Chapter 21: The Schizophrenic Executioner – 10
At four in the afternoon, after finally finishing her filing, Zhou Jinglin took advantage of the downtime to open a web browser. In the search bar, she typed “Gao Shengmei” and hit enter.
The first results were some old movie stills and a few clips from variety shows she had appeared on.
After all, she was a veteran actress who had been out of the limelight for a long time. The most recent news about her was from several years ago, and none of it was good.
“Huh? This one…” Jinglin noticed a headline: “Veteran Star Kidnapped, Slip of the Tongue Nearly Leads to Murder.” She clicked on it. The article described the entire incident of Gao Shengmei being kidnapped and held for ransom by gangsters, and how she had finally managed to escape and report it. At the time, she had even let reporters photograph her stitched-up wound, which was also on her head.
“No wonder she said Ruxuan was as brave as her!”
But this wasn’t recent news; it was from over a decade ago. Given her harsh and fiery personality, Jinglin could only say she was “not surprised” that she would get into trouble for misspeaking.
“What are you looking for?” Cai Yuwei popped his head over the cubicle wall.
She jumped. “J-Just browsing.”
“Which celebrity are you looking up? Gao Shengmei… never heard of her.”
“That just means you’re as young as I am,” she said with a smile, closing the window.
“Are you still going to the hospital every day to check on that little girl?”
“Yeah. School is about to start, and she’s getting discharged soon. She’s almost fully recovered.”
“You’re really kind-hearted. Usually, even after saving a victim, people don’t keep checking on them afterward like you do. But…” He put his hands together in a pleading gesture. “After work tonight, could you spare me some time?”
Having just retied her ponytail, she raised an eyebrow. “For what?”
Cai Yuwei lowered his head, his movements a little awkward. “W-Well, a friend of mine just opened a new bar…”
“A bar? Sorry, I don’t drink,” she said seriously.
“Ah! You don’t have to drink. They have a lot of non-alcoholic drinks and light meals. The food is pretty good, and since it just opened, they’re having a special. It’s definitely a good deal if we go together.”
Look at how anxious he is! Jinglin saw that his face was beet red and couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that so… Well, I usually don’t have much to do after work.”
“Really? So you can come with me to check it out?” His eyes lit up.
She pretended to stroke her chin in thought, secretly observing his expression. “I guess I can. It’s just…”
He couldn’t help but pump his fist in the air. “Just what?”
“We’d have to go after I’ve seen the little girl first.”
“Of course! I’ll go with you. After all, it was such a sensational case, and I haven’t seen her yet… Your phone?”
Seeing his unconcealed joy, Jinglin chuckled to herself again. But when she picked up the phone, the caller ID made her expression tense.
“Chief! Yes, it’s Jinglin.” She peeked into Fang Zijun’s office. Strange, he’s in there. Why isn’t he using the extension?
On the other end of the line, he took a deep breath. ‘Have you… gotten any calls from your mother recently?’
Huh? He’s calling about personal matters… “Yes, I have.”
‘Has she told you how she’s been doing lately?’
“Um, not really…” she answered guiltily. After all, Li Yuejiao had called several times, but she had barely answered. “What’s wrong, Chief? Did my mom cause you any trouble?”
Fang Zijun didn’t answer, only saying, ‘Give her a call, will you?’ It was less of a command and more of a kind suggestion. ‘Call her now. That’s all.’ The extension rang, and he quickly hung up.
Jinglin stared at the phone in a daze. Even though Fang Zijun cared a lot about his subordinates, this was the first time he had intervened so directly.
“What did the chief say?” Cai Yuwei asked.
“He told me to call home.”
“Call home? Don’t tell me something…” He quickly covered his mouth.
She gave an awkward smile and shook her head. “I don’t know… I’ll call and see.”
“Okay. I hope it’s nothing serious.”
She first dialed the home number. After a minute of ringing with no answer, she switched to the mobile number.
“Hello? Mom!” Hearing Li Yuejiao’s voice, Jinglin relaxed. After a moment of silence, she asked, “Are you out? The home phone is ringing and you’re not answering… Where are you?”
Cai Yuwei pretended to be busy, but he was completely lost in the happy anticipation of their upcoming date. Until she shouted, “What… you’re in Taipei!” She shot up from her seat.
Jinglin gripped the phone tightly, her worry for her mother reaching a breaking point. “What happened? What’s wrong with you?”
The moment her mother finally spoke, her mind went blank.
**
After reading Tang Yingli’s detailed profile, Fang Zijun gently rubbed his temples. “So, Teacher, you believe that these two incidents were not accidents or natural deaths, but possibly murders?”
“Not possibly. I am certain that both were homicides.”
“Although I trust your judgment, in order to initiate a forensic autopsy or drug testing, there must be a strong possibility of homicide. Do these two cases have that?”
“In the first case, I personally witnessed the victim’s dazed fall. As long as we conduct a test, I believe we will find a large amount of blood pressure medication in the body. In the second case, although the cause of death was ventricular fibrillation, the victim’s pained expression as she clutched her abdomen before death suggests she was poisoned. The killer may have taken advantage of her history of myocardial infarction and mixed a high dose of medication into her food, which could cause a toxic reaction in a matter of weeks, or even days.”
“You’re talking about the M.O., Teacher. What I’m concerned about is the motive. Were these two elderly individuals involved in any obvious criminal motive? Why would the killer want to murder them?”
“Out of sympathy.”
Fang Zijun nearly dropped the file in his hand. “Sympathy?”
“Unable to bear seeing the patients continue to suffer, or having heard them lament about being old and useless. Humans are social animals. When a person is alive but not needed by others, it’s easy for them to question their own value.
“‘Since living is no longer useful, it’s better to be freed early, right?’ That is the suspect’s motive. And looking at her past experience, the suspect took care of her elderly, paralyzed spouse for a long time. It’s not hard to understand how that could lead to a twisted delusion.” She looked directly at Fang Zijun. “Does that constitute grounds for a forensic autopsy?”
Feeling the intense pressure, he looked troubled. “Without a confession from the suspect, or an eyewitness who clearly saw her commit the act, it will be very difficult to convict her. Even if we find traces of the drugs you mentioned in both bodies, it’s still not enough. After all, no one can be sure they didn’t overdose on their own, right?”
Tang Yingli’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“We need stronger, more direct evidence. Do you have that, Teacher?”
Although Fang Zijun’s tone was gentle, it left her speechless.
Stronger evidence.
“I will find it.” She took back the file and strode out of his office.
**
When it was time to leave work, Jinglin couldn’t sit still for a moment longer and rushed to the parking lot.
“Jinglin! So, tonight we…” Cai Yuwei hurried after her.
“Sorry! I can’t tonight. Maybe some other time?” She gave a quick smile, started the engine, and sped toward the municipal hospital.
Li Yuejiao… her mother, had come up to be hospitalized without saying a word. Although she claimed it was just for a full-body check-up, she knew it was a lie. Why would she come all the way up here just for a check-up?
After finally arriving at the hospital, Jinglin rushed to the single room on the eleventh floor.
She ran down the seemingly endless white corridor, and in the distance, she could faintly hear the sound of a wind chime again—
‘Mom… save me, Mom!’
As if in response to her call, Li Yuejiao had arrived just in time. ‘Get away from my daughter!’
While her mother and the burly, drunk man were scuffling, she had frantically gotten dressed and huddled in a corner, trembling.
About two minutes later, the drunkard had fled in a sorry state. Li Yuejiao stood at the door, a bloody kitchen knife in her hand. ‘Get out! Don’t ever let me see you again!’
‘Mom…’
Her mother had slammed the door shut. Hearing her timid call, she had immediately dropped the knife and held her tight.
‘Are you hurt? Where does it hurt? I’m sorry… Jinglin, Mommy’s so sorry!’
That moment was perhaps the closest they had ever been.
But after that, Li Yuejiao’s work had continued as usual, and her lifestyle hadn’t changed at all. That feeling of being moved had eventually faded with time.
They no longer talked about the past, and their conversations grew fewer and fewer. Her identity as a police officer and her mother’s past in the nightlife industry seemed to form an ironic contrast.
Though they were a mother and daughter who had relied on each other, they had drifted further and further apart…
And somehow, it had become like this.
Eleven-seventeen… found it!
Just as she opened the door, Li Yuejiao’s voice drifted into her ears. “…Thank you for your kindness, but you don’t need to go to so much trouble for me in the future.” She sounded… a little angry?
She peeked her head in and called out, “Mom?”
Her arrival ended their conversation. The visitor was a man in a hat and sunglasses. Jinglin didn’t recognize him, and he just nodded with a smile. “I’ll be going now.”
Li Yuejiao’s reaction was surprisingly cold. “Mm.”
After the man left, Li Yuejiao let out a relaxed smile. “You really rushed over? The traffic must have been terrible at this time.” She looked to be in good spirits.
Jinglin walked closer and looked at her on the hospital bed. People had always said she looked like her mother, and as the years went by, the resemblance had only grown stronger. Even a stranger could guess their relationship at a glance.
“That man just now… who was he?”
“A friend. He heard I was coming for a check-up and specially arranged a single room for me.” She shook her head with a wry smile.
Probably a client from her old job at the club, Jinglin thought, and tactfully didn’t press further. “The results… how were they?”
“They said it’s an ovarian fibroid. No wonder this side has been hurting lately whenever I exert myself a little.” She touched her side. “Don’t worry, it’s benign and very small.”
“But you’ll still need surgery, right?”
“It’ll be a minimally invasive procedure. I’ll probably have to stay for two weeks at most, but I’ve also heard of people being discharged in three or four days.”
“You said before that you were going to come find me, that you were urging me to come home…” Jinglin’s hands clenched into fists, and a wave of shame and self-reproach washed over her. “It was because you realized something was wrong with your body, wasn’t it?”
“Jinglin…”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Her eyes were red. “If you had just told me… told me you weren’t feeling well, I would have come back to see you.”
Li Yuejiao’s lips were pressed into a thin line. She unexpectedly noticed the bandage on her right hand.
Even though they had grown distant, a mother and daughter were still a mother and daughter… that had never changed.
“You can even stay at my place if you want, for as long as you like.” Jinglin looked up, wiping her eyes. “My apartment is small, but there’s still room for two.”
“Because you weren’t really willing to answer my calls, I thought you were still upset with me… especially now that you’re working so hard at your unit. So…”
“So you came to see a doctor on your own, right?” She squeezed Li Yuejiao’s hand. “Look at you, you even have a suitcase packed.”
The small, elegant, plaid suitcase sat quietly in the corner.
“I’m sorry…”
“I should be the one saying that,” she interrupted, her tone a little harsh. Then, just like Li Yuejiao had protected her all those years ago, she opened her arms and hugged her mother.
“Please take care of yourself,” she choked out. “I don’t have a father. The only family I have… is you.”
With that one sentence, the knot that had been tied for years finally began to loosen.
Li Yuejiao leaned against Jinglin, nodding silently as tears streamed down her face.
They were tears of joy.
