Chapter 20: Bet

Translator: Azza

Editor: Conspiracing

Looking at the scene of the murder, the police officers expressed their empathetic feelings, “It's too sad, the whole family is...”, “Long’An City has not had a family massacre tragedy for ten years!”, “What kind of animal would do such a monstrous act?”

This was undoubtedly a big case, the biggest case of this year. It was also the biggest case that Lin Qiupu has handled since he put on his police uniform. Lin Qiupu told them to take evidence carefully and not to miss any potential traces of the murderer. He himself walked back and forth through the scene.

Lin Qiupu picked up the TV remote control on the table and opened it. This house had a TV box installed. It showed that the last time it was used was last night at around 11:00pm. He called a policeman and instructed, “Go to the property manager and see if anyone suspicious entered after 11 o'clock last night.”

The body was in front of the bathroom, he came to the same conclusion as Lin Dongxue that the male owner was suddenly killed by the murderer hiding in the bathroom.

Lin Qiupu touched his chin and thought. If there were people watching TV at 11 o'clock, the murderer would have snuck in after this. At that time, the whole family slept, and the murderer was hiding in the bathroom. Then the male owner came back from work and was killed by the murderer. Then the murderer killed the old person in the second bedroom. The hostess must have heard the movement and was killed when she came out to see.

But why didn't he kill the child? Was the murderer soft?

What was the motive of murder? Revenge? Temporary impulsiveness?

At this time, a policeman came in and reported, “Captain Lin, we verified the information of this family from the neighbours. The male owner’s surname is Kong, called Kong Wende, who is a staff member of an insurance company; the female owner is surnamed Li. Li Yu was a full-time housewife. The two have a boy. Kong Wende is an immigrant and Li Yu is a local. When the two married, the woman’s family sold the house for the down payment. Kong Wende’s parents-in-law moved to live together with them. Around March of this year, Kong Wende’s father-in-law passed away due to stomach cancer. The one who died in this incident is his mother-in-law.”

“A very ordinary family, would they have bad blood with anyone? You go and investigate!” Lin Qiupu ordered.

The policeman had just left when another policeman came in and reported, “Captain Lin, around 11:30 last night, the surveillance photographed the male owner and a stranger coming in; around 12 o'clock, the person was photographed again. It looked like the same person judging by the height. I’ve already made a copy of the CCTV footage.”

“Did it capture his face?” Lin Qiupu asked eagerly.

The policeman shook his head. “The man seems to know the location of the surveillance cameras, he deliberately avoided showing the face, he wrapped himself in a scarf and was wearing a black sweater when he left.”

“Familiar with the location of the surveillance?” Lin Qiupu suddenly went into the bedroom and opened the closet. The family’s clothes were neatly placed, piece by piece. From the row of men’s clothing, there was an empty hanger.

Lin Qiupu asked, “The colour of the scarf?”

“White knit.”

Lin Qiupu took off the hanger and looked at it in front of him. There was some white strands of fabric fibers on it. He handed the hanger to the forensics team for evidence. He reasoned, “The suspect and the deceased entered the community together. The clothes they wore were taken from home. He is familiar with the community and this house; the description is that of an acquaintance!”

The police who went out to inquire added, “Oh yes, the property management also reflected that the community has access codes in place so that outsiders can’t get in.”

Lin Qiupu nodded. Acquaintances committed crimes, as long as they investigated the interpersonal relationships of the deceased, this case has hope to be solved. Police are most afraid of indiscriminate serial killings.

Lin Qiupu’s mood suddenly became lighter. He asked, “Is the driver still standing outside the door?”

“I saw him chatting with the neighbors when I came up the stairs.” The subordinate replied.

“Call him in!”

After a while, Lin Dongxue and Chen Shi came in together. Looking at his beautiful younger sister and the unruly middle-aged uncle, Lin Qiupu had fire welling up in his heart. He wanted to give him a hard time. Doesn't this guy claim to be able to solve cases? I’ll let him know the difference between amateurs and professionals.

“Did you run into a problem?” Chen Shi actually asked casually.

“Hmph!” A cold smile formed on Lin Qiupu’s mouth. Who does this guy think he is? Sherlock Holmes? I think he thinks too highly of himself. He remarked, “It seems that Mr. Chen is quite confident in his own ability to solve crimes!”

“I just love to watch some criminal investigations and I read detective novels when I have nothing to do. Right, do you like Agatha Christie?”

“Don't talk to me about this nonsense! Chen Shi, I’m telling you, don’t be so cocky here!”

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Cocky?” Chen Shi shrugged. “Captain Lin, I believe I haven’t said anything. Do you know how to read people’s hearts?”

“Amateurs like you, thinking you’re all that just because you’re little smart and have a bit of luck. Do you think that you are better than the police? I have seen many people like you. Ever since I became a captain, I have seen countless ‘civil masters’ like yourself. The result is when you head into battle, it makes everyone laugh so hard their teeth would fall off!”

“Civil masters also have different levels, just like there are police who are smart and stupid.” Chen Shi smiled. Upon hearing this offensive sentence, Lin Dongxue pinched his sleeve to stop him.

This action did not escape Lin Qiupu's eyes. He thought, is the relationship between the two so good? His heart raged with anger. If I don’t kick this driver off his high horse, then I won't be surnamed Lin!

“You seem like you won’t shed tears until you see your coffin. You said that you know how to solve cases? Then I will give you this opportunity. Haven’t you already seen the crime scene? Come over and analyze the case then. I also want to see what you’re made of. However, I’m warning you; if what you say is unreasonable, I hope that you will disappear before my eyes from now on, and don’t even think of contacting Lin Dongxue again.”

Lin Dongxue was anxious and challenged, “Captain Lin, who I hang out with is my personal business, why are you intervening? How old do you think I am? Yet you still treat me as someone who can’t think for myself.”

Lin Qiupu rationalized in a serious manner. “In work, I am your superior. You brought an amateur to run around the scene of crime. This is a serious violation of protocol. How can I not interfere? In private...” In the face of his subordinates, Lin Qiupu generally avoided admitting their brother-sister relationship, so he glazed over it. “In private, it is also reasonable for me to manage your affairs.”

“Not reasonable!” Lin Dongxue grimaced.

“Hey, my sister...” Lin Qiupu lost his cool and then quickly recovered, immediately resuming the sternness of a captain. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Looking at this scene, Chen Shi smiled. Lin Qiupu said uncomfortably, “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing, I thought the Captain Lin was planning to test me? It turned out to be this. Okay, I promise!”

“No backing out!”

“But since you want to set conditions, so do I.”

“Tell me then.”

“If my reasoning is reasonable, you need to allow me to participate in this case, share all the information and progress with me, and provide police support when necessary. Of course, I am not going to go over the line with that and bring you trouble. I will do my best to help solve the case.”

“Impossible!” Lin Qiupu almost screamed. “You are just a driver. In what world would you be able to participate in the case? This is against the police code!”

“The codes are created by humans, and don’t police hire consultants?”

“Consultant? You really think that thousands of police officers in Long’An can't break the case themselves? Besides, you don't even have relevant ID. What ID would you be able to use to investigate?”

Chen Shi glanced at Lin Dongxue and smiled, “I don't need a document, as long as I’m her partner.”