Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 102

Chapter 102: The Female Serial Killer

Qin Luo didn’t know why Liu Jia had kept the matter under wraps when she had called. She would rather Liu Jia had been open about her methods, at least to give her a psychological preparation, even if it was just to prepare to hide.

“What’s wrong?” Liu Jia answered the phone.

Qin Luo could hear the change in her voice, a subtle excitement, the end of her voice rising. The other seemed to have achieved a phased victory.

The words of questioning were stuck in her throat. Qin Luo suddenly couldn’t ask.

She was afraid that she would sound like she was blaming her, and she was also afraid that the answer would make things awkward between them. It was painful to ask or not to ask. Why add another stab?

Liu Jia noticed Qin Luo’s silence.

Liu Jia let out a long sigh. “Did you see the trending topics?”

“Yes.”

Liu Jia did not intend to hide it. “Qin Luo, I really had no choice. If I could have found a better way, I would definitely not have used Her Kill to take the fall. But you can rest assured that I will handle the subsequent problems well and will never let Her Kill have any crisis—”

Qin Luo interrupted her and only asked, “So you knew a long time ago that Shang Yi wanted to use Logos to attack Kangsheng?”

“Yes.”

“You also knew a long time ago that Shang Yi wanted to use the reading group and public welfare.”

Liu Jia felt that Qin Luo was off-topic. “Shang Yi is already dead, and the public welfare and reading group projects have also been stopped. Are these problems really that important now?”

Qin Luo asked, “Did you also know about Li Peipei’s pregnancy?”

…

Liu Jia gasped. She lowered her voice, trying her best not to let any of the employees hear the content of their argument.

“Qin Luo, if you had put your mind on the development of Logos, I think with your observation skills, you would have discovered Shang Yi’s ulterior motives earlier than I did. I reminded you a long time ago that public welfare is a business that can’t walk on its own without crutches. Unless the benefits it brings are greater than the losses, I’ve supported your ideals for so many years because I understand you. So what do you think Shang Yi was up to?”

“In all these years of business philosophy disagreements, I’ve always put you first. I’ve never forced you to socialize, and I’ve pushed away the investors you didn’t want as much as I could. Even though handling partners like this has made my workload very heavy, I’ve never complained, because Logos was founded by you.”

“This sentence, ‘Logos was founded by Qin Luo,’ has been ringing in my ears. It’s like a big mountain that has made me timid. But I’ve put in no less effort than you. I can’t just go back to Fengjiang because I’m heartbroken from a breakup, or take a break because my faith has been shaken.”

After Liu Jia had finished speaking, she was relieved. The heavy sense of betrayal on her shoulders could finally be thrown off. She also hated this kind of power imbalance. Qin Luo was like a statue of Logos. Liu Jia couldn’t imagine what Logos would become without Qin Luo. And at this moment, she was like a stepmother standing outside the delivery room. The doctor was forcing her to choose whether to save the mother or the child. Even if the final result was that both were safe, no one would be grateful for what she had done, because she had abandoned them, for the sake of interests. Even a friendship of more than twenty years, she could crush it with a cold heart.

In the eyes of outsiders, she was only for the sake of interests.

Liu Jia’s rhetorical question was too sharp. For a moment, Qin Luo was speechless. The two were silent on the phone for a long time.

“I have no other choice.” It was Liu Jia who spoke first. She reiterated and explained, “I can only focus the blame from Logos onto Shang Yi himself, and onto the killer of the case. Logos can only regain its right to speak by first untying itself. And I can guarantee with my life that Logos has absolutely not participated in any of Shang Yi’s illegal and criminal activities. So as long as the killer is caught, Logos will at least have a chance to reshape itself.”

Qin Luo said in despair, “But I’m also a part of Logos. If you make Her Kill the target of public criticism, it will only get deeper and deeper.”

It is precisely because you are a part of Logos, and the value of Her Kill is significant, that Logos will appear more upright.

But Liu Jia did not dare to say this directly.

She said, “Instead of being an ‘accomplice’ in the eyes of the netizens, it’s better to be a new ‘controversial figure.’ That way, we at least won’t be passive. As long as we’re not passive, we can cut ties better.”

Qin Luo knew in her heart what Liu Jia wanted to do, so she couldn’t even say “okay.” In the end, she just said, “I’m hanging up,” and hung up the phone.

Qin Luo had not been disappointed in things for a long time.

Not when Shen Yiyi had suspected her of having ulterior motives, not when the reading group had been disbanded. She believed that both of these were reasonable trade-offs. As Logos was rushing toward huge interests, the reason for stopping was more to get rid of her so-called pure ideals. In a deeper sense, it was to prove her innocence.

Between ideals and interests, she had also compromised, hadn’t she? But why was she still losing?

Qin Luo looked at the messy books on the sofa. The conspicuous Her Kill had entered her field of vision. So her expression, her sensitivity, her persistence, no one would be willing to try to understand.

Not even Liu Jia, not even Shen Yiyi.

She suddenly felt that creation was really absurd, like seeing a gap but being unable to stitch up the circle. It was all so pretentious, groaning, and futile.

A thick book, like a curse.

Qin Luo walked over, picked up Her Kill, and slammed it against the glass of the study.

***

“Who leaked the information?”

Hong Ziguang had originally been on a business trip, but a call from the bureau had brought him back.

The analysis post online was too popular, and it was also the National Day holiday. In the era of self-media, everyone could be a detective online. The volume of discussion about the case was already at a boiling point. Suddenly, there was a self-proclaimed insider from the criminal investigation team who claimed that the killer was a female serial killer, who had not only disguised herself as a man to get close to the victim, but had also specifically targeted men, and had even revealed the poison she had used twice.

This WeChat screenshot of the “insider information” was widely circulated, and rumors were rampant, which put a lot of pressure on the criminal investigation team.

The higher-ups had ordered them to find out which link had gone wrong and had leaked the case information to the public, and also whether the widely circulated analysis post online was the result of a leak from the police.

“Who is it?”

Hong Ziguang slammed the file on the table. “Who is so undisciplined?”

Shen Yiyi’s expression was natural with her arms crossed, but she lacked confidence. After all, she had gone to the Her Kill production to train the actors, and she had an unclear relationship with Qin Luo. She would inevitably be investigated inside and out. But her back was straight. She would naturally not take the blame for something she had not done.

Below, they would occasionally glance at the deputy director’s face, but no one dared to speak.

“Director Shen, you speak.”

Hong Ziguang had clearly come prepared. After a couple of sentences, he turned the topic to Shen Yiyi.

Shen Yiyi naturally did not take the bait and said firmly, “I don’t know what to say. I also want to know who is so indiscreet, pretending to be an expert online, and even giving the killer a name.”

Her tone was even colder than Hong Ziguang’s. She tilted her head and scanned the large conference room. “They’re not good at their job, and they’re causing trouble everywhere. I also want to know who it is! I don’t think we’ll be able to take a break after the National Day holiday if we can’t find the person.”

Shen Yiyi finally turned back to look at him. “Didn’t the science and technology department just upgrade the equipment? Let them check the backend.”

Hong Ziguang’s words were blocked. He smiled. “Director Shen is right. I’ll call the science and technology department now.”

Hearing this, Lin Puping was so scared he was covered in sweat. He was restless. After the meeting, he thought for a long time before he knocked on Hong Ziguang’s door.

This was not something he had done intentionally. It was simply because he loved to show off. When the girl he liked was chatting with him about public opinion gossip, he had mentioned it to get her attention.

He had never thought that things would spread like this.

Who knew that as soon as he pushed the door, he found that Director Shen was also in the office, so he backed out again.

Shen Yiyi was discussing the handling of the leak with Director Hong, and at the same time, she was cutting off her suspicion in front of the leader.

She would absolutely not sit back and watch these two cases. Between Qin Luo and professional ethics, she would not hesitate to choose Qin Luo. Therefore, she had to seize the opportunity and not be dealt with by the police according to the recusal rules.

But she had only said half of what she had to say when she saw Lin Puping walk in with a strange expression. She immediately guessed what the problem was. Seeing that he was about to leave, she directly called him.

Lin Puping had just joined the police force and was not good at being interrogated. Before Shen Yiyi could finish her three sentences, he had confessed everything.

“Director, I’m sorry. I accidentally leaked the information.”

…

Hong Ziguang’s eyes went black. He slammed the table twice in anger, and the lid of his water glass clattered. “You tell me, how much your teacher Geng values you, and he specially arranged for you to be with Director Shen. How could you do something like this? Do you know that you’ll be disciplined for this!”

Lin Puping was so scared his legs went weak. He raised his hand and swore to the heavens, “Director, I really didn’t mean to. I swear I didn’t copy any materials. I just mentioned that the profile was a female criminal when I was chatting, but I never said it was a serial killer, nor did I show her the toxicology analysis.”

Hong Ziguang glared at him and then looked at Shen Yiyi awkwardly.

Shen Yiyi looked away and had no intention of leaving the office. She was glad that she had been present to witness all this. Otherwise, with Hong Ziguang’s methods, he would definitely have glossed over this matter. Men are very tolerant of men. Shen Yiyi had been in the police force long enough to understand this.

So she had to be present and wait for Hong Ziguang to deal with it. Even if Hong Ziguang let Lin Puping go for the sake of Old Geng, then Director Hong would owe her a favor. Even if the police force wanted her to recuse herself from Shang Yi’s case in the future, she would have a way to balance Old Hong.

“Director Hong, don’t be angry first.” Shen Yiyi comforted him in name, but in fact, she wanted to cast a bigger net. “Little Lin has been with me for three months. I know him as a person. Instead of being angry here, why don’t we use this matter to join forces with the case-handling department?”

“Join forces?” Director Hong frowned.

“Although Little Lin did leak information, the chat screenshot that is widely circulated online is photoshopped. If it were really found out, it would not be a simple matter of questioning. A disciplinary action would have been issued directly. It’s just that the higher-ups want us to reorganize our discipline and use us as a shield.”

Hong Ziguang smiled awkwardly. “Yes.”

“Little Lin’s unintentional act has provided a lot of ideas for the criminal investigation team. I heard that they have new progress these past two days. Why don’t I go and say hello and package this mistake of Little Lin’s as an unofficial revelation, and use this channel of communication to collect and guide information? After all, if they have progress, it’s their credit. If there’s a mistake, it’s our identification center’s fault. Everyone should share the risk.”