gentry

Chapter 39 The Missing Wife

In the inspector's office, in front of the chessboard, Inspector Javert put down a black chess piece: "Take four and retreat one."

Luo Fei turned his back to Inspector Javert, and stared at the newspaper: "Che Ba Ping Liu."

Inspector Javert moved the red chess piece, frowned while holding the black chess piece, hesitantly put down the chess piece: "Piece four equals five."

"Six chariots retreat one, and pawns, general!" Luo Fei put down the newspaper with a clatter.

Inspector Javert opened his eyes wide, wiped the sweat from his forehead, squinted at Luo Fei, and quietly took the red knight in his hand: "Two five draw six.

"My horse is standing there, why are you leveling five and six?" Luo Fei crossed his legs.

"There are no horses, do you remember correctly?"

"Then what's in your left hand?"

Inspector Javert sighed, and threw the "horse" back on the chessboard: "Just tell me the answer to the high-rise theft case."

"It's agreed that you have to beat me first." Luo Fei said deliberately.

"Luo Fei, I don't have time to spend with you. I have already promised to the higher-ups that the thief will be found within three days. Today is the last day. If the case cannot be solved, not only I, the detective, but also you, the detective consultant, will lose face." .”

"I just like to see your unconvinced yet compelled to beg me." Luo Fei looked smug.

Inspector Javert stared: "Luo Fei, you're never finished!"

"Okay, tell the case again." Luo Fei turned around.

Detective Javert curled his lips and said: "Three days ago, a thief climbed up to the 18th floor with bare hands, climbed into the scene through a transom window less than [-] centimeters wide, and stole the item while the ambassador's wife was at home." How did he manage to string the priceless necklace "Tears of Venus"?"

Luo Fei tilted his head: "It's very simple, this thief is not a human being."

Inspector Javert sneered, "Isn't it a human being, is it a ghost?"

"The thief is a bird." Luo Fei stretched out his arms and fanned them.

"Your joke is not funny at all."

"I'm not joking. A royal blue feather was found at the scene. Your detective arbitrarily believed that the feather fell from the ambassador's wife's hat, but the feathers used in hats are usually goose feathers or turkey feathers. That feather The feathers were from a macaw."

Inspector Javert was dubious: "Can parrots steal?"

"So this is not an ordinary parrot, but a parrot that has been carefully trained." Luo Fei unfolded the newspaper and placed it in front of Javert's nose.

On the newspaper, a macaw was printed, with a line of text next to it-"Foreign birds dance, elephants can read, and the French Dumas Circus comes to Shanghai for a grand performance."

Inspector Javert grabbed the newspaper and read it carefully: "The day before the necklace was stolen, the ambassador's wife went to Dumas' circus performance."

Inspector Javert listened, thought for a while, picked up the phone on the table: "Immediately help me draw up a search warrant, I want to search the Dumas Circus."

Luo Fei hugged his shoulders: "I helped you solve the case, but you still didn't win."

Inspector Javert put down the phone and said to Luo Fei, "I owe you a favor this time, another day..."

"There's no need to change another day." Luo Fei directly interrupted Detective Javert, "As a reward, you can give me a case now, don't steal something so boring, make it interesting."

"I'm sorry, the patrol room is not a western restaurant, and it allows you to order." Javert immediately turned cold.

At this time, the door of the office was suddenly pushed open, and Qin Xiaoman walked in angrily.

"Inspector, I was the police officer for the Sima Road case, why did you hand it over to Detective Ye?"

"That case is not suitable for you." Inspector Javert said, taking a peek at Luo Fei.

"Where doesn't it fit?" Qin Xiaoman bit her lip hard.

"Girls don't go there!" said Javert.

"I'm not a girl, I'm a female police detective!" Qin Xiaoman retorted.

"Female police detectives are also women, and decent women should not go to that kind of place." Javert raised his teacup with a serious face.

"Should decent men go?" Xiaoman asked back.

"You..." Javert almost didn't spit out a mouthful of tea.

"Wait, what happened to Four Horse Road?" Luo Fei finally spoke.

"A female corpse was found in the room of Tianxiang Hotel on Sima Road..."

Before Xiaoman finished speaking, Luo Fei threw down the newspaper and jumped up: "What, there is a corpse, great, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I've handed over this case to Detective Ye." Inspector Javert rushed to talk.

"Haha, that idiot Ye Changqing, you actually entrusted him with the murder case?" Luo Fei said and looked at Qin Xiaoman.

Xiaoman suppressed a smile.

"He may not be as smart as you, but he is the oldest police detective in the patrol room. You have already started to solve the case before your hair grows." Javert scolded.

"No wonder the detection rate was so low back then." Luo Fei's eccentric tone angered Javert again.

"Be respectful to seniors!" Inspector Javert stared at Luo Fei.

Luo Feiyi shrugged: "Solving a case depends on ability rather than seniority. For example, this new detective Qin, although his IQ is not high, his fighting power in fights is 3.5 times that of ordinary people..."

Xiaoman, who was looking relaxed, suddenly came back to his senses: "Are you praising me?"

"Praise you? Do you think low IQ is a compliment?" Luo Fei said meanly.

After hearing this, Xiaoman immediately exposed Luo Fei's truth to Inspector Javert: "Last time he couldn't even climb over such a high wall, so he asked me to give him a hand."

"She's talking nonsense, I left beforehand." Luo Fei turned and left.

"Where are you going?" Xiaoman followed.

"Go and solve the case." Luo Fei said without looking back.

"I'll go too." Xiaoman said.

"I warn you! Don't interfere with Ye Changqing's case!"

However, the two ignored Inspector Javert who was shouting hoarsely behind him.

Luo Fei and Xiao Man walked out of the patrol room compound.

"As long as I'm a woman, the Inspector will never think of me as a detective, will he?"

"He doesn't regard you as a police detective, so you don't want to be a police detective?" Luo Fei shook his cane, feeling better for no reason.

"Of course not...you are right, as long as I persevere, one day he will see my hard work." Xiaoman looked at Luo Fei firmly.

"Very good." Luo Fei reached out to stop a rickshaw, pulled Xiaoman into the car, and then said to the driver, "Sima Road, Tianxiang Hotel."

"Just now the inspector seemed to say that we are not allowed to interfere." Xiaoman looked at Luo Fei with some anxiety.

"Did you say it? I didn't hear it." Luo Fei said shaking his head.

"I... didn't hear it either." Xiaoman said with a smile.

"Very well, we're not here to stir up trouble, we're just here to learn and see how the oldest senior in the police station solves the case." Luo Fei had a mean expression on his face, making it hard to believe that he was there to study.

At this time, inside and outside the room of Tianxiang Hotel on Sima Road, several police officers were guarding.

In the small hotel room, Ye Changqing pretended to inspect the corpse of the woman whose face had been scratched, and said loudly to a policeman who looked like an assistant recorded by the side: "Judging from the corpse, I can conclude that this is not suicide, it must be homicide!"

The assistant nodded and took a small notebook to record: "Gao Ming! What else do you see?"

Ye Changqing looked around and asked, "Did any of you find the wallet of the deceased?"

The patrolmen looked at each other and shook their heads.

"There were obvious signs of fighting at the scene of the murder, and the wallet of the deceased was missing. The only explanation is that this is a burglary and homicide! You go and investigate any suspicious people who have entered and left the hotel in the past two days, especially those who have a history of theft and robbery. ..."

Before Ye could finish speaking, Luo Fei's voice came from outside the door: "Wrong, this is not robbery and murder."

The surrounding patrolmen dispersed, Ye Changqing got up and looked at Luo Fei and Qin Xiaoman coldly: "What are you two doing here?"

"We're just passing by, just looking around." Luo Fei's eyes fell on the female corpse.

"This is the scene of a murder. Don't let irrelevant personnel come in to make trouble, oops..." Ye Changqing waved vigorously, but because the gunshot wound had not healed, he hugged his shoulders and grinned again.

After observing the corpse, Luo Fei turned his head and nodded to Ye Changqing: "Okay, I'll leave right away, but I have a question to ask, since it was robbery and murder, why the gold necklace on the neck of the deceased and the jade bracelet on his hand are still there Woolen cloth?"

"This..." Ye Changqing rubbed his chin vigorously, feeling a little embarrassed looking at his subordinates.

Suddenly, Ye Changqing's eyes rolled, and she suddenly realized with a smile: "The murderer only robbed the wallet, and before he had time to take off the jewelry, he ran away in panic when he heard the movement."

The patrolmen nodded repeatedly, and Ye Changqing, who was surrounded in the middle, looked at Luo Fei and Qin Xiaoman proudly.

"Is this how the wallet was opened on the ground when you entered the house?" Luo Fei asked.

"Yeah, how's it going?" Ye Changqing's assistant hurriedly asked.

Luo Fei squatted down to observe, followed the opening of the purse, looked under the chest of drawers, and muttered to himself: "The murderer and the deceased had a fight, and the deceased hit the murderer with his purse, and the murderer knocked down the purse, and the purse inside... ..."

As Luo Fei spoke, he took out his pockets, and his expression changed.

Seeing this, Xiaoman took out two pairs of white gloves from her inner pocket and handed a pair to Luo Fei.

"Take it, clean freak detective."

Luo Fei winked at Xiaoman and smiled: "Do you want to consider being my assistant?"

"Thank you, I'm already a police detective." Xiao Man said with a curled lip.

Luo Fei put on his gloves, lay down on the floor, and took out a wallet from under the chest of drawers. "This is the wallet that was taken."

Ye Changqing snatched the wallet and found that the banknotes were still in it. He was a little embarrassed, and then angered the police: "Didn't I tell you to look for it?! Since there are many valuable things, it must not be robbery. I understand that the deceased was a prostitute, and she had a conflict with the client because of the money, and the client killed her in a fit of rage..."

The assistant hastily recorded in the notebook again.

"The cheongsam worn by the deceased was made of high-quality imported serge fabric, with fine workmanship, and it was tailor-made. How could a low-class prostitute who came to such a low-end hotel wear such a high-end cheongsam?"

Ye Changqing scratched his head, thought for a long time, and said falteringly: "This...Actually, I want to say that the deceased was the wife of a rich family, and she must have come to such a place where fish and dragons are mixed up, so she must have a tryst with her lover in order to hide people's eyes and ears. When there is a conflict, one will kill the other, so it is love killing!"

At this point, the assistant crossed out a few lines and re-recorded.

Luo Fei tapped the assistant's shoulder with his cane: "The deceased was definitely not a rich man. Although she was wearing an expensive cheongsam, she matched it with a pair of old leather shoes. The necklace and jade bracelets she wore were of average quality. The perfume and lipstick in the bag are all cheap..."

Ye Changqing interrupted Luo Fei, and pulled him aside: "Luo Fei, what are you trying to do, are you here on purpose to find trouble?"

Luo Fei pretended to be friendly and patted Ye Changqing on the shoulder: "I'm here to help you solve the case. This case is very unusual. I'm afraid you can't solve it with your ability. Only I can help you..."

Ye Changqing grinned at him, turned around and knocked off his hand: "It's a good idea, the case is mine, you don't want to take my credit."

Luo Fei approached Ye Changqing, and put his hand on Ye Changqing's shoulder again: "Don't worry, you will take all the credit for solving the case."

Ye Changqing took Luo Fei's hand, half-believing: "Really? Then what do you want, I have nothing to give you."

"It's the best reward for me to participate in solving the case. As for Detective Qin, it's a rare opportunity to learn from the seniors, isn't it?"

Xiaoman reluctantly nodded in agreement. After all, she had been with Luo Fei for so long, and she hadn't learned anything else. The cooperation was still very tacit.

Seeing the two of them seeming to act sincerely, Ye Changqing compromised: "Okay, I'll let you two participate in solving the case, but don't question me in front of my subordinates!"

Luo Fei nodded repeatedly, and stretched out his little finger like coaxing a child, and then the two of them secretly checked each other, leaving Xiaoman dumbfounded.

Then, Luo Fei and Xiaoman squatted beside the corpse to observe.

"Detective Qin, did you see anything from the body?"

"The fatal wound was on the right neck, and the carotid artery was punctured. The murder weapon should be a small knife with a triangular edge. After the murder, the murderer used the same knife to scratch the face of the deceased. There may be deep grievances between the two parties, or it may be intentional. Send some kind of message..." Xiaoman said seriously.

Luo Fei nodded in satisfaction: "Very good, it doesn't look like there is no hope, let's go."

"Hey, where are you going?" Ye Changqing didn't know why.

"Investigate." Luo Fei was too lazy to explain to Ye Changqing.

"What are you watching! Continue to clean up the scene." After Ye Changqing scolded the patrols around, he hurriedly followed.

The innkeeper squinted and looked through the register.

Luo Fei, Qin Xiaoman, and Ye Changqing gathered around the table.

The innkeeper pointed to a line of words and said slowly: "Yesterday afternoon... room 201... oh, it's Mrs. Wang."

Qin Xiaoman couldn't wait to get the registration book: "Mrs. Wang? No name?"

"No, our registration here is just a formality." The innkeeper smiled awkwardly.

"Did she come alone?" Luo Fei asked.

The innkeeper nodded: "Yes."

"What time did you come?"

The shopkeeper thought for a while: "Four or five o'clock."

"No one else went up with her?"

The innkeeper frowned and thought for a moment: "Oh, I remembered. Although she came alone, when she checked in, she told me that there will be a Mr. Wang later. When she comes, tell him the room number."

"Mr. Wang?" Ye Changqing finally interjected.

"Has he come? When did he come?" Xiaoman asked hastily.

"It was six o'clock last night."

Qin Xiaoman had some doubts: "Why are you so sure?"

The innkeeper nodded again and again: "I'm very sure. When he came, the radio station just started broadcasting the "Radio Song Queen Campaign". It was exactly six o'clock, and Zhou Xuan was the first to sing..."

"Alright." Qin Xiaoman waved his hands again and again, then asked, "Then when did he leave?"

"Not long after I went up, I came down and left. Zhou Xuan hasn't finished singing "Phoenix Yu Fei" yet."

"Do you remember what he looked like?" Ye Changqing asked.

"Medium build, wearing a long gray gown..." The innkeeper asked suddenly, "Did he kill the woman in 201?"

"At least he is the biggest suspect. You and I will go back to the arrest room immediately to paint a portrait of the suspect." Ye Changqing said.

"I still have to do business." The shopkeeper was a little scared.

Ye Changqing stared: "A murder happened in your hotel, do you still want to do business? Go!"

Ye Changqing couldn't help but dragged the shopkeeper and walked out.

"Shall we go together?" Xiaoman asked Luo Fei.

Luo Fei shook his head: "No, this "Mr. Wang" is not the murderer. It only takes 3 minutes to sing "Phoenix Yu Fei", and he has no time to commit crimes. He came to find someone but left quickly, which means that there is no one in the house." Answer the door, the deceased has already been killed at this time, and the time of death is between four o'clock and six o'clock."

"Then what shall we do next?"

"What a smart detective has to do is not to find a needle in a haystack, but to follow the clues." After speaking, Luo Fei pointed to the door with his cane, and Xiaoman hurriedly followed.

"Detective, can you make it clear, what vines, what melons?"

"The deceased's cheongsam was made of imported serge fabric, cut to fit, and it was tailor-made. There are no more than ten tailors in the International Settlement that can make such cheongsam." Luo Fei explained as he walked.

"How do you know so clearly?" Xiao Man hurriedly stood still, steadying her footsteps that almost bumped into Luo Fei.

"A real gentleman must be particular about his clothes, and the one standing in front of you happens to be a gentleman." Luo Fei proudly stopped a rickshaw with his cane.

In the morning, the two checked eight tailor shops, but found nothing.

"No...not...not..." Luo Fei walked out of a tailor shop irritably, shaking his cane.

"Can you tell me what you're looking at?" Xiaoman almost collapsed.

"Hemming. Skilled tailors have their own unique techniques, just like a painter's signature. The hemming of the deceased's cheongsam is very distinctive, with twill stitching and very thin and narrow edges."

While the two were talking, they came to the door of Yigan Qipao shop on Tongfu Road.

"Is it this?" Xiaoman casually pointed to a family.

"No, the next one." Luo Fei shook his head and pointed to a tailor shop named Guardian.

After Luo Fei and Xiaoman walked into the store, Xiaoman was dumbfounded at the various beautiful cheongsams displayed in the store.

"Detective Qin, do you still like this?" Luo Fei tilted his head and looked at Xiaoman.

Meeting Luo Fei's probing eyes, Xiaoman immediately turned and walked away.

Afterwards, Luo Fei and Xiaoman checked in the store separately.

"Ah, this is the one, I found it!"

Xiaoman breathed a sigh of relief at Luo Fei's voice.

"Are you sure? I look pretty much the same..." But Xiaoman still looked dazed.

At this time, the clerk came up and said, "Hello sir, hello madam, does my wife look at ready-made clothes or custom-made clothes? I know, of course it's custom-made if my wife is so beautiful!"

"Do you have imported serge material here? It's preferably water green." Luo Fei asked directly.

"Yes, yes, to be honest, sir, you said that our family has the whole Tongfu road of Shuilu imported serge material." The clerk said as he took out the material from the counter and showed it to the two proudly.

Xiaoman nodded: "Exactly the same..."

The guy was puzzled: "Ma'am, what are you talking about?"

"Who has made cheongsam with this fabric?" Xiaoman asked.

The clerk was stunned: "Madam, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you the customer's information."

Xiaoman took out the police badge: "I'm not my wife, the house police are investigating the case."

The guy panicked when he saw this: "Hey, what happened?"

"If you shouldn't ask, don't ask, quickly show the record." Xiaoman immediately showed Ye Changqing's arrogance.

The clerk pouted, and took out the record book from under the counter: "We have records of who bought and who sold, let me see, here." Xiaoman checked carefully: "A total of three were sold?"

"The business in the store is so bad that it can't be sold." The man sighed.

"Then let's look for them one by one according to the documents."

Luo Fei took a look: "There's no one we're looking for here."

"How do you know?" Xiaoman asked.

"The size of these three people does not match the size of the deceased." Luo Fei said.

The buddy gasped: "Dead?"

Xiaoman stared: "I told you not to ask. Do you have any other records?"

"It's gone, it's all here. I've made three pieces of this piece of cloth since I bought it..."

Luo Fei glanced at the buddy, and shook the cloth away without saying a word.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" The man was caught off guard.

Luo Fei took a ruler and measured the length and width of the remaining cloth, looked at the sales receipt again, and stood up.

Luo Fei: "You lied. After deducting the size on the sales slip, it is exactly 1.8 meters short. This piece of cloth should have made four cheongsams in total. Who is the other one for?"

The guy quickly said, "I remembered after you said that. There is another one for my wife."

Luo Fei laughed suddenly: "Hahaha, I should have thought about it a long time ago. Who can afford high-end cheongsams but can't afford high-end cosmetics? Of course it's the proprietress of the tailor shop."

"Is something wrong with your wife?" the man asked nervously.

"Where is your boss?" Luo Fei asked.

The buddy pointed upstairs.

As Luo Fei and Xiaoman went upstairs, they heard the sound of the sewing machine turning.After climbing up the narrow and dark stairs, the two saw a thin and capable man stepping on a sewing machine, with a pair of sharp scissors on the fabric beside him.

Xiaoman and Luo Fei exchanged glances.

After the man found the two, he stopped the machine: "Who are you looking for?"

"Are you Wang Jiade?" Xiaoman asked.

Wang Jiade was noncommittal, and continued to step on the sewing machine with a cold face: "To make clothes, register first, Mao, who told you to bring them up."

The buddy followed and ran up: "I didn't bring them, they insisted on coming up to find you."

Xiaoman flashed her police badge: "I'm a detective from the patrol room, I want to ask you something."

Wang Jiade remained expressionless: "What's the matter?"

"Where is your wife now?" Xiaoman asked.

Wang Jiade didn't even raise his head, as if he was used to it: "Her? She went to play mahjong at the Li's house on Duomalu when she received a call yesterday afternoon, and she hasn't seen anyone yet."

"Does your wife often go out to play mahjong?" Luo Fei asked.

At this time, the guy continued: "Yes, my wife can play mahjong, and she wins a lot of money every time..."

Wang Jiade suddenly scolded the guy: "This is none of your business."

The guy grinned and left.

Wang Jiade snorted coldly: "Hmph, if you run outside all day, it's better to die outside and not come back."

Wang Jiade accidentally shook his hand and stepped on the sewing machine crookedly. Angrily, he grabbed the damaged fabric and cut it with scissors.

Luo Fei looked at Wang Jiade: "Did she wear a water-green serge cheongsam, gold necklace, jade bracelet, and crimson handbag when she went out yesterday?"

Wang Jiade nodded: "Yes, what happened to her?"

"Where were you between [-]pm and [-]pm yesterday?" Luo Fei asked.

Wang Jiade looked up at Luo Fei: "I've been making clothes here."

"Who can prove it?" Xiao Man asked.

Wang Jiade stood up excitedly holding the scissors: "What proof do I need to make clothes? What do you mean by asking?"

Xiaoman stared at the scissors, and stretched out her hand to make a soothing gesture: "Mr. Wang, the thing is like this, please calm down first, put down the things in your hand, we..."

Luo Fei stared at Wang Jiade sharply: "We found a female corpse, dressed exactly like your wife, you'd better go to the patrol room to identify the corpse."

Wang Jiade was stunned, the scissors in his hand fell to the ground and stuck to the floor.

(End of this chapter)