Chapter 5

At seven in the evening, only a single cold white light burned in the research institute’s second-floor laboratory, making the already slender silhouette appear even more frail.

Criminal investigations are tiered by classification. Cases of a severe nature receive substantial manpower, broad authority, and abundant resources, which leads to quick resolutions. But once the classification drops, efficiency follows suit. By standard systematic autopsy protocol, Wan Yi had completed the examination and could classify Lu Zhenglin’s cause of death as inhibition death without further investigation.

In other words, the report on the desk needed only her signature to be submitted. That signature would trigger an immediate reduction in the investigation team from over a hundred officers to half, or even less.

So while everyone else headed home at 6 p.m., Wan Yi sat before the computer, staring at the autopsy photos again and again, lost in thought.

The barrage of calls from Wan Tong, Nie Zhiyan, and then Nie Fanxin sank like stones into the sea, vanishing without a trace.

The silence was suffocating until—bang!—a loud noise shattered it. Wan Yi frowned and looked up. There stood Nie Fanxin, hands on her hips, leaning forward slightly, flushed and panting.

Wan Yi pushed the chair beside her toward the center and asked, “Hmm, what’s wrong?”

Nie Fanxin sat down and shot her a sharp look. “Count the missed calls first.”

Wan Yi did as instructed, opening a drawer to retrieve her phone. Two from Wan Tong, three from Nie Zhiyan, three from Nie Fanxin. Her cool lips pressed together, but warmth spread through her. Still, she couldn’t help coughing twice.

“Feeling unwell again? Did you bring your medicine?” Wan Yi always carried her medication. Concerned, Nie Fanxin reached for her pocket, but Wan Yi’s icy hands gently stopped her.

“No, I’ve probably just been here too long.”

“Your hands are freezing. From now on, if you’re just spacing out, go back to your office.” The lab and autopsy room couldn’t be heated due to temperature requirements. Nie Fanxin wrapped her hands around Wan Yi’s and rubbed them together slowly to generate warmth. “Let’s go home. Grandma’s waiting for dinner. I’ll let them know we’re safe first.”

Wan Yi began packing her things at a measured pace: “What about your side? Any progress?”

“Ye Jun and Lan Hui are basically ruled out. The night of the crime, Ye Jun left a friend’s place at 11:08 p.m. and reached his home in Wanhui Residential Community at 11:41 p.m. Lan Hui drove out of Honghuai Yuanyang at 11:52 p.m. and arrived in Wanhui at 12:19 a.m. Neither had the opportunity.”

“Hmm, the lead has gone cold. Fanxin, if I submit the inhibition death report, your investigative manpower will shrink, but the scope of investigation will actually expand, making things harder.”

Nie Fanxin reassured her: “If that’s the truth, there’s nothing you can do.”

Wan Yi gazed at the cardiac dissection photos and the rectal and liver temperature charts, her voice low and soft: “Something feels off. I want to wait a little longer.” No matter what wrongs a person committed in life, after death, the body is a relic of that life, and within those relics hides the truth. Only by peeling back the layers and uncovering the truth can the dead rest in peace and can she, as a forensic examiner, find her own peace.

“I understand. Let me tell Sister Wanning. Chief Zhu’s pushing, and she’s under pressure.” With two forensic examiners in the family, Nie Fanxin understood their perspective, but she had her own burdens too. A wall away from Chu Wanning, she forced her dry, aching eyes to stay open as she pored over mountains of surveillance footage.

“Alright.” Wan Yi picked up her phone and then set it down, her expression slightly odd. “Why not ask Sister Hanhan?”

Nie Fanxin’s ears seemed to warm. “She said not to. Said it’s childish.”

Wan Yi lowered her gaze to the darkened screen and said softly, “That makes sense. But I don’t have Sister Wanning on WeChat. The old account doesn’t seem to work anymore.”

“Look at this.” Nie Fanxin pointed to a red notification dot at the bottom of the screen. “She’s the one who added you.”

Wan Yi opened the pending friend request and accepted. “How do you know it’s Sister Wanning?”

“She asked me for your QR code before she left. You’re the one who set your account to QR-code-only friend requests.”

“I don’t add people I’m not familiar with.”

Nie Fanxin waited until Wan Yi had rechecked the equipment, then stood and wrapped her arms around Wan Yi’s waist, grumbling softly, “Your hands won’t warm up. You’ll get nagged by Grandma when we get home. Let me warm you up first.”

Wan Yi’s lips curved faintly upward. “How are we supposed to walk like this?”

“How about this?” Nie Fanxin loosened her hold slightly and slipped both their joined hands into her coat pocket. “At least you remembered to put on extra layers. This morning you ran straight to the scene in just a suit.”

“The coat was in the car. I was in a hurry and forgot.” Wan Yi’s back pressed against Nie Fanxin, heat gradually spreading through her limbs. Her smile unconsciously deepened as she said with mild amusement, “Why does it feel like I’m the younger one here, needing your care?”

“Haven’t you heard the saying?”

“Hmm?” Wan Yi locked the lab’s security door behind them.

“Old folks become children again.”

Wan Yi teased, “Say that to Aunt Gu and see how she reacts.”

Even the most obedient children rebel at some point. Nie Fanxin was never the docile type, so she’d been disciplined often, always by Gu Bei personally. Those who knew the family understood exactly who Nie Fanxin feared most.

“She doesn’t manage me anymore. Seven years ago, after Old Nie took medical retirement, someone swiftly shifted her attention elsewhere.” Nie Zhilan had suffered a severe car accident on duty at thirty, compounded by a five-year separation from Gu Bei. She grew despondent, neglected her post-injury recovery, and was left with chronic headaches. After retirement, Gu Bei had become her personal health manager. The daily nagging was constant: “Don’t eat this, you should eat more of that, stop worrying, Xiaotong is handling things fine…”

The two walked slowly, one behind the other, until the white Volkswagen in the parking lot automatically opened its doors. Only then did Nie Fanxin withdraw her hand from Wan Yi’s pocket.

“Are you driving?”

“Don’t feel like it. Let’s just rest.”

“Okay.”

In the driver’s seat, Nie Fanxin activated autonomous driving, set the destination and speed. As the car started moving, Wan Yi turned on the music. Soft melodies played one after another, filling the cabin.

Ten minutes later, the navigation announced an overturned truck causing congestion ahead and suggested a detour. Nie Fanxin used voice command to adjust the route. The car continued straight for a hundred meters, then turned left onto Taihe Street.

Taihe Street had developed a tourism and leisure district over the past two years: hot spring hotels, saunas, and massage parlors lined the strip. Touts called out from doorways, creating a lively bustle.

Wan Yi gazed quietly out the window at the bustling street scene slowly receding under the heavy foot traffic. Her mind raced. High temperature, rigor mortis, acute heart failure, delayed cardiac congestion…

“Back to the institute.”

“What?”

“I want to request a second autopsy.” She pulled out her phone and dialed Nie Zhiyan.

“Did you find something new?” In her urgency, Nie Fanxin canceled autonomous driving, took over the wheel, and looked for a place to turn around.

The call connected. Wan Yi didn’t hesitate: “Mom, I need you to sign off on a second autopsy request.”

Though doubtful, Nie Zhiyan’s voice remained gentle: “Why do you need a second autopsy?”

“I can’t say for certain right now, but if my theory checks out, everything impossible could become possible.”

“Mm. Is Fanxin with you?”

“Yes.”

“Be safe.”

The phone seemed to be handed to someone else. Nie Fanxin heard Gu Bei’s voice: “There’s Laba congee warming in the pot. Have a bowl before bed.” Then Nie Fanxin added, “Mom, did you bring me a gift?”

Wan Yi carefully connected the call to the car’s Bluetooth so Nie Fanxin could speak freely.

“No.”

“I’m busy next week during your square dancing competition. Missing one spectator shouldn’t ruin anything.”

Gu Bei’s flustered voice came through: “Fine, fine, I got you something.”

Nie Zhilan laughed in the background. “Fanxin, I picked the gift.”

Nie Fanxin huffed. “Old Nie is the best.”

“Nie Zhilan, your daughter has such a sharp tongue.”

“She’s your daughter too.” A low murmur followed that neither could make out. Then Nie Zhilan added, “Alright, you two stay busy. We’re taking Grandma out for a walk to digest.”

Wan Yi, who alone hadn’t heard Wan Tong’s voice, pulled her gaze from the window and asked Nie Zhiyan, “Mom, where’s Old Wan?”

“She’s on her way home from a meeting.”

“Mm, we’re getting out now. I just sent the request form.”

In the night, Wan Yi’s long legs moved faster than usual, but Nie Fanxin caught up after grabbing rice balls from the convenience store.

“Eat one. Just to tide you over.” She inserted a straw into a small carton and handed it over. “Milk. It’s warm.”

“Thanks.”

Near eight o’clock, the lights of the first general autopsy room on the third floor lit the space once again. With no one else present, Nie Fanxin held up the mirrorless camera to record while Wan Yi reopened the skull—originally sutured shut layer by layer—along the incision line.

Parts of the inner plate were still joined, so she tapped them gently with a T-chisel and hammer before using the T-chisel to lift the skullcap.

Without an assistant, Wan Yi moved back and forth, handling everything herself. She took cerebellar tissue, examined it in a culture dish, prepared sample slides, and set them beside the microscope for later use. Next, she separated bone from muscle and made sample slides of the skeletal muscle.

Her movements were practiced and precise.

Watching her, Nie Fanxin was convinced that in time, this woman would surpass her teachers.

“The striated muscle has disappeared and muscle fibers show breakdown. The cerebellum shows reduced cell count and nuclear dissolution.”

Nie Fanxin was lost. “What does that mean?”

Wan Yi explained, “Acute heatstroke. Death by hyperthermia.”

“Hyperthermia?”

Wan Yi focused on storing the samples and began suturing: “How many private or public saunas are in Honghuai Yuanyang?”

Nie Fanxin shared the same thought instantly: “I’m messaging Sister Wanning now. We need to check. It’ll be quick.”

Half an hour later, Wan Yi finished suturing, but Nie Fanxin wore a worried frown. Building B of Honghuai Yuanyang housed a steam sauna on the first floor, while the second-floor gym had two sauna rooms. The third-floor massage center also had facilities. Additionally, there were twenty-six private sauna rooms, including one in Lu Zhenglin’s residence.

“Given a high-temperature cause, the time of death shifts earlier. Earliest estimate, between 10 and 11 p.m. on the 26th.”

Wan Yi threw out the challenge while simultaneously offering hope: “Which means Lan Hui can’t be eliminated.”

“The route from Honghuai Yuanyang to Wanhui Residential Community passes through Bajiao Street. She does remain a suspect.”

Nie Fanxin grew frustrated. “There were cameras along the outer stretch of Bajiao Street, but the ones at the crime scene itself had been removed just days earlier because of the demolition.”

“We can estimate the time required to enter the outer section of Bajiao Street and reach the next street, then compare it with Lan Hui’s data.”

Nie Fanxin followed Wan Yi out of the autopsy room, through cleaning, disinfection, and changing clothes. “Yeah, tomorrow’s going to be a heavy day. You’ve got it easier.”

“I’ll finish the report at home. They always say they’re asleep, but the lights stay on until we’re home or they hear from us.” Wan Yi finished and got into the passenger seat.

“You’re so considerate.”

Wan Yi had already buckled in, her usual coolness to outsiders seemingly gone: “Shouldn’t a sister look after her sister?”

“I think someone’s lovely hands could do more than just dissect.” Nie Fanxin realized the unintended implication the moment she spoke and quickly changed the subject. “I don’t have to drive either.” She casually activated autonomous mode, stealing a glance at Wan Yi. The woman merely paused for a moment before a smile spread across her face.

“If you want me to cook for you, just ask.”

“No thanks. Auntie cooks better than you.” Nie Fanxin felt relieved. Her companion hadn’t caught the subtext.