Silent Testimony - Chapter 65

In the late afternoon, the sky was gloomy and seemed ready to rain. The trio left the apartment building where the incident occurred. Qiu Wan gestured for Li Hewei to unlock the car, then went ahead to pull open the driver’s side door. “I’ll take you home to rest.” She crouched and settled in, fastening her seat belt as she spoke. “Xiao Tao, you don’t need to return to the police station. You can write your report at home.”

“Okay.” Tao Ling turned her head to look at Li Hewei beside her, who was deep in thought, her brow tightly furrowed.

“Hewei, I’ll transfer the recording to you later. No rush; take your time drawing.”

“Mhm.”

The results were still unsatisfactory. Li Hewei’s thoughts were a mess; she couldn’t form a rough outline of the suspect in her mind, much less create a composite sketch.

“Besides, we can start from other angles. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”

It was rush hour, so Qiu Wan avoided the typically congested main road, choosing to take a detour and turning right onto a narrow street with only two lanes. At the upcoming intersection, with only five seconds left on the green light, she lightly applied the brakes just to be safe, but the small car did not slow down.

Qiu Wan instantly became alert, pressing the brake twice in quick succession, but still failing to slow the vehicle. Her eyebrows shot up. “Something’s wrong.”

“What is it?” Li Hewei suddenly opened her eyes.

“Brake failure. When did you last have maintenance done?”

“August. The 4S shop checked it; there were no problems.” Li Hewei’s head buzzed. “Could it be sabotage?”

“I don’t know. I’ll try to stop the car.” Qiu Wan hit the hazard lights and gripped the steering wheel. Fortunately, there were no vehicles ahead, and they ran the red light through the intersection. However, due to the downhill slope, the car’s speed was rapidly increasing, having already soared to 40 kph.

“Fasten your seat belts, both of you!”

Tao Ling’s chest rose and fell rapidly. She took a deep breath and pulled out her phone to check the road conditions nearby. “Sister Qiu, turn right at the second intersection onto Haiyuan Road. It’s uphill; without stepping on the accelerator, we should be able to stop quickly.”

“Good.”

To make matters worse, dense raindrops smashed against the car window, and the downpour intensified.

Qiu Wan turned on the wipers, holding her breath and focusing on driving straight. However, turning right at nearly 50 kph made it impossible to see the road conditions ahead clearly. In a distance of less than 20 meters, two or three schoolgirls with backpacks, walking home from school, scrambled across the road. Caught completely by surprise, Qiu Wan could only violently turn the steering wheel to the left, using all her strength to try to steer around them. She attempted to force the vehicle to stop but realized she was powerless to change the outcome. She released the steering wheel, lifted her feet, and shielded her head, face, and chest with her arms. In a flash, the small car slammed into the guardrail of the median strip.

In the back seat, both were wearing seat belts. Li Hewei instinctively leaned sideways to shield Tao Ling’s head, and due to inertia, her elbow hit the front seat. She groaned in pain. Recovering, her first thought was Tao Ling’s safety.

“Are you okay?”

“Sister Wei!”

Almost simultaneously, Tao Ling suddenly opened her eyes and cried out in alarm.

“I’m fine, just my elbow hurts a little. How about you?” Li Hewei was still shaken, her breathing noticeably rapid.

Having narrowly escaped death, Tao Ling’s face was deathly pale. Her eyes were red as she checked the injury to Li Hewei’s elbow.

“I’m really okay; at least it’s not broken.” Li Hewei calmed her breathing slightly, enduring the pain as she raised her arm to move the joint.

Confirming that Li Hewei was generally fine, Tao Ling actively moved closer, reached out, and embraced her without hesitation. Although she remained silent, Li Hewei clearly saw her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

“It’s okay, let’s get out of the car first. And, Sister Qiu!” Li Hewei gently pulled away, turning quickly. She saw Qiu Wan trying to push the car door open. Just as she was about to ask about her injuries, Qiu Wan spoke first. “Scrapes and bruises. I’m not going to die, but the car hood and door are severely damaged. I can’t get out right now.”

“Wait a moment.” Li Hewei checked for oncoming traffic behind them. She and Tao Ling got out of the car, and with the help of a kind passerby, they managed to pry open the passenger’s side door from the outside.

A girl holding an umbrella nearby said, “I’ve already called 120. They should arrive soon.”

Li Hewei sincerely thanked her.

Tao Ling crouched down and squeezed into the car, asking Qiu Wan, “Sister Qiu, can you crawl over?”

“I’ll try.” Qiu Wan turned her back, hunched over, and used her functional right hand to grip the seat back and push hard, moving agonizingly to the right.

Tao Ling was anxious and distraught. She backed up slightly to give room. “Give me your hand.”

“No need, I’ll go slowly.” Qiu Wan gritted her teeth and edged forward. In the end, she had to use Tao Ling’s assistance to successfully pull herself free from the vehicle and stand steadily on the ground, walking toward the shelter of a shop entrance across the street to avoid the rain.

“Where are you hurt?” Li Hewei asked frantically.

“My left arm is probably dislocated, maybe a slight fracture. Other places have varying degrees of scrapes. Fortunately, I reacted quickly, and my legs didn’t get stuck inside.” Qiu Wan possessed good emergency avoidance experience, but she couldn’t help feeling scared. “Brake failure! It’s a miracle we survived.”

“I dragged you two into this.” Li Hewei bit her lip, her lowered hands clenched into fists.

“Don’t overthink it. Maybe the mechanic was careless during maintenance and didn’t spot the problem with the braking system.” Just as she finished speaking, Tao Ling’s phone vibrated, showing a call from Cheng Yingqiu.

Tao Ling answered, and an anxious voice came through the receiver. “You two, are you both okay? And her? I only saw you and Sister outside the car in the photos.” Ten minutes earlier, onlookers had taken photos. As a reporter, Cheng Yingqiu had immediately seen the pictures in her work group.

[A car accident on Haiyuan Road. Something always happens when it pours.]

[Photo]

[Photo]

Cheng Yingqiu naturally recognized Li Hewei’s license plate number and immediately called, burning with anxiety. Both Qiu Wan and Li Hewei’s phones were unresponsive, so she pinned her hopes on Tao Ling.

“We are all safe.”

“Are you hurt?”

Tao Ling looked at the injured Qiu Wan and pursed her lips. “Sister Wei and I are fine, but Sister Qiu…”

Cheng Yingqiu’s heart instantly constricted, her voice husky. “What about her?”

“Xiao Tao, give me that.” Qiu Wan took the phone, forced a smile onto her lips, and gently reassured her. “It’s just minor injuries; nothing serious.”

Cheng Yingqiu’s voice held a hidden sob. “Where are you?”

“Going to the hospital soon.”

“Is it People’s Hospital? Do you need to go to Shujiang?”

The concern was evident. Qiu Wan felt a warmth in her heart. “I’ll go to the nearest hospital for a check-up first. We’ll go to Shujiang if treatment is needed, okay?”

“Mhm. I’m calling a taxi to the hospital right away.”

Qiu Wan didn’t stop her. “Be careful.”

After hanging up, the girl who had helped call the police ran over to greet them. “The ambulance is here. Should one of you stay to wait for the traffic police?”

Li Hewei instructed Tao Ling, “You and Sister Qiu go to the hospital first.”

Tao Ling shook her head, refusing. “Your elbow is injured, too. You need to get an X-ray to confirm the extent of the injury.”

Having just experienced the car accident, Li Hewei was nervous and dared not let Tao Ling go alone. She looked intently at Tao Ling, lowering her voice. “Be obedient. I know what I’m doing.”

Ultimately, Li Hewei stayed behind to handle the aftermath, while Tao Ling accompanied Qiu Wan to the hospital in the ambulance.

In the hospital emergency room, doctors checked Qiu Wan’s injuries, cleaned the wounds, and took a CT scan. Li Hewei finished dealing with the accident’s aftermath but didn’t go to the ward. Instead, she sat on a bench by the back door, staring up at the endless night sky, emptying her mind.

The brake failure was confirmed to be sabotage. So, this was aimed at her. This time, she dragged Qiu Wan into it. Next time, it would be Tao Ling.

Li Hewei lowered her eyelids, an indescribable sense of suppression building in her heart. Her phone vibrated repeatedly, but she ignored it until the five characters “Serious Crime Squad Wang Cen” unexpectedly caught her eye. Only then did she press the answer button.

“Sister Wang.”

“I went to the ward to see Xiao Qiu; she hasn’t woken up.”

Li Hewei’s voice caught in her throat. She suppressed her emotions and relayed Qiu Wan’s work arrangements to Wang Cen. “Sister Wang, thank you for taking the lead.”

“Why say that? Let her rest easy and recover.”

“Mhm. Also, regarding the brakes, find someone to ask the owners of the nearby shops if they saw any suspicious individuals.”

“Okay, I’ll have Xiao Zhou go.”

“We should first investigate the people the victim frequently contacted, as a stranger wouldn’t have the opportunity to administer sleeping pills in a short time.”

“That’s the tricky part. The six people who traveled together all used the same brand of thermos mug.”

Li Hewei instantly became alert. “So, it was easy to mistake the thermos mug?” She pondered for a moment, then asked, “Who did he see on the evening of the 6th?”

“He saw all of them. They drank and ate together and didn’t go home until almost 10 p.m.”

“Did all five other colleagues give their statements?”

“Yes. They can all vouch for each other, and the hotel surveillance also confirms they didn’t leave their rooms.”

“Sister Wang, please send me their statements.” Li Hewei decided they couldn’t waste any more time. After ending the call, she immediately contacted Tao Ling: [Come downstairs. We’ll go home now. We can leave Sister Qiu to Yingqiu.]

On the second floor emergency ward, Tao Ling whispered the situation to Cheng Yingqiu, then carefully and quietly closed the door and left the room.

The sound of footsteps faded down the hallway. Cheng Yingqiu withdrew her gaze, staring intently at Qiu Wan. She reached out and wrapped her hand around Qiu Wan’s right hand, which was not hooked up to the IV drip, and said in a muffled tone, “Sleep longer. Look how exhausted you are.”

“Your colleague said you only slept three hours last night, but you lied to me and said you slept a full six hours.”

“Why doesn’t anyone keep an eye on you? Don’t you care about your life?”

“Hmph.”

“You said it was a minor injury. If it were any more serious, you’d need surgery. An injury to bone and tendon takes a hundred days to heal. You must rest.”

Cheng Yingqiu was afraid of disturbing her rest, mumbling words that even she could barely hear. After venting, she turned her head and sulked.

“So noisy.”

“Hmm?” Cheng Yingqiu noticed the pressure on her palm increase. She turned back delightedly and saw Qiu Wan’s eyes partially open, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, likely from the pain.

“I said, someone is very noisy.”

Cheng Yingqiu’s eyes immediately grew warm. She feigned a scolding look. “How dare you complain that I’m noisy.”

Qiu Wan looked at her with shimmering eyes, the corners of her lips curved into a clear smile. She whispered softly, “It’s okay. I like it.”