"No, A'xia, I have to say it today. Her person is gone, what's the point of you still hiding it for her?"
"But saying it out like this won't do us any good either!" Jiang Qing's mother tried to comfort her.
As they were still arguing, I suddenly said, "Did your eyes turn out this way because of Jiang Qing?"
It was better that I hadn't said anything. Once I did, Jiang Qing's mother's tears seemed to gush out like a breaking dam. Jiang Qing's father said resentfully, "It's because they needed 200,000 yuan for plastic surgery that she made her mother sell her eyes!"
"Scoundrel! How detestable." Even I was furious at this moment, but Jiang Qing was already dead, and I couldn't get angry at a corpse. Moreover, this detail suddenly sparked an idea in my mind. I wondered if the killer also knew about Jiang Qing's personality. Could it be that because Jiang Qing was too detestable, the killer helped her parents kill her?
This thought was chilling. I didn't tell Jiang Qing's parents, fearing I would scare them. After asking them a few standard questions, I ended the interrogation.
Stepping outside, Liu Yuning said to me, "This woman is really not human. Sigh, I don't know what to say. I just feel incredibly uncomfortable!"
"Yes, if I had a daughter like that, I'd really want to crush her with one hand!"
"Heh, why would you do that? Don't worry! He Xin is much more sensible than her."
"I was just kidding. I was wondering if the killer might have hated people like that?"
"Oh, you have a point. Let's go find He Xin!"
At the Technical Department, He Xin and colleagues from the Information Department had found a man named Li Hongzhuo. This person was none other than Jiang Qing's recent boyfriend.
"What do you mean 'recent'? It seems Jiang Qing was with quite a few men for the sake of weight loss and plastic surgery. Of course, her goal was to cheat money from them," He Xin explained.
"Ugh, stupid, naive, absurd! This woman is truly not a good person!" Liu Yuning said angrily.
"Yes, this is the first time I've seen a girl like this. Alright, don't be angry anymore. Go find this Li Hongzhuo. They are living together now, and I saw in the Heavenly Eye that they were still together when Jiang Qing left the dormitory today. That means the deceased had a very close relationship with this man."
"She's probably just another backup, who knows how many," Shao Zhengzhi said with a wry smile.
We left the Provincial Department and drove to an apartment building called Jiushi, where the victim lived.
Only Liu Yuning and I came. With the help of the landlord, we found Jiang Qing's former residence, Room 304. When we reached the door, I knocked and said, "Hello, is anyone home?"
The room was very quiet. We knocked again, but there was still no response. Liu Yuning wanted to leave temporarily, but I took out a lock-picking tool.
"What are you doing?"
"Let's open the door and take a look!"
"Aren't you afraid of being accused of trespassing?"
"It's fine. You stand guard outside and tell me if anything happens!"
"Ugh, I'm done with you. Hurry up!"
I skillfully picked the lock and entered Jiang Qing's former residence. The first impression upon entering was that the place was very neat and clean, and it exuded the scent of jasmine.
The rose-pink sofa seemed to be an addition. A mahogany cabinet stood quietly in the kitchen. The marks on the stove indicated that the couple often cooked. The room was also tidily kept, and a photo was placed on a dressing table.
I looked closely at the photo and saw them embracing each other, smiling sweetly. The background was a university campus. It seemed they were classmates. It must have been graduation season, as they were wearing academic gowns.
I scanned the room and found some medicine bottles on a cabinet. The label read "Amitriptyline." I remembered this was a medication for depression.
Who was taking this? I pondered. On the bed, I found some strands of hair. Comparing them with the victim's long hair, I knew these hairs were not hers. It was highly likely they belonged to her boyfriend, Li Hongzhuo. However, without follicles, the hairs were useless, but I still collected some. It would be good if they could check for chromosomes.
I also took the bottle of Amitriptyline. At this moment, my phone rang. Liu Yuning urged me, "Hurry up!"
I had thought Li Hongzhuo had returned. I replied to the message, "It's fine, coming out now."
Then, I went into his bathroom. I checked the toilet and found some urine residue. I immediately collected a sample, which could be used for DNA testing. I searched around but found no strange capsules. However, Li Hongzhuo could have tampered with the Amitriptyline. I thought that if we tested it back at the lab, we might get some results.
By the time I came out, Li Hongzhuo still hadn't returned, so we left without further ado, closing the door behind us.
Although we didn't know his whereabouts now, if we obtained conclusive evidence and had an arrest warrant, finding him wouldn't be difficult, would it?
Back at the Provincial Department, the laboratory tests for Amitriptyline and other physical evidence were immediately initiated.
I knew these results would take time. I just urged Xie Chuchu and Xiao Dong to work quickly, and then Liu Yuning and I temporarily withdrew. We didn't return to the police dormitory but went to the empty lot of the construction site for the forensic morgue. I planned to check on the construction progress.
I was surprised to see that it had already taken initial shape. The construction speed was quite fast. After a few words of encouragement to the construction workers, I joined Xie Chuchu and the others for the analysis. About three hours later, the results came out. However, the Amitriptyline was normal; it hadn't been tampered with, and its composition was consistent.
"It seems he didn't tamper with the Amitriptyline," Xie Chuchu sighed.
"Or perhaps through other means? Airborne transmission? Liquid transmission?" I muttered, still unsure. But if it wasn't solid, then only these two methods were possible. However, he might have given Jiang Qing something else, or mixed it into her food. Didn't we find out earlier that they liked to cook?
If that were the case, we would have to examine the body again. But when we checked, we found no trace of food residue. The capsule remnants were found separately from the food at the time.
"The evidence cannot be confirmed, so we can only confront Li Hongzhuo himself," I said, walking out of the forensic department and going to He Xin. She quickly typed on her keyboard, starting to investigate Li Hongzhuo's phone signal and ID information for me. But his phone signal was gone. He Xin said, "He turned it off before the victim had her accident. This time was around 8 AM."