Chapter 157 - 155: New Clues
Jiang Li heard what Kong Zhen said. "Clothes? You mean the clothes you were wearing before?"
Kong Zhen nodded, her excitement palpable. Then the tears began to stream down her face even harder.
"Try not to get too excited. You’re very weak. Just focus on getting better," Jiang Li said comfortingly, then stood up, pulled the door open, and left.
Zhou Tiancheng stared, stunned, as Jiang Li came out. ’So fast?’ he thought. ’I’ve barely had time to warm up my seat.’
Jiang Li looked at Zhou Tiancheng and Lu Xingye. "Kong Zhen mentioned clothes. Her clothes. Do you think there’s something in them?"
"Her clothes were bagged separately. I’ll go get them for you."
Zhou Tiancheng said, turning to leave.
Jiang Li went back inside. "Don’t worry, Qin Hao has been arrested."
Hearing this, Kong Zhen didn’t look happy at all. Instead, she just looked at Jiang Li and shook her head, tears streaming down her face without end.
Lu Xingye, who had followed her in, looked at Kong Zhen and asked tentatively, "Is there another killer?"
Kong Zhen stopped shaking her head, then began nodding excitedly.
"He... He..."
Before Kong Zhen could finish her sentence, she fainted.
Jiang Li rushed to get a doctor. Thankfully, Kong Zhen had only fainted due to the extreme emotional distress and physical exhaustion. The two of them then stepped out of the room.
"’He...’ Besides He Ming, it could be his father, He Zhong," Lu Xingye said, looking at Jiang Li.
"He Zhong is here this time, too. But how is he involved in all this?"
Jiang Li looked at Lu Xingye, confused. Qin Hao had been arrested, and now a new person of interest had emerged.
"We’ll find out when Captain Zhou gets back."
They sat quietly in the hallway, waiting for Zhou Tiancheng.
Lu Xingye suddenly spotted He Zhong’s figure not far down the hall.
He Zhong seemed surprised to see so many people outside Kong Zhen’s room, but he quickly put on a smile and walked over.
"I heard Little Zhen woke up. I brought some food, I was worried the poor girl might be hungry. I thought I’d pop in and see how she’s doing."
He Zhong looked at them, his expression haggard.
Jiang Li refused him without a second thought. "I’m sorry, but Kong Zhen is asleep now. The doctor said she’s still very weak, so it’s best you don’t go in."
He Zhong’s expression stiffened, but he quickly covered it with an awkward smile. "He Ming’s death was a huge blow to all of us. The two of them were so devoted to each other. I’m just worried she might not be able to get over it."
Lu Xingye watched He Zhong and asked casually, "By the way, Uncle He, how did He Ming and Kong Zhen meet?"
He Zhong shifted the bag of food to his other hand and looked up at them. "It was quite a fateful meeting. We used to be neighbors with the Sun Family."
"The Sun Family moved away, but then, believe it or not, when we moved to our new place, we ran into them again."
"With the parents from both families visiting back and forth, the kids got to know each other, and eventually, they started dating and got married."
He Zhong sighed. "That Qin Hao kid seemed so well-behaved when he was little. Who would’ve thought he was so twisted? If we’d known what he was really like, we would have put a stop to their friendship from the very beginning."
"Now, he’s brought ruin to my son and my daughter-in-law."
As he spoke, He Zhong’s eyes reddened, and he raised a hand to wipe the corner of his eye.
Lu Xingye glanced at the food in his hand. "Uncle He, why don’t you leave the food with us? If Miss Kong is hungry when she wakes up, we’ll make sure she gets it."
He Zhong pulled his hand back slightly. "No, it’s fine. It’ll probably get cold by then, anyway. Let the poor girl rest. Officers, please, if there’s any news, you have to let me know immediately."
With that, He Zhong left, glancing back over his shoulder every few steps.
Jiang Li watched He Zhong’s retreating figure. ’Considering what Kong Zhen said earlier,’ she thought, ’my gut tells me there was something bad in that food.’
"You don’t think He Zhong was trying to poison Kong Zhen, do you? And he only left because he saw there were too many of us here."
"If that’s really his motive, he’ll try again if he fails the first time," Lu Xingye said, looking at her.
Zhou Tiancheng returned with Kong Zhen’s clothes, and Lu Xingye filled him in on He Zhong’s visit.
Zhou Tiancheng frowned. If not for what Kong Zhen had tried to say, they might have dismissed it as normal behavior.
But Kong Zhen had already sounded the alarm. This wasn’t going to be simple.
"Let’s see what’s in these clothes first," Zhou Tiancheng said, setting down the evidence bag and handing them both a pair of gloves.
Jiang Li looked at the clothes inside.
"There’s nothing in the pockets," Jiang Li noted. "So it might be sewn into the lining."
Zhou Tiancheng took out a pair of scissors and handed them to Lu Xingye.
"Right here?" Lu Xingye looked up at Zhou Tiancheng.
"Obviously. If you can’t find it, we’ll just have to go back in and ask Kong Zhen."
Hearing this, Wu Ming asked, "Then why don’t we just go in and ask her now?"
Zhou Tiancheng looked at Wu Ming. "What, and lose all our professional pride?"
Zhou Tiancheng turned to Lu Xingye. "Xingye, you’d better be thorough. If you come up empty, I’d say you need to go back and retake your forensics courses."
Lu Xingye’s hand, holding the scissors, froze for a second before he started examining the clothes.
Kong Zhen’s clothing could hardly be called an outfit anymore; it was more like a bundle of tattered rags.
"Officer Zhou, did Qin Hao say anything about He Zhong?"
Zhou Tiancheng shook his head. "No. It’s possible He Zhong isn’t involved, or maybe he’s just being used as a pawn. You guys keep searching. I’m going for a smoke."
Zhou Tiancheng headed outside.
Lu Xingye carefully cut open the outer layer of the garment and searched. "I’ve got nothing."
Jiang Li was working on the cuff. After snipping it open and feeling around, she suddenly felt a small, hard square. Puzzled, she made another cut.
A folded piece of paper fell out. Jiang Li picked it up. "Found it!"
Seeing this, Lu Xingye wrapped the tattered clothes back up. He looked at the note in Jiang Li’s hand. "Secure that. We’ll look at it back at the station."
As Zhou Tiancheng came out of the restroom, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure at the nurses’ station. He immediately ducked back out of sight.
’He Zhong? Didn’t Xingye and the others say he’d already left?’
"Excuse me, nurse. My daughter-in-law is very weak. I brought her some congee. Could I trouble you to feed it to her when she wakes up? It’s a bit awkward for me, being her father-in-law."
He Zhong placed the thermal food container he was holding on the counter.
The nurse listened to He Zhong and felt a twinge of envy. ’A father-in-law who respects boundaries like that is a rare find,’ she thought.
"Of course. Don’t you worry, we’ll make sure to feed her when she wakes up," the nurse replied warmly, taking the container.
He Zhong smiled, thanked her profusely, and then left.
Zhou Tiancheng emerged from his hiding spot and approached the nurse. He showed her his badge, took the container from her, and had a nearby colleague go buy an identical one to give to her.
Zhou Tiancheng walked back over, carrying the container. "He Zhong is definitely up to something. Let’s head back to the station. We’ll have the lab check this for poison."
He held up the container.
Lu Xingye and Jiang Li got to their feet. "Good timing. We found what was in the clothes."
The group hurried back to the station without delay. Jiang Li had Yu Huannian stay behind, just in case.