Jia, Huojin and the team once again went to the Dahua movie theater to thoroughly search for the missing inhaler this time. Huojin and Xiyang took charge of combing through the premises inside the theater whereas Jia, along with some other officers' help decided to look outside.
Around the popcorn and snacks counter, Jia questioned the staff if they saw somebody dropping an inhaler, but the response was negative.
"I will check the ladies' restroom if I find something. You continue your search outside," Jia instructed one officer and left to check the restroom.
But she stopped and exhaled a deep breath just outside the restroom. She turned and barked at the man who she wanted to give the 'most desirable man to kill' award if she could.
"Will you stop stalking me?"
Mingshen in his casual shirt and denims, charmingly smiled a grin. "I will die if I get away from you even for a second."
"Which is exactly what I want so I hope to see your dead body when I come back," she smiled. "This is the ladies' restroom and I hope you are aware of what your gender is," She sneered and turned to enter.
Mingshen sighed and looked at the popcorn counter. "Hmm what should I pick? Salty or cheese?"
—
Jia checked inside the trash cans of all the stalls and walked back in front of the washbasins. "Dai Fengge said that during the interval break, Dai Yaling and Yin Xiaoling had gone to the washroom. Did she perhaps use her inhaler here and accidentally drop it?"
She released a soft sigh, not finding the missing object anywhere inside the restroom.
Where could it be? I should ask the cleaning staff if they might have found it fallen somewhere and disposed of it. Or maybe lost and found?
Jia returned outside and the scene that welcomed her was that of a handsome devil munching on a tub of cheese popcorn. Her brow twitched hard.
Mingshen offered her the tub. "Popcorn?"
"I am here to investigate, not to feed my stomach," she grimaced.
"Munching on a popcorn or two won't do any harm~"
"I will be happy to make you sick by putting my hand into your popcorn tub where my gloves have greeted the trash cans just a few minutes ago," she scornfully smiled.
"I will be happy to die by your hands my dear, but how about I take this chance and lovingly feed you myself? Won't it be romantic?"
"Are you sure you haven't secretly coated the popcorn with poison to kill me and take me back to your lab?"
"How about we play popcorn roulette and figure that out?" He spoke with a sparkling gaze.
She flashed a ridiculed smile only to ignore him. At a distance behind Mingshen, she noticed a common garbage bin near a pillar. She stared at it as if in a trance.
Mingshen waved his hand in front of her face, breaking her stupor and apparently feeling very offended. "What is it that dares to break your attention from this perfect existence standing right in front of you?"
"Trash can. Much more appealing than you at any time," she smiled.
"Which is a sign that your eyes are failing my dear. That's why I keep telling you to return to my lab~"
Jia ignored him yet again and walked towards the garbage bin. She stretched her gloves to put her hand inside.
"Let's see if we find something here…" She bent and rummaged inside the bin.
A minute later, an officer came rushing to them. "Mam! I found something while I was checking the CCTV of this area."
Jia furrowed her brows as she took her hand out. "Guess this is what you wanted to show me."
She opened her palm and showed the inhaler that she just grabbed from inside the trash can.
Mingshen cocked his brow, popping popcorn into his mouth. "...Interesting~ I did the right thing by buying popcorn."
The officer nodded. "Yes, it's about this inhaler. As I checked the CCTV footage, I saw that as Mrs. Dai Yaling was walking back towards the theater from the restroom, she was zipping her bag close. The inhaler wasn't properly inside, so she might not have noticed it slipping out of her bag."
Jia paused to think and asked, "Then how did this inhaler land in the trash can? It should have been reported as a lost item, not found inside the trash can."
"It was found inside the trash can because somebody found it and threw it inside."
"Deliberately?" she narrowed her eyes.
"Yes."
"Who?"
"Miss. Yin Xiaoling."
—
The next day, Yin Xiaoling could feel her feet getting cold as Jia showed her the CCTV footage. The camera had clearly captured her finding the inhaler on the floor as she was following Dai Yaling from the restroom. She picked it up and her expression twisted into that of indignation. Without thinking anymore, she stomped her way towards the garbage bin and threw it inside hard.
Along with Yin Xiaoling, her aunt, Yin Chin had hurriedly rushed to the bureau, knowing that her niece was taken into detention.
Jia paused the video and looked at her, trembling with sweat forming on her forehead. "When we were enquiring about the inhaler yesterday, you didn't mention about throwing it in the trash can yourself."
She couldn't find her voice to answer. "Th-this is not what it looks like…!"
"Then what does it look like?" Huojin asked.
Yin Chin quickly said, "Yes, yes. It must be a misunderstanding! In fact, Mrs. Dai Yaling and I knew each other well. Xiaoling respected her just like her mother…W-we are just as shocked to know that she…" her voice broke off at the end.
"Xiaoling?" Dai Fengge, who reached the bureau to complete some formalities, was taken aback by Yin Xiaoling's presence. But he quickly stiffened as he remembered that he wasn't alone.
Jia and Huojin saw another woman accompanying him.
That must be his wife, Dai Meihui, she thought.
From a glance, it was quite obvious to Jia that Dai Meihui maintained her distance from her husband. Her tired expression and slightly red eyes were a sign that she must have cried on her way to the police station too.
Huojin maintained a poker face but was inwardly pleased to see Dai Fengge's nose wrapped with bandages.
It must have hurt like hell to sleep last night~
Jia cleared her throat. "Thank you for coming, Mr. Dai despite…your condition."
Dai Fengge's mood immediately turned sour. He shot a glare at Huojin because of whom he got injured in the first place.
Jia looked at the woman beside Dai Fengge and asked, "You must be Mrs. Dai Meihui, I assume."
Dai Meihui simply gave her a wry smile as if she felt too defeated to admit or reject Jia's assumption. Jia could sense her emotional fatigue, and her instinct told her that it wasn't only because of her mother-in-law's death.
She looks miserable…But then again, her husband was secretly enjoying movie time with another woman, Jia sneakily threw a cold glare towards Dai Fengge.
He quickly said, "Yes, yes, she is Meihui, my wife."
A deep but disdainful voice echoed from behind him. "Oh so you remembered to address her as your wife. Yesterday you were playing house with somebody else so I had my doubts~"