Chapter 42 Part 1

“Remember how I told you the mall’s architectural blueprint didn’t match the survey map?” Lu Shimiao pinched her brow, her gaze fixed on the gravel on the ground. “That architectural blueprint had this logo on it.”

As she spoke, Lu Shimiao pulled out her phone.

She opened the 718 Arson Case file on her Police Mobile Terminal. To sync information, the Serious Crime Unit had piled a ton of verified documents inside. She started searching through them.

She’d looked at these images hundreds of times these past few days, studied that architectural blueprint many times. She shouldn’t have a memory lapse.

Found it.

Lu Shimiao’s finger stopped on the phone screen. She handed it to Li Siting. “Take a look at the top-left corner.”

“…” Li Siting stared at the phone for a moment, then looked up at the billboard logo and slapped his forehead. “The contractor for Star Sea Mall was Chengshang Construction?”

“I’m one hundred percent sure.” Lu Shimiao’s voice wasn’t loud but was firm. She pulled up the underground garage survey map and compared it with the blueprint. “So many discrepancies.”

“I’ll send someone to Urban Construction to pull the archives and verify,” Li Siting said, pulling out his phone to make a call.

Working a case meant following procedures, working a case meant applying for everything. Lu Shimiao was used to this eternal waiting game.

“The developer was an invited bid project; the contractor can’t be verified. Urban Construction says they can’t confirm until noon….”

Li Siting hung up, shaking his head helplessly. “But regardless of the verification result, this Chengshang and Star Sea definitely have a connection. Let’s go in.”

Before coming, the Public Security Bureau had already notified Cheng Guang.

At that moment, Cheng Guang was sitting in his office drinking coffee. Li Siting knocked on the door. “Hello, I’m Li Siting, Major Crimes Unit Leader, Shanghai Criminal Investigation Team.”

When interviewing, they generally didn’t wear uniforms. Li Siting, in casual clothes, extended his hand for a handshake.

Behind him, Lu Shimiao carefully observed Cheng Guang’s physiognomy.

Naturally sinister faces weren’t common, but Cheng Guang fit the type. His eyes were small but his eyebrows were very thick, the sweeping kind. His chin had stubble. For 46, he kept in good shape, no “big boss” belly. His hair was a short buzz cut, and he wore silver-rimmed glasses. In his business suit, he had the air of a new Shanghainese.

Cheng Guang set down his coffee cup. Lu Shimiao glanced at it; the tea set beside it also had steaming hot water.

Shanghai bosses came in two types.

One was the outsider type, like Cheng Guang, struggling to survive, currying favor everywhere, tamed by the Shanghai market into a man living in the cracks after settling down.

The other was the type like Lu Yuan, a parasite of Shanghai’s resources, shrewdness intertwined with cowardice, yet never destined to be its master, even in death.

Men living in the cracks swayed in the market. Although they liked tea, they held a cup of coffee.

Lu Shimiao suddenly missed her father.

“Hello.” Cheng Guang extended his hand to shake.

Lu Shimiao remained silent. Today, besides the interview, her main task was to be Li Siting’s recorder. She pulled a pen from her pocket and began writing on the transcript.

“These are our credentials. We need to turn on our body cameras,” Li Siting followed protocol, showed his ID, then clipped the body cam onto his collar.

“Please, have a seat here.” Cheng Guang gestured towards the sofa, turned, and led them.

The three sat down.

“We’re here to ask you about Zhang Lin,” Li Siting said as his opening sentence.

“Yes, I heard before you came. What happened to her? Did something happen?” Cheng Guang crossed his legs, clasped his hands over his knee, and looked earnestly at Li Siting as he replied.

Lu Shimiao observed his expression. He seemed prepared.

“She’s dead.” Li Siting only said those two words.

“She’s dead?”

Cheng Guang responded with two words, eyebrows raised, tone surprised.

“Yes, the 718 Arson Case. Died in the mall.”

Li Siting was being evasive; he didn’t directly say she was murdered. Because major and serious cases were highly confidential, the media generally wouldn’t reveal specific details. Even if Cheng Guang knew Zhang Lin was dead, he wouldn’t know the specifics.

“Then what do you want to know from me?” Cheng Guang’s expression shifted in perhaps three seconds from surprise to a low, calm inquiry.

“What was your relationship with Zhang Lin?”

“Mmm, a sexual relationship.” His answer was quick.

“I trust the police keep conversations confidential, right?”

Li Siting was still polite. “Rest assured, we keep interviews confidential.”

“You’ve been sending money to Zhang Lin’s account. We’d like to know what that money was for?” Li Siting asked again.

“Money for keeping her. A moral issue, not illegal, is it?” Cheng Guang pushed up his glasses, expression natural.

Lu Shimiao observed his eyes and the pattern of his glasses-pushing habit, but found no correlation.

“Right. Keeping a mistress is a social relationship, not a legal concept. It’s a moral issue.” Li Siting smiled.

“We’d like to know the details of your last contact with Zhang Lin. You need to answer truthfully,” Lu Shimiao added.

“Last contact.” Cheng Guang rubbed his chin as if recalling.

“These past two months, the project’s been too busy. I barely had any contact with her. Haven’t seen each other in about half a month. Let me check my phone for the last chat.”

Saying this, Cheng Guang took out his phone and started looking.

A classic case of looking for a donkey while riding one. Lu Shimiao had seen too many people like this.

“She asked where I was. I said I was on a business trip out of town. She asked when I’d be back. I said not sure.”

“She also said…”

“Our cyber police can recover chat logs,” Lu Shimiao interrupted directly. She deliberately paused, looking up to meet Cheng Guang’s expression.

Cheng Guang missed a beat, quickly locked his phone, and placed it on the sofa. He frowned. “Then why did you even come to ask me?”

Lu Shimiao had just been bluffing. Zhang Lin’s phone had been destroyed in the explosion. Without a terminal device, even if the police sent a letter to the telecom company, they couldn’t obtain the data. Lu Shimiao was just scaring the snake in the bush.

“We mainly wanted to ask if she showed any abnormal behavior when you met,” Li Siting immediately picked up the conversation.

“Abnormal?” Cheng Guang shifted back, the corners of his mouth turning down.

“No. Why are you asking all this?”

“She’s dead. We’re following standard interview procedure.” Li Siting wanted to keep it ambiguous. “Her social circle was relatively simple, and you were her last point of contact.”

“She… didn’t…” Cheng Guang swallowed the words about to slip out. “But our relationship was just a simple arrangement.”

He sighed, then continued after a moment: “Recently, work’s been hectic. I didn’t have time for her, so she threw a little tantrum.”

“She annoyed me, so I said I wanted to end things. Then she…” Cheng Guang’s tone suddenly dropped.

“Then she threatened me, said she’d go find my son and wife. You cops know how it is. The biggest taboo in these situations is the mistress trying to replace the wife. My wife is a good person; I don’t want a divorce. So I hid out of town.”

“I happened to have a project under construction out of town, so I stayed there for a bit. Just got back and got your notification.”

Cheng Guang dismissed his history with Zhang Lin with a light phrase: “I don’t want a divorce,” making it sound so simple.

Seeking fun, hiding away, “she annoyed me,” “my wife is a good person.”

Lu Shimiao thought to herself: What a scumbag.

“She was murdered.” Seeing Cheng Guang start to show some intent to talk, Li Siting slipped this in. “Do you have anyone you suspect?”

“…” Cheng Guang’s face turned panicked.

It was almost visibly pale. He nervously pushed up his glasses, blinking rapidly. His frozen expression couldn’t hide the tension and fear, a flicker of suspicion hidden in his eyes.

But he attributed all his reactions to the police possibly treating him as a suspect.

“She was murdered??? But I was in a neighboring province on July 18th. You don’t suspect me, do you?”

Li Siting stared at him, using his gaze to sanction the panic he’d just displayed. “Of course, we have reason to suspect you.”

“Mr. Cheng, is your company the contractor for Star Sea Mall?” Lu Shimiao began approaching the core questions.

“Yes.”

Cheng Guang pushed his hands on the sofa, shifting his body forward slightly. “What about it? What does this have to do with Zhang Lin’s death?”

“Star Sea Mall is a new mall that just opened this year. When did your company complete the delivery acceptance inspection with the developer?” Lu Shimiao spoke calmly, her tone steady.

“About the middle of last year?” Cheng Guang pushed his glasses. “What does this have to do with anything?”

Lu Shimiao’s hand paused on the transcript page.

That was his second “What does this have to do with anything?”

Looking up, Lu Shimiao smiled faintly. “Just standard procedure.”

Li Siting lowered his head, thinking for a moment. “Do you know if Zhang Lin had any enemies, or did she have contact with any other men while you were apart?”

“No.” Cheng Guang’s voice was low.

“Mr. Cheng, have you received any threats recently? Or been approached by any strange people?” Lu Shimiao continued.

“No.” Cheng Guang was gradually growing irritable.

“We’ll stop here for today then.” Li Siting patted Lu Shimiao’s knee, stood up from the sofa, and Lu Shimiao followed suit.

“Thank you for your cooperation. If you remember any leads, feel free to call us.”

“I won’t see you out.”

Lu Shimiao followed behind Li Siting out of Cheng Guang’s office, lips pursed, silent.

“This Cheng Guang absolutely can’t be cleared of involvement in Zhang Lin’s death.” Once outside, Li Siting pulled out a cigarette, biting it between his teeth, pointing at the office behind him. “Accepted a project last year, but can’t remember and says ‘about’?”