WWY Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Case Analysis – Seems Like There’s Not Much Need for Condolences…

Back at the Criminal Investigation Brigade, Tuxi Ling convened a case analysis meeting with his investigators, with Bureau Chief Liu sitting in.

At the large conference table, everyone from the Second Brigade sat up straight and tall. The First Brigade, which had assisted at Purple Jade Sea View, was also inexplicably dragged in. Team Leader Ke Yaojin of the First Brigade, who had just returned from a case in a neighboring city, looked utterly bewildered.

Wu Li distributed paper summaries of the case to everyone present. After everyone had finished reading, Tuxi Ling turned on the projector.

“I’ll start with a brief description of the case.”

“Four days ago, on September 7th, the 110 dispatch center received a report that Weiyu He, chairman of the He Corporation, had died unexpectedly at his home in Dongjiao Villa. Our Second Brigade responded to the scene and found suspicious points during the on-site investigation. Weiyu He suffered from severe asthma and had been using special medicine purchased from abroad by the family doctor, Man Qin, for a long time. It has now been basically confirmed that Man Qin tampered with the medicine. Two months ago, he replaced the medicine for treating Lan He, Weiyu He’s eldest son’s heart disease, with a spray medication that was similar in smell and shape, taking the opportunity to confuse the two medications, leading to the death of his employer. It is evident that this was premeditated, and the specific details are in the case summary.”

“Two days after the incident, on September 9th, Man Qin drove a car intending to kill Weiyu He’s only son, Lan He, but failed. Subsequently, with the assistance of traffic police officers in the pursuit, he drove the car directly into the river to commit suicide, but there are still suspicious points, so the case was not closed at that time.”

Bureau Chief Liu interjected, “What are the suspicious points?”

“Lan He happened to stay overnight at our Municipal Bureau. Normally, Man Qin couldn’t have known. Moreover, Lan He’s late-night outing was also a spur-of-the-moment decision. How could Man Qin accurately locate him amidst the traffic police blockade? A very professional wireless headset was found in Man Qin’s car. I think that’s the reason.”

“You mean Man Qin had an accomplice who was remotely directing him to hit Lan He.” Bureau Chief Liu pondered for a moment and nodded. “Continue.”

“This suspicious point now has a definitive answer.” Tuxi Ling switched the slide to the next one. “Yesterday, on September 10th, a resident of Purple Jade Sea View returned from a trip and reported to the local police station that strangers had broken into their home. This is a photo of the scene, and from the window of their living room, you can see the front of the Municipal Bureau and the intersection where the incident occurred.”

“According to the property security, the entire neighborhood’s electricity went out on the evening of September 3rd. I personally speculate that the suspects took advantage of that time to bypass the surveillance and commit illegal intrusion. In fact, it is very possible that the power outage was their doing.”

First Brigade Team Leader Ke Yaojin leaned back in his chair, his mind racing with Tuxi Ling’s introduction. Finally, he couldn’t help but interject, “You mean this illegal intrusion is related to that Qin what… Man Qin’s case?”

Tuxi Ling switched the screen to the next few slides, which showed images of a man captured by the lobby surveillance of Unit 1, Building 10 in the Purple Jade Sea View neighborhood.

“This is one of the suspects we have identified in this case. His headset is the same model as the one found in Man Qin’s car.”

“That’s it?” Ke Yaojin scoffed. “Couldn’t it be a coincidence? What? Is it a limited-edition headset?”

“It can really be said to be a limited edition. This headset is manufactured by the German company VRL and was discontinued seven years ago due to upgrades. For electronic products, seven years is long past their service life. Unless there are special circumstances, there will be no sales or use. How could it be such a coincidence that two appear in our small city at the same time?”

Bureau Chief Liu perked up, sitting up straight. “Didn’t you get a clear shot of his face?”

“No, the other party has a strong awareness of counter-surveillance and also has very high hacking skills.” Tuxi Ling switched the screen to the entrance camera. “The camera has been tampered with, and the picture is frozen. Because it is an elevator-accessed layout, and the homeowner is on vacation, normally there shouldn’t be any movement, so the static picture didn’t attract the homeowner’s attention. They also hacked into the fingerprint lock and have been freely entering and exiting for five days, completely treating this place as their own home.”

Ke Yaojin scratched his cheek. “Impressive, a hacker?”

His tone was disdainful.

Although they both belonged to the Criminal Investigation Brigade, doing the same job, there was always some competitive spirit. Usually, they didn’t get along, especially Ke Yaojin. Xia Shengbo privately always said he had a sharp tongue.

As soon as he made a sarcastic remark, Xia Shengbo became unhappy and retorted, “No matter how much of a hacker he is, wasn’t he still found out by our wise and mighty Ling Team? If it were someone else, the case would probably have been closed when Man Qin died, right?”

Normally, Tuxi Ling would definitely scold him, but Ke Yaojin’s words scratched at a certain nerve in his brain, and he didn’t even notice what he said.

Ke Yaojin was not happy and slammed the table. “Xia Shengbo, are you looking for trouble? Tuxi Ling, what do you mean? Aren’t you going to do anything about it? Bureau Chief Liu is still here!”

Tuxi Ling belatedly glanced at him. “What? Sorry, I didn’t hear.”

Ke Yaojin was convinced that he was pretending to be deaf and wanted to argue with him properly, but he didn’t expect him to ask a very abrupt question: “Why aren’t there any car keys in the evidence?”

The conference room suddenly fell silent.

Tuxi Ling asked Cheng Ye of the Evidence Section: “Does this model of car not require car keys?”

All eyes turned to Cheng Ye. He quickly sat up straight and flipped through the A4 paper in his hand. “It does require… That’s right, where are the car keys?”

The investigators began to talk among themselves. Bureau Chief Liu frowned at the screen, lost in thought.

“Little Ling, you have an idea, don’t you? Don’t keep us in suspense, tell us.”

“According to Section Chief Cheng, Man Qin’s car can be GPS located, remotely controlled, and self-driven. Then I think it’s entirely possible for a hacker to hack into the vehicle system and remotely control the vehicle to crash into the river.”

“Nonsense!” Ke Yaojin scoffed. “Ling Team, are you making up a story? What evidence…”

Tuxi Ling glanced at him. “Team Leader Ke, haven’t you noticed that the extracted evidence is quite scarce? All the metal items in the car, including the toolbox, tripod, seat belt buckle… Even the sunglasses were taken away. Oh, I also noticed that the headrests on the car were also removed, possibly because the seat shape is novel, so the colleagues in the evidence section didn’t notice it. Originally, I couldn’t figure out what was going on, but thinking about the hacker who can easily change the fingerprint lock, plus the missing car keys, I believe the suspect locked Man Qin in the car and then remotely locked all the electronic programs, so he couldn’t get out.”

“These could all be coincidences, evidence, evidence!” Ke Yaojin shouted.

Tuxi Ling was prepared and switched to another screen. A broken car logo was presented to everyone.

“This car logo is from the steering wheel. Simply falling into the water would not cause it to fall off. Everyone knows this common sense, right? The damage to the edge of the car logo matches the damage to Man Qin’s fingernails. Perhaps he was trying to pry off the car logo to save himself. After all, this was the only metal item in the car that was easy to remove, and the edge was sharp, which could create a chance to break the window and escape. Unfortunately, it was one step too late.”

“Murder to silence him? Too arrogant!” Bureau Chief Liu was so angry that he slammed the table, scaring everyone around him to sit up straight.

Tuxi Ling nodded and continued to give his conclusion: “Man Qin did not commit suicide out of fear of guilt, but was murdered. That person…”

He put the screen back on the suspect captured by the surveillance and pointed to his black headset. “This model of headset is almost impossible to find in China. It is very likely that this person is connected to an overseas gambling group, the group that forced Man Qin to commit the crime!”

Xia Shengbo clapped his hands in admiration. “Awesome, boss, it all adds up!”

With new leads in the case, Tuxi Ling exhaled in relief. “They killed Man Qin and are likely still on the run. I request that all train stations, bus stations, docks, and airports in our city be investigated, looking for suspicious people based on the limited information we have!”

Xia Shengbo said with great understanding: “The suspect is male, between 187 and 190 cm tall, weighs about 80 kg, has a horizontal scar on the right side of his ear, has a strong awareness of counter-surveillance, and is likely to have accomplices.”

The investigators quickly took notes. After Bureau Chief Liu said a few more encouraging words, he announced the adjournment of the meeting.

While Bureau Chief Liu was giving his impassioned speech, Lan He called Tuxi Ling. He didn’t hang up but exchanged glances with Bureau Chief Liu and went out to answer the phone. It wasn’t really because the other party was a victim’s family member, or something else.

“Hello? Lan He.”

“Officer Ling, I think I should still tell you that my father’s funeral is tomorrow. Do you need someone from the police to come?”

He didn’t expect it to be this matter. Tuxi Ling hesitated slightly and said, “Okay, I’ll come.”

Man Qin, who attempted to threaten Weiyu He, is dead. Did that suspect’s goal really completely achieve? Could they still be thinking about the He family’s property? They didn’t get anything this time. Will they really give up?

–

On the day of the He Corporation chairman’s funeral, celebrities from all walks of life attended. In addition to the big names in the business and cultural circles, Tuxi Ling also saw several leaders with permanent seats on the city’s Standing Committee.

Indeed, quite influential.

Many media outlets came to the scene, as well as many ordinary people who came to watch the excitement. The security at the venue was very strict. In addition to company security and armed police, there were also many plainclothes special patrol officers mixed in the crowd.

Tuxi Ling was invited in a private capacity, standing low-key in the corner, inadvertently looking at everyone present.

If the suspect hasn’t given up, then he is very likely to appear at Weiyu He’s funeral, and may even cause trouble. He discussed it with Bureau Chief Liu and mobilized the entire First Criminal Investigation Brigade to temporarily be at Tuxi Ling’s disposal, secretly investigating the suspect at the funeral and preventing accidents.

But they miscalculated. Nothing happened.

Through the door of the farewell hall, Tuxi Ling saw Lan He wearing a white Tang suit, his hair a little messy at the temples, bowing to the guests who came to pay their respects in front of countless wreaths and elegiac couplets, his eyes very empty, looking sad and fragile.

Si’nian He and the Gu siblings were outside the door chatting with guests. When Tuxi Ling passed by them, he couldn’t help but take a few more glances at Ya Gu, although this celebrity often appeared in various media.

Unworthy, not worthy of Lan He at all. Such a strong career woman is not suitable for Lan He.

He might be more suitable for the kind of gentle and lovely, occasionally coquettish, petite woman.

So, why did those two end up in a compromising situation that day?

Tuxi Ling seemed to be a little angry with himself, walking very fast, but slowed down when he saw the obvious dark circles under Lan He’s eyes, and respectfully bowed to Weiyu He’s portrait.

When he looked up, he happened to meet Lan He’s calm gaze.

They looked at each other quietly for a long time. Footsteps came from behind. Tuxi Ling realized that he had stopped for too long and quickly retreated awkwardly to the side. He wanted to say “condolences” to Lan He, but he saw him cover his mouth and yawn, and his eyes became wet.

So, “condolences” turned into: “Didn’t sleep well?”

Lan He blinked. “Uh, didn’t sleep all night.”

Seems like there’s not much need for condolences…

A strange look appeared in Tuxi Ling’s eyes. After looking at Lan He for a few seconds, he lowered his eyes, shook his head, and quickly left.

Although it would be morally coercive to accuse a child who had been abducted for many years of being unfilial, Weiyu He had been good to Lan He in the past three years, and it could be seen that he was trying to compensate for his mistakes. Lan He’s current attitude really made him a little uncomfortable.

But, it’s other people’s private affairs, and it’s not appropriate for him, an outsider, to interfere.