Chapter 459: Could It Be a Ghost?

A police officer reported, “The victim’s girlfriend, Du Juan, works at a nightclub as a DJ and sound technician. She attended an art school in the city a few years ago but dropped out to work at the club. She’s only twenty this year.”

Lin Dongxue commented, “She’s so much younger than the victim?”

“Some girls do prefer older men,” Chen Shi said, earning a pinch from Lin Dongxue. He continued, “Let’s bring her in for questioning. The girlfriend probably knows the victim better than most.”

“What about his friends and colleagues?” Old Zhang asked, holding a list of names.

Chen Shi replied, “This case is an extension of the stolen gun incident. The person who sent the gun targeted those with grievances. Since the killer is a woman, I suspect the motive might be a long-standing grudge. Casual acquaintances aren’t worth our time, but close friends should be interviewed. We need to find out if the victim had any secrets or had hurt someone in the past. And remember, it was his birthday. Could this secret be related to that?”

Old Zhang added, “The call records show the victim had a long conversation with an Australian number the day before he died. We can’t trace it from here.”

“Why not just call and ask? What’s the time difference in Australia?” Chen Shi suggested.

They checked and said, “It should be around eleven in the morning there.”

“Let’s call.”

They dialed the number and waited. A clear young female voice answered, “Hello? Who’s this?”

“Hello, we’re from the Long’an City Public Security Bureau. Do you know Song Yuwen?”

“Yes, I do. Why?”

“How are you related to him?”

“I’m his cousin.”

Chen Shi remembered the parents mentioning a cousin studying abroad. “Are you Wan Jun?”

“Yes, I’m Shi Wan Jun.”

“This might be sudden, but… Song Yuwen was murdered.”

There was a gasp followed by a long silence. “Cousin Yuwen was killed? Have they caught the killer?”

“We’re still investigating. We noticed he had a call with you, so we need to ask a few questions… You were planning to return to China soon, right? Are you here or still abroad?”

“I planned to come back, but something came up at school, so I told my family I’ll come back for the New Year instead.”

“What did you talk about on July 25th?”

“Just chatted. I was supposed to come back for his birthday, and cousin Yuqiang is also at home. We planned to hang out, but since I couldn’t come back, I called to tell him and chatted for a while… I’ve always been close to him. I can’t believe this happened.”

“Sorry for your loss.”

“Anything else you need?”

Chen Shi felt something off about her calm demeanor. “Can I have your ID number?”

She readily provided it, and Chen Shi noted it down. “Which university are you attending?”

“Queensland University of Technology.”

“Thank you.”

After hanging up, Chen Shi said, “Email the school to verify if she’s enrolled there.”

Just then, an officer from the information department entered. “Captain Lin, we recovered the deleted video from yesterday’s hard drive.”

Lin Dongxue, still getting used to being called Captain, said, “Thank you!”

The officer handed her the hard drive, and she plugged it into a computer. Everyone gathered around to watch the surveillance footage from the night of the incident. Around ten, the victim drove into the community.

At eleven-thirty, the security guard ran out of the duty room but never returned. The room remained empty thereafter.

Chen Shi said, “The guard had already been killed by then. Rewind a bit. The killer should have left the community around that time.”

Lin Dongxue rewound the video, but only an old man walking his dog was seen leaving the community during that period. Over the previous hour, three people had entered or exited the community, none matching the killer’s description.

“This doesn’t make sense. If the killer deleted the footage, it must have been shortly after killing the guard. Go back to eleven-thirty.”

No one matching the killer’s description appeared in the footage. Chen Shi reviewed everyone who entered and exited from six to eleven-thirty. Six people had both entered and exited, including a young man in black carrying a box when he entered but leaving empty-handed around eleven-thirty, twenty minutes after the guard went outside.

Lin Dongxue speculated, “Could he be the killer? What if the killer disguised themselves?”

Chen Shi shook his head. “The timing doesn’t match. The guard had been out for twenty minutes by then. Even if he was delayed outside, he should have returned by then… And if the killer deleted the footage, the guardroom would have captured them entering.”

Xu Xiaodong suggested, “Could the killer be invisible? That’s scary!”

Chen Shi recalled what Zhou Tiannan had said about the person being a ghost. Shaking his head to dismiss the thought, he reasoned that believing in ghosts didn’t make sense. Even if there were ghosts, a gun-wielding ghost would be too much.

However, maybe the guard was delayed outside for some reason, or perhaps the killer really did disguise themselves?

Chen Shi said, “Let’s verify everyone who entered and exited the community that day. Anyone seen on the surveillance before or after the incident needs to be found. I’ll re-examine the scene to check for other exits or cameras… Where’s Lao Peng?”

Lin Dongxue looked around. “He left while we were watching the video.”

“Let him be. Xiaodong, stay and review the footage, from nightfall to dawn. Watch it carefully.”

Xu Xiaodong groaned, “Can’t you give me something more interesting? Do I have to sit and watch ten hours of video?”

“If sitting is too boring… you can stand and watch!” Chen Shi clapped his hands. “Let’s get to work! Dinner’s on me tonight.”