Chapter 26: The Case of the Headless Female Corpse (14)

Page 1 of 3

“Hong Tang?” Li Ping sank into memory. “I never meant to kill her. She came straight to me!”

“Last winter, Shu was dying. The doctor said that if she didn’t undergo surgery, she might not survive…”

“I went to Yan Zhu’s house to borrow money. She refused and even insulted me. I lost control and strangled her to death.”

“My mind was in chaos. Hong Tang happened to come to her house looking for her and saw me committing the murder. So I went all the way and strangled Hong Tang too…”

As Li Ping spoke, his hands twisted together.

Zhou Lin fixed him with a sharp gaze. “Why did Hong Tang go to see Yan Zhu? What was their relationship?”

“I don’t know.” Li Ping shook his head. “Hong Tang wanted to escape and call the police. I was afraid everything would be exposed… Only the dead can keep a secret.”

The interrogation room was silent except for the sound of furious breathing.

“I found two large suitcases at Yan Zhu’s house, put one body in each, loaded them into the small truck I usually used to deliver pork, and drove them away to dismember them.”

At this point, Li Ping raised his head. “You don’t need to check the surveillance footage from a year ago. It was overwritten long ago! I cleaned Yan Zhu’s house thoroughly. As you know, I taught myself medicine, and I left no evidence behind. The place was spotless. But the security guard registered my comings and goings at the entrance. You can verify that.”

Du Lang nodded at Zhou Lin. It was exactly as Li Ping had said.

Zhang Chao, Gu Ye, Lin Nan, Jiang Qi, and the others stood in the monitoring room outside, listening intently as Li Ping calmly recounted the crimes.

Zhou Lin stared at him with keen, piercing eyes. “You made so much noise while dismembering the bodies. How could your sister not know?”

“My sister has been taking medication for years. That night, I added sleeping pills to her dose. She couldn’t hear anything.” Li Ping had thought everything through carefully. “The sleeping pills were prescribed to me. After my parents both died of illness when I was eighteen, I began suffering from insomnia.”

Du Lang sighed. “You really are good to your sister… But do you know what she would think if she learned that you had killed people and dismembered their bodies while caring for her and treating her illness?”

Li Ping’s eyes reddened. “I’ve been working here in Changjing for six years. I sell pork diligently every day, but I could never save enough money for my sister’s surgery. I taught myself medicine, but even that couldn’t save her. I only borrowed money from Yan Zhu. I would have spent my whole life paying her back, but she refused… She could insult me for being useless, but she told me to abandon my sister and stop treating her. I couldn’t do it! I couldn’t! When my parents died, my sister was only three…”

At that moment, Zhou Lin thought of Xiaoman.

When Xiaoman was three, her mother disappeared. Her only relative, Tang Zheng, lived in comfort, yet he abused her and nearly killed her.

Li Ping, on the other hand, had committed murder in order to treat his sister’s illness.

Page 1 of 3

Human nature had always been complicated.

Zhou Lin tapped the tabletop. “Li Ping, let’s get back to the case.”

Li Ping wiped his tears with his sleeve and steadied his emotions. “You’ve been to my underground rental room. That’s where I dismembered the bodies. Yan Zhu’s body is buried beside a stream in her hometown. Her head is in the forest at the summit of Round Expo Park. The air is clean there, and you can see the Kaily Biocenter. Hong Tang’s body is behind the Kaily Biocenter, together with the animal carcasses. That was my punishment for her. She wasn’t even a student at Changjing University, yet she was driven by such hypocritical vanity. She was no different from a lowly animal.”

Zhou Lin looked at him without speaking. What Li Ping could never have imagined was that it had been the “lowly animal” in his eyes who had noticed the murder.

“As for her head, have you found it?” There was still a trace of smugness in Li Ping’s eyes.

Zhou Lin took out a photograph captured from the surveillance footage. “Qiangu Valley Factory supplies teaching specimens to Changjing Medical College and is also one of your regular pork customers. Using your self-taught medical knowledge, you turned Hong Tang’s head into a specimen and concealed it among the specimens Qiangu Valley sent to Changjing University Medical School. You thought she had nothing but a pretty face, with an empty head, and that she ought to sit in a classroom every day listening to professors lecture.”

“Captain Zhou truly is a great detective!” Li Ping admired him. “You deciphered my work. I confess and accept the punishment. I have one final wish. I hope you’ll grant it, Captain Zhou!”

“Tell me.” Zhou Lin looked at him coldly.

Li Ping thought of the painting he had made of the corpse disposal scene. It was so lifelike, as if the artist had been there in person.

But he knew there had been no surveillance footage and no witnesses. No one could possibly have seen it.

“I want to meet the person who painted that picture!”

“I can’t grant that.”

There was no way Zhou Lin would bring Xiaoman before him. Xiaoman’s world held only the colors of happiness.

“Captain Zhou, I know my crime is punishable by death. Do you really intend to let me leave this world with a regret?”

“Who in this world has no regrets? Yan Zhu didn’t? Hong Tang didn’t? When you killed them, did you ever think about their regrets?”

With that, Zhou Lin strode out.

Only Li Ping remained in the interrogation room. He closed his eyes unwillingly.

Gu Ye and the others met Zhou Lin as he came out. Gu Ye planted his hands on his hips. “Li Ping is both highly intelligent and utterly ruthless. He’s a complete psychopath!”

Zhang Chao let out a sigh. “If his parents hadn’t fallen ill and died during the year of his college entrance examinations, he might have become a top student at Changjing University. Perhaps he would now be a promising figure in the medical field. If his sister hadn’t had heart disease, perhaps he wouldn’t have killed anyone to pay for her treatment. But there are no ‘ifs’ in this world, and no one gets to live life over again. All right, let’s close the case. Everyone has worked hard!”

Page 2 of 3

Everyone gathered their things, preparing to go home for the New Year.

“By the way, about the duty roster—does anyone need to switch shifts?” Zhang Chao asked.

Zhou Lin spoke first. “I want to spend New Year’s Eve and the first day of the New Year with Xiaoman. It’s the little girl’s first New Year at the Zhou family home. After that, if anyone is unavailable for a shift, I can cover for them.”

“I want to spend it with my wife and children too!” Du Lang said with a laugh. “Thanks in advance, brothers!”

Gu Ye thumped his chest, full of camaraderie. “Captain Zhou, Brother Du, take your holidays without worry. I’m always available to cover a shift.”

As several of them chatted about their plans for the holiday, Zhou Lin walked into the courtyard outside the office to smoke.

The security guard was organizing the work log. He had finished writing it and was eager to leave. “Captain Zhou, could you take this inside for me? My wife and child are waiting for me to come home and buy groceries!”

“Give it to me.” Zhou Lin took it from him.

“Thanks, Captain Zhou. I’m off! Happy New Year in advance!” The security guard left cheerfully.

Zhou Lin nodded. “Happy New Year!”

As he smoked, he glanced over the list of visitors.

When he saw that someone had come to visit Li Ping, he felt an inexplicable unease.

Zhou Lin stubbed out his cigarette and went to check the surveillance footage.

The visitor was Ma Lin, a civil affairs bureau employee whose primary responsibility was handling matters involving minors in criminal cases.

The surveillance covered everything from beginning to end without a single gap.

“Li Shu has been sent to a welfare institution,” Ma Lin told Li Ping. “She’ll receive excellent care, both in her daily life and for her illness. You can rest easy.”

Li Ping remained silent for a long while.

“All right,” he finally said. “I’ll confess to my crimes voluntarily.”

Page 3 of 3