SFTD -Chapter 6 The Man in the Bathtub (Part 6)

Zhou Hai bent down to pick up the photographs and glanced at the outer cover of the archive box.

It was a personnel file from Kaihua Real Estate’s HR department. The records inside were extremely detailed—even the family situations of every major executive were included.

The few photos that had just fallen out had been tucked inside this file.

Captain Huang walked over after hearing the noise on Zhou Hai’s side and looked at the photos.

“This is their chairman, President Yu Aimin. I looked through the related materials earlier.

He’s almost fifty, yet he doesn’t have any children, and his wife is still so young and beautiful.

Though Liu Qiang is a woman, it’s impossible for her to have had any connection with Peng Yuhua, right?

Besides, she’s currently busy filing for divorce from Yu.”

Zhou Hai pulled out all the materials in the box and directly found President Yu’s information.

Sure enough, attached behind it was his wife’s profile.

Though it was only a few lines of text, it was surprisingly detailed.

His wife: Liu Qiang
Female
36 years old
Graduated from West China Medical University, majoring in Pharmacology. Unemployed, full-time housewife.

Pharmacology!

Zhou Hai suddenly stood up and carried the documents and photos to the whiteboard.

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked over in confusion.

Zhou Hai used magnets to pin up the photographs.

Taking the magnifying glass Xu Biao handed him, he carefully examined them.

The photo showed a man and woman together. The man had a protruding belly and was waving his hand while shouting something.

The woman looked dignified and beautiful, her right arm draped with a colorful shawl.

Her left hand was lifting her hair, and the background seemed to be a yacht.

Through the magnifying glass, Zhou Hai carefully observed the woman’s hands.

On the ring finger of her right hand was a diamond ring of at least one carat.

And on the ring finger of her left hand was a gold ring engraved with densely packed English letters.

Captain Huang snatched over the magnifying glass and examined the woman’s hands as well.

Zhou Hai raised his head and looked at him.

“Left-handed.

Medical background.

Wearing the same ring model as the victim.

Go arrest her.

She’s the killer.”

Everyone revealed delighted expressions as Captain Huang personally led the team out.

Xu Biao and Xiao Liang were equally excited, their constantly raised chins carrying an extra trace of swagger.

If the people at the center who had been waiting to laugh at them found out their group had helped solve a case within two days, the whole place would explode.

At 12:20, Liu Qiang was brought back.

From upstairs, they heard the sound of the car door shutting. Covering the lunch boxes they had just opened, Zhou Hai walked to the window and looked downstairs.

Liu Qiang’s left arm was in a cast. Even while being escorted down by investigators, she still carried herself with an air of superiority.

She adjusted the folds of her white dress and elegantly walked toward the building.

Zhou Hai’s ears twitched slightly.

What a master of disguise.

Captain Huang quickly called.

“We got her. We’re applying for a search warrant right now and need Old Xu to come take a look too.”

Xu Biao lifted his equipment case and nodded.

“No problem. I’ll personally help send the suspect’s blood sample back to the center.”

Zhou Hai nodded and pondered briefly.

“Captain Huang, can I observe the interrogation?”

Captain Huang patted Zhou Hai’s thin shoulder.

“Of course. Come with me!”

They entered a room beside the interrogation room. Only then did Zhou Hai realize there was a monitor inside that allowed direct viewing of the interrogation.

Liu Qiang sat calmly in the chair, crossing her right leg over her left knee while lightly yawning.

There wasn’t a trace of fear on her face.

From time to time, she glanced toward the glass on Zhou Hai’s side, her gaze carrying a hint of understanding.

An hour passed.

The officer conducting the interrogation had nearly run out of words.

Zhou Hai frowned slightly.

His judgment had not been wrong.

Once the blood test results arrived, they would become the strongest evidence.

But how exactly had these two people’s lives overlapped?

One was a corporate executive.

The other was a full-time housewife.

From childhood to adulthood, there had been no close contact between them at all.

As Zhou Hai flipped through their hobbies and listened to Liu Qiang listing all her friends and acquaintances, his finger suddenly stopped.

He grabbed Captain Huang’s shoulder insignia and stared into his eyes, excitement flashing in his gaze.

“Remember that golden retriever? Liu Qiang’s best friend owns a pet hospital right in front of New City Garden. And Peng Yuhua often left his golden retriever there. Maybe the two of them had known each other for a long time and only became familiar through that connection. We can try using this as a breakthrough point.”

Captain Huang called the interrogation officer out, handed him the tablet containing the files, and whispered something into his ear.

The man excitedly went back inside.

Seeing the officer suddenly so confident, Liu Qiang’s right eye narrowed slightly.

“Her psychological defenses are about to collapse.

Medical students usually study psychology to some extent, so they naturally understand both investigation and counter-investigation techniques.

That’s why cases involving doctors as murderers are always especially difficult to deal with.

That’s what my mentor, John King, used to say.”

Captain Huang handed over a cigarette.

“I heard about you. They say you’re a returnee from the United States.”

“Mm.”

“With salaries in this profession being so high in America, why come back?”

This was probably the first question everyone wanted to ask upon meeting Zhou Hai.

Zhou Hai glanced at Captain Huang.

“Does not being able to get used to Western food count as a reason?”

Captain Huang looked at Zhou Hai’s bony, tall, thin frame, then lowered his head to look at his own protruding belly.

“Ha!

I guess it counts!

I’ve never been abroad myself.

But every time I return to Dongnan after a business trip, the first thing I do is drink a dozen beers and eat two jin of spicy stir-fried clams.

Hahaha!”

Captain Huang burst into loud laughter.

Zhou Hai looked speechless.

This man’s sense of humor was way too simple.

Seeing that there was still no progress in the interrogation room, Zhou Hai’s brows furrowed even tighter.

“Oh right, Captain Huang. Should I remove the cast from her arm?”

The smile on Captain Huang’s face instantly froze, revealing concern.

“If it’s a real fracture, wouldn’t opening it worsen the injury or cause complications?”

Zhou Hai’s face darkened immediately.

“So you don’t trust my judgment?”

“Not at all!

I’m just worried Liu Qiang might be tough enough to actually break her own bones.”

Zhou Hai glanced again at Liu Qiang’s exposed fingertips.

There was no swelling or poor blood circulation.

With that condition, it definitely wasn’t a fracture.

Without another word, he rummaged through his examination case and found an electric saw at the bottom.

Captain Huang knew he had just stirred up a hornet’s nest.

Though Zhou Hai didn’t talk much, he was stubborn as hell. Once he got fixated on something, nobody could stop him.

So Captain Huang followed him inside.

Pushing open the interrogation room door, Captain Huang entered together with Zhou Hai.

“Sorry to interrupt your interrogation. This is Forensic Doctor Zhou. He just finished his work and wants to examine the suspect’s injury.”

Zhou Hai stepped forward and began cutting through the cast on Liu Qiang’s left arm.

At that moment, panic flashed across Liu Qiang’s eyes.

“Stop! My arm is injured! What you’re doing is violating my human rights! I’m going to sue you!”

Zhou Hai acted as though he heard nothing.

After a burst of white smoke and the harsh buzzing of the electric saw, the cast had been removed.

Liu Qiang’s right hand was cuffed to the chair, leaving her unable to resist.

And on the index finger of her left hand, a thick layer of bandages appeared clearly before everyone’s eyes.

Zhou Hai carefully removed the bandages.

Liu Qiang closed her eyes, her lips trembling slightly.

Sure enough, at the base of the inner side of her index finger was a wound that had already been stitched but had not yet scabbed over.

Captain Huang nodded forcefully.

This Forensic Doctor Zhou was really reliable.

Though his methods were somewhat violent, directly uncovering such evidence dealt the suspect the greatest possible blow.

“The DNA comparison results between the suspect and the blood left at the crime scene will be delivered shortly.”

After speaking, Zhou Hai began cleaning up the broken cast fragments.

Once a person’s psychological defenses collapse, all disguises become useless.

Liu Qiang asked Captain Huang for a cigarette.

Zhou Hai knew this was a sign she was about to confess, so he quickly left the interrogation room.

At that moment, Zhou Hai’s phone rang.

The caller was Xu Biao.

Zhou Hai guessed they must have found some kind of evidence at Liu Qiang’s house.

He swiped the screen and answered the call.

“What did you find?”