Skin - Chapter 6

While walking towards Lu Chengze with Lu Shichen, Meng Zhao lowered his voice and said in a volume that only the two of them could hear clearly: “I didn’t expect that Mr. Lu looked like a dog, but when something happens, he has to find his father immediately. Ah.”

　　Lu Shichen glanced at him: “When you are inexplicably involved in a murder case, it is normal to find a lawyer as soon as possible. I would like to ask Officer Meng for help. Are you willing to help?”

　　Meng Zhao smiled and gave him a high-sounding excuse: “I only stand on the side of justice.”

　　The two of them walked up to Lu Chengze. Meng Zhao greeted Lu Chengze: “Uncle Lu, we haven’t seen each other for many years. Do you still remember me?”

　　Probably because Meng Zhao had not changed much over the years, Lu Chengze seemed to have recalled Meng Zhao only after a short moment: “Meng Zhao, right?”

　　”Yes,” Meng Zhao shook hands with Lu Chengze, “You look like you haven’t changed at all.”

　　Meng Zhao’s words were not entirely polite. Although Lu Chengze was over fifty years old, he didn’t look older at all. He looked as if he was still in his early forties at most. He was standing in the lobby of the city bureau with such grace and style that he could compare with Director Gu, but the wrinkles on his face were not half as many as those of Gu Ju.

　　After Lu Chengze and Meng Zhao finished greetings, he turned to Lu Shichen and asked, “How are you related to a murder case?”

　　”I don’t know.” Lu Shichen said concisely.

　　Meng Zhao finally understood that the paper mask on Lu Shichen’s face was not custom-made for him, and he had the same attitude towards his father. The man actually jumped out of the cracks in the rocks, right?

　　”Xiao Meng, is the matter serious?” Lu Chengze turned to ask Meng Zhao.

　　”It’s okay for now, Uncle Lu.” Meng Zhao said with relief. He briefly talked about the details of the case that could be revealed so far. After dispelling Lu Chengze’s concerns, he sent the father and son out of the city bureau.

　　After seeing off Lu Chengze and Lu Shichen, Meng Zhao glanced at his phone. He had been busy all day. Apart from identifying Lu Shichen as a suspect and temporarily ruling him out as a suspect, he still had no clue about the case.

　　The two colleagues who went to investigate Qin Xiaobai and Zhao Yunhua returned one after another, and brought back relevant monitoring records as Meng Zhao said.

　　”Qin Xiaobai was indeed working the night shift at the time.” Ren Bin turned on the surveillance video and reported the collected information to Meng Zhao. “He works at the Honggu Club and was drinking with the guests in the private room between nine and ten o’clock. Except for a trip to the toilet in the middle, he never left at any other time.”

　　No wonder he was hesitant when talking about work. Meng Zhao recalled Qin Xiaobai’s expression when he talked to him. It turned out that the content of the work was a bit difficult to talk about.

　　”Just accompanying people for drinks?” Zhou Qiyang looked at the feasting scene on the screen and clicked his tongue, “The police station’s anti-pornography work is not done well.”

　　”How about I send you over to supervise the work?” Meng Zhao glanced at him.

　　”Brother Zhao,” Zhou Qiyang inserted the hard drive into the computer and brought the topic back to the murder. “Let’s look at the case. Zhao Yunhua said that she went home before nine o’clock last night. I checked the must-haves for her to reach home. On that road, she appeared on the surveillance screen at 8:54. Before that, she went to the nearby trash cans to rummage through cartons and cans. After that, she went home. Look, she was still rummaging through the trash at that time. I asked the people around her, and they all said that Zhao Yunhua rummaged through the trash cans every night just to pick up the cardboard boxes that no one wanted and sell them.”

　　On the surveillance screen, under the dim street lights, Zhao Yunhua stood in front of a trash can, opened the lid, took out the cardboard box inside, stuffed it into the black plastic bag she carried with her, and then walked away with the plastic bag.

　　”The alibi of these two people is quite solid, right?” After the video was played, Zhou Qiyang said, “There are surveillance records during the time of the crime.”

　　Meng Zhao dragged the surveillance screen back to playback, nodded, and said nothing more. There was no doubt about Li Jin’s forensic skills. Since she locked the victim’s time of death between 9 and 10 o’clock, and the two people did have sufficient alibi, the suspicion could indeed be ruled out.

　　At nine o’clock in the evening, the city bureau’s criminal investigation office was filled with a strong smell of instant noodles.

　　Meng Zhao looked through Zhou Yan’s information while sketching a portrait of the victim in his mind. The amount of information on Zhou Yan’s computer was exploding. As a well-known music blogger, Zhou Yan spent almost all of his life online.

　　Zhou Yan was very popular and invited friends to his house for parties every week. He was also quite generous. According to his friends, Zhou Yan paid the bill in advance almost every time they ate together. Apart from the fact that the live broadcast every night was a bit disturbing, it was almost impossible to see who Zhou Yan would have any conflicts with.

　　Ren Bin, a colleague, came over: “Captain Meng, a friend of Zhou Yan just contacted me and said that he remembered someone who had a conflict with Zhou Yan. I asked him to come over at eight o’clock tomorrow morning to take notes.”

　　”Okay.” Meng Zhao responded.

　　”Let everyone go home as soon as possible. The clues are not clear yet, so there is no point in doing overtime like this.” Ren Bin added.

　　Before Meng Zhao, Ren Bin was the deputy captain of the Criminal Investigation Detachment. He had senior qualifications and rich experience in solving crimes. Partnering with the former captain Yuan Ke, he once led the Criminal Investigation Unit to receive repeated commendations.

　　But four years ago, after Yuan Ke was suspended due to illness, Ren Bin took on the leading roles on his own. It was at that time that his problem of being good at execution but not good at leadership was immediately exposed. He also committed a mistake in a case. Wrong decision-making almost allowed the suspect to escape capture.

　　After that, Director Chen dismissed Ren Bin and asked Meng Zhao to take his place. Because of that incident, Ren Bin’s position in the unit had always been a bit awkward. Fortunately, he was still willing to accept Meng Zhao’s leadership most of the time, but occasionally he would act like an ‘old man’ and give Meng Zhao some ‘advice’ and ‘suggestions’.

　　And Meng Zhao, although he ignored his suggestions many times when solving the case, he also knew that he should give him some face. For example, he would occasionally adopt the innocuous suggestion of ‘getting off work early’ to give Ren Bin some mental balance.

　　Meng Zhao stood up and stretched his shoulders, then turned to look at the few colleagues who were still working overtime: “Then let’s continue it tomorrow. Let’s go back and rest as Brother Bin said.”

　　As soon as Meng Zhao spoke out, several people in the office who had just been immersed in their work began to discuss:

　　”My eyes are going to go blind… Hey, when will that demolition area get demolished? The word demolition has almost faded after two years of writing. Will it be demolished yet? Leaving it there like that is definitely a hidden danger.”

　　”I’ll call the people in charge tomorrow and let them know about the problem. If they don’t dismantle it, then let them add a few more cameras… Let’s go, Brother Zhao.”

　　”Let’s go.” Meng Zhao followed and walked out of the office.

　　It was only when he reached the lobby on the first floor that he remembered to have forgotten to put on a coat, but the temperature was not very cold, and Meng Zhao was too lazy to go back again, so he simply didn’t wear a coat.

　　It was almost ten o’clock when he got home. Meng Zhao took a shower and lay on the bed, still thinking about the case.

　　Was the appearance of that dog hair a coincidence or intentional? If it was intentional, what did the case have to do with Lu Shichen? Could it be that the murderer actually had some kind of conflict with Lu Shichen and was deliberately trying to pin the suspicion on Lu Shichen? But, to produce a piece of dog hair as evidence was too ambiguous…

　　Meng Zhao then thought of the ‘wild dog’ mouth gesture that Lu Shichen had made at him. Damn it, how could he hold back from pulling Lu Shichen out and beating him up?

　　Unable to sleep with too many things on his mind, Meng Zhao sat up from the bed, found a clean T-shirt and put it on before going out.

　　He planned to go out for a run to clear his mind and help him sleep better.

　　Meng Zhao had a fixed running route, but today he changed his route and planned to run to the crime scene for another look.

　　Meng Zhao’s residence was about six kilometres away from the demolition area. Normally, if there was no serious traffic jam, it could be reached by car in ten minutes, but tonight it took him more than half an hour to run.

　　When he approached the demolition area, he slowed down and took a few steps to calm his breathing. A few metres away, Meng Zhao felt that the figure in front of him looked very familiar.

　　It seemed that he was not the only one who was worried about the case.

　　Seeing Lu Shichen turn into the round arch, Meng Zhao stepped lightly. He wanted to see what Lu Shichen was going to do.

　　The area around the crime scene was still cordoned off. Lu Shichen squatted down, resting his elbows on his thighs, seeming to be looking down at something.

　　Meng Zhao didn’t want to miss the God-given opportunity for revenge.

　　If Lu Shichen hadn’t gone abroad, the fight would have happened more than ten years earlier, but it was not too late now.

　　Meng Zhao approached Lu Shichen’s back, flew up and kicked him.

Chapter 6

　　To Meng Zhao’s expectation, Lu Shichen reacted very quickly. He turned aside to avoid Meng Zhao’s kick, and raised his hand to grab Meng Zhao’s calf.

　　While Meng Zhao fell towards Lu Shichen, he used his elbow to hook Lu Shichen’s neck. The sneak attack from behind turned into a close fight.

　　Meng Zhao’s combat performance in the police academy was among the best, but because he had just run six kilometres and consumed too much energy, he was on a par with Lu Shichen.

　　After briefly suppressing Lu Shichen, Meng Zhao bent one hand to press Lu Shichen’s chest, and quickly took out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket with the other hand. With a soft “click” sound, he locked one of Lu Shichen’s wrists. Just when he had the upper hand, Meng Zhao stopped his movements and pretended to recognize Lu Shichen: “Hey? Why is it you? I thought it was the murderer who came back to observe the scene after committing the crime…”

　　Before he finished speaking, Lu Shichen suddenly raised his hand, a second “click” sounded, and the other half of the handcuff was cuffed to Meng Zhao’s wrist.

　　Meng Zhao: “…”

　　”Officer Meng underestimates the enemy too easily, he could easily be subdued.” Lu Shichen looked at Meng Zhao as he spoke.

　　”The referee blew the whistle, so any subsequent actions will be considered a foul.”

　　”It’s a pity that I didn’t hear the whistle and thought it was a match point.” After Lu Shichen finished speaking, he paused and said, “You are very hot.”

　　It obviously sounded like a very ordinary reminder, and the action in front of him was also a common action in fighting, but Meng Zhao suddenly felt something strange, the distance was too close… He could almost feel the shape of the muscles on Lu Shichen’s chest with his arm.

　　Meng Zhao stood up slightly, opened the distance between the two of them, and while taking the keys from his pocket, he asked, “Have you ever learned how to fight?”

　　”Learned a little bit.”

　　”More than a little, right?” Meng Zhao glanced at him, then frowned slightly. There was actually… no key in his pocket.

　　It was not working time, and he just wanted to go for a run, so he didn’t even think of taking handcuffs with him when he went out. The handcuffs in his pocket kept making a clunking sound when he was running, and he regretted not taking them out in advance and leaving it at home.

　　The handcuffs were kept in the trouser pocket during the day, and the key should be in the coat pocket of the coat, but the coat… was left at the city bureau, which was embarrassing.

　　”You didn’t bring the key?” Lu Shichen noticed it.

　　Meng Zhao took a breath and felt a bit of a toothache. He planned to unleash his evil fire on Lu Shichen: “You are not sleeping at home in the middle of the night. Why did you come to the crime scene?” He said, holding up one hand. He leaned on the ground and squatted down.

　　Because now he and Lu Shichen were like grasshoppers on the same rope, he could only wait for Lu Shichen to sit up first, and then the two of them could stand up together.

　　”I can’t sleep. So I came here to see how I got involved in this case,” Lu Shichen sat up and asked Meng Zhao, “Is it illegal?”

　　”What were you looking for just now?” Meng Zhao looked at Lu Shichen’s half-crouched position.

　　”Blood stains.”

　　”Um?”

　　”Irregular long strips of blood, intermittent, extending from the bottom of Building 7 to near the crime scene,” Lu Shichen said, “The deceased was dragged there.”

　　Meng Zhao looked at him and motioned for him to continue.

　　”After committing a crime, it would take a long time to drag the deceased flat, it would be easy to find, and it would leave traces. It is quite unwise.”

　　”Continue.”

　　”If it were me, I would set up or carry the deceased and move the body quickly to reduce the possibility of exposing myself.”

　　”So now you’re trying to lessen the suspicion on yourself?”

　　”I’m just providing Officer Meng with an idea. Don’t waste your attention on irrelevant things.”

　　‘There we go again’, Meng Zhao thought to himself, ‘the condescending tone’.

　　In fact, he fought with Lu Shichen not just because he wanted to beat him up, but more importantly, he wanted to test whether Lu Shichen was strong on the outside and also strong on the inside.

　　The result of the test was that Lu Shichen’s physical fitness was extremely impressive and he was quite familiar with the fatal points of the human body.

　　If the murderer was committed by Lu Shichen, there would be no strangulation marks on the neck of the deceased, and there would be no blood stains around the crime scene from dragging the body.

　　But… the top priority now was that Meng Zhao had to wear the handcuffs and go back to the city bureau with Lu Shichen to get the keys.

　　”Let’s go,” Meng Zhao sighed softly. Nothing good would happen when he met Lu Shichen. “Come with me to the city bureau.” In fact, he changed his route while jogging because he wanted to visit the Building 7 that Lu Shichen mentioned during the day. But now being tied to Lu Shichen was quite troublesome.

　　Meng Zhao planned to go to the city bureau to get the keys first, and then return later. Unexpectedly, Lu Shichen took the initiative to bring up the matter: “Why don’t we go to Building 7 to take a look? Isn’t that why you came here?”

　　”You’re pretty good at guessing.” Since he guessed correctly, he simply took a few more steps to get there, “Let’s go.”

　　In the old community, there were only a few dim lights on the low wall in the front row. Meng Zhao looked up and saw that there were less than ten houses in the whole row with lights on. It could be estimated that after the murder, even the remaining few residents were also planning to move away.

　　They were only ten metres away from Building No. 7. Neither of them spoke. The alley was so quiet that one could hear the leaves swaying in the wind.

　　Decades ago, Meng Zhao would not have thought that he and Lu Shichen could still live in such harmony. It seemed that ageing was not in vain. He had indeed become much calmer over the years. Moreover, the handcuffs didn’t seem to be that much of a hindrance, because the two of them were walking at pretty much the same pace.

　　When they reached Building No. 7, the two stopped.

　　”Go up and have a look.” Meng Zhao said, stepping into the corridor.

　　A voice-activated light was installed in the corridor. The light bulb emitted a dim yellow light. Four of the six floors were broken. Meng Zhao turned on the flashlight function on his mobile phone and followed the light shining on the stairs as he walked up. It sounded particularly clear in the narrow corridor.

　　According to Zhou Yan’s stepfather, Zhou Yan’s mother used to live with Zhou Yan in this old house many years ago. It wasn’t until Zhou Yan was ten years old that his mother remarried and the mother and son moved out. However, not long after the remarriage, Zhou Yan’s mother passed away due to a serious illness. Although Zhou Yan’s stepfather later remarried, he always treated him as his own son because he already had a good relationship with Zhou Yan. A few years later, Zhou Yan went to a nearby university. When he graduated, he lived there for a while because of his poor life.

　　Walking to the door of unit 402, Meng Zhao pointed the light of his mobile phone around the keyhole. He squatted down and examined it carefully. It had been a few years since no one had lived there. There was already a layer of dust on the door, but there was fresh wiping on the armrests. Judging by the traces, the murderer had obviously been here.

　　The key on Zhou Yan’s body was taken away by the murderer, and his stepfather didn’t have a spare key here, so he could only ask his colleagues to unlock it the next day.