Five Cases - CH 4

He lifted the tape with a hand and the group of four filed in, treading carefully to avoid stepping on the yellow sign on the ground. Lu Hui stood in the living room and waved a hand to signal the others to spread out and gather clues.

One could see from the apartment, a simple one bedroom, one living room unit of about forty to fifty square meters, that the resident was strapped for cash. The trash can was filled with take-out boxes, and packages of instant noodles littered the side table. A cumbersome, out-dated television rested on a small cabinet. The apartment did not have an air conditioner, with only an obsolete electric fan beside the sofa. The sofa itself was covered in dust, and it was too much to hope for cushions or a bolster.

“Didn’t the third team already investigate here?” Qi Zhou went into the kitchen and turned in a circle, then reluctantly exited, “What else is there to look for?”

“Look for things that were missed.” Lu Hui’s gloomy, detached eyes flashed with a cold light. His gaze shifted from the ceiling to the floor, skimming over the antifreeze and antislip pad behind the door, the trash can in the living room, the side table, the instant noodle packets, and finally stopping on the entrance to the balcony.

Ji Fanyang pushed open the balcony’s door. The balcony was open-air, but unlike other people’s balconies, which were covered in potted plants, the deceased’s was completely bare, only containing a tired, gray rattan chair. Ji Fanyang glanced back at Lu Hui, who nodded slightly at him, then stepped onto the balcony.

The potential clues on the balcony were really too few: the rattan chair and a small, white plastic bottle leaning against the chair’s leg.

“This is the bottle of sleeping pills.” Ji Fanyang said.

“Mm.” Lu Hui stood next to the rattan chair, looking into the distance from his higher position.

The sixth-floor balcony was not situated well. With it’s elevated position, it was exposed to the sun, and, especially during the recent heat wave, sitting on the balcony for a few minutes would cause sunburn.

“Chief Lu.” Rao Feifei pushed open the balcony door. The fair-skinned woman was a little fearful of the scorching sunshine, so she stood at the threshold but did not step out onto the balcony, “There are bags for take-out food in the trash can.”

“The third team reported that a person came before the deceased passed. It should be the friend who brought food for them often.” Ji Fanyang said.

“Put aside what the third team reported. Investigate again from scratch.” Lu Hui said.

“The food bag has the name of the restaurant on it.” Rao Feifei said, “Then, I’ll go look into this restaurant?”

“Bring Qi Zhou with you.” Lu Hui designated, “Investigate as carefully as you can.”

“Understood.” Rao Feifei nodded.

Qi Zhou and Rao Feifei left, leaving behind only Lu Hui and Ji Fanyang in the room.

“Find an evidence collector from the forensics department to collect fingerprints.” Lu Hui said, glancing sideways at Ji Fanyang.

The young man looked at him dumbfoundedly: “I don’t know the phone numbers of any evidence collectors…”

Lu Hui took a cellphone out of his pocket and passed it over to Ji Fanyang: “Call.”

It was an old-fashioned flip phone. Ji Fanyang seriously doubted that this antique had the capability to make calls, but he flipped it open, finding the number noted “Evidence Collection” in the list of addresses and called: “Hello, I’m Ji Fanyang from the seventh team. Mhm, part of Chief Lu’s group. We need to collect some fingerprints, two people should be enough. Mhm, Unit XX, Building XX, Fengye residential area, the unit on the sixth floor to the right. Alright, thank you.”

Closing the phone, Ji Fanyang returned the antique to Lu Hui.

Lu Hui slipped his phone into his pocket. Feeling uncomfortable getting sunburnt, he walked back into the living room. They couldn’t interfere with the crime scene, so they had nowhere to sit and had no choice but to stand there rigidly.

After a while of looking at each other without saying anything, just as Ji Fanyang racked his brains to come up with a topic to break the silence, the doorbell rang at last.

The door opened, and the evidence collection personnel entered. The one in front was refined and cultivated, stretching out a hand and speaking like he was addressing a close friend: “My name is Shen Pei. When I heard that the celebrated Chief Lu called, I was sure to rush over and take a look.”

“Lu Hui.” Lu Hui’s face was wooden as he shook hands with Shen Pei, “Long time no see.”

“Yeah, long time no see.” The refined and cultivated man smiled like a fox, “I heard this morning that you snatched a case from the third team.”

“Oh.” Lu Hui said expressionlessly, “Get to work, there’s too much talking.”

Shen Pei deftly opened the case carried at his side: “You can leave.”

The two of them, who were just kicked out by Shen Pei, stood at the door for a moment in silence, then turned to go downstairs.

“Chief Lu, you know Shen Pei?” Ji Fanyang asked.

“He’s just a damned fox, stay away from him.” Lu Hui’s brow creased, “Let’s go back to the Bureau to wait for Rao Feifei’s group.”

“Mm.” Ji Fanyang followed Lu Hui out of the unit, very carefully requesting, “Then, I’ll drive?”

“I will.” Lu Hui sternly put down the young man’s plea.

Sure enough, the car that Director Gao lent him was a far more enjoyable driving experience  than his own piece of junk.

However, Lu Hui did not head directly for the police car. Instead, he circled the building twice before finally finding a dusty, miniature car in a corner overgrown with weeds.

“The deceased had a bottle of blue antifreeze behind his door. He should have a car.” Lu Hui said, squatting down to inspect the car’s wheels. His index finger flicked away some of the dust that had accumulated on the car’s wheels, the floating particles making him choke.

“Looks like the car hasn’t been driven in a while.” Ji Fanyang said.

“The front and rear of the car are both obstructed by weeds. Nevermind ‘a while’, I’d guess that the car has not been used in a few months.” Lu Hui said, his gaze wandering in thought.

There weren’t enough clues. Even for Lu Hui, there was no way to deduce a reasonable conclusion.

“Let’s go.” Lu Hui said, pulling open the car door to sit in the driver’s seat. Ji Fanyang sat on the passenger’s side.

After the bustling morning, the small group assembled at their office. Lu Hui moved a whiteboard over so he could write on it.

“Our current clues—Feifei, state your results first.” Lu Hui said.

“We found the name of the restaurant from the logo on the take-out food bags. The restaurant is not far from the deceased’s home, two blocks away from the entrance to the residence area.” Rao Feifei said, “The shopkeeper said that he was familiar with the person who would pick up food, but he was not clear on the particulars.”

“When we walked to the intersection, we discovered that the surveillance cameras completely covered the area. We only need to check the footage to find the friend who delivered food.” Qi Zhou said.

Lu Hui raised an eyebrow: “Exactly. Then, I’ll hand that kind of task over to you all.”

Rao Feifei complied agreeably, while Qi Zhou looked like he had nothing left to live for.

“Lu Hui!” The captain of the seventh team, Chang Hui, pushed open the door and entered, his expression serious, “What leads did you find?”

“If you want to rush me, you’ll have to rush me tomorrow. Shen Pei is collecting fingerprints, the surveillance footage hasn’t been gone through yet. What, do you think I’m so superhuman that I can solve a case in half a morning?” Lu Hui taunted him mercilessly, “Actually, we did find one lead: the deceased had a car. Impressive, right?”

Lu Hui’s rapid-fire questions made Chang Hui’s face turn pale with anger. Rao Feifei, seeing the situation turn south fast, grabbed Qi Zhou and hauled him away.

“Director Gao didn’t invite you here to make trouble.” Chang Hui held himself back.

“Yup, but swans must beat the water before they can fly.” Lu Hui’s sarcastic, ridiculing words thoroughly angered Chang Hui to the point that he flung the door open and left.

“We won’t be with the seventh team for long.” Lu Hui turned his head to look at Ji Fanyang, “Sooner or later, we’ll be flying solo.”

Ji Fanyang pulled a long face and didn’t say anything, not daring to nod or shake his head.