Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 172

Chapter 172: The Red Silk · La Soie Rouge

“The province is paying great attention to this old case. It was reported to the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security within two weeks, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is stepping up its assistance in the investigation.”

Political Commissar Zou placed a brief document in front of Shen Yiyi, but he covered the content of the document with his palm. “We have already discussed some of the content with your father. We’ve invited you today to talk about the subsequent handling of the case.”

Qin Luo said with dissatisfaction, “This case hasn’t even been sorted out, and you’re already talking about the follow-up?”

“Are you a family member of the victim?”

Political Commissar Zou knew that Qin Luo was an entrepreneur and had a good relationship with the city leaders, but she was not a family member of the victim. It was a concession from the police for her to be able to participate in the meeting. To be suppressed by her as soon as she came up, the effect of the conversation would not be good. “I’m about to communicate this issue with Director Shen. If you’re not a victim—”

“She is.”

Shen Yiyi’s fingertips held the document and pulled it from Political Commissar Zou’s palm.

Her eyes scanned the red-headed title, and she said abruptly, “We’re a family. She’s been accompanying my father to the police station these past few days. Don’t you know?”

The atmosphere suddenly became confrontational. Zhou Zhengguo quickly tried to smooth things over. “Little Shen, we’ve been investigating this case day and night these past few days. It’s just a pity that Zhao Kang, he…”

Shen Yiyi had already seen the title of the document just now.
“Decision on the Termination of Investigation.”

Zhou Zhengguo mustered his courage and dragged his chair closer to Shen Yiyi. “You also know that once the suspect dies…”

“He’s dead?”

Shen Yiyi chuckled lightly and flipped the document in her hand over on the table. Her eyes were full of incomprehension. Although this was a predictable answer for her, she still felt it was absurd to be notified by the police like this. “Is the information accurate? The foreign affairs procedures have only been going on for two months, and you can be sure that he’s already dead? How did he die? How did you determine that he was the killer?”

Zhou Zhengguo lowered his head and swallowed nervously. “I’m sorry…”

He was sorry for the belated truth, which was mixed with guilt and heartache. The shoe prints that had been sealed for more than twenty years had been matched with the suspect, but they had received the news of the other’s death during the initial exchange of information. This was a humiliation that was difficult for them, the police, to talk about, and an unequal curtain call for the victim’s family.

“The Foreign Affairs Section of the Ministry of Public Security gave us feedback when they first negotiated the personnel information with us. Zhao Kang was indeed involved in other criminal cases abroad, but he was shot and killed during the pursuit. He died five years ago.”

…

Qin Luo held her teacup, a sharp pain in her chest.

A few days ago, when they had been communicating with Shen’s father, they had still been asking about the relationship between Xu Meng and Zhao Kang back then. In the blink of an eye, they were telling them that Zhao Kang was already dead?

Besides anger, Qin Luo could not find any appropriate emotion at this moment.

She had imagined hundreds of ways to overcome the difficulties of a transnational case, had imagined that Shen Yiyi would be comforted in the confrontation in court. Even if she did not get his repentance, just watching the other plead guilty would be a kind of redemption. But now, Zhao Kang’s bones were cold, and they had lost their target.

This was the cruelest ending.

The possibility of a dialogue with the killer was lost. There was no accusation, no questioning, and the killer did not even need anyone’s forgiveness. This tragedy had only left one side standing where they were.

Qin Luo looked at the police officer opposite her in silence. For the first time, she felt that justice might not be able to redeem suffering. Especially when it came late and landed shakily, nothing was important anymore.

“I know.”

Shen Yiyi stood up with her hands on the table. The brief of the resolution was still flipped over on the table. “I’ll be there for the family meeting about the details of the case. Just call me.”

“Little Shen…”

Seeing that Shen Yiyi was about to leave, Political Commissar Zou wanted to keep her, but he was pulled back by Captain Zhou before he could say anything.

Zhou Guozheng shook his head at the political commissar, his eyes pleading with him to let her go.

“I’ve already done everything I can. I hope that Captain Zhou can prepare all the evidence for the meeting.” After Shen Yiyi had finished speaking, she nodded at him to express her gratitude and then turned and left the office.

***

Confirming the death of a suspect across borders was a tedious process. Verifying the identity required foreign affairs negotiations, and the internal filing of the case or the formal notification to the family also required organization.

Six months, had passed in the blink of an eye.

Shen Yiyi, as a witness in the case, had supplemented her statement and had been running back and forth to her hometown. Every time she was interviewed by the police, she would enter a period of desensitization.

Qin Luo was most afraid of this desensitization period. During this period, Shen Yiyi would pretend to be relaxed, saying that she was fine, but she would turn around and go on a business trip, disappearing for a few weeks, and not replying to calls or messages, as if she had evaporated from the face of the earth.

Qin Luo was about to go crazy.

After Shen Yiyi had rejected her three calls, the Qin Luo who would not get angry had finally exploded at Logos. Wang Xi could not stand this sudden pressure and had tried her best to persuade President Liu to let Qin Luo take a vacation.

“I’m so desperate.”

Qin Luo was slumped on the sofa, a pain and itch in her heart that she could not scratch or soothe. The valve in her body that could lock up her grievances, depression, and fatigue was at a critical point. She was scratching her ears and cheeks, trying to find a way, but she could not find one.

Liu Jia looked at Qin Luo holding her phone. The screen, which was not off, was a call that had not yet been dialed.

She could imagine that if Shen Yiyi still did not answer this call, Qin Luo would most likely smash her phone on the spot. It was the most terrifying thing when a person who did not get angry got angry. She had heard a little about Qin Luo beating up a photographer at the entrance of the police station.

“This year…”

Qin Luo closed her eyes and tried her best to hold back the annoyance in her chest. “A whole year.”

This was a very bad third year of their relationship.

In this year, Shen Yiyi had cut herself in two. One half had stayed at the police station, going to work, experimenting, signing, and dissecting bodies as usual. The other half of her soul had left, throwing out all the emotional touchpoints.

Concern had become a burden. The house was like a hotel. Any comfort offered to Shen Yiyi was a disturbance. She refused to explain, refused to confide, and even refused to argue.

“I can understand her disappointment, her unwillingness.” Qin Luo raised her hand and finally chose to lock her phone screen. “I also know that she needs time to digest, but this process is too torturous.”

“Especially since I can’t accept the way she forces a smile at me every time she comes back from Fengjiang. Later, she simply didn’t want to act anymore and just used the excuse of work to hide for half a month.”

“I sometimes think, if I’m such a burden to her, then maybe…”

[Maybe we should just live apart for a while.]

Qin Luo did not dare to say the second half of the sentence. She lowered her body and put her hands in her hair, half-covering her face.

[That way, they can both be more relaxed.]

“Can you stop looking so sad?” Liu Jia patted Qin Luo’s shoulder. “It’s not like it’s a life-and-death separation.”

She was indeed a very tolerant partner. It was fine if she hid her emotions, and it was fine if she didn’t like to communicate. Qin Luo would always have a way to easily resolve it. But Shen Yiyi was a master at keeping things to herself. She would rather be twisted to death than to find someone to share it with. The more anxious Qin Luo was, the more Shen Yiyi would avoid her. The two of them were not using their strength in the same direction.

The fear was that Qin Luo would not be able to salvage Shen Yiyi and would instead be dragged down with her.

“It’s also good to have a fight.” Liu Jia could only comfort her like this after thinking for a long time.

“After all, you’ve been in a relationship for three and a half years. If you have a fight, you can just break up if you should. If you can’t, then you can continue on the road.” But she knew that Qin Luo was reluctant. “Besides, she’s not just like this with you. She’s also like this with her dad.”

“The anniversary is coming up.”

Qin Luo looked up helplessly. “I was originally planning to take her on a vacation to the Maldives. Now that I think about it, it’s quite ridiculous.”

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

Liu Jia sighed and also slumped on the sofa. She put Qin Luo’s phone in her own pocket. “You’re so free. There’s a dinner party tonight where you have to drink. You can go in my place.”

The unanswered call had stopped at the third one. It wasn’t until the e-commerce department had been busy with Singles’ Day that Qin Luo had taken the initiative to contact her.

The e-commerce department’s turnover had had a new breakthrough compared to last year. Liu Jia had organized a dinner party. Qin Luo had sat in a corner and had had a few drinks. Anyway, her girlfriend was not at home, so Qin Luo had no restraint in her drinking.

Before Qin Luo could get happy, Wang Xi had suddenly received a call from Jiang Yan, saying that there was an emergency at home. It wasn’t until Qin Luo had called back that she had learned that Shen’s father had suddenly had a cerebral ischemia and had been admitted to the hospital in a coma.

By the time Qin Luo had rushed to the hospital, it was already three in the morning. Shen’s father had been transferred to a large hospital in the neighboring city through Qin Luo’s connections, and he was sound asleep in his ward.

Jiang Yan was curled up on the sofa. When she heard the door push open, she immediately opened her eyes.

Jiang’s mom was afraid of disturbing Shen’s father’s rest and had pulled her daughter to the corridor to explain the situation. “I called him in the morning, and the situation was not right. I heard that his speech was slurred and thought he was just tired. I was thinking that he had to go to the procuratorate to follow up on the situation in these few days, so I might as well just send him some food. Who knew that as soon as I entered, I saw him lying on the sofa. It scared me to death.”

Qin Luo closed her eyes tiredly. These past few days, she had only been angry with Shen Yiyi and had neglected the fact that Shen’s father also needed to be taken care of. He was already old, and he must have been exhausted from running around for the case.

“The doctor said that if he had come a little later, he would have been paralyzed. He has to stay here for a few more days to observe the situation.” Jiang Yan held her chest. She still had a lingering fear when she recalled the way Mr. Shen had looked with his slurred speech. “Where’s Yiyi? Have you contacted her? Why hasn’t she come yet?”

“She’s on a business trip.” Qin Luo said, “She’ll be here in the morning.”

“Did you have a fight with Yiyi?”

Jiang Yan didn’t have to guess. The two large words “aggrieved” were clearly written on her daughter’s face. “Is it because—”

“Let’s not talk about this.” Qin Luo didn’t want to mention it and forced a smile. “We can solve this kind of thing ourselves.”

“Oh my…” Jiang Yan raised her hand and tidied her daughter’s messy hair, then touched the side of her face. “Look at your dark circles. Have you not been sleeping well these past few days? You should go home and rest. I’ll stay here and watch him. Anyway, I have nothing to do. Taking care of him is also a good deed—”

A wrinkled hand, particularly withered in the winter, was on her face but was stuck in her heart.

For some reason, Qin Luo had learned to bend over for the first time. She rested her head on her mother’s shoulder. She held her mother, and in her confusion, she desperately longed for and needed this embrace.

Jiang Yan was stunned for a moment, and then she held her back tightly.

She patted her daughter’s back, as she had when she was just born, and gently coaxed her, humming a nursery rhyme that all mothers would say:

“It’s okay.”
“Don’t be afraid.”
“It’s okay.”
“Mom’s here.”

The mother and daughter were thus hugging at the end of the corridor, still in front of the ward.

But it was not the awkwardness of a husband and father’s death. The two women had once confronted each other awkwardly. They were worried about the handling of the aftermath, worried that they would have no support in the future, the endless troubles and loneliness, and there was no more hatred for the marriage.

“Mom knows that you might have been wronged, but Shen Yiyi is a good child. Give each other some more time. Don’t be in a hurry.”

Jiang’s mom straightened her shoulders, supporting her daughter’s vulnerability.

“Who cares about her?”

Qin Luo finally cried out, her tears rubbing against the sweater her mother had been wearing for ten years. “I’m just suddenly worried…”

Worried that she would also suddenly lose her mother.