CH 103

At 10:30 in the morning, Shao Changqing also entered the interrogation room on the second floor of Building 3 of the headquarters, as scheduled.

Qiao Ze looked at the information and noted that Shao Changqing, 32 years old, was the financial director of a consulting and investment firm.

He began, “Mr. Shao, as I mentioned in our phone conversation yesterday, I called you here today to ask about the matter regarding Chen Lingling.”

Shao Changqing raised his head and looked at the two police officers in front of him. “What happened to her?”

Old Qu asked, “What exactly is your relationship with her?”

Shao Changqing looked somewhat wary in his gaze. “As I mentioned on the phone yesterday, we are just ordinary friends. I merely know this person. She… could be considered my ex-girlfriend, or maybe not even that. We had a sexual relationship. However, she is a scammer.”

Qu Ming perked up. “What did she deceive you of?”

Shao Changqing said solemnly, “Love.”

He paused for a moment and continued, “I hope you can apprehend her as soon as possible.”

Upon hearing this, Qiao Ze couldn’t help but cough. What kind of answer was that?

The detectives couldn’t file a case just because of a love scam, and there was no specific law to punish such a situation.

After all, they had been investigating a double homicide case.

Qu Ming maintained the same expression. “Mr. Shao, please describe in detail how you met Chen Lingling and what happened in the shopping mall that day.”

Shao Changqing lowered his head and pondered for a moment. “We met in a coffee shop. She accidentally spilled coffee on me and initiated a conversation. Later, we exchanged WeChat contacts and dated for a while. At first, I really liked her. I thought she was beautiful and unique. She enjoyed reading and was skilled in cooking…”

Qu Ming didn’t want to hear any more about this man’s love story and asked directly, “A Mr. Qiu mentioned that you had a conflict with him because of this woman. Is that true?”

Shao Changqing sat up straight. “After we had been in contact for a while, I discovered that she had multiple phones. She often made secretive phone calls behind my back. Later, I asked her if she was still involved with other men. I told her that I was serious and if we were in a committed relationship, I expected her to cut ties with others.”

“But one day, in the shopping mall, while contemplating whether to pick a gift for her, I unexpectedly saw her with another man. I felt betrayed and followed them. When the man went to the restroom, I confronted Chen Lingling.”

“But I didn’t expect that at that time, she was still acting all innocent and wronged. Later, that man came out, and he was very agitated. We had a few arguments and a physical altercation. When the security arrived, we separated. The whole incident lasted only a few minutes.”

Qiao Ze took out a photo of Qiu Jiarong. “Is this the person you fought with?”

Shao Changqing looked at it and nodded. “Yes, that’s the man.”

Qiao Ze asked again, “Have you heard of Guo Family’s Private Dishes?”

Shao Changqing shook his head.

Qiao Ze then showed photos of Guo Chengfeng and Wu Chenguang. “Do you know these two people?”

Shao Changqing squinted and tried to recognize them, then asked, “Are they also victims of the scam?”

Qiao Ze said, “The police are currently investigating.”

Shao Changqing hmmed. “Anyway, when I was dating that woman, I already felt something was off about her. Fortunately, I quickly freed myself from that misery and kept my distance.”

Qu Ming frowned at the young man in front of him. “So you and this woman claiming to be Chen Lingling have already broken up?”

Shao Changqing nodded. “Would you keep celebrating the Lunar New Year with a woman who is involved with multiple men? I received a breakup message from her two weeks ago, and I haven’t heard from her in a long time.”

There didn’t seem to be any valuable leads. Qiao Ze didn’t give up and continued to ask, “Do you still know any other information about this woman? Like her identification number, workplace, or place of residence?”

Shao Changqing pondered for a moment, his jawline tensed, and then shook his head after a while. “We didn’t get close enough for that.”

Qu Ming and Qiao Ze exchanged glances, had him fill out various forms, collected the information, and finally reminded him to inform them as soon as he remembered any relevant clues.

When the two of them came out, they saw Lu Junchi and Su Hui sitting next to Xia Mingxi’s computer, fully focused on something.

Qiao Ze said, “Captain Lu, we’ve asked him, but he didn’t provide any useful information.”

Lu Junchi’s eyes were still on the screen, and he nodded slightly. “We overheard it in the observation room just now, but I think that guy might not have told the whole truth.”

Qiao Ze was puzzled. “Where did he lie?”

Lu Junchi pointed to the screen. “To reach this point, it’s definitely because they were once in love.”

Others in the office also approached, gathering around the screen. It was the surveillance footage Qiao Ze obtained from the shopping mall, three months ago after work hours.

In the footage, two men were fighting, and a woman stood by in panic. It was far from a minor friction; it was a violent conflict.

The surveillance footage was a bit distant and silent, but it didn’t diminish the shocking scenes. It took place in a corner of the gift area in the mall, where the two fighting men looked like two madmen.

It was evident that they had no training, as their punches were chaotic and their kicks and shoves caused shelves to topple and glass to shatter.

However, it was precisely this raw and ferocious sense in the midst of the brawl that was most unsettling and uncomfortable.

In that instant, they seemed no longer like well-dressed modern individuals but had regressed into two wild beasts.

The onlookers around were all frightened, forming a circle at a distance with fearful expressions on their faces.

Initially, Shao Changqing, dressed in white, gained the upper hand. He pinned Qiu Jiarong to the ground and rained down punches like a torrent. He landed more than a dozen blows, causing Qiu Jiarong’s glasses to become crooked and his nose to bleed profusely. But as soon as he stood up, Qiu Jiarong grabbed a broomstick from behind a nearby counter and struck Shao Changqing’s head with it.

Shao Changqing’s head was injured, and he fell to the ground. Blood flowed down his shirt, a horrifying sight to behold.

Qiu Jiarong didn’t stop there and ran over to viciously kick his opponent a few times. They seemed ready to continue fighting, but the mall security quickly arrived and separated them.

Qiao Ze furrowed his brow. “They fought so fiercely. Why didn’t the mall call the police?”

Qu Ming said, “Probably afraid of affecting business…” He clicked his tongue twice. “They notified the reporters but didn’t call the police…”

Lu Junchi said, “If the police were involved, it would take several hours to handle, and they probably wanted to settle it privately and compensate the mall for the damages. That’s why they didn’t report it.”

Although the fight appeared dangerous, neither of the men involved was seriously injured. Both were formally employed, and they probably didn’t want to leave any criminal records.

Qiao Ze frowned. “Do we need to record Shao Changqing’s statement again?”

Lu Junchi replied, “He didn’t tell the truth, but right now, we can’t extract any useful information from him.”

Currently, Qiu Jiarong and Shao Changqing were only individuals related to the woman in question. They were called in to cooperate with the investigation, but it couldn’t be confirmed whether these people were connected to the current case.

Qu Ming nodded beside them. “Our main focus is still on finding the killer of Guo Chengfeng…”

Su Hui cleared his throat and said, “Can we replay the surveillance footage? I didn’t see it clearly just now.”

Lu Junchi, taking care of his poor eyesight, replayed that segment of the video.

This time, they watched it from the beginning at 0.5x slower speed, and everyone could see more clearly.

As mentioned in Shao Changqing’s testimony, Qiu Jiarong went to the restroom, while Chen Lingling was looking down at her phone. Suddenly, Shao Changqing entered the frame and tried to pull her out.

Chen Lingling exchanged a few words with him and then shook off his hand.

Qiu Jiarong rushed over to protect Chen Lingling and glared angrily at Shao Changqing. They exchanged a few verbal insults, and then Shao Changqing made another attempt to pull Chen Lingling away, resulting in Qiu Jiarong and him wrestling each other.

And then came the war…

Su Hui suddenly said, “Pause.”

Lu Junchi’s finger was resting on the space bar, and he pressed it accordingly.

The screen froze, capturing the two men entangled in a fierce fight, with bloodstains already appearing on the ground.

Su Hui gazed at the screen and remarked, “She’s smiling.”

Everyone was shocked upon hearing Su Hui’s words.

All their attention had been focused on the two fighting men, and they hadn’t paid much attention to the woman huddled in the corner.

Now that Su Hui mentioned it, Lu Junchi pressed a few keys to enlarge the footage. Despite the blur and black-and-white display, the video surveillance became clearer when zoomed in. The woman was indeed smiling, and that smile seemed somewhat eerie.

Then Lu Junchi played the entire video again. In the midst of the two men’s struggle, the woman seemed to have made some evasive movements and said something, but her actions did not clearly discourage the fight. When the two men started fighting over her, she had a look of surprise on her face.

Afterward, she smiled, seemingly realizing it was inappropriate, and quickly covered her mouth with both hands.

It was only a few seconds of a smile, fleeting, but everyone admired Su Hui’s keen observation.

After zooming in on the screenshot, they became even more certain that Su Hui was right. However, they couldn’t explain why.

The sight of the two men fighting was distressing, but the instigator of it all could still smile?

Su Hui narrowed his eyes slightly, supporting his chin with his hand, and summed up, “Under the influence of hormones, when two males fight over a female, it’s a primitive form of conflict. This woman seems to enjoy it.”

Lu Junchi furrowed his brow. “Indeed, we have yet to confirm whether this fight was accidental or if there’s an unknown story behind it.”

He contemplated the videos and the testimonies. “In Shao Changqing’s testimony, the woman mentioned that she wanted to buy a bag from that brand. On that day, she asked him if he had time after work, and shortly after, Qiu Jiarong and she coincidentally met Shao Changqing. It all seems too coincidental. I think she manipulated these two men, causing them to meet. And on the night of Guo Chengfeng’s murder, that woman was also present.”

He paused for a moment and said, “Is it possible that this struggle was deliberately provoked by the woman?”

Su Hui lowered his gaze and pondered for a moment before saying, “I believe it is not unrelated to the case we are currently investigating. The act of murder is the violent escalation of a fight. If the fight we see now was intentionally provoked by this woman, it’s highly likely that the murder was also planned.”

In the footage, the two men showed no signs of the calmness they displayed in the interrogation room. Su Hui could discern something else from their actions.

They exhibited extreme excitement and aggression. Their hypothalamus was excessively stimulated, adrenaline was released, affecting their heart rate, blood flow, and even their brains. Their fighting style was cruel and direct…

She seemed to derive pleasure from inciting competition among men.

To entertain a conspiracy theory, it seemed she wanted them to compete and for the loser to withdraw from pursuing her. But did she anticipate that it would cost a life?

Su Hui spoke up, “The woman in the recording seems to lack ordinary empathy.”

Lack of empathy means she lacks the ability for common people’s empathy. Those individuals are very indifferent; they cannot sense basic human emotions and are only attracted by strong stimuli.

Lu Junchi fell silent for a moment and then asked, “What’s the result of the fingerprint analysis on the mirror?”

Qu Ming contacted the forensics department and checked before replying, “So far, they have analyzed twenty-four fingerprints, excluding six.”

The progress was still too slow. Lu Junchi said, “Add more computers, analyze it as quickly as possible, and make sure to identify the woman’s identity. Also, based on the phone numbers provided by Shao Changqing and Qiu Jiarong, we should be able to retrieve more call records of that woman. Each phone number must be thoroughly investigated, one by one.”

At this stage of the case, they seemed to have gradually discovered the core point. Although the woman didn’t directly participate, all the incidents revolved around her. This was certainly not a coincidence.

A woman who had reached her twenties could temporarily disguise herself in modern society, but she definitely couldn’t be without an identity.