Chapter 774: The Laid-Back Captain

Song Lang finished his cigarette and returned to the scene, asking Peng Siqiao for an update.

“Male, over fifty, dead for less than two hours. He only has one stab wound, and there’s almost no blood on his body. The blood probably pooled in his lungs, causing asphyxiation. We’ll need to take him back for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. Here’s what we found on him.” Peng Siqiao handed over a wallet and a phone.

The wallet contained a few thousand yuan, a small set of metal keys, and a photo of what looked like a family of three at a tourist spot. The man in the photo was the deceased. His ID card identified him as He Taiyang. The phone was broken and wouldn’t turn on.

Song Lang looked at the body again. It was laid on an open body bag, positioned on its side to avoid disturbing the wound. The front of the body was dirty, likely from the muddy alley after recent rain. Song noticed a long drag mark on the ground.

“He crawled a bit after being stabbed, likely moving away from the attacker out of instinct. Check the footprints over there,” Song pointed to where Lin Qiupu was standing, making him jump back a few steps.

“No, based on the direction of his footprints and the angle of the wound, he was stabbed from above,” Peng Siqiao said.

“Stabbed from above? Was he squatting to tie his shoes?” Song glanced at the deceased’s polished shoes. “Or maybe he was punched and bent over, then stabbed from above…”

“Captain, the right wrist of the deceased,” Lin Qiupu pointed out, thinking Song hadn’t noticed.

“I saw it,” Song said calmly. “The deceased was carrying a briefcase. It was stolen.”

“Wasn’t it a watch?” Lin Qiupu asked, surprised.

Da Chang laughed, “Newbie, don’t try to teach the captain. If he says it was a briefcase, it was a briefcase.”

Song took the small keys from the wallet. “These are handcuff keys. That mark on his wrist is from handcuffs. Haven’t you seen this on TV? People sometimes handcuff their wrists to briefcases containing valuables… Ah, now I get it. The drag mark might not be from him crawling but from the killer dragging the briefcase, pulling the body along.”

“But the handcuff keys are still on him,” Lin Qiupu protested.

“Haha, you think handcuffs are hard to open?” Song laughed, taking a pair of handcuffs from Lin Qiupu’s belt and snapping them on his own wrist. He asked Peng Siqiao for a needle, and with a few delicate movements, the cuffs were unlocked.

Lin Qiupu was amazed, his admiration for his idol growing even stronger.

Song tossed the handcuffs back to him. “These are police handcuffs. The ones people can buy can be opened with a piece of wire.”

Standing up, Song took off his gloves and pulled out a cigarette from his pack. “The deceased probably lived nearby. He was carrying something valuable at night, either for a shady deal or because he was being blackmailed. The killer knew about it… Newbie, you and Da Chang take this ID and find his residence nearby.”

“Captain, my name is Lin Qiupu.”

“I know, just go!”

Lin Qiupu and Da Chang left, hearing Song lazily stretch and say, “I’m hungry. Let’s order takeout!”

Peng Siqiao said, “When will you ever get a normal routine?”

“Why do you care? Are you my wife?” Song retorted.

Lin Qiupu whispered to Da Chang, “The captain and Peng are pretty close, huh?”

“They’ve been friends for years, so yeah, they’re close. Impressed by our captain?” Da Chang asked with a smile.

“He’s really something.”

“He might not be the best leader, but he’s solved so many cases. If he wanted to move up, he could be a deputy chief by now. He only took the captain’s role reluctantly after the previous one left. Despite his laid-back attitude, we all respect him deeply.”

They wandered the neighborhood for a while. By ten o’clock, Da Chang was losing patience. “Enough. It’s late. The killer might still be around. Let’s get some sleep and continue tomorrow.”

“But the captain asked us to…”

“Come on, if you’re this serious all the time, you’ll wear yourself out. He said to look around, not to find it tonight. Let’s go home. It’s late.”

“I’ll check that complex over there,” Lin Qiupu said.

Da Chang sighed, “You go ahead. I’ll grab something to eat at the convenience store and wait for you.”

Lin Qiupu asked the complex’s management, who checked their records and found no resident by that name. He thanked them and left, unsure where else to look.

Then, a golden sign caught his eye: “Taiyang Pawnshop.” He looked at the ID in his hand—He Taiyang. Excited, he ran to the shop and knocked on the door.

After a few knocks, a woman opened a small door and scrutinized Lin Qiupu’s police uniform. “Who are you looking for?”

“Does He Taiyang live here?”

“He’s my father. What happened to him?” The woman was shocked.

“Is this him?” Lin Qiupu showed her the ID. She nodded, growing more anxious.

“He was murdered. We found his body nearby,” Lin Qiupu said.

The woman gasped, then burst into tears. Lin Qiupu, feeling awkward, didn’t know how to comfort her.

“Where is he? Take me to him!”

“They took him to the station, but I don’t know if family can see him yet. Let me call and check.”

“Please, he’s my father!”

“Okay, okay.”

The woman went inside to change, returning in a black dress and gloves. Lin Qiupu thought she looked very proper.

Without a car, Lin Qiupu and Da Chang took her in their patrol car to the station.

Da Chang told Lin Qiupu to inform the captain. Lin Qiupu asked, “Is he still here?”

“If there’s a case, he’s here all night.”

Lin Qiupu knocked on Song Lang’s office door and saw him with a spread of takeout on his desk, savoring sweet and sour ribs. He looked surprised to see Lin Qiupu.

“This isn’t a midnight snack; it’s dinner. I didn’t eat earlier,” Song explained.

“That’s a lot of food for one person.”

“I have decision paralysis, so I order everything. If you’re hungry, help yourself.”

“I found the victim’s daughter and brought her here. Do you want to see her?”

Song put down his chopsticks, impressed. “Wow, first day on the job and already this diligent. Keep this up, and you’ll sit in this chair one day!”