Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1168: Concealment

The next day, just around lunchtime, Song Ying finally received a call from Luo Qiu.

After grumbling a bit over the phone about the meeting location, Miss Song promptly declined Zhang Qianrui’s lunch invitation. Driving the car she had borrowed from the Zhang family, she made her way to the destination: a park.

Luo Qiu seemed to have arrived earlier… When Song Ying got there, she saw him looking at his phone.

“Seriously, couldn’t you pick a place where we could at least grab a drink?” Song Ying looked around.

Because it was noon, the park was nearly deserted… quiet, which made it okay for a conversation. Grumbling aside, she still sat down on the bench. “What are you looking at?”

“There was a blackout last night. I was checking what people are saying online,” Luo Qiu replied casually and then turned off his phone. “Let’s continue our conversation from last night.”

“You… you’ve calmed down?” Song Ying asked cautiously.

“Thanks for your concern.”

“Who’s concerned about you?” Song Ying scoffed. “If Grandpa hadn’t asked me to take care of you, I wouldn’t have even come… You actually kicked me out of the house.”

“Here, you’re probably hungry.” Luo Qiu smiled and picked up a small paper bag from beside him.Warm, steaming, and fragrant—clearly food.

“What’s this?” Song Ying took it, curious.

“Egg waffles,” Luo Qiu said softly. “There was a cart nearby selling them. I figured you probably hadn’t eaten, so I bought some. Don’t like sweet stuff?”

“Tastes pretty good.” Song Ying took a bite, and the rich egg aroma and chewy texture instantly won over her taste buds. Her mood visibly improved.

“Did your family find anything?” Luo Qiu suddenly asked.

“What do you mean my family?” Song Ying rolled her eyes, then pulled out a tablet and handed it to Luo Qiu.

“My grandfather had some old connections help look into things. According to this data, we’ve pretty much re-investigated everyone who was on duty during that old case. Turns out, your father’s buddies were seriously impressive—Interpol, military majors, even some with classified files?”

Luo Qiu didn’t respond to her complaints. He quietly studied the tablet.

To be fair, the files were highly detailed—something ordinary people couldn’t possibly obtain. Though there were discrepancies from what he’d looked into last night, the files did include the latest movements of several individuals.

While eating her egg waffles, Song Ying said, “We had a few professional analysts go through this. We narrowed down some suspects. Usually, if a shooter comes from within the team, there will be traces, no matter how small.”

She swiped on the tablet. “Take this guy: Zhou Yusheng. After the incident, his service pistol went missing. Said he lost it during the shootout. He did get shot and was hospitalized for a while. But considering the fatal shot came from a police-issued weapon, he’s highly suspicious. He’s now the captain of the second unit at the city bureau. Nothing strange in his accounts though… Then there’s this guy. He wasn’t originally scheduled to be on duty, but swapped shifts last minute—on the same day an armored car was hijacked, which just happened to be on his patrol route. Coincidence? Maybe. Too convenient? Definitely. Hey, you want some?”

She tore off a piece of the egg waffle and offered it.

But Luo Qiu was already looking at the third file.

Song Ying pouted slightly but still explained patiently, “This one’s Gao Wen, captain of the second unit back then. We found out his father-in-law is a high-ranking official. According to what we got from old coroner Ouyang, if anyone could cover something up, Gao Wen’s family has that kind of pull. Plus, his behavior was odd. Half a year after the incident, he suddenly quit and went to teach at a university… Are you even listening?”

“Yeah.” Luo Qiu responded simply.

Song Ying frowned. “That’s all we’ve got for now… What do you think? Don’t worry, we’re fully cooperating with you. You can investigate anyone you want.”

Luo Qiu turned off the tablet. “Are you free this afternoon?”

“More or less.” Song Ying shrugged.

“Come with me to the university.”

…

…

Outside the crime scene, a crowd had gathered—it was in an old residential building in the city’s older district.

The incident occurred on the third floor.

Just arriving at the scene, Sir Ma looked around cautiously like he was up to no good. A team member nearby reassured him, “Sir Ma, Miss Ren isn’t here. Relax.”

“Go to hell! As if I’d be scared of her? If she dares show up, I’ll kick her out in minutes!”

“Uh-huh…”

When Ma Houde and Lin Feng arrived with the team, they were hit with a strong stench upon entering.

“Hey, Little Bao! You’re on duty today?” Lin Feng called out as he spotted someone from the forensics team and approached. “What’s going on here?”

Little Bao raised his gloved hand. “Sir Ma, Sir Lin, looks like you’ve got a big one. It’s a dismemberment case, and a particularly brutal one.”

“Dismemberment?” Ma Houde blinked. That meant a major case—usually involving extremely violent offenders with serious societal risk.

Xiao Bao nodded. “Right now, we can’t even confirm the identity of the victim. The body isn’t intact—mostly just chunks of flesh. We’ll have to reconstruct the remains back at the lab. But I did find a pelvis, so we can preliminarily confirm the victim was male… Age will require a bone age test.”

The body parts were stuffed in a freezer. Sir Ma peeked in.

Inside, hacked, sawed, or chopped flesh and bones were piled haphazardly.

The freezer’s interior, once frosted, had melted. The body parts soaked in the defrosted mess, reeking of decay.

Yet the central mass remained mostly frozen—flesh, fat, and bones stuck together.

Ma Houde gulped. Sir Lin wasn’t so composed—he instantly covered his mouth.

“Damn… how deep was the grudge?” Sir Ma frowned and questioned how the body had been found.

A uniformed officer brought over a man in his fifties. “Sir Ma, this is the one who reported it—he’s the landlord. Says he came to inspect the place this morning and smelled something weird. Got curious, opened the freezer, and found the body.”

“Inspection?” Sir Ma looked at the landlord. “Inspect what?”

“Oh, officer, it’s like this.”

The landlord explained, “There was a blackout last night, right? This house is pretty old. I was worried something might’ve gone wrong, so I came early to check the wires. When I got to this unit, no one answered for a long time. I got worried, so I let myself in to take a look… and then, well, I found that thing. Scared the life out of me! I mean, seriously, why would something like that be here?!”

Ma Houde nodded.

Lin Feng came over. “He’s probably telling the truth. I checked the freezer—circuit board’s burned out. Likely caused by a power surge from the blackout. If not for that, the body wouldn’t have thawed and started to smell. We probably wouldn’t have discovered it otherwise.”

Ma Houde scratched his head. “So we should be thankful for the blackout? Otherwise, who knows how long this body would’ve stayed hidden?”

“You could say that.” Lin Feng shrugged.

Ma Houde rolled his eyes and looked at the landlord again. “Who rented this unit?”

The landlord quickly replied, “Oh, it’s a young guy. His name is Wang Liang.”

“Where is he now?” Ma Houde suddenly asked sternly.

The landlord immediately said, “Oh, he went back to his hometown for the New Year, but he never terminated the lease.”

“He hasn’t returned at all?” Lin Feng followed up.

The landlord shook his head. “He probably hasn’t.”

“How can you be so sure?” Ma Houde pressed.

The landlord pulled out his phone. “My legs aren’t great, so I usually collect rent via mobile transfers. I added Wang Liang as a contact and have been following his Moments... See here, he even posted an update the day before yesterday. Oh, and because I knew he wasn’t home and was worried something like an electrical appliance might short out and catch fire, I opened the door to check... I really didn’t have any other intentions, officer!”

“Do you have the rental agreement? Bring it out for verification,” Ma Houde ordered. “Also, landlord, I need you to come down to the station and provide everything you know about this Wang Liang. We’ll need a detailed statement.”

“Sure.” The landlord nodded obediently.

Then, Sir Ma whispered to Lin Feng, “Whatever it takes, find Wang Liang as fast as possible. Also, get me all the surveillance footage from this area—from just before the New Year until now. Pull everything you can and review it thoroughly. Since the body was dismembered, the killer would’ve had to come back here to dispose of parts of it.”

“Got it!”

Ma Houde then spoke up loudly, “Grab a few guys and canvass the neighborhood. See if there are any leads.”

Inside the apartment building, the team sprang into action… Crimes never stop, but this was the first major case of the new year—and even in normal times, dismemberment cases were rare. Like Xiao Bao said, they were in for some serious work.

But secrets don’t stay hidden forever, especially in this age of smartphones and viral videos… News of the dismemberment was already spreading like wildfire.

People were naturally drawn to such gruesome headlines. Just as they were still talking about last night’s blackout, attention quickly shifted to this murder case… Of course, for now, it was only buzzing within this city.

Still, every place has its own scandals that capture the public’s eye… It’s as if the times had already begun slipping into an era of entertainment-driven demise.

…

…

The lecture hall was tiered. It was the first class of the afternoon, and the professor, with his refined demeanor, had amassed quite a student following—mostly female fans.

“…When humans or animals feel anxious or fearful, they instinctively try to block the stimulus. In psychology, this is called ‘avoidance behavior.’ For example, they may cover their eyes to create distance from what they fear.”

The projector displayed a picture of a baby turning its head away from a milk bottle.

The elegant lecturer’s voice continued calmly, “Just like this baby—when it's full, it turns its head to avoid more milk.”

The slide then changed to an image of a man with his hands over his mouth, head tilted upward, his eyes and eyebrows filled with fear.

“This was taken in the U.S. on September 11. Faced with horror, the man instinctively chose this form of self-protection…” As he spoke, the lecturer flipped to another slide.

This time it was a graphic image of a throat being slit.

Immediately, many girls—and even some boys—instinctively covered their faces with their hands.

“Yes, just like you're doing now…”

Unnoticed, the elegant lecturer had already been speaking for quite some time. Only when the bell rang did the captivated students begin to pack up—albeit reluctantly. The professor also began to tidy up his things.

Perhaps due to his popularity, several students stayed after class to ask questions. Only when the next class’s bell rang did the day scholars begin to leave, albeit somewhat unwillingly.

Just as the professor was about to leave, he noticed a boy and a girl still sitting in the lecture hall.

They didn’t seem to be chatting. Instead, they were staring at the podium—or rather, at him. But he had no memory of these two students.

“You two, do you have any questions?”

The girl glanced at the boy beside her, who didn’t seem interested in speaking. She stood up, smiled slightly, and said, “Professor Gao, I do have a few questions I’d like to ask, if you have time?”

The professor—Gao Wen—glanced at his watch and nodded. “I don’t have a class next period. Go ahead.”

“In general, what would cause a person to suddenly leave a familiar environment and a promising job, switching to something completely different? Especially when that original job still had plenty of room for advancement?”

Faced with this question from the young woman, Professor Gao was momentarily stunned.

(End of Chapter)