Forensic Forensic - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

In the car, Luo Jianan made several phone calls and found out the location of the suspect nicknamed Black Tiger. Qi Ming was curious about his continuous stream of incomprehensible jargon and asked, “Where did you learn all this underworld slang?”

“Heh, I was an undercover agent for three years, I learned a foreign language.” Luo Jianan set the navigation, and let out a “tsk” sound, “This son of a b1tch lives in a damn graveyard.”

Qi Ming tilted his head and glanced at the destination, which showed the address as “Longshan Cemetery.” It was one in the morning now, and going to a cemetery at this hour was truly chilling. Luo Jianan’s expression showed he was in an intense psychological struggle, which Qi Ming found slightly amusing. “Scared?” he asked.

“Scared?” Luo Jianan’s tone was a bit odd, “That word is not in my dictionary.”

Hearing this tone, Qi Ming was even more certain that Luo Jianan was afraid of ghosts. Of course, he wouldn’t mock the other person for it—fear of the unknown is a human instinct—but he wasn’t going to let Luo Jianan off the hook either. “Then let me tell you a story, an experience I had when I was studying.” As he spoke, he glanced at Luo Jianan’s profile and noticed the muscles in his cheek clenching visibly. “Before anatomy class, students had to go to the morgue to retrieve the corpses. Our group was assigned a female corpse, hanged. You know, the tongue of that kind of body sticks out this—long.”

Qi Ming tilted his head and stuck out his tongue to demonstrate to Luo Jianan, causing Luo Jianan’s hand to shake and almost drive into the oncoming lane. Straightening the wheel, he yelled at Qi Ming irritably, “Just tell the story! Why are you gesturing!?”

“To keep you from getting drowsy while driving at night.” Qi Ming chuckled to himself—it certainly was invigorating; Luo Jianan’s shout had woken him up. “Anatomy class was the first class in the morning, at eight. Our group was scheduled to pick up the body at five-thirty. I remember clearly it was winter, the sun rose very late, and the corridor light in the morgue was broken, flickering on and off.”

Luo Jianan involuntarily swallowed. He had never felt fear when facing a corpse, but telling ghost stories in such a pitch-black atmosphere? It would give you the chills even in the middle of summer!

Qi Ming pretended not to notice and continued, “There were four people in the group, only one male, me. The other three were girls, so I went by myself. The teacher in charge of the morgue left to eat breakfast after signing off. I pulled the drawer according to the number, but—” He paused, “I couldn’t open it.”

“It must have been stuck!” Luo Jianan quickly interjected.

“I thought so too at first, and pulled the adjacent drawer. No problem,” Qi Ming said softly. “And it didn’t feel stuck, it was as if… someone was strongly pulling it from the inside.”

“You must have been terrified, haha.” Luo Jianan gave two dry laughs, keeping his eyes on the road while observing Qi Ming out of the corner of his eye. This guy was deliberately trying to scare him; he absolutely couldn’t let him succeed.

“I’m an atheist, so I didn’t think too much of it.” Qi Ming raised his eyes to the rearview mirror, finding Luo Jianan looking at him. “I pulled hard twice more, and suddenly—” He stopped abruptly, “Are you sure you want to continue listening?”

Although he had already started picturing the corpse in the drawer opening its eyes and staring at Qi Ming, Luo Jianan gritted his teeth and said, “Continue.”

“The drawer handle came off.”

Luo Jianan slammed on the brakes, making Qi Ming get harshly strained by the seat belt. Turning his head, Luo Jianan yelled at Qi Ming with an expression that looked like he wanted to tear him apart, “What the hell kind of plot twist is that!? Can you tell a decent ghost story?!”

As if you would dare to listen. Qi Ming rubbed his chest, which was sore from the seat belt, and defiantly glared back at Luo Jianan. “Focus on driving, or both of us will end up in the morgue.”

With a belly full of anger, Luo Jianan floored the gas pedal.

Longshan Cemetery was situated at the foot of Longshan Mountain. It was said that this mountain was a ‘dragon vein’. In today’s climate, where one must buy a burial plot even before death, far-sighted businessmen sequentially built five cemeteries in the surrounding area, with Longshan Cemetery being the largest. The temperature here was lower than in the city, and the rustling sound of the cold wind blowing through the cedar trees added an eerie atmosphere to the quiet cemetery in the dead of night.

Getting out of the car, the anger Luo Jianan harbored was dispelled by the wind. He saw a row of bungalows in the distance, with only one dimly lit window showing a faint light. Qi Ming followed him out of the car, looking around. By the moonlight, he saw some tombstones waiting to be engraved and a dry fountain. Further ahead were rows upon rows of burial plots. It was a good place for illegal activities, Qi Ming thought. Everyone avoided cemeteries; no one would come running here for no reason.

Walking towards the bungalow, Luo Jianan asked Qi Ming, “How tall are you?”

“One meter eighty,” Qi Ming said.

“Measured with shoes on, right?”

“Can you talk like a normal person?” Qi Ming turned to walk back. Luo Jianan quickly grabbed his arm and said with a smile, “Just a joke, trying to liven up the atmosphere since it’s spooky around here. Serious business now. You go knock on the door later and say the police are investigating a case. I’ll guard the window, so I can subdue the suspect if he tries to run.”

“What does that have to do with my height?” Anger flashed in the eyes behind the lenses.

“Then why did you tell me a story about a drawer handle coming off to scare me?”

Luo Jianan hadn’t spoken the whole way, turns out he was saving it up for this—Qi Ming couldn’t help but feel Luo Jianan was a bit petty. What was wrong with the spooky atmosphere? He wasn’t scared. But dissatisfaction aside, the case was the priority. The person lying in the hospital still faced various complications, any of which could be fatal. Shaking off Luo Jianan’s hand, Qi Ming strode to the house with the light on. After Luo Jianan was in position, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

Hearing a knock at this hour and in a cemetery, Luo Jianan saw the person inside turn his head alertly through the gap in the curtains. The person had a scar on his left cheek, which was Black Tiger, the person he was looking for. It was said that this guy used to be a soldier and had his left cheek injured by a blast during a mission, which ruined his appearance. After retiring, no woman would marry him, and jobs were hard to find, so he became a cemetery caretaker here. Old B said this son of a b1tch sold everything except drugs, as long as he could make money.

“Who is it?” Black Tiger asked in a low voice.

“Police.” Qi Ming had a cover story ready. “We just received a report about theft in the cemetery and came to check.”

“Stealing joss paper here?” Black Tiger got up and walked to the window, pulling back the curtain to observe Qi Ming standing at the door—not wearing a uniform, and only one person.

Luo Jianan pressed against the window, avoiding the other person’s line of sight, and at the same time saw a pistol in Black Tiger’s hand. He squatted down and fumbled for a rock in the darkness. While Black Tiger was observing Qi Ming, he suddenly smashed the window glass. Black Tiger was startled and turned, raising the gun at Luo Jianan. Luo Jianan quickly reached through the broken window, grabbed the gun barrel, and pulled the gun out the window.

Seeing that a gun was involved, Qi Ming immediately kicked the door open and rushed into the room, tackling Black Tiger to the ground.

Black Tiger was an ex-soldier. Although Luo Jianan had pulled the gun away, he still had his fists. Qi Ming’s tackle made him instinctively resist, and he swung his arm, hitting the other person’s face. Seeing Qi Ming getting hurt, Luo Jianan flipped the gun stock, smashed the window, jumped inside, threw the gun to Qi Ming, then grabbed Black Tiger from the ground and delivered a hard punch to his stomach. Black Tiger was punched so hard he vomited stomach acid and was hunched over, gasping for air while hanging onto Luo Jianan’s arm.

“Are you okay?” Luo Jianan glanced at Qi Ming. Qi Ming used the back of his hand to press against his cheekbone, which had been grazed by the punch—fortunately, he dodged quickly, or the punch would have landed on his nose—and shook his head. Handcuffing Black Tiger’s hands behind his back, Luo Jianan tossed him onto a nearby stool.

Black Tiger took a few rough breaths, spat on the ground, and then looked up at Luo Jianan, the scar on his face fiercely creased. “Who the hell are you?”

“Police. You just assaulted an officer, understand?” Luo Jianan flashed his badge at Black Tiger, then put his foot on the other person’s thigh, applying a little force. “Speak, who did you sell the 9-millimeter Browning to?”

“What Browning? Don’t know!” Black Tiger answered, baring his teeth. Catching a thief required catching him in the act; without evidence in front of him, he wouldn’t admit it.

“Won’t admit it, fine.” Luo Jianan grabbed Black Tiger’s collar with both hands and lifted him from the chair. “The punch you just threw at my partner, we’ll settle that score back at the police station!”

Black Tiger weighed his options—he had just pointed a gun at the police, so even without evidence of selling the gun, he would have to spend half a month in custody. Furthermore, looking at this guy with a gangster-like appearance, he wouldn’t have to wait until they got to the police station; he would dare to beat him up in a secluded spot along the way. That last punch alone would keep him aching for a month.

“I didn’t sell it. I just gave out a phone number,” Black Tiger softened his tone.

“You’re trying to absolve yourself quite cleanly,” Luo Jianan let go of his grip and pointed at the pistol held tightly by Qi Ming. “Is this one licensed?”

“Yes, registered, legal.” Black Tiger nodded toward the desk. “The paperwork is in the drawer.”

Qi Ming walked over, opened the drawer, and rummaged through it. He found a gun license, carefully checked the validity period, and nodded to Luo Jianan.

“Longshan is a protected area for rare birds, and I’m a forest ranger, so I have a license,” Black Tiger explained automatically.

“Get to the important part. Who sold the Browning?” Luo Jianan lit a cigarette. Seeing Black Tiger blinking at him, he tapped one out for the other person to bite onto and lit it.

“There was a man, he’d be here all day, guarding a tombstone. I saw he looked pitiful and struck up a conversation,” Black Tiger’s eyes squinted from the curling smoke. “Such a tragedy. His daughter was only seventeen and was driven to suicide.”

Luo Jianan exchanged a look with Qi Ming, frowned, and asked, “What happened?”

“That girl was pretty; I thought she looked good even in the photo on the tombstone. The man said his girl was called to the teacher’s office, and when no one was around, the teacher touched and kissed her. The child was so frightened that she didn’t dare to go to school for days after returning home. He asked her for a long time, but she wouldn’t say, so he thought she was being bullied by classmates. He even went to that animal to ask him to come home and give the child psychological counseling. But when the girl saw the teacher, she hid in the bathroom and cried nonstop. He immediately understood what was going on.”

“F**k…” Luo Jianan squeezed a curse through his teeth. Qi Ming frowned slightly and sighed.

Black Tiger took a deep drag from his cigarette and continued, “He went to the school, but the school’s attitude was that a child’s unilateral statement couldn’t be trusted. He then went to report it to the police, but his girl’s mind was affected by the trauma, and she spoke incoherently. The police couldn’t file a case and had to tell him to take the child to the doctor first. This went on for half a year, and the child couldn’t attend school. When the child got better, that animal, when being investigated, adamantly denied having done anything against his conscience, insisting that the girl was retaliating against him after being criticized in class. The police didn’t file a case, and even lawyers wouldn’t take the civil suit for medical expenses.”

Luo Jianan frowned, slowly exhaling a puff of smoke. Harassment cases were extremely difficult to substantiate. With both sides presenting conflicting accounts, the police indeed couldn’t file a case without sufficient evidence—this was fair protection for both the defense and prosecution to prevent malicious lawsuits.

“And then?” Seeing Black Tiger stop, Qi Ming pressed on.

“Then? Then his girl committed suicide, leaving a suicide note for her father, asking him what she had done wrong and why this happened to her.” Black Tiger spat the cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it with his foot. “That man didn’t want to live anymore, but he also felt sorry for his daughter if he died just like that, so I…”

“Yes, so you gave him a phone number,” Luo Jianan stared at him coldly.

“Heh heh, Officer, you’re so smart.” Black Tiger twitched the corner of his mouth, rattling the handcuffs behind his back. “Can you take these off now?”

“This is called abetting murder, you know?”

“I didn’t tell him to kill anyone. I just said calling this number could help him vent his frustration.”

“Give me the phone number.”

“I estimate that number is already useless,” Black Tiger muttered.

“Is that your damn problem!?” Luo Jianan picked him up from the chair again, making a gesture to hit him. Qi Ming put his arm out to stop Luo Jianan and said, “The priority is to find the gun; maybe that father wants to commit suicide. Every life saved counts.”

Luo Jianan let go and pointed at Black Tiger’s nose, “I’m watching you, you son of a b1tch. Don’t let me find out you’re selling things you shouldn’t be selling again!”

“Understood, understood.” Black Tiger nodded vigorously.

Getting the girl’s name, Luo Jianan called Chen Fei to brief him on the case and asked him to dispatch people to find the girl’s father immediately. Then he started the car and sped toward the city. Qi Ming buckled his seat belt and asked, “Where are you rushing to?”

“To pull the oxygen tube on that son of a b1tch who was shot.”

Luo Jianan said resentfully.

The author has something to say: Finally, I can make my Brother Nan cool… Please collect a lot; I update very quickly!

I can open a Teacher Qi’s Ghost Story Series later