Chapter 255: The Suspects

My words sent everyone into thoughtful silence. After a while the retired advisor finally spoke. “As an ordinary person, if you ask me, dismembering the body was probably just to make it easier to hide or move it. Otherwise, what’s the point in going to all that effort?”

The old woman glanced at the retired advisor and nodded. “But the killer never actually moved the body, did they?”

I spoke up. “Dismemberment can be considered a way to insult the corpse. Whoever did this must have really hated Lü Zhiqiu. That kind of hatred doesn’t fade even after killing them. Do any of you know if Lü Zhiqiu had such a big enemy?”

“Alternatively,” Zhao Mingkun added, “was there anyone particularly fond of Lü Zhiqiu?”

“You mean love turning into hate?” I caught Zhao Mingkun’s drift.

Zhao Mingkun looked at me but shook his head. “People always see love and hate as opposites, but that’s not really true. They’re both intense emotions. Love is hate and hate is love. It’s not love turning into hate—it’s that because they love, they want to kill.”

The old woman fell silent, clearly deep in thought. After a pause she finally said, “I honestly don’t know of anyone who had it out for Lü Zhiqiu. I’ve said it before, she was always good to people. There was this one girl whose family had a hard time—Lü Zhiqiu always helped her out.”

She paused and went on. “But there really were quite a few who liked Lü Zhiqiu. For example, the class monitor back then, Wang Yikai, he liked her a lot. He once set up candles for a romantic confession—pulled out all the stops. Whether it worked out in the end, though, I’m not sure.”

“Was Wang Yikai also at the construction site back then?” I asked.

The old woman nodded. “That’s right. It was technically an internship, so quite a few people from the three classes in the major went—almost twenty, I think. Wang Yikai was definitely there. Why? Are you suspecting him? That seems… unlikely.”

“Can’t say for sure.” I picked up the enrollment photo. “Could you tell me which students went? Can you give me their addresses or contact info?”

The old woman nodded. She asked the retired advisor for a pen, then began circling names on the back as she spoke. “We found the list back then and went through all of them, but nothing came up. I doubt it was any of those students. This is a really tough case. I just can’t figure out who the killer could have been.”

She fell silent again, quietly drawing circles around names.

At this point, there are really two main questions. First—what exactly happened seven years ago, and who killed Lü Zhiqiu? Second—who is the killer now? As a die-hard skeptic, I refuse to believe in any supernatural killer. So, after seven years, who came back and why kill Hu Pei and Hu Xiaoxue—and even drive Jiang Xiaochun mad?

Will the killer strike again? And if so, who will be next?

Who really killed Lü Zhiqiu? Could it have been Hu Pei? Is the current murderer someone seeking revenge for Lü Zhiqiu?

With these thoughts swirling in my mind, I asked, “What about Lü Zhiqiu’s family? It’s been seven years—are you still in contact with them?”

The mention of Lü Zhiqiu’s family made the old woman sigh even more. She said, “What really breaks my heart is exactly that. Sometimes I think of Lü Zhiqiu and just feel so sorry for her. As a university advisor, I had to check students’ family situations each year to approve scholarships and grants. Lü Zhiqiu was one of them.”

Zhao Mingkun frowned. “Didn’t you say she always helped other girls? Was her family situation bad too?”

“That’s why Lü Zhiqiu was such a good person—she earned both scholarships and grants, but always looked out for others,” the old woman said with a heavy sigh. “I know about her family. They’re from a small village on the outskirts of Dongxing City. Even though it’s under Dongxing City’s jurisdiction, there’s no way the economy compares.”

“I remember Lü Zhiqiu once told me, back in high school, her mother wanted her to drop out. If her grades hadn’t been so good—so good, in fact, that high school was free and they gave her a thousand yuan per month as a living stipend—she’d have quit to work sooner. Even then, she sent half her stipend home every month. If not for that she would’ve started working already.”

The old woman capped the pen and set it aside. “She also told me once she had a younger brother—he would’ve been around ten then, so he’d be seventeen or eighteen now. Of course, when she died, her family had to be notified. They showed up with dozens of people, hung up protest banners, and refused to leave the construction site. Every day that work stopped, the losses piled up. Eventually the developer and the university negotiated compensation: seventy thousand from the site, thirty thousand from the school. Only then did her family leave.”

Hearing this, I suddenly recalled what Zhang Denghui had said before—that the insurance company also paid out a million. Not sure if that’s true, but her family really did cause a scene at Hu Pei’s house, otherwise Zhang Denghui wouldn’t make up something so easily checked.

I asked, “So the insurance company paid a million too?”

The old woman nodded. “Because it was a construction site internship, the school put insurance in place for everyone. Normally, the insurance payout would be the end of it. But her family made such a fuss the developer decided to pay another million, just to keep the peace. For a wealthy developer, a million isn’t a big deal.”

“There must’ve been clear terms in the insurance policy. Do you know who the beneficiary was?” I pressed.

The old woman shook her head. “All I know is that the insurance company was called Kang Ning Insurance. I suppose the school had some arrangement with them. But who Lü Zhiqiu listed as beneficiary, I couldn’t say. No one really saw any danger coming at the time.”

I repeated, “Kang Ning Insurance, huh. Looks like we need to pay them a visit.”

The old woman nodded in agreement.

I went on, “Do you have phone numbers or addresses for any of these people?”

She shook her head. “It’s been seven years. Most would’ve changed numbers by now. Here’s what—I’ll try to get in touch with them and say it’s for a class reunion. Once I have their information, I’ll pass it along to you.”

Her plan made sense—a lot more efficient than us hunting everyone down one by one. I was just about to give her my number when I remembered: I’m no longer the captain of the Special Investigation Team.

And in this position, I can’t step out of the role.

Zhao Mingkun chimed in. “Regulations say we can’t use our personal numbers for work. How about you give us your phone number instead? We’ll get in touch with you.”

The old woman nodded—and didn’t seem suspicious of Zhao Mingkun’s ‘sincere’ suggestion.

On our way out, the old woman grabbed my hand. “It’s been seven years. I’m over sixty now. Lü Zhiqiu’s family took the money and disappeared, without caring about the truth. Maybe I’m the only one still concerned about this. What if a few years go by and I’m gone too? Then nobody will remember Lü Zhiqiu ever existed.”

Tears filled her eyes. “Lü Zhiqiu was only twenty-two, twenty-three—her whole future ahead of her. Yet she died just like that. Promise me—you have to catch whoever did this.”

I nodded. “Even the Silver Serial Killer was caught after twenty years. It’s only been seven. No matter how long it takes, no matter how many people have to try, the truth always comes out. We’ll find the killer. You have my word.”

“Thank you. Thank you!” The old woman gripped my hand tight.

I once heard people die three times. First when their body fails, then during their funeral—as far as society’s concerned, that’s the end. And finally, when everyone forgets them. Only then are they truly gone.

Who’d have thought, after seven years, the person who remembers Lü Zhiqiu isn’t her family—it’s her university advisor.

After leaving the building, Zhao Mingkun asked, “You mentioned Lü Zhiqiu’s family. She had a younger brother who’d be about seventeen or eighteen now. Do you think it’s possible her brother came to take revenge?”

I nodded. “Honestly, that crossed my mind too. But we still haven’t figured out who killed Lü Zhiqiu in the first place—even her brother wouldn’t know. Still, with what we’ve seen so far, Hu Pei is the most suspicious. Maybe her brother thinks so too.”

Zhao Mingkun hopped on his motorbike. “So, not knowing the killer, he just goes after anyone suspicious? The kid who was ten back then is now nearly grown? That’s some serious sibling loyalty. Shall we head to Kang Ning Insurance?”

I got on the bike too. “It’s possible. But really, all the workers and interns on site at the time are suspicious. If that’s the logic, anyone could be next. Maybe the killer is working down a list of suspects, one by one.”

Zhao Mingkun started the bike. “But could her brother really have waited seven years—then come back to kill? After pocketing a million and a half, would he really risk it all?”

I said, “Let’s stop by and buy a phone first. Seriously, without a phone these days, you can’t get anything done…”