Forensic Forensic - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Each person had a boxed meal. Everyone gathered in the conference room, eating dinner while listening to Xu Jie introduce the relevant personnel of the case—

“Wang Haixia, forty-two years old, from Long County in this province. Ten years ago, she was sentenced to five years in prison for fraud. After her release, she opened a matchmaking agency in our city, specializing in introducing partners to single middle-aged and elderly people over fifty.” Xu Jie used his chopsticks to point at the photo projected on the big screen. Luo Jianan closed his disposable lunch box and looked up at the woman in the photo—she was still quite good-looking, with large eyes and a perky nose, and a hint of world-weariness in her eyes and brows.

“Fraud? What was it specifically about?” Chen Fei asked.

Qiao Dawei put down his chopsticks, grabbed the file, flipped through it, and said, “This Wang Haixia was a marriage scammer, defrauding three victims of a total of 2.4 million yuan. She should have been sentenced to over ten years, but she had a good attitude towards her crime and returned some of the defrauded money, so she was finally sentenced to only five years.”

“A marriage scammer opens a matchmaking agency after being released from prison?” Miao Hong wiped her mouth. “I think she’s back to her old trade.”

Chen Fei picked up his cup, blew away the tea leaves floating on top, took a sip, and said, “The neighbors confirmed that the person frequently entering and leaving the victim’s house was this Wang Haixia?”

“We just went and asked; that’s correct.” Xu Jie said, taking the opportunity to shovel a few mouthfuls of rice. Everyone else had finished eating, but he had been talking and hadn’t eaten much.

“Miao Hong, Wang Haixia is assigned to you and Luo Jianan.” Chen Fei began assigning work. “Xiao Xu and Dawei, you continue to track the fishing boat lead.”

Miao Hong kicked Luo Jianan, who had a face full of “another overtime,” under the table and asked, “Should we question her at her door or bring her back to the bureau, Boss?”

“Someone who has served time like her is hard to deal with; bring her back to the bureau for questioning.”

In the car, Miao Hong asked Luo Jianan, “Where did you go just now? Before the meeting.”

“A new forensic consultant came to the bureau. The captain arranged for me to be his gofer, so I sent him back to the hotel after work.” Since being car-sick by Miao Hong once, Luo Jianan always scrambled to be the driver. “Master, please talk to the Captain for me and ask him to change the person. I’m so busy with cases all day, I don’t have time to sleep. I might end up in a car accident.”

“Is it a woman?” Miao Hong smirked.

“If it were a woman, I wouldn’t be conflicted.”

“I haven’t seen you take a fancy to any woman.”

“Girls nowadays like ‘warm guys’ or ‘domineering CEOs’ and such. They won’t talk to someone like me for more than three sentences.” Luo Jianan rolled his eyes out the window.

“Oh, so you’ve been on blind dates?”

“My mom forced me.”

Regardless of who was driving, Miao Hong slapped Luo Jianan on the head and yelled at him with a glare, “No swearing!”

I wasn’t swearing! Luo Jianan felt incredibly wronged.

Wang Haixia herself looked prettier than in the photo, but also older. She had laugh lines at the corners of her eyes, which were especially noticeable when she spoke. Her makeup was exquisite, but her lipstick was a little alarmingly bright. Sitting in the interrogation room, Wang Haixia lit a cigarette and raised her slender willow-like eyebrows at Luo Jianan.

“Officer, are all the police officers in your bureau as handsome as you?”

“He’s the ugliest one here.” Miao Hong pulled up a chair and sat across from Wang Haixia, waving away the smoke drifting into her eyes. It was standard procedure for her to question female witnesses. “Put out that cigarette, smoking is prohibited in this building.”

Wang Haixia scoffed and threw the cigarette into a disposable paper cup filled with water. Miao Hong showed her the photo of the deceased. “Wang Xinji, how did you know him?”

“This old ghost was my client. He said his wife died early and he wanted to remarry, and his requirements were quite high.” Wang Haixia curled her lip in disdain. “He didn’t like older women, didn’t want anyone who wasn’t good-looking, and the figure couldn’t be too fat or too thin. Hey, Sister, tell me, with his looks, who would marry him without a fortune of tens of millions!”

“I see you were quite interested. Witnesses confirmed that you frequently visited his house,” Luo Jianan interjected. “We checked, and the 400,000 yuan in fixed deposit under Wang Xinji’s name was canceled and withdrawn from the bank a month ago. Wang Haixia, he gave you the money, right?”

Wang Haixia looked at Luo Jianan expressionlessly. “What, did he report me for fraud? I’m telling you, that money was the membership fee for the matchmaking agency. The contract is in the drawer of my office. If you don’t believe me, send someone to check.”

“He’s dead,” Miao Hong said, carefully observing Wang Haixia’s expression—surprise and fear, not faked.

“Oh my, what happened? How did he just die?” Clutching her plump chest, Wang Haixia swallowed hard. “This has absolutely nothing to do with me, Officer. I’m timid; I wouldn’t even dare to step on an ant normally.”

“You’re timid?” Miao Hong slapped the case file in front of her. “2.4 million yuan. I think you were quite bold when you were scamming money.”

Almost instantly, Wang Haixia reverted to her arrogant attitude. “Men are all the same. When they’re being nice to you, they put you on a pedestal and give you whatever you want. As soon as they get what they want, they pull up their pants and deny you. If I don’t save some retirement money for myself in advance, when I get old and lose my looks, and no one wants me, should I wait to die on the street?”

“If you don’t give your heart, who do you expect to be good to you?” Miao Hong countered.

Wang Haixia smiled flirtatiously. “Oh, Sister, looking at you, you haven’t tasted a man yet, have you?”

Before Miao Hong could speak, Luo Jianan immediately retorted, “My Master is the goddess of the entire police bureau. What kind of man can’t she have?”

“Luo Jianan! The recording is on!” Miao Hong glared at him, then turned back to Wang Haixia. “Did Wang Xinji ever mention having conflicts with anyone?”

“Tch, that old bag of bones. He couldn’t even get hard without medicine. He was soft all over, a complete coward. Who could he have conflicts with?” While Wang Haixia spoke, her eyes kept darting to Luo Jianan, as if trying to undress him. Luo Jianan cleared his throat and looked away.

“Then did he mention anything related to boats or fishermen?”

Wang Haixia’s eyes flickered, and she said, “No.”

“Really? Think carefully.” Miao Hong keenly caught the change in her tone.

“Oh, Officer, I can’t breathe, I have heart disease, I—” Wang Haixia suddenly started gasping for breath, and her body threatened to fall forward. Seeing this, Luo Jianan quickly supported her arm, but unexpectedly, Wang Haixia leaned into his embrace and used the two mounds of flesh on her chest to forcefully press against his arm.

Now Luo Jianan was caught between letting go and not letting go, so he cast a look of appeal to his Master. Miao Hong had seen too many of these scoundrel’s tricks. She reached out, grabbed Luo Jianan by the back of his collar, and yanked him away, watching Wang Haixia flop onto the floor with a thud.

“I’m sorry, our Officer Luo is allergic to women, or he’ll need emergency rescue soon.”

Miao Hong crouched down, smiling at Wang Haixia, whose hairstyle was now a mess.

Wang Haixia refused to cooperate, but there was no reasonable excuse to detain her. Chen Fei listened to the briefing from Miao Hong and Luo Jianan, pondered for a moment, and then asked Zhao Pingsheng, “Old Zhao, what’s your idea?”

Despite his usual easygoing demeanor, Zhao Pingsheng was actually one of the first batches of students recruited by the bureau from the Criminal Investigation major at the Public Security University. He earned his Master’s and then Ph.D. while working, and his mind worked faster than anyone else’s. Going back a hundred years, he would be a strategist. He had the opportunity to go to the provincial department but chose to stay in the municipal bureau. Whenever the bureau chief criticized him for not aspiring higher, he would just chuckle.

“Call the tax department, Old Chen,” Zhao Pingsheng said. “I don’t believe Wang Haixia’s matchmaking agency doesn’t have tax evasion issues. We can’t charge her with fraud, but the tax issues should be enough to make her sweat. We should be able to use that to make her talk.”

“I’ll call first thing tomorrow morning. Miao Hong, Xiao Luo, hurry home and sleep. It’s almost eleven.”

Before Luo Jianan could leave the office, Chen Fei called him back. “Xiao Luo, have you finished that report?”

“Uh… I’ll give it to you tomorrow, Captain.” The two words “report” made Luo Jianan feel uncomfortable all over.

“Don’t procrastinate, or I’ll dock your pay,” Chen Fei warned him with a serious expression.

Luo Jianan pulled out the lining of his pants pocket, pretending to be indignant. “Captain, don’t joke around. If you dock my pay again, I’ll have to pay the bureau money. People will starve.”

“Buns in the cafeteria are free. You won’t starve.” Chen Fei raised his hand, signaling him to stop fooling around. “How is Professor Qi doing? Does he have any requests for the bureau?”

“He doesn’t have any requests, but I do. Captain, get him another driver. I’m so busy with cases all day, I don’t have time to sleep. I’ll end up in a car accident.”

“Xiao Luo, this is a trust from the organization. Don’t be emotional. Professor Qi didn’t even ask for a cent of consultation fee. What kind of dedication is that? You take good care of him, and if he loses even a single strand of hair, you won’t get to eat any more buns!”

What dedication does a rich guy like him need?!

Luo Jianan rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. He decided that from now on, he would eat at the restaurant downstairs at the Holiday Inn and sign the bill with Qi Ming’s room number.

Qi Ming’s right eyelid twitched inexplicably. He took off his glasses, put eye drops in his eye, closed his eyes, and fumbled for a tissue to wipe away the excess liquid flowing down the corner of his eye. Prolonged computer use had caused eye fatigue and dryness. At times like this, besides cool eye drops, staying away from the screen was the best option.

He changed into his sportswear and went for a night run downstairs.

It was close to midnight, and there were few pedestrians on the street. Under the streetlights, shadows were sometimes short, sometimes long, silently accompanying their owner’s feet. Qi Ming didn’t wear glasses when running; the view a little further away was all blurry, but it wasn’t a big hindrance; he wasn’t completely unable to distinguish people from livestock fifty meters away.

A woman with a hot figure ran past him, and seeing Qi Ming’s handsome face, she winked at him. Qi Ming couldn’t clearly see her expression, but from the movement of her pale face turning, he discerned that she was greeting him, so he nodded in a customary manner. Unexpectedly, this gesture encouraged the girl. She stopped, conveniently blocking Qi Ming’s path.

“Good evening, handsome.” The confident girl actively showed interest in Qi Ming. Out of courtesy, Qi Ming slowed down and gradually stopped about an arm’s length away from her, replying, “Good evening.”

“I haven’t seen you in this area before. I run every night,” the girl took a step closer, and Qi Ming subconsciously took half a step back. Ignoring Qi Ming’s deliberately demonstrated distance, the girl, determined to succeed, promoted herself. “I’m a fitness instructor, working at the gym nearby. Leave me your number, handsome. Come check us out sometime; the classes are definitely professional.”

Well, this isn’t just flirting; she’s also drumming up business for the gym. Qi Ming found it a little funny and awkward. Just as he was figuring out how to politely refuse her, a sound of braking suddenly came from nearby.

“Yo, Professor Qi, in a good mood, huh? Out here picking up girls in the middle of the night?”

Luo Jianan’s voice floated out from the car window.