At half past eight in the morning, Bai Chi saw Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang sleeping on the sofa as soon as he arrived at the SCI office.
Gong Sun staggered in wearing his white coat and asked, "What's the matter with these two? Didn't they go out for a ride after dinner last night?"
"Hmm?" Bai Yutang woke up first, sat up and rubbed his neck. "What time is it?"
"It's almost nine." Wang Chao handed a cup of coffee to Bai Yutang, "Captain, where did you go with Dr. Zhan last night?"
"I have something to show you guys." Bai Yutang took out the digital camera from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Ping. "Bring up the pictures!"
Jiang Ping grabbed the camera and exported all the photos.
"Damn!" Jiang Ping could not help exclaiming. "This is thrilling."
"What is it?" Bai Chi curiously leaned over and saw several photos on the computer screen. One of them showed Liu Fang leaving the tombstone. Another photo showed the two tombstones with the names Chen Jianxian and Liu Fang.
"Did this Liu Fang make his own grave or something?" Zhao Hu said with a frown.
"Isn't Chen Jianxian that mute uncle? Why does he have one too?" Ma Han asked in confusion.
"Cat and I are going to ask Liu Fang in the afternoon." Bai Yutang said, "Zhang Jianqi should have brought Zhang Hua here by now."
"They're still not here. I don't know if he can handle his own son." Jiang Ping sighed, "seems like a troubled teenager."
"He's not a teenager anymore." Gong Sun said, "he's already in his 20's."
"If the mute uncle isn't Chen Jianxian, then Zhang Jianqi should have recognised who it is." Luo Tian said. "Why didn't he say anything?"
"Could it be because the burns were so severe that Zhang Jianqi couldn't recognise him?" It seemed that Bai Yutang was completely awake. On the other hand, Zhan Zhao was still in a confused state.
"I don't think so. His face has not been burned that badly." Bai Chi said, "Zhang Jianqi should have recognised him."
"That's true." Bai Yutang nodded.
"Well..." Gong Sun suddenly said, "both Chen Jianxian and Liu Fang were badly burned, right?"
Everyone nodded and looked at him. "Yes."
"In other words, the hospital must have kept some of their records... Like their blood." Gong Sun said, "if we can take blood samples from Liu Fang and Chen Jianxian, we may be able to compare them with those samples."
"You're right." Bai Yutang touched his chin. "Getting their blood samples might be difficult..."
"Although there are two tombstones, it is impossible to use it to apply for a legal warrant. After all, the evidence isn't solid enough." Gong Sun thought for a moment and said, "we can only do it privately."
"Privately?" Bai Yutang was baffled.
"Such as forcing them to get nosebleeds by hitting them." Zhao Hu said.
Everyone looked at each other in disbelief.
"That is one way to do it..." Bai Yutang began to think alone. Then, Zhan Zhao next to him asked in a muffled voice, "What way to do what?"
"We need to take blood samples from Liu Fang and the mute uncle." Bai Yutang reached out and pulled up the sleepy Zhan Zhao.
"Can't they just go get a physical examination?" Zhan Zhao said rubbing his eyes.
"Physical examination?" Bai Yutang thought. "That could work."
"Liu Fang has a company. Chen Jianxian belongs to the school. We can get the company and the school to cooperate with us and give them a blood test."
"That is a good idea." Gong Sun nodded. "Don't most companies have a physical examination for their employees once or twice a year? If so, we don't have to get them to go. We just need to get the previous records."
Bai Yutang nodded. "Let Lu Fang take care of this."
"Okay!" Gong Sun nodded and went out. "I'll let Lu Fang think of something. If he can't get it, you guys go beat them up, and I will take the blood samples." With that, he left happily.
Zhan Zhao squinted as he said to Bai Yutang. "Xiao Bai, Gong Sun seems to be in a good mood."
Bai Yutang yawned, "Of course. He passed the test from his parents-in-law, so he's feeling smug."
"What is he so proud for?" Bai Chi curiously leaned over and asked. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang smiled but said nothing.
After sitting for a while, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang washed their faces while drinking milk and nibbling on bread. At this time, Zhang Jianqi arrived with Zhang Hua.
"Captain Bai, Dr. Zhang, this is my son, Zhang Hua." Zhang Jianqi introduced his son to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, then said to his son, "Zhang Hua, these are the SCI policemen I told you about."
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked up at Zhang Hua. They saw that he looked to be in his twenties, dressed in sporty clothes. He was sweating a lot, as if he had just gone for a run. To their surprise, Zhang Hua didn't look like a punk or an alcoholic who had given up on life. He had dark skin, good features and a strong body, like a man who loved sports and exercised regularly. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other with questions in their heads.
"Let's go sit in the office." Zhan Zhao led the father and son into the office.
Sitting on the sofa in Zhan Zhao's office, Zhang Jianqi told Zhang Hua, "Zhang Hua, tell the police officers anything you know. Don't hide anything from them."
Zhang Hua looked at his father and nodded gently, but instead of looking up at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, he just sat there with his head lowered, waiting for someone to speak.
Zhan Zhao looked at him, then turned to Zhang Jianqi and said, "Mr. Zhang, would you be able to step outside for a moment please? We want to question Zhang Hua alone."
"Um..." Zhang Jianqi hesitated for a moment, but nodded and went out.
Only Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and Zhang Hua remained in the office.
"Zhang Hua." Zhan Zhao called to him.
Zhang Hua looked up slightly, glanced at Zhan Zhao, and remained silent.
"We'd like to ask you about the fire." Zhan Zhao said, "do you remember it?"
Zhang Jianqi shrugged and nodded, "I do."
"Tell us what happened that year." Bai Yutang moved a chair and sat down, looking directly at Zhang Hua.
"What do you guys want me to say?" Zhang Hua was silent for a moment and looked at Zhan Zhao.
"About the reason why Hao Mo burned the other four roommates, but you survived." Zhan Zhao said, "tell us everything you know."
"I can't really think of anything else. I didn't live at school back then. All I knew was that the four of them were bastards and were very shady. Hao Mo was very modest and got good grades, but his family conditions were not great, so he had to live with the other four." Zhang Hua spoke in a calm tone. "Later, when I heard about what happened, I was also shocked."
"What else?" Bai Yutang asked, "were there any signs before the incident that Hao Mo wanted to kill the other four?"
Zhang Hua shook his head helplessly. "I don't know. I didn't really live on campus. I have only spoken around three to four sentences with Hao Mo. I really don't understand why he had to do things in such an extreme way."
Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other. The meaning behind Zhang Hua's words was very simple. He didn't know anything about the five roommates or about the fire as he didn't live on campus. It was unknown whether he was telling the truth or deliberately distancing himself from the incident and the people involved.
"Okay, we won't talk about Hao Mo anymore. Let's talk about you." Zhan Zhao said, "why did things suddenly change for you? And it just happened to be when the incident occurred?"
Zhang Hua shook his head and said, "I was greatly affected by what happened. Can you imagine everyone in your room dead except you?" At this point, Zhang Hua sighed painfully. "I often dream about them coming to find me together. Each time, I would wake up in a cold sweat."
"Why are they looking for you?" Zhan Zhao asked with great interest.
"They asked me if I wanted to go with them." Zhang Hua said weakly, "those dreams kept appearing for a long time. I couldn't get rid of them, so I eventually gave up."
Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao and said in his head, "Cat, seems like he's evading the question."
As if he heard the question, Zhan Zhao smiled and replied in his head, "He's not being honest and is hiding something."
"What about afterwards? Why did you suddenly change for the better?" Zhan Zhao asked without emotion.
"I just... I don't know why, but it's like suddenly waking up from a dream." Zhang Hua replied, "my mother prays to God and worships Buddha every day. Maybe the Buddha appeared as a spirit to guide me."
When Zhang Hua finished speaking, he did not hear Zhan Zhao or Bai Yutang speak. When he looked up, he saw that they were looking at him with a slight playful expression on their faces.
Zhang Hua was a little uncomfortable and asked, "Is there anything else you guys want to ask? I really don't know what happened back then, and I didn't know the four of them that well."
Zhan Zhao nodded and said, "What about Ye Ling? Do you know her?"
Zhang Hua was stunned for a moment, then he shook his head and smiled wryly, "Not really."
"Is that so?" Zhan Zhao nodded and said to Bai Yutang, "Question him a bit more. I'm going to make a phone call."
Bai Yutang nodded, as Zhang Hua saw Zhan Zhao stand up, go to his desk and look for documents, while making a call, "Hello? Lilia, did you tell Ye Ling what I told you last time?"
The person on the other end of the phone said a few words. At that moment, Zhan Zhao took out a document from the pile of papers, nodded and said, "Okay, you bring Ye Ling here. 15 minutes? Okay." Then he hung up the phone.
Bai Yutang clearly saw the change of expression on Zhang Hua's face when Zhan Zhao said to bring Ye Ling over. The expression not only contained surprise, but also a bit of irritation and fear.
Zhan Zhao walked back with the documents that had Ye Ling's information and saw Zhang Hua sitting there foolishly on the sofa, as if at a loss.
Zhan Zhao smiled. "It just so happens that Ye Ling is my patient. She is seriously ill, and she doesn't seem to remember the cause of her illness, so the most important part of our treatment is to awaken her memory of the past."
Zhang Hua nodded. "You guys go ahead. I'll leave first." With that, he stood up, wanting to leave.
Bai Yutang stopped him, "Oh, what's the hurry? You are the key to help Ye Ling restore her memory."
"Me?" Zhang Hua became nervous. "Um... What does this have to do with me?"
"You are her classmate." Zhan Zhao said with a smile, "if she can meet you, it might remind her of the past... Oh, right." At this moment, Zhan Zhao smiled. "Are you and Ye Ling still in contact with each other?"
Zhang Hua shook his head. "I told you, I don't know her."
"Really?" Zhan Zhao nodded. "Then why didn't you ask what is wrong with her?"
"I... It has nothing to do with me." Zhang Hua became nervous when he saw a woman with long hair arriving at the door of the room and knock.
As there were blinds on the door's window, it was impossible to see the person's appearance clearly. Bai Yutang smiled and said, "She's here." With that, he stood up and opened the door.
"Wait..." Zhang Hua said, "I don't want to see her. She's crazy. You can't believe a word she says!"
Bai Yutang opened the door, revealing a beautiful girl in her twenties standing there. She handed a document to Bai Yutang and said, "Captain, the autopsy report of the last case."
Bai Yutang nodded to Ma Xin, then Ma Xin turned and left.
Zhang Hua opened his mouth while Zhan Zhao said with a smile, "She is the medical examiner of SCI. Did you think it was Ye Ling? Why are you so nervous?"
"Um..." Only then did Zhang Hua realize that he had been fooled. He sat sadly on the sofa looking at Zhan Zhao. "Did you deceive me?"
Zhan Zhao stopped smiling and looked at Zhang Hua. "You haven't seen Ye Ling for a long time, so you're not sure what she looks like, but how do you know she's crazy? What are you afraid she'll say?"
Bai Yutang's expression also changed. "Zhang Hua, you better tell us the truth. What happened back then?"
Zhang Hua sat down on the sofa, took out a cigarette and smoked for a while before saying, "Back then... It was all our fault. We were just playing a game."
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other. "Game?"
"Yes." Zhang Hua nodded and said, "the name of this game is <Find the Murderer>."