Sweeping Mouse Ridge – Chapter Eight : 1

At Huyan Yun’s insistence, and with special approval from the city bureau leadership, Lin Fengchong played a video of Zhou Liping’s most recent interrogation for him and his friends in “Special Task Force Group Two.”

The police hadn’t initially intended to make any breakthroughs during this interrogation. However, because Tao Zhouyao had recounted Zhang Chunyang’s death, and although no connection was found between Zhou Liping and the case, Xing Qisheng, who was responsible for transporting the body, was later murdered at Sweeping Mouse Ridge, making Zhou Liping a prime suspect. Therefore, a “connected case” (police jargon) was necessary to link seemingly unrelated cases together for investigation. While the results might be inconsistent, they could sometimes yield unique insights.

From the video, Zhou Liping’s condition wasn’t significantly different from when he was first arrested, except he was slightly thinner. Wearing a yellow vest, he sat behind iron bars; his shaved scalp was now showing a layer of black stubble. Perhaps due to the limited time given to high-profile suspects for exercise, his skin appeared somewhat pale, adding to the chilling aura of his already hardened expression.

The interrogator noticed something amiss with Zhou Liping as soon as Zhang Chunyang’s name was mentioned. His previously numb face trembled, and his gaze shifted from a cold, direct stare to a slightly downward, darting look. Although he quickly regained his composure, the astute interrogator had already noticed it.

This was almost the first time this seemingly unyielding and resistant suspect had shown any weakness.

According to the pre-arranged plan, for a suspect like Zhou Liping, with extensive interrogation experience and a refusal to cooperate, any opening should be met with a concentrated, forceful attack. Therefore, the interrogator launched a relentless interrogation of Zhou Liping: “Do you know Zhang Chunyang?” “When was the last time you saw Zhang Chunyang?” “Tell us about the relationship between Tao Zhouyao and Zhang Chunyang, as much as you know!” “To your knowledge, besides Tao Zhouyao, who else in the Love Charity Foundation has a close relationship with Zhang Chunyang?”…

Zhou Liping’s attitude was also drastically different from before. He was no longer as unyielding as a rock but answered every question, albeit in a low voice, and his words were filled with superfluous “um,” “ah,” “this,” and “that,” clearly indicating that he was flustered under the sudden and immense pressure. Even his body in the chair was constantly shifting and changing positions; his uncomfortable posture revealed his inner tension, panic, and unease.

In previous interrogations surrounding the Sweeping Mouse Ridge murder case, Zhou Liping hadn’t exhibited this behavior, but he seemed flustered and at a loss regarding Zhang Chunyang’s case. Could it be that he hadn’t committed any crime in the former case but instead had engaged in some unspeakable act in the latter?

The police, who had recently suffered repeated defeats in their confrontations with Zhou Liping, suddenly became more aggressive, intensifying their interrogation. After several rounds, Zhou Liping appeared exhausted. Finally, his face contorted in a spasm, releasing a bitter, utterly helpless smile, and his stiff spine slumped against the back of the interrogation chair.

“Can I make a request?” he asked.

“Go ahead.”

“I want to see Chairwoman Tao.”

Generally speaking, once a suspect had “dropped” their previous requests, they could usually be granted if they were reasonable. But Tao Zhouyao was currently in custody and under interrogation, so there’s no reason to put the two suspects face-to-face. The interrogator shook his head: “We can consider other requests, but not this.”

Zhou Liping’s face immediately showed disappointment. He muttered something but didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down: “Fine, then I’ll tell the truth. After leaving Sweeping Mouse Ridge that night, I did go to Xingyu Road to meet Li Ziyong, but I took a detour halfway there to do something.”

“What was it?”

“I put Zhang Chunyang’s body, which was in the Love Hospital morgue, into the freezer.”

The interrogator was shocked: “How did Zhang Chunyang die? Who told you to do this?”

“Actually, I still don’t understand what happened…” Zhou Liping paused and continued, “Xing Qisheng was lying drunk in the back seat. When the car pulled up under Sweeping Mouse Ridge, he suddenly woke up and told me he had something for me to do. I asked him what it was, and he said that Zhang Chunyang, who was dating Chairwoman Tao, had died suddenly from a stroke, and his body was lying in Love Hospital morgue bed. He originally planned to finish his work, go back to Love Hospital Director Li Shiduo to get a death certificate, and then have the on duty worker put the body in the freezer. But then he remembered that the on duty workers lock the morgue at 11:00 p.m., and he definitely wouldn’t be able to finish before then, so he asked me to ran errands for him.

“I said I wouldn’t go. First, I didn’t have a good relationship with Xing Qisheng and didn’t want to do anything for him; second, I had been to prison and couldn’t do anything illegal after I got out. I absolutely refuse to do it; I didn’t want to be a repeat offender. Xing Qisheng said he was close to Zhang Chunyang and couldn’t bear to see Zhang Chunyang’s death exposed like that, so he coaxed and begged me to go and handle it.

“He even assured me that Zhang Chunyang had definitely died of a sudden illness and that I would only be moving the body into the freezer, without any criminal case issues. I also said I hadn’t obtained a death certificate, so why should the worker on duty ask me to move the body? Xing Qisheng said he had spoken to Li Shiduo on his behalf. Well, besides, there are always so many people coming and going from the morgue to pay their respects to the dead; those two workers on duty don’t care that much.

“Unable to resist his persistent pleading, I had no choice but to agree. He thanked me profusely while repeatedly emphasizing that the news of Zhang Chunyang’s death must never be spread. He also asked if I had any requests, saying he would talk to Chairwoman Tao and she would definitely grant them. Originally, I didn’t want to haggle with this kind of person, but suddenly I remembered something that Chairwoman Tao might be able to handle, so I brought it up—”

“What request did you make?”

Zhou Liping’s fierce, triangular eyes suddenly drooped: “There’s a girl who used to work at a nightclub. She left the city recently during a tenant search. I really like her, and I hope to get her a household registration so she can come back…”

Ma Xiaozhong, who was sitting with Huyan Yun and others watching this video on the computer, couldn’t help but whisper, “Dong Yue.” Li Ziyong nodded.

The interrogator continued, “And then? What did Xing Qisheng say?”

“Xing Qisheng readily agreed, saying it was such a small matter, and Chairwoman Tao could handle it with a single phone call. He promised to call Chairwoman Tao immediately after I left and even gave me 100 yuan for a taxi before driving up the ridge. I waited by the roadside for a while but couldn’t get a taxi. I figured I usually went for a run at this time anyway, and calculating the time, I could get to Love Hospital before 11 p.m., so I took off running.

“It was very windy that night, but I was running with the wind, which felt great. As I ran, I thought how happy that girl would be if she knew I could get her household registration in the city. On a whim, I called Li Ziyong to settle all the old scores and start a new life. I first ran to the southwest gate of Love Hospital and went straight into the morgue—”

The interrogator interrupted him: “Love Hospital is so big; how did you manage to find the morgue directly?”

“The freezers in the morgue are imported, and they kept breaking down for a while. Getting them repaired by the manufacturer would cost a lot of money. Love Hospital knew I learned about refrigerator and freezer repair and maintenance in prison, so they asked me for help. You can ask Li Shiduo if you don’t believe me; he knows about this.”

“Go on.”

“I went into the morgue and examined each of the bodies lying on the hearse in the morgue, lifting the white sheets covering them one by one. I quickly found Zhang Chunyang, then pushed the hearse into the inner room, opened an empty freezer, and moved Zhang Chunyang’s body inside—”

“No one stopped you or asked for a death certificate?” the interrogator interrupted him, asking.

Zhou Liping shook his head: “Those two workers on duty were drinking in the yard; nobody was paying any attention to me.”

This matched what Lin Fengchong had learned from the morgue.

“Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?” the interrogator asked.

Zhou Liping paused for a moment, a bitter smile returning to his face: “I thought you’d eventually find out I didn’t do anything at Sweeping Mouse Ridge. Once I’m released, I’ll ask Chairwoman Tao to fulfill Xing Qisheng’s promise to me. Anyway, whether Xing Qisheng conveyed my request to Chairwoman Tao before he died or not, I know Zhang Chunyang’s dead. I’ve been locked up for so long without saying anything; Chairwoman Tao should at least reward me in some way…”

After hearing Zhou Liping’s confession, the police felt no joy at finally solving the mystery. Instead, they were plunged into unprecedented frustration and confusion: frustration because they had wasted so much time and effort only to arrest the wrong person and go in the wrong direction; confusion because all their previous efforts had been in vain, and they had to start the investigation all over again to find out who the real culprit in the Sweeping Mouse Ridge murder case was.

The faction led by Chai Yongjin, who had been steadfastly pursuing evidence against Zhou Liping, was crestfallen like a defeated rooster. Lin Fengchong’s faction wasn’t much happier either. While they had consistently argued against prematurely identifying Zhou Liping as the perpetrator of the Sweeping Mouse Ridge murder and against treating Zhang Chunyang’s death as an isolated incident, their intention was that the main culprit might be someone else, or that while Zhou Liping was the main perpetrator, there might be accomplices. They believed a thorough and meticulous investigation was necessary to open the door to a full investigation of the Love Charity Foundation. However, they hadn’t anticipated that Zhou Liping’s role in the case would be so insignificant…

Perhaps unwilling to give up, officers Chai Yongjin and Lin Fengchong, whose opinions differed, joined forces, hoping to find evidence that Zhou Liping hadn’t been to the Love Hospital morgue that night. However, no matter how much effort they put in, they found nothing: no fingerprints were found on the morgue’s handle or the freezer’s handle, but a week had passed since the incident, and the morgue staff’s fingerprints had already covered the old ones, so that didn’t count.

They tried to retrieve the hospital’s surveillance video to find whether Zhou Liping came or not. It was common practice in major hospitals not to install surveillance cameras near the morgue; the two staff members on duty that night racked their brains, unable to recall whether Zhou Liping had come or not, but they finally admitted that they had drunk quite a bit that night but absolutely didn’t move any body from the morgue into the freezer without receiving a death certificate.

In other words, there were only three people in the world who knew that Zhang Chunyang’s body was placed in the Love Hospital morgue: Tao Zhouyao, Xing Qisheng, and Zhou Liping. Since the “T E 3” freezer’s timer system only recorded that it was turned on once at 10:50 p.m. on the night of the incident, and at that time Tao Zhouyao was going through airport security and Xing Qisheng was already dead, then even a fool could deduce that the person transporting the body could only be Zhou Liping.

By the same logic, the real culprit of the Sweeping Mouse Ridge Case could be anyone on Earth, but definitely not Zhou Liping, because he had absolutely no time to commit the crime. Even if he did indeed hide in the trunk of Li Ziyong’s Jetta, as Huyan Yun deduced, and secretly got out when Li Ziyong’s car approached Love Hospital to put Zhang Chunyang’s body in the morgue to create an alibi, it still wouldn’t work. The surveillance footage showed that Li Ziyong arrived at the intersection near Love Hospital at 10:53 p.m.

In short, the police racked their brains, considering every possibility, but they couldn’t solve the mystery—how could Zhou Liping have killed and burned the body on the Sweeping Mouse Ridge at 10:30 p.m. (or even later), and then arrived at the Love Hospital morgue in less than twenty minutes? Whether they wanted to admit it or not, the most “reasonable” explanation was to believe Zhou Liping’s words: he had said goodbye to Xing Qisheng a little after 10 p.m. below the Sweeping Mouse Ridge and ran to put Zhang Chunyang’s body in the locker.

In other words, the Sweeping Mouse Ridge murder was completely unrelated to him.

After the video finished playing, the room was silent, especially Huyan Yun, whose brow was furrowed, unable to speak for a long time. Everyone in the room could see the turmoil in his heart. Yes, he hadn’t yet faced Zhou Liping head-on, but to be defeated by an opponent he’d never directly confronted was, from any perspective, a devastating blow to this proud and arrogant detective.

Even Ma Xiaozhong, who always possessed an astonishing intuition for the truth of various crimes, was momentarily unable to make a judgment. While clicking his teeth, Guo Xiaofen, sitting beside him, suddenly spoke up—

“I think Zhou Liping is telling the truth.”

Huyan Yun abruptly looked up, his eyes filled with surprise, not because he agreed with her conclusion, but because she seemed to have finally snapped out of her stupor after an afternoon of dazed reflection: “Little Guo, are you feeling better?”

Guo Xiaofen ignored him: “After talking with Liu Yan this morning, my biggest takeaway is that Zhou Liping’s feelings for Dong Yue are very deep. Dong Yue’s sudden departure must have saddened him greatly. Therefore, to resolve Dong Yue’s residency issue and bring her back to this city and to his side, it’s entirely possible that Zhou Liping would complete the task assigned to him by Xing Qisheng. It’s also entirely possible that he endured so much after his arrest, refusing to reveal Zhang Chunyang’s affair, only to seek out Tao Zhouyao after his release, using this privacy and his imprisonment to demand the ‘reward’ he deserves. This motive is perfectly reasonable—”

Li Ziyong interrupted her: “But Little Guo, don’t forget, what if Zhou Liping doesn’t mention Zhang Chunyang? What if the police ultimately determine he’s the murderer of the Sweeping Mouse Ridge Case? That’s too risky…”

“No,” Lin Fengchong shook his head. “These past few years, they’ve been rigorously enforcing the rule of law. The public security department is extremely strict and meticulous in investigating and reviewing criminal cases. Even the slightest flaw or inadequacy in witness testimonies or physical evidence will be dismissed as ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ They absolutely won’t allow any new wrongful convictions. So even if Zhou Liping doesn’t mention Zhang Chunyang in the end, the detention will at most be extended to thirty-seven days. He’ll still be released.”

“So—”

This word uttered by Huyan Yun, though spoken softly, was like a needle pricking at everyone, sending a chill down their spines and drawing all eyes to him.

His baby face held a flicker of confusion, a mixture of light and shadow reflecting deep contemplation: “So, I’m wondering why Zhou Liping…why didn’t he say it sooner or later, but of all times, revealed the ‘truth’?”