Chapter 126: Approaching the Truth

This story is entirely fictional.

The autopsy results for Aunt Fan have been released by the Dahe Police Department. The findings indicate that there were ligature marks and bruising on her neck, confirming death by asphyxiation. Residual semen was found in the victim’s body, indicating sexual activity prior to her death. A DNA comparison between the semen and Nian Weiyi confirmed that the sample matched the Dahe head coach.

On the victim’s arm, there was a scratch approximately five centimeters long. Additionally, skin tissue was discovered under her fingernails; this tissue did not belong to Nian Weiyi, leading to the preliminary conclusion that the victim had scratched her assailant. Detective Wu Zhengzhe deduced that Aunt Fan must have been killed by someone other than Nian Weiyi, ruling out the possibility that the same person killed both Aunt Fan and Fan Wei.

Wu Zhengzhe had long been aware that the head coach and Aunt Fan were cohabitating. He also knew that after the match between Dahe and Haima, Nian Weiyi had returned to Aunt Fan’s home and engaged in sexual relations with her.

Nian Weiyi’s disappearance after calling Wu Zhengzhe to report the crime caused the detective significant frustration. As a key witness, his vanishing after reporting the case created considerable difficulties for the investigation. However, such challenges did not deter an experienced investigator like Wu. He sensed that Nian Weiyi was in danger—much like Fan Wei—perhaps even facing a lethal threat.

This danger likely stemmed from the outcome of the Dahe-Haima match. Otherwise, Fan Wei would not have been murdered on the very day the match concluded; his death was clearly triggered by the interests of certain groups. The head coach’s current disappearance was likely due to his failure to carry out pre-arranged instructions during the game. This was a deduction Wu had made after eavesdropping on a call from a mysterious stranger.

When Wu dialed Nian Weiyi’s number, the phone was powered off.

Because he had received the call at night, Wu was free from the interference of Xiao Jin. After all other police personnel had left the station, he remained at Aunt Fan’s house to conduct further on-site inspections. He hoped for a major new discovery, examining the scene with such meticulous care that he did not overlook a single strand of hair on the floor.

Wu moved Aunt Fan’s bed to check beneath it, discovering a tissue stained with semen. He used tweezers to place it into a plastic bag, which he stored in his personal kit. He then proceeded to tap along the walls, looking for any hidden compartments or safes for valuables. As an expert in such techniques, Wu could tell almost instantly that a hidden space must exist; he had been puzzled by the fact that he hadn't found any valuables in the home—no bankbooks, jewelry, or notebooks—which seemed impossible for a woman who had run a business all her life.

When he tapped the wall near the head of the bed, he finally made a discovery: the wall behind the newspaper-covered surface sounded hollow. He peeled back the paper, revealing a removable brick. Thrilled, Wu removed the brick to find a large, cabinet-like space with a moisture-proof plastic mat at the bottom.

Inside the compartment were a ledger, two bank passbooks, and a bank card. One passbook was in Aunt Fan’s name. The other was under the name of her nephew, Fan Wei, with an account opening date from two years ago—roughly the same time Fan Wei joined the Dahe Club. The bank card bore the name Nian Weier, written in pinyin. Wu had previously investigated Nian Weiyi and knew that Nian Weier was his younger brother. The balance on the card remained to be verified at the bank.

Carrying this evidence, Wu did not report to the station the following morning. Ma Shengwei was already aware that Wu had responded to a report the previous night and had received information about Aunt Fan’s death from the coroner. Unable to see Wu in person, Ma felt like an ant on a hot pan; he was anxious, unsure of what concrete evidence the detective might have secured.

Dissatisfied with the inefficiency of the men he had assigned to watch Wu—a result of Xiao Jin’s incompetence—Ma called the new surveillance team and ordered them to tighten their watch. Regarding the truth of Xiao Yi’s background, Ma believed his cover-up was flawless. He never dreamed that his conversation with Jin Yan in the hospital corridor had been accidentally recorded by Xiao Jin.

Ma was even less aware that the usually timid and honest Xiao Jin had developed murderous intent toward his superior. Xiao Jin was currently fiddling with his Type 54 pistol, chambering a round, and rehearsing the act of killing. His eyes burned with hatred, ready to erupt at any moment.

"Where are you? Return to the station immediately. I want your report on last night’s case," Ma demanded, his tone imperious.

"Understood," Wu replied coldly.

Wu went to the bank and presented his badge to the teller. "A murder occurred last night. We recovered some items from a hidden compartment at the scene. These are the victim's passbooks and a bank card. We need a printout of the transaction history, specifically the recent ones, including the addresses and amounts of any purchases."

"Please wait a moment; I will retrieve and print those records for you as quickly as possible," the teller replied.

"Thank you," Wu said, sitting down to wait.

About half an hour later, the clerk returned with the stamped documents. "This person named Nian Weier also has another card with us. There were two transactions a few days ago: one at a leather goods shop via a POS terminal, and another at a bar called Zhizhen. The total is around 180,000. Shall I print those as well?"

"Yes, please, print everything. Can you see the address of the leather goods shop?" Wu asked.

"The registered address is 898 Jiefang Road," the clerk informed him. "However, this payment was made via a mobile POS terminal; it wasn't at Jiefang Road, but at the Hexi Vocational College."

"Hexi Vocational College?" Wu felt a surge of excitement. "That’s it. It matches my theory. Thank you!"

Wu took the documents and records, noted the times and locations, and tucked them into his bag. To avoid detection by Ma, he hid the bag in a compartment in his car trunk.

Upon returning to the station, Ma was waiting impatiently. "I told you to be back in an hour, and you took an hour and five minutes. What is the meaning of this? Are you challenging my authority? Do you treat my discipline as nothing but wind?"

"How could that be, Bureau Chief Ma? Have you seen the traffic? Look outside—Dahe is different today, as if something major is happening. The streets are packed with people. Look, even the road outside our office is completely gridlocked," Wu said with calm composure.

Ma looked out the window. Indeed, the streets were choked with traffic, and vehicles were barely moving.

"I wasn't lying to you, was I? The congestion is just impossible," Wu continued.

"Fine, fine, I suppose you're telling the truth," Ma conceded.

"I always tell the truth. To get back to business, what do you want to know?" Wu asked.

"I know you were at the scene last night. I want to know if you found anything else at Aunt Fan’s home. The evidence brought back so far is very limited," Ma said, clearly desperate for leads.

"I arrived at the scene after receiving a call from the Dahe head coach. However, by the time I got there, Nian Weiyi was already gone. I suspect he is in danger, and his life may be under serious threat," Wu replied.

"On what grounds do you make that judgment? I’m curious," Ma asked.

"Fan Wei was murdered the night after the Dahe-Haima match. I suspect his death is related to underground betting. The victim of the 315 case had his hamstrings severed, which suggests the same perpetrator as Fan Wei’s murder. But Aunt Fan’s death last night appears to be the work of someone else," Wu explained calmly.

"Is there any direct link between the deaths of Fan Wei and his aunt?" Ma pressed.

"On the surface, there is no connection, but in reality, they are linked. Both involve the underground betting scene," Wu said, looking Ma in the eyes.

"I find that baseless. Aunt Fan was just an honest village woman who knew nothing of the world. Surely she had nothing to do with betting?"

"True, Aunt Fan was not directly involved, but that doesn't mean she didn't know something. For instance, she may have been privy to certain secrets regarding those games," Wu said.