Lu Linjiang nodded slightly. "I’ve already got Yang Bo keeping an eye on Luo Jia. You two check the seminar’s attendee list. See if there’s anyone particularly close to Tao Minxing, then we’ll pay them a visit."
Having finished his instructions, he started toward his office, but after only two steps, he abruptly turned around and strode out of the main office area.
Tang Hua’s hand stopped flipping through the files. He turned to Xu Sichen and let out a series of mouse-like squeaks. "Squeak, squeak."
"Speak human!" Xu Sichen snapped, her hands never stopping and her head never lifting.
"What’s the Captain’s deal?"
"What do you mean, 'what’s his deal'?"
Tang Hua clicked his tongue. "I mean Jiang Cheng!"
Xu Sichen finally deigned to give Tang Hua a glance. "A heart of iron."
"No way," Tang Hua said, looking skeptical. "Jiang Cheng doesn’t look like the type to do something like this. Surely the Captain knows that?"
"He said as much this morning—that it’s impossible for Jiang Cheng to be a killer. But..." A strange expression crossed Xu Sichen’s face. "During the interrogation earlier, Jiang Cheng asked him, 'Do you think I’d kill someone?' To be honest, according to regulations, it really wasn't appropriate to give a straight answer, but you should have seen the Captain’s face. Upright, unyielding, and completely impenetrable. If this were decades ago, he’s the type who wouldn’t even blink while sitting on a tiger bench."
The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Tang Hua said sheepishly, "I can imagine it."
"Tang Hua, you’ve been with the team longer than me. Let me ask you something." Xu Sichen kicked her chair closer, leaning in until their heads nearly touched as she whispered, "Has the Captain ever actually liked anyone?"
"I think there was someone years ago..." Tang Hua thought for a moment. "Some senior of his or something. But then his old man made him marry Jiang Cheng, and I haven't heard anything since."
"Think about it—with the Captain’s aura, even if some poor girl with bad eyesight took a liking to him, anyone with a functioning brain would be scared off after a few looks from him. Who wants to spend their life testing their courage every day?"
The two looked at each other with mutual understanding and nodded in unison. It wasn't that Lu Linjiang was unattractive—far from it—and his social conduct was decent enough. It was just that his presence was too fierce, and he rarely smiled. If he hadn't toned it down a bit in the last couple of years, young women would have started avoiding him the moment they caught a second glimpse of him. It was exactly like a mouse seeing a cat. Tang Hua’s private habit of communicating through mouse squeaks was entirely an occupational hazard developed under Lu Linjiang’s reign.
Lu Linjiang walked with a brisk wind at his heels to the Forensics Department. Guo Junyi was yawning while tossing scattered items from his desk into a bag. He let out a groan when he saw Lu enter. "Captain Lu, how many times have we seen each other today? Are you trying to use up your entire meeting quota for the month in one go?"
Lu Linjiang didn't indulge in small talk. "Is the e-reader open yet?"
"It’s not that easy; I’m working on it." Guo Junyi tossed his keys into the bag and zipped it shut, picking up a report from the desk and handing it to Lu Linjiang. "I was going to drop this off on my way out."
Lu Linjiang took it and flipped it open quickly. It was the fingerprint identification he had requested. There were two sets of fingerprints on the e-reader: one belonging to Tao Minxing and the other to Luo Jia. Jiang Cheng’s was notably absent.
"Are you sure?"
Guo Junyi gave him a flat look. "Why don't you do it yourself then?"
"What about the protective case?"
"The prints on the case belong to Jiang Cheng, Tao Minxing, and Luo Jia."
"Luo Jia said he found the storage tube in the suitcase. Did you check the suitcase?"
"Checked it, checked it." Guo Junyi nodded like a pecking chicken. "Go find Xu Zhiwei. He’s on duty today and would welcome your harassment anytime. I haven't slept properly in two days; give me a break."
Guo Junyi pointed to the next room with one hand while clutching his bag with the other. "I’m off. See ya."
Lu Linjiang didn't stop him and headed next door. Xu Zhiwei had been looking at his phone, but upon seeing Lu, he immediately spoke up. "I checked the suitcase where the storage tube was found. There were fingerprints from two people."
"Tao Minxing and Luo Jia?" Lu Linjiang surmised.
"Correct. Just those two."
Lu Linjiang felt a flicker of disappointment. Since Luo Jia was the one who found the tube, it wasn't strange for his prints to be on the suitcase. However, the absence of Jiang Cheng’s prints could easily be explained by him intentionally wearing gloves—except that the long arm of justice had caught him, leaving behind a single middle fingerprint on the tube itself.
He emerged from Xu Zhiwei’s office deep in thought and ran right into Guo Junyi, who was coming out of the restroom. Guo Junyi intended to give him a simple nod, but seeing Lu Linjiang suddenly looking at him with a sharp glint in his eyes, he sensed trouble and tried to bolt. He was instantly caught by Lu Linjiang. The scholarly Guo Junyi was no match for a "savage" like Lu; he could only look up piteously, showing off his dark circles. "Captain Lu, be reasonable. It’s after hours."
"No overtime, I just need a moment of your time. Just one!" Lu Linjiang’s hand clamped onto Guo Junyi like an iron vice, escorting him into the autopsy room.
Tao Minxing lay quietly on the table, covered by a white sheet.
Guo Junyi made a final struggle. "I am one step away from sudden death."
"Five minutes. I’ll drive you home afterward." Lu Linjiang offered a rare, placating smile—one that made the hair on Guo Junyi’s arms stand straight up.
"Don't, don't, don't! Just speak plainly, don't smile! Do you have any idea how terrifying you look when you smile?"
Lu Linjiang’s attempt at flattery had backfired, so he dropped the smile as requested. "Is it confirmed that Tao Minxing’s cause of death was the influenza virus?"
Guo Junyi, thinking he was going to be asked something complex, rolled his eyes. "I performed the autopsy myself; could I be wrong? Even before that storage tube appeared, it was determined to be sudden death caused by the flu. The tube’s appearance only served as further proof."
Lu Linjiang asked persistently, "Is there no other possibility?"
"Do not question my professional integrity!" Guo Junyi was reaching his breaking point. "When I said it was a normal death from the flu, you thought there was a problem. Now that there really is a problem, you want to prove there isn't? I’m warning you—don't think you can do whatever you want just because I can't beat you in a fight!"
Lu Linjiang fell silent, resting his chin on his hand as he stared calmly at Tao Minxing. Seeing that Lu was no longer paying attention to him, Guo Junyi tentatively took a step to the side. When Lu didn't react, he quickly greased his wheels and vanished.
The moment he left, Lu Linjiang looked up. Seeing that Guo Junyi had completely forgotten about the offer of a ride, Lu also breathed a secret sigh of relief; one less thing to deal with.
He paced slowly back to the office. Xu Sichen and Tang Hua were gone, but a sticky note was left on his computer screen. It was from Xu Sichen. An old man named Wentworth at the seminar was on good terms with Tao Minxing, but he had to return to the US overnight. Xu Sichen and Tang Hua hadn't waited for Lu Linjiang and had headed straight for the airport.
With the office empty, Lu Linjiang sat alone and quietly reviewed all the case files again. He felt as though something was being overlooked.
The suitcase, the protective case, the e-reader—all had various combinations of prints. Yet the storage tube, the single item that had changed the nature of the case, bore only Jiang Cheng’s fingerprint, and specifically his middle finger. And then there was the bathroom—it hadn't looked out of place, yet it made Lu Linjiang instinctively feel that something was wrong.
He snapped the file shut. After a moment’s thought, he decided to interrogate Jiang Cheng once more.
