Forensic Forensic - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Seeing Luo Jianan staring at him with horror, Qi Ming grabbed the mineral water bottle from the hood of the car and shook it at him. “Ice compresses for contusions, strains, and sprains are most effective within two hours of injury. If you don’t want to be unable to lift your arm tomorrow, don’t be so shy.”

Oh, so Qi Ming wanted to tie the mineral water bottle to his shoulder to cool him. Luo Jianan breathed a sigh of relief, took off his coat, and just as he was about to unbuckle his belt, he realized it wasn’t appropriate with so many people around, so he simply hid in the car. Taking the belt from Luo Jianan, Qi Ming placed the mineral water bottle against the injured area. He immediately saw a chill run down Luo Jianan’s right arm, and the hairs on his body stood up. It was only around 10 degrees Celsius outside, and the breeze had been a bit chilly earlier. Now putting an ice cube on it must be uncomfortable.

“Be patient. If you have the courage to be a hero, be prepared to get hurt.” Qi Ming tightened his belt buckle and pulled out a tissue to wipe away the condensation dripping down Luo Jianan’s arm. “But don’t do it next time. I don’t want to piece you apart on the autopsy table.”

“It’s only the third floor. It won’t break apart.” Luo Jianan grinned, rolled down the window, lit a cigarette, and exhaled. Suddenly, he remembered that Qi Ming smoked too, so he handed the pack to him and asked, “Want one?”

Before Qi Ming could say anything, the man in the back seat called out, “Um… comrade… no, leader… can you give me one?”

“Get lost! Don’t even think about smoking until the matter is explained clearly. Don’t even think about drinking water!” Luo Jianan glared angrily at Tang Jianxiao’s face in the rearview mirror.

Qi Ming snatched the cigarette from Luo Jianan’s hand, took a puff, crushed it, and threw it out the window. Turning to the surprised Luo Jianan, he said, “You should smoke less too.”

Luo Jianan was stunned for a long moment before coming to his senses. What had just happened? Qi Ming smoked his old cigarette!? This isn’t… isn’t this…

He gritted his teeth and forced the words “indirect kiss” out of his mind.

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Tang Jianxiao was a decent-looking man, but after seeing the crime scene photos spread out on the interrogation table, especially the close-up of Feng Wenyue’s face, his face contorted like a character in a horror movie about to be killed. He hastily pushed the photos aside, his face pale and beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

“Stop playing dumb!” Luo Jianan kicked the iron chair where the man sat. “Listen up, anyone who enters this room can’t leave until they’ve completely emptied their stomach!”

In a few seconds, Tang Jianxiao actually vomited everything he had. Luo Jianan nearly vomited all over himself. After a moment of shock, he grabbed Tang Jianxiao by the collar, forced him back against the chair, and yelled, “Fvck you! You’re attacking police officers with biological weapons?!”

Miao Hong, who was taking the statement, frowned and stood up, calling for someone to come in and clean up.

“Leader…Leader, I really didn’t…” Tang Jianxiao was almost breathless, his face flushing red. “I really didn’t mean to do that…I haven’t seen the body…”

“You haven’t seen the body? Then how did she die, huh?!” Luo Jiannan grabbed Feng Wenyue’s photo and pressed it against Tang Jianxiao’s face. “Didn’t you say you were going to turn yourself in? You’re just bullshit!”

Tang Jianxiao closed his eyes and yelled, “That’s not what I’m turning myself in for, Leader!”

Hearing this on the surveillance camera, Chen Fei immediately stood up and knocked on the one-way glass of the interrogation room, signaling Luo Jiannan to let go so he could get to the bottom of the matter. Years of criminal investigation had honed his sharp eyes, allowing him to instantly identify the murderer. When Luo Jiannan brought Tang Jianxiao back, his first reaction was that they had the wrong person, but when he heard Luo Jiannan say he was going to turn himself in, he thought he’d made a mistake.

Luo Jiannan made way for the cleaners, and once they were gone, he immediately threatened Tang Jianxiao: “Tell me! Tell me all the bad things you’ve done!”

“I really… I didn’t…” Tang Jianxiao stuttered, swallowing and sighing. “I plead guilty. I illegally sold platelets. But, boss, it was to save lives! Do you know how much a bag of platelets costs at the hospital? Sixteen thousand! Five or six transfusions a month, and medical insurance doesn’t cover it. And that’s even with a good bl00d supply. But some patients have unique bl00d types, the kind commonly known as panda bl00d. Waiting thirty or forty days for a bag of platelets is like lying in the hospital, waiting to die!”

Luo Jiannan was slightly startled and turned to look at Miao Hong. Tang Jianxiao’s story was well-reasoned and logical, and he didn’t sound like he was lying.

Miao Hong glanced at Tang Jianxiao and turned to go out and negotiate with Chen Fei. If this grandson was telling the truth, there must be a gang behind him illegally collecting and selling bl00d products. The Criminal Investigation Department would establish a special task force to investigate gang-related crimes, and they had to report this to their superiors immediately.

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Chen Fei’s point was to first investigate the discovery of Tang Jianxiao’s DNA in Feng Wenyue’s fingernails. Since he’d already been arrested and confessed, he was bound to be detained. He would communicate with his superiors about Tang Jianxiao’s allegations and dispatch a special task force to investigate. The most important thing right now was to sort out the evidence found on the body.

“Do you know her?” Luo Jiannan held up the deceased’s photo again.

Tang Jianxiao turned away and nodded. “Head Nurse Feng, help me contact the patient’s family.”

Luo Jiannan and Miao Hong exchanged glances.

“But she didn’t take any bribes. Seriously, she never took a single penny.”

“How did you two know each other?” Luo Jiannan asked.

Tang Jianxiao wiped his nose, his head hanging dejectedly. “My brother is such a loser. He’s always in the hospital and the police station for smoking noodles. But ultimately, it’s all my fault… Sigh… I had a little money back then, and I don’t know why I got so cocky about it. I played with modified cars, and then I got in an accident. I’m fine, just a few scars on my chin, but my brother broke several bones. He was in so much pain, tossing and turning at night. Then he met some jerk who taught him to smoke noodles to relieve the pain. That’s good, the pain went away, but he got addicted. By the time I found out, he’d already owed millions in loan sharks…”

Seeing Tang Jianxiao pause, Miao Hong tapped on her notebook. “Go on.”

“I just thought, this trouble is my fault, and I feel so sorry for my brother. So I sold my company and house to pay off his debts. My wife divorced me because of this. Mom was so worried that she had a cerebral hemorrhage and is now lying half-dead in a nursing home.” Tang Jianxiao closed his eyes and sighed. “I used to be a medical supply distributor. I have some connections in the hospital. I knew that patients in the hematology department were short of bl00d. I also thought this was a quick way to make money, so I started this business last year. I had never been to Renhe Hospital before, it’s a tertiary hospital. I can’t get close to him… My brother was high that day, and he was in a terrible state at home. I had no money at the time, and even if I did, I wouldn’t have dared to buy noodles from the drug dealers. With no other options left, I decided to find an unfamiliar hospital and steal two bottles of Demerol from the nurses’ station to give him. Sometimes nurses’ stations keep medication that doctors have ordered but haven’t used, especially during the night shift. Unexpectedly, Head Nurse Feng ran into him.

Luo Jianan snorted, “You’re threatening me after getting caught stealing. Home?”

“I’m so worried! Boss! My brother was so upset he tried to stab himself at home!” Tang Jianxiao frowned. “After all, we’re brothers from the same mother. Broken bones and tangled tendons. How could I just sit there and watch him suffer? Luckily, ever since I started selling bl00d, I’ve always carried my brother’s ID card with me. We look the same, so even if we get caught, the criminal record will be in his name. He’s already registered at the police station anyway… The police didn’t find anything on me that day, and I was tortured at the police station. After two hours of reprimand, I was released. When I came out, I ran into Head Nurse Feng, who was taking my statement. She asked me why I stole, so I told her everything about my family. She was incredibly kind, truly, I’ve never met anyone so kind. She immediately gave me 500 yuan and told me to get my brother to a detox center, saying it was impossible to quit at home… Later, when I tried to return the money, she refused to take it.

Luo Jiannan tapped out a cigarette, glanced at Miao Hong’s face before lighting it, and then, with a smirk, handed it to Tang Jianxiao. Tang Jianxiao took the cigarette respectfully, took a puff, and squinted his eyes through the smoke.

“One day, she called me out of the blue and asked if I could help a patient find panda bl00d platelets. The family was willing to pay 2,000 yuan a bag. I thought it was ridiculous at the time. You can’t judge a person by their appearance, but you can’t tell what they are like. I didn’t expect that Head Nurse Feng was just trying to make extra money. I called five bl00d dealers before I found a bag. I paid for it and received it. But when I handed the money to Head Nurse Feng, she told me that doing this was unethical and that asking for more money was worse than a pig or a dog!”

Tang Jianxiao took a long drag on his cigarette, mixing the stagnant air in his chest with the smoke and slowly exhaling.

“Yes, the bl00d dealer’s bl00d isn’t clean and could potentially carry infectious diseases. But some people waiting for bl00d might not even see the next morning if they don’t have that bag. It’s all just a last resort… Head Nurse Feng later told me that her sister died of leukemia over a decade ago. If she’d received a platelet transfusion and survived a bone marrow transplant, she might still be alive. The girl she helped find the platelets for was the same age as her sister when she died… She said that looking at that girl reminded her of her sister, and that if she died, it would be like her sister dying right before her eyes… She later contacted me several more times about getting platelets for patients.”

Miao Hong took a deep breath, then lowered her head to hide the moisture in her eyes while checking the battery on her recorder. Luo Jianan leaned against the table, looking at Tang Jianxiao thoughtfully. “The forensic examination showed your DNA on Feng Wenyue’s body. How do you explain that?” he asked.

“A bl00d ring was arrested the month before last, and I fled to another city to hide. My brother was still in the rehabilitation center at the time, so I felt quite relieved… When I came back and bought a train ticket, I discovered my ID information had been cancelled. That’s when I realized something had happened to my brother. I asked around and found out he’d been found dead at home. He must have gone out to buy noodles after being released from the rehabilitation center… Then, the day before yesterday, when I was sorting through my brother’s belongings, I saw the second-to-last call in his phone was to Head Nurse Feng. I immediately realized he’d borrowed money from her to buy noodles… So I went to the hospital to find her and asked her how much money my brother had borrowed from her. Even a dead person can’t owe you debts. I was also angry and a bit confrontational. If she hadn’t given Jianzhong the money, he might not have died. She refused, but I forced it in, and as a result, she scratched a hole in my arm.”

As he spoke, Tang Jianxiao rolled up his sleeves and showed Luo Jianan and Miao Hong the scratch marks on his arm. After Luo Jiannan gestured for him to lower his sleeves, Tang Jianxiao asked, “How did Head Nurse Feng die?”

“Suspected suicide,” Miao Hong said. “It’s still under investigation.”

Hearing this, Tang Jianxiao’s face was instantly filled with remorse.

“It’s all my fault. I went to her and told her about my brother, and it made her feel bad.”

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At the time of Feng Wenyue’s death, Tang Jianxiao was more than ten kilometers away from the hospital. After verifying his alibi, Chen Fei handed over the case file related to him to other colleagues in the Criminal Investigation Department.

While taking Tang Jianxiao to the Medical Examiner’s Office to take photos for evidence, Luo Jiannan received a call from Xia Yonghui. He thought he was being harassed by another medical dispute, but he was unexpectedly inviting him to dinner to thank him for helping him out that day. Normally, Luo Jiannan would never have accepted such a dinner invitation, but Dr. Xia left a good impression on him—kind and generous. He was quite interested in making friends with him.

The other party had also invited two forensic pathologists from the Medical Examiner’s Office, so he asked Qi Ming, “A friend’s treating you to dinner. Are you going?”

“Your friend, go by yourself.” Qi Ming didn’t even look up.

“You know Dr. Xia from Renhe Hospital.” Luo Jianan casually slid over to sit next to Qi Ming’s desk. “Let’s go together. You’re both medical students, so you’ll definitely have something to talk about. I don’t know anything about hospitals, and it would be so awkward just sitting there with nothing to talk about.”

“He and I have a different sense of humor, so it would be even more awkward.” Qi Ming raised his hand and pushed Luo Jianan off the table.

“Oh my god, are you still holding a grudge?” Luo Jianan rolled his eyes. “Someone just said on the phone that if possible, they’d invite Professor Qi along. They want to ask you a few questions.” He then waved to Old Han, “Old Han, Dr. Xia’s treating you to dinner, and they want you too.”

Old Han put down his camera and waved proudly. “Today is my wedding anniversary, and even if the President of the United States invited me to dinner, I wouldn’t go.”

Luo Jianan laughed. “That’s what I admire about you, Old Han. You might not be very tall, but your ambition is so great that it can break through the atmosphere.”

“You deserve it, kid.” Old Han pointed his finger at Luo Jianan. “Do you know what my next book is? ‘One Hundred Ways to Kill Annoying Coworkers.'”

“Okay, Uncle Han, if I can’t afford to offend you, can’t I just stay away?” Luo Jianan clasped his fists and bowed in admiration. Seeing how skillfully he lifted his arm, Qi Ming asked, “Does your arm hurt?”

Luo Jianan rolled his shoulders. “There’s just one more thing. Your mineral water bottle is really useful. Seriously, let’s go together. You’ll be drinking juice at home anyway. Besides, my appointment with Doctor Xia is at 7 o’clock, and I’ll be late if I take a detour to take you back.”

“You can ask Sister Hong to give me a ride, or take a taxi.” Qi Ming averted his gaze, seemingly determined not to respond to Luo Jianan’s invitation. He really didn’t want to go. Firstly, he had unfinished work, and secondly, he didn’t like Xia Yonghui, as he was one of the culprits in the destruction of the crime scene.

Luo Jianan frowned slightly and asked in an odd tone, “Do you look down on Doctor Xiao Xia? Do you think he’s unworthy of inviting you to dinner?”

“Yes, I do look down on him.” Qi Ming was enraged by the other person’s attitude. “Let’s not talk about others, but a doctor who has no idea about DNA contamination? He performed CPR even when Feng Wenyue’s signs of death were obvious? Do you know what that means? It’s unprofessional!”

“Not all doctors study forensics. How can he be blamed for saving someone in a desperate situation?” Luo Jianan said confidently. “Not to mention that Doctor Xiao Xia doesn’t understand forensics, even I, a criminal police officer, would have taken you down and performed CPR if I saw you, Qi Ming, hanging on the door!”

Qi Ming was speechless. The knowledge accumulated from three doctorates didn’t allow him to find a single sentence to refute the other person. At the same time, a vivid image formed in his mind—not the CPR part, but the part hanging on the door.

Luo Jianan was caught off guard by his own words, his mind preoccupied with CPR, and it took him a long time to tear his eyes away from Qi Ming’s tightly closed lips.

Lao Han, standing nearby, slowly broke the awkward atmosphere between them: “Comrade Luo Jianan, if I hang you up on the door, please don’t give me CPR. You won’t be able to explain to your wife.”

Luo Jianan’s eyes darted—

“Lao Han, stop it!”

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Qi Ming decided to add his own name as a co-author to the author’s section of Lao Han’s book, “One Hundred Ways to Kill Annoying Coworkers.” Luo Jianan, using the excuse of being stuck in traffic and starving, drove directly to the place he’d agreed to meet with Xia Yonghui.

As they took the elevator up from the underground parking lot, Luo Jianan noticed Qi Ming’s sullen expression and advised, “Since you’re here, please smile. Doctor Xia really appreciates you. Don’t force yourself on me—”

“Are you feeling bad?” Qi Ming interrupted him bluntly.

Luo Jianan held up the elevator door to let a young mother with a baby stroller out first. He then walked out of the elevator, put his hand on Qi Ming’s shoulder, and turned him towards the glass wall of the shopping mall.