Chapter 203: Chapter 202 She’s a Madwoman_1
Zhang Yu nodded.
"Hmm, she was given a box with ten dexamethasone injections."
"When was it given?"
"On Children’s Day, she saw I only gave her one box and was very dissatisfied. On June 26th, she found me and asked for sulfuric acid, which I refused right away. I told her I would go confess my mistake to Mr. Wang right then and borrow money at a high interest rate to pay her back.
She just laughed and then told me she was just messing with me. She asked me to drive her to the beach to relax and to forget about what had just happened. I took her word for it, took the milk tea she handed me, and drove off towards Jinsa Beach."
The location was chosen by her, near Dongshan Village on Jiulongshan Road by the coast. There’s a road going up the mountain, and we drove straight to the mid-mountain area.
When I was about to get there, I felt hot all over, and uncomfortably swollen below, very uncomfortable. I turned the air conditioning to a very low temperature but was still sweating profusely. When the car stopped, I didn’t dare to look at her in the rearview mirror. I just asked if she felt better and suggested we go back if she was okay.
Tan Ran laughed behind me. When I turned around, I realized she had taken off her clothes and was sitting in the back seat, feet propped on the front seat, touching herself. I couldn’t control myself and pounced on her.
After it was done, she took out her phone hidden behind the seat. I knew she had filmed it. After all, she was crying for help during the heat of the moment, saying ’don’t force me,’ which made me realize I had been trapped."
She told me she had drugged me and if I didn’t do as she said, she would send the video to the sports committee or even go to the police and accuse me of rape since everything was recorded. Enraged, I tried to snatch the phone from her.
She handed the phone to me and said with a laugh that the video had already been uploaded to Kingsoft Cloud Drive. If I destroyed the phone, the video would automatically be emailed in a month and by then, my reputation would be ruined and I would be facing legal charges."
At this point, Zhang Yu paused, and Xu Dayuan handed him a paper cup. Zhang Yu threw the cigarette butt into it and exhaled deeply.
"I tried everything, but Tan Ran was a madwoman, you can’t reason with a madwoman. She had money and didn’t care, but it’s different for me. Later I checked that the cloud storage didn’t have the feature she talked about. I secretly checked her account, logged in, deleted the content, and also deleted the backup on her phone."
But an accident still happened; Tan Ran got pregnant. She came to me with a pregnancy test, claiming it was my child, and gave me two choices: either divorce and marry her, giving up my son, or help her be with Xing Xiaoli and kill Wang Ying, making sure to destroy the body completely.
I said I would think about it, then I started to prepare. I knew that no matter what choice I made, I couldn’t escape her torment, so I decided to solve the problem thoroughly by killing her to eliminate future troubles.
I prepared various things in collaboration with her, and the stickers on the car were bought by her. I also got a lot of plastic bags from the repair shop. At noon on the 7th, I called her to come to the dorm. She asked what for, and I told her to dress up because I wanted her to see me commit murder.
Tan Ran agreed. When she arrived at Room 202, she was surprised and asked me where the person was. I told her no rush, the person had gone to get food and would be back soon. I asked her to check how the bathroom was set up, and she went with me.
Upon entering the bathroom, I strangled her neck. I didn’t expect her to be so strong; she kicked off the wall, throwing me off, but then slipped and hit the back of her head on the ground.
I told her she made me do all this. I jumped on her and tightened the electrical wire around her neck. While she was struggling, she said she wasn’t really pregnant, it was all a lie, and that the pregnancy test was just picked up from a trash can. She pleaded for me to let her go, but how could I trust the words of a lunatic?
When she stopped breathing, I carefully listened. Everyone who rested after lunch had left the building, and then I began to dismember the body. The knife traces, blood footprints, and blood fingerprints on the door were all left intentionally since I wanted to steer suspicion toward Xing Xiaoli.
I cleaned up the crime scene, packed her body parts into Xing Xiaoli’s suitcase, bagged the remaining parts, and prepared a syringe with anticoagulant. I changed into a new set of clothes, carried the suitcase downstairs, and then jumped out the window.
Later I bought some seafood. In the evening, I went to the beach, tied the prepared chains to the suitcase and a metal frame and dropped the suitcase off at the rocks behind the docks in Shazikou, where there’s no surveillance and the water is deep and turbulent.
As for the rest, you all know. After returning to the city, I buried them opposite Haibo River Cultural Park."
At this point, Zhang Yu covered his face and after a moment, he looked up at Xu Dayuan.
"She was a madwoman! I had no other choice!"
Xu Dayuan gestured to the stenographer, who had been recording so much that their fingers were practically sparking. After printing out the statement, they had Zhang Yu sign it.
Xu Dayuan glanced at it and gestured again.
"Alright, buddy, you can take him away now."
Zhang Yu shouted out urgently.
"Wait a minute, officer. I just have one question. I’m not asking for mercy or feeling regretful. I just want to know, how did you find the suitcase?"
Xu Dayuan looked up and pointed to the ceiling, smiling lightly as he said:
"Although I’m an atheist, there’s one saying I believe in: ’What goes around comes around.’ The suitcase came to find our forensic doctor on its own, coming right in front of us."
Zhang Yu stood frozen in place.
This statement was a fatal blow to him; for days he had fluctuated between relief and panic, and such words might have tormented him countless times in his dreams, waking him up each time.
Zhang Yu was taken away, and Zhou Ning breathed a long sigh of relief.
At that moment his phone rang. Mr. Qu had sent a video. After a quick look, he knew it was secretly recorded by Tan Ran, who had apparently made a backup as a precaution. He messaged Mr. Qu to forward the evidence to Xu Dayuan and then put down his phone.
Xu Dayuan came into the observation room to find Mr. Hu as well. His smile froze the moment he opened his mouth.
"Mr. Hu is here too!"
Mr. Hu stood up, stretching his arms and legs.
"Well, I’ve listened to your interrogations, not bad, this case was handled impressively. Get the materials ready quickly, we aim for a swift resolution!"
Mr. Zhao sidled up to Mr. Hu, asking with tangible hope:
"Mr. Hu, Zhang Yu will be sentenced to death, right?"
Mr. Hu glared and swatted away Mr. Zhao’s chubby hand.
"I’m not the Intermediate People’s Court, but you lot need to handle things quickly. The victim’s family is still waiting, and I guess they’ve already gone to the technical department to see the bones."
Zhou Ning was momentarily stunned, looking up at Mr. Hu.
"According to related regulations, we should hand over the cremated remains to the family, right? Although the bones have been processed, it’s still hard for the family to accept when they see them."
Mr. Hu sighed and patted Zhou Ning on the shoulder.
"Let’s go, I’ll come with you. Tan Ran’s parents said they just want to see their child’s skeletal remains, no matter the condition. They can bear it and don’t want to return with just a handful of ashes. After all, there are follow-up matters to take care of, and they can’t let their child die without a trace."
Zhou Ning didn’t know what to say; maybe because he wasn’t a parent, he couldn’t understand their actions. But since the leader agreed, he naturally had no objections.
Xu Dayuan came over at this point, finishing a bottle of mineral water, Mr. Hu then spoke:
"Look here, you think just because you cracked the case, you can strut around in front of me? Your interrogation room was like a temple of cultivation; this will lead the others astray, won’t it?"
Xu Dayuan raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"My apologies, leader; I’ll stay out of your way. I’ll go prepare the case files right now. Even if I have to pull an all-nighter, I’ll have all the materials ready on your desk by tomorrow morning. Is that alright?"
Mr. Hu laughed and patted Xu Dayuan on the shoulder, then waved Zhou Ning and Mr. Zhao over.
"You get going, Zhou Xiaozhou and Fatty, come with me. Let’s go meet the victim’s family, it’s the least we can do."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Zhao’s face fell instantly, following Mr. Hu with a look of victimized protest.
"You see, Mr. Hu, this isn’t right. Don’t call me Fatty, my weight was fine to begin with. If I start gaining weight because of that nickname, you’re responsible."
Mr. Hu glared.
"So what should I call you, Little Fatty Zhao? Mr. Zhao?"
Mr. Zhao quickly shut up, Zhou Ning held back his laughter; he understood Mr. Hu was trying to lighten the mood, as the case had been very oppressive. Furthermore, they were about to meet the victim’s family and face another round of oppression. It was the leader’s way of caring for his subordinates. The stark reality of parents outliving their child, especially one so young, was something nobody could easily accept.
As they were thinking, they arrived at the technical department’s yard, where two figures were huddled together under the lights, looking very forlorn.
Seeming to hear their footsteps, the two turned around to look.
When they saw it was Hu Guangjian, they quickly approached. Instead of throwing themselves onto him in a frenzy of tears and clutching, they just stared into Hu Guangjian’s face, as if searching his expression for the answers they desired, before tentatively asking.
"Mr. Hu, we don’t know how the case is proceeding. I know I shouldn’t ask, but I really want to know. Even if you can’t tell us, just let us see our child’s bones."
Mr. Hu patted the man’s shoulder. This not-particularly-tall man was shaking as he spoke, his eyes bloodshot, his beard unkempt, and he had two large blisters at the corners of his mouth.
The helplessness and sorrow in his demeanor couldn’t be more apparent.
"Mr. Tan, we’re about the same age, and my child is also about as old. I deeply understand how you feel. The trial has just concluded, and I’ve asked everyone to work overtime through the night to get the docket in order. These two here are the forensic doctor and the trace examiner responsible for the case. It was they who found that suitcase on the deserted island during their trip."
The man known as Mr. Tan bowed deeply to Zhou Ning and Mr. Zhao. Zhou Ning didn’t know how to respond, while Mr. Zhao quickly helped the man back up. Mrs. Tan had been covering her mouth with a handkerchief, silently weeping all this time.
"Saying thank you seems so inadequate, but I don’t know what else to say. If it weren’t for your discovery, my daughter Ranran might have just become a missing person, and the murderer would have gotten away with it."
Mr. Hu waved his hand, seeing Zhou Ning at a loss for words, he continued:
"Enough, don’t mention it. We’re police officers; this is our duty."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Mr. Tan and Mrs. Tan knelt before the three of them.
"Mr. Hu, please, I beg you, let me see my child’s remains just once. I’ve failed her, always fixated on earning more money to provide her with a good life, and over these years, I’ve neglected her here, failing to look after her. Please, let me see her, I assure you I won’t disrupt the progress of the case, after that, whether you give us the ashes or not is fine."
Hu Guangjian promptly pulled Mr. Tan to his feet, while Mr. Zhao helped lift Mrs. Tan. The parents’ stoicism only made the whole scene more heart wrenching.
"I’ll make an exception this once. But no photographs and don’t disturb the remains. Control your emotions, let’s go see your child."
