By the time He Shu returned to the floor where the interview rooms were located, she saw Tang Jia standing outside the room where Tang Meitong was being held.
The two women gazed at each other through the small window in the door, both tearful.
Standing nearby, Zeng Yongjia spread his hands helplessly and made a series of exaggerated faces when he saw He Shu approach.
Hearing the footsteps, Tang Jia turned around. The moment she saw He Shu, she hurried forward and, in her anxiety, even grabbed the corner of her jacket.
“Officer He? You arrested the wrong person! There’s no way Sister Meitong could kill someone with a single punch! It was me. I killed Nie Han. I did everything. Please let her go first!”
“The police work based on evidence,” He Shu replied. “Right now, many things are still unclear. Since you’ve come to confess, you’ll need to explain everything in full first.” As she spoke, she pointed toward another interview room.
Zeng Yongjia was already standing at its door, making a welcoming gesture.
Tang Jia slowly released her grip on He Shu’s clothing. Then she glanced through the glass at Tang Meitong one last time. As if making up her mind, she drew a deep breath and walked into the neighboring interview room with the air of someone heading to her execution.
He Shu and Zeng Yongjia followed a couple of steps behind. When they entered, they found Tang Jia already seated. Her ten slender fingers were tightly intertwined, and she nervously bit her lower lip.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
After taking his seat, Zeng Yongjia tapped the table with his knuckles. Once the woman across from him looked up, he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
“Alright. Since you’re claiming that Nie Han was the one you killed, tell us exactly how it happened. What time did it occur? Where did it happen? And what method did you use?”
After hearing the questions, Tang Jia first took a deep breath, as if trying to steady her fear.
Only then did she begin speaking, her voice noticeably trembling. “On the night of the 12th, Nie Han unexpectedly didn’t force me to go to the rental apartment to satisfy him. Coincidentally, Sister Meitong called and invited me to the club where she dances, saying I should come relax and take my mind off things.”
“It happened to be my father’s birthday that day, so I refused at first. But Sister Meitong kept persuading me, and eventually I agreed to stop by after celebrating my father’s birthday.”
“I never expected that as soon as I arrived at the club, I would see Sister Meitong being held back as if she had gotten into an argument with someone.”
“When I got closer, I realized it was that animal.”
“He hadn’t just hit Sister Meitong. He was also spewing filth from his mouth, shouting things like, ‘You’re just like your little sister. You’re both whores everybody’s had a turn with. Who are you pretending to be so high and mighty for?’”
Suddenly, deep hatred flashed in her eyes. Her pale face flushed red, and the words seemed forced through tightly clenched teeth.
“After that, I didn’t go over to Sister Meitong. Instead, I hid in an inconspicuous corner.”
“I watched as Nie Han ended up empty-handed that night because of the altercation.”
“Not long afterward, he left the club alone.”
“I followed him.”
“When he saw me, he was furious. Probably because Sister Meitong had hit him, he took all of his anger out on me.”
“As I expected, that bastard took me all the way back to the rental apartment.”
“I flattered him and endured his abuse until he finally lowered his guard.”
“Then, when he wasn’t paying attention… I killed him.”
After listening to her account, He Shu appeared to fall into thought for a brief moment. Then she asked: “When you killed him, what time was it?”
After such a long explanation, Tang Jia appeared emotionally drained. Supporting her forehead with one hand, she answered: “Around midnight, I think. After I killed him, I was terrified. I wasn’t paying much attention to the time. I just ran away.”
“The murder weapon?”
“It was… a wire saw I’d bought and kept in my bag for a long time.” She lowered her gaze. “I’d fantasized countless times about cutting open his throat, watching him bleed, watching him struggle…”
Suddenly, she smiled. A chilling sense of satisfaction spread across her face.
“That day, I finally got to do it.”
“Didn’t Nie Han resist?”
A complicated expression appeared on Tang Jia’s face. “I made him happy…”
“I told him I wanted to try something new. I handcuffed him to the headboard.”
“But you have an alibi,” He Shu pointed out. “Your neighbor testified that around the time of Nie Han’s death that night, you went downstairs and got into an argument with them.”
“I lied.”
“That argument was something I heard people talking about the next morning. When things got desperate, I used it as my alibi.”
“If you don’t believe me, go question that witness again. They’ll definitely remember that they argued with someone, but they never saw the person’s face clearly.”
“I was just taking advantage of a loophole.”
“I never thought the police would actually believe it.”
The explanation seemed plausible enough.
Zeng Yongjia cleared his throat and exchanged a glance with He Shu. After receiving her confirmation, he continued: “Then why did you kill Ying Weiqiu?”
“Did Ying Weiqiu know Nie Han? Was he involved in what happened to you back then?”
“What?” The woman froze. The surprise on her face appeared completely genuine.
“Officer, who are you talking about?”
“Ying… what? I don’t know this person at all.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she sensed that something was wrong. Looking at the meaningful expressions on the faces of the two officers opposite her, she suddenly felt short of breath.
“You don’t know him?” Zeng Yongjia smiled faintly. “According to the medical examiner’s findings, the wound on Ying Weiqiu’s neck is identical to the one on Nie Han’s.”
“It has already been confirmed that both wounds were inflicted by the same weapon.”
“The injuries on their wrists are also virtually identical.”
“And the same physical evidence was found on both victims.”
“Miss Tang…” He leaned forward slightly.
“Would you care to explain why that is?”
“Isn’t that something the police are supposed to investigate?” Tang Jia tried hard to steady herself, but her body language and eyes still revealed her unease. Lifting her chin slightly in an effort to appear stronger, she said: “In any case, I killed Nie Han, and he’s the only person I killed.”
“As for the other one, maybe someone copied my method. You’re asking the wrong person.”
It was as if she was desperately trying to convince herself. Over and over again, she repeated: “I only killed that animal!”
…
The night had grown late, yet the Special Crimes Unit office remained brightly lit.
Everyone was gathered around the conference table. Though their faces showed both seriousness and exhaustion, no one could afford to relax.
Serial killers were the most troublesome kind of case. Every day a case went unsolved increased the chance of another victim. And judging from what they knew so far, this killer’s cooling-off period was terrifyingly short. Another murder could happen at any time.
“After reviewing the statements from both Tang cousins, what does everyone think?” He Shu set down the documents in her hand and looked around the table.
Chang Bin frowned deeply. “Tang Meitong’s account does line up with what Tang Jia said happened on the night of the twelfth.”
“This afternoon, we re-interviewed some of the employees and the club manager. They all admitted that the manager told them not to mention the incident when he arrived at the club that morning. His attitude was basically that less trouble is better.”
“The manager himself admitted it too. He said he didn’t know Nie Han was already dead at the time. He just didn’t want the club suffering any losses. If Nie Han had reported that conflict with Tang Meitong to the police, then with the surveillance footage already overwritten and no clear witnesses or physical evidence, it’d save them a lot of headaches.”
“So does that mean the dancer CC is no longer a murder suspect?” Xie Zihao asked skeptically.
“Of course not.” Zeng Yongjia answered seriously. “There are still major holes in both women’s statements.”
“First, why did Tang Meitong happen to appear on the very nights both victims died and come into contact with both of them?”
“Second, according to Tang Jia’s testimony, she and Nie Han returned to the rental apartment together on the night of the twelfth. But the eyewitness across the hall stated that Nie Han was seen passionately involved with a woman in the corridor that night, and that woman’s clothing doesn’t really match Tang Jia’s description.”
“Third, Tang Jia’s explanation concerning her alibi that night is pretty far-fetched.”
He continued: “And then there’s the fact that she only admits to killing Nie Han while denying any involvement in Ying Weiqiu’s death.”
“But based on both the autopsy findings and the forensic evidence, there’s no doubt the two victims were killed by the same person.”
“Even if Tang Jia shared the details of her murder with someone else, it would be nearly impossible for that second person to recreate an identical crime scene and method.”
“After all this discussion, we’ve ended up right back where we started.” Chang Bin rubbed his forehead. “Why don’t we investigate Tang Jia’s alibi on the night Ying Weiqiu was killed? Maybe that will establish that she couldn’t have done it.”
“That’s what I find so weird!” Xie Zihao sounded increasingly agitated. “If you didn’t kill anyone, why run in here insisting that you did? All she’s doing is making things more confusing and wasting time!”
Then he suddenly paused. A puzzled look appeared on his face.
“Wait a second…”
“If she didn’t do it, how does she know all those details?”
“The weapon, the time, the location.”
“Our investigation isn’t finished yet, and none of that information has been made public.”
“Yet she even knew details as specific as the handcuffs.”
His eyes widened slightly. “Doesn’t that mean she’s not completely innocent?”
“Even if she wasn’t the one who actually committed the murders… she must have been involved somehow, right?!”
The moment he said that, everyone around the table nodded in agreement. Eventually, all eyes turned toward He Shu, who had remained silent throughout the discussion.
Zeng Yongjia spoke up. “Captain He, what do you think? What direction should our investigation focus on next?”
He Shu looked at the whiteboard, which was now covered with names and notes.
“I do have a suggestion.”
“Since everyone agrees that Tang Jia warrants further investigation, and since we want to determine whether she can lead us to the real killer behind all this, then perhaps…”
She paused. “We should first conduct a comprehensive investigation into whether Tang Jia, Zhang Shengnan, and Pan Yu have ever had any contact with one another.”
“You suspect them?” someone asked.
“At the beginning, the statements and alibis provided by those three all appeared solid enough,” He Shu said. “But later I realized that each of their alibis contains questionable elements.”
“Not because the witnesses themselves are questionable,” she added.
Walking to the whiteboard, she pointed first at Tang Jia’s name. “Tang Jia’s alibi came from her parents and a neighbor. But her parents go to sleep quite early. They didn’t even notice that she went downstairs and got into an argument with someone.”
“The reason she allegedly argued with the neighbor that night was because she had blocked the entrance to the neighbor’s garage.”
She tapped the board thoughtfully. “Her family has lived there for at least ten years, probably longer. They’ve coexisted peacefully with those neighbors all this time.”
“So why did she suddenly block someone’s garage on that particular night?”
Then she moved her finger to Zhang Shengnan’s name. “Zhang Shengnan’s alibi comes from a coworker at the same workplace.”
“From everything we’ve learned, that coworker wasn’t especially close to her. Zhang Shengnan is rather aloof by nature and doesn’t easily become friends with people.”
“We can set her social relationships aside for now.”
“Let’s focus on the witness.”
“She was the only unmarried female coworker at Nie Han’s company who lived alone.”
“On the night Nie Han died, the two women first went to a late-night movie together, leaving footage of themselves at the theater.”
“Afterward, they returned to the coworker’s home and spent the night there.”
He Shu looked around the room. “Watching a movie, having dinner, and spending the night with someone you’re not particularly close to… all for the sake of creating a complete alibi.”
She let the implication hang in the air.
By this point, everyone in the room had begun to grasp where He Shu was going with her reasoning.
She continued: “And finally, Pan Yu. Her alibi comes from several coworkers she was working alongside that night.”
“In reality, when someone is simply doing their job, especially in a noisy, crowded environment like a bar, people tend to remember countless little things. Because there are so many impressions competing for attention, it’s actually difficult for anyone to leave a particularly clear and lasting memory.”
“Yet Pan Yu’s coworkers all remembered with remarkable certainty that she was working on the night of the 12th and that she never left midway through her shift.”
“Why?”
“Because they all mentioned the same key incident.”
She paused briefly. “Shortly before midnight, Pan Yu accidentally spilled alcohol on a drunk male customer. That customer caused a scene and refused to let the matter go. According to their accounts, the manager didn’t finally calm him down until nearly one in the morning, and afterward Pan Yu was scolded over the incident.”
He Shu looked around the conference table.
“When something unusual happens to one person, we can call it a coincidence.”
“When something unusual happens to two people, we can still call it a coincidence.”
“But when all three women experienced some notable, out-of-the-ordinary event on the night of May 12th…”
Her tone took on a thoughtful edge, as if she were asking herself the question.
“What do we call that?”
Then she answered her own question with two words: “Deliberate.”