Chapter 31: The Ulysses Contract – 7
In the office, Tu Yanqing held a pen in one hand, cradled the phone with her neck, and had her other hand on the keyboard, a perfect example of multitasking.
“Mr. Shen is still in a meeting…” She gave a meaningful look to Shen Shiyang, who was buried in his files. “Yes, I’ll have him get back to you later, probably before seven tonight… I’m sorry.”
Hanging up the phone and sending the email, she finally finished arranging her schedule and gave a big shrug. “Ah… thanks.” Before she could even look up, Shen Shiyang had already placed a cup of coffee on her desk.
“You’ve worked hard, catching up on two days of work.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and began to knead them expertly. Tu Yanqing tilted her head back with a sigh, completely relaxing and enjoying the service. “I always feel a little bad seeing you so busy, but sometimes being busy is a good thing, isn’t it?”
He was alluding to what had happened at his house. Tu Yanqing pursed her lips, her back tensing. “You have no idea how nervous I was when that female detective suddenly showed up.”
“Relax, relax… I’ve already tampered with the scene, including making the house look like it was robbed. No one will know that the scissors were the real murder weapon,” Shen Shiyang said with an air of confidence.
“Is that so? I spent some more time washing them again yesterday… It was just bad luck that the female detective came, otherwise I would have thrown them away long ago.”
“It was the right thing to do not to run out and throw them away in front of her. She might have even gone through the garbage truck.”
“That’s what I was afraid of… okay, okay. That’s enough.” She shrugged, shaking off the large hands on her shoulders. But to her surprise, Shen Shiyang didn’t remove his hands, instead letting them slide down. “Mm… what are you doing? We’re still at work. What if someone…”
“Yanqing, I miss you so much,” he whispered in her ear, his voice filled with desire. “That woman is gone. Without her, we can…”
“Someone’s coming, behave yourself.” Tu Yanqing slapped away his wandering hands and pulled at her suit jacket to cover herself.
A shadow flickered outside the blinds, and a few seconds later, there was a knock on the door. “Who is it…” Before he could even ask, the visitor had forcefully opened the office door.
And the identity of the person who opened the door was completely unexpected. “You! How did you suddenly…”
“Sorry to interrupt your little love affair. I’m Zhou Jinglin, a member of the Taipei Criminal Investigation Division.” She showed her ID and held out a document with her other hand. “This is an arrest warrant. Regarding the murder of Peng Weiru at her residence, we have strong reason to suspect that Miss Tu Yanqing is involved, and we are here to take Miss Tu into custody for questioning.”
“W-Wait a minute! How could I…” Tu Yanqing’s face turned pale, and she struggled with the detective who was trying to cuff her. “I didn’t kill anyone! It wasn’t, it wasn’t me…”
“Take her away.” Exchanging a look with Cai Yuwei, the two detectives half-pushed, half-dragged Tu Yanqing out of the office, leaving Shen Shiyang, who was staring wide-eyed, unsure of how to react.
“Mr. Shen, you’d better watch yourself.” She gave him a deliberate smile and gently placed the arrest warrant on the table.
**
Back at the station, holding the freshly printed forensics report, Zhou Jinglin was still concerned about the other prime suspect.
“Senior Ah Mu, about Shen Shiyang…”
‘Ah, the chief has given his orders. Don’t worry, I’ll keep a close eye on him.’
Zhou Jinglin smiled and hung up the phone. After a deep breath, she opened the door to the interrogation room.
The interrogation room was sparsely furnished, with two chairs, a long table, a lamp, and monitoring equipment.
And a trembling Tu Yanqing.
“I didn’t kill anyone.”
Her gaze seemed firm, but it was filled with anxiety. Zhou Jinglin smiled without answering, handed her a glass of water she had poured for her, and sat down on the other side.
“Miss Tu, you’re not telling the truth.”
“W-What truth…”
“You and Mr. Shen are not just a boss and a subordinate.” Zhou Jinglin handed her a photo. “This is from the surveillance camera of a motel. The person in the passenger seat is you, isn’t it?”
Tu Yanqing gasped in surprise.
“What were you doing at a motel with a married man?”
“I…”
“Another thing, you also lied about not having met Mrs. Peng Weiru. I visited your apartment this morning and found something very interesting.”
Taking the scissors, which were in an evidence bag, from the folder, Zhou Jinglin held them up for Tu Yanqing to see. “I found these scissors in your sink. Miss Tu, you don’t even have a cutting board in your house. Why did you keep washing these scissors?”
“B-Because they were dirty! What’s so strange about washing scissors?”
“I see. Washing scissors isn’t strange.” Zhou Jinglin slammed the scissors on the table. “But what if these scissors have Peng Weiru’s blood on them?”
She muttered as if in a daze, “Blood…”
“According to the autopsy report, the real weapon that killed Peng Weiru was not a fruit knife, but a pair of sharp-pointed scissors.” Zhou Jinglin pushed the scissors in front of Tu Yanqing. “You were originally going to throw them away, but I unintentionally stopped you, right?
“We also searched all your clothes. You probably got rid of the clothes you were wearing when you committed the crime, but these scissors were still there… Do you want to know why we were still able to find Mrs. Peng Weiru’s blood on them after you washed them so many times?”
Tu Yanqing covered her mouth, trembling. “Here.” Looking at where Zhou Jinglin was pointing, she let out a small gasp.
“A place you couldn’t wash, and a place you didn’t think of.” Pinching the cut rubber handle, Zhou Jinglin put the scissors down again. “Now, can you explain why you said you had never met Mrs. Peng, but you had a pair of scissors with her blood on them hidden in your house?”
Tu Yanqing covered her face and began to cry as if she were having a breakdown. Zhou Jinglin sat on the other side, waiting patiently until the killer looked up again.
“…It was that woman’s fault.”
As if she had become a different person, Tu Yanqing’s eyes were glazed over, like a puppet with its strings cut. Zhou Jinglin knew she had given up the struggle and dropped her facade.
Clasping her hands, she leaned back in her chair. “Tell me why you killed Peng Weiru.”
**
“…She confessed to everything.”
Leaving the interrogation room, Zhou Jinglin eagerly reported the details of the case to Tang Yingli. “You were right, Teacher. Besides the killer, the victim’s husband also became an accomplice.”
The whole case was actually a crime of passion, a dispute between the wife and the mistress.
Tu Yanqing not only confessed to her motive, but also to the method of the crime. She had used the security card and key given to her by Shen Shiyang to sneak in and kill the sleeping Peng Weiru, then had rushed back to the company, leaving the clean-up to Shen Shiyang, who had returned home after his meeting. Shen Shiyang had then, of course, become the “first person to find her.”
‘Mm, it’s good that it was solved smoothly. Not bad, Officer Zhou. You’re getting more and more meticulous.’
The corners of her lips lifted. “By the way, you didn’t explain the case clearly from the beginning this time. Instead, you guided me to find the answer myself… you did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
‘Oh? Did I?’
“Don’t play dumb.”
Yingli let out a light chuckle. ‘I just wanted to see if you were meticulous enough, and to test your ability to unravel a case. It seems you can do it without me by your side.’
“I am a detective, after all. I didn’t learn forensic science for nothing,” she said, tilting her head up proudly.
‘Oh, someone’s so proud they’re about to fly away.’
“Hmph, no more joking. I’m waiting for Shen Shiyang to be arrested now. Seriously, to conspire with his mistress to kill his own wife, and then to have the nerve to say he loved her during the interrogation. It’s disgusting.”
‘No matter what the reason, killing someone is wrong,’ Yingli said suddenly, her tone serious. ‘But the victim may not have been entirely innocent either.’
“Teacher?” she frowned.
‘Ah, it’s nothing. Your case is almost over, but I still have a lot to do on my end.’
“You? What do you have to do… where are you?”
‘I’m still at the university. This morning, I learned that a student is being stalked by a creepy suitor. I plan to help her solve this problem.’
“What a coincidence. I ended up with a crime of passion, and you have someone suffering from love troubles over there.”
Yingli smiled again. ‘Well, love does make people lose their reason. Alright, that’s all for now.’
“Love makes people lose their reason?” Zhou Jinglin stared at her phone and smiled. “And the person who said that has no love experience herself.”
I wonder what kind of expression Tang Yingli would have if she were in love?
Returning to her desk, Zhou Jinglin put down the folder. “Right, I need to contact Mom…” Li Yuejiao was being discharged today. Her hospital stay had been longer than expected, a full two weeks longer.
She was about to dial when the phone rang again.
It was Chen Huomu. “Hello, Senior Ah Mu?”
Chen Huomu’s voice was tense. ‘Little Zhou, that kid Shen Shiyang, he took off in his car when I wasn’t looking. I’ve already contacted the local precinct for help… Is the chief in?’
She turned around abruptly. The light in Fang Zijun’s office was off. “No, he’s not. He was here before I interrogated Tu Yanqing…”
‘In any case, you tell Big Head, Little Gui, and the others that we need backup here. We can’t let this little brat get away.’
“Got it.”
