Chapter Twenty-Four: The Mysterious Woman Captured

After arriving at the School of Finance and Economics, I happened to see a mysterious woman crawling out from a crack in the wall, holding a swaddled infant in her arms.

That must be her child, I thought—the mummified baby from the basement.

Without wasting a moment, I hurriedly ordered Mouse to drive after her.

The woman noticed us and was startled; clutching the infant, she scrambled into her car and tried to escape.

But how could her driving possibly compare to Mouse’s? He handled our Buick minivan as if it were a Ferrari, repeatedly forcing her into dead ends. The woman seemed desperate, intentionally heading toward crowded areas to limit Mouse’s ability to maneuver.

“It seems she knows something about psychology,” Old Lin remarked. “Does the School of Finance and Economics offer a psychology course?”

Tang Jingjing, who was familiar with the curriculum, replied, “Yes, but it’s just an elective.”

At last, Mouse cornered her by the lakeside, and what happened next left us all stunned. She drove straight into the lake, the impact echoing thunderously as crowds gathered to watch.

Li Hong was a true professional; before our own car had even stopped, he grabbed the escape hammer kept onboard, plunged into the water, and, while the other car was still sinking, began smashing at the windows with all his strength.

But the car windows appeared to have been modified; Li Hong couldn’t break them at all.

In the urgency of the moment, Tang Jingjing hastily asked me to hand her my pistol.

I shot her a look. “There are no bullets. What use is the gun?”

“The bullets are on you,” Tang Jingjing replied. “The chief gave special instructions.”

She tore off my jacket, ripped it open, and pulled out a sponge-wrapped packet of bullets from the lining. With deft hands, she loaded the gun and fired a shot, shattering the window.

I was dumbfounded. Why were the bullets hidden on me?

Later, I learned it’s standard procedure in every city bureau: pistols and ammunition must be stored separately. If one member of a pair is a rookie, not qualified to carry bullets, the bullets are concealed on the other’s person without their knowledge.

With cracks in the glass, it became easier to break. By now the car was completely submerged, water reaching Li Hong’s chest.

Without hesitation, I opened the trunk, pulled out a rope, and tossed it to Li Hong, knowing it might be crucial.

Li Hong flashed me a smile and dove back underwater. Not long after, I felt the rope being tugged sharply three times.

I pulled without hesitation, and moments later, the woman was dragged out onto the surface—Li Hong had tied the rope around her waist.

The woman struggled furiously, and suddenly, she whipped out a dagger to kill herself.

Tang Jingjing was ready; she fired three shots in rapid succession. Only one struck the woman’s chest, but fortunately, she lost consciousness and couldn’t continue her suicide attempt.

After firing the three shots, Tang Jingjing was jolted backward by the strong recoil, stumbling two steps, and the gun dropped to the ground. Frightened, she hurried to step on it.

Old Lin scolded her. “Why did you aim for the chest? That’s too likely to be fatal.”

Tang Jingjing blushed deeply. “I… this is only my second time firing a gun.”

Li Hong surfaced, his arm pierced by a pair of scissors, blood streaming, a terrifying sight. Yet he acted as if nothing had happened, swimming energetically toward us.

Tang Jingjing and Mouse immediately rushed to bandage him. Li Hong gave a sheepish grin. “You’re all so good to me.”

Of course we are. He’s the only fighter in our team.

The bleeding wouldn’t stop, so we hurried to the hospital.

Now that the culprit had been apprehended, we all breathed a sigh of relief. At last, this case was coming to a close.

Chief Wang assigned five plainclothes officers to guard the mysterious woman around the clock. Not to prevent escape, but to stop her from committing suicide.

I was about to check on Li Hong, when I saw him striding toward us, two nurses in hot pursuit. “Hey, big guy, where are you running? Come back for your IV drip!”

In high spirits, I asked him what was going on.

Turns out, after his wound was treated, they wanted to give him an IV for inflammation. As soon as he heard “IV,” he jumped off the bed and bolted, nearly scaring the doctor out of their wits.

I asked Li Hong, exasperated, why he refused the IV. Military Knife’s face turned red. “I’m afraid it’ll hurt.”

My goodness, he didn’t flinch when scissors pierced his arm, but he’s scared of an IV.

Old Lin offered his professional opinion. “If I’m not mistaken, Li Hong had psychological trauma from injections as a child.”

We all burst into laughter.

Afterward came the commendations. All of us, except Tang Jingjing, received a second-class merit. Because she had “improperly” used her firearm, causing serious injury to the suspect, her merit and fault canceled each other out.

She was so furious she railed at Chief Wang for two hours, ending up in tears.

I stood off to the side, amused, thinking how pretty she looked even when angry.

Five days later!

The suspect was able to move independently, so we began the interrogation.

Originally, Old Lin and Tang Jingjing, both veterans, should have conducted it, while I, as an assistant and intern forensic doctor, had no place.

However, Tang Jingjing strongly disagreed with Chief Wang’s decisions and simply went on strike, so I had to step in.

The mysterious woman seemed almost catatonic, not uttering a word for days.

She sat in the special chair, staring blankly at the floor.

I was nervous and asked Old Lin at the door what to do. If the suspect won’t speak, we can’t exactly force her.

Old Lin smiled and patted my shoulder. “It’s good to be modest, but too much humility becomes a flaw. Don’t the Song family know even this?”

“I really don’t,” I replied, half laughing, half crying. “Old Lin, could you stop teasing me?”

“All right, all right,” Old Lin chuckled. “Go with the flow. To make her speak, you have to untangle the knot in her heart first.”

I nodded quickly, asking Old Lin to mentor me; other than corpses, I knew nothing.

Old Lin entered with a cup of water. I imitated him, brewing a cup of oolong tea.

We sat facing her for a long while, neither speaking, only quietly sipping tea.

The mysterious woman ignored us, keeping her gaze on the table.

After a long pause, Old Lin finally spoke. “We’ve brought it up from the water…”

I was puzzled by his words, but the mysterious woman suddenly raised her head, tense. “How did you handle it?”

Just one sentence and she opened up—amazing!

“That depends on your attitude,” Old Lin replied. “If you cooperate, we’ll give her a proper burial. If not, she’ll be dissected again and again for evidence.”

Only then did I realize Old Lin was referring to the mummified infant.

The mysterious woman fell silent. Three minutes later, her defenses collapsed completely. “I’ll talk. I’ll tell you everything. But you must give me back my daughter.”

“We’ll bury her properly,” Old Lin said.

“No,” the woman insisted. “I want to bury her myself.”

“Very well, that can be arranged,” Old Lin replied. “Now, start from the beginning—the two female college students. Why did you kill them?”