Retrogade Mission

Chapter 10: Beginning and End

Violence is the most direct and effective means of resolving chaos. Zuo Luo finally arrived, grabbed the young woman by the back of the neck with his left hand, dragged her away, and slammed her face onto the table. With his right hand, he took out handcuffs and put them on her.

The young woman struggled desperately, glaring at the girl and shouting, "He killed her! He and she conspired to kill his wife!"

"Speak properly." Zuo Luo pressed the young woman down into the chair.

The young woman, panting, looked at the girl and said, "My husband has a family abroad. Hua Ming took advantage of my loneliness and used sweet words to trick me into having an affair. I've been waiting for Hua Ming to divorce his wife, but she won't; she's threatening suicide. We had another fight that day, and then Hua Ming knocked on my door, saying he'd killed his wife. Then he asked me to give false testimony. Girl, you still dare to say you saw Hua Ming at 9:10?"

The girl was terrified and just cried. The young woman, seeing this, felt a sense of satisfaction and revenge: "His clothes had blood on them, and I was the one who washed them for him. Those clothes are still in my closet... No man is any good."

The commotion attracted the attention of several detectives from Team Two. Zuo Luo called out, "Old Wang, could you please help me?"

Old Wang, who was in his fifties, was very perceptive. He nodded, walked over, and told the young woman to stand up, saying, "Come with me."

Zuo Luo walked up to the trembling girl and asked, "Are you alright?"

The girl shook her head, her face pale.

“I won’t handcuff you since you’re pregnant,” Zuo Luo said. “You two are accomplices, I don’t know if you’re conspirators. But let me tell you, you’re in big trouble now. At least she confessed, and if you find a good lawyer, it shouldn’t be a big problem, but you…”

Su Cheng braced his left hand on his hip, feeling a sharp, tingling sensation from the bump. He closed the door, walked over, and said, "Let me introduce you. This is Zuo Luo, the leader of Group Seven, and this is Bai Xue, a fourth-year student at the police academy."

"Huh?" Zuo Luo didn't react at first, but when he saw the girl take out the filling from her stomach, he thought for a moment, understood, and looked at Su Cheng: "I need an explanation."

Su Cheng smiled, pulled over the cleaner chair next to the young woman, and sat down. He said calmly, "I suspected her the moment I saw her."

"reason."

"single."

"That's not a reason."

Su Cheng said, "Living next door to a murder case, single... Logically speaking, it's very unusual for a woman to live so comfortably in that kind of environment and still maintain a daily fitness routine. To prove my judgment, while I was eating noodles, I discovered that this woman's husband was abroad and rarely returned to China. A beautiful, fit, and perpetually single woman, when a murder occurs next door and the area is still under lockdown, would either flee the environment for several days or have a close friend stay with her for a while."

Su Cheng paused, then continued, "But she didn't. From the furnishings in her home, I noticed she didn't have many friends. She was very particular about her skin and figure. I also noticed she kept a lot of instant noodles and other fast food. When I got chili powder, I found there were almost no vegetables or pork in the refrigerator that needed any processing. In conclusion, this neighbor is a reclusive, single, beautiful, and sexy woman. And because she gets up early, it's unlikely she goes out at night. Is she a block of wood? Obviously not."

Su Cheng said, “Hua Ming, the husband, is a network engineer who works from home most of the time. His wife, the deceased, is a high-speed train worker who is only home two days a week. The deceased was around forty years old and suffered from hormonal imbalance, which caused her to be irritable. You also mentioned that Hua Ming was unhappy under his wife's domineering influence. Looking at Hua Ming, he is handsome and three years younger than his wife. This makes me think of a lover committing the crime. However, based on the evidence at the scene, it was a crime committed by an acquaintance, a crime of passion, a moment of impulse that led to the murder. Moreover, the police did not find any trace of other women. I believe this attractive neighbor was an accomplice who did not participate in the murder and is likely to confess. Furthermore, from what we understand, there were arguments between the neighbor and the wife.”

Su Cheng said, "Next, mind reading. From the arrangement of objects... okay, let me be serious. From our conversation, I think the sexy neighbor is very possessive. Judging from her fitness classes and diet, she's quite ruthless with herself. Furthermore, I infer that her husband is having an affair; she's not his first wife. The reason is that she's around thirty years old, and there were no books or medications related to fertility in her room, indicating that neither she nor her husband have any problems. But they don't have children. I categorize her as a mistress. Maybe they have a marriage certificate or something, but in her husband's eyes, she's just a mistress. Therefore, I deduce that she has already been betrayed by a man, becoming an appendage. Given her resentful nature, she certainly couldn't bear being an appendage a second time, betrayed by a man. Most importantly, she has the ability to control Hua Ming. She believes she controls and understands Hua Ming, and she certainly couldn't accept Hua Ming secretly keeping a young pregnant girl. Perhaps Hua Ming killed his wife not for her, but for the young girl. You know, Hua Ming has always longed for a child."

“From a psychological perspective, you compensate for what you lack. Many people have an inferiority complex, which is something they lack, such as age. Hua Ming's conditions are not bad; he earns over 20,000 yuan a month, has a stable job, is handsome, and has no children. It's possible for him to find a younger girl after his divorce. Especially looking at Bai Xue's appearance, she seems like a girl who just came to the city from the countryside to work—naive and lacking in security.” Zuo Luo explained, “Then everything was settled, and that was it.”

Zuo Luo, with a cigarette dangling from his lips but not lighting it, stared at Su Cheng for a while before saying, "Impressive."

"You're too kind. I worked under Big Pineapple for several years, after all." This is the affectionate nickname some of Big Pineapple's fans have for the late, famous private detective. Big Pineapple was also an author, and his character has been adapted into a film.

Zuo Luo said, "But it's relatively risky."

Su Cheng agreed, saying, "The key is low cost. I considered that the sexy neighbor might turn hostile on the spot. I also considered the possibility that she might not, and I could just endure it. In any case, I can determine whether the neighbor is related to the case. I don't think she has the ability to cover it up. This is a risk. But I think the neighbor has a problem, that's for sure, not a risk." If the neighbor doesn't take any risks, Su Cheng will have Zuo Luo wiretap the neighbor's phone. Su Cheng believes that the neighbor will call Hua Ming immediately as soon as she leaves the police station.

Zuo Luo accepted this explanation: "So you asked her for noodles yesterday."

“I asked her for noodles yesterday because I was really hungry.” Su Cheng corrected this statement, “You’re turning my mistreatment into an achievement, I don’t accept that.”

Zorro didn't care; he had to admit he hadn't observed or paid attention to his neighbors. That wasn't the original plan, though; he would have talked to them, believing he could uncover something. But Zorro's act of begging under the guise of being a policeman was unacceptable to him, and he wanted to leave immediately.

At the same time, Zuo Luo didn't appreciate Su Cheng's way of doing things. That was the way of a private investigator, not the way of the police. If you encounter a troublesome lawyer, they could exploit that to overturn the case and even sue the police. However, in this case, Zuo Luo didn't think the neighbor would think that much about it. Even with the statements and videos, it would be enough to give her a hard time, and then arrest Hua Ming and interrogate him separately. For a non-premeditated crime, there's simply no power to resist.