Chapter 719: The Flirtatious Guy

Chen Shi found it amusing that after some testing, they found only one solution: check the surveillance footage.

The next day, he and Lin Dongxue went to the traffic management bureau to retrieve the surveillance footage around Heping East Street. They discovered that a taxi had indeed stopped there that night, and a person got out holding a black bag.

They traced the taxi through the taxi company and found the driver. The driver described the passenger that night as a chubby boy dressed flamboyantly, with permed hair, carrying a bag of trash. The boy told the driver it was leftover bottles from his workplace that he wanted to take home to dispose of.

The boy had boarded the taxi at Liyang Road. On the afternoon of April 3, Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue went there and started asking around the nearby neighborhoods.

They split up to gather information. After over an hour, Lin Dongxue bought a bottle of mineral water and was resting on a bench when a chubby boy approached her with a friendly smile. He politely asked, “Excuse me, miss, do you know if there is a car dealership around here? I accidentally scratched my car and need to fix it before meeting a friend tonight. That’s my car over there,” he said, pointing to a red Changan Eado parked outside the community.

“Is that your car?” Lin Dongxue asked, surprised.

“Yes, I’m not used to driving domestic cars. I used to drive German cars in Los Angeles. They are more stable, though not as cost-effective. By the way, are you waiting for someone?” the chubby boy smoothly transitioned.

Lin Dongxue saw through his low-level flirting tactic immediately. The car he pointed to belonged to Chen Shi, indicating the boy’s story was made up.

Looking at his greasy, smiling face, Lin Dongxue felt a bit of disdain. She calmly replied, “That car belongs to my boyfriend,” subtly rejecting him.

“Oh, sorry! Just joking, don’t mind me. I’ll leave now.” The boy retreated.

As he turned to leave, Lin Dongxue noticed his clothes and hairstyle matched the driver’s description. She called out, “Stop right there!”

“Huh?”

Lin Dongxue approached and showed her badge. The boy’s smile vanished immediately. Lin Dongxue asked, “Were you on Heping East Street on the night of April 1?”

The boy panicked, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I wasn’t there. I was at home watching ‘A Better Tomorrow’ that night. You know, it was Leslie Cheung’s death anniversary. I rewatch his movies every year.”

“Leslie Cheung?”

“Yes, do you like Leslie Cheung?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lin Dongxue almost cursed. How could he still flirt with a police officer questioning him?

She took out her phone, “Chen, come over. I think I found him.”

Seeing Chen Shi arrive, the boy’s expression turned serious. “I wasn’t on Heping East Street. Why would I go there?”

“What’s your name?” Chen Shi asked.

“Zhang Xiao. Zhang, as in Zhang Fei, and Xiao, as in elegant.”

“What’s your profession?”

“I… I sell shoe polish!” Zhang Xiao glanced at Lin Dongxue, possibly embarrassed by his earlier lies. Then he added, “Do you need any shoe polish? Oh, you’re wearing sneakers, but you must have leather shoes!”

“Why do you talk so much?” Lin Dongxue scolded.

“Miss, don’t be offended. I admit I was flirting earlier. It’s like sending a hello on WeChat. No offense meant, right?” Zhang Xiao laughed.

Chen Shi brought the topic back, “You said you weren’t there, but the taxi you took had the plate number LXXXX. Come with us to confront the driver.”

“I have to work.”

“If it wasn’t you, I’ll compensate for your lost wages.”

Zhang Xiao scratched his face awkwardly, still trying to argue, “I really wasn’t there.”

Chen Shi contacted the driver to arrange a meeting. Hearing this, Zhang Xiao panicked and said, “Okay, okay, no need for a confrontation. I was there.”

“Why were you there?”

“Just… hanging out!”

“Have you considered why we are investigating you? This officer is a detective from the city bureau. We are looking into something that appeared in front of us. You should know what that is, right?”

“Guns? Drugs?” Zhang Xiao pretended to be clueless despite his nervousness.

“What were you doing on Heping East Street that night!” Chen Shi demanded.

“Dumping… dumping trash.”

“You live on Liyang Road and took a taxi costing 20 yuan to dump trash on Heping East Street? Does that make sense?”

Zhang Xiao stayed silent, then said, “No, no. I was visiting a friend. Dumping the trash was just incidental.”

“Ha!” Chen Shi was getting impatient. “Dongxue, take him in for questioning!”

“I’m officially questioning you now. The detailed reasons will be explained at the bureau. Save your words for the interrogation room!” Lin Dongxue said.

“Your name is Dongxue? That’s a beautiful name. What’s your surname?”

Lin Dongxue rolled her eyes. She had never met someone so shameless.

In the interrogation room, Zhang Xiao denied dumping the body. There happened to be a female officer among the interrogators, and Zhang Xiao kept asking her questions with a playful smile. Chen Shi realized this guy was like Jia Baoyu from “Dream of the Red Chamber,” excited whenever he saw women.

Hearing Lin Dongxue recount Zhang Xiao’s clumsy attempt at flirting, Chen Shi had a thought, “This guy seems to know his tricks well. Could he be a professional? A small group, a dead young woman? Haha, I think I understand.”

“What!?”

“Let him confess himself!” Chen Shi smiled.

“Ugh, stop being mysterious.”

At that moment, Peng Siqiao walked in with a stack of documents and asked Lin Dongxue, “Where is Captain Lin?”

Chen Shi said, “What’s the progress? Tell me.”

Peng Siqiao sneered, “Overstepping your authority!”

“Let me see,” Chen Shi grabbed the documents. The progress was significant. They had identified the deceased with several ID photos listed on the papers.

These past few days, Peng Siqiao’s team had held a meeting and decided on two options: conduct DNA tests on all the trash from the scene or use 3D cranial reconstruction to identify the victim and find the killer and the person who dumped the body.

The team chose the second option. Though cranial reconstruction is labor-intensive, it is more challenging and interesting than analyzing trash all day. Restoring one hundred clay pots compared to making one crystal vase – the latter is definitely more appealing.

Despite the corrosion from acidic substances, some facial features of the deceased were preserved. After a day and night of hard work, the technical team reconstructed her appearance on the computer and found a series of similar photos in the household registration database.

This was the information Chen Shi was now looking at.