Hao sold the car to the used car dealer after dumping the body. Do you remember? The watch the convenience store Elder Sister mentioned.”

“Are you referring to the diamond embedded in the watch?”

“Yes. If I’m not mistaken, the diamond likely fell into the seam when he was moving the body and scraped against something.” Li Hewei shifted her gaze. “Sister He, where is the jewelry appraisal expert now?”

He Ying wiped her greasy hands with a wet tissue and picked up her phone. “Two more minutes. I’m just about to go meet her at the entrance.”

Qiu Wan pressed her palms together. “Sister He, please hurry.”

The appraisal expert, with her sharp eye, took only five minutes to confirm the diamond was named “General Star,” stating that only twelve such diamonds currently exist, all exclusively purchased by the international watch brand, Langchi.

“Langchi released a limited edition of the ‘General Star’ watch last year, one watch costs 5 million. The standard edition has one less diamond and costs only 3 million.”

“One diamond is worth 2 million?” Zhao Xiaoting did not understand the rich people’s thought process. If she owned the standard edition, she would surely treasure it; how could she bear to wear it?

Let alone the limited edition.

Li Hewei focused on the watch’s whereabouts. “Teacher, can we trace the buyer?”

“Of course. Three watches were sold overseas, two in Hong Kong City, one in Macau City, and the remaining six are in the country. To my knowledge, the son of the Vice General Manager of Rongke Group likes to collect watches; he should own one.”

It was as expected. Qiu Wan asked for details on how to contact Langchi and what procedures were needed to obtain customer information.

The expert told them everything she knew.

After getting the stamped appraisal report, He Ying escorted the expert to the parking lot.

Li Hewei drank rose tea to quench her thirst, finding it odd that Qiu Wan wasn’t dealing with the urgent matter but was calmly taking the skewers out and arranging them neatly on a round platter Zhao Xiaoting had borrowed from the cafeteria.

She asked, “Team Leader Qiu, aren’t you going to the interrogation room?”

“Eat the barbecue first.” Qiu Wan was satisfied with her arrangement and instructed Zhao Xiaoting to heat it up in the microwave. “Xiaoting, don’t mess up the presentation.”

“No problem.”

“Also, call Xiao An and Xiao Tao back. Tell them not to rush.” Qiu Wan planned to wear Sun Hao down, interrogating him when his mind finally broke down in the middle of the night.

“Will do!”

Li Hewei moved over and specifically placed Tao Ling’s chair to her right. Qiu Wan, on the left, was replying to friends’ messages, occasionally chatting with her. “Do you think Zhou Lin was involved in the murder?”

“Hard to say. She is extremely smart and her words are watertight.” Li Hewei mentally reviewed the interrogation process, pointing out a suspicious detail. “Sun Hao confirmed that Zhou Lin went to the villa to get fruit, but why was she wearing a mask and pretending to be ill?”

“I don’t know if she was feigning illness or genuinely sick. Her hometown neighbor confirmed that Zhou Lin wore a mask all the time.”

“So that’s the case. You didn’t tell me she had a witness.” Li Hewei suppressed a sigh. She was meticulous and did not overlook any flaw, proposing another question worthy of deeper exploration. “According to Zhou Lin’s testimony, she initially didn’t know about Yang Guang’s affair with Sun Luying. What is your opinion?”

Qiu Wan shook her head. “She’s probably lying. It’s too coincidental.”

He Ying happened to walk in, heard them discussing the details, and offered her insight. “Could it be that Zhou Lin deliberately approached Sun Hao, using him to kill her husband? As for the reason…”

Li Hewei’s thought aligned with hers. “The reason? If we reverse the sequence of events, what if she knew about Yang Guang’s affair with Sun Luying beforehand?”

All the abnormal phenomena started to emerge from the complicated clues. Qiu Wan stripped away the layers, summarizing, “This then becomes a typical crime of passion, made unique by Zhou Lin using someone else as a shield.”

Her words were still hanging on her lips when the footsteps of the other three approached from far away.

He Ying turned to greet them. “Come quickly and have a seat.”

Everyone had arrived. Three plates of hot, steaming barbecue were laid out. Six people, one cup of Sprite each. Qiu Wan began, “Thank you for your hard work, everyone. Eat to your heart’s content tonight. Bureau Chief Liu is paying.”

“Thank you, Bureau Chief Liu!”

Li Hewei sipped the Sprite twice, frowned, and set the paper cup aside. She reached for a skewer of beef coated in chili, steeled herself, and bit off half of it. Without waiting for the spiciness to register in her nerves, she chewed hastily and swallowed it. The method seemed viable; she thought she could handle it. Li Hewei repeated the process, eating two skewers of pork belly. By the fourth skewer, her lips were belatedly numb.

So spicy.

“Sister Wei, are you okay?” Tao Ling watched her constantly drink water, her face filled with concern.

“Is chili particularly cheap in Shu Province? The owner is so generous with it.” Though Li Hewei said this, she couldn’t resist picking up a skewer of lotus root.

Qiu Wan was secretly shocked but did not show it, only asking in feigned surprise, “You can’t eat spicy food?”

Li Hewei explained calmly, “I haven’t been able to tolerate spicy food since I was discharged from the hospital.”

“That’s such a pity. We can’t live without spice.” Qiu Wan, sitting to the left of the water dispenser, reached out and took a glass of water for her. “Rinse it before you eat.”

Li Hewei remembered purchasing two packets of Samyang Fire Noodles a few years ago out of curiosity. The next day after eating them, she broke out in acne and even had mouth ulcers. She refused to admit defeat, asserting, “Rinsing takes away the flavor. I’ll try more. I have to learn to adapt eventually.”

“Keep it moderate.”

Working in the police station, even during moments of relaxation, the conversation inevitably circles back to the case after a few sentences. While satisfying her taste buds, Qiu Wan couldn’t help but think of the diamond.

“Xiao Tao, can the blood extracted from the diamond be used to detect DNA?”

“We’re still working on it. We are using BIOG to lyse the cells and microorganisms in the blood,” Tao Ling explained the difficulties they faced as plainly as possible: how to completely lyse the red blood cells and effectively remove the hemoglobin.

“The team next door is banking on the Technical Group. I have them taking turns chatting with Sun Hao in the interrogation room, hoping to exhaust his last remaining will.” The take-out food was delivered to the Major Case Team first, and since they were all ravenous eaters, ten boxes of skewers were emptied in just fifteen minutes. Seeing them idle, Qiu Wan specially went over to assign them tasks.

“Sun Hao won’t shed a tear until he sees the coffin. You still need to place irrefutable evidence in front of him,” Li Hewei said, having finished her sixth skewer of potatoes. She refilled her paper cup from the Sprite bottle, joining the conversation. She knew that her 32-year-old palate could not be changed in an instant, so she stopped and only drank Sprite, no longer touching the barbecue.

“After I’ve eaten and rested for two hours, I’ll go meet with him again.” People are usually most fatigued and emotionally volatile between three and four in the morning, making it easy for them to give themselves away. Qiu Wan, with over nine years of grassroots experience, was battle-tested and mastered dozens of methods to deal with different types of criminal suspects. Sun Hao was just small fry to her.

However, fate had other plans. Xiao Lu suddenly burst in, taking two hurried breaths, and eagerly reported, “Boss, Sun Hao says his heart is uncomfortable and he’s demanding to go to the hospital for treatment.”