Chapter 20 – Homicide

On Ji Mingrui’s first day of work this week, Wu Zhibin called him into the office along with Jiang Yu and Su Xiaolan.

Wu Zhibin was oddly silent; he had just received the information from the other teams, slowly speaking after a while: “Around four o’clock last night, there was a murder in Yuanyuan Community.”

When Ji Mingrui heard the word “homicide,” his ears perked up, his body straightening up involuntarily. Su Xiaolan and Jiang Yu did the same.

They were still newcomers at the moment, the cases that they took having nothing to do with “homicide”; even if they were exposed to such cases, once it is determined to be a criminal case, it would be transferred to other teams. So, the fact that Wu Zhibin was able to call them over and say this, was something they didn’t expect.

“The deceased was 23 years old, female, her full name Yang Zhenzhen; she came to Huanan for her boyfriend, living in Yangyuan for a month,” Wu Zhibin said, “The landlord knocked on the door this morning, opened the door to find her lying in bed, already dead.”

Wu Zhibin said this while turning the computer monitor towards them.

On the screen was a photo of the scene, a very simple small rental apartment with one bedroom and one living room; the woman clearly decorated it with care after renting it, a newly bought dressing table, a plush carpet, even the curtains were newly replaced white lace screen window, tied with tassel ties, except now the screen window was covered in blood, with even a terrifying bloody handprint– she struggled a lot before dying.

The scene on the bed was even more horrifying to look at; the cream colored bed sheets were covered with large bloodstains.The woman was completely naked, her face covered tightly by a pillow, making it impossible to see her features, only the seaweed-like hair scattered all over the bed.

A woman, living alone, intruded upon and killed.

Ji Mingrui reviewed the many decorations, furniture, and details in the photos one by one, summing up the characteristics of the case; when he finally saw a specific place, his pupils suddenly dilated.

He saw the woman’s slender wrist hanging on the edge of the bed, a familiar bracelet on her wrist, with a star pendant hanging down the back of her hand.

Jiang Yu: “How can it be her?”

Su Xiaolan obviously also noticed the bracelet, her entire body freezing: “Yesterday, yesterday I sent her to the lobby of her apartment……”

“The autopsy report hasn’t come out yet, but there are obvious signs of violation on the body; the deceased’s head and abdomen both were fatally wounded. The preliminary estimate is that the time of death is no more than six hours ago. We are currently investigating the deceased’s interpersonal relationships, seeing whether or not she had any conflicts with others before.”

“You guys should have already guessed why you were called here; after investigating, you guys met her at the bar last night.”

Su Xiaolan was in a trance, forgetting to respond to what Wu Zhibin said.

It was close to two o’clock in the morning then; she and the woman hugged, and before the woman left, she said “thank you, if it weren’t for you guys being there today, I might have been even more embarrassing; you’re right, how can it be hard to find men with two legs.” Su Xiaolan watched her push open the lobby door and walk in, then the elevator doors closed slowly.

Who would have thought, after sending her home, only two hours later, she would be brutally murdered, dying in the room she carefully decorated.

There was only a two hour difference between the two events.

Su Xiaolan knew that it was meaningless to think this way, but she still couldn’t help thinking: if she had waited a little longer yesterday night, left a little later, or even escorted her upstairs, would the outcome be different?

Chi Qing stayed at home, the room very clearly empty, but still filled with voices.

Within all the voices he had heard this day, half of them were talking about “the woman who was killed in the community next door.”

[No wonder why, it’s really not safe for a woman to live on her own outside.]

There were even some people who outwardly said “how pitiful, a good woman’s family disappeared just like that, I met her last time, she was very lively,” but thinking in a secret corner of their heart: [That woman, it’s a good thing a price hadn’t been negotiated yet, and haven’t rent the house out to her, who knows if she’s wronged someone…… If someone dies, I wouldn’t be able to sell this apartment ever again in the future.]

[……]

Not only that, but the model couple’s family in the same building was going through disputes.

Chi Qing was pouring hot water in the kitchen, having just picked up the glass, the water not yet poured in, when the omnipresent distorted voice suddenly said:

[He drank too much yesterday, saying “Do you think that Tongtong doesn’t look like me” when he came back yesterday, what did he mean, did he discover something? What should I do if he wants to take Tongtong to do a paternity test?]

The building that Chi Qing lived in currently, one elevator and four suites, had four households on one floor; the number of voices from upstairs and downstairs combined was no less than in a marketplace.

This was only the first day.

Chi Qing didn’t know how long he would survive in this kind of environment.

Psychiatrist: “Do you want to cancel this week’s appointment?”

“Yes.”

The psychiatrist felt that something was not right when he heard the other party’s voice on the phone; although Chi Qing spoke coldly before, he seemed unusually cold today, so he asked: “Could I take the liberty to ask for the reason?”

“I’m busy,” Chi Qing pressed his ear, although it didn’t help, “……it’s inconvenient for me to go out.”

The psychiatrist didn’t know exactly what this something was, there have been consultations all the way until now, and he didn’t quite understand much about this patient surnamed Chi.

The psychiatrist asked: “What about next week?”

“Not sure.”

The psychiatrist reluctantly said: “……Alright, then let me know when you have time, we’ll make an appointment then. If you experience any major emotional fluctuations during that time, you can always contact me, my advice to you is still to get in contact with more people.”

The last thing Chi Qing wanted to get in contact with right now was people.

After turning down all activities that required going outside, he began to look for houses on the internet.

There were two reasons; one was that there were too many residents, very noisy, and the other was that the lease term of his current apartment was almost up.

On the popular renting website “Anjia,” there were many listings, but there weren’t many listings that met Chi Qing’s requirements. Chi Qing browsed for a while, got bored, clicking the consultation button at the side of the rental website instead, where the staff of Anjia contacted the customer directly.

– Hello, how can I help you?

The profile picture of the customer service worker was wearing a blue shirt, with plain facial features, the corners of the mouth slightly raised, a not big but not small mole at the corner of the mouth, looking very reliable. His work number and name were displayed on the side: Anjia 11963085, Zhou Zhiyi.

Chi Qing was very concise.

– Looking for a house.

– What requirements do you have? Such as location, room size, etcetera.

Chi Qing’s requirements were obviously different from everyone else’s.

– Anywhere with less people is okay.

– ……Ah?

Chi Qing explained again:

– Less residents.

The other party reacted quickly: So you like a quieter living environment, here are some places with one floors and two families that I recommend for you to take a look at. There are very few apartments at present with one floor per family, and the apartments are also too big…… If you need, I can help you find more.

The other party: What community do you live in currently? If you are more familiar with the environment near your current residential area, we can first check if there are any suitable places in its vicinity.

Chi Qing: Nearby?

The other party: Haimao, Tianrui, Yangyuan, and the likes.

The other party: But you probably can’t look at Yangyuan today, there was a homicide, the police are cordoning off the community.

After Chi Qing made an appointment for the time and place to see a house with the agent, he withstood the voices and went out, running into Ji Mingrui at the entrance of the agreed upon community.

There was only a narrow street between Tianrui community and Yangyuan; along both sides of the street were shops on the ground floor of their respective communities. The afternoon sun shone brightly, the rainy weather from before seemed to have used up all the rain, so these days have been sunny.

The sun warmed the cool breeze in the air; Chi Qing only wore a light jacket when he went out.

Ji Mingrui’s car was parked at the south gate of Yangyuan; since their newcomer team had contact with the deceased, they were sent to Yangyuan to provide additional support in the investigation. The community was cordoned off, requiring strict records for personnel entering and leaving: “Have you seen this person, did he appear around the community around four o’clock last night?”

Ji Mingrui held a photo in his hand; the person in the photo was the bartender who had gotten in a fight with the woman last night.

The doorman looked at the photo carefully, shaking his head: “I can’t remember, at four o’clock at night, he shouldn’t have.”

Ji Mingrui put the photo away, putting it back in his breast pocket, then raised his eyes, seeing Chi Qing who was standing at the gate of the community next door.

Ji Mingrui crossed the street in two to three steps, lifting his head to look at the community name: “Tianrui community? Don’t you live next door, how come you came here.”

Chi Qing regretted it once he went out; his ears were filled with so many voices that they were about to explode, the sounds of police cars and interrogations were endless. The crowd at the entrance of the community kept coming and going, countless people speaking at the same time, the distorted voice also superimposing at the same time, making it hard to hear clearly.

Ji Mingrui realized that Chi Qing didn’t seem to have heard him, waving his hand in front of his face, shouting: “Why are you in a daze.”

Chi Qing: “I can hear, no need to shout so loudly.”

Ji Mingrui: “I asked why you’re here.”

Chi Qing: “Looking at apartments.”

After a busy day, Ji Mingrui stood next to Chi Qing, looking at the street in front of them, his gaze landing on the word “Yangyuan” at the gate of the opposite community, and sighed: “Did you know know what happened at Yangyuan, you know the deceased; we met her at the bar yesterday night.”

Chi Qing lifted his eyes, the expression in his eyes finally changing a little.

Ji Mingrui said: “It was the heartbroken woman at the bar last night, her name is Yang Zhenzhen.”

“This case is a bit special; there are no signs of forced entry, the door and window not pried open. She most likely opened the door for the murderer herself. The preliminary suspects are people who know her and are close to her. She just moved to Huanan for her boyfriend, so there aren’t many people she knows…… of course, there are also service personnel, like delivery people and couriers, who gain the trust of residents relatively easily.”

Chi Qing recalled that one sentence from the woman’s heart last night: [Laoniang will find someone better than him in the future]

When he first heard that sentence, he didn’t realize that she would not have a “future.” A few hours later, she closed her eyes forever.

Ji Mingrui could only say this much; it was inconvenient to reveal more details. After taking a deep breath, he devoted himself to interrogations once again.

Chi Qing stood in place for a while, the agent not having arrived, Xie Lin’s WeChat messages arriving before that.

– I heard from Officer Ji that you’re looking for a place.

– I have an empty one, the rent is negotiable, there’s a free car service to see the place.

– Consider it?

The author has something to say:

It’s! Here! I run like hell for my life!