Chapter 875
Chapter 875
Beggar
The menacing man left the already-traumatized Zhao Hongyan cowering by Lin Ruoxi’s warmth.
Lin Ruoxi couldn’t help but turn towards that man. Glaring at him dead in the eye, she said, “Is this the standard of a public servant? What proof do you have to label my assistant as a murderer?!”
The bald man frowned his bushy brows and glanced towards his colleagues by the side before they all burst into laughter.
“You’re the CEO of Yu Lei International, aren’t you? The host of tonight’s gala?” the man scornfully interrogated.
Lin Ruoxi brazenly ignored his inquiry as she reached into her handbag, retrieved a paper towel, and slipped it into Zhao Hongyan’s grasp. “Dry your eyes. Your face is pretty messy right now from all the crying. Calm down, I’ll make sure to get you out unscathed.”
Zhao Hongyan tearfully glanced at her boss as she held onto the paper towel tight, drying the tears off the edges of her eyes.
“Hey! I’m talking to you! You hear me?!” The bald interrogator exploded.
Cai Yan by the corner had enough as she frowned at the overreaction. “Detective Wang, Ruoxi is my childhood friend. She might be a little cold but she means no offense. I hope we can all sit down and settle this in a peaceful and civil manner.”
“Officer Cai, we have pretty much come to the conclusion here.” Detective Wang proclaimed, “We can almost certainly confirm that the murderer is this Zhao Hongyan. The mastermind could very well be her superior Lin Ruoxi!”
“Your baseless accusations are utter garbage. Is this the best garbage you worthless people can come up with?” Lin Ruoxi rebuked.
“Worthless?” Detective Wang stared square-faced at Lin Ruoxi, before he blurted, “I, Wang Gang, have been serving as a detective for the last three decades. As the security bureau’s specially assigned detective, I’ve seen a hundred cases of this sort! This case has all the evidence we need, and no one but Zhao Hongyan here could be the murderer!”
“Is that so? Well, then I’m genuinely curious Detective Wang, as to what evidence you have discovered thus far?” Yang Chen who was by Lin Ruoxi’s side all this while, finally took to himself to question the detective’s rambunctious antics.
Wang Gang scowled as he boisterously replied, “From the data we’ve gathered, there’s a CCTV placed above the crime scene, and throughout the entire incident only Zhao Hongyan was caught at the scene. Secondly, the fingerprints on the knife were a perfect match.
“Third, before Ms Lu Yao’s death, she had zero signs of resisting, and the biggest possibility for that is because she felt no hostility towards Zhao Hongyan.
“Besides, Zhao Hongyan had no explanations for the reason her thumbprint was on the fruit knife, which meant she clearly miscalculated and was exposed by the waitress, which was why she didn’t wipe her prints clean in the first place!”
Lin Ruoxi frowned as she turned towards Zhao Hongyan, “Hongyan, why are your fingerprints on the fruit knife?”
Zhao Hongyan vigorously shook her head in denial. Choking from tears and anxiety, she replied, “I… I don’t know, President Lin. I’ve never touched the knife, I swear!”
Yang Chen hinted for her to loosen up, before he remarked, “So, Detective Wang, if it really was Hongyan who did it, what was her motive?”
“I went through the details. Lu Yao, in the recent Mandarin Music Awards, was the biggest competitor to Yu Lei’s current top star, Ms Lin Hui.
“Not to mention Lu Yao’s multiple attempts in trying to derail Lin Hui’s reputation in the media. Tonight at the ball, Lu Yao and Lin Hui both performed a song with the Cranberries, which was obviously due to their positions as rivals.
“And at the same time, Director Yu Shuo was scheduling his upcoming film and was contemplating between Lu Yao and Lin Hui. I can certainly believe that it was in Yu Lei International’s interest to end her life!” Wang Gang blatantly stitched everything together for an explanation.
At this point, Yang Chen frustratedly sighed.
Wang Gang, however, was displeased by his lack of enthusiasm as he confronted, “What? Is the evidence too vague for you to believe? There’s a motive, evidence of DNA and object alike!”
Yang Chen shook his finger in disapproval. “First off, don’t you think it’s weird that if Yu Lei International actually planned the act of vengeance ahead, why would they choose the night of the grand ball to make the move? Besides, if killing Lu Yao was their final motive, why not hire a contract killer to do the job? An assistant who was not careful enough to put on gloves would have not been Yu Lei’s first choice.
“Also, do you really think we’d need to kill off Lu Yao just to remove competition off Lin Hui’s back? When it comes to popularity, they aren’t even on the same playing field!
“I’m aware that in terms of location, alibi, and fingerprint evidence, the outcome sure looks inclined towards Yu Lei and Hongyan. But such obvious mishaps from the murderer could not have come as a better gift from the murderer. If you take these dumb pointers as solid evidence, then even a street beggar could be a detective too!”
“You… What did you call us? Beggars? Are you insulting my prowess?” Wang Gang furiously rebuked.
Yang Chen’s face went bleak before a strong pulsating jolt of energy forced down on Wang Gang and his associates! Just a tiny portion of his aura was enough to scare them shitless!
“What… what are you doing?! Don’t you dare! We’re specially assigned by the national security bureau!” Wang Gang blurted from terror.
Yang Chen grinned ominously as he declared, “Alright, I’m feeling rather obedient these days and my wife told me that I should always be the bigger person and never resort to violence. But the lot of you are testing my limits, so I would like to kindly ask if you could be more respectable, responsible, and considerate towards my wife. The next person who yells, I will make sure that they would never be able to whisper again.”
The obvious threat against the police was in a thick, unsettling tone, and would normally trigger a response, but instead had let to the loud and brazen officers to quickly nod in unison.
Watching how Wang Gang and his associates fall into place, many policemen were terrified but was also exhilarated to see them cowering down.
The detectives sent by the headquarters under the excuse of being assigned by the government, bullied their way in the police station. It was safe to say that the policemen were not fans of these detectives.
Cai Yan might be the daughter of the great Cai clan, but was nonetheless unknown to most, notwithstanding her background was strictly limited to military forces.
Lin Ruoxi saw Yang Chen coming to her defense and was instantly reassured. Her heart was oozing with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Despite his usual annoying and brash antics, he was always reliable at critical moments like this.
Many a time, a woman might need just a reason to hate a man, but the opposite was nevertheless also true.
Before long, everyone turned towards Yang Chen as they awaited his decision for their next move.
Yang Chen turned towards Cai Yan. “Yanyan, where’s Lu Yao’s body? There is something I need to confirm for myself.”
Cai Yan was baffled but quickly obliged as she said, “I’ll take you to her at the forensics department. She might need to be taken to the morgue soon though, the hot weather rots bodies quicker.”
Yang Chen nodded before he turned attentively towards Lin Ruoxi. “Keep her company. When the lawyers get here, request for bail. Call me if there’s anything.”
Lin Ruoxi clearly had no disparity as she had no interest in dead bodies nor the morgue. She then hastily dialed up Lawyer Zhang’s number.
Following Cai Yan closely, Yang Chen came to the autopsy room at the core of the police station.
Inside, the forensic specialist had already departed and Lu Yao’s dead body lay stiff on the operation table.
Under dim operational lights, on the cold and shiny slab of metal, Lu Yao’s corpse was still and unmoving. She was covered with a thin sheet of plastic.
Yang Chen slowly made way towards the corpse, flung the plastic cover open, and exposed Lu Yao’s body to the cold air.
Even though she knew full well that it was a corpse lying lifelessly before them, but now that she was alone with Yang Chen with a nude body lying bare, Cai Yan was rather embarrassed. “Forensics declared the cause of death as broken veins, and the wound was… brutal. But you’re here so I suppose there might be a different reason that you’re suspecting?”
Yang Chen shook his head. “No, what killed her really was the fruit knife. But there might have been something else on her body besides that wound.”
Whilst explaining himself, Yang Chen reached out his hand and went caressing the flesh between her legs.
Cai Yan took a breath of disdain before she held onto Yang Chen’s hand. ‘Why… do you have to touch her there?”
Yang Chen was dumbfounded but burst into laughter after realizing what she was thinking. “Yanyan, even if I was horny, I wouldn’t do anything to a dead body now, would I? I just wanted to know if there was another wound.”
“Another wound?”
Cai Yan was baffled but still decidedly went with Yang Chen’s reasoning as she nagged, “Why would the wound be in such a position…”
“Exactly because nobody would expect a wound to be incurred there, which is why I decided to come inspect the body by myself, but due to the sensitivity of the particular region… I had to wait till everyone was gone before I can come over.”
Yang Chen slowly explained while simultaneously steered Lu Yao’s lifeless pair of legs apart, for enough light to radiate into the inerts of her thighs…
Cai Yan was less convinced after his reasoning, but out of curiosity decidedly snuck a peek.
Just when Cai Yan’s gaze fell in between Lu Yao’s thighs, around the edges of her inner thigh from the boundaries of her pubic region, Cai Yan’s pupils widen from shock!
There were two miniature bloodstained holes in the shaded regions, without detailed examination one could easily miss such a key evidence! Nonetheless, whether it was affiliated with her death was yet to be determined.
“This…”
Yang Chen’s expression brimmed. “How’s that, you see it?”
“Yeah…” Cai Yan nodded before she lifted her head, “The thing is, what sort of injury is this? It seems like a snakebite, but the marks are slightly wider apart than the usual snake…”