Controlled Experiment Chapter 2

Controlled Experiment – 2

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Back then, when Old Master Du noticed the way the wind was blowing, he no longer wanted to dabble in real estate. However, the properties in his hands couldn't be sold off in a short time. At the time, Luo Daheng was also quite a figure, neck and neck with Old Master Du in the property game. The two of them constantly clashed in the business world. Since Old Master Du wanted to pull out, he sold his properties to Luo Daheng at a price slightly below market value. Luo Daheng thought Old Master Du had lost the fight and even secretly laughed to himself. But not long after, the property market crashed. Luo Daheng took a heavy blow. Fortunately, his family was vast and wealthy, so after just over a year, he bounced back. Now, he is thriving in other sectors. However, because of that incident, the two men whose combined ages totalled over a hundred each held a grudge against the other.

One believed the other deliberately set him up. The other believed that in business, if you stumbled, you only had yourself to blame for not keeping your eyes open.

The crime scene was in a well-known affluent area on the island, a neighbourhood filled with villas. The surroundings were beautiful, the scenery pleasant, and the security tight, residents even needed their own passes to enter and exit.

This was Xiao Bai's first time properly participating in a crime scene investigation since being transferred. He felt both excited and nervous, though none of that showed on his face. Instead, he appeared calm and composed, as if he'd been working in this area for years.

Du Yusheng leaned against the car door, gazing from a distance at the entrance of Luo Daheng's villa.

Today, he wore a dark green short jacket over a white T-shirt. With his tall, lean build, the areas where he did have muscle filled out the clothes just right. The sunlight shone on him, making him rather eye-catching. Perhaps it was due to his affluent background, but Du Yusheng always carried a certain air of fearlessness, as if nothing could shake him, even if the sky were to fall.

Later on, Xiao Bai would refer to this as "the awareness that if I don't do my job properly, I'll have to go home and inherit billions."

Du Yusheng saw Xiao Bai outside, wearing rubber gloves and shoe covers, and smiled.

He patted Xiao Bai on the shoulder. "First day on the job and you run into this, scared?"

Xiao Bai shook his head. "I'm not scared. It's just my first time in a rich neighbourhood, I've never seen villas before..."

"This is nothing, come over to my dad's place one day and have a look." Du Yusheng said casually. He didn't see it as showing off, but to others, it would come across as exactly that.

Qin Yan added helpfully, "His father's place is much bigger than this."

Wearing his shoe covers, Du Yusheng glanced towards the far end of the street. Old Master Du's place was the first house on this very road.

Luo Daheng's villa faced south with a mountain view at the back and a man-made lake at the front, "mountain behind, water in front" as the saying went. Good feng shui. Businessmen especially valued such things.

Wearing his shoe covers, Du Yusheng paced around the entrance for a bit.

Like many middle-aged men, he liked to take care of his health. In the small front garden, there was a row of bonsai whose names he couldn't quite identify. The pots themselves were clearly expensive. Du Yusheng crouched down to have a look, then reached out and, still wearing gloves, gently ran his hand along the edge of one of them.

"Is Luo Daheng from Yunnan?"

Xiao Bai, holding the case file, shook his head. "Local."

Du Yusheng nodded, said nothing more, and took a few steps inside.

Luo Daheng died in his study.

As was typical of many businessmen, the layout of Luo Daheng's study was nothing unusual; bookshelves, a sofa, a coffee table, some decorative flowers, a desk, and a large executive chair. Luo Daheng lay face down across his desk. The desk itself was still quite tidy. There was an old-style printer, a glass of tea that had turned the colour of beer, and several pages of acquisition documents now partially pinned under his body. Next to Luo Daheng's hand was an empty pill bottle, and in the garbage bin beneath the desk, and also just outside it, there were more pill bottles.

Du Yusheng picked them up and had a look.

The empty bottle on the desk was nitroglycerin, and the ones in and around the garbage bin were salbutamol. The difference was that the one inside the garbage bin was empty, while the one outside was full, almost as if it had rolled off the desk. Nitroglycerin was used to treat heart disease, and salbutamol was for asthma.

Holding the two bottles, Du Yusheng laughed dryly. "Heart disease and bronchial asthma... the illnesses of the wealthy."

Qin Yan smiled. "That's not even all."

Following Qin Yan's gaze, Du Yusheng looked over. Qin Yan pointed at the area around Luo Daheng's mouth, his lips were tinged with a bluish-purple. Du Yusheng looked again at the nitroglycerin in his hand, and the outline of an idea began to form. There was a mutual understanding between him and Qin Yan. They instinctively nodded at each other, both aware of what the other was thinking.

It was murder.

"Um... I just went to ask," Xiao Bai said as he stepped in from outside. "It was Luo Daheng's housekeeper who discovered him. Said he'd left Luo Daheng's blood pressure medication by the study door the night before, and when he came back in the morning and saw it was untouched, he went in to check, then found him like this."

Du Yusheng nodded and told Xiao Bai to bring the housekeeper in.

Though Xiao Bai was new, he adapted quickly to the role. Du Yusheng was rather satisfied.

"Sometimes I really don't get it. A study is just a place for reading, isn't it? A table and a few chairs would do, what's the point of all this unnecessary flair?" Du Yusheng sighed. "Doesn't it get in the way of reading?"

Xiao Bai paused for a moment before squeezing out two words: "Aesthetic taste."

Luo Daheng's housekeeper was a middle-aged man around fifty. He wore a three-piece suit and had an honest, simple appearance, with a slight hunchback. However, he didn't seem to pay much attention to his personal grooming, his white shirt cuffs were a little grubby, and even his leather shoes were coated in a dull layer of dust. Du Yusheng couldn't help but glance at him a few more times.

"You deliver Mr Luo's medication every day?"

The housekeeper nodded, bent slightly at the waist. "Yes, every day. I brought it last night, but he hadn't touched it by this morning. When I came in, he was already... ai."

At this point, it was hard to tell whether there was more regret or anxiety on the housekeeper's face. Du Yusheng understood. At his age, after his boss died, it won't be easy to find a high-paying job like this again.

"Why didn't you check in on him after delivering the medicine?"

"I've been delivering it like that for so many years." The housekeeper sighed. "Boss has been extremely busy these past few years. He used to say he'd retire after a few more busy years, and recently there were a few acquisition deals in the city centre, so he'd been even busier. Often, he'd hole up in the study the entire day."

The housekeeper's words were corroborated by what was under Luo Daheng's body: a draft of one of the acquisition cases in the city centre, its edges worn and curling. It was clear Luo had been very invested in it.

"Luo Daheng's time of death is estimated between two and three o'clock yesterday morning."

Qin Yan pointed again, this time at Luo Daheng's thumb. Du Yusheng leaned in for a closer look. The thumb was slightly discoloured, almost blackened, and there appeared to be carbon-black ink on it, like a smudge from a label. Du Yusheng leaned in, fanning the air gently as he sniffed.

Frowning, he looked at Qin Yan. "Carbon?"

Qin Yan nodded.

Why would there be carbon on his finger?

Turning back, Du Yusheng looked again at the housekeeper.

"Where did you go after delivering the medicine last night?"

The housekeeper thought for a moment. "I went home, I usually don't live here."

Du Yusheng called Xiao Bai in. "Xiao Bai, who else came by after the housekeeper left last night?"

"I just checked the surveillance footage. Apart from the housekeeper, two other people came. I asked around and found out that one was Mr Luo's son... well, illegitimate son. The other was Luo Daheng's private physician. The two arrived one after the other. Neither stayed in the villa longer than fifteen minutes, and they didn't cross paths, one left just before the other arrived."

Du Yusheng nodded. The housekeeper was standing right there, but Du Yusheng wasn't afraid of being overheard.

"Have you seen those two people?"

The housekeeper shook his head. "... I didn't even know they'd come."

In other words, before Luo Daheng died, he had seen three people, and none of the three had encountered one another.

"Brother Yu, I checked over there as well, there wasn't anything stolen," said Xiao Bai, his wide eyes still full of innocence. "There were no signs of a struggle indoors either."

Qin Yan added from his side, "Preliminary assessment suggests Luo Daheng died due to heart-related issues. For the exact cause, we'll have to bring him back to the bureau for an autopsy."

No signs of a struggle, no property loss, and no apparent connection between the three people who had come and gone. The emergency supply of nitroglycerin was completely empty. The scene pointed to the likelihood that Luo Daheng had suffered a heart attack but died because he hadn't taken the medication in time.

Xiao Bai blinked, his eyes fluttering slightly, and cautiously offered two words.

"... Natural causes?"

Du Yusheng kicked Xiao Bai. "If you had a few billion, would you just let yourself die like that?"

Xiao Bai shook his head.

"I'd have to buy ten insurance policies."

"He thought so too," Du Yusheng pointed to the now cold corpse of Luo Daheng. "He even carried two bottles of salbutamol, just in case he used one up and didn't have time to replace it. Someone that cautious and afraid of dying, are you telling me he'd forget he ran out of  nitroglycerin?"

Qin Yan stood up from his chair, rubbing his aching legs.

"There are traces of drug ingestion under Luo Daheng's tongue." Qin Yan added. "But it's possible the dosage was insufficient. Wait for me to go back for an autopsy."

Du Yusheng nodded. In truth, even without Qin Yan's comment, he already had a rough idea in his head.

Leaving Luo Daheng's study, they entered the living room, where several photographs were displayed, and framed, of course. It was all for Luo Daheng's own gratification. The photos featured him with various notable figures, interspersed with a few calligraphic works by famous artists. The combination was a little odd. Xiao Bai led the way, glancing as he walked. He paused in front of the first photo. Qin Yan stepped closer to have a look.

"Your old man," Qin Yan said, pointing at the figure in the picture.

It was a photo taken during a city ceremony where several prominent businessmen were awarded certificates for public service. This particular shot captured Luo Daheng shaking hands with Old Master Du. Everyone knew the two had a poor relationship, this photo had clearly been put on display just for show. All part of the game.

Du Yusheng leaned in for a closer look and stroked his chin.

"... I don't recall the old man ever saying he'd sworn brotherhood with Luo Daheng."

That said, it was a rather decent photo, the old man looked young in it. Du Yusheng took out his phone and snapped a picture.

As they stepped out of the villa, they ran into Mr Luo's wife, Mrs Luo.

Du Yusheng had seen Mrs Luo on television before. She was the standard elegant Eastern beauty: graceful, tall, with a delicate femininity in her features. She was holding a white handbag, standing beside the housekeeper, quietly weeping into a white tissue in her hand.

"... My condolences, Mrs Luo, my condolences."

Mrs Luo's eyes were slightly reddened from crying, and she shook her head uncontrollably, unable to get a word out. She and Luo Daheng had been married for many years but never had children. The sudden death of her husband was more than enough to inflict lasting pain on such a gentle woman. Du Yusheng wasn't the type to be good at comforting women. All he could do was repeat "my condolences, my condolences" while sneaking glances at the massive diamond ring on Mrs Luo's finger.

"I heard Mr Luo had been very busy recently," Du Yusheng said. "I suppose you must have been by his side throughout."

Mrs Luo nodded and pressed a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her sobs and avoid losing face in front of outsiders.

"... I stayed with him, but... his health had always been poor."

After saying these incoherent words, Mrs Luo could no longer say anything and just cried quietly.

Du Yusheng didn't intend to press her further. He glanced down at the housekeeper's shoes, smiled, and walked away.

Their team's car was waiting just outside. Du Yusheng stood at the sealed-off perimeter and looked down to the far end of the street, sighing. It wasn't some noble feeling of "passing one's own door three times without entering." Du Yusheng wasn't that sentimental. He simply felt too ashamed to go home. Only when he'd sorted out his own business would he be able to face going back. Thinking of this, Du Yusheng sighed again.

Qin Yan and Xiao Bai were already sitting in the car waiting for him.

As Du Yusheng got in, Qin Yan complained, "What the hell were you dawdling about for, I still need to get back for the autopsy."

"Ran into the family, had to offer some words of comfort."

As soon as he said that, Du Yusheng leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. In the back, Xiao Bai and Qin Yan were chatting away about nothing in particular. Du Yusheng was exhausted, he'd meant to tell the two chatterboxes to quiet down, but just as the words were about to leave his mouth, Du Yusheng suddenly opened his eyes.

Du Yusheng had strikingly attractive eyes, sometimes it felt like you could see straight into his soul through them.

"I suddenly feel like there's something off about that housekeeper and Mrs Luo."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: May 12, 2025 by Angel

Edited: May 26, 2025 by Angel