Capturing My Demon King Costar

Yao Shen barely has the time to exchange a look with Xin Hulei before the two Inspectors are announcing his arrest, each of them flanking him and holding on to his upper arm.

"I'm sure you don't want to be handcuffed for this," Inspector Song says. "Everything will go a lot better if you cooperate. We can avoid drawing any undue attention."

"I haven't done anything, I haven't seen that syringe in my life," Yao Shen says.

Both Inspectors ignore him, and frog marching him out of the room carelessly.

"I'm going too," Xin Hulei says, his eyes blazing.

Inspector Wei raises his free hand to stop Xin Hulei's movements. "This is not a couple's spa package," he says, while Inspector Song snorts. "You'll be called down to the precinct soon enough. Wait your turn."

Yao Shen throws one last worried look at Xin Hulei over his shoulder before being escorted out of the room.

---

Thankfully, the late hour makes it so not a lot of people see the spectacle of him being led into a police car between the two Inspectors, their grip tight on his upper arm.

The ride to the police station passes by in a blur, in which Yao Shen tries to make sense of his jumbled thoughts.

Who would have planted the syringe in his room?

Gao Wu wanted to warn him, so the person's identity must be shocking, someone Yao Shen would never suspect.

While the Inspectors lead him into an interrogation room, and set up all kinds of cameras and recording equipment, Yao Shen rifles trough a mental file of everyone he knows. Trying to think of their motives for framing him, considering what they had to gain.

The only person he can say he trusts, without a shadow of doubt, his Xin Hulei. Everyone else he can come up with a motive for, no matter how flimsy.

Inspector Wei clears his throat and adjusts the knot of his tie. "I'm sure this isn't where you thought you'd spend your evening," he says, his tone friendly and approachable. Yao Shen isn't fooled by the routine, he knows they're just trying to put him at ease so he'll babble whatever he needs to hear.

"We won't handcuff you as a courtesy," Inspector Song says, her tone more curt and to the point. "I don't think you'll give us any trouble. You're smarter than that."

Yao Shen nods, looking down at his hands, laying flat on top of the cool formica tabletop.

They're not going to go for a "bad cop, good cop" approach, that's too american tv show. From what Yao Shen can tell, Inspector Wei will try to be his buddy, a friend he can confide in without judgement, while Inspector Wei will be the strict schoolteacher, not a disciplinarian, or evil, just a stickler for the rules.

Yao Shen has studied characters like these. There's a reason they pop up in a lot of dramas: they're familiar. The neighbourhood buddy who never thinks anything is a big deal, the schoolteacher who does, but only has your best interests in mind, and will do her best to get you out of a tight spot, even if she'll berate you for it.

They hope one of them will resonate with Yao Shen, leave him vulnerable and open to manipulation.

Maybe it works with people who are guilty, or with innocent people who aren't actors and can't tell when someone is playing a role.

"You know as well as I do that that syringe could have been planted," Yao Shen says, cutting straight through their carefully planned line of questioning.

Inspector Wei sprawls against the back of his chair with a snort. "Sure, but that's also something you'd say if we found the murder weapon in your hotel room."

"If you made a mistake the best thing to do is admit it now instead of dragging everything out," Inspector Song says, her prim posture a sharp contrast her partner's careless sprawl. "You don't really want to waste public resources on a lengthy investigation. You made a mistake, but you're not a bad person. All you need to do is own up to it, and all of this will go away."

Yao Shen smirks. "Did you find anything else in my hotel room?"

A muscle twitches in Inspector Wei's eyelid. Yao Shen's smirk widens. That little tell is as good as an admission. 

He goes on, "you think it's strange too. Why would my room be clean of everything except the murder weapon? Why would I do such a good job of cleaning out everything only to leave the one thing that will 100% incriminate me out in the open?"

"How do you know it was out in the open?" Inspector Song asks, still smiling as if this is all a big joke they're both in on.

"I have no idea where it was because I've never seen that syringe before, but I assume the person who is trying to incriminate me left it somewhere easy to find."

The Inspector waves in the air, as if he's going to indulge Yao Shen's line of thinking, because he's such a nice guy and all that.

"Fine, let's say someone is trying to frame you. Who is it? Who would have the motives to?"

"Well, I would start by investigating the families of the men convicted for the murders of two women."

"We did look into your previous claims," Inspector Song says. "The investigation didn't turn up anything. There is no sign the families are looking for retribution, if anything they've all avoided media attention."

"You asked me who would have a motive for framing me, I'm telling you."

Inspector Wei clicks his tongue. "Here's what doesn't make sense about that theory: it wasn't just you who exposed the murderers. In fact, Xin Hulei took the central stage, and was the figure more closely associated with the scandal. Why would anyone single you out?"

To get at Xin Hulei? To send a message? Because they're connected to his ghost king younger brother from a past life who has an unhealthy obsession with him? Yao Shen can come up with lots of reason, unfortunately all the best ones will only get him a one-way ticket to the psych ward.

"That's a good question for you to ask the person who told you about the syringe in my room," Yao Shen says, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

The bars of the metal chair dig into his back, making it impossible for him to sit in a comfortable position. An intended design feature, no doubt.

The air in the sterile environment of the grey and white interrogation room is suffocating. Yao Shen wants to pick at the collar of his tshirt, but he's hyper aware of the cameras filming him.

The space between him and the two inspectors is negligible. If he could just touch their bare hands he could try to persuade them to tell him who tipped them off. Ýao Shen will bet anything that the person who did is the same Gao Wu was trying to warn him about.

....Warn him about.

Why did Gao Wu want to warn Yao Shen specifically? 

Did they say something about Yao Shen while attacking Gao Wu? Why take the risk of being overheard?

The death happened in a public place, secluded from security cameras, but usually frequented by the drama's crew and cast. That means the murderer wanted the police investigations to centre on one of their number. Who ever killed him was angling to frame Yao Shen from the start.

A random chance killing wouldn't have involved poison in a syringe, it's too methodical.

Yao Shen doesn't want to beat the bush any longer. "Who tipped you off?"

Inspector Song narrows her eyes in annoyance. "You know we can't reveal that information."

Yao Shen looks down at the table again, at the distance between his hands and the inspectors'. He only needs to reach a few scant inches to touch one or both of them. If the puts them under his thrall, there's nothing they won't tell him. 

He chances a sideways look at the camera mounted on a tripod, filming his profile, and then at the one behind the inspectors, aimed directly at his face. Too many variables he can't control.

There must be something he's missing. Something obvious which is staring him right in the face.

Was anything different when he entered the room after Bi Jialu called him? 

He was so focused on "acting normal" that he didn't even take a look around.

The syringe had already been with them, so they went to his room when he wasn't there to collect it. Maybe even more than one day ago, depending on the tests they ran on the syringe.

Who opened the door for them?

Someone from the hotel staff or...Bi Jialu.

A cold shiver runs down Yao Shen's spine. He didn't even think about her when he was trying to think of who could be framing him. Her presence is so non-intrusive, that he forgot just how much access she has to him as his personal assistant.

"Was it Bi Jialu?" he asks, lifting his head to meet the Inspector's Song's eyes. Her eyelid twitches again. "She has the key to my hotel room."

He remembers the leaked footage from the day Heimao had his little spat because of Jincan. Xin Hulei pointed out that it must have been taken by someone there, but Yao Shen barely thought about it again.

"Check weibo," he says, nodding towards their mobiles, facedown on the table.. "I bet there are posts and videos circulating about my arrest right now."