The existing leads had more or less been sorted out. What remained was to investigate them. Xiao Xiang had discovered the body so late that the killer could very well have left Weimo Mountain Resort during the night, but the police still had to check every tourist thoroughly.
Chen Zheng was particularly concerned about the impromptu concert Huo Yewei had given on the afternoon of the eighteenth. It seemed to have been a spur-of-the-moment interaction with his fans, but a crowd had gathered outside the villa, and not a single Huo family security guard had been present. Even Xiao Xiang, his assistant, had been absent. Could the killer have slipped into the Huo residence then?
When they learned that no one was allowed to leave, some tourists began making trouble. One person would start shouting and several others would join in. The officers at the resort were gradually losing control. Just then, the Huo family’s private helicopter landed at Weimo Mountain Resort. A secretary to the chairman of Weihai Technology had arrived, accompanied by two other members of the Huo family.
Everyone saw the helicopter descend with a loud whir. Flanked by bodyguards, the secretary marched imperiously up to Li Shu and “urged” the police to solve the case at any cost. Speaking in the chairman’s name, the secretary even demanded that the killer be arrested within three days and that no one be allowed to leave Weimo Mountain Resort until the arrest was made.
The police were already busy trying to calm the tourists, many of whom were blocking officers from leaving. The secretary’s pronouncement not only left Li Shu dumbfounded but also set the tourists’ anger ablaze.
“Why can’t we leave? You think having money makes you better than us?”
“Do the police only work for rich people? Expose them!”
Li Shu immediately contacted the municipal bureau to request support from the special police. He had hoped to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible so the investigation could proceed, but the tourists misunderstood, believing the police were helping an arrogant tycoon turn against ordinary people. Within moments, distorted accounts of events were spreading online. Some furious tourists even surrounded and attacked police officers and resort security guards.
News of Huo Yewei’s murder had already topped the trending searches, complete with an “explosive” tag. Huo Yewei’s fans and Lin Dong’s fans were at one another’s throats. Huo’s fans were certain Lin Dong had instructed a crazed fan to kill him. Lin Dong’s fans retaliated with screenshots of Huo’s private messages, claiming Huo had kidnapped Lin Dong, who was now in mortal danger, and demanding that the police rescue him.
The chaos at Weimo Mountain Resort poured fuel on the online fight. Conspiracy theories spread everywhere. Junan City was a tourist city and had never experienced a public-opinion storm like this.
The secretary had arrived with their nose in the air, but after being surrounded by the crowd was now hiding behind the police in a thoroughly disheveled state. Chen Zheng approached. Assuming Chen held a higher rank than Li Shu, the secretary resumed the imperious tone and demanded that the police guarantee the safety of the secretary and the other Weihai Technology personnel.
Before the secretary could finish, Chen Zheng cut in. “Since when does an amateur like you get to tell me how to do my job?”
The secretary was shocked. “You!”
“Do you think we were sitting around cracking sunflower seeds before you arrived?” Even Ming Han was startled by Chen Zheng’s commanding presence. Most of the time, Chen Zheng was mild-mannered and courteous. He restrained himself even when dealing with suspects. He would never speak like this unless he was genuinely angry.
Clearly cowed, the secretary’s arrogance subsided. “I—I didn’t say anything much… I only wanted you—you people to solve the case sooner… I’m just an employee…”
“Solving cases is our responsibility, and you’re welcome to supervise us. We don’t need you reminding us like this.” Chen Zheng’s gaze cut across the secretary like a blade. “What you just did stirred up conflict and obstructed the investigation!”
“I—I…” Sweat broke out on the secretary’s forehead. “I’m sorry! I apologize to you and to everyone. Don’t worry about us. Go on and in—investigate!”
Having dealt with that problem, Chen Zheng went among the tourists and solemnly assured them that the checks were intended to establish the truth and allow everyone to move around freely again as soon as possible. He appealed for their cooperation.
Quite a few people had heard his exchange with the secretary. Someone called out, “Officer Chen knows what he’s doing! Officer Chen isn’t working for those people! Stop making trouble. We’ll cooperate!”
By the time the special police arrived, the crowd had already calmed down and the investigation could finally continue. The Weihai Technology party were taken in a police car and temporarily accommodated at a police station. Chen Zheng relaxed his tightly held composure a little and found himself wanting a cigarette, but Ming Han pressed a piece of candy into his hand instead. Chen Zheng did not much care whether he got candy or a cigarette. He unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth.
“Bro, you’re so attractive.” Ming Han said it out of nowhere. Chen Zheng swallowed the candy whole and nearly choked on the spot.
“We’re working. What nonsense are you talking?” Chen Zheng caught his breath and shot him a warning look.
Ming Han was entirely unmoved. Patting him on the back, he said, “It’s not as if I get to see that side of you when you’re off duty. In fact, I almost never get to see it even when you’re working. My bro is Mr. Big Moment himself, born to put out fires.”
The taste of candy lingered in Chen Zheng’s mouth. He did not argue. Suddenly, Ming Han leaned close to his ear. Chen Zheng thought he was going to say something, but Ming Han merely blew lightly into it.
Chen Zheng instinctively dodged, only for Ming Han to reach out and put an arm around him.
Meeting his eyes, Ming Han said, “Be fierce with me like that next time.”
Chen Zheng: “…”
Ming Han narrowed his eyes, an emotion gathering in their depths. Chen Zheng coughed and pushed him away. “We’ll talk about next time later. First, the case. Bring me the people who gathered outside Huo’s house on the afternoon of the eighteenth. Verify their accounts one by one.”
Ming Han smiled. “On my way.”
“We—we never thought Lord Huo would play piano for us. Yesterday we only came to take pictures and try our luck. Maybe, just maybe we’d run into him. Boohoo… Lord Huo was so nice! When he saw us taking photos outside, he started playing. Boohoo… I hope Lin Dong dies horribly!” A fan wept through her interview. Like most of the fans, she believed Lin Dong had something to do with Huo Yewei’s death.
The surveillance cameras at the front entrance of Huo Yewei’s villa had been working throughout the day on the eighteenth. The equipment was far more advanced than the resort’s and had captured every arriving fan clearly. Ming Han therefore managed to find and interview the fans appearing in the footage one by one.
The video showed fans and curious passersby arriving near the villa one after another from a little after nine in the morning. Some peered inside out of curiosity; others took pictures of one another. Most stayed no longer than fifteen minutes. By two in the afternoon, the crowd began to grow. The cameras also caught Huo Yewei appearing on the balcony.
According to the many photos the fans had taken, he said things like “Happy New Year,” “Aren’t you cold?” and “What song would you like to hear?” He knew how to stir up a crowd. Then he went indoors and began to play the piano. More and more fans arrived and sat in orderly rows on the ground, holding up banners and support fans they had brought to take photos with. A little concert spontaneously took shape.
Huo Yewei came out onto the balcony several times to chat with the fans, almost as if it were a proper concert. Shortly after five, he stopped playing and encouraged them to go watch the fireworks by the lake. His fans listened, though reluctantly. It took until after six to persuade them all to leave, as the evening glow faded.
He told the last few diehard fans that he had played all afternoon and was sleepy. He planned to turn in early and hoped to wake up in the night to write songs. After seven, when darkness had fallen completely, no one could be seen on the surveillance footage.
Despite its sophistication, Huo Yewei’s surveillance system still had blind spots. If the killer wanted to enter the villa, the busiest period that afternoon would have been an ideal opportunity. Ming Han studied the faces of the fans. In the footage, they sang along exuberantly to the piano. Now their faces were blotchy with tears. Those who had sung hardest yesterday were also sobbing most bitterly today.
Ming Han noticed a blond woman. She seemed overflowing with energy, raising her banner and swinging it vigorously as she sang. She repeatedly stood up without seeming able to help herself, almost as though she were the star of the concert.
The fan beside her was much more reserved and looked increasingly irritated by the disturbance. At one point, the blond woman stood up and blocked the view of someone behind her. That fan shouted at her. She apologized with apparent sincerity, only to stand up again not long afterward.
“I recorded so many videos. Look. I really never imagined this would happen.” The blond woman was twenty-six-year-old Si Wei. As soon as she sat down in front of Ming Han, she handed over her phone of her own accord, choking out, “But please give it back when you’ve watched them. These videos are all I’ll have to live on now.”
Ming Han watched for a while. The camera stayed trained on Huo Yewei throughout. Si Wei had arrived relatively late and had not managed to get near the front. She sat toward the back on the right, so her angle was poor and she could only capture Huo Yewei’s arm and back. She filmed while singing along, making the picture shake badly.
Ming Han set down the phone. “Did you come here alone?”
Si Wei shook her head. “I came with friends to celebrate the New Year.”
“Why haven’t I seen your friends?”
“They’re not interested in Lord Huo. Actually, we didn’t come here specifically for him. There was an event by the lake in the afternoon, so they all went there. I thought this was too rare an opportunity to pass up, so I came to hear Lord Huo play by myself.”
“I see.” Ming Han nodded. “From your accent, you don’t sound like you’re from Junan City.”
“Oh, my family’s in Tongzhou City.”
Ming Han smiled. “What a coincidence. I spent some time in Tongzhou City too. How did you decide to vacation here? It’s quite a long way from Tongzhou.”
Si Wei thought about it. “Actually, we all interned in Junan City before. One of our former colleagues was getting married, and the few of us who got along best decided to use the chance to get together.” She found a photo in her album from the wedding two days earlier. “That’s the six of us.”
Ming Han examined it. Four men and two women, with Si Wei standing in the middle, her bright blond hair immediately noticeable. “You all look about the same age.”
Si Wei said they had been in the same graduating class and had all interned at a law firm. The bride had been their supervising lawyer.
“So you’re all lawyers?” Ming Han asked. “Which firm?”
Si Wei looked embarrassed. Although they had all studied law, she explained, none of them were lawyers anymore. She now worked in marketing planning and had long forgotten the profession she had studied for. The firm where they had interned was Yongshen Law Firm, a prominent firm in Junan City.
Ming Han mentioned Liu Qing. “On the night of the seventeenth, someone attacked Huo Yewei. Do you know what happened?”
Si Wei grew angry at once, clenching her fists. “I was there! That woman came out of nowhere! The bottle flew right over my head. I even got splashed! It scared me to death!”
“You people think Lin Dong sent her?”
Si Wei froze. “I heard she was a Lin Dong fan, but I don’t know if she did it for him. I can’t make sense of it.”
“Had you seen her before?”
“No.” Then Si Wei let out an “Ah!” and added indignantly, “But when we first got here, my friend gave me a lake perfume charm. We had no idea anything like this would happen.”
Ming Han saved the videos Si Wei had supplied, then interviewed the other fans. Their situations were much the same as hers. They had come to Junan Lake primarily as tourists and stopped by Huo Yewei’s house as a side trip. But when he unexpectedly began his concert, they changed their plans to tour the lake and mountains.
After all that checking, he found no obvious suspect among those who had attended the afternoon concert. They were recorded arriving and leaving, and nearly all had gone down the mountain to watch the fireworks after dark. The most troubling person remained the missing Liu Qing.
Li Shu said, “Officer Ming, you seem particularly interested in that Si Wei?”
Ming Han was still watching the surveillance recording. After thinking for a moment, he said, “She stands out too much. She’s extremely demonstrative, as though she’s a huge fan of Huo Yewei.”
Li Shu did not understand what he was getting at. “That’s what fans are like. Look, even before Huo Yewei came out, she was holding up her banner and taking photos at the villa entrance.”
“But the more devoted the fan, the better she should understand fan etiquette, shouldn’t she? Which songs you can stand up and dance to, which are best listened to quietly without bothering other people. She didn’t seem to know any of it.”
Li Shu frowned. “Well…”
“She gives me the impression of someone desperate to perform,” Ming Han said, folding his arms. “Who was she putting on that show for?”
“You think she’s a suspect? But she left as soon as Huo Yewei mentioned the fireworks. She was among the first to go. Besides, she doesn’t seem to have a motive, and the footprints at the scene weren’t hers.”
Ming Han said nothing. At present, Si Wei did seem to lack both a motive and the ability to carry out the murder. Her only connection to the missing Liu Qing was that she had visited lake on the afternoon of the seventeenth and had been caught in the attack on Huo Yewei. Of the two sets of footprints at the scene, one belonged to Liu Qing and the other almost certainly to the killer. There seemed no reason for Si Wei to figure in the case.
Ming Han set Si Wei aside for the time being. They were still in the broad screening stage and could not spend too much attention on one person. “Brother Li, have you finished verifying the tourists’ information?”
“About halfway. Want to see it?”
Meanwhile, Chen Zheng went down the mountain in a police car to the Junan Municipal Bureau. The medical examiner was conducting Huo Yewei’s autopsy to establish the cause of death more precisely. After a meeting, the bureau’s leadership was under enormous pressure. Chen Zheng had brought Weihai Technology’s overbearing secretary to heel, but Huo Yewei was a celebrity with many fans, and Weihai Technology was a major company. Everyone’s attention was fixed on the municipal bureau. Tang Xiaoli had even called personally to ask for details shortly before Chen Zheng arrived. Interest from the Mobile Unit made the bureau more nervous still.
Chen Zheng obtained the autopsy report and frowned. Huo Yewei’s cause of death matched the preliminary examination, but his body bore numerous old injuries. The most striking were cigarette burns and knife wounds. He appeared to have harmed himself frequently. Toxicology showed that he had taken psychiatric medication for a long time and had developed a dependency.
The medical examiner sighed and said Huo Yewei might have been trapped in the glory of his past. Unable to produce another major hit for years, he may have turned to drugs to numb himself and pain to stimulate his inspiration.
Yet Xiao Xiang had mentioned none of this.
Chen Zheng stared at the toxicology findings. “Which psychiatric drug, specifically?”
The medical examiner said they could not determine that yet.
Xiao Xiang was brought to the municipal bureau. He hardly dared breathe. “I—I don’t know what Lord Huo was taking! I didn’t give him anything!”
“Did you know he was harming himself?”
Xiao Xiang shook his head over and over, his words tumbling out incoherently. “No! Lord Huo, hurting himself? Impossible! Ah, but I really didn’t know him that well. He wouldn’t even let me stay with him in the villa! Normally he told me not to disturb him!”
Chen Zheng gave Xiao Xiang some time to calm down, then asked about Huo Yewei’s family. Xiao Xiang shrank into himself and seemed afraid to speak.
“I heard Huo Yewei was Weihai Technology’s ‘precious jewel,’ doted on by the Huo family, the sort of person who would have to go back and inherit the family business if he couldn’t make it in entertainment. When he first became famous, Weihai Technology invested heavily in him.” Chen Zheng looked directly into Xiao Xiang’s eyes. “Is that not true?”
Xiao Xiang bowed his head. “A—actually…”
“You were Huo Yewei’s assistant and the first person to discover his murder. Your testimony matters,” Chen Zheng said gravely. “Are you certain you want to conceal things?”
“N—no!” Xiao Xiang panicked. “I’m just… just afraid to say it!”
“Witnesses are protected. You’re in a police station,” Chen Zheng reminded him.
After struggling with himself, Xiao Xiang finally spoke. “Lord Huo’s life wasn’t nearly as glamorous as people think! He had a terrible time in the Huo family. They treated him as a cash cow, but they also looked down on him as an entertainer who showed his face in public. They were afraid he’d go home and fight over the inheritance!”
Quarrels over money and status were nothing unusual in wealthy families. Chen Zheng listened patiently.
Xiao Xiang’s version was very different from what outsiders had heard for years. Chen Zheng had previously heard that Huo Yewei showed musical talent from childhood. The Huo family wanted him to attend business school abroad, but he stubbornly wanted to play rock music. Because they loved him, they supported his dream and spent a great deal of money helping him debut.
Many people in entertainment came from wealthy families, but few entered the business with the family name displayed so prominently behind them. It seemed to show that the Huo family genuinely supported him. With that backing, he could be outspoken and say whatever he liked.
The reality within the Huo family, however, appeared bleak. The most powerful member was undoubtedly Huo Yewei’s aunt, Huo Xiling, who ran Weihai Technology. She had never married, though she was rumored to have a child with a lover.
Huo Yewei’s mother died early. His father was weak and had no voice in the family. Huo Yewei had genuinely been talented as a boy, but apparently had not wanted to enter entertainment. It was Huo Xiling who, for Weihai Technology’s interests, used both pressure and inducements to turn him into a star.
Back then, Weihai Technology had fallen on hard times. Profits declined across its projects and entire divisions were cut. Huo Yewei’s spectacular success in entertainment had in effect saved the company. His relationship with Weihai Technology could be described as one of mutual exploitation. In recent years, as Huo Yewei’s popularity faded, he could have retired gracefully like other veteran musicians with established bodies of work. Huo Xiling refused to let him.
There was still value left to squeeze out of him. And if he left entertainment, he would return to the Huo family and contend for its assets. Huo Xiling might be his aunt, but she was not his parent. Besides, she had a child of her own.
Huo Yewei was a grown man and not incapable of breaking away from the family. Xiao Xiang thought that, after so many years as a celebrity, he could not bear to leave the stage either. He was reluctant to give up the cheers of the crowd.
“I get it now,” Xiao Xiang said miserably. “The pressure from the Huo family must have been too great. Lord Huo really couldn’t write any good new songs, and people kept mocking him. That’s probably why he hurt himself.”
Chen Zheng listened and felt the case becoming more complicated. He had initially focused on it because Lin Dong had disappeared, Huo Yewei had declared him dead, and one suspect happened to be Lin Dong’s fan. Now he was learning of problems between Huo Yewei and his family as well. When enormous family wealth was at stake, murder was hardly unheard of.
Chen Zheng searched online and quickly found Huo Xiling’s profile. The formidable businesswoman had dominated the commercial world, rescuing the once-moribund Weihai Technology and turning it into a success.
Because she was a woman, her relationships had become fodder for gossip too. Stories claimed that when she was young, she pursued wealthy, powerful older men and slept her way past competitors. As she aged, she supposedly developed a taste for handsome younger lovers, each younger than the last, with the youngest practically young enough to be her grandson.
Huo Xiling was abroad, but she had already been informed of Huo Yewei’s murder. Chen Zheng reached her through her secretary. After a brief silence, she spoke in a hoarse voice, expressing regret in calm, measured terms. She said she was busy and could not return to China for another two days. Weihai Technology would cooperate fully with the investigation, and the police could contact her secretary if they needed anything.
Her response was thoroughly official, which suited her position. If she had performed grief and distress, that might have been even more suspicious.
Huo Yewei’s relationships would need careful investigation. Apart from Huo Xiling, the first person Chen Zheng thought of was Shu Jun.
On the afternoon of January seventeenth, Huo Yewei had left Shu Jun’s banquet and headed straight to Junan Lake.
Shu Jun had gone abroad on vacation after the banquet. Chen Zheng could reach only the people at his studio, who claimed to know nothing. The banquet had taken place in Luocheng, so Chen Zheng conferred with Tang Xiaoli. Tang asked, “Xiao Chen, do you think Huo Yewei’s case is connected to Heaven-Measuring Ruler?”
“Subjectively, I feel that it is,” Chen Zheng replied cautiously.
“Oh?”
“First, his relationship with Lin Dong. Second, the killer wasn’t concerned about leaving footprints at the scene,” Chen Zheng said. “If the killer were someone close to Huo Yewei, we could identify them relatively easily. Acting this way suggests the killer was certain we couldn’t trace them. And we know very little about Heaven-Measuring Ruler. That thread of the investigation seems quite distant from Huo Yewei. The killer also acted with remarkable precision: one stab was fatal. After Huo Yewei died, the killer opened up his body with a single cut. It almost makes me think of a trained forensic pathologist.”
Tang Xiaoli said, “The killer poured in the ink calmly, too. That’s considerable composure.”
Chen Zheng nodded. “Yes. But if we put our preconceptions aside, the Huo family is still the most suspicious. We haven’t investigated all the leads yet, and Huo Yewei may have had other enemies. Ever since I heard he was dead, I’ve kept coming back to one question. If Heaven-Measuring Ruler was responsible, why would the people behind it do this? Lin Dong is the one who’s missing and the one connected to Heaven-Measuring Ruler. Huo Yewei should have been the last person to die.”
Tang Xiaoli was silent for a moment. “I’ll assign people to investigate the Huo family and Shu Jun’s banquet. Xiao Chen, take your time.”
“All right, Captain Tang.” Chen Zheng considered another point. “Huo Yewei had been taking psychiatric medication for a long time. We didn’t find it at the villa. There may be some at his other residences.”
“I’ll tell you as soon as we find anything,” Tang Xiaoli said.