Five Cases – Chapter 5: Report

Shen Pei’s head ached slightly as he looked at Lu Hui, who was sitting like an enthroned lord in the lab and would not leave: “You don’t have anything else to do?”

“I have to ensure that you are working earnestly instead of sneaking off to grab some tea with that lovely little lady officer you met a few days ago.” Lu Hui sat on the swiveling chair with his arms crossed in front of him as he leisurely stretched his legs, “Also, my case is first priority, so I have to beat back anyone who tries to cut in line.”

“Immature.” Shen Pei rolled his eyes then adjusted the microscope, “And, I didn’t see any sort of ‘lovely little lady officer’.”

“Oh, so it’s men. I don’t discriminate.” Lu Hui shot his mouth off with a poker face. 

“…Shut up.” With great effort, Shen Pei ignored the noisy pile of rubbish in the middle of the laboratory, “I’m afraid that I’ll give in and beat you to death with the microscope.”

“Dong, dong, dong.”

There was a knock at the laboratory door. Rao Feifei waved at the two of them from the otherside of the glass. 

“Come in.” Lu Hui said. 

“Both of you, leave.” Shen Pei said to Lu Hui. 

“…” Lu Hui stood up from the swiveling chair, and facing the faintly angry Shen Pei, he had to retreat a step. He pointed to the door, “Then, I’ll be outside. Call me if you need me.”

“I need you to get lost.”  Shen Pei shot him a foul-tempered glare, “Beat it.”

Lu Hui and Rao Feifei were both driven away from the lab by Shen Pei, the door slamming shut with a ‘bang’ behind them. 

The two of them looked particularly bleak. 

“What did you find out?” Lu Hui asked.

“The deceased’s dear friend, Wang—” Rao Feifei said.

“I don’t want to know his name, skip over it.” Lu Hui waved a hand. 

“Alright, the suspect, Wang So-And-So. After we identified him from the surveillance footage, Brother Qi and I went to visit him.” Rao Feifei said, “He agreed to come to the Bureau to give a statement.”

“You and Qi Zhou will question him.” Lu Hui instructed, “I will observe you both from behind the glass.”

“…Chief Lu won’t meet him directly?” Rao Feifei asked, “We might not be able to scare him.”

“Scare him? Have you read so many novels that you think I’m some kind of despot?” Lu Hui did not spare her feelings at all as he ridiculed her, “It’s enough for me to watch from behind the glass. People can lie and retract their confessions at any time, so one person’s testimony is only a final piece of evidence, entirely useless.”

“…Oh.” Rao Feifei, only half understanding, nodded her head, “Wang is in the waiting room.”

“Take him to Interrogation Room 1.” Lu Hui said. 

“Understood.” Rao Feifei affirmed. 

⸻Interrogation room.

One table, three chairs, and a large one-way mirror. Qi Zhou and Rao Feifei sat on one side of the table, Wang sat on the other, and Lu Hui stood behind the mirror.

“Name.” Rao Feifei said. 

“Wang XX.” 

“Relationship with the deceased.”

“Classmates.”

“What did you do on the day of their passing?”

“Everything was normal. I picked up some take-out from XX restaurant and brought it over for him. I left after I finished sharing the meal with him.” Wang spoke expressionlessly, like his classmate’s suicide was not at all unexpected, “He was severely depressed. I took him to see the doctor many times, and they all said that his illness was incurable and prescribed some medication. Both of his parents have passed on, but all of the assets they left for him have been spent on his treatment. Every day, he would sit on that balcony. Even as the days got hotter and hotter, he would always sit out there. At first, I thought he would jump, and for a while, I was worried.”

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Rao Feifei suddenly asked, her expression frosty. Her fingers tapped on the paper, creating a tense atmosphere, “Did you break up recently?”

“I don’t think this has anything to do with my classmate’s suicide.” Wang evaded the question. 

Rao Feifei did not press him about it. She continued her line of questioning regarding the case: “Was there anything unusual about that day? How was your friend doing?”

“Very calm, just like any other day.” Wang said. He added some more particulars, “I went inside, saw him sitting on the balcony, and called him in to eat. When I’m busy, he eats instant noodles or, sometimes, nothing at all. As he ate, I poured him a glass of water, then sat down to eat with him. I left behind the take-out boxes and told him to take them downstairs to the dumpster. I wanted to make him walk around a little, but I never expected him to go as far as to commit suicide.” 

Lu Hui knocked on the glass, and Qi Zhou stood up and exited the interrogation room: “What’s wrong?”

“There’s nothing left to ask, wrap it up.” Lu Hui said. 

Qi Zhou returned to the interrogation room: “Alright, for the next few weeks, don’t leave the city. We may call on you again.”

“Hold on, Comrade Officer.” Wang hastily stood up, “Wasn’t this case clearly a suicide, what else is there to investigate?”

“What if it was a surprise attack from ET?” Lu Hui leaned inside halfway, “We have a responsibility to the people.”

“…” Qi Zhou tilted his body to block Lu Hui, “It’s just procedure.”

“Oh. Then, can I leave?” Wang asked.

“Yes, just don’t leave the city.” Rao Feifei said, straightening out the dossier. 

After he left, Lu Hui said: “Wait for me in the office, I’ll go collect the forensics report.”

“Could Brother Shen have finished it in this amount of time?” Rao Feifei queried.

“Yes, he could.” Lu Hui answered with conviction. 

When he walked to the forensics laboratory, before he had even entered, he was hit by a flying forensics report. 

“Take your report and scram.” Shen Pei’s voice followed the report. 

“Thanks.” Lu Hui waved the report, then turned around and left. 

Lu Hui returned to the group’s office. Rao Feifei, Qi Zhou, and Ji Fanyang were sitting and waiting for him. 

“Ji Fanyang, you go first.” Lu Hui walked up to the whiteboard and picked up a marker. 

“I went back to the crime scene for another look, and I found the deceased’s phone.” Ji Fanyang said, “It has been sent to the forensics department for inspection.”

【Cellphone】, Lu Hui wrote on the whiteboard and said: “Next.”

“Inquiry with the deceased’s classmate, Wang.” Qi Zhou said, “We’ve obtained the surveillance footage from the small residential area, and we can essentially line it up with the time stated by Wang.”

“Based on the report from the forensics technician, the deceased’s time of death and the time Wang left is about the same.” Lu Hui said, lifting a hand to write on the whiteboard 【suicide, leaving, pouring water】. 

“Why include ‘pouring water’?” Qi Zhou asked.

“Wang said it himself, he poured a glass of water for the deceased. He emphasized it in particular.” Lu Hui said, “It was an interesting detail.”

“I investigated Wang’s recent break up with his girlfriend.” Rao Feifei said, “I tried to bluff Wang, but I must have screwed it up.”

【Break up】, Lu Hui wrote. Unexpectedly, he circled this word: “Might be of use. Rao Feifei, go check out this lead.”

Lu Hui opened the forensics report, wagging his pen nonstop, 【No fingerprints at the crime scene besides the deceased’s】, 【No fingerprints on the plastic bag】, 【No fingerprints on the water glass】. 

“A close friend went to bring the deceased food but was prudent enough to not leave behind any fingerprints?” Ji Fanyang voiced the point of suspicion. 

“The restaurant’s manager said that he always grabbed two plastic gloves whenever he picked up the food.” Qi Zhou said, “The kind of gloves you use when eating duck neck, for example.”

“Can serve as a reference.” Lu Hui said, raising the pen to write 【Plastic gloves included in the take-out box】.

They fell into a damned quagmire again.^[1]For reference, the original said hutong 胡同, winding narrow streets, but hutong is hard to understand if you haven’t been in one. I got lost in one for over an hour once and got sunburnt af, had … Continue reading

Qi Zhou stared at the whiteboard’s barely coherent words and couldn’t help but say ironically: “So, we’ve been investigating in circles, and it’s a suicide?”

“Mm, the deceased killed himself so he didn’t have to take out the trash.” Lu Hui put him down expressionlessly. 

Qi Zhou’s daily call out 【1/1】, achievement unlocked. 

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From the translator:

Yo, triple update today! Hehe