I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 94: Chapter 92: Deliberately Presented

After eating until she was about half-full, Su Miaoyi questioned Zhuang Yanzheng as she ate.

”Did Cao Hong say anything else?”

”What was the last thing you heard?” Zhuang Yanzheng had been in the interrogation room, so he had no idea Su Miaoyi had fainted. He only found out after he came out.

An ambulance was called, and Yan Cheng had accompanied her to the hospital.

”Cao Hong said that the fact I’m still alive proves he didn’t kill anyone when he came to Jinghai,” Su Miaoyi said.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at her. ”Have you remembered anything?”

Su Miaoyi shook her head. ”I haven’t remembered a single thing.”

”I asked him where Mo Xiaoxiao’s body was,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”Cao Hong claimed he didn’t know, that his subordinates handled it.”

Su Miaoyi looked at Zhuang Yanzheng, a little surprised. ”He didn’t handle it himself?”

”He said he didn’t,” Zhuang Yanzheng replied.

”Then what about the vision I had of him burying the body?” Su Miaoyi asked, confused.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”It didn’t seem like he was lying.”

”His subordinates...” Su Miaoyi began to ask.

”He confessed to that, but it was related to a drug deal. He said he told them all to leave before he left Jiangcheng,” Zhuang Yanzheng explained. ”He gave up the lead so readily, he was probably just making sure they had enough time to run. They’ll be hard for us to find now.”

”If they left the country from Dian City, it’ll be difficult to find them,” Su Miaoyi said, then her head throbbed with another sharp pain.

”What’s wrong?”

She took a moment to recover. ”It’s nothing. Do you think what he said is credible?”

”Ninety-eight percent of it,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

”I think so too,” Su Miaoyi said. ”I feel like on June twenty-ninth, when he came to Jinghai, he must have done more than just ransack my place. But I can’t remember.”

”And he must have had a reason for coming to Jinghai this time, too,” Su Miaoyi said. ”Otherwise, it’s been two weeks since he killed Shao Dong, and the police only just found out. He had plenty of time to flee the country in those two weeks. It’s chaotic over there and hard to police. He’s a decent fighter, so he wouldn’t have any trouble surviving.”

”I think he was still coming after you,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”If you hadn’t discovered your home was ransacked and moved, he probably would have made another move. Maybe he’s been in Jinghai this whole time, just looking for where you live now.”

Su Miaoyi thought for a moment. ”If I’d known, I wouldn’t have moved. I would’ve waited for him to come to me.”

Zhuang Yanzheng shot her a stern look. ”Don’t even think about it.”

Su Miaoyi fell silent.

Zhuang Yanzheng was also quiet for a moment.

Su Miaoyi ate a little more, then said, ”Also... I think this has something to do with Jiang Junrui.”

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at her.

Su Miaoyi continued voicing her thoughts. ”Jiang Junrui appeared out of nowhere, talking about a marriage alliance or something... I feel like he was just testing me. His appearance was too strange.”

”Maybe... the video Mo Xiaoxiao had is related to the Fengjiang Clubhouse, or the Fengjiang Group.”

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded.

Su Miaoyi added, ”But the scariest part is... the Fengjiang Clubhouse, or to be direct, Jiang Junrui. He just came to find me so openly. What if I hadn’t lost my memory? What if I really did have the video recording?”

”In Jiang Junrui’s mind, you do have your memories, and you very likely have the video. All this time has passed, and you haven’t gone to the police or used the video,” Zhuang Yanzheng mused. ”First, he probably wants to test whether you have the video. Second... if you do have it, why haven’t you gone to the police or used it to threaten him? He probably wants to know why.”

”There’s one more thing I don’t understand,” Su Miaoyi said. ”If the video is so important, why is Jiang Junrui only coming to find me now?”

A crucial piece of information was missing.

Her memory.

If she could just remember, so many things would become clear.

But why did she suddenly lose her memory?

Why was it that she couldn’t remember just those few days?

As she was thinking, there were two knocks on the hospital room door before it opened.

Yan Cheng walked in, holding a test report.

”Are you okay now?” He had run into Shen Yanzhou before coming in, so he knew she was awake.

Su Miaoyi nodded. ”I’m fine now.”

Yan Cheng handed her the report. ”You’re fine, perfectly healthy.”

Su Miaoyi flipped through it.

Yan Cheng said, ”I had them run some extra tests. There’s no sign of cranial trauma, so your amnesia... isn’t from that.”

”But before I lost consciousness, my head hurt so much I thought it was going to explode,” Su Miaoyi said.

Yan Cheng paused for a moment. ”All the tests indicate that there’s nothing wrong. You’re perfectly healthy.”

Su Miaoyi fell silent.

Zhuang Yanzheng, sitting in his chair, glanced at her, then lowered his gaze and rubbed his fingers together.

’She can already see murder scenes,’ he thought. ’It wouldn’t be strange for other things to happen to her.’

...

「Jiangcheng.」

The top floor of the Fengjiang Clubhouse.

Jiang Junrui was sprinkling fish food into a large tank.

Someone knocked and entered.

He continued to watch the fish in the tank without turning around.

”Mr. Jiang, Cao Hong has been arrested.”

Jiang Junrui showed no surprise. ”Faster than I expected. Cao Hong hasn’t been what he used to be these past two years. I asked him to kill one person and he couldn’t even do that right, causing all this trouble.”

”But what if he said something?”

”What could he say?” Jiang Junrui slowly sprinkled in a little more fish food. ”We talked before he left. If he got caught, and as a last resort, I told him to just tell the truth.”

The man behind him was confused.

Jiang Junrui said, ”He always thought the video I had Mo Xiaoxiao film was about their drug deals. Their transactions have nothing to do with Fengjiang. As for how he’s going to make his story sound coherent, that’s his problem. Nine and a half truths mixed with half a lie is enough to be convincing.”

”Besides, I have his precious daughter. He wouldn’t dare say anything reckless.”

The man behind him frowned.

He had worked with Cao Hong for a long time but had no idea he even had a daughter.

”But if he really mentions the video, he’ll have to mention Su Miaoyi. Is that really okay? What if Su Miaoyi produces the video?”

”I’m betting she won’t,” Jiang Junrui said with absolute certainty.

”She hasn’t handed it over to the police after all this time, so she won’t do it now either.” Jiang Junrui tapped a finger on the fish tank, and the fish inside darted away with a flick of its tail. ”I’m just so curious about this Su Miaoyi.”

The man behind him listened.

”During that time, Mo Xiaoxiao only met with her. Mo Xiaoxiao was with me for many years, so I know her quite well. Su Miaoyi must have something. But so much time has passed, and after everything she went through, she still hasn’t given it to the police. Then when she saw me, she pretended not to know me. So... she must have her own agenda.”

”And I’m betting she won’t turn it over to the police until she achieves her goal. If Cao Hong has no choice and spills everything, laying the matter of Su Miaoyi and the video right at the police’s feet... well, I’m eager to see what she’ll have to say to me next time we meet, and what she’ll be trying to get.”