Chapter 47: Do You Believe in Locked-Room Murders?

Thinking back to Jiang Jiwen’s expression when he saw Yu Bai that night, his inexplicable confession, and their bizarre interrogation methods, the questions swirling in Zhou Hui’s mind suddenly connected into a clear thread. The next moment, her face chilled as she dialed Yu Bai’s number.

As expected, no one picked up.

“Deputy Han, why are you snapping at people like a rabid dog? How can you just blurt out something like that?”

Zhou Hui and Han Wei both froze in surprise.

“Little Princess?” Han Wei recovered first, sidling up to her with an innocent look. “Wasn’t it you who said you saw Yu Bai at the back door of the Alice Club? You suspect her too, don’t you?”

“I…” Zhao Min started to respond, but then she spotted Zhou Hui standing right behind Han Wei. She clenched her jaw in annoyance and changed tack. “Who said I suspect her? I only said I saw her—showing up at the Alice Club.”

Han Wei: “…”

Zhou Hui: “…”

Zhou Hui now understood the source of Zhao Min’s hostility toward her, but it still struck her as utterly baffling in the moment.

Composing herself, she asked, “What’s the situation in the control room?”

Zhao Min fidgeted awkwardly for half a minute before grumbling, “Nobody came in the whole night.” She paused, then added, “Not a single person even got close—no shadows, nothing.”

“Nobody came in…” Zhou Hui slipped on her gloves and scanned the room. Tilting her head, she asked, “What was the scene like when the body was first discovered? Were the windows all locked tight like this?”

Han Wei replied, “Exactly like now—doors and windows sealed shut, no signs of forced entry. And with Captain Xu and me watching the door, no way anyone slipped past us.”

Zhou Hui walked to the window and tested the handle. Everything matched Han Wei’s description: the doors and windows were intact, without a trace of tampering.

“But Jiang Jiwen is definitely dead.”

She leaned out the window for a look. There were no shoe prints on the sill, and Jiang Jiwen’s ward was on the fifth floor. For security, not even a tree stood nearby. She closed the window and turned back to Han Wei and Zhao Min.

“Do you believe in so-called locked-room murders?”

Han Wei shook his head. “I’m no Conan—where am I supposed to run into that many impossible crimes? In all my years on the force, this is the first time I’ve dealt with something this freaky. It’s like a damn ghost story!”

“And you?” Zhou Hui shifted her gaze to Zhao Min.

“I don’t believe it either.” Zhao Min lifted her chin defiantly.

Zhou Hui smiled, peeled off her gloves, and snapped her fingers at them. “Come on, let’s head back to the control room and figure out who that ghost really is.”

In the control room.

“Pull up the footage from 3:30 to 4:30 a.m. on the fifth-floor hallway.”

They watched it at double speed. Sure enough, no one approached the ward during that window.

Han Wei had a nagging feeling that something was off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

They replayed the footage, and at 3:52 a.m., Zhou Hui spotted a shadow flicker across the bottom right corner of the screen.

“Rewind it.” She pointed at the monitor. “Right there—a figure at the stairwell. Check the other floors and the hospital entrance cams. Focus on anyone who shows up within half an hour before or after 3:52.”

Han Wei perked up. “Not many people in or out at that hour, aside from the ER. Mostly just hospital staff—nurses and doctors.”

Their persistence paid off. They soon zeroed in on a woman in nurse’s scrubs in the first-floor lobby footage. She moved furtively, her face obscured by a mask.

“We’re in luck,” Zhou Hui said, looking up from the screen.

Han Wei nodded. “Get someone to ID her—which department is she from?”

“No need. Pull the entrance cams—she’s not from this hospital. Her uniform doesn’t fit right… Hold on, that’s not our hospital’s scrubs. Zoom in on the logo.”

“XX Medical College Affiliated Hospital?!”

All three of them froze. Han Wei blurted, “Tong Jinhua’s mom is a patient there! Holy shit! You don’t think she’s here silencing witnesses for Yan Mingchang, do you? That nurse’s build looks a lot like hers.”

The police had tailed Tong Jinhua nonstop during the Yan Mingchang investigation.

Zhou Hui stood. “Don’t jump to conclusions. Copy the footage and take it back to the bureau. Have the Traffic Police Brigade pull the roadside cams—we’ll ID her for sure before we say anything.”

“Is it really Tong Jinhua?!” Han Wei leaped from his chair in the City Bureau’s control room, slamming the table. It startled a group of officers nearby, who were digging into their boxed lunches.

Sun Ye watched his half-eaten chicken leg tumble to the floor. He stared for half a second before howling, “Damn it, Deputy Han! You owe me a chicken leg! Compensate my chicken leg!”

“Brat, go stand over there. Once we crack the case, I’ll make him buy you a dozen to make up for it. Now—” Captain Zhou grabbed Sun Ye by the collar as if he were a chick and hauled him aside. She turned to assign tasks: “Investigate Tong Jinhua. Check her recent movements, who she’s been in contact with, and whether she still has any ties to Yan Mingchang.”

Taking advantage of the brief lull, she stepped into the corridor and dialed Yu Bai’s number again. The familiar melody of 《Für Elise》 played for more than forty seconds before switching to the hollow, desolate “beep… beep…” tone.

Still no answer. Captain Zhou gazed at the overcast sky outside the window, a flicker of panic stirring in her heart.

The clouds on the horizon pressed lower and lower, as if foretelling ill omens. Half an hour later.

“Captain Zhou, Tong Jinhua’s account suddenly received three hundred thousand from an overseas source. We can’t trace the account’s origin!”

A few minutes later, another voice rang out.

“Tong Jinhua went to the Red Club the night before last?! She stayed inside for over an hour. This is footage from the surveillance cameras!”

What?!

The words hit like a thunderbolt, exploding in Captain Zhou’s mind.

In her ears echoed Han Wei’s words from an hour earlier.

…

“Yu Bai was my teacher… Back in class at the Provincial Police University, she lectured on the exact same method of operation…”

“…Jiang Jiwen is as good as dead… Because that’s the simplest way to silence someone that she described herself…”

…

Boom—

A torrential downpour crashed down.

At the same time, at the Red Club.

Business hours were still several hours away, yet a crowd had gathered at the entrance, naturally divided into two camps. On one side stood the club’s hired bodyguards; on the other, a dozen or so street punks led by a jacket-clad fool decked out in gold chains.

The fool brandished an iron bar, already hurling curses across the curtain of rain.

“Get your boss out here! Today, I’m making that stinking bitch inside kneel and apologize to your grandpa!”

“Apologize my ass—get the hell out of here! You dare cause trouble at Red? Haven’t you heard whose turf this is? Scram!”

The fool was, after all, just a fool. He bellowed at the top of his lungs: “Awooo—! I wouldn’t come if it wasn’t that woman’s place! Yu Bai, get out here!”

The bodyguards weren’t pushovers. One flew into a rage and shot back:

“Fuck your mother, you think you’re hot shit? Coming here to make a scene—today I won’t beat you till you’re crawling on the ground looking for your teeth, or I’m your grandson! Get him!”

Yu Bai sat on the sofa by the top-floor window, her face as calm as a stagnant pool.

If one looked closely, they could see her eyelashes trembling ever so slightly.

Outside, the rain poured down as if the sky had collapsed, a dense curtain that obscured everything in a hazy veil. She heard only the relentless “splash” of water against the glass.

Bang—

The office door burst open, and a bodyguard rushed in, flustered and out of breath.

“Madam…”

Yu Bai frowned without turning around. “Get out.”

“But Madam, downstairs…”

“I said, get out.”

“…A fight’s broken out downstairs.” The bodyguard looked on the verge of tears but forced out the rest.

Yu Bai finally turned her head. Her eyes, tinged with irritation, locked onto him. He shuddered inexplicably, then noticed the room thick with cigarette smoke that stung the eyes. Yu Bai held a cigarette between her fingers. She rubbed her temple and asked with strained patience, “What’s going on?”

The bodyguard, who had been about to retreat, stopped in his tracks. His sagging features struggled to recompose themselves but remained distorted as he stammered out a brief report of the situation below.

Yu Bai pinched the bridge of her nose hard and sighed helplessly. “I’ll go down in a bit.”

Her head throbbed fiercely, overwhelmed by cascading reactions. She lit another cigarette with trembling fingers and took a drag, her chaotic thoughts clearing for a fleeting moment.

Struggling to her feet, she hadn’t steadied herself when her mind crumbled again. She rushed into the bathroom adjoining the office and retched for ten full minutes. When nothing more came up, she dragged herself to the sink and stared at the woman in the mirror—dark circles under her eyes, face deathly pale. A surge of disgust welled up in Yu Bai, and she regarded her reflection coldly.

How long had it been since she’d had such a severe reaction?

Bracing herself on the sink, she splashed cold water on her face and recalled the early hours of the morning, around three-thirty.

…

That was right after her conversation with Captain Zhou. Lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, Zhou’s lingering voice seemed not yet faded from her ears. The intense nausea had roared back just as it did now. She had bolted to the bathroom and emptied her stomach completely before it finally subsided.

She simply lacked the courage to face Zhou Hui’s latest onslaught of ferocious “interrogation.”

So she drove off instead, dialing David on the way. Noisy voices erupted from the other end almost immediately, drowned out by the deafening thump of bar music. A clear male voice cut through the din: “Sister Yu, you’re the only one missing. If you don’t show up soon, those guys won’t even be able to stand…”

“It’s not like it’s your fault for stocking such knockout beauties. The bros can barely walk straight now.” Someone else grabbed the phone with a laugh.

“…won’t be able to stand up to greet you properly,” David finished, finally shoving his way out of the chaotic crowd. He slumped against the booth door. “Sister Yu, want me to send over a couple of hunks? Got some fresh faces the last couple days—real lookers.”

“No…” Yu Bai’s voice faltered for a moment. Memories of Zhou Hui’s earlier antics flashed through her mind, and she pivoted on the spot. “Actually, yeah! Round up a few more. If the service isn’t top-notch, it’s on you.”

With that, she slid into her SUV and tore off down Pingling City’s deserted predawn streets. She didn’t stumble out of the bar until the sun was threatening to rise.

Along the way, she’d called in a few of Uncle Jiu’s trusted informants and pieced together the intel she’d been after. Good news all around.

By the time she staggered out of the bar, she was thoroughly sloshed. She fumbled for her phone to text Zhou Hui, but her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Eventually, she lost track of the damn thing altogether—tossed into some forgotten corner of her bag, no doubt. Whatever, she told herself. I can always explain later.

…

She shook off the haze, mustered her resolve, and turned toward the door. “Come on. Let’s head downstairs and say hello to our friends.”

Out in front of the club, two gangs were locked in a vicious brawl, hurling curses as they swung iron bars at each other’s vital spots. No clear victor had emerged yet.

Then, through the misty downpour, a flurry of red-and-blue police lights pierced the gloom, slashing across the rain-soaked night.

“Fuck! Pigs? …Who the hell called the cops again? They must be addicted to snitching…”

The twenty-odd young thugs scattered like roaches.

“Police! Drop everything in your hands, clasp them behind your heads, and squat on the ground! Now!”

Zhou Hui leaped from the car and swiftly took control of the scene.

Moments earlier, back at the office, she’d fielded a frantic emergency call: a massive armed melee at the Red Club with unknown casualties. No time for second thoughts—she mobilized the team on the spot. By the time they arrived, the fight was in full swing.

Han Wei strode out of the squad car and got a faceful of icy rain. He wiped it away with a grimace. “Goddamn! These idiots must be out of their minds. Armed brawling in a monsoon like this? They’re begging to die!”

The fool who’d just been dubbed suicidal didn’t squat as ordered. Instead, he popped up and started yelling. “Begging for what? Come on, officers—have a heart. Look at me, I’m broke as shit. Ain’t got the energy to off myself. This is self-defense!”

“Squat down! Squat! Who said you could stand?”

It was a first for the cops—such a novel excuse for their antics—and more than a few cracked wry smiles.

Han Wei planted himself in front of the guy, hands on hips. “Oh yeah? You know what self-defense is? So what—you’re telling me you weren’t here to rumble, blocking their door with an iron bar in a raging storm? Just out here cheering them on?”

“…Nah.” The punk knew he was caught red-handed. His bravado crumbled in an instant, and he dropped into a textbook squat-hug-head position, his assortment of cheap jewelry clinking like wind chimes. “…Fine, fine. You big shots call the shots. Whatever you say goes…”

Fuck—

The officers bit back a collective curse.

The punk had barely shut up when a voice drifted in from the distance, growing louder.

“Officer Zhou, pulling out all the stops just to keep the peace for little old me?”

The tone was pure mockery. Zhou Hui’s brow furrowed as she whipped around. She didn’t need to guess who it was.

Her eyes locked onto Yu Bai, who stood under an umbrella a short distance away. In three quick strides, Zhou Hui closed the gap, grabbed her by the collar, and bundled her into the car. Click—the cuffs snapped shut.

The squad car barreled through the torrent, wipers slapping rhythmically across the windshield. A thick fog crept over the windows, heavy as swamp gas, pressing down like a suffocating weight.

All that broke the tension from the backseat was the jangle of metal and the occasional furious outburst.

Dazed and jostled, Yu Bai sucked in a sharp breath through gritted teeth. “Zhou Hui—you fucking psycho! Let me go… I want out!”

Zhou Hui’s face was a mask of ice as she shot back a warning. “Sit tight and save your energy. Might wanna use it to figure out how you’re gonna answer my questions in the interrogation room. This time, I want to see you try and wriggle free.”

Zhou Hui glanced in the rearview mirror at that impossibly alluring face—beautiful in a way that stole the breath. Suddenly, something lodged in her throat like a fishbone.

Fleeting, surreal images flickered through her mind: the smile that never quite faded from Yu Bai’s lips, the hazy allure in her eyes, the cool tendrils of cigarette smoke, her drunken murmurs, those unnamed sparks of emotion in the hospital room that had nearly burst into flame… and last night. That body, carrying the faint scent of woody perfume.

The fingers gripping the steering wheel trembled uncontrollably. She bit down on the tip of her tongue until a faint metallic sweetness filled her mouth, barely managing to steady her heartbeat for a fleeting moment.

Yu Bai, what on earth are you doing?