The Brain Science Case 17

Chapter 17: The Schizophrenic Executioner – 6

“I still can’t believe it… my old man… is just gone.”

Tang Yingli offered her condolences to Mrs. Wei, who had come to the hospital to handle the arrangements. “I understand how you must be feeling right now, but I’d like to ask you about your husband’s situation since he was hospitalized…”

Yesterday, Tao Qianya had volunteered to drive her to the hospital, and the two of them had investigated all night. Mr. Wei had already been pronounced dead by a doctor, the cause of death being a ruptured superior dural artery. Although it seemed like a simple case of an accidental fall, her witnessing the old man’s apparent disorientation before the fall had sent the investigation in a different direction.

She asked about the old man’s medical history, his hospitalization, and his medication habits. “Did he take his medication on time?”

“He often forgot. At home, I was the one who reminded him, but I haven’t been feeling well lately, so I’ve been spending less time with him. I always asked the nurses for help.”

“The one who was with you looking for him when it happened?”

“Not her. An older one. Her name was… Dai… Dai…”

It seems her memory isn’t very good either. “Her surname is Dai?”

“Yes.”

She quickly made a note. “She was usually the one who helped remind him?”

“Yes. She’s regularly on the evening shift, so I always asked her to help with his evening medication. Of course, the other nurses are very nice too… but Miss Dai is especially attentive to the patients, especially the elderly.”

“Especially concerned about the elderly patients?” she confirmed again.

Mrs. Wei, shaking off her earlier listlessness, answered with certainty, “That’s right, especially concerned.”

“Why?” She rested her chin on her hand.

“She said she once took care of her husband, so she can especially relate to the hardships of caring for the elderly and knows how to interact with older patients. I’ve even seen her prepare gifts to celebrate a patient’s birthday.”

Another case of sympathy born from personal experience? “It seems she’s a nurse who is well-trusted by her patients.”

At the end of the investigation, she specifically asked about the time of the cremation.

“The children were also very surprised, but it depends on when they can get back…”

“They’re not in the country?”

“They’re both working on assignment across the strait.” But Mrs. Wei finally gave her a deadline.

Less than three weeks.

If they wanted an autopsy, they would need sufficient reason to suspect he had been murdered. But Mr. Wei was not involved in any financial disputes, so it wasn’t for money.

And from the old woman’s account, it wasn’t a crime of passion or revenge either.

She had already investigated the elevator situation on the day of the incident. On the side near the physical therapy department, one of the two elevators had been temporarily out of service between five and six-thirty, and the other had been occupied transferring a patient from the ICU to a regular ward, also around five or six.

So was that why Mr. Wei had chosen to take the stairs? With a fractured leg and a cane, he had had an accident just because of that…

“Sigh.”

As Tang Yingli was putting away her notebook, the old woman’s sigh made her turn back. “What’s wrong?”

Mrs. Wei dabbed the corner of her eye with a handkerchief. “My husband was a retired military officer… I didn’t really notice it when he was healthy. But recently, especially after he fell and broke his bone, he would often say he was old and useless. After all, the children are all grown up and have their own families, and it was just the two of us at home, staring at each other. So I was thinking, could he have…”

“Are you suspecting suicide?”

“It just suddenly occurred to me as a possibility.” She paused. “Maybe other people have heard him say things like that? You could ask around.”

“Okay, I understand. Thank you for your help.” She lowered her eyes in thought.

Arriving at the nurses’ station, the two nurses on duty were both young.

“Excuse me, is there a nurse here with the surname Dai?”

“Yes. What can I help you with, miss?”

“I’d like to ask her some questions about a patient.” She took out her notebook.

The nurse looked troubled. “But she’s off today. Which patient did you want to ask about?”

She thought for a moment, then smiled and shook her head. “It’s alright. I’ll come back and ask her tomorrow.”

In Ward 11, the bed Mr. Wei had used, Bed C, had been taken by another patient. However, the patient in Bed B had spoken with him before, and it seemed they chatted quite often.

“…He did say it. That he was old and useless and all that.”

Having just finished his meal, he let out a burp. “I heard he used to be in the Jingcheng Company! A big shot in the military… But it’s normal to think like that. And I don’t think he was at the point where he wanted to die because of it.”

She nodded, crossing her legs and resting her chin on her hand. “On the day the old man fell, did you notice anything strange?”

“Strange? Let me think…”

“Any detail will do.”

“Well… for some reason, I was really, really sleepy that afternoon. I woke up for a little bit, and I vaguely heard him say he was going to take his medicine.”

Take his medicine? “What time was that?”

“I’m not sure, I just have a faint memory of it… When I really woke up, it was a little after six. The curtain was drawn, just like it is now.” He gestured to Bed C. “I thought he had come back from physical therapy. His scheduled time was from five to six.”

But Mr. Wei had not returned to his room. He had fallen in the stairwell.

What did that mean? Someone had deliberately arranged for the old man to take his blood pressure medication early. In any case, the time he took it was definitely not six.

She gripped her pen tightly and heard him say, “And then another nurse came looking for him, pulled back the curtain and found he wasn’t there, and then she started looking for him in a panic.”

“The one with short, center-parted hair?”

“Yeah, that’s her.”

Shi Yuxin. “I see. Thank you.” She turned off the recorder and mulled over the testimony.

“No problem. Hey, are you a police officer, miss? You’re asking so many detailed questions… and you’re so pretty! Are there female police officers as pretty as you these days?”

She just smiled, and was about to head back to the nurses’ station on her high heels when she saw the person she was looking for rushing over, along with another nurse.

“Ward 12, Bed A! The lady with heart failure!”

The next room over? Tang Yingli quickly stepped aside and followed them into the room to see what was happening.

The monitor was blaring alarms, the patient on the bed was clutching her abdomen, and her heart rate was over 250 beats per minute.

“Auntie! Auntie, are you okay?”

It was the patient in the next bed who had pressed the call button. “I saw her spill her soup, and she didn’t look right, so I pressed it…”

Shi Yuxin was shocked by the ridiculously high heart rate. “Ventricular fibrillation… Dr. Jiang! Get Dr. Jiang, quick!”

The card at the head of the bed displayed the patient’s name, age, and medical conditions.

Staring at the heart rate, which had now accelerated to 300 beats per minute, Tang Yingli pressed her fingers firmly against her glasses.

**

On her rare day off, Dai Yicheng slept in, went shopping for new clothes in the afternoon, and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon tea at a coffee shop.

The calendar on her phone reminded her of all the important events of the month. September 16th was circled.

It was the anniversary of her husband’s death.

From the time of the accident until his death, Dai Yicheng had taken care of him for a full five years, including the first twenty days he was in a coma in the ICU.

Those five years had drastically changed their relationship. The torment of illness and the trivialities of daily life were enough to turn the most loving couple into strangers who looked at each other with cold eyes.

No, perhaps it was worse than strangers.

If they were just strangers, he wouldn’t have stared at the wife who was wholeheartedly taking care of him, who only wanted what was best for him, with such resentful eyes. He wouldn’t have used such harsh and cutting words to provoke her.

She was always thinking, what had changed her husband? What had turned the caring, doting man who had cherished her into someone so hateful and loathsome?

Yes, something external and unknown must have changed him. Maybe something grew in his brain, or an unknown virus or bacteria entered his body…

To save him, she had taken action.

The result was not ideal. He had not changed back into the husband she loved, but at least she had freed him from his state of helplessness and uselessness. He was free, and so was she.

She would go see him next week. She would bring a bouquet of the white roses he had given her when he was courting her.

The aroma of the coffee was still lingering, but it was time to go home. Before getting up, she carefully put on her gloves. A light rain was falling outside. She opened her umbrella and paused for a moment at the flower shop in front of her house.

The owner of the flower shop recognized her. “Welcome! Ah, are you off today?”

“Yes… what beautiful baby’s breath.”

“Would you like to buy some to take home? They would look nice in a vase.”

“No, thank you. I’d like one red rose…” After a moment’s thought, she changed her mind. “Actually, I think I’ll browse for a bit.”

In addition to the fresh flowers displayed outside, the back of the shop was filled with succulents, small cacti, and other indoor plants.

One short potted plant had drooping, trumpet-shaped, purplish-red flowers and small, deep purple berries. She stared at it for a moment, then lightly touched a berry.

“Ah, that’s—”

Before the owner could introduce it, she picked up the pot with a satisfied smile. “I’ll take this one, and one red rose.”