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墨書 Inktalez
Old Zhang and Old Li were still very polite, seeing me and Zhao Mingkun out of the house. I glanced at the large open door of the Shed in the distance, which stood quietly. A scene flashed in my mind: one night, Old Deng suddenly fell ill and instinctively reached for the medicine bottle next to the table.
In the last few years of his life, Old Deng had sensed that his time was running out. His medicine was kept close at hand so he could grab it quickly when needed. But the illness struck suddenly at night; as Old Deng reached out, he accidentally knocked the medicine bottle to the floor.
At that moment, Old Deng realized that if he didn’t take his medicine soon, he might not survive. He turned his body toward the inner side of the bed, trying to attract attention by banging on the walls of the room. In excruciating pain, he could barely make a sound, and his attempts to hit the wall were futile.
Due to the pain, he curled up, but the illness came crashing down on him like a mountain; he had no time left for any further actions.
Thus, one night, while thousands of households were asleep, Old Deng passed away quietly in his bed.
As I walked outside, I tugged at my hair with my hand, pondering this guess of mine. From Old Li's description, it was easy to draw such a conclusion. However, thinking it over made me feel that something was amiss.
Old Deng had been suffering from this illness for more than a year or two; over such a long time, he must have understood the dangers of his condition. Surely he would have placed his medicine somewhere it couldn’t easily be knocked over—leaving it casually on the table in darkness was not a wise choice.
If it were up to me, placing it on the bed would have been a better option. Keeping a box on the bed with his necessary medicine and water would allow him to take it quickly if he fell ill suddenly; that would be the best choice. Old Li was an intellectual; he shouldn’t have overlooked this detail.
Therefore, the medicine bottle didn’t just disappear into thin air—someone must have taken it away.
I looked at Zhao Mingkun and said, “I have a feeling that Deng Xuemei is not an ordinary person. We should check her workplace; perhaps we can find something unexpected.”
Zhao Mingkun rubbed his eyes and stretched lazily. “But haven’t we already concluded that Deng Xuemei is the Murderer? She must be quite extraordinary. A woman capable of killing over twenty people is certainly not simple.”
After a pause, Zhao Mingkun continued, “If this were back in the day, Shi Huacheng wouldn’t let such ‘talent’ slip away; he would find ways to recruit her.”
I shrugged and didn’t respond.
From our simple conversation, we could vaguely form an image of Deng Xuemei. Based on this image, she seemed to be stubborn, intelligent, and resilient. Dealing with someone like her wouldn’t be easy. With three women still alive, would Deng Xuemei choose to kill them? Or did she realize that someone was already watching her and decide to avoid confrontation?
All of this remained uncertain, but one thing was clear: Deng Xuemei was definitely problematic.
We arrived at Kangtai Pharmaceutical to inquire about Deng Xuemei's situation. We met with the manager of the Human Resources Department, who listened to our purpose and then instructed us to wait in the reception area before leaving.
As a large corporation, it was expected that efficiency would be low. We waited for over an hour before the manager returned, holding a stack of documents. He said, "Here are Deng Xuemei's records. If you have any questions, go ahead; our company is quite busy."
I shrugged and began to look through Deng Xuemei's information. According to the records, she had started interning at the company before graduating from university. After graduation, she went straight to work here. She had been employed for over seven years, but a few months ago, she resigned, and no one knew where she had gone afterward.
"Wait!" I spoke up. "Do you have any students from Dongxing University majoring in Biological Engineering from seven years ago?"
The HR manager glanced at me and replied, "I’m not sure about that; can't you check the records yourself?"
Seeing that he seemed unwilling to engage with us, I said, "If you don't want me to share details about you and your female employee, you'd better sit down and give me the answers I need."
"What?" The HR manager instinctively took a step back and said, "What are you talking about? If you keep this up, I can sue you for defamation, you know?"
I gently tapped the documents he had given me and slowly replied, "When I first saw you, you looked decent, but now you seem a bit disheveled. Your tie is tied more securely than before, which suggests you tidied it up before coming out."
I pointed to his neck. "It looks like things got a bit wild; as a manager, you should have your own office. The faint lipstick mark on your shirt indicates someone kissed your neck directly, but it seems you didn’t clean up afterward. When you handed me the documents, I noticed the long marks on your hands. One can imagine that she was sitting on your desk while you were... engaged with her."
I could see the expression on the manager's face becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
I shrugged again and continued, "Look at your pants; it seems you didn’t notice that while... things were happening, your pant leg brushed against the wooden desk. That’s why there’s some dust and slight wrinkles left over from earlier. Your office curtains are drawn; it’s just your secretary inside."
"For such a high-profile manager to personally deliver documents is unusual; it suggests your female secretary isn’t available right now. After all, men tend to find things easier after... well, you know what I mean."
The manager's face was now flushed red; he wanted to say something but found himself unable to refute my claims.
I pressed on, "You were gone for nearly an hour. Considering your age and physique, I have bolder assumptions: you've likely done it twice—once with her helping you orally and once with her sitting on your desk. You’re walking a bit unsteadily; it seems this isn’t just a one-time occurrence. I suggest you get some Six Flavor Rehmannia Pills for a boost."
Zhao Mingkun and the manager stared at me in disbelief, seemingly unable to comprehend that I had guessed this matter upon meeting the manager for the first time. From his initial retreat and his current speechlessness, it was clear that I had not been mistaken at all.
I shrugged and said, "So now I give you two choices. The first is to tell your wife this fact. I see that your ring has been worn for several years; it seems your marital life isn't very harmonious. The second is to help me find out if there are any students from Dongxing University who graduated seven years ago with a major in Biological Engineering. It would be best to ask if they were in the same class as Deng Xuemei."
The manager looked at me, momentarily at a loss for words. After a long pause, he finally spoke, "Uh, this, haha, I—I will take care of it right away. Just wait a moment, please."
With that, the manager quickly turned his head to check for lipstick marks on his shirt collar.
I smiled at him and said, "By the way, the lipstick mark was just a casual remark; there’s no stain on your shirt."
"This, this, haha," the manager laughed nervously as he hurried out of the door.
Zhao Mingkun gave me a thumbs-up and said, "Impressive, my brother."
I waved my hand dismissively and replied, "You can learn a lot about a person just by observing them closely; you can actually discover many things."
"Then everyone has no secrets in front of you," Zhao Mingkun remarked.
I shook my head and added, "Not exactly. What someone thinks inside is much more complicated. I didn’t read his mind; I just made a bold guess based on his appearance and the fact that he hadn’t left the office since entering. It proved to be quite useful."
"You," I said while looking through the glass window at the white coats coming and going outside. "With my skills, being a manager in the Human Resources Department shouldn't be too difficult for you."
This time, the manager was clearly much quicker. In less than ten minutes, he returned with a woman in tow. He introduced her by saying, "This is Song Ying; she came to our company with Deng Xuemei. They were roommates seven years ago. And these two are very capable officers here to ask you some questions."
Song Ying nodded.
The manager added, "If there's nothing else, I'll step out now. Just call me if you need anything."
The manager walked outside, and halfway through, he turned to Song Ying and said, "Don't lie, especially in front of this young police officer. Just answer truthfully."
It seemed that the manager had some psychological shadows.
I smiled and asked Song Ying, "Did you share a dorm with Deng Xuemei before?"
"That's right," Song Ying replied. "We were dormmates for two years in college."
"Two years?" I was puzzled. "Isn't college four years? How did you end up being dormmates for only two years?"
Song Ying nodded and explained, "Well, she found a boyfriend later and moved out to live with him until graduation."
I stroked my chin thoughtfully and asked, "So can you briefly describe your first reaction when someone mentions Deng Xuemei?"
"Deng Xuemei..." Song Ying's eyes glanced to the right, a typical expression of reminiscing.
"She's quite wealthy, isn't she?" Song Ying answered.
"Wealthy?"
I truly hadn't expected such an answer.
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