Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 103

Chapter 103: Who Is It? Knocking So Loudly!

Shen Yiyi deliberately went to the criminal police team’s cafeteria and had lunch with Old Piao, trying to get some information out of him. But Old Piao was tight-lipped. In half an hour, he had only revealed that they had interrogated Li Peipei for two days and had gotten nothing.

“Do you remember that kid who drowned in the river in July?” she reminded him.

Old Piao’s eyes widened, and he looked at her in a daze.

Shen Yiyi said, “The one who drowned after taking a hallucinogen, the one whose family wouldn’t allow an autopsy!”

“Oh, I’ve heard of it. I remember now.”

Shen Yiyi put down her chopsticks and wiped her hands with a napkin. “The full toxicology screening analysis for that boy who jumped into the river has already come out. We took an extra three weeks to rule out any interference.”

Because the boy who had fallen into the water had died in a state of high decomposition in the summer, and his family had not allowed an autopsy, which had delayed things for many days, the time cost of the solid-phase microextraction had tripled. The high-precision equipment had a long waiting list, and it had taken a month and a half.

The main examiner for this case was Shen Yiyi, and it was a new type of hallucinogen, so she had paid extra attention to the toxicology identification. Shang Yi’s preliminary toxicology report had already come out. She had flipped through it a couple of times. The metabolites were highly similar, but Shen Yiyi had not yet gotten the full toxicology analysis, so she did not dare to directly apply for a poison source tracing test.

There was a gap between the identification center and the case-handling department. Everyone fought their own battles, and no one wanted their own steps to go wrong when the case was sent to the procuratorate, so they were very reluctant to provide uncertain information.

But Shen Yiyi wanted to make an exception today. She said, “I said at the analysis meeting that Shang Yi had taken a hallucinogen before he died. The core component of this hallucinogen is a variant of ‘LSD.’ It’s still circulating even with such strict controls, so there must be a stable channel.”

“I can give you a heads-up.” She negotiated with Old Piao openly. “Although Shang Yi’s full toxicology is not done yet, the impurity test results are already out. The catalyst residue is different, but the lactose filler is the same.”

Although Old Piao was not a narcotics police officer, they all did the same job, and experience was more important than theory. “The same processing plant?”

“Not the same raw materials, but the same processing chain.”

Piao Zheng stuffed two large mouthfuls of buns into his mouth and slapped the table to stand up. “I’ll go and ask Li Siting now if there’s any result from the boy’s family’s lead.”

…

Seeing that he was about to leave, Shen Yiyi didn’t care about her mysophobia and grabbed his coat. “Don’t go yet.”

Old Piao looked troubled. “Oh my, Little Shen, I really can’t tell you the details. Can you please stop forcing me?”

“I’m not asking.” Shen Yiyi changed the subject. “I came to find you today for this toxicology analysis, nothing else.”

Shang Yi’s case was now full of conspiracy theories online.

Therefore, the police not only had to investigate the murder case, but also whether there was a criminal group behind him.

It was not easy to send a letter of investigation to a foreign investor, and the big bosses involved could not be directly invited for tea. But the domestic pharmaceutical channel was a good breakthrough point.

If the police could crack a drug manufacturing and trafficking chain before they caught the killer, then they could at least shut the public’s mouth and also buy some time to catch the killer.

Of course, Shen Yiyi also had her own selfish motives.

For her, if she could get a head start in the drug investigation, then while the public opinion was still hot, the police could at least draw a clear line between Logos and Shang Yi, and Qin Luo would at least not be closely watched by the netizens.

She knew that Qin Luo must be having a hard time now, so it was urgent to clear her of the “collusion” charge.

“I’ve sorted out a lot of materials here. I don’t know if you can use them.” Shen Yiyi opened her laptop bag. The thick stack in the outer layer was the toxicology test she had done when she had dissected the boy who had jumped into the river. Their lab had studied it. This hallucinogen was not a hard currency circulating on the market, but a new and improved product.

“Oh my, Director Shen, don’t give it to me.” Piao Zheng waved his hand repeatedly. “I can’t understand a toxicology analysis.”

“It’s not an analysis.” Shen Yiyi placed the folder on Piao Zheng’s lap. “The Institute of Criminal Science hasn’t done a database comparison yet, and the variant experiment is still in progress. There are no test reagents. I’ve sorted out some useful testing instruments for you, and it’s convenient for tracking.”

Old Piao was very puzzled. “I’ve never seen you so concerned about our case-handling department before. What’s with today?”

“It’s not Little Lin.” Shen Yiyi looked down and wiped her hands, saying calmly, “It was my fault for not leading him well and causing you trouble. I feel bad about it.”

Piao Zheng held the folder under his arm. “It’s normal for Little Lin to make a mistake. You don’t have to take it to heart.”

How could Shen Yiyi not take Qin Luo to heart?

Ever since the analysis post had gone viral online, Qin Luo had not replied to the morning, noon, and evening messages she had sent. There was no news, and she was nowhere to be found.

Shen Yiyi didn’t want to always trouble her roommate’s girlfriend, so she simply asked Guo Rui to go on WeChat.

Fortunately, Qin Luo would reply to Guo Rui’s messages. Shen Yiyi could be in sync with the other’s safety, and at least she had a bottom line in her heart.

But at the same time, she was also jealous of Guo Rui. She couldn’t understand why, with the same messages sent, she was the only one who was left out.

[How is she doing today?]

Guo Rui was very direct and simply sent a screenshot of their conversation. In the conversation, Qin Luo seemed to be doing fine. She would eat when she should eat, and sleep when she should sleep. She could even make a joke after a couple of sentences.

With such a big thing happening, the more normal a person’s mentality was, the more they were on the verge of a breakdown. Now, what was holding Qin Luo on the edge of the cliff was her self-esteem. Guo Rui and Shen Yiyi both knew that once a person who thought highly of themselves fell, they would often be a hundred times more miserable than a person with no heart.

[The weather has been clear recently. You should let her get some sun on the balcony. If she can, she shouldn’t go out.]

Shen Yiyi rarely looked at the trending topics. At most, she would take a couple more glances if the police situation required it. But recently, to track down clues, her phone was basically never out of her hand. She would habitually refresh it every couple of steps.

Because of this case, she had gotten to know Qin Luo all over again online.

Shen Yiyi didn’t know how to evaluate Qin Luo. For example, a successful entrepreneur, a natural leader, a representative of female writers. These identity labels with a sense of authority made people feel distant.

Shen Yiyi even found it hard to imagine that the Qin Luo who had been so cautious about even hugging in her adolescence, the Qin Luo who had stood in the kitchen with her hands on her hips, cooking porridge in the morning, would have so many followers.

The perfection that the media presented to humans was different.

The perfect woman that the media presented to men was one who needed absolute sexual attraction. She had to be unlike an ordinary woman, tolerant, inclusive, with endless gentleness and courage.

The perfect woman that the media presented to women was also special. This image included a lack of self, and required independence, extroversion, and to always maintain “loyalty.”

Qin Luo happened to meet the standards of the media’s perfect conditions.

Attraction, tolerance, courage, independence, and financial freedom, and always maintaining “loyalty” to her ideals. Therefore, the projections of these followers on Qin Luo were different.

Some admired her, some envied her, some saw Qin Luo as a goal to strive for, and some even saw her as a spiritual leader and a savior.

They were almost fanatical about Qin Luo.

It was they who had created the so-called “correct” and “just” “authority” for Qin Luo. Even if Her Kill was really involved in a murder case, they were completely indifferent.

Shen Yiyi smiled wryly in bed in the middle of the night.

“Even the most beautiful woman will have the embarrassment of getting blood on her pants. This sense of reality will make people lose their sense of beauty.”

She remembered that day at the Korean restaurant, Qin Luo’s sincere question, the confusion on her face, and her eagerness to prove to her that she was not an unattainable statue.

—She was just too proud.

She wanted to stick to her noble faith, but she was unwilling to pander to vulgar tastes. she did not want to attract attention, but she was even more unwilling to be ignored. Perhaps Qin Luo could handle success, but she did not entirely enjoy it. When her ideals deviated from the course of reality, she would be severely torn apart.

Qin Luo was actually the same as her, almost unable to stretch naturally.

Shen Yiyi missed Qin Luo a little. She had never suffered so much from her thoughts. She closed her eyes and thought of those old summer vacations. She had fallen asleep without staying up late.

Although she had never dreamed of Qin Luo once, her beautiful dream had come true by chance.

But this beautiful dream only belonged to Shen Yiyi. For Qin Luo, it was like a nightmare, the kind that was haunted by a ghost and could not be driven away.

—Someone had died again.

The one who had died was a man, and it was still someone close to her. This time, it was Xin Wuzheng.

It was Wang Xi who had told her the news first. The person had died on the production set. Wang Xi had just said that and had disappeared. It was only after a long time that she had replied, saying that she was at the police station giving a statement, and that she would reply to her when she was free.

Qin Luo was numb. Even a ghost would not believe that she was not scared. She had waited for a long time for Wang Xi’s reply, but in the end, she had received a call from the police, telling her to wait at home and that a police officer would come to her door to ask her questions.

Qin Luo did not want to wait another second. She took the initiative to go to the police station. She thought that at least a place with many people would be safe. The police had agreed to her request and had told her to come as soon as possible.

She had rushed there, but the police station had had her wait in the mediation room, because the ones who were going to question her were not just the police station in her jurisdiction, but also the city’s criminal police.

This waiting process was very torturous. Her head was occupied by strange imaginations. She was curled up alone on the long bench. Besides fear, there was also endless self-blame.

Imitating Her Kill…

Qin Luo couldn’t guess who wanted to harm her, or if there was really a serial killer imitating the crime, or if the public opinion frenzy created by Liu Jia had guided a new killer.

But no matter from which point of view, she could not escape the responsibility.

She was the creator of the crisis, the well-deserved center of the storm.

The police had talked to Qin Luo for five hours, from Shang Yi to Logos, and then from the public welfare project to Xin Wuzheng. Qin Luo had told them everything she knew. In the end, Qin Luo had asked the police if they had a range of suspects, so she could be more on guard. The police had not said much to Qin Luo and had only asked her for a copy of the script for Her Kill.

“Which version of the script?”
“The latest version.”

Qin Luo was suddenly enlightened. The revision of the film script of Her Kill had indeed added an extra deceased person, but that version was an attempt by the screenwriting team and had been rejected by her before the project had landed.

Could it be that the killer was really one of her own?

After she had left the police station, it was already dark. Qin Luo did not dare to tell Liu Jia the news, nor did she dare to go home. She sat in the car, and the feeling of being watched came over her. The few windows could not block the fear of the night.

Right, Shen Yiyi was a police officer. Shen Yiyi had reminded her.

Without even thinking, Qin Luo started the car and drove straight to Shen Yiyi’s rental apartment. After she got out of the car, she ran and knocked on her door.

“Who is it?” Lu Shimao looked through the peephole.

Ah…
It was the woman who lived in Cloud Top but wouldn’t let people in.