I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 67: Chapter 65: A Birthmark on the Back

”I don’t think Zhou Lei intends to personally handle the remaining people involved from all those years ago. If he did, he would have hidden the bodies of Han Longyu and the other two. The longer they remained hidden, the more time he’d have. By staying off the police’s radar, he would’ve had more time to take revenge on others.”

”Go on,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

”The fact that Zhou Lei could leave no trace at the crime scene proves he’s extremely intelligent and meticulous,” Su Miaoyi said. ”He deliberately exposed the bodies because he wants to bring what happened back then to light. He needs an impartial person to grant him justice—to grant his mother justice. A serial murder case like this, even if handled by a precinct at first, will eventually be transferred to the Municipal Bureau. You’re the one he chose.”

”He could have come to me directly. There was no need to go about it in such a roundabout way,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

”But if he had come to you from the start, what would the final sentence for Han Longyu and the other two have been? It’s been twelve years. They weren’t even adults back then. No one would have paid with their life,” Su Miaoyi said, looking at him.

Zhuang Yanzheng’s lips moved, but he didn’t speak. He glanced at her.

”Every step we’re taking now is probably part of Zhou Lei’s plan,” Su Miaoyi said. ”He also knows that he’s powerless on his own. There are some people he can’t even get close to.”

’Being led around by the nose like this doesn’t feel good.’

”So we’re back to the question from before.” Su Miaoyi narrowed her eyes. ”The stage was set. Why didn’t Zhou Lei leave last night?”

Zhuang Yanzheng suddenly pulled the car over to the side of the road.

The two looked at each other, simultaneously thinking of the same person.

”His mother.”

The words came from both of them at once.

Zhuang Yanzheng immediately contacted the Municipal Bureau and had them check with the Records Division for the location of Zhou Lei’s mother’s grave.

Once they found the specific location, Zhuang Yanzheng had Qi Feng take some men to Song Lichun’s home.

He and Su Miaoyi went to the cemetery.

When they arrived, Zhou Lei was standing in front of his mother’s grave.

Sensing someone approaching, Zhou Lei turned his head to glance at them, then looked back at the headstone before him.

Zhuang Yanzheng took a few steps forward, then tossed his wallet to the officer behind him, asking him to buy a bouquet of flowers.

Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng drew closer.

Zhou Lei didn’t look at them. ”You got here much faster than I expected.”

Zhuang Yanzheng tsked. ”Did you really think we were ’incompetent’?”

Zhou Lei scoffed. ”Whether you’re truly incompetent or not, it’s too early to say.”

Zhuang Yanzheng sighed. ”That’s a nasty thing to say.”

Zhou Lei didn’t say anything.

For a moment, Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t speak either.

The officer sent to buy flowers returned quickly.

He gave the wallet and the flowers to Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng took a few steps toward the headstone, bent down, and placed the flowers in front of it. ”You’ve been wronged all these years. This time, we will definitely get you justice.”

Zhou Lei watched him, a faint flicker in the depths of his eyes.

After placing the flowers, Zhuang Yanzheng stepped back a few paces and stood beside Zhou Lei.

Zhou Lei said, ”A senior colleague in my lab used to be a classmate of yours. He told me there’s a detective on the Municipal Bureau’s criminal investigation team named Zhuang Yanzheng. His family is incredibly wealthy, but instead of living like a young master, he insisted on becoming a cop. When it comes to cases, he’s reckless. He has eyes only for the case, with no interest in anything else. Someone tried to bribe him with a seven-figure sum, and he told them, ’You call seven figures money? Stop insulting me.’”

Su Miaoyi looked at Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng: ”...”

”I’ve done my research on you,” Zhou Lei said. ”I hope I haven’t misjudged you.”

Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t say anything else, just, ”Let’s go.”

Zhou Lei looked at his mother’s headstone again.

He didn’t move.

Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t rush him.

After a while, Zhou Lei pulled his gaze away, bowed to the headstone, then turned to Zhuang Yanzheng and held out his hands.

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced down at his hands, then at the photo on the headstone, but didn’t take out his handcuffs. ”Let’s just go for now.”

Zhou Lei’s fingers twitched. He followed Zhuang Yanzheng for a few steps. ”Thank you.”

Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t reply.

Su Miaoyi and the other officer walked behind Zhou Lei, boxing him in.

When they reached the car, Zhuang Yanzheng cuffed his hands and took him back to the Municipal Bureau.

...

After arriving at the Municipal Bureau, Zhuang Yanzheng went to the interrogation room.

Seeing that there was nothing else she could help with, Su Miaoyi called a cab and went home.

But when she got to the entrance of her district and stepped out of the cab, she saw Jiang Junrui.

The moment Jiang Junrui saw her, he got out of his car and walked toward her. ”I’ve finally managed to catch you.”

The corner of Su Miaoyi’s mouth twitched. ”What do you mean? Have you been waiting long?”

”I’ve been coming by to check every day for the past two days,” Jiang Junrui said. ”After all, some people don’t return messages or answer their phones.”

Su Miaoyi frowned and said four words: ”You must be bored.”

Jiang Junrui: ”...”

Su Miaoyi had only gotten half an hour of sleep that morning. Now that the matter was resolved, her head felt groggy, and she really couldn’t figure out what this man wanted.

”How about this: let’s both stop beating around the bush and be a little more sincere with each other. Tell me what you really want from me. I’m a pretty kind-hearted person. As long as it’s something I can do, I’ll consider it.”

Jiang Junrui looked at her. ”You’re the one who’s not being sincere. You keep saying you’ve never met me. How can you expect me to be sincere?”

”I really have never met you. I’ve never even been to Jiangcheng,” Su Miaoyi said. ”You’ve really got the wrong person.”

Jiang Junrui nodded. ”Fine, you say I’ve got the wrong person. Then tell me, what were you doing in June? And where were you? Especially the latter half of June.”

”I...” Su Miaoyi wanted to say she was at home, in Jinrong District.

But she suddenly realized she couldn’t remember what she did at home in June.

She was working in the first half of June, then she quit her job in the middle of the month.

And then?

In July and August, she was at home writing her novel. While writing, she could hear the streamer upstairs livestreaming, so she wore headphones every night.

When she wasn’t writing, she would also listen to the livestream from upstairs.

During the day, she would go out for walks or eat at restaurants outside the district.

But then, she realized her mind was filled with other things.

She had always assumed that after she quit, her June had been spent the same way as July and August.

But thinking about it carefully now, her memory of the latter half of June was very blurry.

She had memories of the first half of June, of May, and of April.

But why was the latter half of June a blur, or even a complete blank?

Just as Su Miaoyi fell silent, Jiang Junrui spoke again. ”So I was mistaken... which means you don’t have a red, cloud-shaped birthmark on your back, is that right?”

Su Miaoyi’s pupils trembled.

The birthmark wasn’t in an overly private location.

In the summer, she would wear clothes that were slightly open-backed, but you still couldn’t see the birthmark.

Unless it was the kind of dress that was completely backless.

But she had never worn one.

Almost no one knew she had a birthmark on her back.

She looked at Jiang Junrui, said nothing, and turned, striding into the district...