“Are you sick? I don't know her, so why should I lie for her?” The owner raised his voice and pulled out his mobile phone. After searching around on it for a while, he held it up. “Look, it clearly states on here that I confirmed the receipt at 7:23PM the other day.”

“It’s possible to confirm the receipt in advance. I need to remind you that it’s illegal to provide false testimony and evidence. Please come back and assist me with the investigation!” Lin Qiupu took out a set of handcuffs.

Upon seeing the handcuffs, the owner promptly tried to persuade, “Officer, officer. Hear me out and put away this toy first!”

Lin Qiupu stared straight into his eyes.

The owner scratched his head. “That day, she called me at 7:20 and said that she fell down and had to go to the clinic. As soon as I heard that she was a girl, I told her that I could wait. I didn’t think that she’d be an hour late. I starved to death and got angry but she kept apologizing to me. That was it.”

“So you forgave her and even lied to the police for her?”

Under Lin Qiupu's suspicious gaze, the owner began sweating like rain. “Okay, okay, let me be honest... I saw that she looked very cute and told her that I wouldn’t complain about her if she slept with me…”

“And then?”

“She came here the next morning. Very trustworthy! We did it in this house, but the experience was awful. She didn't move or make a sound during the whole process. It was just like raping a corpse…” The owner seemed really proud of himself. “Since she fulfilled her promise, I did what I said I would as well. I didn't expect it to be so serious. I really didn't know!”

“Nothing else, right?”

“No, no, I can swear!”

Looking at this guy, Lin Qiupu’s blood rushed up to his head and he really wanted to punch him in the face. In the end, he still restrained himself and squeezed out a word behind his gritted teeth, “Scum!”

“Yes, yes, I am scum. Please don't arrest me.”

“You will testify at the trial!”

“Sure!”

Lin Qiupu said goodbye and made his way to the convenience store with a lot on his mind On the way, he was interrupted by a phone call.

A subordinate called and reported, “Captain Lin, we found the children of the victim's ex-wife. The boy was renamed Zhou Jierui, 27 years old, and the girl was renamed Gan Ping, 23 years old.”

“How did you find this information? Is it reliable?” Lin Qiupu tried to make his voice sound normal.

“It’s reliable. It was found through the real estate agent. The victim who wanted to take possession of his ex-wife’s estate had to get the two children to sign the contract to forego their ownership rights. The agent also took a long time to contact them.”

“Okay, don’t get off work yet. You guys need to stand by at the bureau and wait for my instructions!”

Lin Qiupu was waiting near the convenience store. At 8:50, Gan Ping appeared. She greeted him with a smile on her face. “Officer Lin, it’s you again? How is the case going?”

Lin Qiupu walked over. After standing in the cold for so long, his muscles were stiff. He asked, “How can you behave so calmly?”

“What do you mean?”

“You have a name you once used, which is Li Mei. Your brother is Li Chao and your mother is Li Su. I’m currently investigating a victim called Zhou Taiyang, who is your stepfather.”

“What does that prove?”

“You lied to me. From 7:20PM to 8:00 PM on February 24th, you forged an order. Where were you in these forty minutes? What did you do? I need you to come with me to assist in the investigation.”

“What investigation do I need to assist in?”

“What do you think?”

“Officer Lin, there’s no need. I admit that I did it. I killed him! I just did what the old bastard had done to my mother and I. I know that paper can't hold a fire[1]. From the day you walked into the convenience store, I figured you would take me away... I don't hate you. If I were to be arrested in the end, I would rather it be by your hands. “

Lin Qiupu pulled out his handcuffs. “Let's go!”

Gan Ping smiled bitterly. “I need to tell my colleague that I can’t do my shift, so I’ll be troubling her to work an extra shift.”

Lin Qiupu glanced at the convenience store and nodded in agreement.

Gan Ping entered the shop and he could see her talking to a colleague on the other side of the glass. Lin Qiupu sighed and took out a cigarette. Because of the wind, he had to lower his head to light the flame. When he looked up, Gan Ping had disappeared.

Lin Qiupu immediately threw the cigarette down and rushed in to ask the clerk, “Where’s Gan Ping?”

“She’s gone to change her clothes and leave. Oh, it’s that door. Are you looking for her...”

Lin Qiupu ran through the aisle and banged on the door. Although he didn't think Gan Ping would flee, the suspect must never leave his sight.

After knocking for half a minute, there was no response. Lin Qiupu had an ominous premonition. He immediately opened the door and a street light shone on his startled face. It turned out that there was a closed window in the locker room, and the wooden board had been pried open by her. The tool she used was a crowbar that was thrown aside.

The clerk came over puzzled and asked, “What are you doing? Why did you knock the door down?”

“Where is she?!”

Lin Qiupu's impatient look scared the store clerk. She responded, “No... I don't know.”

Lin Qiupu chased outside. He couldn’t find Gan Ping in the crowd. He angrily punched the street light next to him and immediately called his subordinates to hurry over as the suspect had run away. The entire second team of the criminal police task force was sent out to find and arrest her.

The police officers were dispatched immediately. Lin Qiupu asked the clerk for Gan Ping's address, which was a house that had cheap rent close by. He hurried over but found no signs that Gan Ping had returned.

He wondered where Gan Ping might go and suddenly remembered that Gan Ping mentioned her brother's affairs. He called the local police and asked them to check Zhou Jierui's information.

The results of the query were shocking. The police told him that there was only one person in Long’an called Zhou Jierui. This man was the actor Jiang Yuqi. Zhou Jierui was the name on his ID card to prevent the paparazzi from tracking him.

“One time I saw him wearing a ring that was more valuable than my whole body, sitting in a luxury car with people crowded around him. He was very dazzling.”

Gan Ping had said so as well.

There was a photo of Jiang Yuqi on Gan Ping's phone. At that time, he thought the girl was just chasing after a celebrity but didn’t consider other possibilities.

Jiang Yuqi? After listening to Lin Dongxue, Jia Xingyun and Jiang Yuqi were good friends, so it seemed that Jia Xingyun was also involved in this case. All the clues suddenly connected in Lin Qiupu's mind.

Lin Qiupu jumped into a car and hurried to Jiang Yuqi's residence in Long'an City, but he came back empty-handed. Jiang Yuqi's housekeeper informed him, “Mr. Jiang received a call ten minutes ago and hurried away.”

“Did he leave down where he went?”

“He didn’t!”

Lin Qiupu called his subordinates and asked them to try and locate Jiang Yuqi's mobile phone number. Ten minutes later, Jiang Yuqi's mobile phone number was successfully traced. He was moving quickly along Zaifu Road…

1. Common expression to represent how things can’t be kept under wraps.