Card Room

Chapter 540 - Unexpected Changes

By the time Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao took a taxi to the medical university, two police cars had already driven to the campus and were parked in the open space in front of the male dormitory building of the medical university’s forensic department.

The university dormitory had dormitory management and the students were also managed by professional counselors. As a professor of forensic medicine, Xiao Lou had no reason to appear directly in the student dormitories. He looked up at the air conditioning pipes on the side of the dormitory building and whispered to Liu Qiao, “I will wear the invisibility cloak to enter from the side. You wait for me downstairs.”

Liu Qiao nodded. “Okay.”

Xiao Lou put on the invisibility cloak and used Light as a Swallow. He used the air conditioning pipes as a foothold and jumped several times in a row. He steadily jumped to the sixth floor where the boys of the forensic department lived and climbed through the window.

The moment he jumped into the corridor from the window, he saw Yu Hanjiang coming out of the boys’ dormitory with Xiao Wu. Xiao Lou almost collided with him. Despite knowing that Yu Hanjiang couldn’t see him, Xiao Lou immediately held his breath and took a few steps back, maintaining a distance of over five meters from Yu Hanjiang.

Yu Hanjiang seemed to sense a gust of wind blowing in front of him. He frowned and looked ahead but didn’t see anything. Therefore, he turned to look at Xiao Wu. “The boys in room 301 of the dormitory haven’t returned. You continue to call them.”

Xiao Wu picked up the phone and called the roommates. There was a busy signal and no one answered. Xiao Wu changed the phone number and called another classmate. A moment later, the phone was connected and Xiao Wu hurriedly said, “Hello, are you Student Yu Guang? I’m a police officer and have some things I want to ask you.”

Yu Guang was stunned. Before Xiao Wu could finish speaking, he burst out and scolded, “Damn, are fraudulent phone calls started to pretend to be policemen? As if I f*king believe you!”

The other person was about to hang up when Yu Hanjiang snatched the phone from Xiao Wu’s hand and said coldly, “Yu Guang, I am Yu Hanjiang, the group leader of Jiangzhou’s criminal investigation police team. My police officer number is JZ7689. Do you know where your roommate Zhang Hengyu is right now?”

Perhaps Yu Hanjiang’s voice was too cold but Yu Guang was frightened and his voice trembled. “I-Is it really a policeman?”

Yu Hanjiang repeated, “Where is Zhang Hengyu?”

Yu Guang stammered. “P-Police comrade, I really don’t know.”

“Are your other two roommates with you? Give them the phone.”

There was a clanging sound from the other hand of the phone. Yu Guang handed the phone to another person and a relatively mature male voice was heard. “Hello officer, I am Liu Ming, the dormitory director of the 301 dormitory. The three of us went to the bar last night to celebrate the new year and we became drunk. We just woke up. We really don’t know where Zhang Hengyu is… did something happen to him?”

Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, “In other words, you have been at the bar from last night until now?”

Liu Ming hurriedly agreed. “Yes, the owner of the bar can testify for us.”

“When did Zhang Hengyu leave the dormitory?”

“He left after class in the afternoon and said he was going to buy a gift for his girlfriend. It was around 4:30 p.m.”

“Did he ever contact you again after he left school?”

“No.”

“Do you know his girlfriend?’

“I know her. Ning Xue from the conservatory of music next door is very pretty and we had a meal together a few times.”

“Has he been fighting with his girlfriend lately?”

“Probably not? Hengyu would eat with his girlfriend every night and every time they called each other, his tone was very gentle. They seem to have a good relationship.”

“Okay, thank you for your cooperation.” Yu Hanjiang paused before adding, “If Zhang Hengyu contacts you, please tell the police as soon as possible.”

“Yes, I will.” The three roommates were very confused and looked at each other after the call ended.

Yu Hanjiang handed the phone back to Xiao Wu and whispered in Xiao Wu’s ear, “Go to the counselor immediately and get the contact information of Zhang Hengyu’s family. Zhang Hengyu has been missing for so long and it is likely that there has been an accident. In addition, notify the field team…”

He deliberately lowered his voice so Xiao Lou didn’t hear the later words.

“Yes, Group Leader Yu.” Xiao Wu listened to these instructions and immediately turned to go downstairs. Yu Hanjiang continued to investigate and visited the third year students of the Department of Forensic Medicine to ask about Zhang Hengyu and Ning Xue. Unfortunately, he didn’t gain anything else.

A few minutes later, Yu Hanjiang turned and went downstairs. It happened that the time of Xiao Lou’s invisibility cloak was ending so Xiao Lou sneaked out the window and returned to the ground.

Liu Qiao was waiting for him in the shade of a tree. She saw Xiao Lou appear and told him, “Professor Xiao, something isn’t quite right.”

Xiao Lou asked, “What’s wrong?”

Liu Qiao whispered in his ear, “The field team of the criminal investigation team suddenly went around to the office building of the forensic department. You see over there—”

Xiao Lou followed her gaze. Sure enough, he found several plainclothes policemen around the forensic department building.

These plainclothes police officers also appeared at the police station this morning. At this time, they were disguised as students. A man and woman were pretending to be lovers as they sat on a stone bench downstairs and read a book. If Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao hadn’t seen them at the police station this morning, the two of them wouldn’t have recognized them as police officers with their disguise skills.

Xiao Lou retracted his gaze and analyzed it. “It might be that Yu Hanjiang suspects that Zhang Hengyu was killed and wants to find Zhang Hengyu’s body. The motive of this murderer isn’t known. It is only by finding Zhang Hengyu’s body and his belongings that the next step of the investigation can be carried out.”

He paused and his tone became confused. “However, Zhang Hengyu made three phone calls to Ning Xue at 7 o’clock last night and sent the restaurant location on WeChat. The two of them met at the restaurant and separated only after dinner. Even if Zhang Hengyu was killed, the body shouldn’t appear on the campus of the medical university, right? Is it possible that Yu Hanjiang suspects that the murderer is a student of the medical university?”

Liu Qiao was confused. “If Ning Xue and Zhang Hengyu were both killed, wouldn’t the possibility of it being a love kill be higher? For example, someone has a crush on Zhang Hengyu or Ning Xue and doesn’t like them being together. The couple kept showing affection in front of them so the classmate became mentally distorted and simply killed them both?”

Xiao Lou considered it for a moment before nodding in approval. “The possibility that you mentioned is indeed highly probable. Zhang Hengyu’s family conditions are good. He is first in the class, gets a scholarship every year and he looks very handsome. He was a popular figure in the forensic department and I often saw many girls sitting near him during class and deliberately finding excuses to discuss questions with him.”

Liu Qiao touched her chin thoughtfully. “Ning Xue is also outstanding in appearance and is very popular with boys. Perhaps there are as many people who have a crush on Ning Xue as there are people who have a crush on Zhang Hengyu.”

Xiao Lou added, “If our speculation is correct and Zhang Hengyu has been killed then the scope of the investigation will be very wide. All the students from the conservatory of music and medical school who intersected with them will need an alibi. Of course, there are key figures such as Ning Xue’s ex-boyfriend, the senior named Chen Zekai. He was once reluctant to break up with Ning Xue and pestered her for a long time. This person is the most suspicious.”

He paused and lowered his voice. “You go to the conservatory of music to find Ye Qi. Chen Zekai also signed up for the singing competition of the TV station. Ye Qi should know him.”

Liu Qiao nodded. “Okay. Shall I go now?”

“Yes, the police must’ve sent someone to follow up with the discoveries of the plainclothes officers of the field team to try and synchronize their information.” He looked down at his watch. “I’ll go back to the office and arrange my classes for the next few days.”

The two of them acted separately. Liu Qiao turned and walked to the conservatory of music while Xiao Lou walked toward the office building in front.

Unbeknownst to him, the plainclothes police officer guarding the outside immediately pressed down the wireless headset of the police force and whispered, “Group Leader Yu, the target has appeared. I am asking for the next instructions.”

Yu Hanjiang coldly ordered, “Keep an eye on him.”

In the shade of the trees in the distance, Yu Hanjiang took out binoculars and watched Xiao Lou’s back disappear through the door of the office building. He pressed on the headset and whispered, “The second team, get ready to close the net.”

_______________________________________________________________

Xiao Lou sat at his desk and logged into the teaching system with his computer.

In the next few days, there would be more classes. He would be too busy to teach students while investigating the case so it was better for him to ask his graduate teaching assistant to help him with a few lessons. There was a recent national academic conference. It was reasonable for him, a professor of the Department of Forensic Medicine, to attend such a conference.

Xiao Lou sent the course arrangement and material information to the teaching assistant and informed him, “Hello Xiao Wang, it is Xiao Lou. I am going to attend the National Academic Conference so I will have to trouble you to handle this week’s classes. I have sent the course outline to your inbox.”

The teaching assistant quickly replied. “I know. Professor Xiao, you can go with confidence. I will handle the lessons for you.”

Xiao Lou sighed with relief and turned off the laptop.

Professors traveling on business trips and asking the teaching assistant to take a few classes was common in universities. Xiao Lou’s practice was in line with school regulations.

He got up and was about to leave when there was a knock at the door. Xiao Lou opened the door and met a pair of sharp eyes.

It was Yu Hanjiang.

Xiao Lou was stunned before asking politely, “Group Leader Yu? Are you looking for me for some reason?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “I have some questions about yesterday’s case and wanted to ask you for advice. I would like to ask you to come with me.”

Xiao Lou was confused but still followed him.

Yu Hanjiang took Xiao Lou down the elevator and turned to enter the experimental building next to the office building.

This building was very familiar. The experimental classes of the medical students were taught here. After all, a lot of the knowledge taught secondhand by lecture was far less intuitive than seeing it with their own eyes and touching it with their own hands.

The laboratory building contained many human specimens.

He saw Yu Hanjiang leading him to the third floor specimen room and Xiao Lou suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart.

He remembered the fact that Zhao Sen, the murderer of the 2 of Hearts secret room, dismembered his own cousin’s body into specimens and a vicious chill shot down his back. Could it be that Zhang Hengyu’s body was dismembered?

Yu Hanjiang stopped at the door and made a ‘please’ gesture. “Professor Xiao, please enter.”

Xiao Lou stiffened and walked in with him.

The scene inside the specimen room was shocking!

Most of the specimens on the shelves had been seen by him before but there were some new specimens on the shelf by the door that were still dripping with blood.

Xiao Lou’s eyes widened as he looked at the scene in front of him with disbelief.

Limbs, internal organs… the cut up human specimens were neatly arranged on the display shelf. The even more frightening thing was that as a forensic doctor, he could see that these specimens were made from a fresh corpse that hadn’t been dead for more than 24 hours!

Zhang Hengyu’s head had also been made into a specimen and was placed in a frontal position. His wide eyes were staring in the direction of Xiao Lou.

Xiao Lou’s back stiffened and it felt like his body had fallen into an ice cellar.

Yu Hanjiang silently walked behind Xiao Lou and blocked his retreat. Yu Hanjiang calmly asked, “Professor Xiao, where were you last night between 7 and 9 o’clock?”

Xiao Lou, “……”

Yu Hanjiang’s face was extremely cold. “From 9 o’clock last night to 8 o’clock this morning, where were you?”

Xiao Lou, “……”

Xiao Lou took a deep breath and his hands clenched into fists as he tried to calm down.

He turned to meet the man’s deep eyes and calmly asked, “Officer Yu, are you suspicious of me?”

Yu Hanjiang shrugged. “Professor Xiao, why don’t you explain why you called Ning Xue at 9 o’clock last night?”

“…What?”

Yu Hanjiang’s gaze was as sharp as a sword and he almost stared a hole in Xiao Lou’s face. He looked at Xiao Lou intently and declared in a deep voice, “Professor Xiao, you are suspected of murdering Ning Xue and Zhang Hengyu. Please follow me back to the police station to accept the investigation.”