Chapter 42 Part 3

After speaking, she stood up, not even taking her tray, and started to leave.

Seeing her about to go, Xue Tong put down the chopsticks she’d just raised. As Lu Shimiao passed by, she swiftly grabbed her wrist.

Holding tightly, her tone held some apology, “I’m at the Shanghai Criminal Investigation College, teaching Trace Analysis. Last time I left, I didn’t handle things well, so…”

Xue Tong looked up, turning her body, but after a moment, she let go. “So this time, I said it twice.”

Lu Shimiao didn’t speak. She strode off, fleeing quickly.

Walking out of the cafeteria, it suddenly started raining. Heavy drops, crackling down loudly. The weather forecast had said scattered showers today. Coincidentally, a thick fog rose. Dark and black, heavy. But there was no point blaming the heavens. It did whatever it wanted.

Lu Shimiao practically ran back to the Major Crimes Unit. As soon as she entered, she locked the door, leaning against it, gasping for breath.

Li Siting saw Lu Shimiao soaked to the skin, pale as a ghost, locking the door right after entering. He asked, puzzled, “Little Lu, what’s wrong? Why lock the door?”

Right, this was the Major Crimes Unit office.

She couldn’t come in, and she couldn’t go out either.

“Lu Shimiao?” Li Siting called again.

“Huh?” Lu Shimiao snapped back to reality, her hand still on the doorknob. “Captain Li, you called me?”

Li Siting pointed at the lock. “You locked the door.”

“Did I?” Lu Shimiao looked down at her hand, awkwardly unlocking it. “Sorry.”

“Do you know what we found in the half-hour you were eating?” Li Siting waved Lu Shimiao over, looking like there was a new breakthrough.

Lu Shimiao’s eyes were downcast, unable to muster any enthusiasm. She shuffled over slowly.

“Checking the identities of the eighty-some plaintiffs in the lawsuit, we found one matching the suspect’s height and build.”

“Oh?” Lu Shimiao looked up, but her head was still filled with Xue Tong’s words: “Last time I left, I didn’t handle things well.”

“This guy’s name is Chen Guoping. Height and weight match very closely. Back then, he was responsible for the rebar work on the main structure of Star Sea Mall…”

“I never thought about abandoning you.”

“Are you listening to me?” Li Siting saw Lu Shimiao’s unfocused eyes and shook her shoulder.

“Yeah, you said he was responsible for rebar.” Lu Shimiao’s mind was in chaos.

“We’re already investigating Chen Guoping. But his education level is only sixth grade, and he only came to Shanghai for work the year before last.” Li Siting chewed his finger in thought. “Then where did he get the explosives? Could he have an accomplice?”

“I wasn’t going to Hawaii at that time.”

“Yeah, I heard.” Lu Shimiao had no idea what she was saying. Because of Xue Tong’s last two sentences, she completely couldn’t calm down.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?” Li Siting reached out to touch Lu Shimiao’s forehead, but she dodged away.

“I’m fine.” Lu Shimiao’s voice was cold. “What about the court enforcement?”

“Cheng Guang’s unpaid amounts were only fully settled at the beginning of this year. The court enforced the seizure of a property to offset the debt.”

“Settled early this year, wouldn’t wait until July for revenge. The motive for murder isn’t strong enough.” Lu Shimiao gripped her pen, scribbling on the paper. “We still need to focus on the crime scene and analyze his criminal mindset.”

“Arson, murder, just one person killed.” Li Siting paced.

“Arsonists and their victims usually have a clear conflict. He killed, didn’t steal, and immediately set the fire. That means his goal was achieved.” Lu Shimiao continued writing.

“If it was just about burning the body, he could have only set fire to the second floor, but he also chose the third floor.” Li Siting slowly followed the logic, refocusing on the killer’s choice of the third floor.

“He placed it on the gas pipe, used high explosives. But if he truly hated Zhang Lin to the bone, he could have just used high explosives to blow her to pieces.” Lu Shimiao coldly added another point.

“His target wasn’t just Zhang Lin, but the entire mall.” Li Siting nodded to himself, “That’s also why he didn’t rape the body. Arson wasn’t his way of venting lust, so it was purely for revenge.”

As Li Siting spoke, he walked behind Lu Shimiao, looking at the paper under her hand.

“Xue Tong? Who’s that? Someone you suspect?”

“Huh???”

Lu Shimiao looked down at the paper beside her hand, covered with Xue Tong’s name scrawled a dozen times. Her face paled, and she quickly flipped the paper over. “Nothing.”

“Are you really okay?” Li Siting had never seen Lu Shimiao lose focus during casework. He glanced at his watch.

“You haven’t been home in four days. Go back tonight, take a good shower. Tomorrow, we have to arrest someone at the construction site.”

“Arrest who?” Lu Shimiao looked up at her team leader. Why suddenly arrest someone?

“I sent a Special Intelligence agent to the construction site. We’ll likely have results tomorrow. Listen to me, get off work, go home and rest. Report back to the office tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.” Lu Shimiao nodded. “I’ll go back to the lab first and keep an eye on the trace evidence tests.”

Leaving the Major Crimes Unit, Lu Shimiao’s head was still empty. Despondent, she returned to the lab and opened her phone.

Lili had posted a few pictures of Xue Tong speaking at the podium in the group chat, the banner behind her reading: Hong Kong Cross-Border Policing Cooperation Exchange Successfully Concluded.

Lili: 【The beautiful Superintendent left right after the meeting, boohoo】

Lili: 【Superintendent’s candid photos are so gorgeous, better than celebrities】

Lu Shimiao didn’t open the full images, didn’t save them. She just looked at them on the screen from a distance.

In the photo, Xue Tong’s hands rested on the podium. Elegant and capable, her expression was light and breezy, completely lacking the loss Lu Shimiao felt now.

She turned off her phone, locked the screen.

Leave it at that.

Lu Shimiao buried herself in the lab, working until 10 PM. Li Siting came upstairs to collect a report and saw her still there. He rapped irritably on the window. “Didn’t I tell you to go home?”

“I wanted to finish organizing this trace evidence and submit it, so the case can move forward faster.” Lu Shimiao removed her gloves and walked outside.

“Hurry home, shower, and sleep. You’ll catch a cold always showering with cold water.” Li Siting’s face was full of worry, his tone stern.

“Okay.” Lu Shimiao took off her lab coat, turned off the light.

Grabbing her car keys, she went downstairs, but had nowhere to go. She remembered her luggage was still at Xue Tong’s place. She had one of the house keys. Thinking that Xue Tong wouldn’t be at the precinct tomorrow, lingering entanglement seemed unwise.

Go get her luggage.

Lu Shimiao took a deep breath, shifted gears, and drove towards Huashan Road.

Finding a parking spot nearby, she got out and walked to Xue Tong’s doorstep. She politely rang the doorbell. No answer.

So, she used the key card and entered the courtyard.

The stone path was wet. She nearly slipped after a couple of steps. Holding an umbrella, Lu Shimiao looked towards the house. The lights were off.

Xue Tong wasn’t home. Would it be inappropriate to just go in?

She didn’t want to leave a bad impression at their parting. So, she pulled out her phone and called.

The phone rang twice before being picked up.

“Are you home?” Lu Shimiao spoke first, her tone noticeably distant.

“Mmm, what is it?”

Xue Tong’s voice was very different from usual—drifting, tipsy, even carrying a suppressed hoarseness.

Lu Shimiao hung up, clenched the phone, and used the card to unlock the front door.

The door swung open.

The only light spilled into the room.

The curtains were drawn. Xue Tong hadn’t turned on the lights. A strong smell of alcohol rushed out, escaping past Lu Shimiao through the doorway.

Xue Tong was sitting on the carpet in front of the sofa, her head buried in her knees. By her side were bottles of alcohol—various kinds of foreign liquor Lu Shimiao had never even seen. Peering into the distance in the low light, she saw the kitchen island was also covered with empty bottles.

“What is it?” Lu Shimiao stood at the doorway, clenching her hands.

Xue Tong pointed behind her without lifting her head, gesturing towards the ground-floor guest room. Her voice was muffled, hoarse from desperately suppressed sobs. “Your luggage is inside.”

Hearing it, Lu Shimiao felt her heart plummet.

Aside from that time on the sofa in Hong Kong, she had never heard Xue Tong make such a sound. Right now, she was too broken. That vague, ambiguous vulnerability surfaced, like the decaying Victoria Harbor sun over the city, sinking heavily through dense fog, swaying unsteadily, lost to wherever the sea level took it.

She just wanted to pick her up. So Lu Shimiao moved to find the light switch.

“Please don’t turn it on.”

Just like last time.

Lu Shimiao’s hand stopped. Then, she gently closed the door and walked towards Xue Tong.

The path was treacherous. She accidentally kicked over several bottles, their crisp clinking echoing. It was all carpet. Lu Shimiao took off her shoes, padding over in her socks.

“Stop drinking.” Reaching the person from behind, she slipped her arms under Xue Tong’s armpits, trying to haul her up from the floor.

But just as her arms passed through, her hands were caught by Xue Tong.

Xue Tong’s head remained buried on her knees. Her hand gripped Lu Shimiao’s wrist, then, like reeling in a kite string, slowly pulled her arm down into her embrace.

She still didn’t look up, but her shoulders were trembling. Her voice could no longer suppress the sobs. Tears slid from the hidden spaces and landed on Lu Shimiao’s arm.

“Please don’t go.”

Lu Shimiao felt her entire body go weak. Something had siphoned her soul away. She couldn’t bear Xue Tong’s summoning. Bending over to accommodate the pull, she was finally forced to kneel behind Xue Tong, drawing the woman into her arms.

As if holding her, or as if being forced to hold her.