Chapter Thirteen: Familiar Faces

After discussing everything with Lin Zhen, all the questions that could be asked had been cleared up. Naturally, Lin Zhen’s parents would never allow her to stay alone in a hotel in Y City. After some deliberation, given Lin Zhen’s extremely unstable personality and actions when by herself, and considering that their home wasn’t too far from W City, the three of them decided to take the train back to the city where Lin Zhen’s parents did business, while Kang Ge and Yan Xue returned to W City on their own.

Lin Zhen promised that she would stay with her parents throughout and wouldn’t leave without permission. Her parents repeatedly assured the police they would keep in constant contact regarding Lin Zhen. Kang Ge helped Lin Zhen check out of the hotel, drove the family to the train station, bought high-speed rail tickets, and saw them through the ticket check before returning to W City with Yan Xue, as there was still much work to be done.

On their way back, Yan Xue called the team to relay the information obtained from Lin Zhen. On one hand, this allowed the others to start looking into Bai Yueni’s background. On the other, since Lin Zhen had previously registered as an AirBB host and rented out her family’s mansion, this action could leave traces. Even if she later stopped the rentals, her prior activity could still provide valuable leads.

“How suspicious do you think Lin Zhen’s boyfriend is?” After finishing the call, Yan Xue turned to Kang Ge. “Bai Yueni and Lin Zhen really do look alike—at least, from comparing Lin Zhen’s family photos to the deceased’s appearance, there’s no apparent difference. Yet, as soon as Lin Zhen’s parents arrived, they immediately noticed something was off.

“According to Lin Zhen, she and her boyfriend hadn’t been together long before breaking up, but during their relationship, he was the clingy sort. That means they interacted more frequently than more independent couples, so he’d be quite familiar with her.

“With that in mind, I honestly can’t say for sure. I don’t know whether this boyfriend is worth our special attention.”

“The main issue now is that on the night of the incident, there were simply too many people in that house and the scene was an utter mess. It’s not easy to confirm whether the boyfriend was there by fingerprints or footprints alone. Just organizing all the prints collected from the scene will take a long time.”

“There’s no rushing the fingerprints and footprints. In the meantime, we should keep combing through the surveillance footage from the estate and hope to find something useful,” Kang Ge sighed, tapping his index finger rhythmically on the steering wheel. It wasn’t the answer that troubled him, but the process of finding it.

Yan Xue was anxious but could do nothing about it. Sometimes, impatience only gets in the way. Investigations rely as much on luck and patience as on skill—without either, efficiency is halved.

By the time they returned to W City, the sun was already sinking in the west. They didn’t bother with dinner, having snacked lightly at the hotel earlier, and headed straight to the office.

Upon entering, they found Luo Wei standing there, stretching and rubbing his eyes, looking utterly exhausted. When he saw Yan Xue and Kang Ge, he waved them over. “You’re back! Bai Yueni’s information has been confirmed. Qi Tianhua called her parents—they’re from out of town, too. They set out today and should arrive tomorrow morning.

“Thank goodness Lin Zhen’s mother recognized her daughter’s plastic surgery! Otherwise, we might have wasted a lot of effort going in circles. Who would have thought two people could look so much alike!

“When you called about checking Bai Yueni, we pulled her records and were floored. These two girls could pass for twins—no, even fraternal twins might not look so similar!”

“Exactly. With such resemblance, a death in Lin Zhen’s home, her phone and ID in the room—if her parents had also misidentified her, DNA confirmation would be the only way left, and that would have definitely sent us on a wild goose chase,” Yan Xue agreed. “It’s not the tedium that’s worrisome, but the wrong direction. One misstep and the entire investigation could end up in a dead end.”

“Tired?” Kang Ge patted Luo Wei’s shoulder. “Let’s get you something good for your eyes tonight!”

“Oh, staring at screens all day, I feel like I’ve developed presbyopia,” Luo Wei complained, rubbing his eyes. “My vision’s so blurry, everything overlaps!”

“Leave the rest to me!” Yan Xue volunteered. “Go use some anti-fatigue eye drops and take a break.”

Luo Wei nodded. His eyes were sore and tired, so he didn’t protest and went to find his eye drops. Kang Ge also took over from Qi Tianhua, and together with Yan Xue, continued sifting through the surveillance footage, looking for any shot where faces could be seen clearly.

Over an hour passed. Kang Ge received a call from a food delivery, went down to pick it up, and returned with several heavy bags—dishes and boxes of rice. He called everyone over for dinner. Earlier, when Kang Ge had said he’d order food good for the eyes, everyone thought he was joking, but sure enough, he’d really ordered all sorts of eye-healthy dishes: carrots, fish, liver, and, perhaps out of mischief, even “lamb liver pudding.” This made everyone laugh, recalling how they’d been made to eat such supposedly eye-brightening pastries as children.

Thanks to Kang Ge’s choice of snack, the atmosphere became lively. The day’s fatigue and gloom seemed to dissipate. After dinner, Yan Xue made two cups of instant coffee—one for herself, and one for Kang Ge, who had returned to his seat.

“You’re surprisingly patient with this,” Yan Xue remarked, watching Kang Ge methodically sift through the footage.

For most, this kind of tedious, labor-intensive work is the most loathsome. It has to be done, but nobody likes it. Yet Kang Ge seemed unfazed by what everyone else did reluctantly.

“I’d barely sat down in the criminal division before being borrowed away—and never returned. For the past few years, my main job has been staring at a computer,” Kang Ge replied lightly, taking a screenshot of several people’s profiles on screen.

“Wait!” As he saved the image, Yan Xue’s eyes landed on his screen. She froze, then motioned quickly, “That shot—let me see it again!”

Kang Ge reopened the recently saved image. Yan Xue leaned in, studying one figure on the screen intently. Out of caution, she took the mouse, replaying the footage slowly several times. Her brow furrowed deeper each time.

“No way... This is just…” she muttered, her face a mix of disbelief and irritation, as if she couldn’t trust her own eyes.

Kang Ge studied the screenshot as well. “Someone you know? Is your cousin Song Chen in there?” he asked.

His guess was almost too accurate and immediate. Yan Xue stared at him in surprise. “How did you know? You’ve never met Song Chen!”

“I don’t need to have met her. I can tell from your reaction,” Kang Ge replied, feigning pride. “Your family isn’t from W City, and you didn’t go to university here, so you don’t have many old friends outside our bureau. All your close contacts are in our team. There’s no one from the team in that footage—if there were, you’d just be surprised, not upset.

“But you were startled, then angry, even a little disgusted. The only person in W City who could trigger that is your cousin. You two don’t get along, and she arrived just yesterday morning—now she’s in Lin Zhen’s estate that night. That’s enough to surprise you.”

“Impressive! You got it right!” Yan Xue gave him a thumbs-up, pointing at a long-haired woman in a fox half-mask and tight leather outfit on the screen. “That’s Song Chen, without a doubt.”

“Wait here—I’ll get Qi Tianhua to come with me. We’ll go to Song Chen’s place and question her.”

“No need for Qi Tianhua, I’ll come with you,” Kang Ge said, already getting to his feet. “She’s the first person we’ve positively identified from the surveillance footage. That’s important.

“I know you don’t think highly of your cousin, but putting that aside, as someone who attended Bai Yueni’s masquerade party, Song Chen might be able to give us valuable leads.

“So, we’re not just going to her apartment to question her; we’re bringing her back to the station to help us identify other people caught on camera—anyone she recognizes, remembers, or can describe for a composite sketch. That will really help our investigation.”

Yan Xue knew Kang Ge was right, though she hesitated a little. But work came first. “Alright, you win. But let me be clear: if Song Chen says or does anything inappropriate, you don’t have to hold back on my account.”

“Don’t worry, I know what to do,” Kang Ge assured her. “I’ll be the model of impartial professionalism.”

Though she still felt uneasy about Song Chen, the case was pressing and Yan Xue said nothing more, setting out with Kang Ge for Song Chen’s rented place.

Song Chen’s apartment was far from Lin Zhen’s estate. They arrived after eight. Yan Xue knocked on the door—at first, there was no response. She knocked again, and finally, footsteps shuffled toward the entrance. Without even asking who was outside, the door opened a crack, wide enough for a fist, and a face peered out.

Sure enough, it was Song Chen.

She looked sleepy, not quite awake, but recognized Yan Xue at once and swung the door open. Only then did Yan Xue see Song Chen, dressed in silk pajamas more suitable for summer, thin straps revealing her collarbones and a broad expanse of pale skin above her chest.

With the door fully open, Kang Ge, standing beside Yan Xue, came into Song Chen’s view. Clearly, Song Chen hadn’t expected Yan Xue to bring a man. Likewise, Kang Ge hadn’t expected Song Chen to answer the door dressed like this, and instinctively averted his eyes.

But while Kang Ge looked away, Song Chen did not. She was surprised Yan Xue brought a man, but her curiosity immediately turned to Kang Ge, openly sizing him up.

Irritated by Song Chen’s scrutiny, Yan Xue shifted to block her view. “Did you go to a masquerade party last night?” she asked.

“I did. You’re well-informed! What’s up?” Song Chen replied, her eyes still fixed on Kang Ge.

“Go change your clothes—”

“Oh, Xue, what’s that supposed to mean?” Song Chen replied, not moving but leaning against the doorframe. “What era do you think this is? Are you too old-fashioned or just uptight? What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? Is there a problem?”