Chapter 665: Masculinity

Lin Dongxue was getting frustrated. This woman was clearly playing games. She said, “You claim you didn’t see Dong Xiao that day, but it was you who called him over. We found Dong Xiao’s DNA at your hideout, yet he’s nowhere to be found—dead or alive. How could you not have seen him!”

Su Chan lounged nonchalantly in her chair. “Let me tell you a story. A woman from a humble background was favored by a great general. However, her father betrothed her to the general’s godfather, a warlord, to serve his own ambitions. This beloved woman became the general’s nominal ‘mother.’ The general could only sneak around to see her. Of course, secrets can’t be kept forever. One day, the warlord discovered their affair and furiously went to catch them. He intended to kill the general but, being old and fat, was easily overpowered and killed by the general, even though he had a weapon. The general quickly decided to kill all the servants and set the place on fire to destroy the evidence, then fled with his beloved woman.”

This story essentially matched Chen Shi’s deductions and was Su Chan’s way of cooperating without directly admitting to anything.

Chen Shi didn’t press for the identities of the story’s characters—Su Chan wouldn’t say if asked. Instead, he asked a different question, “Does Lü Qi love you?”

“Maybe… you’d have to ask him yourself. Can I go now, officers?” Su Chan smiled.

The police had no evidence to charge Su Chan, so they had to let her go. She made a phone call, and a car soon came to pick her up. Lin Qiupu noted the license plate and had it checked. It turned out to belong to one of Lü Qi’s friends.

Just after Su Chan left, Peng Sijue returned from the scene. Everyone gathered around him, eager for news. Peng Sijue said the evidence needed further analysis. He had brought back some remnants from the launch tower and fragments of the rocket’s exterior. Collecting these had been one of the most challenging tasks he had ever faced.

Due to the high temperatures involved in the rocket launch, no useful traces were found on the remnants. However, a woven bag found in a truck used to transport the rocket did contain traces of Dong Xiao’s DNA.

Dong Xiao had been brought to the launch site, and with the rocket’s ascent, he had disappeared without a trace. It was obvious what had happened—Dong Xiao had “ridden” the rocket.

“Is his body now in space, or is it in orbit around the Earth?” Lin Dongxue asked. Even she found it surreal to be discussing such a scenario.

“It’s probably still in orbit. It might be circling above us right now,” Chen Shi said.

“I don’t quite understand. The rocket goes straight up. How does its cargo become a satellite? The body wasn’t fitted with any special equipment,” Xu Xiaodong said, puzzled.

“Newton’s laws,” Peng Sijue explained. “Anything launched from Earth has three possible outcomes: it gets caught by gravity, it escapes into space, or it becomes a satellite of Earth. The rocket, after reaching the first cosmic velocity, will have its remnants become satellites once its fuel is exhausted.”

Xu Xiaodong seemed to understand a bit, muttering, “That’s amazing.”

“So, is Dong Xiao now burnt to a crisp or frozen solid?” Lin Dongxue wondered.

“Either way, we can’t recover the body.”

“I don’t get it. The rocket’s fuel burns at thousands of degrees. It could have completely incinerated Dong Xiao. Why go through all this trouble?” Lin Dongxue asked.

Chen Shi laughed. “Because for Lü Qi, it’s not just about winning. It’s about winning with style. He’s got a lot of ‘masculinity,’ which really just means he’s a big, immature boy.”

Lin Qiupu, enraged, said, “That arrogant prick. This is the first time I’ve met such a cocky suspect.”

“If that’s the case, I must have a lot of masculinity too,” Xu Xiaodong chimed in, earning a fierce glare from Lin Qiupu.

Lin Qiupu stood up and said, “Let’s start the interrogation.”

Lü Qi and his lawyer were sitting in the interrogation room, enjoying beef and red wine. Lü Qi was eating raw beef tartare, his mouth smeared with blood.

When the police entered, he greeted them with a mouthful of food, wiped his mouth, and leaned back in his chair. “Finally starting, huh? I was getting impatient. Let’s get this over with; I’ve got other things to do.”

Lin Qiupu was infuriated by Lü Qi’s arrogance but managed to keep his cool. He asked, “Where’s Dong Xiao?”

“I put him in the rocket and launched him into space. Hahaha!” Lü Qi laughed, slapping his leg. His unexpected honesty took everyone by surprise.

His lawyer, however, was terrified and quickly coughed to interrupt. “My client was joking. Of course, that’s not true.”

“It’s absolutely true!” Lin Qiupu raised his voice. “I can’t think of any other explanation for where the body went. Quite the grand gesture, Mr. Lü. A world first.”

“Do you dare to record that? Do you dare to document it?” Lü Qi sneered. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll retract my statement? Do you have evidence? Can you produce evidence?”

Lin Qiupu clenched his teeth. Without solid evidence, Lü Qi could retract his confession at any moment.

Lin Qiupu pressed on. “What happened at Fengyi Pavilion on January 20th?”

The lawyer tried to speak, but Lü Qi signaled for him to stop and casually said, “I went to see my lover. Who knew Dong Xiao would show up? He found out about our relationship. This Dong Xiao is a fool. To test my loyalty, he had me take care of Su Chan every day. I’m not a saint. How could I not make a move? So we got together without considering the consequences, and Dong Xiao found out and came to catch us.”

“And then?”

“Catching an affair isn’t pretty. Su Chan and I had just finished and were smoking in bed when Dong Xiao and Li the secretary burst in, cursing and calling me ungrateful and a traitor. He was really crazy that day, climbing three floors without help when he usually needs assistance even for one.”

“Dong Xiao had a gun that day.”

“That I don’t know.”

“You have a gunshot wound. Deny it, and we’ll examine you.”

Lü Qi looked annoyed. “Fine, fine. He did shoot at me but didn’t hit anything vital. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here! Hahaha!” Lü Qi laughed like a hyena, thinking he was being funny.

“That shot was fired by Secretary Li. Why did the gun end up in his hands? Why would he, an outsider who came along, have to shoot? Something must have happened to force him to shoot!” Lin Qiupu pressed, watching Lü Qi’s increasingly tense expression. He added, “By the way, Secretary Li didn’t burn to death. He escaped.”

Sweat trickled down Lü Qi’s furrowed brow. He hadn’t known that Li had gone mad. Lin Qiupu’s hint made it seem like Li had confessed everything, which terrified Lü Qi. He had overlooked this detail…