Chapter 543: The Gravely Ill Wife

Lv Baoqiang scratched his head and said, “Those two came to China to act, playing bad officers here, not liked by anyone. They weren’t liked in their own country either. Tamura’s friend once grabbed him by the collar and yelled, ‘Nandatte konna mono wo toru nda!'”

An actor through and through, his performance amused the policemen present. Chen Shi asked, “What does that mean?”

“It means, ‘Why are you filming this kind of stuff?'”

“Lv Baoqiang, your Japanese isn’t bad. Yesterday I asked you what Fujihara said, but you didn’t answer.”

“I don’t actually speak Japanese. That’s what Old Wang told me.”

“Old Wang? Call him in!”

A moment later, Old Wang came in. Seeing a room full of police made him a bit nervous, but he quickly regained his composure and smiled, “Looking for me?”

“We heard your Japanese is good.”

Old Wang waved his hands, “Not at all. I only know a few phrases I picked up during filming.”

Chen Shi turned to Lv Baoqiang, “Repeat that phrase again.”

Lv Baoqiang repeated it. “I spent half a day learning that line, taught by Old Wang. Bird language is hard to learn.”

Old Wang looked slightly surprised, as if he realized who had “betrayed” him. Chen Shi said, “Such a complete sentence… I think it’s hard to say it without a foundation in Japanese. Your Japanese is quite good, isn’t it?”

“Well, I know a little. I learned it from chatting with Japanese actors, just picked up the sounds. I learned this phrase from Tamura.”

“What exactly did Fujihara say that day?”

“He said…” Old Wang recalled, “Tamura’s family is in a tough situation. His wife is very ill.”

Lv Baoqiang added, “Old Wang, I remember Fujihara was chattering on that day!”

“You don’t understand, Japanese people talk a lot. One meaning can take half a day to say. Besides, my Japanese is only at a basic level, so I could only grasp the gist.”

“Why didn’t you mention this yesterday? And now, an unexpected incident has happened, and you’re telling us today!”

“What incident?” Old Wang immediately looked nervous. This was a deliberate trick by Chen Shi.

“It has nothing to do with the case. Answer my question.”

Old Wang licked his lips, “Officer, you must have noticed, we all despise Japanese people. If I said I understood Japanese, they’d mock me. I’ve been a special actor for ten years, the most senior among them, so I need to maintain my image.”

“A good reason!” Chen Shi nodded.

“It’s not a reason, it’s the truth.”

Chen Shi looked around, “Do you two live here?”

“Yes, Baoqiang and I share this place.”

There was a metal bunk bed in the room. Chen Shi asked who slept on top, and Old Wang said he did.

This answer differed from Chen Shi’s expectations. He had some suspicion about Old Wang, but if Old Wang slept on the top bunk, coming and going wouldn’t be easy.

“Alright, I’m done here!”

Lin Qiupu gave Lv Baoqiang a stern lecture, and they left. Walking together, Lin Qiupu said, “We discovered something this morning. The victims’ costumes didn’t match their roles. They wore regular Japanese soldiers’ uniforms, only the hats were officers’ hats. Also, we found tricycle tracks near the scene. There are tricycles in the warehouse, and one of them was used to transport the bodies but had been wiped clean.”

“This suggests that the killer initially just wanted to use a tricycle to dispose of the bodies but came up with the idea when they discovered the costumes.”

Lin Qiupu looked around the ancient buildings, “Despite its size, many areas here are closed at night. There are people on the residential streets and some shops have surveillance. The options for the killer to dump the bodies were limited.”

“Any findings from the surveillance?”

“Still investigating. It’s been less than thirty hours since the case started, it’s not that quick!”

“Help me check the victims, especially Tamura’s bank accounts, and also those of the special actors.”

“What are you suspecting?”

“I suspect Tamura was a scammer!” Chen Shi smiled.

On September 21st, during a case discussion, Lin Qiupu revealed new developments. “Tamura’s bank account shows he earned nearly 40,000 yuan per month. After expenses, he saved about 30,000, but he had an extra 4,000 yuan deposited monthly, which was converted to yen and sent to a hospital in Japan… According to information from Japan, his wife suffers from a severe spinal injury and has been receiving treatment. He came to China to work to pay for her medical bills.”

“What’s his wife’s condition?”

“Her name is… Tamura Yukari. She’s 24 years old and was injured in a car accident seven years ago. Tamura graduated from a film university and his salary was barely enough to live on. After his wife became bedridden, he came to China to act, doubling his income to cover her treatment costs.”

“It seems Tamura loved his wife very much, which is why he took on a job that made him despised,” Lin Dongxue sighed.

Chen Shi sent a WeChat message to Tao Yuanyuan, “You were right. We’re having pizza tonight.” Then he said, “The extra 4,000 yuan might be the killer’s motive. How much does it add up to?”

“Since 2015, there’s been this extra income, sometimes more, but never less than 4,000. It adds up to over 200,000 yuan!”

The police exclaimed in surprise. The persistence of this “duped” individual made the brutal act understandable.

Lin Qiupu added, “But the special actors’ accounts showed no abnormalities.”

“Is there a list?”

“I’ll give it to you later.”

Chen Shi leaned back in his chair, pondering, “I think anyone who has known Tamura since 2015 is a suspect. Let’s use the process of elimination!”

After this elimination, only five people were left, including Old Wang, who had been working together for years.

The samples from the alley confirmed that the blood at the entrance was Tamura’s, proving the killer first dealt with Tamura and then hid in the alley to observe. There were traces of blood from both men inside the alley.

The vomit sample was too small for a DNA test, but the traces indicated it was caused by a shovel.

Additionally, several footprints were found at the scene. The shoe size was 40, but none of the special actors matched this size.

Chen Shi reviewed these files for a long time and asked, “Was Lv Baoqiang really dead drunk and sleeping in the dorm that night? If so, he wouldn’t know if Old Wang went out.”

“You’re not suspecting Old Wang… are you?” Lin Dongxue said, “But didn’t the lady at the corner store say she didn’t see them go downstairs that night?”

“Is her testimony reliable? Let’s check it out tonight!”

Chen Shi took out his phone and sent a message to Tao Yuanyuan, “Sorry, the pizza will have to wait until tomorrow!”