Silver Snow Line [Criminal Investigation]

"Thank you, team."

Lu Shaohui knocked on the door, glanced at Wei Cheng, and said, "Come in."
Xie Qingfei responded and said to Wei Cheng: "It's nothing, just sign and you can leave."

As soon as he left the room, Lu Shaohui said, "Dr. Wei had been in the obstetrics department during the time of the incident and had no contact with the deceased."

The surveillance footage was turned on, and it was clear that Wei Cheng came to the clinic and waited. It was about the same time when Xie Qingfei met him. Soon Zhang Yuheng came out, and the two chatted as they walked, heading to the cafeteria. But they didn't walk far, and no one knew which of them had something to do, so they separated, and Wei Cheng returned to the door of the obstetrics clinic alone.

Then he went straight to the delivery experience area, sat down and let the nurse next to him operate the instrument for him.

Lu Shaohui held his chin and said, "Doctor Wei is very famous in their hospital. He is a low-key person and doesn't like to wander around except for work. So when he was experiencing the equipment during the day, many doctors and nurses who passed by watched and could serve as his alibi."

The surveillance angle was very close and the picture quality was high definition, so one could even see the cold sweat on Wei Cheng's forehead due to the severe pain.
Xie Qingfei watched the whole process silently. He looked calm on the surface, but he was actually confused in his heart.
"Don't you think his behavior itself is...quite abnormal?" She poked her temple with the tip of the pen.

"This device was just purchased by the People's Hospital. Many men have come to experience it recently. Doctor Wei may be one of the curious ones." After Lu Shaohui finished speaking, he said with a smile, "I asked a few people present, and they said it was rare to see Doctor Wei outside the psychiatric department. They all thought he came to experience this because he had a girlfriend. Haha, where did he get a girlfriend? Captain Xie, don't you think so?"
Xie Qingfei paused for a moment when he was reminded of this in such a meaningful way: "What if he really has it? He wants to start a family and have children, and he is considerate of his partner, so he wants to experience it. Doesn't that explain his behavior?"
"..." Lu Shaohui looked at her silently and said, "I don't think it's possible."

Regardless of Wei Cheng's motive, he had an alibi. Soon, he was caught on camera answering a phone call. It was the call from Zhang Yan. He was smiling during the conversation, which was consistent with Zhang Yan's confession that she was telling him the good news. After answering the call, he returned to the office - which meant going through an open-air corridor to another building, which was completely different from the inpatient area.

As Zhang Yuheng said, he went to Zhang Yan's ward first, and came out two or three minutes after entering. Although Zhang Yan fell from the building at the same time, he looked normal after coming out. He seemed to be humming a song while waiting for the elevator, and his feet were tapping the ground. Unless he is a patient with personality disorder with no empathy, it is impossible for him to be so indifferent after killing someone. Then he went to the cafeteria as planned. He lined up, ordered food, and swiped his card. Halfway through his meal, he saw the latest news about someone jumping off a building in the WeChat group. There are such movements in the hospital every now and then. Life and death are no longer uncommon in front of doctors. As for public opinion, it is the hospital's job to deal with it. It is not his turn as an employee to worry about it, so he just took a look and continued to eat.

At this time, the forensic doctor sent a few photos: "Thank you, Captain, we have a new discovery."

There are a few blue-green fluorescent spots in the photo, and the visible part is exactly the edge of the window where Zhang Yan fell before her death.
"Although the luminol test showed that there was blood on the window frame and it was later wiped off, it is impossible to verify whether the blood belonged to the deceased."
If Zhang Yan accidentally scratched her skin when she fell from the building, she would definitely not be able to wipe the blood clean.
Xie Qingfei immediately said: "Shaohui, come with me to the hospital again."
Lu Shaohui: “Okay!”

When he met Zhao Chongyun when he went out, he asked to go with them as well.
Xie Qingfei didn't say anything, but Lu Shaohui pushed him into the door by the shoulder, and said earnestly: "Xiao Zhao, you are tired after a day's work, you should go home and have a rest."
Zhao Chongyun rubbed his red eyes and said stubbornly: "I'm not tired!"
"It's not good for children to stay up late at night," Lu Shaohui said without question. "Besides, if your brother knew, he would be very sad. He would even think that we didn't take good care of you."
"I..." Zhao Chongyun frowned quickly and looked at Xie Qingfei without saying a word.
Xie Qingfei glanced at the two dark circles under his eyes and said, "Shaohui and I can go alone, you can go home from get off work."
As soon as she opened her mouth, Zhao Chongyun knew that it was impossible to fight for it. He watched the two of them walk away and could only clutch his trousers unwillingly.

In order not to disturb other patients, the two went straight into Zhang Yan's ward after arriving at the hospital. The colleague who had just done the bloodstain test in the dark environment had not left, but they had checked other corners and found no more bloodstains.

This was a single room. Zhang Yan had only been there for two days. Her luggage was still packed in boxes and not completely unpacked. On the low table in front of the sofa was a lunch box, with chopsticks placed aside. She had only taken a few bites of the food.
"Stir-fried lettuce with shrimp, leeks and eggs, bacon with garlic sprouts, hawthorn snowballs, and kelp and pork rib soup. Homemade? It's quite a feast." Xie Qingfei said.
There was a camera on the bedside table less than a meter away from the low table. Lu Shaohui picked it up and looked at it, then shook his head at Xie Qingfei: "It's out of battery."

Turning sideways from where Lu Shaohui was standing, there was a small translucent door in the southeast direction which led into the bathroom. The space was not very spacious and the facilities were simple, with only a shower head, a toilet, and a sink with a mirror.
Xie Qingfei put on shoe covers and gloves and went in. He looked around and found no signs of a fight.

Zhang Yan seemed to be a very tidy person. Her toiletries were neatly arranged and placed on the corner of the sink, and there was no broken hair in the sink.

Xie Qingfei glanced at the trash can. There were only a few used toilet papers in it. When she was about to look away, she noticed something strange.
She squatted down and picked up the paper, and found that there was a burnt circle on the corner of the paper. Judging from the size and shape, it looked like it was burned by a cigarette butt.

"Shaohui!"
"Here I come!" Lu Shaohui ran in and understood what she meant at a glance. He carefully cooperated with her to put the toilet paper into the evidence bag. Then the two of them checked every corner to see if there was anything else.
"That's strange. The piece of paper was clearly burned through by the cigarette butt. Where is the cigarette butt?" After searching in vain, Lu Shaohui frowned.
Xie Qingfei pondered and said, "So there really was such a person who had a conversation with Zhang Yan in the bathroom. He threw the cigarette butt into the trash can during the conversation. When he was about to flee the scene after killing someone, he remembered this and picked up the cigarette butt with his DNA on it."
"Zhang Yuheng only knows how to smoke!" Lu Shaohui said seriously, "He also said that he didn't see Zhang Yan at noon, isn't that a lie?"
"Not necessarily. Zhang Yuheng would not violate the ban on smoking in the inpatient department even though he knew it was illegal. He is a doctor after all." Xie Qingfei recalled Zhang Yuheng's expression when he defended himself. He did not think he was hiding anything in this regard. "But Zhang Yan's husband Wang Shuang left the ward less than two minutes after Zhang Yuheng, and... don't move, just stand there."
Halfway through his speech, Xie Qingfei suddenly said.
Lu Shaohui didn't understand what was going on, so he just stayed still obediently.
Xie Qingfei kept changing the angle of the mirror based on the shadow cast by his body, and then said, "Ask the trace investigator to come and collect evidence."
Lu Shaohui said "Hey" and asked curiously, "What is it?"
Xie Qingfei pointed to the lower left corner of the mirror, where there was a transparent stain that would not be easily spotted under bright light but would light up if covered by a shadow: "This is it, let's go back and check what it is." After all the evidence collection was done, Lu Shaohui was still thinking about the camera, so he said: "Take this back as well and see what's inside."
Xie Qingfei was also a little curious: "Why is there a camera here?"
Lu Shaohui said without hesitation: "People nowadays like to record their lives. Maybe Zhang Yan is filming a pregnancy vlog."
"If that's the case, using a camera is too professional," Xie Qingfei said, "Has it always been here?"
Another police officer guarding the scene replied: "Nothing in the ward has been moved since our people arrived, and the camera has been on the bedside table."
Lu Shaohui fiddled with it for a long time and finally opened the battery cover: "There is no memory card inside."
Xie Qingfei measured the distance with his eyes and said, "What do you think? If the camera itself has a memory card, and it is turned on, can it just take a picture of the sink from this angle?"
Lu Shaohui also said quickly: "Even if we can't take pictures of the scene inside, it's enough to know who entered the bathroom before and after Zhang Yan's death. This person must know that Zhang Yan has the habit of taking pictures. Maybe he pulled out the memory card because he felt guilty."

The colleague who was in charge of the trace inspection was a little upset when he heard this: "Oh my god, there are cigarette butts and memory cards. How is it different from looking for a needle in a haystack to dig out these small things from so many trash cans in the hospital?"
"The hospital is a non-smoking place, and cigarette butts are basically only stored in the trash cans in the outdoor smoking area. There are also regulations on the locations of other household trash cans, and there are only a few that people can use at will." Xie Qingfei thought of the bloodstains found by the forensic doctor on the window frame, and said, "Everyone should work harder tonight, and pay special attention to the first floor, looking for cigarette butts wrapped in blood-stained toilet paper."
"Yes!"

The hospital was extremely quiet late at night. The lights in the corridor seemed dimmer than usual, and the numbers on the electronic clock were always one minute slow, moving forward in bright red.
Xie Qingfei stood at the door of ward 1306, raised his head and glanced at the surrounding surveillance cameras. He heard a "creak" and the door of the next ward was half opened.
The person who came out was a woman in her fifties. She first glanced secretly in the direction of Zhang Yan's ward, but unexpectedly her eyes met Xie Qingfei's, and she shrank back as if startled.
Xie Qingfei took the initiative to walk over, lowered his voice and said with a smile: "Hello, why aren't you resting so late?"
The woman saw the work badge on her chest and saw that her attitude was not bad. She forced a smile and said, "Something happened... I can't sleep."

Police were guarding this floor the entire afternoon, and Zhang Yan's fall from the building was no secret.

Xie Qingfei studied her expression and said in a normal tone, "Yes, that pregnant woman fell downstairs with an eight-month-old belly, and we hope to give her and the child an explanation as soon as possible. Are you here to accompany your daughter?"
The woman was distracted, and when she was suddenly asked, she exclaimed, "Oh," and said, "It's my daughter-in-law. She is about to give birth. I was worried that she would be scared alone, so I stayed with her."
"You are such a good mother-in-law." Xie Qingfei said, "Have you been staying in the ward these days? You should have seen the pregnant woman in Room 1306."
The woman looked a little pale and said, "I don't quite remember either. I should have seen it before."

Xie Qingfei looked at her hands hanging by her side twisting her clothes, and said with regret: "I heard that she is a very friendly person and should not have any enemies. Her brother said that she might have committed suicide by jumping off the building. I don't know if it's true or not. It's so pitiful."
The woman frowned for a moment, then raised her head suddenly, as if she wanted to say something.
Xie Qingfei waited quietly, but she hesitated for only a few seconds before lowering her head again and sighing, "It's pitiful."
"Thank you, Captain! Let's go." Lu Shaohui said not far away.
Xie Qingfei nodded and said to the woman, "Auntie, if you have any clues, such as what you heard or saw, you can provide them to the police. The sooner the case is closed, the sooner the deceased can rest in peace."

"Who were you talking to just now?" Lu Shaohui asked in the car.
"The family members of the pregnant woman in the ward next to Zhang Yan's are accompanying her." Xie Qingfei flipped through the floor plan and pointed it out to Lu Shaohui, "Look, the bathroom in her ward is only separated from Zhang Yan's by a wall. If the window over there is also open, can they hear the voices of the people here?"
Lu Shaohui said solemnly: "Yes. What did the aunt say?"
Xie Qingfei: "She must have heard something, but hesitated and didn't say it. Maybe she is a key witness."
Lu Shaohui: "I'll bring someone to check it out tomorrow."

It was already late at night when we returned to the police station. Tired from a long day, the detectives fell asleep at their workstations.
Xie Qingfei was in unexpectedly good spirits. He was about to go out to check out the autopsy results when he unexpectedly discovered that Wei Cheng had not left yet.

He stood quietly in front of the corridor, the remaining light of the moon outlined his sharp profile, and shadows pressed on his brow and eyes, making it difficult to tell what emotion he was feeling at the moment. But when he turned around after hearing the voice, his frowning eyebrows relaxed again, without indifference or arrogance, and there was a hint of tenderness hidden under the calmness.
He is handsome, but it's a bit weird to stand here in the middle of the night as if he is going to have a fashion show.

Xie Qingfei withdrew his probing gaze and said calmly: "Do you have anything else to say?"
"Are you going home? Let me take you there." Wei Cheng saw that the lights in the office were off.
Xie Qingfei said: "No."
He nodded without surprise: "I think so."
Then he handed her the bag in his hand: "There are pillows and blankets in it. If you want to sleep in the office, be careful not to catch a cold."
Xie Qingfei: "..."
She didn't answer, but looked at him with a half-smile: "You're making it easy for me to misunderstand."
Wei Cheng raised his lips slightly: "What's the misunderstanding?"
"I misunderstood that you wanted to rekindle our past relationship."
"I guess?"
Xie Qingfei's attitude of refusal was obvious.

"After all, we've been friends for so many years. I see you've been working overtime and staying up late, so just think of it as a friend's concern. There's no need to feel pressured." Wei Cheng turned his head slightly, looked at her frankly, and teased, "Or... you still have feelings for me, but you're afraid you can't control yourself?"

They both lowered their voices deliberately, but there was an inexplicable lingering ambiguity in his voice. I don't know if it was intentional, but the four words "Yu Qing Wei Le" were pronounced in a sticky way. Xie Qingfei coughed lightly and decisively put the things away.

Just thinking of his series of abnormal behaviors today, the look in his eyes became strange: "I have something to ask you, it's not related to the case, it's... a private matter, so you don't have to answer."
Wei Cheng said generously: "Ask."
Xie Qingfei asked directly: "Do you have a girlfriend?"
Wei Cheng was stunned for a long time, and couldn't help laughing: "Are you humiliating me?"
"No?" Xie Qingfei frowned and changed his words to be more polite, "Then what about the date?"
Wei Cheng opened his eyes slightly, and when he understood what she meant, his face suddenly darkened. He looked humiliated and said coldly, "Xie Qingfei, not everything can be used as a joke."
"Forget it if you don't have any, just asking casually." Xie Qingfei didn't expect him to react so strongly. The tacit understanding she had for a long time made her clearly know that he was angry, so she explained, "I know you used the childbirth experience device during the day, and I'm just a little curious about your starting point."
Wei Cheng said anxiously: "That's because..."

——"Are you sure you don't want to tell him?"
--"No."

Halfway through his conversation, he recalled the conversation he had heard between her and her sister during the day. Although he had a thousand questions in his mind, he still retracted his true intentions and said coldly, "You are an ex-girlfriend, and you are quite nosy."
Xie Qingfei immediately retorted: "It's not even possible to ask. You're hiding something so trivial. Who are you afraid of misunderstanding?"
Unexpectedly, Wei Cheng stared at her and said directly: "You."
Xie Qingfei: "..."
Wei Cheng: "I don't have any ambiguous relationship with any opposite sex. From childhood to adulthood, I have only been with... Anyway, it doesn't matter what others think. I don't want you to misunderstand me."
After saying this, he also became irritated for some reason, and said fiercely, "Anyway, my innocence is very important", and then put on the airs of a young master and turned his head away coldly.
Xie Qingfei sensed the grievance beneath his irritability, but pretended not to understand and said, "Oh, let's go."

Wei Cheng hadn't finished arranging the music yet, but he lowered his eyes when he heard the words, and the person really left. It was difficult to stop her, and he couldn't say anything. He was hanging in the air, and finally he had no choice but to open the window, letting the cold night wind blow on his face, and snorted in the wind: "Bad woman."

(End of this chapter)