Chapter Seventy-Seven: Tian Feier!

We entered the makeshift interrogation room to find Li Xingchen arguing heatedly with the little vendor—one glance at Li Xingchen’s ashen face, and it was clear the vendor was a tough nut to crack. These street peddlers, accustomed to dealing with city inspectors, had long honed their craft; slippery as eels and tough as nails, they could latch onto a single excuse and bicker for hours.

Old Lin asked Li Xingchen what the situation was. Li Xingchen, scratching his head in exasperation, replied, “This is the guy who sold water to that young soldier, but this old fox won’t admit it no matter what—I’m about to blow a gasket.”

Old Lin said calmly, “That’s easy. Xiao Yang, take him for a walk to your workspace.” I nodded at once, thinking to myself that Old Lin was indeed a shrewd old hand.

With people like this, unless you show them just how serious things are, they’ll always play the part of the little guy, stubborn to the end. Only by shattering that thin veneer of pride can you break their resolve.

Still, it was clear that this sort of small-time vendor, with his petty mentality, was unlikely to be the murderer.

Of course he refused to go, so Li Hong simply hefted him onto his shoulder and carried him into my dissection room.

The moment he saw the hollowed-out corpse lying on the autopsy table, he was struck dumb with fear. I told him that the person who sold him the water was very likely a killer, and if we let him go, the murderer would surely think he’d told us everything—he might be the next body on this table by tomorrow.

The man was terrified and immediately promised to cooperate fully with our investigation.

I asked once more, “Who sold you the water?”

This time, the vendor answered crisply, “It was always Old Wu who delivered water to us before. But today, a woman came instead. She said Old Wu was sick and she was delivering in his place. She even raised the price by a penny on purpose. She drove Old Wu’s van, and the receipts were in his name.”

I said, “Give me Old Wu’s contact information.”

He handed me a phone number right away. I also asked him to describe the woman’s appearance. He did so, and I assured him I understood.

Next, I called Old Wu, posing as a water dealer.

Old Wu asked how much I needed. I told him thirty bundles and asked if he could deliver today. He said no problem.

I told him, “If you bring it today, I’ll treat you to a meal.” Old Wu replied that he hadn’t been feeling well lately and had hired a girl to help deliver the water. He laughed, saying she was a college student, quite a looker, and that it was a little bonus for me.

I laughed along, remarking that I was still a bachelor myself.

I immediately reported this to Old Lin, who took it very seriously and requested five soldiers from the commander, determined to apprehend the woman.

I chose a slightly secluded alleyway for the meeting spot. In less than two hours, I received a call—a young woman’s voice.

“Excuse me, are you Mr. Yu? I’m at the mouth of the alley; I can’t drive in. Could you come out and meet me?”

I agreed, telling her to wait as I hurried out.

She was a young woman of about twenty, tall and graceful with delicate features. There was always a faint smile at the corner of her lips as she spoke, making her quite pleasant to look at.

But often, it’s the most unremarkable people whose hearts can harbor the deepest darkness.

“Mr. Yu, please check the goods. There are thirty packages in total, and five are a gift from Mr. Wu as a greeting for our first collaboration.”

I smiled and climbed into the van to check the goods. “The last delivery to someone called Eight-Faced Buddha—that was you too, wasn’t it?”

She nodded, “This is my second delivery.”

“Where do you get this water from?”

“Directly from the mineral water company, wholesale.”

“Oh? And you didn’t tamper with it at all?”

She grew tense immediately. “Mr. Yu, what are you implying?”

I cleared my throat, and the five plainclothes officers lurking nearby stepped out at once.

Her face changed instantly, and she tried to get back in the van, but was subdued.

She began screaming in terror.

I quickly identified myself. “Miss, don’t be afraid—we’re police officers. We just want to ask you a few questions. Once we’re done, you’ll be free to go.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said. “You could have summoned me to the station; there’s no need for all this.”

I felt a little awkward. “We honestly didn’t expect to find you so easily—we were worried about alerting the real culprit.”

“What culprit? I’m just here to deliver water; I haven’t done anything. I want to call my lawyer. Until I see my lawyer, I won’t say a word.”

This was a college student, all right—she knew her legal rights. I agreed and let her make the call. Once her lawyer confirmed my identity, he advised her to cooperate and promised to come as soon as possible.

With her lawyer’s reassurance, she finally relaxed and went with me to headquarters for questioning.

Her name was Tian Fei’er, female, twenty-five, a senior at Petroleum University, currently unemployed and working part-time delivering water for Old Wu.

According to her statement, she was responsible for delivering water to retailers for Old Wu. However, her expensive attire raised our suspicions.

We immediately began probing into this discrepancy—and what we discovered left us astounded.

She was the daughter of the hollowed-out corpse, Tian Longgang.

An astonishing coincidence!

As we dug deeper, more shocking truths emerged.

It turned out she was so cold toward her father because he had always treated her as a tool for making money, even going so far as to encourage her to become the mistress of an influential figure.

That influential figure was none other than Officer Wang.

By sheer luck, we had found her.

When she learned that Officer Wang and her father were both dead, she uttered a sentence that left us all speechless.

She suspected Officer Wang had killed her father.

I immediately asked why she thought so.

Tian Fei’er replied, “My father used our relationship as leverage, demanding two million from Officer Wang. When Officer Wang refused, my father threatened to expose everything, which would have ruined Wang’s career…”

“To keep my father quiet, Officer Wang resorted to this extreme—he killed him.”

I drew a sharp breath and glanced at Old Lin.

Old Lin was equally shocked. Was the case solved just like that? Was Officer Wang the murderer?

No, that couldn’t be. If Officer Wang was the killer, why would he hang himself? Why murder his own colleague? It didn’t make sense.

“Think carefully,” Old Lin said. “Did Officer Wang act strangely before his death? Or, when you spent time together, did you notice if he had any particular interest in insects?”

Tian Fei’er began to cry. After a long while, she said, “He was terrified of insects. Sometimes, he’d wake up from nightmares, mumbling about bugs.”

“Officer Wang was afraid of insects?” I was stunned—this was beyond anything we’d imagined. If Officer Wang was terrified of bugs, he couldn’t be the murderer, because the person who killed Tian Longgang was skilled in the use of insects.

How could such a person fear them?

But it wasn’t hard to guess—Officer Wang must have known who the killer was, perhaps even realized how dangerous the murderer’s mastery over insects was. That fear had taken root, haunting even his dreams.

I asked, “Who did Officer Wang interact with most frequently?”

“His colleagues,” Tian Fei’er answered. “Male colleagues. He treated me well, even letting me check his phone whenever I wanted.”

Now it was clear—Officer Wang wasn’t the killer, but he was connected to the murderer in some way. As for the nature of that connection, further investigation was needed.

If we wanted to find the real culprit, we had to start with those closest to Officer Wang.

Suddenly, I remembered something.

When we’d investigated Officer Wang’s phone, we learned the police hadn’t recovered it from his belongings after his death.

So where was it?

Tian Fei’er had said she often checked his phone—could she have it?

I was startled and quickly asked, “Do you have Officer Wang’s phone?”

She nodded.

“Where is it? Let me see it.”

“It’s at home.”

“Why do you have Officer Wang’s phone?” Tang Jingjing asked.

“He gave it to me,” Tian Fei’er replied. “He gave it to me before he died, said it was a birthday present.”

I sucked in a cold breath. Could it be that Officer Wang knew he was about to die and, afraid the murderer would confiscate his phone, gave it away in advance?

Was this phone the key?