TN. I reworked on the story from chapter 1 but it was not picked up on NU. Click on the fiction page to get the list of chapters. Some of the chapters from the previous translator were deleted so I started from scratch.

Chapter 26

Early the next morning, when Song Wen arrived at the city bureau on time, Lu Siyu was already seated at his desk.

Leaning against the glass partition, Song Wen asked, “Did you get the inspection results for your car?”

Lu Siyu replied, “The insurance company said the paint for the car is imported, making repairs a bit troublesome. Other than that, nothing major.” As he spoke, he rubbed his eyes.

Seeing that he seemed a bit worn out, Song Wen asked, “What’s wrong? Didn’t sleep well?”

Lu Siyu pointed to the stack of documents on the table, saying, “I refined the records last night and have been thinking about this case.”

“With all this work, you probably didn’t sleep much last night…” Song Wen picked up and flipped through the hand-written and printed case files on the table. Each page was neatly organized, with clear and legible handwriting, and no corrections. When combined with Lin Xiuran’s forensic report, evidence reports, and various witness testimonies, it formed a thick stack. Considering the case had only been ongoing for just over a day, the workload was considerable. Reflecting on past cases where he had to organize everything himself, often with cases being solved before he could finish compiling the information, Song Wen couldn’t help but feel grateful for the happiness in his present life.

“It’s alright…” Lu Siyu said, but his forehead was still slightly wrinkled, hinting that there might be more to his words.

Song Wen sensed there was more to Lu Siyu’s words and asked, “What’s wrong? Any lingering doubts?”

After a moment of hesitation, Lu Siyu spoke, “If we assume that Guo Hua is the murderer, there are some issues I can’t quite understand. If Guo Hua poisoned them out of dislike for Dong Fang and Ma Aijing, why involve her best friend Lin Wanwan? And if she did involve Lin Wanwan, why did Lin Wanwan take the smallest dosage and suffer no harm? Even if it wasn’t Lin Wanwan who poisoned them, she did lie yesterday. Why did she lie? Also, why, as the murderer, did Guo Hua come out to call for help?”

Song Wen lowered his head and checked the case files, then looked back at Lu Siyu. The questions raised by Lu Siyu were also the aspects that Song Wen couldn’t comprehend.

In the previous case, Lu Siyu was more passive, receiving a warning from Song Wen. However, in this case, he actively participated, and Song Wen, as the leader, couldn’t find any faults.

As they discussed this, Fu Linjiang walked in from outside. His clothes were almost soaked in sweat, especially as the summer approached, the weather was getting hotter.

Song Wen asked, “Linjiang, did you bring the person?”

Fu Linjiang, standing aside, took a few sips of bottled mineral water before answering, “Just got back. Almost had an issue this morning when we went to get the person. Turns out the person wasn’t in the hospital room.”

Frowning, Song Wen asked, “Didn’t the school say someone was accompanying them?”

“Just took advantage of the school staff sleeping! That female teacher didn’t know what to make of it. At first, all of us searched downward, but no matter how hard we looked, we couldn’t find her. Later on, we discovered she had climbed up to the rooftop, just standing there, staring blankly below. Seriously, if it had been a little later, she might have jumped. I broke out in a cold sweat. Anyway, nothing happened.”

Several people rushed to the interrogation room, where Lin Wanwan had already lowered her head and sat inside.

Under normal circumstances, her condition would require another two days of observation in the hospital. However, due to the special circumstances, the doctor checked and, finding no major issues, granted an early discharge. The hospital was exceptionally cooperative this time, probably because the morning incident had frightened the doctors, and they were eager to get rid of this hot potato.

Now, Lin Wanwan sat in the interrogation room. Her hair, reaching down to her collarbone, was disheveled. Her bangs were slightly long, covering her eyebrows, and she was extremely quiet.

Song Wen remarked, “Judging by her mood, it doesn’t seem like she was going to jump.” He glanced at the time on the interrogation form filled out by Fu Linjiang and nodded. “Go request an extension from Commissioner Guo—forty-eight hours.” Regular summonses shouldn’t exceed twelve hours, and for special suspects, it could be extended to twenty-four hours. Any further extension, up to forty-eight hours, required reporting and special approval.

Song Wen had a premonition that today’s interrogation would be a tough battle.

Zhu Xiao on the side said, “Wait a moment… let me switch to a larger memory card.” According to regulations, the entire interrogation process had to be recorded, without interruptions.

Once Song Wen entered the interrogation room, Lin Wanwan lifted her head. There was a glint in her teary eyes as she said, “Officer, I’m sorry. Yesterday, I… lied.”

Following the procedure, Song Wen asked for basic information such as gender, age, ethnicity, family background, and then raised his eyes, his gaze sharp. “Lin Wanwan, have you committed a crime?”

“I… I am guilty,” Lin Wanwan said, surprising the detectives in the observation room. Lu Siyu lowered his head, habitually biting his thumbnail, continuing to listen.

Leaning forward, Song Wen maintained a serious expression. “Lin Wanwan, do you know the consequences of lying?”

“I understand.” Lin Wanwan nodded.

“State the details of your criminal activities,” Song Wen said in a stern voice.

“I… I knew Guo Hua had hidden poison. I once saw her poison several cats to death.” Lin Wanwan spoke with her fingers slightly curled together. “But I couldn’t do anything. Those cats gathered just outside the back door of our dormitory, not far away. When spring came, they meowed there all night, and it disturbed Guo Hua’s sleep. Later, she came up with an idea and got a syringe, using it to drug the cats.”

Song Wen, without expecting her to confess so readily, asked, “Where did she get the drug from?”

“The drug was obtained by Guo Hua from the pet shop where we used to work… We used some before, and there’s still half a vial left…”

“Later, did you use that cat medicine to poison your classmates?” Song Wen asked further.

“No… no… I lied, but I didn’t lie about that incident.” Lin Wanwan lowered her head. “I didn’t expect that Guo Hua put the remaining poison in the chocolates.”

Song Wen continued to question expressionlessly, “Tell the detailed process of the whole thing again.”

Lin Wanwan pondered for a moment and slowly began, “About half a month ago, Guo Hua, Dong Fang, and Ma Aijing had a conflict…”

“Was it because of the missed job interview call?”

“No, not just because of that. There were some hidden reasons. Guo Hua had an exchange student spot, allowing her to go abroad for a few months. According to the grades, she should have gone, but at the last moment, the spot was changed to Ma Aijing.”

This part was unknown to everyone before, but thinking about it carefully, it seemed to fit their reasoning.

Lin Wanwan continued, “They had a conflict that day, and Guo Hua was injured. I was in the dormitory at the time, but I was afraid of them, so I didn’t want to take sides too much. Later, I accompanied her to the school hospital and got some medicine. That night, she didn’t dare to return to the dormitory and stayed overnight at Bai Xiaoxiao’s next door.”

The entire interrogation room was filled with her gentle voice, and Song Wen did not interrupt.

“The next day, I found Guo Hua again. At that time… she told me she didn’t want to live and wanted to commit suicide. At that time, I had been comforting her, completely unaware that she had murderous intentions.”

At this point, Lin Wanwan paused. Her small, animal-like eyes lifted slightly, looking at Song Wen, appearing pitiful. “It was only after I was poisoned that I realized Guo Hua used the medicine she got from the pet shop. Later, you should have found out that Guo Hua bought a box of chocolates. Now that I think about it, she probably secretly injected the medicine into the chocolates.”

Song Wen squinted his eyes. Now, there was evidence that Guo Hua was the one poisoning: “This is different from your previous testimony. Why did you lie yesterday?”

Tears began to flow down Lin Wanwan’s face. “Yesterday, lying in the hospital bed, I kept thinking about this. When you came to ask, I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid that if I mentioned the medicine, I would implicate myself. I felt very uncomfortable at the time. I didn’t expect that, as Guo Hua’s best friend, she also wanted me to die with her…”

“Why did you tell us today?”

“After lying, I felt extremely uneasy. When I stood on the rooftop this morning, I felt that I owed my classmates. If I had told Dong Fang and Ma Aijing about Guo Hua’s murderous intentions earlier, they would have been more vigilant, not eaten those chocolates, and that night might not have happened… Besides, I think you will eventually find out about the cat being poisoned…”

“Tell the events of the night before last again.”

“The night before last, Guo Hua apologized to Dong Fang and Ma Aijing in a low voice, took out the chocolates, let them choose first, and ate with them. At the time, I had no suspicions, just thought the chocolates tasted a bit strange, so I ate a few less.”

“And then?”

“And then… Dong Fang was poisoned first, and later, Ma Aijing was poisoned too. I got out of bed to check and found Guo Hua lying on Ma Aijing. Afraid she would scream, she covered her with a blanket. I tried to pull her away, but I couldn’t hold her. It was only when Ma Aijing stopped moving.” Lin Wanwan spoke to this point, and her lips trembled slightly, seemingly recalling that dreadful night. “At that time, both Guo Hua and I were affected. I asked her if she had poisoned us, and she suddenly ran out impulsively. My phone was out of battery, so I found Guo Hua’s phone and called for emergency help.”

“I apologize to Dong Fang, to Ma Aijing, and also to Guo Hua. I am guilty…” As she spoke, Lin Wanwan’s shoulders kept trembling. It seemed like a sincere confession. Lin Wanwan wiped away her tears, finishing everything. She sat in the chair, and her body gradually relaxed, looking at Song Wen with red eyes.

Song Wen also looked at the girl in front of him, judging whether her words were true or false.

“Officer, can I have some water?” Lin Wanwan asked.

Song Wen stood up and said, “Someone will bring water in shortly.”

At this point in the case, Lin Wanwan filled all the loopholes in her testimony from yesterday. Physical evidence, confessions, and witness accounts—all pointed to Guo Hua. Looking down at Lin Wanwan’s gradually calm face, Song Wen suddenly remembered Lu Siyu’s evaluation of Lin Wanwan: either an extremely innocent bystander or an extremely adept criminal in disguise…

One dormitory, four female students, two victims, and only one person left to interrogate, with the other unconscious. The case seemed straightforward, and the answer was almost apparent. But was the truth really as Lin Wanwan described? Could they truly understand what happened that night?

TN:

Lin Wanwan is sus asf.