Card Room (Rebirth)

Qi Ming was stunned when he heard Yu Hanjiang’s question. Then he quickly replied, “Last Tuesday, the editor-in-chief of LE Fashion Magazine invited us to dinner and said she would offer an interview with the magazine next year. Yiyan went home early after the meal and I continued talking with Editor Li.”

Yu Hanjiang frowned. “Can anyone prove the time that Lin Yiyan left?”

Qi Ming thought carefully about it. “We had a meal with Editor Li. It was around 8:30 when Yiyan suddenly received a message saying there was an urgent matter at home. She left first. I talked to Editor Li until just after 10 o’clock. Then Editor Li drove me home. She can testify for me.”

Yu Hanjiang looked at Shao Qingge and Chief Shao immediately searched the magazine editor’s name in his phone address book.

LE was the fashion magazine with the largest circulation in China. Stars in the entertainment circle who could be on the cover of the magazine must have some fame or it would be impossible to cooperate with LE. Shao Qingge had the contact information of the editor-in-chief and gave Yu Hanjiang the telephone number.

Yu Hanjiang used Shao Qingge’s mobile phone to confirm it on the spot. The other person said they had indeed eaten with Lin Yiyan and Qi Ming last Tuesday. Yu Hanjiang told her, “Ms Li, there is a case that requires your assistance. Can you please take the time to go to the police station and make a transcript?”

The female editor-in-chief was stunned. “A case? I’m busy right now, can I go in the afternoon?”

“Yes.” Yu Hanjiang hung up and looked at Qi Ming. “Mr Qi, please come with me too.”

“Yes, officer.” Qi Ming glanced at Chief Shao anxiously. “Yiyan, how should I tell the public about her?”

“Don’t mention a word until the police have finished their investigation lest the fermentation of public opinion has a negative impact on the company, understood?” Shao Qingge spoke solemnly.

Qi Ming nodded immediately. “Understood.”

Yu Hanjiang told Shao Qingge, “Chief Shao, I will return to the police force first. I will contact you if there is something else.”

Shao Qingge smiled. “Okay, Group Leader Yu go carefully.”

Yu Hanjiang took the agent Qi Ming back to the police station to do a detailed transcript.

Qi Ming was very cooperative during the interrogation and answered whatever Yu Hanjiang asked. As Lin Yiyan’s agent, he knew a lot. Yu Hanjiang asked him about Lin Yiyan’s properties and personal relationships in detail.

Apart from the perverted murders who killed people indiscriminately, most murders involved finding the motive for the murder which was usually love, hatred or wealth. Yu Hanjiang first asked about Lin Yiyan’s economic situation. Qi Ming answered, “Yiyan has three properties under her name. In addition to the private villa in the Yuehu Villa area, there are two city houses, two cars and some savings.”

Yu Hanjiang asked, “Are there any siblings in her family?”

“She is an only child.”

Yu Hanjiang’s next question was, “Did she borrow money from anyone or does she gamble and owe debts? Has she been involved in any investments in recent years?”

Qi Ming shook his head. “She is a very practical and hardworking person. She doesn’t know how to invest or manage money. Most of the money she earns is kept by her parents. As far as I know, she has no financial disputes with anyone. She has a good temper, never acts arrogant because she is famous and is well known in the circle. She has never made any enemies.”

“What about her relationship history?”

Qi Ming touched his nose awkwardly. “I’m not sure about this. She said it was her private matter and refused to tell me.”

Yu Hanjiang asked him to elaborate on his whereabouts last Tuesday. Qi Ming directly took out his schedule book.

At 10 in the morning on Tuesday, he arranged for Lin Yiyan to have an interview with a media reporter. It was an exclusive interview about the finished costume drama World of Mortals. At noon, she had a meal with the director and producer of the crew to celebrate the shooting being finished. They also agreed on the publicity time. In the afternoon, Lin Yiyan went back to sleep and in the evening, she met the editor of the magazine for dinner.

Dinner was originally arranged to be at 6:30. Qi Ming drove to pick up Lin Yiyan at 5:30 but after picking her up, there was a traffic jam. They didn’t arrive at the restaurant until 7:30. The three people talked about the cooperation and Lin Yiyan seemed very happy during the dinner. Then her mobile phone rang at 8:30 with a WeChat alert.

Yu Hanjiang grasped the key point. “Do you know who sent the WeChat message?”

Qi Ming shook his head. “I don’t know. Her expression didn’t look right after she read the WeChat message. Then she said that there was an emergency and she had to leave first. She let me continue to talk with the editor-in-chief about the cooperation. She borrowed my car keys and drove my car away. I told her to be careful not to be followed by the paparazzi.”

Yu Hanjiang frowned. Based on Qi Ming’s testimony, the WeChat message Lin Yiyan received on Tuesday should be the key. However, her phone’s whereabouts were unknown at this time and it was impossible to verify who sent her the message.

As for the credibility of Qi Ming’s words, he didn’t seem to be lying based on his facial expressions. Even so, those in the entertainment industry were all top-notch at acting. Yu Hanjiang still needed the testimony of a second person to confirm.

The magazine’s editor-in-chief arrived at the police station at 2:30.

The editor-in-chief wore a camel-coloured casual woolen coat, black knee-length boots and a beige woolen sweater. She had short, ear-length hair and delicate makeup. She looked very capable.

Yu Hanjiang inquired in detail about the process and opportunity for her cooperation with Lin Yiyan.

Editor Li said, “Miss Lin has been very popular after making two movies this year. I wanted to ask her to shoot the magazine cover and her agent also wanted to cooperate with us. We hit it off and made an appointment to take print promotional photos. We met only three months ago.”

Yu Hanjiang wondered, “How is your relationship? What type of person does she look like to you?”

Editor Li replied, “I don’t know her well but I feel she is a very friendly person. She doesn’t act arrogant and is polite to everyone. She had a good temper when working with the photographer. She took photos all day without shouting that she was tired. The people of our magazine really liked her.”

“On Tuesday, you asked her for a meal. Talk about the meal in detail.”

Editor Li sorted out her thoughts. “Her agent called and said there was a traffic jam on the road. They didn’t arrive until 7:30. I arrived early and waited for them in the restaurant’s private room. During the meal, she seemed to be in a good mood and we had a good chat. Oh yes, her phone rang around 8:30 like someone had sent her a WeChat message. After reading it, she said that something happened at home and she needed to leave. I talked to her agent about the details of the cooperation and it ended around 10:30. Since Miss Lin drove his car away, I sent Mr Qi home.”

“Where does Mr Qi live? What time did you drop him off?”

The editor-in-chief replied, “He lives in Jiayuan, Dongfu, not far from my home. He should’ve arrived home around 11:00.”

Yu Hanjiang finished with the editor-in-chief and took the transcript to the forensic centre to find Xiao Lou.

Xiao Lou had already done the autopsy for the deceased and checked her internal organs, blood and other conditions. He saw Yu Hanjiang coming and walked forward quickly to take Yu Hanjiang to his office. “How is your progress? Is there a suspect?”

Yu Hanjiang frowned. “On Tuesday night, Lin Yiyan, her agent and the magazine editor-in-chief had dinner together. The editor-in-chief can prove that Lin Yiyan left for home at 8:30 and the agent arrived home at 11 o’clock.”

He opened a map of the city and pointed to two communities. “The agent lives in Jiayuan, Dongfu which is 30 kilometers away from the Yuehu Villa area where Lin Yiyan died. After returning home, it isn’t too late if he changes cars and drives to Yuehu Villa. His skin and hair are under the deceased’s nails so the agent’s suspicion can’t be ruled out for the time being.”

He looked at Xiao Lou’s records book and asked, “What are the autopsy results?”

Xiao Lou told him, “The fatal injury was the heart wound. No other organs were injured and there were no traces of toxins in the body. From the analysis of the wounds on the body surface, the crime tool should be a sharp, long knife with a blade width of 5cm and a length of 20cm.”

Xiao Lou professionally opened the computer and used the software to rebuild the knife model. The length and width of the reconstructed knife fit perfectly with the wound on the body.

Yu Hanjiang touched his chin and spoke thoughtfully. ”I have searched the interior of the villa and sent people to search the trash cans and lawn of the community. So far, no murder weapon has been found. It must’ve been taken away by the murderer.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Yes, this type of knife is rare at the supermarket. Perhaps it was bought online.”

Yu Hanjiang questioned, “What about the composition of the ice?”

“It is ordinary condensed water. There is nothing special.”

Yu Hanjiang glanced at the ice cubes in the photos of the scene. Most of the ice were cubes which should be made from the square container in the freezer. In winter, the murderer placed Lin Yiyan’s body in the bathtub with ice cubes. In addition to delaying the time when the body was discovered, it seemed to have the meaning of ‘preservation’?

Yu Hanjiang said, “According to the testimony of the agent, Lin Yiyan had no property disputes and no siblings in the family. She is usually kind and rarely offends people. People who have contact with her say that she has a good temper. It is unlikely her death is a relationship issue. Still, I will start to investigate the case from this aspect.”

He took out his phone and sent a text message to Xiao Lou. “This is Ye Qi and Shao Qingge’s phone numbers. Save it.”

Xiao Lou felt surprised as he saved the numbers. “You found them so soon? What identities do they have?”

Yu Hanjiang replied, “Xiao Ye is a singer and Chief Shao is the owner of an entertainment company. I saw them when I went to company headquarters just now. You can set up a WeChat group and bring everyone in. This will be more convenient to communicate in the future.”

Xiao Lou couldn’t help smiling. “The urban background is convenient. We can build a WeChat group for discussion.” He pulled Ye Qi, Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang into the WeChat group and the group name was ‘9 of Hearts Detective Group.’

Yu Hanjiang, “……”

Xiao Lou was quite humorous and the name of the detective group was very appropriate.

Ye Qi saw this group name and excitedly came out. “It’s Professor Xiao! What is the result?”

Xiao Lou replied, “The agent is currently the only suspect. Group Leader Yu is still investigating. Xiao Ye, don’t worry. [touch head].”

Shao Qingge sent a thumbs up. “The two of you are working hard. Contact us any time if you need help.”

Ye Qi said, “I searched up a lot of Lin Yiyan’s information on the Internet and they all said that she has a super good temper. Many celebrities are her fans. They queued up to send her blessings and called her a goddess on her birthday. I can’t imagine who would have such a big feud with her.”

Shao Qingge said, “The entertainment industry is very deep. Someone who is gentle, cute or cold might just be the character set up by the company. There are many dirty transactions in private. You can’t just look at the surface. This Lin Yiyan shouldn’t be as simple as she seems.”

Ye Qi sent a smiling emoji and said, “Group Leader Yu, I’m cheering for you. I’ll follow the female group first.”

Yu Hanjiang replied with just an ‘en.’

Ye Qi complained inwardly that Group Leader Yu’s cold personality wasn’t just on the surface. It went to the core.

Yu Hanjiang handed the USB in his pocket to Xiao Lou. “The information on the stars that I copied from Chief Shao is too much and I don’t have time to read all of it. Please sort it out for me. I will go to the traffic police first. Find the key clues and we will analyze it when I come back.”

Xiao Lou smiled. “Don’t worry and go. I will look at the information provided by Chief Shao carefully.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded and quickly turned away. He drove the police car straight to the Binzhou City Traffic Police Department. The captain of the traffic police team was a middle-aged man. He obviously knew Yu Hanjiang. He saw Yu Hanjiang and greeted him with a smile. “Group Leader Yu, you came here. Is there another case?”

Yu Hanjiang simply said, “Please check the cars registered under Lin Yiyan in the system. In addition, help me adjust the road surveillance video to Binjiang Road between 7:30 and 11:30 on Tuesday night.”

The traffic police team was very cooperative and soon retrieved the cars registered under Lin Yiyan’s name.

The captain pointed to the computer screen. “Lin Yiyan has two cars under her name. One is a sedan with the license plate Bin A-6K502 and the other is a sports car with the license plate Bin A-1029A.”

Yu Hanjiang took a closer look at the license plate number and the motor vehicle license with a frown. As he expected, the two cars didn’t match each other.

It wasn’t surprising that a star had a few cars but who would buy two identical cars with connected license plate numbers? He came to the traffic police department to check the cars because of the doubts in his heart. He always felt that the two cars didn’t both belong to Lin Yiyan.

Bin A-6K502 was one of the two cars that appeared at Yuehu Villa in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It was registered under Lin Yiyan’s name.

Bin A-1029A was a red luxury sports car. If he remembered correctly, 1029 happened to be Lin Yiyan’s birthday. The license plate was her birthday and it was likely that she either got it on her own or it was a birthday present from someone.

However, the two black cars appeared in front of the villa in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Yu Hanjiang remembered very well that the license plates were 6K502 and 6K501. They were serial numbers. The serial numbers 502, 501, connected they would be… 521. Did it mean ‘I love you?’ If so, the meaning of the license plate number was very cryptic.

Yu Hanjiang perceived this and immediately said, “Help me find the owner of Bin A-6K501.”

The traffic police captain quickly found the name of the person on the system and was shocked. “Cheng Yu? Isn’t this the male star? He actually has serial plate numbers with Lin Yiyan. How can there be such a coincidence?!”

Yu Hanjiang, “……”

When registering a vehicle, hundreds of license plate numbers would appear randomly for the owner to choose. The probability of the cars of two stars selecting the random numbers 501 and 502 was extremely low. Obviously, these serial numbers were specifically selected by them and the meaning was cryptic, showing their intention.

The house at Yuehu Villa area belonged to Lin Yiyan and she registered the license plates of the two cars on the property.

Yu Hanjiang had this in mind and called the property management of the Yuehu Villa area to ask, “Hello, I am the captain of the Binzhou City Criminal Police Force. When registering license plates at your community’s property, will the owner’s vehicle license be verified?”

The property manager said, “This isn’t required because many owners of our community will buy several cars. There are many parking spaces in the villa area. The car can enter and leave at will as long as the owner has registered the car. For example, the owner and his wife have a car. In addition, his parents also have cars. When he comes to the property centre to register, all the license plates can be registered under his household name.”

Yu Hanjiang said, “Lin Yiyan’s Area C 191 villa only has the two cars 6k501 and 6K502 cars registered, right?”

“Yes.”

Yu Hanjiang continued. “How long do you keep the surveillance at the gate of the community? Can you find the records of the two cars 6K501 and 6K502 entering and leaving the community previously?”

“The monitoring is generally retained for a week. We will try to check and will inform you when there is news.”

Yu Hanjiang thanked him and hung up the phone.

Registered license plates could enter and exit the community at will. Obviously, Lin Yiyan hoped that Cheng Yu’s car could enter and exit the villa area where she lived at will. This was why she registered the two license plate numbers at the property centre. Since they were serial numbers, the property manager would think the two cars belonged to her. This high-end community wouldn’t expose people’s privacy and she didn’t have to worry about this matter being known to paparazzi.

The traffic police quickly pulled up the surveillance for Binjiang Road last Tuesday.

Agent Qi Ming’s car appeared near Binjiang Road around 7:30. The camera at the intersection caught two people in their seats. It was Lin Yiyan and her agent Qi Ming. The car parked at a high-end restaurant and they entered the restaurant. At around 8:30, Lin Yiyan hurried out alone and left in the car of her agent.

Yu Hanjiang ordered, “Track these two cars.”

The traffic police opened the surveillance along the road to track the car.

Numerous small windows appeared on the big screen. Yu Hanjiang had rich experience with handling cases and his sharp eyesight followed all the way according to the time point. Finally, the car drove into an underground garage in the city centre. Yu Hanjiang patiently stared at the exit of the garage. A few hours later, around 1:30 in the morning, a black car with the license plate 6K502 drove out of the garage.

Lin Yiyan drove her agent’s car to a residential area and changed cars when leaving. This was a common routine used by celebrities to get rid of paparazzi. Yu Hanjiang had the traffic police continue to track the 6K502 car.

Lin Yiyan’s 6K502 car drove onto the highway and appeared at the intersection of the mountain road leading to the Yuehu Villa area at around two in the morning. At the same time, another black 6K501 sedan was found at the intersection. The two cars merged at the intersection and flashed their lights at each other. Then they drove one after the other to the villa area.

Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. “Track back the 6K501 and find its route.”

The people of the traffic police team helped obtain traffic monitoring for all sections of the road. They were dazzled by the large number of small windows on the big screen. After several hours of continuous tracing, Yu Hanjiang finally found the source of the car.

6K501 was driven from a downtown entertainment venue. A nearby intersection camera caught the driver’s seat. The man in the driver’s seat was wearing sunglasses and a mask. His face couldn’t be seen at all. Yu Hanjiang magnified the image several times and found that this person was wearing a distinctive ring on the hand holding the steering wheel.

Yu Hanjiang sent the photo to the WeChat group. “Xiao Lou, compare this photo to Cheng Yu’s information.”

Xiao Lou soon gave an answer. “Looking at his clothes, hairstyle and the ring on his hand, this person should be Cheng Yu.”

The traffic road monitoring of Binzhou City was complete enough. Through the two license plate numbers, Yu Hanjiang found ironclad evidence. They couldn’t run from the long arm of the law.

It was Cheng Yu, the celebrity eight years younger than her who entered the villa with Lin Yiyan in the early hours of the morning!

Proofreader: Fictional Reality