Love Me To Death..

Chapter 5. All good, Zhan?

"Jia Li's boyfriend claimed that she was seeing someone even when they were together. When he confronted her about it, she got all defensive and refused to admit anything. Li Shen started to follow her in order to catch her red handed and he saw her with a man in his twenties, having dinner with her at a restaurant", informed Yubin passing Yibo the man's statement. Yibo brows furrowed as he read through the detailed encounter. "What about the restaurant? Did you guys talk to the staff?"  A knock came on the door and Wang Haoxuan stepped in giving a nod to Yibo. "What is it?"  "I brought the statements from everyone working in "Small Bun." The place Jia Li went to with our killer. We couldn't question everyone. Majority of the employees are college students. They are all yet to return from the winter break. But, I got the footage from that night." Haoxuan took a USB drive out of his pocket and hooked it to Yibo's computer turning the screen towards the detective. The footage showed a smiling Jia Li enjoying dinner with a man wearing all black and a cap and Yibo stilled because he knew he was staring at the back of the killer.

"The bad news is that despite of this footage, we still don't know what he looks like. He was very careful with the cameras. He always turned his back or ducked his head when he was in the range of the CCTV."  Yibo's jaw clenched as he saw the man tuck Jia Li's hair behind her ear, serve her food and clean her mouth with a napkin. This same man had slit her throat after a week of torturing her. The sight made Yibo sick to his stomach. "Was there anything in her medical reports?", Haoxuan queried with pursed lips and Yibo shook his head. "Jiyang has asked me to give him a few hours. Said that he and Dr. Xiao will review things together."  The mention of the doctor's name caused Yubin to raise his brows and Yibo shook his head not ready for a questionnaire regarding the man. God knew he was still rattled by last night's events. Yibo hadn't been able to sleep at all last night. As soon as his eyes closed, Xiao Zhan's face flashed before his eyes and Yibo felt annoyed beyond reason. A throat cleared and Yibo came back to the present looking at his men.

"Send someone over to the restaurant. I want everyone that was in the restaurant here as soon as they step in the city. Someone had to have seen his face." "On it", said Haoxuan and was out the office the next moment. "Tell everyone to come to the conference room after lunch, Yubin. Let's discuss this." Yibo dismissed Yubin after that and taking all the files in his hand moved to Haikuan's office. Knocking the door, he was called in and Yibo found Haikuan staring at a few papers as he motioned Yibo to take a seat.

"Did you talk the hospital staff?", Haikuan questioned and Yibo nodded his head. "Jia Li was good at her job and no one had any complaints about her. She stayed away from the gossip and was not a social person. But, one of her colleagues and a close friend, a fellow nurse did say that Jia Li was behaving a little differently before she was taken away."  "Different how?"  "Happier. Qing Fan, called her out on it and Jia Li told her about the man she had met a few days ago.  Qing Fan knew about Li Shen and she told Jia Li to end things with the new man but Jia Li was smitten by him. She told her that he was more attentive than Li Shen, had his life together and other things."  "This friend of hers never saw the guy?", Haikuan asked closing the file in his hands and Yibo shook his head. "Nope. Jia Li claimed that he was shy and wasn't a people person. She didn't even mention the guy's name before Qing Fan. Qing Fan was the one who confirmed Li Shen's suspicions, that was when Li Shen started following Jia Li around. They had a big fight and Jia Li ended things with him over a call before the date in that restaurant."  The senior officer shook his head as he skimmed through the statements of the hospital staff.

"The other members did say that prior to meeting this guy Jia Li seemed to be worried about something. She was struggling but Qing Fan said she has no idea about it."  "Jia Li was fooled by him into believing he was a decent man. If only she knew what she was getting herself into."  Haikuan sighed at the end and pinched the bridge of his nose, something the man did when he was feeling frustrated. "It's dead ends after dead ends, Yibo. Something has to give. Jia Li's murder has to lead us to him or else.." Liu Haikuan didn't need to continue. Yibo knew what was at stake. For all he knew, the killer could be in the process of hurting someone else. He could be fooling another man or woman right as he and Haikuan were talking. So, they had to act fast and stop him.