Silent Testimony - Chapter 93

The Major Crimes Unit locked onto two taxis: Shu A29U3R and Shu A76V2K. Wang Cen focused on identifying the man with the tattoo, while Qiu Wan contacted the driver who had picked up Li Hewei.

Xiao Zhou checked the driver’s info. “Boss, she’s on the night shift tonight.”

“What’s her number?” Qiu Wan asked, gripping her phone.

“13x-xxxx-xxxx. But Boss, why are you looking for her? To prove Captain Li wasn’t at the scene?”

Qiu Wan didn’t answer; she just dialed the number.

“Hello?”

Qiu Wan introduced herself and explained her intent.

“I don’t remember much,” the driver replied. “But I have a habit of collecting plastic bottles. I can take you to find them.”

“Thank you, that would be helpful.” Qiu Wan was digging into every potential lead, no matter how small. She was betting on her experience—sometimes solving a case required a bit of luck.

Xiao Zhou had a realization. “Boss, you’re following the ‘3.24 Murder Case’ from the neighboring district two years ago, right? That old lady who collected bottles provided the key evidence!”

“Exactly.” Qiu Wan turned to Tao Ling, who was already heading for the door. “Xiao Tao, don’t rush. I’ll have Old Zhu drive us; you can catch a nap on the way.”

At nearly 6:00 AM, Qiu Wan, Tao Ling, and An Yu knocked on the door of the driver, Ms. Han.

Ms. Han opened the door and whispered, “Officers, please keep your voices down. My daughter is still sleeping.” She was a single mother who co-rented a taxi with two other mothers, working in shifts to get by.

“We understand.”

The three followed her to a storage room. “I sell my recyclables every two weeks,” Ms. Han said, unlocking the door to reveal a mountain of plastic bottles. “I only pick up bottles and cardboard for my child’s health; they aren’t dirty.”

“You’re a good mother,” Qiu Wan said sincerely.

“You three do what you need to do; I’ll go make breakfast for the kid.”

Once she left, Qiu Wan assigned tasks. “Xiao Tao, you take the left. An, the right. I’ll take the middle. Bring back every Ganten-brand bottle you find.”

Ten minutes later, they had collected 67 bottles. Before leaving, Qiu Wan tucked 50 yuan under a tin box on the shelf, called out a goodbye to the kitchen, and left.

In the back of the car, An Yu stretched. “I hope we find something.”

Tao Ling looked out at the pre-dawn sky, a rare, faint smile touching her lips. “I hope so too.”

In the forensics lab, Tao Ling and An Yu extracted the residual water from the bottles. After two hours of testing, they found a match: one bottle contained Benzodiazepines.

An Yu frowned. “The concentration is high. Two or three sips would cause a blackout. One could even suffocate from hypoxia if they weren’t careful.” It was Triazolam—colorless, tasteless, and dozens of times more potent than standard Diazepam.

Tao Ling’s hand trembled slightly as she held the test tube. “Extract the DNA.”

Twenty minutes later, the results were in: The DNA matched Li Hewei’s profile.

An Yu let out a long breath of relief. “Thank God!”

Qiu Wan walked in, looking tense. “How is it?”

Tao Ling’s eyes brightened. “Good news. Wait for Sister An to print the report.”

“Tell me now.”

Tao Ling pointed to the screen. “Exactly as you thought. Triazolam and DNA both match.”

Qiu Wan’s brow relaxed. “Perfect. Come with me to the meeting.”

“Me?”

“It’s a core meeting. The leader sent from Shujiang is tough to deal with; we have to convince him. His name is Jiang—a former Puchen detective who was promoted directly to Deputy Division Chief.”

“I’ll do my best,” Tao Ling said. Li Hewei was her weakness, but she was also her armor.

Inside the meeting room, Tao Ling sat beside Qiu Wan. After Wang Cen summarized the investigation, Captain Jiang spoke up. “Based on current evidence, I intend to summon Li Hewei again. Officer Peng will lead the interrogation.”

Officer Peng was a 20-year veteran and an expert in criminal psychology from Shujiang, credited with solving over 2,000 cases.

“We can summon her,” Qiu Wan interjected, “but the tech team has found new evidence. Forensic Doctor Tao, you have the floor.”

Tao Ling walked to the front with poise. She displayed the autopsy photos and explained the differences between the two murders.

“So you’re saying it wasn’t the same person?” Captain Jiang asked.

“Yes.”

“Could she have done it on purpose? To confuse us?”

“It’s possible,” Tao Ling replied coolly. “But her ‘acting’ would have to be so good that she’s played all of us for fools.”

Captain Jiang laughed. “Little girl, you’re young. When professionals commit crimes, their counter-reconnaissance is top-tier. It’s very tricky for the police.”

Qiu Wan stepped in. “Xiao Tao, pull up the photo of the taxi driver from Du Guozhou’s route. Sister Wang, you explain.”

Wang Cen took over, explaining that the man with the tattoo was a major suspect who had stolen a car on February 5th, picked up Du Guozhou at 9:03 PM, and vanished. On the same night at 11:27 PM, he was seen near the crime scene with a woven bag.

“And then there’s this,” Tao Ling said, showing the photos of the plastic bottle and the lab report. “At 9:12 PM on Feb 5th, Li Hewei’s taxi was at an intersection. We found a bottle from that car containing high concentrations of Triazolam. We also found Li Hewei’s DNA in the water and on the rim. This proves she was drugged and unconscious, exactly as she claimed in her statement.”

She spoke with such professional conviction that Captain Jiang fell silent for a moment. He then asked, “If she only drank a little, would her sleep be shorter?”

“If she had only drank a tiny amount,” Tao Ling said firmly, “we wouldn’t have found her DNA inside the water, only on the rim. Captain Jiang, please trust my professional expertise.”

“Fine,” Jiang conceded. “That leaves three possibilities: the tattoo man acted alone; he acted with an unconscious Li Hewei to mislead us; or he acted with a third person we haven’t noticed yet.”

Just then, Officer Peng—the psychology expert—walked in. She was a woman with short hair and a sharp, heroic aura.

“Captain Qiu, give Peng the details,” Jiang said.

After the others left, Qiu Wan played the interrogation tapes for Peng. The expert watched Li Hewei’s micro-expressions and body language intently. After a while, she let out a huff.

“There’s no problem here,” Peng said. “She isn’t lying.”