"Oh!" Wu Shuang took a deep breath and spoke to the doctor in front of her. "I think it's necessary to remind you of sothing. Any doctor should have the awareness to cure patients to health, yet you are the worst doctor I've ever t."
"What?"
Without looking back, Wu Shuang left the doctor baffled behind her and walked to the hospital service desk. She stopped in her tracks as a nurse was conducting a routine check on a new patient, accompanied by family mbers.
"Excuse , has anyone visited Tang Xiaoxia recently?" Wu Shuang hated to interrupt others at work, but she didn't have much ti to wait.
"Tang Xiaoxia? You an the patient with violent tendencies?" The nurse didn't mind Wu Shuang's interruption. She thought for a mont, then nodded. "Several people claiming to be colleagues of the patient have co."
"Is there a record?" ntal hospitals differ from regular hospitals; this one is built like a prison, with wire-wrapped windows to prevent the patients from escaping and harming ordinary people. Every visitor is recorded and archived.
"Just a mont." The nurse kept writing na tags for the patient beside her. Wu Shuang glanced over, and when the patient realized they were being watched, their gaze was empty and unfocused. Suddenly, they barked at Wu Shuang, startling her to jump back.
"Sorry, I'm really sorry!" The patient's family mber quickly apologized to Wu Shuang. "He won't bite."
"It's alright!" Wu Shuang felt embarrassed instead.
"This person is quite pitiful; his dog was beaten to death during a dog-hunting activity, traumatizing him. He's been in and out several tis, and this ti he's completely lost it, thinking he's a dog." The nurse continued searching the records without looking up, and Wu Shuang followed her line of sight, astonished by what she saw. The family had a leash in hand, and the person who barked at her was crawling on all fours, sniffing the ground like a dog.
"Schizophrenia?"
"Yes, patients like this aren't dangerous." The nurse found a registration form among the materials. "Last Sunday, soone with the surna Wang visited, and on the sa day, a man with the surna Qin also ca."
"Were they not together?"
"No, they ca separately." The nurse put the form back in the folder. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No, thank you." Wang? Qin? Tang Xiaoxia is a person in the City Committee, and it's not hard to find people with those surnas. Hua Muyun seems to know who did it; why not report the suspect? Perhaps it's because this person's identity is special? Or due to lack of evidence, making it hard to suspect? She picked up her phone and called Xiao Sun. "Is there any issue in the North District?"
"The local police station head reported a police officer died." Xiao Sun sat at his desk, surprisingly idle today with little to do. "You've left, Mu Rongyun has already gone there."
"Send the address. I'm going now."
"Wu team, your injury?"
"It's fine."
"Alright then." Ending the call, Wu Shuang turned her car at the intersection, with the police lights flashing. It was the most congested ti within the ring roads; sotis the police lights didn't make a difference.
Her phone soon received a ssage from Xiao Sun, with detailed directions. To reach the hospital entrance, she had to take Xuefu Road; she was heading toward the highway now. Wu Shuang looked at the surrounding cars in the rear-view mirror, realizing a U-turn was impossible, so she decided to go directly to the local police station, sparing the ti to find Director Zhao.
"Is this Director Zhao? I'm Wu Shuang." Driving, Wu Shuang called Director Zhao with a noisy background. "Hello? What'd you say? I can't hear clearly." After a few attempts, Director Zhao ended the call.
The congested lane eased up slightly, allowing Wu Shuang to weave through and slide out of the blocked lane at the first intersection. Taking the main roads wouldn't solve the frustrating traffic; she maneuvered through side roads, although they weren't easy to drive on and so parts were narrow for her car.
Her speed couldn't increase, but it was better than being stuck in traffic, at least she was moving. Eventually, she turned onto the main road heading for the highway, a necessary route.
"Hello?" Parking in a spot, Wu Shuang answered a call from Director Zhao.
"Officer Wu, right? Sorry about earlier, I'm outside, the signal was bad." Director Zhao imdiately apologized after connecting, and Wu Shuang was already used to it.
"I'm currently heading to your area. Can you tell about the case?" Wu Shuang wore an earpiece, using the speaker; the audio wasn't very clear, but a police officer's death was no trivial matter.
"This can't be explained over the phone. Officer Wu, I'm currently at the hospital. Your forensic expert Mu is already on-site. Would you like to speak to him?" Director Zhao looked at the cold-as-ice man in front of him, utterly unsure of how he had offended such a person. Ever since the call started, this man had given him nothing but a nacing glare.
"I'll head to your station first. If possible, wait for there."
"Okay, I'll head over and wait for you now." After hanging up, Director Zhao smiled at Mu Rongyun. "Your superior's call insists that I return to wait for them, so here…"
Mu Rongyun didn't pay any attention to Director Zhao's words. He ticulously examined the corpse already placed in the morgue basent. There was a small-caliber wound on the man's neck, and sand not yet cleaned from his nose. His gloved fingers moved down to find swelling and a hard object in the throat.
Opening the chest cavity, there was a black line running from the chest to the abdon, seemingly indicative of poisoning. However, the body's response to poisoning shouldn't present like this.
Mu Rongyun photographed and docunted various parts of the corpse. Through the lens, he noticed a subtle detail — a shallow red mark on the neck, easily obscured by the collar if not observed closely.
Mu Rongyun set down the cara and placed his hand on the red mark for comparison. This mark was smaller than his hand — it looked like a woman's hand.
He took several photos of this mark before returning the corpse to the freezer. If possible, he would have liked to dissect the body right there. The physical characteristics suggested murder; although the limbs were intact, the process of dying must have been extraordinarily painful.
"I'll go back with you." At the hospital exit, Mu Rongyun stopped Director Zhao, whose police car lights were still on.
"Cough, cough, forensic doctor, aren't you going to further dissect the body or anything?" After Mu Rongyun sat in the car, Director Zhao started the engine.
"I need a proof from your station." Is the sun rising from the west today? It was the first ti he actively answered a question, and Director Zhao couldn't help but glance at him like he was so mysterious creature, still avoiding direct eye contact.
"Ah, I'll get you the proof when we get back. If you need any other docunts, I'll prepare them for you." In the silence of not getting any further response from Mu Rongyun, Director Zhao parked the car in the police station courtyard, arriving almost simultaneously with Wu Shuang.
Before Director Zhao even opened the car door, there was the sharp sound of brakes beside him. Compared to Director Zhao's surprise, Mu Rongyun remained quite calm. He was quite aware of Wu Shuang's driving skills — a fearless daredevil — so it wasn't surprising for her to arrive quickly.
"Officer Wu, you were just... just…"
"Now is not the ti for chit-chat." Wu Shuang's imposing attitude rendered Director Zhao speechless. She glanced at Mu Rongyun, ignoring his annoyed expression, and proceeded directly into the police station.
"Is the deceased a police officer?"
"Earlier, at the scene where the woman's body was found, a police officer had drowned and was sent to the hospital. Both Young Master Hua and his brother were present at the ti, and it was Hua's brother who administered first aid on-site, saving a life, but unfortunately still leading to death."
"What was the cause of death?" Wu Shuang promptly overlooked Director Zhao ntioning Xiao Lin, redirecting the discussion back to the case.
"The hospital issued a death certificate citing natural causes." Director Zhao handed over the death certificate to Wu Shuang, showing the death ti as three in the morning.
"When did you report to the City Police Departnt, Director Zhao?" There was a significant ti discrepancy, Wu Shuang calculated internally.
She arrived at the City Committee Building at two-thirty in the afternoon, when Hua Muyun inford her of the news at three-ten. The City Police Departnt learned of this after she had departed, and if Xiao Sun had known initially, he would have told her.
The deceased passed away at three in the morning. Almost ten hours had elapsed since. What was this director doing during that ti?
"Around one-thirty in the afternoon." Director Zhao recalled and confird the ti.
"What were you doing during the ti from the death till you reported it?" Wu Shuang's pointed questioning made Director Zhao uneasy, as her aggressive stance was quite disconcerting.
"I…" Director Zhao stuttered, unsure how to respond. Should he admit he was indulging himself in bed? He glanced at Wu Shuang, then lowered his head. "I thought there was nothing special..."
He's lying! Wu Shuang narrowed her eyes, and just then Mu Rongyun gestured for her to stop, indicating there would be no results by pressing further. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit Qidian to vote and support it. Your encouragent is my greatest motivation.)
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