Silent Testimony - Chapter 37

“Dr. Lin, the police are looking for you. She said she had already contacted Director Gao and needs the patient in bed 8, Jiao Yang, to cooperate with taking a statement.”

“Sister Sun, please take them to the interview room first. I’ll be there as soon as I finish up here.”

“Alright.”

The female doctor turned back, warmed her stethoscope, and motioned for the patient to lift their clothes, calmly and carefully examining the symptoms.

Inside the interview room, Li Hewei sat in the single armchair next to Tao Ling, thoughtfully saying, “I think I’ve seen Dr. Lin Ye’s name on the directory somewhere.”

Tao Ling temporarily suppressed the jumbled thoughts in her heart and answered her, “You probably clashed during a debate competition before.”

Li Hewei looked confused. “Debate competition?”

“Yes. You became the president of the School of Medicine’s debate club in your sophomore year, and Dr. Lin was the president of the debate club for the Clinical Medicine School next door.” Tao Ling and Li Hewei graduated from the School of Basic Medicine and Forensic Science at Shujiang University. Although they were five years apart, Tao Ling knew almost all of Li Hewei’s college history through Tao Yang.

Li Hewei suddenly realized. “Oh, right, I have a photo frame with group pictures in my study. No wonder she looks familiar.” With nothing else to do, she intentionally tried to make conversation. “Was I in the same graduating class as Dr. Lin?”

“She was in the Class of ’07, you were in the Class of ’08.”

Just as Tao Ling finished speaking, the person they were discussing walked in.

Qiu Wan, who had been silently receiving and sending messages, stood up and introduced them politely one by one. “Dr. Lin, hello. I’m Qiu Wan from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Puchen Public Security Bureau, this is Officer Li, who is in charge of the Technical Team, and this is Forensic Pathologist Tao.”

Lin Ye nodded, her smile just right. “I recognize Officer Li. Long time no see.”

“Long time no see, Dr. Lin.” Li Hewei muttered internally, It’s a good thing I had the foresight to catch up on things beforehand.

Lin Ye was busy, with many patients waiting for her, so she got straight to the point: “I understand your request, but I must remind you of a few points.”

Qiu Wan listened carefully. “Please tell us.”

“Jiao Yang was stabbed four times and lost too much blood. Her condition is not good, so I hope the statement-taking time can be kept within 20 minutes.”

Qiu Wan agreed. “No problem.”

“Don’t bring up anything that might excite her.”

“Understood.”

“If the patient shows any physical abnormality, please ring the bell directly or find me in the doctor’s office.” Lin Ye picked up the medical record. “That’s all for now.”

Qiu Wan was polite. “Thank you for taking the time, Dr. Lin.”

“It is also my duty to cooperate with your police work.” Lin Ye held the doorknob and smiled faintly. “I’ll go back to work now.”

Lin Ye left the interview room. Qiu Wan and Li Hewei quickly moved, bypassing the triage desk and turning right, knocking on the door before entering Jiao Yang’s ward.

“Chen Meng, do you still recognize me?” Jiao Yang’s name before she changed it was Chen Meng.

Jiao Yang asked weakly, “Qiu Wan?”

“That’s right.” Qiu Wan placed the fruit basket nearby, pulled up two tall stools, and they sat down. “You should know what my job is.”

A slight curve appeared on Jiao Yang’s lips. “Serving the people.”

“This is my colleague.”

Li Hewei nodded. “Hello.”

“Hello.” Jiao Yang tilted her head to look at Qiu Wan, her voice low and slow. “Qiu, one never comes without a purpose. Tell me.”

“Okay.” Qiu Wan pulled out Zhang Dalun’s photo. “Do you recognize him?”

“No.”

“He collaborated with another assailant to stab you.” Qiu Wan showed Chen Han’s photo.

Jiao Yang’s wound hurt, and she frowned as she asked, “This means, you caught the killer?”

“Yes. The police from Wanyang Town called you this morning, and you said the assailants were masked and you couldn’t see their faces, so I brought their photos.” Qiu Wan pulled out a third photo. “What about him?”

Jiao Yang recognized him immediately. “Qian Gang?”

“That’s right. He paid for someone to kill you.” Since Jiao Yang was the direct victim of the attempted murder, Qiu Wan told her the truth.

“You… cough cough.” Jiao Yang coughed twice, then regained her breath before asking, “You’re saying he’s the mastermind?”

“Yes. However, he has already gone missing. I want to know why you had a falling out?”

Jiao Yang adjusted her breathing. “We didn’t fall out. He and I partnered in coal mining ten years ago… Later, the demand for coal decreased, and the business plummeted. He chose to start a black taxi company, and I went into e-commerce.”

Li Hewei recorded the details and asked, “When was the last time you contacted him?”

“About six months ago. It was my mother’s sixtieth birthday, and I asked him to arrange transport for my relatives.” Jiao Yang emphasized, “I paid him plenty, plus an extra 100 yuan red packet for each driver.”

“I know you’re generous.” Qiu Wan changed her line of thinking. “Chen Meng, as far as you know, what kind of person is Qian Gang? Does he make enemies?”

“Old Qian is a relatively straightforward person… Do business rivals count? Wanyang Town initially had three black taxi companies. Later, Old Qian ran a promotion… gradually monopolizing the market.”

Qiu Wan was alert. “Who were the heads of the other two companies?”

Jiao Yang pointed for Qiu Wan to take the phone from the drawer. “Check the contacts: Zeng Zong and Chong Lei.”

“Thank you.” Qiu Wan noted the numbers, chatted briefly with Jiao Yang, reminded her to take care of her health, and then left the ward.

Tao Ling followed closely behind the two, and being skilled at observing details, she pointed out a suspicious detail: “Sister Qiu, during the statement-taking just now, a doctor lingered outside the door for about five minutes. I told her the police were conducting an investigation and she couldn’t approach, and then she walked away.”

“A doctor?”

“Yes, the nurse called her Director Shang.”

Qiu Wan suddenly stopped upon hearing this, her eyes filled with obscure emotion. “It’s nothing; it’s unrelated to the case.” She typed a message to Xiao Zhou and put her phone in her pocket, looking up to see the same figure. Her already furrowed brow tightened again.

Li Hewei noticed her mood. “What’s wrong?”

Qiu Wan was silent for two seconds, then slowly said, “I’ll be right back.” She turned left, following the woman ahead, passed through the ward area and the doctors’ work area, and finally stopped at the rooftop on the second floor.

“Xiao Wan.” The woman, whose features resembled Qiu Wan’s, smiled gently and called her name affectionately.

Qiu Wan’s expression was stiff. “I don’t like other people calling me Xiao Wan.”

The woman choked up and corrected herself, “Xiao Qiu, I was rehired by the Hepatobiliary Surgery Department of the Second Affiliated Hospital and just returned from Yancheng at the beginning of the month.”

“I know.” The woman was Shang Lan, Qiu Wan’s biological mother.

“I heard you’re working in the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Puchen Public Security Bureau?”

“You didn’t ‘hear’; Grandma told you, didn’t she?” Qiu Wan bit her lip, her voice trembling slightly. “Shang Lan, I actually looked up to you since I was little… But what happened later? Grandma was sick, you were busy. It was my birthday, you were busy… You couldn’t even bring yourself to make one phone call?”

Qiu Wan took a deep breath and questioned the woman, “Now that you’ve retired, are you back to enjoy your old age?”

Shang Lan shook her head. “Xiao Qiu, mother and daughter shouldn’t hold a grudge overnight.”

Qiu Wan smiled bitterly. “Mother and daughter? You actually never wanted to give birth to me, did you?”

Shang Lan quickly explained, “I was young then, and always focused on my career…”

“Heh, I knew it.” Qiu Wan stared straight at her, her eyes misting over. “You really should have been more resolute and refused Grandma’s unreasonable demands.” The effort was too late in coming. Qiu Wan turned her back and said in a deep voice, “I’m investigating a case and am very busy right now. If you have time, go visit Grandma.” She took a step forward, and two streams of tears fell silently. “As for me, just grant your wish of many years: pretend you don’t have a daughter named me.”