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墨書 Inktalez
The next morning, I was jolted awake by a rapid knocking at the door.
I walked to the entrance, irritably opened it just a crack, and before I could see who it was, Li Chuang rushed in like a gust of wind. "Old Qin, how's it going? Did you manage to set up a meeting with Zhao Luming?"
"How could it be that quick? Suddenly asking to meet readers in person is too abrupt. I need to lay some groundwork first..." I scratched my head in frustration, regretting that I had voluntarily offered myself up as Li Chuang's "helper."
"Well, you can lay the groundwork later. Come on, we're going to meet someone now!"
"Who?"
"Lin Wen's sister, Lin Qing."
I hastily washed my face and was pulled out the door by Li Chuang.
He had arranged to meet Lin Qing at a quiet café. It had been about two years since Lin Wen passed away, and seeing that her sister's case showed no signs of being solved, Lin Qing had moved abroad in her sorrow. After receiving Li Chuang's call about new leads in her sister's case and the reopening of the investigation, Lin Qing was very excited. She had flown back from Vienna specifically for this conversation.
Light rain fell outside, splattering against the glass.
Lin Qing was over forty now, wearing a well-crafted dark gray wool coat. Her features bore a resemblance to Lin Wen from twenty years ago as seen in old newspapers. Perhaps due to good maintenance, time had not left many marks on her face; instead, it had settled into a unique elegance.
She sat quietly across from us, her gaze falling on the photo that Li Chuang handed her. After a moment, she affirmed, "I recognize him; this is Zhao Luming."
Li Chuang got straight to the point. "Ms. Lin, could you please tell us more about Zhao Luming and your sister?"
Lin Qing absentmindedly traced her fingers over her coffee cup. "That was twenty years ago. Zhao Luming was a violinist in the orchestra just like me at that time. I still vividly remember how he looked when he first saw my sister... That day, my sister came to watch my rehearsal, and when Zhao Luming saw her for the first time, he was stunned and forgot to continue playing."
"Love at first sight?" I asked.
"Yes, love at first sight." Lin Qing smiled wryly. "At first, it was just normal courtship—flowers, letters, occasional 'coincidental' meetings after our rehearsals. My sister was particularly gentle-natured and worried about affecting my work relationships, so she never outright rejected him; she just said she wasn't interested in dating at the moment and kept avoiding him... until..."
Li Chuang pressed on, "Until what?"
"Until one time when I went to my sister's house and found her curtains drawn tight. She said she felt like someone was watching her. Later on, I heard from other colleagues that Zhao Luming had recently moved into the building across from my sister..."
Li Chuang and I exchanged glances as he continued to inquire, "Did your sister ever see him watching her?"
"No, we only suspected at that time. Sigh... Ultimately, this is all my fault; if it weren't for me, my sister would never have met Zhao Luming." Lin Qing's eyes reddened. "Or if I had insisted a bit more back then and let her stay with me for a while..."
I handed her a tissue and softly comforted her, "Ms. Lin, this isn't your fault."
After Li Chuang noticed that Lin Qing's emotions had calmed down a bit, he continued, "Ms. Lin, do you know if Zhao Luming visited your sister's house before the incident?"
"He went there once," Lin Qing took a deep breath. "It was two days before the incident. He said he wanted to return my sheet music and insisted on delivering it to my sister's house in person. My sister later told me that he lingered at her place for a long time, and it wasn't until she put on a stern face and asked him to leave that he reluctantly agreed to go. Before leaving, he even said, 'Lin Wen, you will eventually understand my feelings.'"
Li Chuang took a sip of his now cold coffee and suddenly changed the subject. "Ms. Lin, what model of Violin String do you usually use?"
"I typically use an A string. Why do you ask?"
I looked at Li Chuang in surprise as well, but he remained focused on Lin Qing. "Have you lost any of your Violin Strings before or after the incident?"
Lin Qing paused for a moment, clearly not expecting such a question from Li Chuang. "I... I can't remember... I rarely lose my things; if something goes missing, it's usually left at my sister's house..."
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