The Brain Science Case 43

Chapter 43: The Body That Vanished in a Bloody Foam – 9

Pulling open the metal gate and setting up the hand-painted sign, Qian Hanliang—Penny—began to vacuum the shop, his daily preparation before welcoming clients.

The small studio, less than five pings (approx. 16.5 square meters), offered a variety of services, including makeup, skincare, and nail art. Recently, he had also started taking on some backstage makeup jobs for performers. Unfortunately, bridal makeup artists tended to be female, otherwise his client base would be much wider.

His phone chimed with a new message. He opened it. It was a new client who had made an appointment last night. She’s already here? Before he could even reply, the bell on the door rang.

“Welcome! Are you Miss Tang?”

The woman who walked in gently brushed the raindrops from her shoulders and smiled. “Yes. May I ask if Penny is…”

“I’m Penny,” he explained with a smile, and she covered her mouth in surprise. He put away the vacuum cleaner and pointed to a clean seat. “I’m sorry… this way, please.”

“I thought Penny was a woman.” Her smile was a little awkward, but her attitude quickly became open. She took off her jacket, revealing an elegant black lace dress.

“A lot of people think that. But there are guys named Penny too, right?”

“Yes, it’s just rare.” She pointed to two empty seats. “Where should I sit?”

“Either one is fine.” Qian Hanliang carefully put on his gloves and looked at her slender, well-proportioned figure. “Are you a model, Miss Tang?”

“Oh, no. I’m a university lecturer.”

“Really? You have a great figure. A lot of your female students must be envious.”

“Thank you.”

“So… what kind of service would you like today?” Looking closer, he saw that her skin was also very well-maintained, with no blackheads, large pores, or even fine lines around her eyes.

“I checked the online reviews, and I heard your nail art here is very special.”

“Yes, it’s my specialty.” He took out a nail art catalog and a few magazines. “Do you have a design in mind? Or would you like to look at some of the specific styles I have here?”

“I’ll take a look.” She took the catalog.

The catalog was very detailed, with clear photos of the overall design and color scheme. “These photos, are they of your customers’ hands?”

“Some of them are. But if they’re not willing to let me use them in the catalog, I have to find another way.”

“So it’s your girlfriend’s hand? Or…” she couldn’t help but glance at his gloved hands.

He answered with a smile, “Yes, it is.”

She rested her chin on her hand and slowly flipped through the pages. “Your girlfriend must have it tough. To have you paint and remove her nails over and over, even if she loves getting her nails done, it must take a lot of patience to cooperate with you.”

He gave a dry laugh, and when he heard her let out a small “Ah,” he asked, “Did you see a design you like?” He was secretly relieved to finally have a chance to change the subject.

She pointed to one of the photos. “This rabbit is very cute… but pink, it’s a little too cute.”

“If you want to keep the black base, I can also change the color for you. The catalog is just for reference.”

“That’s great. I like black. But I also quite like that… piano-like feel.” She flipped back. “Most of the people who come here for their nails are young women, right?”

“You can mix and match. A piano pattern with a rabbit is also a good idea.” He moved closer and happened to notice her pinky ring. “Yes, mostly young people, university students, and some office workers.”

“Oh, I can mix and match…” She smiled as if she were tempted. “I think I’ve seen some of the women’s hands more than once.”

“Yes, some are regulars. But it’s rare to see someone with your status… which university do you teach at?”

“T University. Are you interested in auditing, Penny?”

“Haha, sure. What kind of class is it?”

“Cognitive neuroscience.” She paused for half a second and met his gaze. “It’s the study of the brain.”

He scratched his head with a smile. “It sounds very impressive.”

“I just know a little more about the human brain than people who haven’t studied it.” She returned to the catalog. “I’ve decided. I’ll do a combination of the music background and the rabbit.”

“Okay. I’ll get ready. Please wait a moment.”

While Qian Hanliang was in the back, Tang Yingli quickly opened her phone’s camera and took pictures of the catalog.

The catalog had more than a dozen pages, and it would take too long to take pictures of each one carefully, so she had to be selective, at least starting with the hands that were different…

Suddenly, he peeked his head out again. “What color do you want for the rabbit?”

She immediately hid her phone and pretended to hesitate. “Um… bright orange?”

“Good choice.” He smiled and disappeared into the back again.

She let out a breath and took the opportunity to continue taking pictures.

**

Taking a sip of his canned coffee, Zhou Jinglin slowly walked back to her seat.

After checking the phone number this morning, it was confirmed that Qian Daxin had been one of the clients who had requested Cui Jiajia, a total of four times. Since the staff at Sakurada had confirmed that they had seen Cui Jiajia with Qian Daxin more than once, and that Qian Daxin had paid for her meals, the possibility of them having a private transaction was extremely high.

But what did that mean? A motive?

Most importantly, why was the killer a woman?

But in this low-pressure atmosphere of being unable to confirm the killer’s identity, at least there was some good news for her—the chief had approved her leave. So she could go and pick up Li Yuejiao tomorrow afternoon without any worries.

“Ah, I can’t find anything.”

Cai Yuwei covered his face and let out a low cry. Jinglin saw that his monitor was displaying a night-time recording of an intersection. “What are you looking at?”

He yawned. “The intersection cameras around the first crime scene.”

“Looking for that suspicious woman?” He nodded honestly. After going to Cui Jiajia’s residence to search yesterday, he had finally, willingly, gone home to rest. “Find anything?”

“No.” Cai Yuwei shook his head with a bitter smile. “I’m so scared of hearing that phrase now.”

“Oh, that’s just how the teacher is.” She chuckled and patted his shoulder encouragingly. “And you did a great job yesterday. You quickly identified the restaurant the victim had been to before she died, and it matched what was in her stomach.” She had already learned the general contents of the autopsy report from Tang Yingli afterward.

“Jinglin, I’m really impressed with you.”

“Hm, what do you mean?”

“You and the teacher can both approach a corpse without any problem, not to mention she’s even good at on-site investigation.”

She shrugged. “What’s so special about that? What detective doesn’t touch a corpse?”

“To you… it’s probably nothing.” he muttered to himself.

“What’s that?”

“No, it’s nothing.” He stretched and refocused on the screen.

The door to the station was pushed open. Jinglin was drinking her coffee, and when she looked up, she saw that Tang Yingli was back.

“Teacher?”

Tang Yingli walked straight between the two of them. “Here, a new clue.” A mini USB drive was pushed onto the desk.

Cai Yuwei was the first to reach for it. “I’ll take a look.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“What’s that? And your nails…” Jinglin pointed to her hand.

“I just got them done. Pretty, right?” She winked, showing off her nail art. “I have to say, that guy is really skilled. Even though he’s a man. No wonder so many women are willing to let him do their skincare and makeup.”

“Don’t tell me that’s the only thing you got out of a whole morning.”

“O-f c-o-u-r-s-e n-o-t.” She snapped her fingers. “I secretly took pictures of the nail art catalog in his shop. Maybe we can find a connection between the victim and the killer through it. And… I strongly suspect he lied to me.”

Tang Yingli rested her chin on her hand, the rabbit on her index finger jumping on her pink lips. “Although it was a bit of a guess at first, I paid special attention to his hands when he was doing my nails, and it confirmed that most of the displays in the catalog were him using himself as a test subject, that is, he made the nail tips himself and then used them as a display. Tsk, he’s so skilled.”

Cai Yuwei, who had opened the video, pressed pause. “Is this his hand?”

“Yes, it is.”

Jinglin leaned in. The fingers in the photo were long and slender, and the skin was also quite fair. If Tang Yingli hadn’t confirmed it, it would have been difficult to tell if it was a man’s or a woman’s hand just by looking at the knuckles and the back of the hand.

“Also, I found a design similar to the victim’s… this one.”

This person’s fingers were shorter and a little chubbier, a woman’s hand. “A crown, a deer…” Jinglin couldn’t help but rub her eyes. These were all very common patterns.

“You only know after you’ve actually done it. I didn’t realize nail art was so sophisticated now. Not only are the patterns three-dimensional, but there are also special machines that can dry them quickly…” Tang Yingli admired her nails with a smile. “By the way, the nail artist is a handsome guy.”

“You look like you’re completely smitten with him.” Jinglin’s smile was a little complicated. “What did you mean when you said you strongly suspect he lied?”

She smiled. “Exactly what I said…”

“Little Zhou.”

Lu Tingfeng waved at Jinglin. “That Qian Daxin is at work today. Let’s go and question him.”

“Oh.” She grabbed a notebook and stuffed it into her jacket. “I’ll go with Senior Big Head. Ah Wei, you look at this first. As for the teacher…”

“I have to go too.” Tang Yingli crossed her arms. “I have a class this afternoon.”

“Then we’ll be in touch by message.” She quickly said and followed Lu Tingfeng.

“It’s about time.” Tang Yingli pushed up her glasses. “I’m going to class. You study this carefully.” She patted the back of his chair, which made him react as if he had been electrocuted. “Don’t be nervous, take your time.”

“O-Okay.”

Looking at the back of the person who was leaving with composure, Cai Yuwei rubbed his temples. “The teacher must have never had a boyfriend,” he said with certainty but awe, and continued to play the catalog video.

The video was only about twenty seconds long. It was clear that there was a lot that hadn’t been filmed, probably due to time constraints. He pressed replay and started to take screenshots.

But when he got to a certain catalog, the base color of the nails unexpectedly caught his eye.

“Turquoise…” he paused, “where have I seen that before?”

Cui Jiajia’s nail base color was pink, and the killer’s, because of the surveillance camera, looked light red, but it should have been fuchsia.

Turquoise… could it be?

He had a flash of inspiration and immediately pulled up the crime scene photos of the first case.

The light under the elevated highway was dim, so with the use of a flash, the photos were a little overexposed. He widened his eyes, and in a close-up shot, he clearly saw the base color of her nails.

“This… this is it.”

The mole on her knuckle was exactly the same… which meant it was the same person.

The first victim had also gone to this studio for her nails.

It wasn’t a coincidence… it definitely wasn’t. The connection between the two had increased. “Could they have been customers of the same shop?” Cai Yuwei immediately went to compare it with the suspected female killer.

But she didn’t have a complete close-up like the two victims, which made the comparison much more difficult. The clearest shot was when she was handing over the money at the counter when she checked in.

Rabbits, hearts… these were all common elements in nail art and could not be used as evidence.

Cai Yuwei switched to the footage from the elevator. The time she left the motel was 7:19…

Wait, 7:19?

They had received the report around 7:10. She had checked in at 3:26, so her normal check-out time was 6:26… so she had extended her stay?

After committing the crime, she should have left the scene as soon as possible. Why did she stay for an extra hour?

And it was she who had gone back to “her own room” for an extra hour.

He gritted his teeth and replayed the footage of her entering the elevator. The moment she entered, she had brushed her hair back, then had stood in front of the control panel until she got out. The counter camera had captured her leaving with a calm… even confident expression.

However, because she had stayed for an extra hour, she had paid the extra fee. Cai Yuwei specifically froze the frame where she was handing over the money and was startled to find that her hand…

Was hidden in her coat.

This could be a clue. He shot up and shouted at Chen Huomu, who had just come out of the archives, “Senior Ah Mu.”

He was taken aback. “Ah Wei, why are you shouting so loudly?”

“The room the victim and the suspected killer stayed in is still sealed, right?”

Chen Huomu paused and nodded. “Yes. They just called again to ask when the seal can be removed…”

“I’m going to the scene to take a look.” He knocked and burst into the chief’s office. “Chief, can I borrow a service vehicle?”