Skin - Chapter 19

　　”What you said makes sense,” Meng Zhao said, “but there is another piece of evidence. When Zhao Yunhua picked up cartons and wine bottles from the trash can and went home every day, she had to carry the bag with both hands. This proves that she is not a very strong person. Moreover, Zhou Yan was strangled to the point of suffocation. Zhao Yunhua must have been too tired after all this torment. In such a condition, she is expected to have struck a fatal blow from the front and strangled with extreme precision. It’s almost impossible for her to be able to break Zhou Yan’s hyoid bone.”

　　At that point, Li Jin had been convinced. She thought for a moment and said: “Then, this can also explain why Zhao Yunhua had a definite alibi during the time of Zhou Yan’s death…”

　　”This is just my guess,” Meng Zhao closed the report, “We still need to check the details further. Thank you, senior sister, I’ll take this report away.”

Chapter 20

　　After leaving the floor designated to the forensic department, Zhou Qiyang’s results also came out. He called Meng Zhao: “Brother Zhao, I got the surveillance from the night of the 11th. Guess what? Everything was normal for Zhao Yunhua that night. At almost nine o’clock, she went home after digging through the trash can as usual.”

　　Meng Zhao had already figured out something from Zhou Qiyang’s deliberately officious way of speaking, and urged: “Is there a ‘but’ behind it? Tell me quickly.”

　　”But, she left her house once again after returning.”

　　”Huh?” Meng Zhao paused, “Where did she go?”

　　”She went to Huaxing Street near her home, but because that street was relatively run-down and several cameras were broken, I could only identify her walking into the street. I don’t know exactly where she went or who she met.”

　　”Then bring back the surveillance records first.” Meng Zhao said.

　　At that moment, his phone vibrated. Meng Zhao hung up the phone and opened WeChat to see that he had received a text from Lu Shichen: 【What time do you get off work?】

　【At half past five. What’s wrong?】

　　【I’ll be waiting for you outside the city bureau. I have something to ask you.】

　　What did Lu Shichen want to ask him? Meng Zhao stared at the screen while guessing Lu Shichen’s intentions, when a voice resembling a bell sounded in his ear: “What are you doing here?”

　　He didn’t have to look up to know that it was Director Xu, who had gone to the provincial department for a meeting. He had obviously returned and was now looking for him to ask questions.

　　”Come to my office with me.” Director Xu commanded in a bad tone.

　　Meng Zhao put away his cell phone, knowing that there would be another lecture that he would be subjected to. He followed Director Xu to the office without saying much.

　　Director Xu was nearly fifty years old, and compared to Lu Chengze who was of the same age, the wrinkles on his face were more eye-catching. Legend had it that Director Xu was also handsome and well-known in the Public Security University when he was young, but probably, he was too much into overthinking, and now one could no longer relate to the charm he had back then.

　　However, all those were rumours of the past. Whether it was someone’s flattering or not, it was impossible to test it now because a long time had passed since then.

　　”What’s going on?” Director Xu was really furious, “The matter has even come up in the provincial department. The provincial governor specifically asked me about what’s going on with this case. I can’t stand it anymore! I specifically asked you to take charge of this case. And what about you? This troublesome case is getting bigger and bigger, right?”

　　”It’s my fault,” Meng Zhao didn’t say much and took the responsibility, “I will investigate it better.”

　　”What else is left to investigate? Hasn’t the murderer already committed suicide?” Director Xu looked at him, “You’re investigating the bullying incident from back then? Let the district police station investigate. The city bureau is not free for that.”

　　Meng Zhao opened the report Li Jin gave him, pushed it on the table to Director Xu, and explained his analysis.

　　After finishing, Director Xu also frowned. The case did not seem to be as simple as he had imagined.

　　At the same time, the anger he had just acquired dissipated, and he still accepted that Meng Zhao was still the capable man under him, always able to discover the unusual aspects of cases through the smallest details.

　　”Then continue to investigate.” He returned the report to Meng Zhao, “By the way, Yan Yan is returning today. If you have nothing to do tonight, go to the airport to pick her up and take her to have a meal on the way.” He raised his wrist and looked at his watch, “She’ll arrive at 6:30. It’s alright to leave now.”

　　The ‘Yan Yan’ mentioned by Director Xu was his daughter, Xu Yan. When Meng Zhao heard his request, he thought of the rumour Zhou Qiyang had told him about, that Director Xu intended to make him his son-in-law. Thinking about it, he immediately declined and said, “I have something to do.”

　　Director Xu didn’t expect that Meng Zhao would reject his request that bluntly. He frowned and said, “What’s the matter with you? If it’s not an important thing, then just push it off for later.”

　　Even though Meng Zhao really had something to do, he still had no intention of mentioning Lu Shichen to Director Xu. He only said: “My car has been sent for repair.”

　　It was another reason to refuse the request. Director Xu was completely annoyed this time. He waved his hand and said, “Go away.”

　　Meng Zhao was not afraid of Director Xu. Although the other party always said that he had a bad temper and constantly reminded him to control his temper, Meng Zhao felt that Director Xu’s temper was actually much worse than his own.

　　Moreover, their tempers were somewhat similar. The anger would quickly come and go. As long as the other person didn’t continue provoking him and let him calm down, his temper would dissipate quickly. But if the other person also had a bad temper, then it couldn’t be handled easily.

　　Not to mention whether or not he had feelings for Xu Yan, if he and Director Xu have bad tempers, they would never have a happy life in the future. With Meng Zhao’s character, it would be impossible for him to accept Director Xu as his father-in-law.

　　After leaving the bureau, Meng Zhao looked around and didn’t see Lu Shichen’s car.

　　As he walked forward, he took out his phone and sent a message to Lu Shichen: 【I can’t see you.】

　　Before the message was sent, a car drove up to him and a hand stretched out from the lowered window, holding Meng Zhao’s wrist in order to stop him.

　　Meng Zhao stopped and turned around to see that it was Lu Shichen sitting in the car.

　　”Hey, you changed cars so quickly?” Meng Zhao glanced at the Mercedes driven by Lu Shichen.

　　”It’s the company’s car,” Lu Shichen took away his hand which was on Meng Zhao’s wrist, “Get in. Let’s talk.”

　　In the past, Meng Zhao would not have agreed. Even though he still wanted to visit Huaxing Street and didn’t want to waste time with Lu Shichen, Meng Zhao still cooperated.

　　But perhaps because of that piece of paper he found recording the main keys about his uncle’s case, Meng Zhao felt complicated when he saw Lu Shichen. He even had a very strong interest in Lu Shichen. In his eyes, Lu Shichen was like a case that was too difficult to solve, tempting him to push aside the layers of illusions on the surface and explore the truth hidden inside step by step. The more mysterious it was, the more interested he had become.

　　Walking to the other side of the car, Meng Zhao opened the door and got in. As soon as he got in, his cell phone rang- it was Director Xu.

　　What Meng Zhao wasn’t aware of was that just a while before he left the city bureau, Director Xu was standing by the window upstairs, observing whether he would drive away in his own car to determine whether his statement of ‘sending the car to repair’ was true and not a refusal.

　　After confirming that Meng Zhao did not drive by himself, Director Xu called Meng Zhao and planned to lend him his car to pick up his precious daughter.

　　But he didn’t expect that as soon as the call was dialled, he would watch Meng Zhao get into the passenger seat of a luxury car.

　　The call was connected, and Director Xu fell into silence. Which rich woman was Meng Zhao hooking up with? It was indeed just an excuse that he had sent the car for repair.

　　Meng Zhao heard no movement on the phone and asked, “Director Xu, what’s going on?”

　　Director Xu once again said: “Go away.”

　　Meng Zhao: “…”

　　After hanging up the phone, Meng Zhao decided to ignore the menopausal old man. He put away the phone and asked Lu Shichen, “What do you want from me?”

　　”Don’t you still owe me a meal?” Lu Shichen looked at him.

　　Meng Zhao saw that the expression on his face was serious, and he felt incredulous: “So you are here to beg for food from me?”

　　”I just think it’s more appropriate to talk while eating.”

　　”…I have something to do today, let’s wait for another day, you will be indispensable,” Meng Zhao said, “If you want to ask me anything, just ask.”

　　Lu Shichen then got to the point: “Have you found the deceased’s cell phone?”

　　It was actually Zhou Yan’s case. Lu Shichen showed unusual concern for the case, which made Meng Zhao feel a little strange. Lu Shichen was obviously the kind of character who would ignore matters that had nothing to do with him.

　　”It is inconvenient to reveal the details of the case.” Meng Zhao said, deciding to throw out a test, “The real murderer has been arrested, why are you still entangled in these details? It’s not like your character.”

　　Unexpectedly, Lu Shichen ignored him and asked shockingly: “Do you really think that the real murderer has been caught?”

　　Meng Zhao was startled, and immediately noticed something in Lu Shichen’s words— Could it be that Lu Shichen had also discovered that Zhao Yunhua’s matter was the case of ‘the mantis stalks the cicada and the oriole stalks behind’¹?

　　Meng Zhao was aware that he himself managed to deduce that the real murderer was someone else only through Li Jin’s forensic examination and Zhao Yunhua’s alibi. However, he had never disclosed such internal information to Lu Shichen. So, how could he deduce it? Was it based on the dog hair that had come up from nowhere?

　　Meng Zhao did not reveal the thoughts in his mind. He just followed Lu Shichen’s words and asked casually: “What do you mean? Do you have other insights on this case?”

　　Unexpectedly, Lu Shichen did not take the bait, instead said: “Let’s make a deal. You reveal the details of the case to me, and I will help you check out the overseas phone number through which the public account received the clues to write the article.”

　　Lu Shichen was really smart and knew exactly what he needed most. Meng Zhao’s thoughts turned upside-down. He really wanted to find out who provided the information to that public account, but none of his alumni from university had any experience of studying abroad. He couldn’t find any connections abroad. If he wanted to apply for an investigation on the number through a legal manner, then he would have to undergo a tedious process, and it would probably take a long time for the results to come out…

　　Meng Zhao considered the feasibility of their transaction and speculated over what sort of questions Lu Shichen would ask him – Would it be about Zhou Yan’s mobile phone? Why would he ask about Zhou Yan’s cell phone?

　　He thought of the phone call Lu Shichen made to Zhou Yan within the time of Zhou Yan’s death. The call was connected, but the person on the other side did not speak.

　　‘…Wait a minute’, a thought flashed through Meng Zhao’s mind, ‘Was it necessary that the phone call was answered by the murderer? If Zhou Yan hadn’t died at that time, then could it be that… Zhou Yan himself answered it?’

　　He quickly sorted out the clues. Assuming that Zhao Yunhua failed to strangle Zhou Yan and Zhou Yan woke up from the suffocated state and struggled to answer the call from Lu Shichen, it was very much possible that Zhou Yan was strangled once again at that time. He was unable to speak in such a situation, which was also consistent with the fact that he answered the call but said nothing.

　　‘Could it be that… Lu Shichen found the exact location of Zhou Yan through the phone call, then carried out the second attack on the already dying Zhou Yan, and completely strangled Zhou Yan to death?’

Chapter 21

　　There was silence in the car for a moment, and Meng Zhao speculated on Lu Shichen’s motive for proposing this deal.

　　After a while, he decided to stop playing the guessing game with Lu Shichen and asked directly: “I’ll agree, but before that, you have to answer my questions.”

　　”Okay.” Lu Shichen said simply.

　　”What do you want to do with the cell phone of the deceased?”

　　”I just want to know whether the last status of that phone was silent or something else.”

　　”Be specific.” Meng Zhao said.

　　”I remember that when I made that call, I had to wait for a long time for the call to be answered,” Lu Shichen paused for a moment and continued, “If it was ringing or vibrating, the murderer would have been too bold.”

　　It was indeed a right speculation. Meng Zhao tried to put himself into the murderer’s psychological state. After committing the murder, no matter how strong his psychological quality was, a veteran would find ways to avoid being discovered. Assuming that Zhou Yan’s cell phone was ringing or vibrating, then every second while waiting for the call to be connected, the murderer may be exposed.

　　Therefore, whether the murderer chooses to answer or hang up the call, he would do it immediately instead of letting the phone continue ringing.

　　Although he had already guessed Lu Shichen’s train of thought, Meng Zhao still asked: “So what is your guess?”

　　”If the call was answered by the deceased, it is very likely that Zhao Yunhua did not successfully kill him at that time. As for whether it was Zhao Yunhua or someone else who carried out the second attack, it depends on whether Zhao Yunhua had an alibi or. . .”

　　Meng Zhao almost felt sorry that the criminal investigation department could not have a talent like Lu Shichen. His line of reasoning, bold inference and careful verification of case handling, logic, was making him a really good candidate for criminal investigation.

　　But he acted quite reserved and nodded: “That’s a good idea.”

　　”Then, are you willing to make a deal?” Lu Shichen mentioned the deal again, meaningfully, “If Officer Meng agrees, then we can often share ideas in the future.”

　　”Then let me ask you one last question, why are you so interested in this case?”

　　”I suspect that the dog hair that appeared on the body of was not an accident or a coincidence, but instead, someone did it deliberately to frame. And I want to find out who this person is and why he is doing this. Isn’t the reason enough?”

　　Meng Zhao thought for a moment, stretched out his hand to Lu Shichen and said, “Deal.”

　　Lu Shichen looked down at Meng Zhao’s fingers. Just then Meng Zhao thought he had some sort of a problem with normal interaction, and was about to withdraw his hand, Lu Shichen’s hand came up.

　　The slightly cool temperature made him feel a bit cold and hard, and Lu Shichen’s grip was extremely strong. When Lu Shichen let go, Meng Zhao felt that his knuckles actually hurt a little from the grip.

　　It seemed like a scene of reconciliation, but Meng Zhao knew that the reason why he agreed to Lu Shichen’s proposal was because Lu Shichen had also helped him before. He hoped that Lu Shichen had nothing to do with the case, and he would do his best to help Lu Shichen find out the truth. He felt that Lu Shichen’s identity and attitude in the case were indeed a bit subtle. It seemed that only by getting close enough he could fully see Lu Shichen and his true motives.

　　As for the clues to the case that Lu Shichen asked him to reveal, after all, he had the initiative. He had the final say whether or not he would reveal them and what exactly he would choose to reveal. Thinking about it, Lu Shichen did not get any advantage throughout the deal. Meng Zhao found it a bit incredible that such a smart person as Lu Shichen would actually make a loss-making deal…

　　After the deal was concluded, Meng Zhao said, “I’ll let you know after I confirm the status of Zhou Yan’s cell phone. Is there anything else you want to know?”

　　Lu Shichen was not polite to him and made his own request: “I want to see the room in Building 7 that Zhou Yan had mentioned.”

　　Building No. 7 had been thoroughly searched by his colleagues and no other clues had been found. There was nothing illegal in taking Lu Shichen for a visit. Besides, since Zhou Yan took the initiative to invite Lu Shichen there that day, maybe Lu Shichen could help look for any clues that could help solve the case…

Meng Zhao thought for a while, nodded and said, “Okay, but I have to go back to the city bureau to get the keys first.”

　　”By the way, please verify the status of Zhou Yan’s mobile phone.” Lu Shichen reminded him.

　　After returning to the city bureau to get the key, Meng Zhao took out Zhou Yan’s mobile phone and dialled Zhou Yan’s number with his own mobile phone.

　　The phone rang aloud. It was a song written by Zhou Yan himself.

　　It was really ringing… Meng Zhao stared at the screen. If it was as Lu Shichen had told, then it was most likely Zhou Yan himself who answered the call because it took a long time for the call to be answered.

　　If things had indeed happened in that manner, then the fact that someone attempted to kill him a second time after Zhao Yunhua could be verified once again…

Glossary :

The mantis stalks the cicada and the oriole stalks behind(螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后): It is a Chinese idiom with its story coming from Shuo Yuan(说苑). This proverb is used to describe people who pursue immediate gains while neglecting greater danger behind.