Chapter 257: Collaborative Suspicions

2022-05-20

We crashed at a cheap motel for the night, and early the next morning, Zhao Mingkun erased any trace we’d left behind. Then he took me straight to Kang Ning Insurance.

Kang Ning Insurance wasn’t exactly small, but not a giant either—still, their assets topped a billion. From what I knew, insurance companies track all payout records, especially one as huge as a million. Even after seven years the record should still be there.

One of the company managers fumbled around for half an hour before finally digging up the claim document. As it happened, the very same manager had been part of the process for Lü Zhiqiu’s payout seven years ago.

He told us that whenever something requiring an insurance payout occurred, the company would send out a claims adjuster to investigate. If the adjuster verified the conditions were met and there was no sign of fraud they’d follow the contract and process the payout.

He went on, “Back then, Kang Ning Insurance was much smaller than today. Most of the policies we handled were just for a few thousand, but none of us expected to see a million-yuan claim. No one thought a student internship could be that dangerous. Dongxing University bought a big policy with wide coverage. It included accidents and even homicide—anything within the policy’s scope.”

I frowned. “Homicide counts too? I’ve never heard of that before.”

The manager nodded. “Actually, anything that happens on site counts, except suicide. Even if someone suddenly died from illness at the construction site, it’d be covered. Like I said, the university was footing the bill, got a large policy, and the term was short—just enough for the students’ one or two months of interning. That’s why the payout was so big in the end.”

I nodded back, taking it all in.

He added, “Back then, the person in charge of investigating the claim was one of our company’s own co-founders, Liu Ruijie. I have to say, something about the whole thing felt off to me. The girl died, and just a few months later, Liu Ruijie left the company. I happen to know he owed a lot of debt at the time.”

“A lot of debt?” My eyes widened with interest.

The manager nodded again. “That’s right. Kang Ning Insurance was founded by Liu Ruijie and another boss. Seven years ago, they were in their thirties and poured all their money into starting the company. It grew slowly, gaining traction over time.”

“Eventually, Liu Ruijie sold off all his shares,” the manager said with a shake of his head. “He lost everything—house, car, the lot. Out of respect for him as a founder, the other boss let him work as a claims adjuster just to make ends meet. Imagine going from co-owner to mere adjuster—that drop must have been rough.”

“So, a few months after handling Lü Zhiqiu’s claim, Liu Ruijie quit.”

He looked around cautiously, then lowered his voice to me. “This is just my own guess, I’ve got no evidence. If you want to hear it, think of it as a story. If not, doesn’t matter.”

“Go on,” I urged.

He cleared his throat. “At the time, Liu Ruijie’s wife had already divorced him, and he was drowning in debt, always looking depressed. But the day he went to do the investigation, he turned up grinning, like money worries had suddenly disappeared. On the road, he even joked with me that once this case was wrapped up, he’d say goodbye to his old life.”

“You mean…” Zhao Mingkun prompted.

He dropped his voice. “I think something wasn’t right about this claim. Otherwise why would he be assigned to it? I got a gut feeling he already knew the girl was going to die.”

He hesitated and then quickly added, “Again, just my feeling. But afterward, it seemed he paid off all those debts. Not that I have proof—but you know, this isn’t something anyone would ever admit to, right? You get what I’m saying, don’t you?”

He handed us Liu Ruijie’s old phone number and address, saying, “Both are from seven years ago. Not sure if they’re still good. He sold his apartment and car back then and rented a small place to live alone. Anyway, please don’t mention any of this outside. I’m not the gossiping type, you know?”

With the info in hand, we left the insurance company.

Zhao Mingkun looked at the address and told me, “It’s a little over two hours from here—so not too far. But I doubt he still lives there. Do you think it’s possible that, desperate to clear his debts, Liu Ruijie saw an opportunity in the big payout?”

“But,” Zhao Mingkun said as he hopped on his motorbike, “no one would loan him money. That’s when he might’ve decided to pull something with the policy. Maybe he joined up with the beneficiary Hu Pei, lured Lü Zhiqiu to the construction site, and then the two of them killed her?”

I stroked my chin, thinking aloud. “If it was two people working together, to make sure neither could back out later, both would have to get their hands dirty. Maybe that’s why they dismembered her—to be sure no one could change their mind. If both had committed the act, neither could rat the other out without implicating themselves. Sink or swim together.”

“Exactly,” Zhao Mingkun agreed. “They’re tied together now. If either talks, both go down.”

I snapped my fingers. “That’s not impossible. Their motive was money.”

But as soon as I said that, doubts crept in. “It sort of makes sense but I still have some questions. Why was Hu Pei listed as Lü Zhiqiu’s beneficiary? For a student policy, wouldn’t you usually pick a family member?”

Zhao Mingkun thought for a moment. “Not necessarily. From what I saw, Lü Zhiqiu’s family didn’t treat her well, probably preferred sons over daughters. When the policy was written, maybe everyone took it as a joke. Who really thought anything bad would happen?”

He went on. “I bet a bunch of students filled out their policies together. Maybe, to show how much they ‘loved each other,’ they swapped beneficiary names. Not impossible.”

I shrugged. “And then Hu Pei killed her?”

As Zhao Mingkun revved up and headed toward Liu Ruijie’s old place, he said, “That would mean the murder was premeditated from the moment Lü Zhiqiu wrote Hu Pei’s name. In that case, it was Hu Pei roping in Liu Ruijie—not the other way around.”

“Who pulled in whom doesn’t really matter. The point is, they both had reason to kill.” I held on tight as we sped down the road. “A meeting of twisted minds, each with their own agenda.”

“Split a million—fifty grand each,” Zhao Mingkun chimed in. “When would you ever have a chance to make fifty thousand?”

I was speechless. Finally, I sighed and said, “You think someone like me could ever make that kind of money? I probably couldn’t manage it in my whole life.”

Zhao Mingkun grinned. “I could.”

“You have fifty thousand?” I asked.

He nodded, clearly enjoying himself. “Jealous?”

I snorted. “Yeah right. You’re living like a bum and you expect me to be jealous of your money?”

He just laughed.

I added, “But, if you’re right that Hu Pei and Liu Ruijie were the killers, they would keep it completely secret. Yet when we were at Hu Pei’s old place, Jiang Xiaochun spouted all that crazy nonsense. From what she said, she knows exactly what happened. Even as his wife, Hu Pei would never tell anyone.”

Hearing that, Zhao Mingkun looked thoughtful and said, “You’ve got a point. Jiang Xiaochun was terrified, kept mumbling about ghosts and ‘she’s back.’ If she wasn’t afraid of Lü Zhiqiu, there’s no way she’d have reacted like that.”

I nodded. “That’s just it. Lü Zhiqiu and Hu Pei were together for four or five years. After Lü Zhiqiu died, Hu Pei married Jiang Xiaochun and had a kid almost immediately. Clearly, Jiang Xiaochun had her eye on Hu Pei for a while. Do you think she might’ve played a part in what happened to Lü Zhiqiu?”

Zhao Mingkun shook his head. “If Jiang Xiaochun was involved, things would get even messier. Even if Hu Pei was fine with it, I doubt Liu Ruijie would agree. The more people involved, the greater the risk—someone’s bound to talk. They probably wouldn’t have teamed up.”

I saw his point. Plus, looking at how Hu Pei sent his wife and kid back to their old house, it seemed clear he didn’t want them mixed up in any of this. He must think his wife is still in the dark about Lü Zhiqiu’s death.

But based on Jiang Xiaochun’s state, she definitely knows the truth.

Now things were getting interesting. The husband knows, the wife knows, but he thinks she doesn’t, while she pretends not to know. The only thing I’m sure of: Hu Xiaoxue is clueless—she’s innocent. But the killer didn’t spare even her.

The whole way there, I kept turning the case over in my head. Who was it that killed Lü Zhiqiu? Hu Pei, Liu Ruijie, maybe even Jiang Xiaochun? They all had motives, maybe even planned it together. Now, someone has returned to avenge Lü Zhiqiu.

Everyone is hiding something.