The interrogation room was empty as Tang Jianghai was led out, and a woman was brought in.
The woman appeared quite frightened and her gaze sowhat vacant, seeming sowhat abnormal. Zhou Ning slightly furrowed his brows—was this He Jiahong’s mother?
One of the police officers who brought her handed a piece of paper to Liu Yufei and whispered sothing to her and Fang Mu. Zhou Ning did not hear clearly, nor did he make out what the paper was, but Mr. Zhao’s face showed shock.
Zhou Ning glanced at Mr. Zhao.
"What’s wrong?"
Mr. Zhao pointed inside the interrogation room and said quickly,
"I saw the title on the paper—it’s a diagnosis certificate from Qindao Psychiatric Hospital. Could it be that He Jiahong’s mother has a ntal illness? Then are they having her mother take care of her, or is she supposed to take care of her mother?"
This unexpected developnt surprised everyone. Zhou Ning looked toward Mr. Qu, who imdiately raised his hand, opened another laptop, and quickly entered a webpage to search. In a mont, he located He Hongjian’s household registration information.
It listed three individuals: the head of the household was He Hongjian, with a daughter He Jiahong and a wife nad Zhang Qiuju. As for their parents, there were no records of their residency cancellation, which was unexpected to Mr. Qu. He checked further but found no siblings for He Hongjian either.
"This person has no one from the older or the current generation. Could he be an orphan?"
Zhou Ning also found it odd and dialed Liu Yufei’s mobile phone.
"Mrs. Fei, Mr. Qu just checked He Hongjian’s household registration info. His family has no records of parents or siblings, nor his migration info. I’m not sure if he’s an orphan. Also, his wife Zhang Qiuju seems to have a psychiatric diagnosis. Maybe we should bring He Hongjian in for an investigation too?"
Liu Yufei humd in acknowledgnt before saying,
"I saw the diagnosis; it says reactive psychosis, which seems to have been triggered by a past stimulus, leading to the illness. The diagnosis was made in July 2006. I’ll have Fang Mu bring the diagnosis to you to see.
I just had an officer inquire He Hongjian, and he said that after 2006, his wife controlled her condition well with dication and hadn’t had an episode in many years. However, the death of He Jiahong seems to have stressed her, and she’s been in a poor state these days."
As she spoke, Liu Yufei hung up, instructed Fang Mu, and then handed him the diagnosis. Zhang Qiuju, seated in the observation room, looked anxious and stared at the back of Liu Yufei’s head. As Liu Yufei turned and rubbed her neck, her gaze went from initially vacant to eventually showing a hint of confusion and fierceness.
Just as Zhou Ning was about to take a closer look at the diagnosis,
Mr. Zhao let out a cry of alarm. Zhou Ning looked back to see Zhang Qiuju in the interrogation room lunging at Liu Yufei, clinging onto her neck. Mr. Shan, seated inside, was not quick enough to get out and intervene; as he reached to stop Zhang Qiuju, the laptop tumbled down as well.
Zhou Ning and the others rushed to the next room where Liu Yufei had already grabbed Zhang Qiuju’s arm, twisted her hands behind her, and pinned her to the ground.
Two streaks of blood marked Liu Yufei’s neck. Seeing everyone rushing in, she quickly shouted,
"Don’t all co over, you might scare her. Director Zhou, just you co over and see if she’s been triggered. Why would she react so violently all of a sudden?"
Liu Yufei’s reaction impressed Zhou Ning. He hurried forward and dialed a video call request to He Shancun. After a mont, He Shancun answered, evidently in a corridor with his face close to the screen.
"What’s wrong?"
"Mr. He, can you take a look for ? This person is nad Zhang Qiuju, diagnosed with reactive psychosis in 2006. After treatnt, her condition was good, but her daughter was murdered a month ago, and she’s not been right. She just attacked Liu Yufei."
As he spoke, Zhou Ning passed the diagnosis to He Shancun to see. After checking Zhang Qiuju and asking her a few questions, Mr. He said,
"It seems she has been triggered by sothing. Normally, reactive psychosis doesn’t recur after recovery, but the cause you ntioned might only be part of it. Give her a sedative to calm her down, and then see if you can induce a response later, like Doctor Shi’s hypnotism."
Zhou Ning nodded, but he was scratching his head, being unfamiliar with Xinghua.
"Don’t hang up in a rush. Do you have any familiar doctors in Xinghua City? Sending her to the hospital might further upset her. I think it might be better to have soone co by and give her an injection, let her rest a bit!"
He Shancun sighed, gave Zhou Ning a resentful glance,
"I knew it, I shouldn’t have answered your call. What sins did I commit in my past life to know you as a friend? Wait for my ssage. Let her rest in a dim room, find a family mber or soone she knows well to comfort her, and she might feel a bit better. Now, send your location."
After speaking, the video call ended with a click. Zhou Ning rubbed his nose and gestured to the others.
"Don’t just stand there, call He Hongjian over and take Zhang Qiuju to the observation room next door. It’s dimly lit there. Mr. Zhao, accompany He Hongjian in the room, and don’t look for any female officers for now. Mr. Zhao, take off your uniform. I rember Zhang Qiuju attacked Mrs. Fei just now; she was fixated on Mrs. Fei’s police cap."
Liu Yufei was taken aback and glanced at the still struggling Zhang Qiuju. Indeed, she was biting Liu Yufei’s sleeve and making whining noises from her mouth, similar to the sound of a small dog guarding its food. For so reason, seeing Zhang Qiuju like this made Liu Yufei’s nose sting.
A mother, particularly one who is a ek psychiatric patient, from an honest family, to be driven to the point of attacking like a wild beast, seed to be related to the death of He Jiahong or perhaps the investigation and threats thereafter that stressed her.
After waiting for a while, He Hongjian hurried in. Seeing Zhang Qiuju’s condition, he rushed over with his hand raised to hit her, but was caught by Liu Yufei.
"She just bit onto my sleeve, it’s not a big deal. Don’t agitate her. Just now, our forensic director asked a professional doctor, and comforting her is beneficial for her emotional control. A doctor will co later, so don’t worry too much."
About fifteen minutes later, Mr. Yang hurried in with a doctor. Upon seeing Zhou Ning, the man took out his cellphone to compare a photo, then quickly approached Zhou Ning.
"You’re Doctor Zhou, right? I’m Mr. He’s classmate, nad Zhang Zhuoqun. Where’s the patient? I’d like to take a look."
Zhou Ning shook hands with him. Zhang Zhuoqun seed a bit excited, constantly controlling the expression on his face. This reaction left Zhou Ning sowhat puzzled, but he didn’t say much, hastily checked Zhang Qiuju’s body, gave her an injection, and administered a few dications.
Then he turned to He Hongjian, handed him the remaining dicine, and as he wrote on a piece of paper, he instructed:
"This dicine needs to be taken continuously for half a month, before als in the morning and evening, all the sa. The last number is my phone; contact anyti if there is any problem. However, the person taking care of her should be soone familiar; don’t let her et strangers for now. Rest for half an hour later, and if you wish to ask questions, you can continue, but don’t take too long. I’ll wait here for a bit."
Upon hearing these instructions, He Hongjian was so touched he didn’t know what to say. Suddenly rembering that the dicine was given to him for free by the doctor, he quickly reached for his pocket, pulling out crumpled cash that was dirty, with bills of all denominations.
It was apparent that his financial situation wasn’t good; after all, adding up the total, it was just over two hundred yuan. Zhang Zhuoqun waved his hand.
"Don’t be formal with . Thank Zhang Doctor Zhou if you want to thank soone. I’m leaving now; call if there’s anything."
Seeing Zhang Zhuoqun carrying his suitcase out, Zhou Ning got up to see him off. Although it was ti for dinner, with sothing to attend to here, he naturally had no ti to invite guests. Reaching the corridor, Zhou Ning grasped Zhang Zhuoqun’s hand.
"Thank you so much, Doctor Zhang."
Zhang Zhuoqun waved his hand, smiled shyly, and glancing around to see that no one was coming, he quickly opened his suitcase, took out a book and a pen, and handed them to Zhou Ning.
"Don’t ntion it. Even without Mr. He’s sake, I would have co. After all, seeing my idol up close, could you sign for ?"
Zhou Ning was taken aback, then smiled when he saw the book in his hand.
On the cover of the book, there was a scalpel and a blood-stained hand with bullet holes beside it. The title was prominently "Speaking for the Dead," along with a blurb that a practicing forensic doctor takes you through the mysteries of murder scenes and reveals the true nature of good and evil.
This was actually a book he had written. Editor Guan Jian had told him that the book had been published and had mailed him twenty copies, saying they were reprinting due to very good sales figures.
But because of timing, he had never looked at it, and unexpectedly, today he t soone who wanted an autograph, sothing he had never anticipated.
Taking the pen, he wrote a blessing on the title page, duly signing his own na, and then handed the book back to Zhang Zhuoqun with both hands.
"It’s my first ti encountering soone asking for my autograph, thank you too!"
Zhang Zhuo smiled.
"I really like this kind of book. I’ve recomnded it to my friends and colleagues; it’s very good. But when will you publish the second volu?"
Zhou Ning waved his hand.
"Wait patiently, the second volu is still being written. I’ll pick up the pace when I have more ti."
"Okay, then I won’t disturb you with your case. Send a copy of the second volu when it’s out, don’t forget!"
Zhou Ning nodded, and Zhang Zhuoqun hastily left. Mr. Zhao opened the door and peeked out, clicking his tongue from the inside.
"t a fan?"
"Less nonsense."
As they spoke, Liu Yufei and the others ca out. She wearily tilted her neck and waved to Zhou Ning.
"That will be all for today. You all go and rest. Since the various tests won’t be out until tomorrow, there’s no point in waiting here. We still have a few more people to question. By the way, that Doctor Zhang, does he know much about the inside story?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"At the funeral ho, I pressed Zhang Qiang. His expression was conflicted, but in the end, he didn’t say much. I don’t think he was threatened. It’s possible soone gave him an order. I wonder if he will regret sacrificing his career."
Liu Yufei narrowed her eyes, her emotion not overly apparent.
"He chose his own path, so he must bear the consequences. Stop talking and go have dinner, then rest at the hotel. Mr. Wang knows the place. Send the report no matter the ti when it cos out."
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