Silver Snow Line [Criminal Investigation]

Xie Qingfei met his eyes in the rearview mirror, then looked away expressionlessly after a few seconds.
Wei Cheng felt bored and kept silent.
Xi Ming was torn between having to support two ancestors alone and had to talk to the cat.
"Master is fierce and evil. Master is evil."
Xie Qingfei: "..."
"My brother is jealous and he is bad."
Wei Cheng: “…”
"I'm the only one who cares about you," Xi Ming lifted Deng Deng up high and concluded, "I'm fine."
Xie Qingfei: "Are you not done yet?"
Xi Ming immediately sat down properly.

Outside the car window, thousands of lights are on, and the night is like a pool of ink poured into clear water, spreading all over the sky.

Xie Qingfei was dropped off at the door of his home and told Xi Ming to go home early.
He lay by the window, and Deng Deng's little cat head was placed next to his head, looking at her: "Master, do you like Deng Deng very much? Why not let it stay with you for one night."
Xie Qingfei glanced at Deng Deng's harmless eyes and refused: "It's enough to just look at this cute thing. I won't take care of it."

Having said that, she really liked this obedient kitten and scratched its chin before leaving.

After closing the car window, Xi Ming turned around and asked the man in the driver's seat: "Brother, do you want to have a pet?"
Wei Cheng was still looking at Xie Qingfei's receding back, and said firmly: "I don't want to."
"why?"
Wei Cheng retracted his gaze, paused hesitantly at Deng Deng, and uttered two words: "He will die."
"Nonsense, everything will die sooner or later, your idea is too pessimistic."

Xi Ming had nothing to say to such a boring person, so he decided to take Deng Deng in for the night. If Deng Deng really became homeless after the case was closed, he wouldn't mind being its godfather.

Wei Cheng seemed to have guessed what he was thinking and reminded him, "You don't even have time for a relationship, how can you spare the time to raise a cat? Don't act rashly and make a fuss. In the end, you'll have me clean up the mess for you."
Xi Ming thought about it and it made sense. It was ok for one or two nights, but if they really wanted to live together, he would not be able to give his pets enough companionship. He could only give up the idea and purred his fur with regret.
Deng Deng didn't understand anything. He was even used to being spoiled. He didn't understand why there was a human like Wei Cheng in the world who didn't like to tease him. So he stretched out his upper limbs and patted Wei Cheng's arm with his paw pads in a flattering manner.
Wei Cheng turned his head away coldly: "It's no use acting like a spoiled child."

"Tan Wei's previous girlfriend was Wu Xiuxiu. After graduating from university, she joined the Xu Group and was Xu Maokun's secretary."

Xie Qingfei took out the leftover noodles from the refrigerator. Just as the water in the pot boiled, she received a call from Lu Shaohui. She turned on the speakerphone of the phone and put it aside. When he finished speaking, she just threw the frozen noodles into the pot.

"Could it be that the time she was working for Xu Maokun coincided with the time Tan Wei was working as a security guard there?"

"You know what, it's really like that." Lu Shaohui said, "Wu Xiuxiu took a long vacation in the fourth month after she joined Xu's. It was said that she was seriously ill. It took another half a year before she came back to work. Two years later, Tan Wei came from his hometown to Shengzhou and joined Xu's as a security guard. Wu Xiuxiu resigned in less than three months, and Tan Wei also resigned and left."

"Back then, Tan Wei was a very handsome man. When I saw the photo of him now, I thought he was taking drugs. But GHB was detected in his wine, so there's no guarantee that he's not really clean. And that Xu Siwei, I feel like he's quite afraid of Tan Wei. I went to ask him a few questions about Tan Wei this afternoon, and his expression was as if Tan Wei's soul was standing next to him with a knife at his neck. I was wondering how these two got together, but now it seems more like Tan Wei has got hold of some secret of the Xu family and is using it to blackmail Xu Siwei."

Xie Qingfei added a spoonful of salt to the pot and asked, "Xu Siwei's urine test result is also negative?"
Lu Shaohui: "Yes, GHB doesn't stay in the human body for long, and it's hard to test for it. It's hard to convict unless we catch the perpetrator in the act. I've asked my colleagues in the anti-drug brigade to investigate the Maoshan bar. If Tan Wei shows up, we'll get the news as soon as possible."
GHB can be used for sedation and anesthesia in clinical practice, but it has no other serious uses except for being used to assault women. It can turn passivity into initiative, turn known things into ignorance, and it is difficult to detect afterwards, so the holder can be lawless. Xie Qingfei thought of the unspeakable scars on An Qi's body, and the discomfort he felt when he first saw Xu Siwei once again came to his mind.

Putting this discomfort aside for the moment, she returned to the previous topic: "What disease did Wu Xiuxiu have?"
Lu Shaohui: "I checked, and no major hospitals have any records of her visiting. She never left the province during that period, and she stayed in Shengzhou. If Wu Xiuxiu is still alive, she would be in her early 40s this year. Could it be that she has some terminal illness and has no money to treat it? After being depressed at home for half a year, she finally figured it out and decided to go with the flow?"
"If it was a terminal illness, she would have died before she figured it out after more than half a year."
Xie Qingfei poked the pot with chopsticks. The starch on the surface of the noodles was washed off by the boiling water, but the frozen part was still hard. The boiling white bubbles in the whole pot looked like they could poison all thirteen members of the Qi family, including the dog.

Lu Shaohui heard the noise from her end and asked, "What's that gurgling over there?"
Xie Qingfei frowned and adjusted the heat, and replied: "There are some noodles in the freezer, I cooked them."
"Oh," thinking that Captain Xie could only eat noodles at home at night, the single man who was also not particular about food felt a sense of sympathy with her and hurried to share his experience, "Then you should know that frozen food cannot be boiled in water, right? Last time I cooked frozen dumplings at home, I didn't pay attention, and the vegetables were still vegetables and the skins were still skins. Others who saw it would misunderstand that I like to eat swill."
Xie Qingfei's hand holding the chopsticks froze: "Who made this rule?"
"This is common sense," Lu Shaohui paused and asked, "You really don't know?"

Xie Qingfei looked at the thing that looked less and less like food and chose to change the subject: "Let's continue talking about Wu Xiuxiu. I'm just guessing, is she very beautiful?"
"I was just about to tell you, she is indeed a beauty. A CEO like Xu Maokun must have certain requirements for the appearance of the people around him. If not as beautiful as a fairy, then at least the facial features should be regular. This Wu Xiuxiu is the type who is close to being as beautiful as a fairy. She has fair skin and a small stature. Any of her facial features are very pretty when taken alone." Lu Shaohui said, "But her character is average. The few people who worked with her at the beginning didn't like her very much. They thought she was a bit... uh, flirtatious."

Xie Qingfei threw a noodle against the wall and it fell onto the stove with a plop. After making sure it was not cooked, she added another bowl of water.

"Of course, a beautiful woman in the workplace is bound to suffer from this kind of rumors, and these people's words may not be completely credible. If I were Wu Xiuxiu, I would just use my reputation to do things since I have been talked about so much. If not marrying a boss, I would find a young master. After all, being beautiful is her own ability, and she is close to the water..."
Lu Shaohui paused here and murmured the four words "near the water and the tower".
Xie Qingfei pointed out his unspoken doubts: "It's not easy to get a job at Xu's Group. Nowadays, large companies give priority to married people with children, because they are afraid that the employees' unstable personal plans will affect their work. Wu Xiuxiu took a long vacation right after her probation period, and she was able to continue working when she came back. Her colleagues obviously didn't like her, but she didn't care. She must be mentally strong or have a backer. Half a year is enough for her to recuperate, but if she wants to go back to have a baby, it seems that time is enough."

Lu Shaohui felt his scalp tingling: "Then... the only person who can make her not care about other people's gossip in the company and be fearless is——"
Xie Qingfei: "Xu Maokun."

Lu Shaohui: "Oh my, he's really good at making trouble. Which one is this?"
"Not the first one. If my guess is correct, then according to the timeline, this child is Xu Siwei." Xie Qingfei said, "I have actually been wondering, who spread the news that Xu Maokun has an illegitimate child? Even if someone wants to take sides and make a profit, he must first be someone who can get in touch with this layer of interests. Xu Siwei was the first one who couldn't sit still, and Xu Siruo also got into trouble. With the snipe and the clam fighting each other, who will benefit in the end?"
Lu Shaohui came back to his senses: "Xu Maokun's current wife, Fan Qiuye."

Xie Qingfei nodded: "Neither Xu Siwei nor Xu Siruo is her son. Although Xu Siwei was raised by her, there is no blood relationship between the two after all. She is not like the previous Zhu Yichun who has family support. It can be said that she will lose all advantages once Xu Maokun dies. Even if Xu Siwei is filial, who can bet on how much his filial piety is worth."

Lu Shaohui seemed to be thinking about something: "Xu Siwei told Doctor Wei that Xu Siruo was the child of Zhu Yichun and another man. If this is true, then she can only get the most benefit by pleasing Xu Siwei. But Xu Siwei is unreliable, and Xu Siruo doesn't even have the most basic emotional foundation with her, let alone rely on her. It's better to rely on herself than on heaven or earth." Xie Qingfei said: "It's not that no one has verified the issue of illegitimate children with Fan Qiuye, but she directly revealed the contents of Xu Maokun's will, saying that all the property would only be inherited by Xu Maokun and Zhu Yichun's son. Xu Siwei knew that only he met this condition, so why did he go to so much trouble to frame Xu Siruo? Can he only prove that he is Xu Maokun's son, but not Zhu Yichun's son? But Xu Siruo is clearly the son of Zhu Yichun, and outsiders will not doubt his blood relationship with Xu Maokun. In terms of 'bloodline', he is purer than Xu Siwei?"

Lu Shaohui was puzzled, "But I still don't understand. Since there is such a premise in the will, and there are no direct relatives on Zhu Yichun's side who can cooperate with the identification, if Xu Siruo is really not related to Xu Maokun, Xu Siwei should be even more fearless. I don't believe in any reason to swallow up for the family's reputation. This is not a small amount of money, and it's okay to suffer a little loss. Xu Siwei is about to be cheated by someone, why doesn't he just use the paternity test to prove his identity? Kidnapping and hiring water army are really minor incidents. The people don't report it and the officials don't investigate it. But it's a different matter when it involves human life. Unless he has a problem with his brain, he can still get himself into such a mess with such a good hand in the end. I really admire him as a talent."

Xie Qingfei: "The nature of a murder case is nothing more than solving a few problems: whether the death scene is the crime scene, how to prove the occurrence of the murder, and who committed it. The first two points can basically be determined, but from the three people known so far, they have no conflict of interest with An Qi, and An Qi has no reason to die. Even if we use abductive reasoning, we can't find a suitable motive for the murder, so An Qi's death may have nothing to do with the dispute over property."

"If Fan Qiuye wants money, it's understandable that he would stir up trouble behind the scenes. As for An Qi, I will focus on investigating GHB." Lu Shaohui yawned and heard the other end of the phone still mumbling, saying, "It's not ready yet, how are you stewing the dragon meat?"
Xie Qingfei looked at the things in the pot with a headache. The noodles were broken into pieces, half of them were too soft and rotten and floated on the surface, and some of them sank to the bottom inexplicably. It was hard to imagine that they were fresh and complete when they left the factory.

Xie Qingfei turned off the fire and thought about whether he was really so miserable that he had to eat this kind of thing after leaving Wei Cheng. As he was watching, a flash of inspiration came into his mind.
She suddenly asked Lu Shaohui: "What procedures have Xu Siwei had on his face?"
"You mean plastic surgery? Let me take a look," Lv Shaohui said. "Jaw correction, double eyelid surgery, nose augmentation, smile lip surgery, cheek filling, correction of prominent cheekbones. Tsk, wouldn't it be more convenient to just change your head?"
Xie Qingfei: "No more?"
"Ah, that's all. I have all the records here."
"Only six?"
Lu Shaohui was surprised and asked, "What do you mean by 'only' six? Six is ​​not enough, he is already ugly enough."

Xie Qingfei's heart sank: "Send me another photo of An Qi."
"Wait a minute," Lu Shaohui found Zhang Anqi's ID photo and sent it over, "Is this okay?"
Xie Qingfei opened it on his tablet and asked, "What do you think is the most beautiful part of An Qi?"
"She's beautiful everywhere, with so much collagen." Lu Shaohui was puzzled. "If I have to say the best, then... her two dimples are very cute when she smiles."
After Xie Qingfei finished listening, he poured out the noodle residue in the pot, picked up the car keys and went downstairs, and said to the phone: "Don't eat anymore, come to Xu Siwei's house."

Half an hour later, the two arrived at the villa on Yuexiufu Road.
Xu Siwei's home was under police guard. Lu Shaohui greeted his colleagues on duty first, took the gloves and shoe covers handed over by Xie Qingfei, and asked, "Have you found any new clues?"
Xie Qingfei said: "Have you ever thought that if An Qi's death had nothing to do with the Xu brothers' property dispute and only involved the abuse of aphrodisiac drugs, then she might not be the first victim?"
Lu Shaohui was surprised: "You mean, someone else died?"

"Not dead."

The two entered Xu Siwei's room and stood at the end of the bed facing the wall. There were three secret doors. But with the bed as the central axis, the three doors were obviously located to the right. For someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder, asymmetry is also a taboo.
Xie Qingfei walked to the front of the painting, and after carefully searching along the edge of the frame, he actually found a button. When the button was pressed, the frame became a sliding door and opened automatically.
Lu Shaohui quickly took a photo and followed to see: "It's so advanced, there is a secret room?"

Xie Qingfei found the light switch by the wall, and the dark room was instantly illuminated by the dark red light. This was a closed secret room with no windows on all four sides. In the center was a large round water bed, and next to it was a strangely shaped recliner. The floor was covered with soft carpets, and when you looked up, you could see clear mirrors from all angles.

Lu Shaohui was a bit night blind and not used to such dim light. He walked a few steps holding the wall and bumped into a shelf, knocking over something. He looked down and found several whips of various styles lying at his feet. When he looked up again, his voice of shouting "Mom" was choked by shame.
The situation on Xie Qingfei's side was similar, except that the cabinet in front of her did not contain props but medicines.

"How perverted! What the hell is this!"

Hearing Lu Shaohui's scream, she turned on the flashlight on her cell phone and shone it over there. As the beam of light covered them, both of them could clearly see the tools hanging on the wall.

"He looks like a veteran," Lu Shaohui calmed down his shock and narrowed his eyes, "No wonder you said An Qi was not the first victim."
Xie Qingfei didn't say anything. She searched everywhere in the secret room but couldn't find what she wanted.

Lu Shaohui called people up to take all the medicines back for inspection. It was already late at night when he finished. His stomach started to play a second round of symphony. He asked, "Is what we're going to eat later considered a midnight snack or breakfast?"
Xie Qingfei pushed back the drawers she had opened one by one, stood up and patted his waist: "All right, it's my treat."
"Captain Xie is so nice!" Lu Shaohui pulled a few colleagues to join in the fun and shouted exaggeratedly.

Before leaving, the secret door was closed again and Xie Qingfei looked back at the abstract painting again.

Xu Siwei chose beautiful women when he was looking for a partner, which shows that he has a normal aesthetic sense. Why did he mess up his face and make it look like a ghost? 7 is his obsession number. He feels uncomfortable if he doesn't hit this number when doing anything, and plastic surgery should be no exception. He changed his facial features and even reshaped his bones, but what was the reference for all these changes?
Xie Qingfei reached out to touch the face of the person in the painting, which was made up of messy lines, and suddenly found that there was a bumpy feeling behind the canvas.

"Shaohui."
Lu Shaohui responded and walked over: "What's wrong?"
"Give me the knife."
Lu Shaohui took out a utility knife from the toolbox and handed it to her.
Xie Qingfei took it and made a few cuts on the eyes of the portrait. The canvas fell off completely, revealing the hidden picture behind it. Several policemen gasped in the room.

Behind this huge painting, taller than a person, is a face pieced together from partial photos of real people. From the forehead to the eyes, nose, and lips, some of the photos cut and pasted have faded and become old due to the passage of time. The facial features of obviously different young girls are strangely pieced together on the same plane. The newly printed photos on the cheeks are bright in color and smell of ink. They are two dimples belonging to Anqi.

(End of this chapter)