American Zombie Detective

Chapter 140 An Impossible Pregnancy (Nine Chapters, Please Subscribe)

The detached houses in Walnut Forest, bathed in the California afternoon sun, appear tranquil and warm, a stark contrast to the deathly mansions of the Rand Park neighborhood.

As soon as the Dodge and the police car came to a stop on the side of the road, they saw Chen Zhenni, accompanied by her nanny and driver, hurrying out of the house, each clutching something wrapped in a wad of tissues.

Upon seeing the police car and Qin Jin and his group, she paused briefly: "Detective Qin, are you here to see? Please look around as you please. I—I need to find something else now, so I won't keep you company!"

She was rambling incoherently; clearly, Qin Jin's fabricated lifeline had become her sole source of emotional support.

"————Thank you! Thank you for your idea!" She hurriedly said this, jumped into the car parked by the roadside, and the driver quickly started the car, taking Chen Zhenni to prepare other things.

Detective Hansen watched the departing taillights and frowned. "This situation—it's a bit chaotic!"

"At least she's still somewhat rational and hasn't gone mad," Qin Jin said calmly. "Whatever the consequences of her own actions are the result of her own choices. As long as she doesn't cause us any trouble, that's fine."

As you push open the door, a scent mixed with disinfectant and a faint aromatherapy wafts out.

The interior was exquisitely furnished with soft colors and spotless. Although people lived there, it was very clean. And just as Hansen had said last time, almost all the valuables had been taken away, leaving only unimportant furniture, clothes and odds and ends.

The officers began searching the entire house again. Qin Jin stayed in the living room, while Alessa went straight to the kitchen, sniffed around, and came out frowning: "There's a... strange smell—"

"Is it a foul smell, or something else?" Qin Jin went in and took a look around. Sure enough, there was a faint lingering smell in the kitchen. If Alessa hadn't reminded him, Qin Jin probably wouldn't have been able to tell.

"Can we track it?" Qin Jin asked Alessa.

Alessa nodded, took a deep breath, then walked out of the kitchen, through the living room, pushed open the floor-to-ceiling glass doors leading to the back garden, and finally stood at the edge of the flowerbed in the corner, pointing: "Here."

The soil there was noticeably darker than the surrounding soil and unusually loose, as if it had been recently turned over and then hastily backfilled and compacted.

"Detective Hansen—" Qin Jin called out, "Dig it open and take a look."

Hansen immediately called for the officers to bring a shovel from the garden tool shed. After a few strokes, a shallow pit was dug, revealing a pile of blackened slag inside.

It contained twigs, leaves, roots, insects, and other things, and had a deep, bitter smell.

"What is this?" The officers immediately tensed up, and Detective Hansen hurriedly turned to Qin Jin for help: "Detective Qin! This...this can't be some kind of ritual object, can it? Take a look, take a look—"

Qin Jin squatted down, casually poking at the pile of things with a twig, a knowing smile on his face. "Don't be nervous, this should be the dregs of traditional Chinese medicine, an ancient Chinese medical practice—" He stood up, tossed the stick aside, and then explained, "In some places, it's believed that the dregs of medicine carry illness and shouldn't be thrown away carelessly. Either you throw them on the road so passersby can trample on them and carry away the illness, or you bury them and let God deal with them—"

Qin Jin was about to have the police take samples for recording when suddenly his gaze fell on several medicinal herbs. "Huh?" Qin Jin stopped in his tracks.

He squatted down again and began to sort and identify the herbs he recognized from the dregs: "Perilla, Scutellaria, Amomum, Taxillus, Eucommia, Dipsacus, Atractylodes —"

"wrong----"

Qin Jin shook his head, then suddenly raised his voice: "Detective Hansen, something's wrong with this medicine!"

"What's wrong, Detective Qin?" Hansen immediately became alert.

"This is—a medicine to prevent miscarriage!" Qin Jin's voice was heavy with disbelief: "This prescription is for preventing miscarriage!"

"Medicine to prevent miscarriage?!"

Detective Hansen exclaimed, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, "How is this possible?! Chen Anni?! Isn't she—isn't she like Chen Zhenni, unable to conceive at all? The two sisters have tried for years without success! How could this be—?!"

This discovery left Qin Jin in disbelief. Chen Anni was pregnant, at this time? What on earth had happened? This was simply—simply too strange!

"Investigate! Confirm this!" Qin Jin suddenly stood up. "First, try investigating the nursing home where Chen Anni had her check-up to confirm her pregnancy—since they examined her, regardless of where she was being cared for during her pregnancy, they must have records! Make sure they document it!"

Detective Hansen also realized that the seriousness of the matter was far beyond his imagination; this was simply the most bizarre and subversive twist in the entire case!

He immediately took out his phone, walked to the side, lowered his voice, and began to use every channel and pressure he could think of.

Time passed second by second, and Qin Jin stood in the sunlight in the back garden, but he couldn't feel any warmth at all.

He stared at the pile of bitter-smelling dregs, various clues flashing through his mind:

Chen Anni's aged and strangely shaped skin condition, the backlash caused by her suddenly stopping the beauty soup, her act of calling the police to report a "murder on the seventh day after death," her methodical evacuation—and, the packet of dregs of the pregnancy-preserving medicine buried deep inside.

A woman who has struggled in despair for over twenty years, bound by a curse, watching her sacrifices run out and her family on the verge of destruction—suddenly becomes pregnant?

How could this be just a coincidence?!

Ten minutes later, Detective Hansen, holding his phone, walked back quickly with an extremely complicated expression.

He looked at Qin Jin, took a deep breath, and said with a tremor in his voice but absolute certainty, "It's confirmed, Detective Qin! Dr. White said that Ms. Chen Anni was indeed diagnosed with pregnancy at their clinic a little over a month ago, at about six weeks pregnant. That means—"

Hansen paused, then uttered the shocking timeline with difficulty, "She conceived around—two or three months ago!"

Two or three months ago!

This moment struck Qin Jin like a thunderbolt!

Two or three months ago, Lin Hao was just beginning to feel extreme fear and was looking for ways to survive!

It was when Lin Hao claimed to have found a way and might go to find Lily that night, stained with blood!

That's also the time period when Zhang Dagua, the owner of the secondhand shop, was murdered!

All the clues, all the doubts, all the seemingly broken chains, seemed to be brought together by this earth-shattering news—

"Chen Anni is pregnant"—these things suddenly came together!

A chilling, sinister possibility, like a poisonous vine sprouting from the darkness, instantly entangled Qin Jin's mind!

"Hansen!"

Qin Jin suddenly brought up something out of the blue: "Last time! At the Green Building, I asked you to investigate the disposal of abortion products from those hospitals and clinics! What are the results on your end?!"

Detective Hansen was startled by Qin Jin's sudden change in tone, but quickly realized what he meant: "Ah! That matter! I've handed it over to my partner, Agent Duke, to follow up on!" He said, quickly pulling out his phone. "Wait a minute, I'll ask him how it's going right away."

The call connected, and Hansen pressed the speakerphone button, urgently asking, "Duke! This is Hansen! What's the progress of the investigation into the whereabouts of the aborted fetus that Detective Qin asked us to investigate?!"

The same efficient voice of Agent Duke came through the phone, though there was some background noise: "I just got a preliminary lead! The Renhe Gynecology Clinic in Chinatown is highly suspicious! There's information that their nurses are selling these things—I'm preparing to find some leverage over the clinic to get them to confess." "No leverage needed, just get started!"

Qin Jin interrupted abruptly, his voice firm and decisive, "Agent Duke, where are you right now? Your exact location!"

"Uh—I'll be staking out the coffee shop diagonally opposite Renhe Clinic—"

"Stay put! We're coming right away!"

Qin Jin spoke rapidly, "Hansen, go to Renhe Clinic! Quick! We might have caught Chen Anni red-handed!"