Old He dropped Feng Zhi off at Guanlan Court and left soon after.
When Xu Ruyi and Auntie Feng opened the door and saw Feng Zhi, they both showed a flicker of shock, but quickly regained composure, expressing pleasant surprise and the joy of a long-awaited family reunion.
Did that flicker of shock prove anything?
Even if it did, solving a case couldn't rely on such elusive "feelings."
Without evidence, any feeling was useless.
Of course, Old He's purpose in bringing Feng Zhi all the way to Guanlan Court wasn't to gauge Xu Ruyi's reaction—again, Feng Zhi had no alibi for the crime. No matter how strong the suspicion or how unusual the reaction, it meant nothing.
"Thank you, Captain He. It's been a while since we've seen Xiao Zhi. Auntie Feng has missed him terribly," Xu Ruyi expressed her gratitude.
Both she and Auntie Feng were visibly happy—Xu Ruyi acted like a true older sister, urging Feng Zhi to shower and change. Auntie Feng bustled in the kitchen, making her son's favorite beef noodles. Little Pear, just woken up, also cried out happily and threw herself into Feng Zhi's arms: "Ah—Uncle Xiao Zhi!"
Qin Guan wasn't wrong; they were truly a family.
When Xu Ruyi was fifteen, Auntie Feng had a sudden attack of pancreatitis. Hanging between life and death, it was the Xu family who rushed her to the hospital and saved her.
Before Xu's father passed away, he had even purchased pension insurance for Auntie Feng and saved a 200,000 yuan "startup fund" for Feng Zhi—one of the reasons Qin Guan was certain the mother and son would go to any lengths for Xu Ruyi.
"Money! That mother and son came from poverty, had nothing. Only by clinging to Xu Ruyi, this big tree, could they have money. So, for money, and for their bond, they'd be willing to do anything for Xu Ruyi, including killing Qi Min."
Leaving Guanlan Court, Old He went straight home.
From the moment he first arrested Qin Guan for interrogation, suspecting him of Qi Min's murder, Old He hadn't returned home—he had a simple, foldable camp bed in his office. Sometimes when busy, he spent the night there.
In truth, "busy" was just an excuse.
Old He didn't want to go home because the place was too desolate.
This small two-bedroom apartment was bought by Old He after his divorce. After his sister-in-law's incident, his ex-wife had sold their previous four-bedroom home at a discount—she couldn't face that house. The wind chime on the door, the carefully arranged flowers on the dining table, the potted plants on the windowsill, the tablecloth in their son's room, the stuffed animal on his son's bed…
That house held too many shadows of the departed.
In that home, his wife, son, and in-laws were all submerged in immense, boundless pain.
Old He was too.
Compared to the others, Old He bore an additional pain: self-blame. As a police officer, he'd completely failed to sense the danger. As a police officer, he knew the killer but couldn't bring him to justice. As a police officer, he couldn't protect his own family…
Pushing the door open, the sour stench of rotting food assaulted his senses.
It was takeout from last time in the kitchen, not discarded in time. It had spoiled.
Old He endured the smell to throw out the trash, took a hot shower, changed into clean clothes, and tossed his dirty laundry directly into the washing machine—he'd bought the place secondhand, all furniture and appliances belonged to the previous owner. The washing machine was an old top-loader model. Probably worn out from overuse, if the load was even slightly heavy, it would rock violently and make loud banging noises.
Last time his son came for dinner, the tremendous noise from the bathroom had startled him.
The sound jolted Old He awake from a shallow sleep.
He sat up from the sofa, checked his watch—he'd only dozed for a little over ten minutes.
He gave up on sleeping.
The washing machine still had about ten minutes left. He pulled out the case files from his bag and began reviewing everything again.
"Zeng Demei," Feng Zhi, Qi Min's time of death…
As he was looking, a message came from Xiao Wu: "Captain He, Qin Guan is making trouble again."
Qin Guan had waited a full two days. At first, he'd been patient, calm, composed, confident. But two days later, when Xiao Wu told him "Zeng Demei" was still missing, he snapped.
"And Feng Zhi! Why haven't you arrested Feng Zhi yet? Bring him in for questioning, and the whole truth will come out! Feng Zhi! Are you even listening to me? Are all of you really willing to be played like fools by that kid?"
Qin Guan was frantic.
Even when Old He entered, his agitation hadn't fully subsided.
"Where's Feng Zhi? Bring him in! Question him! Then you'll know I'm not lying! He did everything! Including killing Qi Min!"
Yes, that stupid, unsophisticated country bumpkin. Just arrest him, cuff him, give him a little scare, and he'd naturally have nowhere to hide. He'd confess everything.
Once Feng Zhi confessed, Xu Ruyi would completely crumble. She wouldn't hold out.
But Old He shattered his expectations.
"Feng Zhi has no alibi for the crime," Old He said quietly, watching Qin Guan. Qin Guan was confused; so was he. But he had to respect the facts, follow the evidence.
"Feng Zhi never went to the city where you were on business. Whether before or after your rendezvous with Qi Min, he was constantly attending classes at his school a thousand miles away. How could he be in two places to follow you? How could he commit the crime for Xu Ruyi?"
The question hit Qin Guan like a massive boulder rolling towards him.
Impossible! That couldn't be!
But the police couldn't possibly be mistaken.
No matter how clever Feng Zhi and Xu Ruyi thought they were, their little tricks couldn't possibly fool the police!
Qin Guan slumped back into his chair. Disappointment drenched him like a bucket of ice water, chilling him to the bone. What was going on? Where had he gone wrong?
Was his deduction flawed?
Impossible!
He hadn't missed a single detail. He'd seen through everything Xu Ruyi had done. He couldn't be wrong!
Xu Ruyi had no other helpers besides Feng Zhi and Auntie Feng. Hired help? Who would risk their life for her like that?
Hired someone? Where would she find them? Xu Ruyi wouldn't know how!
No, no… Qin Guan was utterly perplexed. That bitch didn't have those connections. In such a short time, she couldn't have found the right person. Even if she did, she wouldn't know how to handle them, let alone control them.
"There's one more thing," Old He spoke.
What?
Qin Guan widened his eyes, staring directly at Old He's calm face—he could clearly feel the freedom that had been almost within his grasp now drifting away like smoke, ruthlessly, uncontrollably.
He was about to lose his grip.
He had only one winning card left.
The last one.
"Qi Min's body." Sure enough, Old He hit on his thought. "The time of death you mentioned."
Yes, the body's time of death. This couldn't be faked! No matter how Xu Ruyi schemed, she absolutely couldn't fix this bug!
Old He continued to stare calmly at Qin Guan's face, now contorted with emotion, and calmly delivered the point that troubled him too. "The body we found—the one recovered from the bottom of the lake—has been confirmed to be Qi Min's. The time of death, as determined by the medical examiner, was indeed one month ago. During the time you and Qi Min were away on business."