The City Police Departnt conducted an overnight interrogation led by Xiao Sun, questioning the director of the psychiatric hospital and Zhou Hong. anwhile, Wu Shuang led a small team to the district-level hospital in the North District to take custody of Zhang Qiang's attending doctor. Once the doctor was detained at the North District Police Station, Wu Shuang imdiately headed to Xuefu Road and found Zhang Qian in the student cafeteria.
"Why is it you guys again?" Today was her payday, so the cafeteria foreman agreed to give her half a day off. She planned to take her child out to play but ran into Wu Shuang at the cafeteria entrance.
"Zhang Qian, we now suspect that you are involved in Zhang Qiang's death. Please co with us!" Upon hearing this, Zhang Qian didn't show much reaction. She placed the money she just received into her bag and tidied her hair.
"Can you co back tomorrow? I want to take my child to the park to play." Zhang Qian did not deny this matter. Wu Shuang turned to Xiao Lin, her sympathy evident, hoping Xiao Lin would agree.
Xiao Lin nodded. He stepped to Wu Shuang's side and whispered in her ear. "Really?" Wu Shuang asked in a low voice, Xiao Lin nodded again to confirm.
"We have so questions for you. Please show us your ho."
"Huh, don't we need to go to the police station?" Zhang Qian was startled, looking blankly at Wu Shuang.
"Let's go!"
Zhang Qian's rented house was in the slums of the North District, two streets away from where the hardware store girl lived, but the environnt was much worse. Xiao Lin looked around as they walked, noticing even slums had their gradations.
The rented house was in the middle of a row of low single-story houses. The air was filled with a faintly unpleasant sll, common in such poor areas. Most people solved their sanitary needs on the spot due to lack of toilets, and as it was called a slum, there was no expectation of sanitation workers coming to clean up.
Zhang Qian reluctantly opened the door. It was a narrow apartnt with the kitchen imdiately inside the door, featuring a window. Further in was a bedroom, sunlight refracting through two panes of glass, casting a green hue in the room seen by Wu Shuang and Xiao Lin.
He did not see signs of destitution; the bed was clean, the wardrobe suggested, and there was a single small sofa and a table. An outdated television sat on a low cabinet, and various flowers and plants filled the not-so-large room. Zhang Qian turned on the light; even with windows allowing sunlight in, it was still too dim, a common occurrence here.
"Have a seat. I'll get you so water." Zhang Qian hung her bag at the door and walked toward the kitchen.
There was no foul sll in the room; the freshness emitted by the plants gave Wu Shuang a new understanding of the slums. After all, how you live depends on the person, and it was evident Zhang Qian knew how to live well.
Xiao Lin was not as emotionally moved as Wu Shuang. He wandered around the room, then picked up a book lying by the bed. "A Hundred Ways to Die," a book about death, offering many murder and suicide thods with case analyses and thods for killers to escape.
After casually flipping through a few pages, he returned the book to its original place. Xiao Lin walked to Wu Shuang's side; there was only one single sofa. He leaned near the window, opened a gap, and the heavy sll from the back alley rushed in, extinguishing his urge to light a cigarette.
"I only have ordinary tea leaves. Please help yourselves." Zhang Qian brought two cups of tea on a tray into the bedroom. The hard plastic cups were made to resemble transparent glass, indistinguishable without careful observation. Dark green turning brownish leaves quickly steeped in the boiling water. The tea was old, and the water was tap water, yet in such cups, it had a slight taste.
"Where is your child?" Wu Shuang hadn't seen any trace of the child in the room; in fact, there were few items for children, no toys, and the clothes hanging in the window didn't include children's clothes.
Zhang Qian looked a bit embarrassed when asked, sitting on the bed, she returned the book that had been moved earlier to its place, aligned it with the cabinet's corner. "With my man, I have to work, no ti to look after him, usually only picking him up at night, he works the late-night shift."
"Oh!" Wu Shuang understood. Director Zhao ntioned that Zhang Qian's husband ran off with soone, making life difficult for a single mother with a child. Given Zhang Qian's striking looks, finding a man to rely on wasn't a stretch, but within reason.
"What would you like to ask?" Zhang Qian checked the ti, seeming a little anxious.
"Call your man; you won't be leaving any ti soon." Xiao Lin told Zhang Qian, quashing her hopes. "The reason we're not taking you to the police station is because we find your situation understandable, but that doesn't an you're off the hook. I hope you understand this."
To Wu Shuang, Xiao Lin's lack of empathy seed a bit harsh; she handed her phone to Zhang Qian.
"No need." Zhang Qian sipped her tea. "I killed Zhang Qiang because I couldn't stand my brother being tortured like that."
So people's sorrow is not expressed in tears; Zhang Qian's grief was calm and almost bland.
"When I heard about him drowning, I knew he wouldn't live long. A doctor saved him then, but I'm not grateful. He would have been better off drowning in the water."
"Why didn't you report it to the police?"
"Report it? The whole North District is their territory, where would I report? We are just powerless poor people." Zhang Qian lifted her gaze to Wu Shuang. "I advised Zhang Qiang not to be so stubborn. Going along with them wouldn't have been better but wouldn't be worse. Isn't life about survival? He wouldn't relent, wanting to expose everything."
"Is Zhang Qiang's death related to Director Zhao of the North District Police Station?"
Zhang Qian crossed her legs, looking at Wu Shuang suspiciously. "Who are you?" This vigilance was unusual; Xiao Lin wondered if Wu Shuang sensed Zhang Qian's tension, especially when ntioning Director Zhao, the tension seed rooted in long-term oppression.
"I am Wu Shuang from the City Police Departnt, this is my colleague. We are here because Zhang Qiang's death is unusual. Moreover, there have been several murders in the North District, so the City Police Departnt is concerned, and the city authorities require a thorough investigation." Wu Shuang paused. "Zhang Qian, we know killing Zhang Qiang was a last resort, so we hope you'll cooperate and tell us everything you know, allowing your brother to rest in peace." (To be continued. If you like this work, you're welco to visit Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
User Comments
0 comments from readers