Chapter 544: A Night Visit to Baoqiang

In the evening, Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue arrived at the film city, where the actors lived.

It was only eight o’clock, but the street was already deserted. The two approached a convenience store across the street and saw an aunt sitting with her back to the door, watching TV and knitting while smiling.

The streetlights were widely spaced, leaving the area around the convenience store in complete darkness.

As they walked up to her, the aunt hadn’t noticed them. Chen Shi said, “Excuse me!”

“Do you need to buy something?” The aunt stood up.

“We’re police officers and need to verify some testimony.”

“Oh, you mean the case where the Japanese were killed! I didn’t see Lü Baoqiang leave that night.”

“Auntie, we were standing across the street for five minutes, and you didn’t even turn your head. You didn’t see us at all. How can we trust your testimony that you watched the street all night?”

The aunt looked embarrassed, “I wasn’t watching TV that night.”

Chen Shi glanced at the frozen TV screen. “Really? Can we check the playback record on your set-top box?”

“Okay, I admit, I was watching TV that night. But I said Lü Baoqiang didn’t go out because he often buys things here and always says hello when he passes by.”

“Auntie, use some common sense. If he went to kill someone, would he greet you?”

“How could he kill someone?! He’s only twenty-five, finally promoted from an extra to a featured actor. He has high aspirations and even wrote a poem. Let me think… right, it was ‘One Wang and one Lü, both are Baoqiang. One day, Lü will surpass Wang.’ Such a good kid, how could he kill someone, let alone a Japanese?”

Chen Shi shook his head, “I know you want to help him, but such subjective testimony won’t hold up in court.”

“He… he couldn’t possibly kill anyone!”

Noticing a hint of hesitation in the aunt’s expression, Chen Shi asked, “Are you hiding something?”

“No, no!”

“Covering up is against the law.”

Frightened, the aunt admitted, “Alright, I saw him that night… but he just came back from the internet café and bought a drink from me. It’s right across the street! You can check.”

“What time was that?”

“Around eleven at night.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

The aunt replied sheepishly, “I thought he was a good kid and didn’t want him to get involved. Besides, since the victims were Japanese, I thought it was good riddance no matter who did it. Frankly, I didn’t think the police would take this case seriously.”

“Japanese or not, it’s still a human life. Thank you for telling the truth today!”

The aunt brought two bottles of water over and asked, “You won’t arrest me, will you?”

“No, but don’t do this again.”

“Things like this probably won’t happen again… the water is on me.”

Chen Shi still placed two yuan on the counter, then he and Lin Dongxue headed to the internet café. Lin Dongxue asked, “If Lü Baoqiang’s alibi doesn’t hold up, then Old Wang’s alibi is also void. By the way, why did you suspect Old Wang right away?”

“Guess.”

“Because he was nervous around you?”

“Many people get nervous around the police, but nervousness isn’t always suspicious. I noticed that his shoes didn’t fit his feet; they seemed larger than his usual size.”

Lin Dongxue thought for a moment and suddenly understood, “He intentionally wore larger shoes!”

“Exactly. In a suspect’s mind, they might leave a lot of evidence at the scene, so he tried this trick. It actually made him more suspicious.”

They arrived at the internet café and found that Lü Baoqiang had been online from 8:30 PM to midnight on the day of the crime. Lin Dongxue photographed the internet usage records and copied the surveillance footage from the entrance as evidence.

As they were about to leave, Lin Dongxue glanced back, tapped Chen Shi on the shoulder, and pointed in a direction.

Lü Baoqiang, with a cigarette in his mouth and headphones on, was intensely playing a game, shouting loudly because he couldn’t hear outside noises, “Mage, follow up with Meteor Rain! Warrior, charge him! And remember, don’t call me by my name in the guild, call me ‘Young Master!'”

The two stood behind him, unnoticed. Lin Dongxue saw the colorful screen and asked, “What’s he playing?”

“Legend of Mir, an old game… probably a private server.”

Chen Shi poked Lü Baoqiang. Annoyed, Lü Baoqiang pulled out ten yuan, “Add ten more minutes!”

Chen Shi poked him again. He turned to glance, then continued playing, finally reacting, taking off his headphones, and turning to them with a smile, “Are you looking for me?”

“Lü Baoqiang, with your daily behavior, you still want to surpass Wang Baoqiang?”

Chen Shi’s words hit a sore spot. Lü Baoqiang blushed and quickly logged off, “I only play during breaks. I’m serious about my work.”

“We’re not here to lecture you. We need to ask about the night of the crime. Were you online?”

“Yes…”

“Then why did you say you were passed out drunk in your dorm?”

“I didn’t say I was in the dorm, just that I was passed out drunk.”

“Is there a difference?”

“When I get drunk, I come to the internet café to sober up.”

“Sober up here?”

“Yes, my friends know this. Playing for a while clears my head, then I go home to sleep.”

Chen Shi laughed, “Your previous testimony had many issues… So you weren’t with Old Wang at the time. How dare you claim he was in the dorm all night?”

“I took Old Wang back that night. He was already out of it. I threw him on his bed and left. When I came back, he was still sleeping, so he must have been in the dorm all night…” Lü Baoqiang scratched his cheek.

Chen Shi pondered. An alibi at the internet café was more solid than being asleep in the dorm. Why did Lü Baoqiang hide this? He suspected something fishy.

He questioned, “Were you really online the whole time?”

“You can check!”

“Fine, we will. But if we find something and you haven’t admitted it, it’ll be different. Let’s go!”

Lü Baoqiang hurried after them, “Wait, what do you mean by different?”

Sensing he might confess, Chen Shi said, “Falsifying testimony is illegal. If you admit it now, it won’t count as perjury. Think carefully, even if you become the next Wang Baoqiang, this will haunt you.”

Lü Baoqiang bit his lip, cold sweat on his forehead, clearly struggling internally.

Finally, he stammered, “I… I went to the Japanese people’s place that night!”