Chapter 50: The Body That Vanished in a Bloody Foam – 16
Tang Yingli, with a different style, was still in the same color scheme. Her fair, baby-like face and rose-colored lips were a striking contrast to her otherwise dark attire.
“Teacher, this is his testimony from yesterday.” Fang Zijun handed her the record from yesterday. “He’s in the interrogation room. Ah Mu is watching him.”
“Thank you.” She took it and glanced at it. “Is the DNA test out yet?” She had re-examined the crime scene photos this morning and had some preliminary results. Now all that was left was the blood test.
“Ah Qian said it will be out in a bit.”
“Okay, I’ll go talk to him.” Exchanging a look with Cai Yuwei, who was not far away, Tang Yingli turned the doorknob to the interrogation room.
Qian Hanliang was sitting with his head down like a statue, not even looking up when he heard the door open. His wig had been removed, but he was still wearing the same clothes as when he had committed the crime, a black and white houndstooth top with some bloodstains, and a camel-colored long skirt that was a little old-fashioned.
She sat down across from him and nodded to Chen Huomu. Chen Huomu quietly left, leaving the two of them alone.
“Penny.”
He looked up, his expression surprised and unfamiliar. “You…”
“Do you remember me? Miss Tang, the university lecturer who made an appointment for this morning. Ah, I’ve already removed it, I’m sorry.” She showed her clean, black nails. “Just after I found out you were the killer of two people.”
“It’s three now,” he said, his tone proud.
“Yes, at least that’s what you say.” She held up the interrogation record from last night. “How did you find the third victim’s residence?”
“I got a call. Someone told me.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It sounded like a man, his voice was unnaturally low. Who cares? All I needed to do was find her.”
“Your outfit looks like you’re imitating someone.” His expression changed. Tang Yingli had guessed right. “Is it your mother, Mrs. Du Xiumei?”
He turned his head slightly. “No, it’s a personal hobby.”
“But your dad provided this photo.” She handed him a photo of him and his mother. “You were planning to dress as your mother and, with your own hands, get revenge on the person who destroyed your family, right?”
He didn’t speak, just stared at her fiercely. If his hands and feet weren’t cuffed, he might have already rushed over and strangled her.
“Next, the M.O. How did you kill Lisa?”
“I took out a knife and stabbed her in the stomach, then cut downwards, just like the two before. My dad taught me that. He said that’s how he kills fish.”
“You did that as soon as you entered?”
He shook his head. “That woman was surprisingly resistant. My first cut only grazed her hand. I cut her a few more times as she ran inside…” The corners of his lips lifted, and he let out a small laugh. “She even begged for mercy. But in the end, I still chased her into the room and killed her, on the bed. I wonder how many men she slept with there. The thought of it is disgusting.”
She tightened her grip on the file. “Are you saying you struggled with her during the murder?”
“I guess so. I knocked over a few pieces of furniture.”
“Specifically how many, do you remember?”
“Who would remember that? As long as the goal was achieved.”
“Did you have an accomplice?”
His jaw tightened, and he shook his head. “There’s no point in doing something like this if you don’t do it yourself.”
Tang Yingli was reviewing the file when he suddenly spoke. “Did you go to my shop for your nails because you suspected I was the killer?”
“Just to find clues.” After a brief answer, she looked up. “The body is missing. Did you do that too?”
He frowned. This was new information to him. “Missing? What do you mean…”
She held up a photo of the blood-soaked but empty mattress. “This is what the scene looked like when we arrived. Lisa was gone. Someone had clearly moved the body.”
“No, I don’t know. By the way,” he gave a strange smile, “I heard she was going to meet her daughter in the afternoon. Didn’t her daughter move her mother?”
“I’m afraid not. Her daughter wouldn’t do something like that.” She stood up, looking down at Qian Hanliang. “I’ll ask you one more time—did you really kill Lisa?”
“Of course I did…”
“Then that’s very strange. Someone clearly stated that after you left, another person entered this house and later moved the body… but you said you had no accomplice?” She leaned on the table. “Penny, you’re hiding something.”
“I’ve already told you everything I can.”
“Then you’re lying.” She pursed her lips. “Whether intentionally or not, your prefrontal cortex has fabricated a lie that does not conform to the facts.”
“What prefrontal… I don’t understand, and I don’t want to know.” He threw up his hands and leaned back. “I’m done talking.”
“Really? But I still have questions for you.” She pushed up her glasses. “After you killed these people…
“Did your mother speak to you?”
Qian Hanliang’s eyes widened.
“When you came home from school that day and saw your mother hanging, it took you a long time to realize that dead people don’t talk anymore, right? You said you talked to your dead mother for a long, long time, but she never answered.” She took out a slightly old record. “This is what you told the police who took your statement at the time. For an eleven-year-old boy, to immediately understand the concept of ‘death’ is a bit too cruel.”
“How did you get…”
“After that, you gradually developed a fetish for cross-dressing, which also became the reason your classmates ostracized you. When you dressed as a woman and talked to yourself in the mirror, it was as if your mother was talking to you, right?
“Even if you blame all the fault on those hostesses, your reason should know that the real cause was your father. But because he holds a place in your memory, you couldn’t blame your father, so you turned your anger on those innocent women.” Her expression was filled with compassion.
“Don’t look at me like that…”
“The stabbing did not go as smoothly as you said. You failed, didn’t you? You were stopped by the person who arrived later, and under pressure, you fled, and only after you were unfortunately caught did you deceive yourself with this lie…”
“I said don’t look at me like that.” He kicked the table and shouted. “I killed her! Including the two women before…”
“Compared to the meticulousness of the first two crimes, you were full of flaws this time.” She looked directly at his frantic eyes, fearless.
“I’ll ask you one more time. Did your mother speak to you? After you so self-righteously avenged her? After you killed those women who were also struggling in their fate.”
Qian Hanliang was frozen, as if a pause button had been pressed.
“You’ve ruined your own life,” Tang Yingli said definitively. “Mrs. Du Xiumei will not be happy.”
For the first time, Qian Hanliang showed a fragile side. He slumped over the table, holding his head and sobbing.
“The brain doesn’t lie.” Her index finger on her glasses, her deduction had once again hit the mark.
But this time, it lacked the usual confident satisfaction.
**
“Ah Liang.”
Qian Daxin rushed over and happened to run into Qian Hanliang, who had just finished his interrogation. Looking at his son, who was dressed as a woman, he was in tears.
He hugged his son tightly. “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault… I’m sorry.”
Tang Yingli saw this and could only sigh helplessly. This moment had come too late.
“Teacher.” Fang Zijun walked out of the room with a smile. “Brilliant. I didn’t expect you to break through his defenses like that…”
“It wasn’t all my doing. You can thank Officer Cai for collecting all this information, especially this record from back then.” It detailed Qian Hanliang’s monologue after his mother’s suicide.
“Ah Wei has done a great job again.” Fang Zijun looked at the father and son, who were crying in each other’s arms. “But by the way, who is the other man the teacher mentioned?”
“It’s based on Officer Zhou’s testimony. The person who drugged her and put her in the closet at the scene.” Tang Yingli rested her chin on her hand. “I wonder if we can use this to confirm the identity of that man.”
“A boyfriend…” Fang Zijun’s expression changed, but she, who was looking down, did not notice. “By the way, the DNA report just came from Ah Qian.”
“Oh? Is it Li Yuejiao’s blood?”
“Yes, Ah Qian said it matches, but there seem to be other suspicious points…” he trailed off.
“I’ll go take a look.”
As soon as she entered the lab, Tao Qianya had already printed out the test results. “You’re here, Teacher. How did the interrogation go?”
“It went smoothly.” Her phone chimed with a new message, but she didn’t move. “Chief Fang said there were suspicious points in the test results?”
“Yes. We collected blood samples from six locations at the scene, and all the blood samples have the same DNA sequence.”
This showed that Qian Hanliang had unilaterally pursued Li Yuejiao. “The blood spatter at the entrance and on the walls all show that the victim resisted fiercely, but besides the entrance and the bed, the rest of the bloodstains are small.”
“Mm.” She waited to hear the key point.
“The only problem, and the biggest problem,” he pointed to the test report, “is the blood absorbed by the bed. We found this in it… the other five locations didn’t have it.”
Tang Yingli took it and looked at it. “Heparin… how could that be?” Heparin is an anticoagulant. Unless the blood was deliberately drawn and preserved in liquid form, it would not be found in fresh blood.
“Someone deliberately staged the scene. Based on the amount absorbed by the mattress, it was at least two liters.” Tao Qianya covered his mouth. “The purpose was to create the illusion of death by excessive blood loss… the question is, who? And why?”
“If Qian Hanliang didn’t kill Li Yuejiao, but wanted the person who arrived later to think she was dead…” Tang Yingli stared at the test report again, but her phone rang again, this time a call. She frowned and looked at it. It was Jinglin.
“Dr. Tao, unless it’s absolutely necessary, please keep the discovery of heparin a secret for now.”
“Uh, a secret, you mean?”
“Don’t tell Officer Zhou. It will only make her, who has just calmed down, even more confused.” Tang Yingli waved her phone. “I have to take this.”
Leaving the lab, she pressed the call button. “Hello?”
‘Teacher.’ Her voice sounded cheerful. ‘Am I bothering you?’
“No.” She pushed up her glasses. “What’s wrong?”
‘It’s past two in the afternoon. I should feed the hamster… how do you usually feed her? Do you put it in your hand for her to eat?’
“Absolutely not. Antisocial Personality’s teeth are very sharp. You’ll get hurt if you get bitten… just sprinkle it directly into the cage.”
‘Oh, how much?’
“A handful is enough, unless you want her to get fatter.”
The sound of something being sprinkled came from the other end. ‘Did you interrogate him, Teacher?’
“Yes, Qian Hanliang insists he did it.” Tang Yingli sat down by the vending machine. “He also said he had no accomplice.”
‘Is he telling the truth?’
“At least on this point, I don’t think he’s lying.”
Jinglin was silent for a moment. ‘I think so too. After all, he’s always worked alone before.’
“Mm.” She crossed her legs. “Officer Zhou.”
‘Yes?’
“Your aunt… during the time she was living with you, did you notice anything different about her?”
‘Different? Besides not feeling well after her surgery… nothing was different.’ Jinglin paused for a moment. ‘What’s wrong? Did you find any suspicious points?’
“Not yet. I just wanted to know your aunt’s previous movements.”
‘If you find anything, you have to tell me.’
“I know.” She smiled. “By the way, remember to let Antisocial Personality out to run around later.”
‘Okay. By the way… you’ve prepared a lot of homework for me. You’re very thoughtful.’
“It’s nothing. I was just afraid you’d have nothing to do.”
‘How could that be?’ Jinglin laughed, then her tone turned emotional. ‘But I’m really moved and happy that you’re so worried about me, Teacher.’
Tang Yingli’s heart warmed. “Mm.”
‘I’m cooking tonight. I’ll be waiting for you.’
“Okay, I’ll look forward to it.” She hung up, and it wasn’t until she looked at the test report again that her smile gradually faded.
“Your aunt… how much has she been hiding from you?” She flicked the report, sighed, and stood up. She had only taken a few steps when her phone rang again.
She pressed the call button. “Brother? Calling me at this time…”
‘Yingli, can you come home tonight?’ Tang Zhichao’s tone was very serious.
“Tonight? But I…”
‘I have something very important to tell you.’
