CH 28

Chapter 28: Exposed

Cheng Aiyue carried a piece of evidence box while Xiang Yang followed behind, and together with Cheng Zesheng, they once again arrived at this mansion hidden deep within the secluded mountains.

They were all dressed in the required three-piece ensemble for entry. Curiously, Cheng Aiyue asked, “Vice-Captain Cheng, why did you suddenly decide to look for gunpowder residue ?”

Xiang Yang also looked on curiously, and Cheng Zesheng cleared his throat lightly. “A friend I consulted with made the speculation.”

“Oh my, oh my, even the handsome Chengbis seeking outside help? How rare and unusual,” Cheng Aiyue raised an eyebrow and smiled. “You know, among us at the bureau, your unofficial nickname is ‘Heartless (Tie Shou)’ from ‘The Four.”

“Why?”

“Because you don’t accept any friendliness and never ask for help; truly heartless.”

“…” Cheng Zesheng didn’t want to talk nonsense, so he pointed at the sofa. “The focus is on that. Both the seams and the lining have been thoroughly examined.”

The work began, with Xiang Yang standing by holding a small screen, and Cheng Aiyue holding a portable microscope, moving it over the surface of the sofa.

“It’s all just dust, bacteria, thread-like cotton fibers, stains… Tsk, this sofa is so dirty, it’s giving me goosebumps.” Cheng Aiyue gave a slight smile toward Yang. “Hey kiddo, do you want me to increase the magnification so you can see how dust mites move?”

Xiang Yang’s scalp tingled, and he quickly refused. He thought about those unseen little bugs, his hair standing on end. Sometimes, not knowing certain things makes them easier to ignore.

“Huh? There are gray-black particles here. Handsome, lend a hand and lift up the lining,” Cheng Aiyue said.

Cheng Zesheng lifted up a square sofa cushion, and Cheng Aiyue knelt on the sofa, sweeping the microscope lens through the seams. The gray-black particles were inconspicuous among the dust, but under high magnification, they exhibited a markedly different solid state from the dust.

“The distribution is mainly concentrated on the surface of the sofa, with a few residual particles falling into the crevices. The color and shape resemble unburned gunpowder particles. To be sure, we need to extract them and analyze their composition in the lab.”

Cheng Aiyue, the professional forensic investigator, looked convinced, so at least 80% of it could be confirmed as gunpowder residue. Xiang Yang was amazed, “There really are traces! Vice-Captain Cheng, who is your friend? They’re so skilled.”

“Yeah, I’m curious too.” Cheng Aiyue took out the electrostatic adsorber to extract the residue. “How did he manage to deduce this? There’s no sign of firearms at the scene. Who could have thought of this?”

“…” Cheng Zesheng didn’t answer. He couldn’t possibly tell them that there had been a shooting incident in the neighboring world, right? He could only urge them to finish up quickly and bring the samples back to the lab for composition analysis.

Currently, there was only the possibility of two parallel worlds’ crime scenes overlapping. Everything depended on the composition spectrum coming out and then comparing it with the report from He Wei’s side to confirm if it was the same type of substance before any conclusions could be drawn.

“By the way, was He Wei’s clothing tested for gunpowder residue?”

Cheng Aiyue shook her head. “No, his shirt was clean. If we had found any gunpowder particles, we would have told you a long time ago.”

In He Wei’s autopsy report, there was also no indication of residual gunpowder components, gun oil, or metal fragments on his hands. Cheng Zesheng believed Jiang Tan wouldn’t overlook such details. The secondary autopsy was meticulous, even discovering injuries He Wei had sustained to his ankle when he was a child. Needless to say, they would have noticed such obvious traces.

If the crime scenes from the two worlds were indeed related, then what role did the deceased He Wei play in the shooting case?

With the extraction of the gunshot residue from the sofa completed, Cheng Zesheng and the others carefully examined the corners and crevices of the living room. They found only a few sparse particles of gunpowder and metal fragments. Following their trajectory, they led to one of the overlapping shoeprints in the living room.

Apart from these residues, there was no trace of the shooting case anywhere else in the mansion. This included the courtyard and the backyard. The police dogs had searched twice, their sense of smell was much more developed than that of humans, yet they still hadn’t found any relevant clues.

“Will the composition analysis be ready tonight?” Cheng Zesheng asked.

“Boss, look at the time. I’ve mentioned this before, making coffee doesn’t happen this quickly either,” Cheng Aiyue took off her gloves and complained. “Why don’t I give you the lab? Let’s see how long you can tinker around.”

“Oh,” Cheng Zesheng tossed his plastic gloves into the recycling bag. “In that case, we’ll be working overtime tonight. Thanks for your hard work.”

Cheng Aiyue’s facial expression changed, and the curse that was about to come out of her mouth took a turn. She snorted and said, “I understand. Rest assured, as long as the report is ready, I’ll make the presentation even if it’s the early hours of the morning!”

Cheng Zesheng was indifferent. He was staying up late now, so what’s early morning? He was still discussing the case with that “friend” in the early hours.

——

He Wei and Chong Zhen stood at the crossroads. Across from them was a shopping mall, with a large LCD screen displaying the advertisements in turn.

They waited for five minutes before seeing the endorsement of Cheng Zesheng’s wristwatch, which made Chong Zhen even more inclined to agree with He Wei’s speculation. Initially, Cheng Zhenqing had been ready to leave directly, but the advertisement happened to play Cheng Zesheng’s part, causing them to pause for a few seconds before leaving after it ended.

He Wei looked up at the screen and remarked calmly, “Although those two brothers didn’t grow up together, their bond is strong.”

“Yeah, during his ‘hide and seek’ phase, apart from necessities, he rarely stepped out. Yet, he stayed on the street for so long just to watch his younger brother’s advertisement.”

He Wei smiled and said, “You wouldn’t understand this, since you’re an only child.”

Chong Zhen’s teeth were almost sour. Isn’t it just having a younger brother? Whether there was a reason to bring it up or not, he casually mentioned it as if he was showing off, 

It was no wonder, He Wei had always been indifferent toward romantic relationships, had only a handful of friends, and cherished family above all else. He grew up with his mother, while his younger brother was with their father after their parents divorced. Despite growing up in different environments, their bond as brothers hadn’t faded but rather intensified due to the distance between them.

They followed the path Cheng Zhenqing had taken and arrived at the narrow alley. Two grocery stores sat at either end of the alley, tended by elderly, white-haired individuals who wore reading glasses as they perused newspapers, hardly noticing people passing by. They only looked up when someone came for business.

He Wei observed the sparsely populated little crossroads. Cheng Zhenqing’s chosen route was indeed accurate. This street lacked traffic lights, and both horizontal and vertical roads had no surveillance cameras. One had to walk a hundred meters to reach the busier main road. Moreover, there were two small gates leading to residential compounds, adding further complexity to Cheng Zhenqing’s possible routes. He could have exited from three different intersections, possibly entered a compound and left from another gate, or even just lived in the area and headed straight home.

“After I came to check it out last time, I realized Cheng Zhenqing is really crafty,” Chong Zhen looked around, “Look at this. How many intersections like this, where it’s completely open, can you find now? There isn’t even a surveillance camera around, and I’m amazed as well.”

“Then you have to report the situation to the traffic department and urban management. The surveillance coverage is inadequate, allowing criminals to take advantage,” He Wei casually added, pointing at both sides of the street, “Where do you think he went?”

“Where did he go? Let’s go this way,” Chong Zhen casually pointed to the left.

“I think it’s this way,” He Wei walked in the direction to the right, with Chong Zhen following. “What’s your reasoning?”

He Wei smiled but didn’t answer immediately. He waited until they reached the next intersection. Chong Zhen looked up and saw a gym on the opposite building, the very one that He Wei had asked him to focus on. He suddenly slapped his forehead and exclaimed, “Darn it! How did I forget? I was the one who gave you the map!”

“That’s why I can solve cases in three days while you take a week,” He Wei’s smile was composed. “And remember when we were at Cheng Zesheng’s house last time? You asked me how I knew the book was suspicious?”

“Why?”

“Because the thickness of that ‘Guiguzi’ book was off. I have a copy of it at home as well.”

“…”

Chong Zhen sighed and shook his head. Well, losing to He Wei was just the norm, wasn’t it? Since this man entered the city bureau, he hadn’t had any unsolved cases in his hands. Even Conan would have to kneel before him, after all, Chong Zhen hadn’t seen Conan perform an autopsy, but He Wei was a master at it.

Two colleagues were sitting in a car, keeping an eye on this gym. Chong Zhen instructed them to move farther away or come inside and sit at the café across the street. How could they be so careless? Didn’t they notice that their car was the only one parked on this street? It was as if they were afraid people won’t know they were tailing someone.

He Wei went upstairs to the gym, showed his ID, and asked at the front desk while holding Cheng Zhenqing’s photo, “Have you seen him?”

The front desk stared at the photo for a long time, then apologized with a smile, “It seems not.”

“He’s over 1.8 meters tall, slim, and usually wears sunglasses and a mask. Have you had a customer like that in the gym?”

“Oh, there’s someone like that, but he’s not a customer. He came to see our trainer, Ding.” The front desk picked up a walkie-talkie. “Xiao Meng, have teacher Ding come to the front desk; someone’s looking for him.”

Five minutes later, a muscular man with a crew cut and wearing shorts and a racerback came out. He Wei raised the ID in his hand slightly. “Sorry to bother you. Just a few questions, and it’ll be over soon.”

——

While Chong Zhen finished smoking downstairs, He Wei came down. He patted Chong Zhen’s shoulder. “Have you bought the map?”

“Done asking so quickly?” Chong Zhen took out the map from his pocket.  He Wei pulled out a pen and added a few points on the map. Chong Zhen glanced down. “What’s this?”

“He used a fake identity named ‘Ma Guangming.’ He had known the personal trainer here for about half a year. The trainer mentioned they had drinks together and sparred a few times, but they haven’t seen him this month. His phone is off, and he’s not responding on WeChat either.” He Wei drew lines extending from these points, eventually intersecting at a single point: the Walnut Grove residential area.

Chong Zhen had already taken out his phone, dialed a number, and asked him and Yun Xiaoxiao to go directly to investigate the Hutaoli community and investigate a person named “Ma Guangming”.

After hanging up the phone, Chongzhen sighed. “You coming here is always effective. We’ve narrowed the search to one community.”

He Wei put the map away and cautioned him not to celebrate too soon. A considerable amount of time has passed since the crime. It wasn’t clear whether Cheng Zhenqing had moved during this time. The revelation of Cheng Zesheng’s death would undoubtedly be made public, and if Cheng Zhenqing had the foresight, he could have escaped abroad.

Chong Zhen rubbed his chin, lost in thought for a few seconds, and then said resolutely, “No, he won’t. He definitely won’t leave.”

“The bond between those two brothers is strong. With Cheng Zesheng dead, he won’t just disappear.”