Chapter 10 - Case 1: Dismemberment

I apologize for the delay. My laptop broke down and finally got it repaired. Get ready for the updates.

To my first supporter , Beverly , thanks a lot for your support. It means a lot to me. (✿◠‿◠)

I am dedicating these 3 chaps to you (ᵔᴥᵔ)

Chapter 10

Ten minutes later, at a 7-11 convenience store not far from the neighborhood, Song Wen placed the heated lunch box in front of Lu Siyu. Song Wen had ordered a Guāndōngzhǔ * in passing, which did not look shabby when he looked at it.

(T.N/ Guāndōngzhǔ : Japanese dish made with boiled eggs, processed fish cakes, daikon radish, tofu etc in a kelp-based broth)

Not only did Li Siyu’s request of warming his homemade lunch box using the store’s microwave not get complaints from the store clerks, and rolling their eyes; but instead they made him the priority. Song Wen once again sobered up and realized that Lu Siyu’s face could really be a meal*.

(T/N: Song Wen meant that, with a face like Li Siyu’s(super handsome and attractive), no one would be able to turn down any of his requests, no matter how strange or random.)

The two of them sat at the table inside of the convenience store. Lu Siyu opened the lunch box with the sense of a ritual. The lunch box was gorgeous and insulated. After removing the cover, Lu Siyu neatly lined up the four compartments of the lunchbox from right to left. Afterwards, he placed the container of rice in front of him, took out his chopsticks and began to eat.

Seeing that Song Wen’s eyes were constantly glancing over inadvertently, Lu Siyu graciously pushed the lunch box towards Song Wen. Today, Lu Siyu made: fried squid with sauce, garlic eel, mushroom chicken meatballs, and one Stir-fried cabbage heart.

The four dishes were a mixture of meat and vegetarian, the color and fragrance was extraordinary. When the food was placed in front of him, Song Wen did not hesitate and picked up a piece of eel with his chopsticks. He chewed on the eel, feeling a bit reluctant to spit out the bones.

Song Wen looked at Lu Siyu as he ate, wondering how could someone be so good looking, and how could someone cook so well? He couldn’t help but ask, “Actually, you didn’t study at a police academy, did you?”

Lu Siyu looked at him, somewhat confused.

Song Wen laughed, “I think your cooking is more authentic than that of the New Oriental chefs.”

After hearing the snide remark, the corner of Lu Siyu’s mouth also picked up a hint of a smile. It was only a slight flicker of the mouth, but it brought a hint of grace to his cold eyes and eyebrows. Song Wen suddenly recalled the emotional apathy that Zhou Yining had mentioned to him before., Now that he was in contact with Lu Siyu, Song Wen did feel that Lu Siyu somewhat fit the characteristics of this disease more and more. As for the rest, he wondered if it was Dr. Zhou who was just overthinking it.

The food in front of him quickly passed the halfway mark, and after eating something to pad his stomach, Lu Siyu returned to his usual indifference. He asked Song Wen in a low voice, “Do you still suspect Zhong Qing now?”

Song Wen was also trying to analyze the case, “I was suspicious of her, but now, not so much.”

“Because the time is not right?” Lu Siyu looked up and asked him.

Song Wen shook his head, “No, the lack of time to commit the crime is only one aspect, but also because she is left-handed. “

Lu Siyu also noticed that when Zhong Qing was reaching for the glass of water, and opening the door, she always used her left hand. He didn’t comment on this and looked up at Song Wen.

Song Wen continued his analysis, “She hates Lin Zhenghua, but I don’t think she would kill her husband. Besides, Zhong Qing’s height doesn’t match the killer’s. Lin Zhenghua is about 1.73 meters tall and Zhong Qing is about 1.63 meters. There is a height difference of at least ten centimeters between the two. If they were both standing, it is difficult for Zhong Qing to stab Lin Zhenghua at the exact angle that matches the stab wound. Even if they were in a different position, considering the physical differences and strength of both parties, it is impossible for Zhong Qing not to have any traces of injuries during the struggle.”

Li Siyu obediently listened as he leaned to the side. His chopsticks were held high, and his fingers were slender; the bones were distinct, and his skin was white to the point of transparency. The way he was eating reminded Song Wen, of a friend’s cat with a noble pedigree; and this kind of person sitting across the table made him feel cautious and wary to eat anymore.

Song Wen pondered as he picked up a chicken meatball and put it in his mouth. The meatball was made of pureed chicken with some mushroom slices added, the aroma melted into the meat and the outside was fried to a crisp. When he bit into the meatball, it was extremely tender and juicy, but Song Wen had no intention of appreciating the food. He was frowning slightly, and muttering to himself, “There’s still something else that is not quite right. “

“What do you think is the problem?” Lu Siyu asked, his voice soft and low.

“I’m a bit torn right now. At one point, I thought she was the most suspicious, and I still haven’t ruled her out completely; but there’s something about it that doesn’t make sense.” Song Wen couldn’t tell where this feeling came from. The motive, the method, the weapon, the time, the place ……these factors can never be restored. The more he tried to make sense of it all, the more disorganized he felt. As if his mind had been pushed into a dead end and he couldn’t turn around.

Song Wen took out his cell phone, opened the search page, and typed in the word “co-wife”.

The term co-wife, came along with depression, psychological violence, and a high risk for AIDs. In this regard, the relevant laws are blank. Divorce is difficult, women are threatened with violence, and financial compensation is difficult to obtain. Currently, there are more than 16 million co-wives in China.

After some thought, Song Wen opened the post. There were obviously many such women gathered in the co-wife forum. This web forum has been reported to be closed several times, and has struggled to remain open several times.

“Should I get a divorce? This is torture…”

“It took a child to find out that my husband was gay.”

“I’m begging for guidance, please can someone tell me if I’m being lied to?”

“Can we only grieve here without being able to get attention?”

The forum was filled with the desperate cries of women who were trapped in the mud, threatened and dragged down by their husbands. The husband who was supposed to be their support had turned into a devil, turning their lives into an infernal hell. They gathered here, using the Internet as a port of catharsis, and many seemed to have come and gone helplessly. Their lives were filled with despair and helplessness. Without a good solution, this type of torture becomes a soft knife, slowly killing these women.

Most of the co-wives were victims of domestic violence, and the men used both physical and psychological violence against them. When a co-wife wanted a divorce, not only was she not compensated, but she was also deprived of her personal income and even saddled with unexplained debts. The men have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves, and some even use mediation to delay the divorce for a long time!

At the moment, there was nothing in the marriage law or any other law that was intended to address this. This makes it impossible for these women to get out, much less receive any compensation.

They are marriage victims, who are lost, hidden, helpless, and alone.

Zhong Qing was right, they had no one in their lives to talk to. People look at homosexuality through tinted glasses, even more so at co-wives, and for many, divorce was a luxury. Song Wen looked through some of the posts, and the more you scroll down, the more outrageous they became. He put his phone on the table and said: “I really don’t understand those married homosexuals. If you don’t love that person, what’s the point of marriage? A marriage certificate just traps the other person and traps himself.”

Lu Siyu looked at him, “It’s just some of the men who are cheating on women, it has nothing to do with their sexual orientation. In other words, even if these men don’t like the same sex and prefer the opposite sex, they are just as likely to find a mistress and won’t treat their wives well.” Under the sunlight, Lu Siyu’s pupils appeared like crystal clear ambers. When he saw Song Wen looking at him, suddenly like a snail whose antennas had been touched, Lu Siyu lowered his head quietly and stopped talking.

“Maybe those at the bureau have found some other clues, let’s go back and see.” Song Wen ended the conversation to avoid further embarrassment, and started cleaning up the trash on the table.

“Wait for me, I need to buy something.” After Lu Siyu spoke, he went to the side to get a hot beverage from the hot beverage cabinet. Then he wandered to the corner of the convenience store, where there was a shelf with some best-selling books and recent magazines. He stood on the side and glanced through a few books, before grabbing a few and walking back to the counter to pay for them.

Song Wen took a look at the books. They were novels by Keigo Higashino, “You like reading mystery novels huh?” He asked casually.

“I don’t find these very often, but I just happened to see them today.” Lu Siyu replied lightly, “Lunch break is almost over, let’s go back to the bureau.”

Song Wen nodded, and the two of them drove the police car all the way back to the station.

♛♛♛

This morning, the Bureau had made quite a bit of progress. As soon as he entered the police station, Zhu Xiao reported excitedly, “Captain Song, the person that was living with Lin Zhenghua has been found and the fingerprints match. This person is a bartender named Ma Minghui. Old Jia and Deputy Huang went to bring the person in for questioning. He should be here soon.”

“What’s about the rest?” Song Wen asked again, “The forensic reports, physical evidence, and further details about the victim have all been put together.”

“Have the cell phone messages data been summarized yet?”

“Recent communication records and important messages are summarized.”

“Check again to see if the victim has any recent records of making large transfers, and by the way, pull a copy of Ma Ming Hui’s as well.”

“Okay, I’ll coordinate with the bank to retrieve it.”

Song Wen sat down in his seat and began to look over those materials, most of them were just summarizing the various information and did not advance the case much. After the meeting with Zhong Qing in the morning, Song Wen’s head was like a knot tied in a jumbled mess. It made him upset and gave him a headache. He thought of looking at the information from a different angle. When he looked up, he saw Lu Siyu sitting in the cubicle next to him, looking very serious and meticulously transferring the minutes of the meeting recorded in the notebook into the computer.

From where Song Wen was sitting, he could see the reflection of Lu Siyu’s monitor on the cubicle glass. The more he looked at it, the more he frowned. He stood up and walked behind Lu Siyu, then pointed at a few of the notes, “Ahh, why did you also record those comments about homosexuality? It’s too detailed, delete delete delete.”

Lu Siyu, not alarmed by the fact that Song Wen was behind him, suddenly stopped typing and looked up at him: “I think that whatever Dr.Lin said, is pretty good.”

Song Wen realized that he was standing a little close. As soon as Lu Siyu looked up, Song Wen could smell a faint pleasant scent coming from him. The man’s eyes were raised, his long eyelashes fluttering, and his black eyes were filled with water. They were as mysterious and attractive as a vortex.

As Lu Siyu looked at him, Song Wen felt his heart pounding in his chest and hurriedly took a half step back. The light-colored lips were suddenly wetted with a layer of water, making them look even more alluring.

Song Wen coughed to cover his embarrassment: “You expect Chief Gu and those old fashioned men who run the audits, to read this? Just simply record what is relevant to the case, and don’t get sidetracked.”

"

"

There were many things in the case that can’t be too detailed, nor can see the light of day. In case some good natured person reports the case to the media, and the media adds eye-catching words like ‘homosexuals being mutilated’, which might cause the public to panic, and cause a lot more trouble than it’s worth.

There are some things that, even if you know them and put yourself in their position, you still can’t change them. You can only objectively record the facts.

Lu Siyu hummed, as if he understood, stretched out one finger and pressed the delete button. Deleting a few sentences of detailed explanation, then he went ahead to delete everything else, leaving a blank document behind.

“Ugh! The rest of it was fine. Why did you delete it all? “Song Wen was distressed by the half a page of deleted meeting notes.

But Lu Siyu didn’t care at all: “It’s fine, I’ll organize my thoughts a bit more, so that I can write a bit more coherently and give it to you later.”

♛♛♛

Has any of the readers ever read books by Keigo Higashino . Detective stories enthusiastic should definitely try them.