Two days later, Chen Shi continued to pick up driving orders as per usual. To his passengers, he gave off the impression that he was one of those drivers who just wouldn't stop nagging you. No matter who was in the car, he could talk to them enthusiastically.
The police visited all the friends around Chen Shi, including his buddies who had been eating together with him on the night of the incident. Of course, they gained nothing from this investigation. These were the same people who immediately called Chen Shi after being approached by the police and told him about everything through WeChat and over the phone.
Meanwhile, Lin Dongxue had asked the coroner to conduct a drug test where it was confirmed that there was ether residue in the body of the deceased. This news was told to Chen Shi.
This morning, Chen Shi was in the middle of talking to a passenger about the economic situation in Southeast Asia when he suddenly received a call from Lin Dongxue.
On the phone, Lin Dongxue sounded excited, "I found it! The deceased had a close girlfriend named Gao Xiaohui. She's a doctor who currently works in a private hospital."
"Send the address over."
"I'll send it to you using WeChat."
"Where are you now?"
"Gao Xiaohui is on-call until noon, so she will get off work in about ten minutes. I am going to find her now!"
"Wait a sec!"
"Hurry on over!" Lin Dongxue ordered before she hung up the phone.
On the other end of the phone, Lin Dongxue had a ticket number in her hand as she stood in the lobby of the hospital where people were constantly coming and going. She took a couple of breaths and went up the escalator.
As Gao Xiaohui was a doctor in the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Lin Dongxue traveled to that section of the hospital and found where Gao Xiaohui was located, knocked on the door and entered. A woman dressed in an elegant and classy dress wearing a neat bun smiled at her and asked, "Where is it uncomfortable?"
Lin Dongxue presented her ID, "I am a police officer, and I've come to clarify a few things."
Gao Xiaohui raised her eyebrows slightly and asked, "So you turned out to be a police officer. You wanted to ask about Gu Mengxing, right? I heard about her death from my circle of friends on WeChat. My heart is finding it very difficult to accept this news. After all, I went to college with her. I can't believe…"
While she was talking, Gao Xiaohui wiped her eyes with a paper towel, revealing a mournful and sad expression.
Faced with an individual who could be a murderer for the first time, Lin Dongxue was a little nervous, but the side of her that refused to lose told herself that she would definitely be able to arrest the killer.
"Excuse me, when was the last time you met with Gu Mengxing?"
"A few months ago. She asked me if I wanted to go out to eat with her."
"Then..." Lin Dongxue thought about what to ask next. "What were you doing at the time of the incident?"
Gao Xiaohui's mouth hung slightly open, "Miss Police Officer, isn't what you just asked a bit sudden? Surely you aren't suspecting me, right? I've been friends with her for countless years!"
"I was only asking!" Lin Dongxue had a red face.
"At that time, I was…" Gao Xiaohui recalled, "with a few colleagues at a dinner party. I even have the receipt from that night; I'll find it for you."
Gao Xiaohui pulled out the receipt from the drawer, and Lin Dongxue looked at the date and time on it, unsure what to do next. As Lin Dongxue was biting her lip, Gao Xiaohui smiled and asked, "Is there a problem? If not, I should get off work."
"You...uh... Do you have any bad blood with Gu Mengxing?"
Gao Xiaohui looked surprised at the question, "No. As I have told you, I went to college with her, and my relationship with her was pretty good."
Lin Dongxue angrily clenched her fists. At this time, Gao Xiaohui got up and excused herself, "Sorry, I should go. They don't serve meals in the cafeteria any later in the evening, so I have to hurry! Excuse me."
At this moment, the door was suddenly shoved open, and Chen Shi stood in the doorway. His cheeks had a red glow to them, indicating that he had he ran all the way here. Chen Shi asked, "Doctor Gao, my apologies, but I still have some questions to ask you!"
"Who are you?"
Lin Dongxue looked at him as if he was her savior and announced, "This is my partner. He just parked underneath the hospital."
Chen Shi used his eyes to signal Lin Dongxue not to interject. After entering, he closed the door behind him and gestured to the chair, saying, "Please, sit down Doctor Gao."
"I am off-duty right now. Can you make this short?" Gao Xiaohui seemed a little impatient.
"I am afraid this is not possible!" Chen Shi smiled, "Let's talk about how you killed Gu Mengxing!"
Gao Xiaohui's eyes went wide, and Lin Dongxue was almost mimicking her expression. The Criminal Investigation classes she attended never mentioned that such a direct line of questioning was a viable method.
"What are you talking about?!" Gao Xiaohui suddenly raised her voice. "What could I possibly have to do with the death of Gu Mengxing? You suddenly ran in like this and unreasonably accused me of such things. I have the right to sue you!"
"Doctor Gao, I believe we've met before!" Chen Shi pointed to his face.
"We have?"
"It was too dark at the time, so you may not have seen my appearance, but I remember you. You took my car that night."
"You are..." Gao Xiaohui's eyes revealed a trace of confusion.
"You seem to have recognized me. I was the driver who drove you that night!" Chen Shi smiled, "And your destination was coincidentally very close to the crime scene!"
Realizing that she stepped into a trap, Gao Xiaohui immediately took on a defensive posture, crossing her arms, furrowing her brows, and pursing her lips. All these little movements did not escape Chen Shi's eyes.
Chen Shi opened his phone and showed a picture to Gao Xiaohui. It was the women's coat that he had previously bought from the scavenging aunty. He asked, "Do you have an impression of this garment?"
Gao Xiaohui bit her lip, "I don't know what you are talking about."
"That night, the temperature in Long'An City was 10 to 16 degrees. It was just the right kind of weather to wear this type of clothing, but I remember that when I came to pick you up, your choice of clothing was very thin. At the time, I thought, 'Is this beauty not afraid of the cold?'"
"Just what are you talking about!?"
"Is this piece of clothing yours?"
"No! I have never seen it before!"
"Oh, really? What if the police found your fingerprints, hair, and dandruff on it? What explanation would you have then?"
Gao Xiaohui suddenly went silent. This was, of course, only a bluff from Chen Shi. After he bought the trench coat, he did not have the authority to do these tests. Even if he did, there was no comparison sample in the database. However, from his observations from talking to her, he was basically certain that his suspicions of Gao Xiaohui could not be mistaken.
"Don't freak out. Please let me finish what I have to say! That night, Gu Mengxing and another person opened a room at Feng Zhilin Hotel and then left the hotel at about eight o'clock. You went over to her and asked her to walk with you to the river. Then, you used the ether that you had previously prepared to knock her unconscious. After that, you used a skipping rope to strangle her neck from behind. However, the effects of the anesthesia were not strong enough, and Gu Mengxing woke up during the strangulation. She struggled for her life and grabbed one thing. This item was a button on your coat."
"After killing her, you took Gu Mengxing's bag and left in a hurry. Midway through your escape, you suddenly noticed that there was a button missing from your clothes. You panicked! If this button fell off at the murder scene, it would be fatal evidence. Thus, you did two things: First, you dealt with the clothes on your body, and then called a Wang Yueche back to the scene of the murder. You didn't expect the driver - That being me, to keep talking with you. You suddenly had an idea as you remembered that there was a Wang Yueche murder case that was going viral on the Internet, so you used Gu Mengxing's phone to send a few text messages to her boyfriend.
"After getting out of the car, you went back to the river, successfully found the button from the hand of Gu Mengxing, and forged a rape scene. You tore her clothes, repositioned the body, and threw her bag into the water. Your plan was almost successful. The police did think that this was a Wang Yueche homicide case. Thanks to you, I was invited to drink a few cups of tea with the police. However, of all the cars in the world, you shouldn't have taken my car!"