Hu Xing had not expected one phone call to have such a huge effect on the interrogation. By the time she saw the suspect startled awake by the ringing, it was too late to hang up.
Shi Dazhuang and Qingmu came out together.
Hu Xing stood with her head lowered, holding the file and waiting to be scolded.
"Take Yu Jianguo from the city hospital's security department into custody immediately." Shi Dazhuang's voice was stern. Then he asked Hu Xing, his face grim, "What is it?"
"The, uh, autopsy report." Hu Xing carefully handed the file to Shi Dazhuang.
"Just tell me the findings," Shi Dazhuang said impatiently. "You have no sense of priorities!"
His harsh tone made Hu Xing feel so wronged she wanted to cry. Seeing Qingmu sitting to one side with his eyes closed, resting, she muttered, "So I interrupted it. Just interrogate him again."
Still, she did not dare disobey her captain's order. She opened the autopsy report and began:
"The autopsy showed no internal or external injuries. The deceased's lungs and respiratory tract were filled with large quantities of frothy and jellylike sputum, causing death by suffocation. He likely suffered from asthma or another bronchial condition, and this was a physiological stress response. He was carrying a salbutamol inhaler, which is consistent with the findings."
Only after hearing Hu Xing's report did Shi Dazhuang take the file and glance at it before setting it aside. His tense expression relaxed a little. "What about the eyewitness?"
"Oh, she runs a roadside convenience store. She said she saw the deceased snatch a woman's bag outside her shop before the incident," Hu Xing said. "The local station has already brought her in. They're taking her statement."
Shi Dazhuang knew the deceased was a petty thug with a criminal record. It was hardly surprising that he had snatched someone's bag. Someone like that was no great loss. As long as murder could be ruled out, the local station could handle the rest.
What concerned him most now was still the case at hand.
"Teacher Qingmu, thank you so much for today!" Shi Dazhuang offered him a cigarette. "Would you like to rest a while before..."
Qingmu took the cigarette, lit it, and leaned lazily back in his chair. Eyes closed, he exhaled a long plume of white smoke. "In battle, you strike while the first surge of momentum lasts. A second or third attempt won't work."
Shi Dazhuang thought for a moment. "Oh, I understand. I'll have someone take you home in a bit."
He did not know how Qingmu had made the suspect talk, and a statement given in that hypnotic sort of state could not count as a confession. But knowing the motive and how the crime had been committed was enough. Now, as long as they secured Yu Jianguo, they could root out the entire organ-trafficking ring. This might even turn out to be a case that shook the nation.
Puzzled, Hu Xing said, "Captain Shi, we haven't finished the interrogation. Teacher Qingmu is so good at this. Why not have him ask a few more questions and clear things up?"
"Will you pay extra?" Qingmu suddenly opened his eyes.
"..." Hu Xing was suddenly at a loss for words. The favorable impression she had just formed of this unkempt man vanished, replaced by utter contempt.
"No!" Hu Xing snapped.
Qingmu chuckled.
Contempt aside, Hu Xing still admired the interrogation techniques Qingmu had just used. Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, "Was that hypnosis just now?"
"If you say it was, then it was," Qingmu said.
"What kind of answer is that?" Hu Xing protested.
Her almond-shaped eyes shifted, and she smiled again. "Um, Captain Shi, why don't I take Teacher Qingmu home later?"
A woman's attitude was like the weather in June, changing without warning and impossible to fathom.
Qingmu suddenly felt his scalp prickle. Experience told him not to get involved with women, especially beautiful women-and this one was a beautiful policewoman, at that.
He was about to decline politely when Shi Dazhuang agreed.
"All right. You take Teacher Qingmu home."
Shi Dazhuang gave Hu Xing a meaningful look. As he left, he whispered in her ear, "Remember, spare no cost in taking good care of this teacher. He's far more useful than those 'experts' in our pretrial interrogation team."
Hu Xing seemed to catch an implication in his words. "Captain Shi, do you really mean at any cost?" she asked quietly. "Including... my looks?"
Shi Dazhuang paused in surprise. "Use your judgment. Our team will be counting on you for the difficult cases from now on." He patted Hu Xing's shoulder and strode away.
Hu Xing stamped her foot resentfully and pulled a face at his retreating back.
Their whispered conversation had not escaped Qingmu's keen senses.
Pretending he knew nothing, Qingmu watched Hu Xing sulking and asked, "Officer Hu, you don't look very well. Are you feeling ill? If you are, just lend me thirty yuan and I can take a taxi home myself."
Hu Xing's temper flared. "Teacher Qingmu, I'm fine," she said irritably. "Let's not waste those thirty yuan!"
Qingmu followed Hu Xing toward the police station's main entrance. In the corridor, he saw a police officer approaching with the shopkeeper.
Qingmu did not step out of their way, passing right by them.
The middle-aged woman saw Qingmu and suddenly froze. Her mouth hung open as if she wanted to say something, but her eyes were blank, like someone sleepwalking without conscious awareness.
"Hey, are you coming or not?" the officer urged.
It took about ten seconds for the middle-aged woman to recover. By then, Qingmu and Hu Xing had already left the station.
"Oh, yes, yes..." she replied repeatedly, following the officer, but murmured to herself, "What just happened? It felt like I was dreaming. Why can't I remember anything again?"
Shi Dazhuang entered the forensic examination room and returned the report to Chen Jianzhong, the forensic pathologist, who was examining something under a microscope.
"Your report is incomplete. That's not like you."
"What's missing?" Chen Jianzhong asked.
"I went to the scene," Shi Dazhuang said. "The deceased's pupils were dilated, his face was contorted, and there were signs of a violent struggle before death."
"I put all of that in the report." Chen Jianzhong kept his head down, busy with his work.
"But you didn't explain it."
"I can't," Chen Jianzhong said. "If I had to offer an explanation, it would be that he struggled during an acute asthma attack."
"But you didn't write that. Is there something suspicious?" Shi Dazhuang asked.
"Nothing gets past you, Captain Shi!" Chen Jianzhong stood, walked over to the autopsy table, and lifted the white sheet. "There are plenty of suspicious points."
The body was wrapped in clear plastic sheeting, with only its head, sporting dyed yellow hair, exposed.
"First, the deceased was very young. According to the medical records we obtained from the hospital, he did have a history of asthma, but it shouldn't have been particularly severe."
"Second, deaths from acute asthma attacks do happen, but they aren't common. The mortality rate is less than one in a thousand. It generally takes more than half an hour from the onset of an attack to death by suffocation, but the deceased seems to have died within just a few minutes."
"Third, even if we grant that he had a sudden attack and couldn't get his medication in time, he should have struggled on the ground or leaning against a wall or something. But judging by the scene examination and the condition of the body, he was... standing throughout the struggle."
"Are you saying this was a murder?" Shi Dazhuang asked after hearing the pathologist's account.
"No, no, no." Chen Jianzhong shook his head. "Scientifically speaking, he did die of an illness."
"Could someone have deliberately triggered that illness?"
"That's hard to say. For example, if someone knew what he was allergic to, they could release the allergen. If it was cardiac asthma, they could also use shock, intimidation, and so on," Chen Jianzhong said.
Shi Dazhuang looked thoughtful. He studied the deceased's face again. Those dilated eyes were clearly filled with terror, fear, and unease.
What exactly had he seen before he died?
"Captain Shi..." Chen Jianzhong called.
Shi Dazhuang came back to himself. "Hmm? Did something occur to you?"
"Captain Shi, do you remember the man who died at the scrap yard a few months ago?"
"Oh, of course." Shi Dazhuang thought back. "He'd only recently been released from prison. He died suddenly because of drug use, just as he was about to commit rape."
"The scene then was very similar to this one. Their facial expressions at death and the signs of physical struggle were very similar too." Chen Jianzhong pulled the white sheet back into place. "I hope I'm overthinking it."
Shi Dazhuang sank deep into thought, sensing the gravity of the situation.