Forensic Forensic - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The tea restaurant downstairs from the hotel is open 24 hours a day, and Luo Jianan came for a late-night snack. He didn’t bother with Qi Ming and immediately ordered a roast goose rice priced at 158 ​​yuan. Qi Ming went back to his room to get his glasses. He didn’t intend to watch Luo Jianan eat; he just wanted to hear about the progress of the case. In fact, if Luo Jianan hadn’t been teasing him about his pick-up girls in the car earlier, he could have gone back to shower and sleep by now.

He didn’t explain anything about the pick-up girls; there was no need.

Listening to Luo Jianan’s account of the case while he ate, Qi Ming pondered for a moment before saying, “When I was looking over the autopsy records tonight, I considered a possibility: the deceased’s head might not have fallen off due to rotting, but rather the bones might have been severed and become lodged in the propeller. This could have caused damage to the propeller, which you can use as a reference when investigating the fishing vessel.”

Luo Jianan choked and coughed a few times, slamming his chopsticks down on the table with a “clack” sound, frowning. “Hey, we’re eating, don’t spoil my appetite.”

Does your appetite need spoiling? Qi Ming glanced at the nearly empty plate. “If you didn’t know better, you’d think you hadn’t eaten in three days.”

“Don’t judge me by you office workers. I’m always running around, and I burn a lot of calories.” Luo Jianan took out a toothpick and used it to pick his teeth. Although this place is expensive, it’s justified. It’s really delicious, but the goose meat tends to get stuck in your teeth.

“Weren’t you writing a report this afternoon?”

“Hey! We can still be friends without mentioning ‘report’.”

“Oh? We’re friends now?” Qi Ming chuckled. “I thought the renowned Superintendent Luo wouldn’t bother being friends with a ‘shaman’ like me.”

Luo Jianan felt deeply embarrassed by being exposed in public for the nickname he’d given someone behind their back, but he wasn’t about to apologize. “You said you could make a corpse ‘speak.’ But did the corpse say anything? I didn’t hear a word.”

“Extracting clues from a corpse and providing evidence for solving a case is a silent statement. I didn’t expect you wouldn’t even appreciate this little rhetorical device.”

Luo Jianan’s face fell. “I take it back. We can’t be friends without the ‘report.'”

“Then pay your own bill. Don’t sign my room number.”

“Stingy.”

Qi Ming didn’t intend to argue. Instead, he glanced at his watch and asked, “It’s already 12:30, Superintendent Luo. Are you still planning on sleeping on my living room sofa?”

“I wouldn’t even pay you.”

Luo Jianan waved to the waiter. After signing the bill, he raised his chin towards Qi Ming.

“I’ll pick you up at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Don’t be late.”

——————

Miao Hong woke up early to report to the director. While waiting for the elevator, she saw Luo Jianan and Qi Ming walking into the office building lobby together. She had inquired about the new forensic consultant yesterday, so without waiting for her apprentice to introduce her, she confidently extended her hand to Qi Ming: “Miao Hong, from the Serious Crime Unit.”

“This is my master,” Luo Jianan added.

“Qi Ming, Forensic Consultant.” After shaking hands, Qi Ming pressed the down button for the elevator. The Forensic Office was located on the second basement floor, with its own ventilation duct, which prevented the smell of corpses from spreading throughout the building.

Miao Hong looked Qi Ming up and down. Well, although he looked about the same age as Luo Jianan, he was noticeably more mature than her apprentice. He was also well-dressed, even elegant. Unlike someone who could wear a frayed leather jacket from October to April. And he must be quite capable, otherwise, given Luo Jianan’s temper, he’d be furious if he was bothered by someone.

Someone happened to be looking for Luo Jianan, so he nodded to Miao Hong and left.

“Teacher Qi, are you from here?” Miao Hong broke the silence after waiting for the elevator for a while.

“Yes,” Qi Ming replied politely.

“Are your parents in good health?”

“They’re both gone. I only have one younger sister.”

“Your younger sister must be very beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful, too.”

Miao Hong smiled generously. “Teacher Qi, Luo Jianan has a bad temper. Please bear with me.”

“I don’t mind,” Qi Ming said. “He’s a good person at heart, just not good at expressing himself. People like him often use aggressive language and body language, but they don’t harbor any malice.”

“That’s a very insightful assessment.” Miao Hong looked at Qi Ming with admiration. “You even study psychology?”

“Just the basics.” As she spoke, the elevator door opened. Qi Ming politely held the door open to let Miao Hong in. The elevator had to go up first, so he had to wait for the next one.

“See you later, Teacher Qi.”

The elevator door slowly closed. Miao Hong smiled and shook her head at her reflection in the metal door. She now understood why Fade Chen had assigned Luo Jianan to Qi Ming—the Serious Crime Unit was full of hot-tempered people, and Luo Jianan needed someone like Qi Ming to tame his temper.

As the saying goes, “A red flower becomes redder when it’s close to a red flower, a black flower becomes blacker when it’s close to a black flower.” She was quite looking forward to seeing her apprentice grow up.

——————

Luo Jianan was discussing the case with Qiao Dawei when he heard a commotion in the hallway. He pushed open his office door and asked the two auxiliary police officers who were blocking the way, “What’s going on?”

“Officer Luo, these two people claim to be the deceased’s family members and insist on speaking to the director,” one of the older auxiliary officers explained.

“The director is in a meeting right now and doesn’t have time.” Luo Jianan waved his hand, signaling him to handle the situation. He walked up to the two men and asked, “Whose family members are you?”

“What are you doing? Call your boss!” A young man around Luo Jianan’s age spoke excitedly, starting to push him. Upon seeing this, Luo Jianan immediately grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him aside, sternly warning him, “Hey! This is the Public Security Bureau. Don’t touch me! I’ll detain you!”

Almost instantly, the woman in her fifties nearby suddenly plopped down on the ground, slapping her hands and howling, “I’m dying—my husband died and no one’s doing anything! The police are detaining my son! Oh my God! Why am I so unlucky—”

Luo Jianan had seen family members wail right away, but this one didn’t even shed a tear; it was more like throwing a tantrum. He released her hand, stepped back, and signaled the auxiliary police to lift the woman. “The leaders are not here right now. Can you tell me clearly, whose relative is this?”

“Wang Xinji is my dad!” The young man leaned forward, his chin raised, his voice accusing him. “Yesterday, a police officer named Xu called my house and said my dad had died, and asked my mom and me to come and assist with the investigation! Oh, and we’re not allowed in! What the hell is going on?”

Luo Jianan frowned, thinking, “I really can’t tell you look like someone whose father has died. Your attitude makes you sound like someone trying to extort money.” Qiao Dawei, hearing the commotion, emerged from his office. Upon hearing the man’s words, he whispered to Luo Jianan, “Xu Jie had something to do this morning. He called me and told me Wang Xinji’s family would be arriving today.”

Luo Jianan glanced at his watch and estimated that Chen Fei should be almost done with his meeting with the director. Turning to the older auxiliary officer, he said, “Uncle Qu, could you please go to the director’s office and inform Captain Chen that Wang Xinji’s family has arrived?”

Qu Lian had been working here for nearly thirty years, and the younger officers in the bureau respectfully addressed him as “Uncle Qu.” Although over fifty, he was in excellent physical condition. Upon hearing Luo Jianan’s words, he quickly trotted towards the elevator.

Luo Jianan then turned and addressed the two family members, “Calm down and go to the meeting room first.”

——————

Through the brief conversation, Luo Jianan learned that the woman’s name was Bai Yuemei, the deceased Wang Xinji’s ex-wife, and that the young man was Wang Xinji’s son, Wang Mingqi. Five years ago, after his divorce, Wang Xinji quit his job and came here to work. It was said that he was too embarrassed to stay in his hometown because of a relationship issue.

“That bastard has been flirting with other women ever since he was young,” Bai Yuemei said bitterly. “He relies on his erudition to sneak into the factory’s female staff dormitory every day, claiming to be offering some kind of adult self-study program. Ugh! And that little girl, Wu Ge, is just obsessed with our husband Wang’s engineer status and is throwing herself at him!”

To be honest, Luo Jianan had always had a bad impression of people who spoke ill of the deceased, but he could understand Bai Yuemei’s attitude—what woman wouldn’t be resentful of her husband’s infidelity?

“Engineer?” Qiao Dawei recalled Wang Xinji’s information—he was a janitor at a local university. Why would someone with an engineering qualification do that?—and asked, “What kind of field?”

“My dad is a shipbuilder,” Wang Mingqi replied coldly.

Luo Jianan asked, “Have you been in touch with your dad lately?”

“No. That old man abandoned his family and his business, and he’s wronged my mom. Why would I contact him?” Wang Mingqi snorted. “He deserves to die. Karma!”

“Hey, that’s your dad. Mind your words.”

Wang Mingqi stood up. “The shipyard in our hometown is the largest enterprise in the area, and I work there. But because of him, I can’t even hold my head up in front of my colleagues, and my prospective boyfriend is over!”

“Don’t get excited. Sit down.” Luo Jianan gestured to the sofa. After Wang Mingqi sat down, he asked Bai Yuemei, “Did you know your ex-husband had 400,000 yuan in savings?”

He didn’t expect both mother and son to stand up at the same time.

“Four hundred thousand!? I told you that bastard hid some secret money from me!” Bai Yuemei began to wail again. “When we divorced, he told everyone he was leaving the house empty-handed. Now he’s exposed, right? Huh?!”

Wang Mingqi held his mother’s arm and interrogated Luo Jianan, “Where’s the money? That’s my father’s inheritance!”

Judging from the fact that mother and son didn’t know about the money, they could at least be ruled out as a murderer. Sometimes the murderer is the victim’s closest and most trusted person, and rape isn’t uncommon. Therefore, until the true culprit is identified, anyone connected to the deceased is a suspect.

Glancing at Qiao Dawei, Luo Jianan shrugged regretfully. “Your father gave the money to a matchmaking agency. If you want it back, you can take legal action.”

“A matchmaking agency?” Wang Mingqi was stunned.

“Oh, son, why are you so miserable? Your dad doesn’t give you any money, so he saves it all to pay for his little bastard!” Bai Yuemei actually managed a tear—Luo Jianan thought she was probably worried about the money.

Bai Yuemei was cursing and swearing, and if Miao Hong and Chen Fei hadn’t arrived just in time, Luo Jianan and Qiao Dawei would have been deafened by her screaming.

——————

“Who is this Wu Ge?” Chen Fei asked as he reviewed Qiao Dawei’s transcript after comforting the family.

“It’s said that she was Wang Xinji’s mistress when he worked at the shipyard. After Wang Xinji divorced her, she resigned from the shipyard.” This was the information Qiao Dawei had managed to extract from Wang Mingqi while Bai Yuemei was tearfully complaining to Chen Fei about her unhappy marriage.

“Miao Hong, have Shangguan Yunfei from the technical department retrieve the SIM card and credit card usage records by ID number. Find this Wu Ge as soon as possible.” Chen Fei closed his notes. “Dawei, how’s the investigation going on with the boat?”

“Yesterday, Xu Jie and I visited the Guanting and Xidu docks, but didn’t find any boats matching the description. We’ll check Songyong Dock again this afternoon after Xu Jie arrives.”

Chen Fei nodded and looked at Luo Jianan. “Where’s your report?”

Luo Jianan tilted his head and rolled his eyes. Chen Fei’s brows had just furrowed when Qi Ming knocked on the office door, walked in, and tossed a stack of papers onto Luo Jianan’s desk.

“Your report was left in the restaurant last night,” Qi Ming said, glancing at Luo Jianan.

Luo Jianan was stunned for a moment, then quickly grabbed the stack of papers—it was a report on the shooting. It was written in a well-organized format, staying true to the facts while avoiding any irregularities. It was obvious he hadn’t written it. But this was a blessing in disguise. Luo Jianan handed the report to Chen Fei, his chin raised.

“Boss, here’s the report.”

“Did you write this?” Chen Fei’s brows knitted together. He recognized Luo Jianan’s handwriting: its sharp, clear strokes were vigorous. But the handwriting on the report in his hand flowed like flowing water, tilted slightly to the right, as if he were used to writing in English.

“I’ll dictate, and Teacher Qi will write it for me,” Luo Jianan responded quickly.

Miao Hong was about to leave the office when she turned to look at Qi Ming and Luo Jianan, a meaningful smile curling her lips. Chen Fei clapped his hands with the report and said to Qi Ming, “Teacher Qi, you can’t coddle Luo Jianan like this. This kid’s biggest skill is getting ahead of others.”

Qi Ming waved his hand dismissively. “Captain Chen, Luo Jianan is a man of action. I think it would be more efficient to send him out on the case rather than have him spend hours writing a report. What do you think?”

“Teacher Qi is wise, Boss. I’m going out to investigate the case now. If you need anything, come back this afternoon!” Before Chen Fei could respond, Luo Jianan pushed Qi Ming’s back and led him into the hallway. Some distance away from the office, he asked Qi Ming with a hint of surprise, “Why are you thinking of writing a report for me?”

“I don’t like to owe favors. I’ll pay you for being my driver.” Qi Ming tilted his head. “Besides, I think writing a report for you is more practical than paying you.”

Hey, he’s quite good at winning people over. Luo Jianan tilted his head and smiled. Just as he was about to say “thank you,” Qi Ming said, “I wrote that report in twenty minutes. It would have taken you twenty hours.”

“What do you mean? Are you saying you’re smarter than me?” Luo Jianan glared.

Qi Ming raised his hand, pushed his glasses up, and changed the subject.

“Tomorrow, the weekend, I’ll give you a chance to repay me. Come help me move.”

Author’s Note: I’d love to see the little angel’s thoughts. 》3《