“Then what exactly do you mean by that?” He Shu asked, pretending not to understand the woman’s judgmental implication, even though she clearly did.
“What else could it be? Selling herself, obviously!” Kiki replied with obvious disdain. “Actually, there were signs of it even before she quit. She started spending money extravagantly. Everything she ate, wore, and used was expensive. One handbag alone would cost several thousand yuan. She was out all night and often didn’t come back until just before dawn. She was late for work practically every day and got scolded by Sister Hua more times than I can count.”
“At first, I thought maybe she’d started dating someone. We’d lived together for quite a while and got along pretty well, so I asked a couple of questions out of concern. But then she completely lost her temper.”
Kiki let out a sarcastic laugh. “All because I asked to see a photo of the guy. She guarded him like some priceless treasure. As if I’m lacking men myself and would be interested in whatever losers she had.”
Seeing her drift further and further off-topic, Ji Chen’s expression darkened. “Stick to the point. Why are you so certain Xin Li was involved in that kind of work?”
Kiki sneered. “What woman who’s in a normal relationship gets dropped off by different cars every night?”
“If she wasn’t selling herself, then maybe she was juggling a bunch of men at the same time. Or acting as a mistress for several rich guys. Either way, what’s the difference?”
“Like I said, as long as a woman is willing to throw away her dignity—”
“Oh, enough already!” The shop owner behind the register finally seemed unable to listen anymore and waved impatiently at her. “What’s the point of all this gossip? Cooperate with the officers, answer their questions, and then get back to selling clothes!”
With her back turned, Kiki rolled her eyes. “Anyway, after that she moved out. I actually ran into her once afterward. By then she’d completely changed. I don’t know how many procedures she’d had done or how much money she’d spent on herself.”
After carefully noting each detail, He Shu asked a few more questions. Once she was satisfied that nothing had been overlooked, she nodded.
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
“You can ask me anything else you want to know. I’ll tell you everything I know.” The woman sounded almost gleeful. “Did she get into some kind of trouble? Was she picked up in one of your vice raids? Or maybe some wife reported her?”
“Xin Li’s death has already been confirmed.” He Shu’s brow furrowed, and her voice grew noticeably heavier.
“…”
Kiki’s expression froze. After a long moment, she blinked. Her lips moved, but no words came out. Much of her mockery and contempt had probably contained a fair amount of jealousy. Now that she learned Xin Li was dead, her feelings became too complicated to put into words. In the end, she merely pressed her lips together.
“You can write down my phone number. I’ll cooperate with the police whenever you need me to.” Then, after a brief pause, she added: “But what I told you before was true. Different cars really did pick her up and drop her off almost every day. And her spending definitely increased all of a sudden.”
“Alright. Thank you.”
…
By the time Ji Chen and He Shu returned to the Municipal Bureau, the sun had already set.
After getting out of the vehicle, He Shu was about to head upstairs when someone called out behind her: “Not going to eat dinner?”
Somewhat surprised, He Shu turned around. All she saw was the man’s back as he locked the car and headed toward the cafeteria. For a moment, she almost wondered whether the question had been a hallucination brought on by her distracted state of mind. After hesitating for a few seconds, she followed after him.
When she’d come back this time, she hadn’t entertained any unrealistic hopes. If the two of them could interact like ordinary colleagues and friends, that would already be the best outcome she could reasonably expect.
“Well, well, well! Team Leader Ji’s back?”
The moment the two entered the cafeteria one after the other, they were greeted by an enthusiastic voice.
It was Hou Zibo from the Cold Case Unit, along with another colleague. They sat at a table, finishing their meal. Judging by the mess of dishes on the tabletop, they were nearly done eating.
Ji Chen went over, greeted them, and headed straight to the serving window. Seeing that there wasn’t much food left, he asked one of the kitchen workers to make two bowls of noodles.
Hou Zibo was clearly the outgoing, familiar-with-everyone type. Despite having met her only a few times, he stood up as soon as he saw He Shu and invited her to sit down.
“Captain He, were you and Team Leader Ji out working the case together? Find any useful leads? Come on, don’t be stingy. Tell us about it!”
“We’ve basically confirmed the identity of the second victim. Next we’ll need to contact her family and obtain further confirmation through DNA analysis and other methods…”
He Shu didn’t keep anything back. Since the cases had already been merged, information sharing was expected. Besides, an extra person meant an extra perspective, and everyone’s ultimate goal was the same: solve the case as quickly as possible. As she was speaking, a steaming bowl of noodles was suddenly set down in front of her.
Ji Chen took a seat across from her and began eating in large mouthfuls. After swallowing the food in his mouth, he looked at the still-curious Hou Zibo, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said: “Eat.”
Hou Zibo instantly shut his mouth. Looking thoroughly aggrieved, he picked up his chopsticks and poked around his tray for the few peanuts left behind. He picked them up one by one, stuffed them into his mouth, and chewed with exaggerated force, baring his teeth the whole time.
He Shu couldn’t help laughing and began eating as well. She ate quickly. Within just a few mouthfuls, the large bowl of noodle soup was gone, leaving only a few chopped scallions floating in the broth and spinning lazily in the bowl.
Hou Zibo clicked his tongue in amazement. “Captain He really lives up to her reputation. Any female officer who can survive in criminal investigations is something else. You eat almost as fast as we do. Doesn’t your stomach hurt?”
“I’m used to it.” He Shu pulled over a napkin and wiped her mouth.
Hou Zibo didn’t dwell on the subject. Instead, he turned to Ji Chen. “Now that we’ve basically identified the latest victim, Team Leader Ji, how are we supposed to investigate our unidentified victim from before?”
“The reason we were able to identify Xin Li was because she’d undergone implant surgery,” Ji Chen replied. “But with the first victim, we can’t even be sure whether she ever had cosmetic surgery. If we temporarily assume that cosmetic procedures are a common denominator between the two victims, then every cosmetic and plastic surgery clinic in the city, the province, or even the entire country becomes part of our search scope.”
“Just obtaining the necessary legal authorizations would waste an enormous amount of time.”
Finding that avenue impractical, he thought for a moment before deciding.
“We still need to work from the evidence we already have on both victims. There’s definitely some connection between them that we haven’t discovered yet.”
“Got it,” Hou Zibo replied.
Ji Chen stood up. He glanced at He Shu, who sat there absentmindedly, lost in thought. He swallowed back the words that almost slipped out. After signaling to the other two men with a look, the three of them left the cafeteria together.
Listening to the conversation beside him, he lowered his gaze, hiding the annoyance in his eyes. What kind of spell had he fallen under? Every time he encountered that woman, his mind seemed to stop working properly. In the end, a faint smile tugged at his lips. After all, he had personally verified one thing: That woman had no heart.
…
When He Shu returned to the office, Zeng Yongjia and the others were gathered together chatting animatedly, their conversation loud enough that spit practically flew everywhere.
The moment they saw her, Zeng Yongjia called out: “Captain He, you’re back? We didn’t get anything new from the reporting party. We’ve collected all the surveillance footage we could obtain and brought it back. Looks like we’ll be pulling an all-nighter going through it.”
“As for the sanitation workers around the body disposal site, none of them noticed anything unusual. That area isn’t exactly remote. A lot of vehicles pass through every day, and there are always people fishing or sightseeing there. They couldn’t remember anything specific.”
“I also contacted the police in Xin Li’s hometown,” Chang Bin added.
“After checking their records, they found that Xin Li apparently didn’t have any immediate family members. She only had a stepmother. Her father died three years ago.”
“The local police are trying to get in touch with the stepmother to see whether she might still have any of Xin Li’s belongings that could be used for DNA comparison.”
Chang Bin’s expression wasn’t optimistic. “I don’t have high hopes. They weren’t biological mother and daughter to begin with, and now her father is gone too. Why would the stepmother keep any of her things?”
“No wonder she was missing for so long and nobody went looking for her,” someone remarked.
“From the sound of it, nobody really cared about her at all.”
“Mm…” He Shu walked over to her desk. A report that Ding Qi had sent over was lying on top. As she flipped through it, she listened to the others’ updates, her gaze repeatedly drifting to several photographs clipped inside.
“As for the landlord of Xin Li’s former residence…” Zeng Yongjia asked, “Why did you suddenly tell me to stop looking into that?”
“Because I happened to run into her,” He Shu replied, still turning the pages and studying the photographs. “The owner of that address is the woman who owns the clothing store where Xin Li used to work. She probably just filled in that address casually when she underwent surgery at Aimani Medical Aesthetics. She didn’t have the implant procedure until after she quit working at the clothing store.”
Unable to hold back any longer, Chang Bin finally asked: “Captain He, is there something unusual about those photos? They’re pieces of evidence Ding Qi picked out from all the recovered trash as potentially related to the body. Should we compare them again with the evidence from three years ago and see whether anything overlaps?”
He Shu shook her head. A few seconds later, she set the report down.
“Ding Qi has definitely already conducted a thorough comparison between these items and the evidence from three years ago. If even he hasn’t found anything unusual so far, there’s no need for us to waste time on it.”
She paused before continuing: “Let’s leave that headache to the Cold Case Unit. They’re the ones who still don’t have any useful new leads. All they can do for now is keep picking apart the limited evidence they’ve got.”
The moment she said that, everyone burst out laughing and unanimously agreed with her assessment.
“How about this? Tonight we’ll split into two groups to review the footage. One group takes the first half of the night, the other takes the second half. That way everyone can at least get some rest.”
Everyone agreed.
He Shu picked up her water cup and was about to head out when she suddenly seemed to remember something. Turning back around, she added: “Oh, right. Tomorrow morning Zeng Yongjia is coming with me to Aimani. That director is definitely hiding something. We’ll figure out a way to pry his mouth open.”
“Sounds good!” Zeng Yongjia was delighted to learn he wouldn’t have to stare at a computer screen until his eyes went blurry.
After filling a cup with hot water in the break room, He Shu carried it to a window not far outside the office. From that angle, she had a perfect view of the Cold Case Unit’s office, which was still brightly lit.
People occasionally got up and moved around inside. Then, two minutes later, a tall and familiar figure opened a window. A tiny flame flickered to life, followed by the rhythmic glow of a small ember in the darkness.
The man was smoking.
Her heart tightened. Instinctively, she wanted to hide, only to realize that the motion-sensor light overhead had gone out at some point. She was standing in complete darkness. For some reason, the tension throughout her body instantly melted away. Sheltered by the darkness, she shamelessly stared at him. If there had been a mirror in front of her, she thought she might finally have seen just how greedy her expression was at that moment. Originally, she assumed he would finish one cigarette and close the window. Instead, perhaps because the case had made no progress and he was feeling agitated, he lit one cigarette after another, showing no intention of stopping.
He Shu unconsciously frowned. At the rate Ji Chen was smoking, she wondered whether he’d go bald prematurely. The mental image alone was enough to make her entire face scrunch up in distress. More importantly, excessive smoking was terrible for the heart. And his job already involved chronic sleep deprivation. Countless chaotic thoughts were racing through her mind when a puzzled male voice suddenly sounded nearby.
“Captain He? What are you standing out here for?” It was one of the younger detectives from the Special Crimes Unit. Since he had only recently joined the force, his face still carried a youthful innocence.
The moment he spoke, the motion-sensor light abruptly flicked on.
“…Just getting some water.” He Shu reacted with lightning speed, slipping behind the nearby wall and awkwardly raising her cup in explanation.
Fortunately, the young officer wasn’t genuinely curious. He had simply greeted his supervisor after spotting her. Before long, he finished making his coffee and headed back inside.
Letting out a slow breath, He Shu waited until the corridor was once again swallowed by darkness before returning to her previous spot and looking over.
As expected, the figure was gone. All that remained was the half-open window and a pale blue curtain that had escaped outside, drifting gently in the night breeze.
The nights at the Jinghuai Municipal Bureau were always busy, yet strangely quiet.
…
Early the next morning, Zeng Yongjia arrived at the office in unusually high spirits. Since he had been able to return to the dormitory and enjoy several hours of sleep during the second half of the night, he was feeling exceptionally refreshed. After greeting everyone, he wandered over to Chang Bin’s desk.
There, he saw a woman sprawled back in her chair, her long legs stretched out and resting on the desk. Her head was tilted against the chair back, and she was sleeping soundly.
Lowering his voice, he asked, “What’s the situation? She didn’t leave after midnight?”
“Mm.” He paused briefly before continuing, “I took over the second shift reviewing surveillance footage. By the time I got here, she’d already gone through half the recordings herself. I told her to take a break, but she wouldn’t listen.”
He glanced at the sleeping He Shu. “She finally couldn’t stay awake anymore around dawn and passed out right there.”
Zeng Yongjia clicked his tongue. “Captain He really is something.” Then, after looking around and making sure she was still asleep, he quietly added: “But if she keeps working like this, isn’t she going to collapse sooner or later?”
Chang Bin had only managed to catch a little sleep himself, so he yawned and rubbed his dry eyes. “In all this time, when have you ever seen her go home in the middle of working a case?”
Zeng Yongjia let out a long sigh. “Don’t they say women care most about their looks? Why is she the exception? She just splashes some water on her face morning and night and calls it a day. How long do you think it’ll be before her face starts showing it?”
Chang Bin shot him a glare. “I heard the workload at her previous assignment wasn’t any lighter than what we deal with here. Instead of gossiping, are you secretly hoping Captain He gives you another trip down memory lane to your fresh-faced youth?”
“Heavens, no!” Zeng Yongjia reacted dramatically, taking a large step backward and waving both hands. “Absolutely not. Let’s not do that.”
The noise finally woke He Shu. She opened her eyes and sat up. After glancing at the clock on the wall, she nodded toward them.
“About twenty minutes until eight-thirty. I’m going to take a shower. We’ll head out when I get back.”
True to her word, a little after nine o’clock that morning, the two of them arrived at Aimani Medical Aesthetics Hospital.
The receptionist who came forward to greet them was the same woman from the day before. The moment she recognized He Shu, the smile on her face became noticeably strained.
“Heh heh… Officer, it’s you again. Are you here to see our director? Unfortunately, he still hasn’t arrived today.”
“No problem.” He Shu smiled. “Today, I’m actually here to speak with the director’s secretary.”
The receptionist froze for a moment. Then she said, “Please wait a moment,” before returning behind the front desk and making a phone call. Only then did she lead them to the elevator and press the button for the third floor.
“The office next to the director’s is Secretary Nie’s office.”
He Shu thanked her and took the elevator upstairs with Zeng Yongjia. They soon found the secretary’s office.
The door was half-open. He Shu raised a hand and knocked. Inside, a graceful figure was bent over a filing cabinet beside the desk, sorting through something. At the sound, the woman turned around.
She quickly straightened up. “Mm… please come in. I’ve already informed the director, and he should be back shortly. However, I don’t know what business the two officers have with me.”
A trace of caution crossed Secretary Nie’s brows. “I’m only a secretary. There are many things I genuinely don’t know. Perhaps it would be better to wait for the director to arrive, and then you can ask him directly.”
“It’s really nothing major.” He Shu continued smiling pleasantly, her demeanor relaxed and friendly. “But since Secretary Nie puts it that way, perhaps it really would be better to wait for Director Wang before asking. We only thought that the director must be very busy, and we felt somewhat guilty about troubling him with such a minor matter.”
“Then perhaps the two officers would like to wait in the director’s office. It’s more spacious over there.”
Secretary Nie seemed visibly relieved. The wary look vanished, replaced by the same friendliness she had displayed the previous day. She even busied herself pouring water for them.
While Secretary Nie stepped out to make tea, Zeng Yongjia gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath: “Why is she so jumpy? Do you think Director Wang told her something after you left yesterday?”
He Shu gave a slight nod in response.
When Secretary Nie returned carrying the tea, He Shu casually struck up a conversation. “Secretary Nie, if I remember correctly, you mentioned yesterday that you originally worked downstairs as a receptionist and consultant, right?”
“Yes,” the woman replied.
She had been about to leave, but the question forced her to stop.
“I’m actually pretty interested in these cosmetic procedures people get nowadays,” He Shu said conversationally. “I’ve always felt my chin is a little short, and my eyes aren’t very large. Do you think I should get a chin augmentation or maybe have my eyes done?”
She pinched her own cheek playfully before seamlessly steering the discussion toward what she actually wanted to ask.
“I was looking through Xin Li’s file yesterday. The difference between her before-and-after photos was really quite significant. Still, the results looked very natural.”
“…”
Secretary Nie stared at the standard-issue beautiful face before her and silently swallowed the question: Can criminal investigators get cosmetic surgery too?
After examining He Shu carefully, she smiled. “Honestly, Officer He, you’re beautiful enough that you don’t need any adjustments at all. You might consider non-surgical aesthetic treatments instead. Thermage, skin-boosting injections, things like that.”
The suggestion didn’t surprise her in the slightest. Loving beauty was only natural for women. Plenty of attractive women came in insisting on minor touch-ups despite already looking perfectly fine. Human desire was rarely satisfied.
“Medical aesthetics?” He Shu appeared genuinely interested.
“That actually sounds pretty good. But wouldn’t it be expensive?”
“We don’t currently have any promotions running,” Secretary Nie replied, “but if you’re really interested, I could arrange a special discount for you.”
She smiled enthusiastically. “Ordinary customers who come in with one of our brochures only get about a two percent discount. But for you, I could classify you as a new member referred by one of our premium members. The discount could go as high as twenty percent off.”
“How could I accept such a generous offer?” He Shu replied with a smile so broad she could hardly stop herself. Then she casually continued: “So your hospital charges different rates depending on how customers are referred? I remember that Xin Li received a pretty substantial discount on her surgery. Through what channel did she come to your hospital? How did she get it done so cheaply?”
Secretary Nie laughed lightly at first. “Oh, Officer He, you’re joking. Her case may have involved a referral from an existing VIP member, but that discount was personally approved by the director. I’m only a secretary. How could I possibly have authority like that? Though if you’re interested, I could certainly bring it up with the director. I’m sure he’d be willing to do you a favor…”
The words spilled out naturally before she realized what she had just revealed. The moment it registered, her entire body froze. A split second later, she belatedly covered her mouth.
From the sofa, He Shu raised an eyebrow. “The VIP member who referred Xin Li here,” she asked, “who was it?”