The Brain Science Case 57

Chapter 57: The Lonely Killer – 6

Lu Tingfeng had gone to visit Ou Anpo’s biological mother—saving them a lot of trouble.

She had moved away from the north after her divorce from Director Ou. When the news of the disappearance broke, Lu Tingfeng had instinctively thought it was related to her, but he had come up empty. Her biological mother had nothing to do with Ou Anpo’s disappearance and had even learned of it from Lu Tingfeng.

“Ou Yaoguang, that guy, he only married his current wife to climb the ladder.”

Having been in the Criminal Investigation Division for over ten years, he was relatively senior among all the personnel. He had been through the period when Director Ou was the head of the division and was well aware of his reputation. His performance in office had been mediocre, but in order to get promoted, he had used backdoors and curried favor with his superiors on numerous occasions. Many police officers had heard of it, but they just couldn’t catch him, so they could only watch as he rose through the ranks.

“I didn’t expect him to be that kind of person.” Not knowing how to react, Cai Yuwei could only agree.

“There are a lot of people like that.” Lu Tingfeng took a sarcastic drag from his cigarette. “How did your investigation go today?”

“It was okay. The brainy teacher seems to have some clues. We’re going to visit her violin teacher tomorrow.”

Lu Tingfeng said with admiration, “As expected of the brainy teacher. Ou Yaoguang came to her for a reason… it seems he wasn’t disappointed.”

“Her investigative skills are unquestionable, but…” Cai Yuwei tightened his fists, “I still think what she said was too much.”

“Who? The brainy teacher?” Seeing Cai Yuwei nod, he asked, “What did she say?”

Cai Yuwei repeated what Tang Yingli had said. “Especially the part about ‘it’s a shame to disappear.’ To be able to say something like that about a missing victim, and we don’t even know if she ran away or was kidnapped… I really can’t believe it.”

Lu Tingfeng was lost in thought. “Could it be because of her own experience? I just don’t think she’s the type to say something like that.”

“I don’t know. She doesn’t have to explain it to me… I just hope Ou Anpo can be found soon.”

“She also reminded you of what happened before, right?” He patted Cai Yuwei forcefully. “I had a feeling when I saw you raise your hand so quickly.”

Lu Tingfeng had participated in the search for his girlfriend when she had gone missing. In the Criminal Investigation Division, Fang Zijun also knew about this.

He had once had a girlfriend who was two years younger than him. At that time, she was beautiful and had a good singing voice. To become a singer, she had used all sorts of methods and had even ignored the objections of others, which had strained her relationships with her family and friends.

She had said that for her dream, she had no regrets.

She had said that when they were together, when he played the piano and she sang, it was the happiest she had ever been.

They had promised to achieve their dreams together and to spend the rest of their lives together.

Those days had been unbelievably happy.

But one day… she had suddenly disappeared.

As if she had vanished into thin air.

The police had later searched her residence and had found a contract from a supposed entertainment company. The fingerprints on the contract had become the key to solving the case.

The culprit had taken advantage of her psychology and had successfully lured her away by pretending to be a manager. She had been kidnapped, tortured, and finally killed and her body dumped.

The vibrant girl had ended up as a cold, lifeless body in a large drainage ditch.

After the search was over, he had specifically found an opportunity to be alone with Mrs. Ou to tell her this story.

Ou Anpo absolutely, absolutely could not end up like her.

“To fulfill my promise to her, I resolutely chose this path. Even though I’m scared to death every time I have to touch a corpse.” He laughed at himself. “If it weren’t for the senior’s encouragement, I really don’t know if I could have made it this far.”

“What do you mean, made it this far? I’m telling you, once you’ve entered the Criminal Investigation Division, you can’t run away. You, you’re staying until I retire, I’m telling you.” He warned fiercely, and after a moment of looking at each other, they both laughed.

He put his arm around Cai Yuwei’s shoulder. “Ou Yaoguang may be a bastard, but his daughter is innocent. Let’s continue the search tomorrow.”

Cai Yuwei forced a smile. “Okay.”

**

Zhou Jinglin never would have dreamed that one day she would be having dinner in a private room at a club.

When she heard she was coming, the madam of “Starry Night” had immediately welcomed her. The two of them met in a private room.

“Is it to your liking? Do you want to order more?” Xu Shanni patted her chest. “Eat as much as you want. It’s on me.”

“This is enough, thank you.” She gave a wry smile. How could she finish all this fried food?

After she had eaten and drunk her fill, she handed the test report to Xu Shanni. Xu Shanni flipped through it over and over, silent for a long time.

“You’re saying Sister Lisa was stabbed at her home in Taoyuan… and her body is missing?” As if she couldn’t accept it, Xu Shanni’s eyes were glazed over, as if the “Li Yuejiao” on the report was just another person with the same name.

“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes.”

“No, Officer Zhou… oh, can I call you Jinglin?” Seeing that Xu Shanni was considered a close friend by Li Yuejiao, she readily agreed. “Sister Lisa is very skilled. I really… I really can’t believe it.”

“My mom…” Now it was Zhou Jinglin’s turn to be surprised. “Is very skilled?”

“Yes. In our line of work, especially as a madam, besides the young men who protect you, you either have this,” she made a “gun” gesture, then a fist, “or you know a little of this. It’s not just about brains and power, but also about strength.”

“Qian Hanliang said he disguised himself as a woman to find my mom’s residence, and as soon as he opened the door, he attacked and stabbed her, and then chased her and stabbed her a few more times. Although she resisted, she was eventually killed in the bedroom.” She showed her the crime scene photos on her phone.

Xu Shanni’s face grew stiffer and stiffer as she looked, and when she saw the large pool of blood on the bed, she finally broke down. “Impossible… impossible.”

“I don’t want to believe it either.”

Xu Shanni cried for a while, and even the club manager came in to check on her. After she had composed herself, she said, “Since the killer has already confessed… what do you want to know from me?”

“Two things. First, who took over my mom’s club? Second, do you know ‘which’ boyfriends my mom had before, Auntie?”

She had to admit that when she said Li Yuejiao had had more than one man before, she did feel a certain level of repulsion.

But since the man she had briefly lived with was not her biological father, that meant Li Yuejiao had had at least two men, right?

“Which ones?” Xu Shanni looked troubled. “Jinglin, your mother’s love life… is very private. Even I couldn’t ask.”

Zhou Jinglin pressed, “So even you don’t know who my father is, Auntie?”

Xu Shanni hesitated, and after a moment, she said cautiously, “Not completely. But as I said, she was very private, and no one dared to ask her to confirm, so everyone just guessed.”

“Then who is it?”

“A… high-ranking official in the political world. He seems to have been transferred later. That’s all I know. The rest is not very certain.”

“Mom was involved with someone in the political world.” Zhou Jinglin was dumbfounded. “Then my surname…”

“It should be from your father. Didn’t she ever mention it to you?”

“Never.”

Xu Shanni touched her forehead. “It must be because your father’s identity is sensitive. It must be.”

“Setting that aside, were there any others?”

“Sister Lisa was very devoted. Setting aside her first few years as a hostess, until she became a madam, she almost never went out with men. And with her status, not many people dared to force her. So for you to say she had other boyfriends…” Xu Shanni was lost in thought again. “I really can’t think of anyone.”

“But there really was. They lived together. Before, when Mom lived on Xining Street, he would come over a lot, and he would even… even…” she trailed off, stammering, “he would bully me when Mom wasn’t looking.”

Xu Shanni was shocked. “Really? What did he look like? About how old? Did he have a gun?”

She recounted from her vivid memory—he had thick eyebrows, and was in his early thirties at the time. “…He was bald, always wore flashy shirts, was very fierce, and often drank. I never saw him with a gun… oh, right. His entire left leg was tattooed.”

“Bald, with a tattoo on his left leg…” Xu Shanni let out a “tsk” and shouted at the door, “Ah Di, go get the client list.”

When the club manager came in, he had an extra photo album. She flipped through the pages so quickly that Zhou Jinglin couldn’t see clearly.

“Is it him?”

Under the dim light, Zhou Jinglin squinted to see clearly. “Yes, it’s him.” She gritted her teeth. “After I saw Mom lying on the bed, he attacked me from behind and drugged me. When I woke up… Mom was gone.”

Xu Shanni pulled out the photo. “Ah Di, go find out who this person is. I want to know his background, preferably his entire family tree.”

“Yes, sir.” The club manager quickly took action.

“There are all sorts of people who come here. I’ll have the hostesses ask around. We’ll have an answer soon.”

“Thank you, Auntie. Then who did Mom hand the club over to?”

“One of her hostesses, with the stage name Dingdang. She’s very pretty, smart, and ambitious.” Xu Shanni lit another cigarette. “I opened my own shop a long time ago, but I still know her, although we don’t get along very well.” She smiled and blew a puff of smoke. “Why do you ask about her?”

Zhou Jinglin mentioned the pieced-together business card. “It must have been a leak. Otherwise, I don’t think Qian Hanliang would have been able to find Mom’s address.” Not many people knew where Li Yuejiao lived.

Xu Shanni was stunned, then smiled with admiration. “That makes sense. Sister has always been careful. It’s not hard to understand why you would suspect Dingdang of leaking it, but…”

“But what?”

“Sister must have trusted her to hand the shop over to her. Would she betray her?”

Zhou Jinglin clasped her hands, her gaze sharp as she stared at a spot in the private room. “We’ll have to investigate to find out.”