Chapter 65: The Mastermind Behind the Scenes

Wang Jinsong struggled violently, even biting Xu Xiaodong’s arm before escaping. Like a wild boar, he rampaged through the room, knocking over tables.

The police had a hard time restraining him. Lin Qiupu, exasperated, said, “Cuff him.”

Xu Xiaodong winced, looking at his bitten arm. “This kid’s a menace, worse than my cousin’s children.”

Handcuffed to a pipe, Wang Jinsong continued to thrash around, tearing the skin on his hands. His parents watched with tears streaming down their faces.

Peng Si-jue took out a syringe, expressionless. “Want a shot of tranquilizer?”

Hearing this, Wang Jinsong suddenly stopped struggling.

“To raise a child like this, even without this incident, he would have been a menace to society,” Lin Qiupu said with disdain. “Take him away!”

“Wait, there’s one more detail,” Lin Dongxue said.

“What?”

“The aphrodisiac found in the victim’s stomach.”

The parents remained silent, but Lin Dongxue seemed to understand. She asked Wang Jinsong, “Did you put the pills in the cola?”

“I thought they were…”

“Don’t say it!” Wang Jinsong’s father shouted.

“If you interrupt again, we’ll separate you,” Lin Qiupu warned.

Lin Dongxue looked at the terrified Wang Jinsong. “What did you think it was?”

“I don’t know!”

“You’re lying. You didn’t accidentally kill Du Lei. You planned to kill him from the start. There was a box of pills with English writing on it at your house. You thought it was poison, or maybe your parents lied to you, so you put the ‘poison’ in the cola to trick Du Lei into drinking it. When it didn’t work, you used a blunt object to kill him. After knocking him down, you kept hitting him until he was dead. This wasn’t an accident; it was murder!”

Revealing the truth in one breath was exhilarating for Lin Dongxue. The room was filled with shocked expressions.

Wang Jinsong, drenched in cold sweat, suddenly screamed, “Why was he better than me? Why did my parents always compare me to him? Why did he have a game console and I didn’t? He deserved it! He deserved it!”

Wang Jinsong’s ferocious outburst shocked everyone. Xu Xiaodong asked, “Then how did the pill box end up at Teacher Li’s place?”

Lin Dongxue turned to the door. “The box was found this morning! They were all inside when we talked outside yesterday. They overheard us and took advantage of the situation.”

“If Teacher Li didn’t have an alibi, we might have been fooled,” Xu Xiaodong said, astonished.

“Not necessarily,” Peng Si-jue said. “Justice always prevails. They would have left other evidence, and we would have eventually caught them. One more thing: the victim wasn’t killed by the beating. The fatal wound was a cut to the throat.”

Hearing this, Wang Jinsong’s father’s eyes widened. Lin Qiupu asked, “You knew?”

The man covered his face and began to cry. “When I slashed his throat, the child moved. My wife suggested taking him to the hospital… But I thought even if we did, we’d still go to jail, so I…”

“So, you actually killed him!” Lin Qiupu asked.

The man nodded dejectedly.

The room fell silent. Lin Qiupu signaled to take them away. Wang Jinsong’s mother suddenly pleaded, “Officer, please! I never thought this would happen over a game console. After it happened, we used our savings to buy him one. He hasn’t had a chance to play it yet. Please let him play before you take him!”

“Do you really think this happened because of a game console?”

“What else could it be? We love him so much. We’ve always given him everything he wanted. This is all our fault. We should have bought him the console sooner.”

Lin Qiupu shook his head in despair. “Reflect on this in prison!”

After the real culprit was caught, Du Lei’s parents came from out of town to claim the body. Despite the corpse being stitched up, it did little to ease their sorrow. No words could comfort them.

This was the kind of scene Lin Dongxue hated the most.

The case was solved in less than three days. The special task force received commendations from their superiors. Lin Qiupu called Lin Dongxue into his office to praise her.

“Brother, as agreed…”

“Alright, alright, I won’t interfere with you anymore,” Lin Qiupu said with a bitter smile.

Lin Qiupu’s unexpected compliance made Lin Dongxue feel a bit awkward. “Brother, I wasn’t saying you’re bad at taking care of me… it’s just…”

“Just what?”

“Could you give me some face? Don’t reprimand me in public. After all, I’m grown up now.”

“It’s my fault. I’ll be more careful… Do you know why I’m so happy? You did an excellent job this time. The evidence was solid, and we solved the case without relying on that driver… Don’t forget about the celebration dinner tonight!”

“I won’t!” Lin Dongxue smiled and left. In the hallway, she ran into Xu Xiaodong. “Xiaodong, how did you come up with the idea to find evidence from the downstairs drain?”

Xu Xiaodong scratched his head, embarrassed.

Lin Dongxue suddenly had a suspicion. “Was someone coaching you?”

“Uh… well…”

“Don’t stutter.”

“Actually, it was Brother Chen’s idea. I told him about the case. When we hit a roadblock, he suggested it.”

“What?!” Lin Dongxue was shocked. Xu Xiaodong wasn’t Lin Qiupu’s informant; he was Chen Shi’s.

Meanwhile, at a surgery hospital in Long’an City, Chen Shi, who was caring for a patient, received a message from Lin Dongxue: “Thanks, mastermind!”

A little girl in the bed asked, “What’s up, Uncle Chen?”

“Nothing, just a message from a friend.” Chen Shi picked up a bowl of porridge and continued feeding the girl. She shook her head, saying she didn’t want to eat anymore. “Be good, Yueyue. You just had surgery. You need to eat to recover.”

The girl pouted. “When will I get better?”

“Don’t worry. Listen to the doctors, and you’ll be fine. When you get better, I’ll take you out for a ride.”

After she finished eating and fell asleep, Chen Shi carefully left the room and went to see the doctor. “Doctor, although the insurance covered most of Yueyue’s medical expenses, there’s still the hospital and nursing fees…”

“I’ll cover it!” Chen Shi handed over a credit card. “Doctor, when will she get better?”

“We’re still observing.”

“Stop giving me vague answers.”

“I understand your concern, but the cure rate for this disease isn’t high, especially since it was discovered in the middle stage. She just had surgery. If the chemotherapy and medication work well, she might improve.”

Chen Shi sighed. “Call me if anything changes.”

Leaving the hospital, it was getting late. Chen Shi got into his car, ready to take a nearby job.

When the passenger got in, Chen Shi glanced at his phone. The reporters were quick; the case was already in the news. This time, the game console was blamed again. The headline read: “Shocking: 14-Year-Old Boy Murders Classmate Over a Game Console.”

“Nonsense, the media always blames the wrong things!”

“This case has caused quite a stir in Long’an. The state of family education nowadays is truly worrying,” the passenger chimed in. He was an elderly man with an authoritative voice.

“Sir, where to so late?” Chen Shi asked, lighting a cigarette.

“Don’t you recognize me?” The eyes in the rearview mirror twinkled with a smile. “Chen Shi… or should I call you Song Lang?”