Soul Patch

Chapter 12 Flawless

Meeting Captain Cao's deep and sharp gaze, Wenjie flashed a bright smile.

The smile was so sincere and so open, it seemed to be full of welcome to the police visit.

In response, Officer Cao also smiled.

For some reason, Wenjie found that smile to be somewhat meaningful.

After introducing all the police officers and the leaders present, Secretary Wang picked up his teacup, took a sip, cleared his throat, and said:

"Good morning, everyone. We're starting a meeting. First, let's hear from Director Guo."

Secretary Wang led the applause, and the people below the stage immediately followed suit. Director Guo was pleased with the thunderous applause. He slowly waved to everyone, and after the room quieted down, he began to speak:

"As everyone knows, two days ago, Yang Shanshan from our registration team was tragically murdered! Officers from the East District Police Station came to our office to investigate..."

After days of investigation, the criminals have been apprehended and brought to justice.

That news... will be announced tomorrow. They've worked so hard, let's all give them a round of applause!

As soon as they heard that the case had been solved, people in the nearby seats below the stage started discussing it in small groups:

"They solved the case so quickly, in just two days!"

"Yes, he's a serial killer. I heard he killed four people!"

"That's good now, otherwise I would be trembling with fear every day after get off work."

"...You, this tomboy, even thugs would be afraid of you..."

"Ha ha ha ha"

"Hehehe, brilliant!"

"You two, shut up!"

"..."

After the director finished speaking, deafening applause erupted from the audience, instantly drowning out the discussions, jokes, and sighs.

Seeing that the atmosphere was too lively, Director Guo had to wave his hand to everyone again, and the meeting room quieted down again.

Director Guo glanced at Officer Cao and saw Officer Cao nod slightly at him.

"Um... let's ask Captain Cao from the Criminal Investigation Team of the East District Branch to speak."

The hall erupted in continuous applause once again.

Wenjie applauded enthusiastically, just like his colleagues, even though he had no idea what the police were up to. He kept his eyes on Director Guo the whole time, but not on Officer Cao or the other three officers.

Officer Cao scanned the audience, his sharp, eagle-like eyes instilling a sense of intimidation in everyone... His whispering colleagues immediately fell silent, and the hall instantly became quiet.

"Thank you all for your cooperation in our investigation over the past two days. We were able to solve the case without your valuable clues. I would especially like to thank Comrade Liu Qingqing."

The institute has approved a 1000 yuan bonus as a token of our appreciation. Let's invite Liu Qingqing to the stage to receive the bonus.

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, and everyone looked around, searching for Liu Qingqing.

Soon, a familiar figure stood up to meet everyone's gaze... Liu Qingqing walked up to the podium along the aisle in the middle of the hall.

Wenjie glanced at Liu Qingqing, and when he saw the lace-trimmed dress she was wearing, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his gaze lingered on the hem of the dress that swayed lightly between her legs.

He recalled the uniform Liu Qingqing was wearing when he bumped into her at noon... and suddenly realized something.

He lowered his head slightly, took a few deep breaths, and when he looked up again, the morbid intensity and obsession in his eyes had vanished without a trace.

Liu Qingqing received the prize money and was very excited. She spent a long time expressing her gratitude and saying things like, "This is what every citizen should do."

Throughout, Wenjie wore a sincere smile, his expression conveying a desire to learn from Liu Qingqing and contribute to solving the case.

He believed that smile could even fool himself; those terrifying things, that morbid hatred for high heels and lace dresses, seemed to have nothing to do with the person he was now.

That was all done by someone else! The killer just shared a body with him... It's a split personality!

He rubbed his temples and continued to smile innocently.

After the meeting, Wenjie followed his colleague back to his workstation, even though he was not yet used to Zhao Xiaolong's workstation.

Someone patted him on the shoulder from behind. He turned around and saw Officer Cao.

He smiled brightly at Officer Cao: "Hello, Officer Cao!"

"May I speak to you in private?" Officer Cao asked gently.

"Yes, Officer Cao!"

He followed Officer Cao to the meeting room on the right side of the corridor in the business hall.

"Officer Cao, what's the matter?" Wenjie asked with a smile.

"You were late for the meeting today, weren't you? What were you doing at noon?" Officer Cao asked in a nonchalant tone.

Wenjie really didn't expect anyone to ask this. He knew there were road surveillance cameras everywhere, and lying was not a wise choice.

So I smiled and said, "I went to find Bai Yu. He was my classmate at M University and was assigned to do an internship at the General Administration."

I also got three meat buns from their cafeteria at noon; I ate one, and there were two left.

As he spoke, he took two steamed buns out of his pocket.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Officer Cao called out, "Come in," and the door was pushed open from the outside. A young police officer nodded to Officer Cao.

Officer Cao left the meeting room and whispered, "Ah Xiang, how was it? Did Wenjie reveal any flaws during the meeting?"

The young police officer, called Ah Xiang, shook his head and looked at Officer Cao with a hint of helplessness.

Officer Cao frowned and pondered for a moment: "What about the other colleagues? Did they have any unusual reactions when they heard that the murderer had been caught?"

Indeed, throughout the meeting, he carefully observed everyone's reaction to the leader's speech, and they all seemed quite normal: surprised when they should be surprised, and excited when they should be excited.

If there was anything unusual about him, it was that Wenjie's behavior was a little different; he seemed indifferent, with little emotional fluctuation.

He seemed uninterested in the content of today's meeting, appearing detached.

Would a suspect act this way? That's unlikely!

Officer Cao leaned closer to A-Xiang: "Send more people to protect Liu Qingqing. If the murderer strikes again, we'll catch him off guard."

Ah Xiang looked up and met Officer Cao's gaze, then nodded.

He quickly adopted a nonchalant expression, narrowed one eye, and smiled faintly: "Want a smoke?"

"You can smoke after we solve the case. Here, have a pack!" Officer Cao patted Ah Xiang on the shoulder. "Now get back to work!"

Officer Cao opened the door to the meeting room and saw Wenjie sitting quietly in the chair. He smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"It's ok"

Wenjie looked up at Officer Cao, slightly raising his chin, as if waiting for Officer Cao to speak.

Officer Cao gave Wenjie a deep look:

Wenjie... Wenjie, this Wenjie, in the last transcript he said that Zhao Xiaolong from the General Administration came to deliver materials not long ago, and his behavior was strange.

We checked the lobby's security camera footage and, sure enough, we saw that Zhao Xiaolong's gaze towards Yang Shanshan was strange; he seemed to be staring at something he was obsessed with.

If Wenjie is innocent, could the murderer be Zhao Xiaolong?

Officer Cao said calmly, "It's nothing, Wenjie, you can go now."

As the team was leaving, Officer Cao told his officers, "Let's go to their headquarters tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)