AD | Chapter 27

Lu Qingfeng felt a chill run down his spine from that look.

His intuition told him that Wang Ze was definitely hiding something. However, for now, this was all the information he could obtain. Asking further would likely yield no results.

Thinking this, he shook his head and turned to glance at Lin Shuyao beside him. Neither of them spoke. After a brief exchange of glances, he left the interrogation room first.

“Xiao Tao!”

As soon as Lu Qingfeng stepped out of the interrogation room, he called out loudly.

Tao Yu walked over quickly. As he approached, he muttered in a low voice, “Captain Lu, Jiang-ge and I were right outside. You shouted so loudly; I’m going deaf!”

“You kid, always running your mouth.” Lu Qingfeng scolded him with a smile, then immediately became serious. “Wait, you said you and Xiao Jiang were outside the whole time? When did you arrive?”

Tao Yu stroked his chin, pretending to think for a long while. “For a while. Jiang-ge said he wanted to treat me to spicy strip wraps. He asked where you were, so we came together. Seeing you were still busy, Jiang-ge said we should wait a bit. What’s wrong?”

“Where is he?”

“Oh, Jiang-ge said he forgot to buy something, so he went to the supermarket.” Tao Yu scratched his head, then suddenly leaned in, lowering his voice mysteriously. “Hey, Captain Lu, do you think Jiang-ge has his eye on that cashier? He’s been going over there a lot recently…”

But Lu Qingfeng did not respond to Tao Yu’s words. He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and handed it to Tao Yu. The two walked to the entrance one after the other and sat down on the concrete steps in the corridor.

He lit the cigarette but didn’t smoke it, merely letting the crimson ember flicker between his fingers.

Lu Qingfeng frowned in thought.

Something was wrong.

The entire matter exuded an indescribable sense of awkwardness.

That “Teacher” hiding behind the scenes… who exactly was he? Wang Ze said he was proficient in hacking technology and could sneak into various systems without a trace.

But the meaningful look Wang Ze gave before leaving clearly indicated he was still concealing something.

And that anonymous email Tao Yu received—

Wait, why was it another anonymous email?!

Lu Qingfeng’s breath hitched.

He remembered that during the Taining Mountain case, it was also such an anonymous email, precisely delivered to the public inbox, guiding them to “smoothly” catch the true culprit, Shen Chen. And Shen Chen… had indeed confessed.

Everything was too smooth.

So smooth it was like a script written long ago, and each of them was merely an actor on stage reciting their lines.

As he thought, he took a drag from the cigarette in his hand. But soon, the cigarette was snatched away and thrown to the ground, stomped out directly.

A shadow now loomed over him. Lu Qingfeng froze, looking up at the shadow, and found it was Lin Shuyao.

Before he could speak, a lollipop was stuffed directly into his mouth. The sweet taste of strawberry melted in his mouth again.

He frowned slightly, but heard Lin Shuyao smile and look at him, saying, “What’s wrong, Captain Lu? Do you not like the flavor of this candy? Should I change the flavor next time?”

Tao Yu, who was smoking nearby, saw the two like this and quietly slipped away. Only the two of them remained.

“Hey, Lin Shuyao, why did you…”

“What did I do?” He spread his hands, looking at him with a smile.

“No, I was just smoking to relieve stress. Why do you always manage me?” Lu Qingfeng complained indistinctly with the candy in his mouth.

Lin Shuyao chuckled lightly. “I just didn’t want to breathe secondhand smoke, so I had to sacrifice you a little.”

“Childish.” Lu Qingfeng took the candy out and examined it. “But this candy tastes good.” After speaking, he suddenly became serious again and sighed lightly. “Sigh, let’s talk business. It’s really worrying. Say, what kind of person is this ‘Teacher’ Wang Ze mentioned?”

“Judging by his words just now, this ‘Teacher’ is very wary of him. He doesn’t even know the ‘Teacher’s’ address.” He paused. “When I suddenly asked about the puzzle pieces just now, his reaction wasn’t feigned ignorance. He genuinely didn’t know.”

“Then why would this ‘Teacher’ help him dispose of the bodies of the girls murdered in the KTV?” Lu Qingfeng asked doubtfully.

Lin Shuyao listened to his words and murmured in a low voice, “The girls’ bodies…”

In a flash of insight, a name slipped out of both their mouths simultaneously: “Shen Chen!”

The two looked at each other. At the moment their gazes collided, Lin Shuyao’s breath hitched, and his tone became urgent. “We now reasonably suspect that among the three victims Shen Chen admitted to murdering, at least Ye Ziqing was not killed by him. Moreover, Tang Bin’s time of death was after Shen Chen was arrested. Furthermore, according to Shen Chen’s confession, Tang Bin was male, which did not fit his murder criteria.”

Lu Qingfeng nodded. “Right. And after Shen Chen was arrested, the ‘Puzzle Victims’ continued to appear. This indicates that these victims with puzzle pieces in their mouths were not the work of Shen Chen alone.”

“Look at Wang Ze’s testimony just now. There were other victims at Yongsu KTV before…” Lin Shuyao hesitated for a moment before continuing, “But only four puzzle pieces were missing from my home.”

“And they correspond to Zhuo Jia, Jiang Yue, Ye Ziqing, and this Tang Bin.” Lu Qingfeng’s tone sank.

Lin Shuyao paused, suddenly looking up, a hint of suspicion flashing in his eyes. “So coincidental?”

Speaking thus, he took a deep breath and lowered his voice. “These are all cases we two are responsible for. I have a feeling that the mastermind behind this ‘Puzzle Series’ is targeting either you or me.”

But Lu Qingfeng shook his head at him and slowly said, word by word, “No. Actually, there is another person. Lin Wan. The puzzle pieces missing from your home were actually Lin Wan’s belongings.”

Lin Shuyao was stunned.

His words woke him from his dream.

Lu Qingfeng’s words reminded him. He recalled the uninvited guest who broke into his home after he received the call from property management. After that, the puzzle pieces Lin Wan left behind disappeared…

Perhaps from the beginning, the target was not them.

It was targeting his sister.

The case from seven years ago!

Thinking this, Lin Shuyao’s eyes lit up. But remembering his sister’s death, the light in his eyes suddenly dimmed.

However, the reason he applied for a transfer to Rongzhou and suddenly returned was precisely because of his sister’s death, wasn’t it?

But why did the other party specifically take the puzzle pieces left by his sister? And those continuous anonymous emails…

Wait, emails!

He suddenly remembered that in the email sent to the Municipal Bureau during the previous Taining Mountain case, it was mentioned that Shen Chen… had an older brother.

Since they couldn’t get the answers they wanted from Shen Chen, perhaps they would find unexpected gains from this “older brother.”

Thinking this, he said to Lu Qingfeng, “Do you remember the older brother of Shen Chen mentioned in the email during the Taining Mountain case?”

Lu Qingfeng nodded. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly slapped his forehead. “Right! How could I forget him!”

The two arrived at Song Wenbo’s company and were led by the secretary to his office.

As soon as they sat down, Song Wenbo handed them two glasses of water, then sat down opposite them and got straight to the point. “My mother said that my father was indeed a university student who tested out from the countryside. But before marrying my mother, my father had already been married once in the countryside. Hmm, the kind without legal protection, meaning cohabitation.”

Lu Qingfeng stared at him and slowly asked, “Then how much do you know about Shen Chen’s birth mother?”

Song Wenbo pondered for a long while before saying, “Hmm… actually, not much. I heard she was originally a city girl who was trafficked to the countryside. Oh, I heard she had some mental issues. You know, Shen Chen’s unique hobby…”

“I learned about it when I checked Shen Chen’s files. His birth mother was reported in the newspapers. She was indeed a female college student trafficked into the mountains. By the time the police tracked her down to the village, she had already passed away. Villagers rumored she was a fool. But I believe that mental illness and mental disorders caused by accidental injuries are both possibilities,” Lin Shuyao said softly.

Song Wenbo shrugged indifferently, picked up his water glass, and took a slow sip. “I’m not very curious about this. Two officers, what does this have to do with me?”

Lu Qingfeng cleared his throat lightly, leaned forward, and looked at him. “Shen Chen was once imprisoned for three years and two months for hit-and-run drunk driving. But the records at the time showed that the vehicle involved was under your name.”

Hearing this, Song Wenbo’s hand holding the water glass trembled slightly, and his eyes dodged. “Ah… yes, he was driving the car. What’s the problem? Besides, hasn’t he been released from prison?”

“Shen Chen was released in April 2013. When did he start the streamer guild at Rongguang Group…?” Lu Qingfeng asked again.

“Wait, let me check…” Speaking thus, he stood up and walked to the computer, his fingers typing rapidly on the keyboard. The light from the screen reflected on his face. After a long while, he looked up. “End of January 2014. There was a contract.”

Lin Shuyao followed up with a question. “Eight or nine months. During this period, Shen Chen has no records. Do you know where he was during this time?”

Song Wenbo fell silent, his brows furrowing slightly. He opened his mouth but couldn’t answer, finally shaking his head helplessly.

Lu Qingfeng gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t be nervous, President Song. We are just asking routine questions. Let’s talk about yourself.”

“The predecessor of Rongguang Group was a very large celebrity agency. Later, it transformed into a live streaming platform. Of course, I won’t comment on your business decisions. But you should know what netizens say.”

Song Wenbo leaned back lazily, a half-smile playing on his lips. “I know. A useless rich second generation.” He shrugged, a hint of mockery in his eyes. “Tch. A bunch of people earning three thousand a month. Do they need to worry so much?”

After speaking, Song Wenbo slowly looked out the window, his tone gradually becoming lower. “Besides, with this mess happening now, nothing I do goes smoothly. Can’t be helped. This is fate.”

After several seconds of silence in the office, he changed the subject, putting on that casual expression again. “Any other questions, Officers?”

Lu Qingfeng closed the notebook in his hand and exchanged a glance with Lin Shuyao. “None for now.” After speaking, the two stood up simultaneously to bid him farewell. “We’ll head back first.”

The two left his office and entered the elevator. It wasn’t until they returned to the car that the eerie silence was broken again.