A Psych Case Just Joined the Team Chapter 002

Bloodshed – 02

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The next day, Cui Jingfeng and Xie Xun brought along the information Fang Lai had prepared for them in advance and went to the construction site where Lin Datong had worked before his death. There, they sought out the group of idle companions who usually gambled and drank with Lin Datong.

The two of them took out their police IDs, and Cui Jingfeng glanced over the three men before him. Though his gaze wasn't as sharp as Xing Zui's, it was direct, and the three looked at one another uneasily under his stare. Perhaps it was the coarse gloves they wore, but their palms had begun to sweat.

Xie Xun spoke first. "Sorry to take up a bit of your time."

"Officers, I... I haven't done anything illegal," one of the men said. The other two immediately chimed in, "Me neither. I didn't get much education, but I know breaking the law means jail or getting shot."

Cui Jingfeng got straight to the point. "You all know Lin Datong, don't you? He's dead. Murdered... Was Lin Datong at the construction site on October 7th?"

The three of them froze upon hearing that Lin Datong had been killed.

One of them stammered, "Lin Datong... was murdered?"

Xie Xun said, "You didn't know Lin Datong was dead? Haven't you seen the news?"

"Who's got time to watch that stuff?"

"No wonder he hasn't shown up lately, the foreman was about to sack him."

"When was the last time you saw Lin Datong?" Cui Jingfeng asked, while carefully observing each man's eyes and expressions as he spoke.

"He came to work on the 7th. After work, I wanted to ask him out for a drink, but he said he had something to do and couldn't make it, so I went with these two instead," the man said, pointing to the others.

"That's right, that's right, but it's strange, I always ask him to drink and he never refuses to go... Anyway, he hasn't been to the site since."

"What time did you drink till that night?" Xie Xun asked.

"Roughly ten in the evening. We had work the next day, so we called it a night."

Cui Jingfeng asked, "What time did you get home?"

One of the men scratched his head, thinking. "Probably a bit after eleven."

The other added, "I live in the same place as him, we probably arrived around the same time."

Cui Jingfeng continued, "And after that?"

"Of course we showered and went to bed. We don't have wives, what else would we do but sleep?"

"Where did you drink that night?" Cui Jingfeng asked.

"I say... you're not suspecting that we killed Lin Datong, are you? Lin Datong owed us money, what good would it do us to kill him?"

Xie Xun replied, "Hey, we're just following routine procedures. If you answer truthfully, we'll verify everything one by one and eliminate you from suspicion."

The man weighed his options, then said, "... We were drinking at a roadside stall near the construction site. We go there often, the owner should recognise us."

Just then, not far away, a middle-aged man wearing a yellow safety helmet shouted at them, "You three not working any more? We're short on hands over here and you're slacking off."

The three of them turned and walked off immediately. Xie Xun stepped forward to stop them, but Cui Jingfeng called him back.

"Blindy, don't bother chasing them, they have nothing to do with the case."

The nickname Blindy had been given to Xie Xun by Xing Zui because Xie Xun's name sounded the same as Xie Xun, the Golden-Haired Lion King from the wuxia novels, who was blind, so he simply started calling him "Blindy."

Xie Xun said, "I still think those three are highly suspicious. Just now they said Lin Datong owed them money, what if Lin Datong tried to dodge the debt and the three of them got angry and killed him together? This Lin Datong was about 1.78 metres tall and weighed at least 140 pounds. The three of them working together would have had no trouble dumping his body in the sewer..."

Cui Jingfeng said, "If that's the case, why didn't they just find a more hidden spot and bury the body?"

Xie Xun replied, "Maybe they panicked after the killing, and while they were moving the body, they happened to see the sewer under repair and then..."

Cui Jingfeng quickly interrupted him. "None of them lied just now, they probably have nothing to do with the case."

Cui Jingfeng studied behaviourist psychology for three years at university, and the founder of this famous school of thought, the American psychologist John B. Watson, was his idol. He enjoyed reading books on the subject in his spare time, and thanks to his strong observational skills, it wasn't difficult for him to judge a person's state of mind based on small gestures. Having worked with him for more than five years, Xing Zui trusted his ability to handle cases deeply, and it was Xing Zui himself who had recommended Cui Jingfeng to his superiors for the role of vice captain.

Xie Xun patted Cui Jingfeng on the shoulder and said, "At least we've narrowed down Lin Datong's actual time of death."

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Xing Zui went to Lin Datong's home alone. Usually, he would bring Cui Jingfeng along when investigating a case, but today was an exception.

Before him stood an old-style collective residential building. Following the door numbers, he easily located Lin Datong's apartment... The security door was an old-fashioned sliding iron gate, rusted with age. Xing Zui glanced at it and noticed it wasn't locked, clearly, someone was home. He knocked, and there was no response. He knocked again and stood waiting for quite some time before the door opened, revealing a young face...

Even through the two doors, the child's innate fear of strangers was undiminished, the boy's large eyes were filled with wariness. He kept the door mostly shut, his small hand gripping the door frame tightly, with no intention of letting Xing Zui in.

In a rare instance, Xing Zui softened his tone. "Where's your mom?"

The boy pressed his lips together and stared straight at Xing Zui with his big, dark eyes, then shook his head.

"I'm your mom's friend. I need to speak with her, can I come in?"

The boy seemed slightly less fearful upon hearing that Xing Zui was a friend of his mother's, but he still hesitated. "But Mom doesn't let me open the door for strangers..."

"Uncle's a police officer who catches bad guys,"

The boy's eyes lit up. "I like police officers, when I grow up, I want to be a police officer too."

The corners of Xing Zui's mouth lifted slightly. In a gentle voice, he continued, "So, can you let Uncle Police Officer in?"

The boy's guard dropped and he slipped out from behind the door. Xing Zui's hand was already hovering in the air, but the iron gate had been pulled open by the boy before he could reach it. Xing Zui raised his eyebrows, mildly surprised, then he stepped inside. Though the apartment was small, it was neat. A few simple pieces of furniture, a worn-out sofa, and a chipped wooden coffee table. The blades of the ceiling fan were rusted, but there were no cobwebs on them, likely thanks to regular cleaning.

Xing Zui merely wandered around the living room, casually having a look. Since the owner wasn't home, it wouldn't be appropriate to barge into the other rooms. Just then, the sound of the door opening came from behind.

"Qi Qi, Mom's back..."

Li Li shut the door behind her, and the moment she turned around, she froze.

"Xing Zui, we met at the station."

Xing Zui said as he took out his ID from his chest pocket.

Li Li had recognised him at first glance and managed to force a smile.

"If Officer Xing was coming, you could've called ahead... Have you caught the killer yet?" Li Li asked, her tone clearly displeased.

"Catching a killer isn't something you can do just like that. If it were that easy, then as the captain, I could just sit in the office every day, sip tea, and collect my salary, I wouldn't need to visit the families in person, would I?"

"Condolences..." Xing Zui smiled faintly, then continued, "... and while I'm here, I'd like to ask a few questions, is now a good time?"

"Ah, of course. Officer Xing, just give me a moment," Li Li said, placing the groceries she'd just bought at the supermarket into the fridge. Throughout the entire process, Xing Zui stood where he was, eyes fixed on her. She could feel that sharp gaze boring into her back, it sent a chill through her, an indescribable sense of pressure suddenly descending over her...

"Did Lin Datong have any grudges with anyone before he died?"

"No."

"Only the three of you live here?"

At this, Li Li sneered. "What else, then? Is Officer Xing suspecting I've been sneaking men in?"

Xing Zui said, "I just want to know if you have any other relatives living with you..."

Realising she might have said something she shouldn't, Li Li quickly averted her eyes. "Oh... no, it's always just been the two of us and the child."

"Has the house been cleaned recently?" Xing Zui changed tack so abruptly that Li Li didn't have time to react.

"Huh?"

"The furniture, hasn't it all been moved recently?" As he spoke, Xing Zui walked straight over to where the television cabinet was placed, crouched down, and let his long fingers sweep over a small indentation in the floor. Then he stood and walked over to the sofa, lowered himself onto it, and just as he expected, the sofa wobbled slightly.

"Yes. Some time ago, I kept coughing, an old problem of mine. I took a few courses of herbal medicine and it cleared up. The doctor said my illness was caused by a dust allergy. I noticed there was quite a bit of dust in the house, so Datong and I found a time to give the whole place a thorough clean, moved some of the larger furniture around to make the room feel a bit more spacious..."

Xing Zui didn't say anything. Seeing his silence, Li Li glanced toward him, only for their eyes to meet. Xing Zui had both hands in the pockets of his pants, looking at her with a faint, unreadable smile. Li Li hurriedly looked away again.

"Thank you for your cooperation, I won't take up any more of your time." With that, Xing Zui walked toward the door.

"Ah... alright, shall we sit for a while longer?"

At the door, Xing Zui turned the handle, then turned back and added coolly, "I'll be disturbing you again." With that, he slid the iron security door shut.

Leaving Lin Datong's home, Xing Zui returned straight to the station. As he stepped through the front doors, he happened to see Cui Jingfeng and Xie Xun also just coming back, so he gathered the team for a meeting.

"How did it go at the construction site?"

Cui Jingfeng said, "From what Lin Datong's three coworkers told me, Lin Datong went to work at the construction site on October 7th and left after finishing his shift. The three of them went out for drinks and went home to sleep afterwards. I had Blindy check with the roadside stall where they drank, and they didn't lie. Later, I visited each of their homes one by one. There were witnesses who verified what they said, and we can preliminarily rule out their suspicion."

Then Fang Lai spoke. "I checked, Lin Datong's hometown was Luo'er Village in northern Jiangsu. His parents passed away five years ago, and he was an only child. Later, he married Li Li from the same village and moved to Dang City. That happened to be around the time of a population census, and they paid a bit of money under the table to get registered as Dang City residents."

At that point, Xie Xun chimed in, "So it costs money to register as a resident in Dang City? I'd better hold on tight to my household registration book when I get back."

Fang Lai ignored him and continued, "Four years ago, Li Li gave birth to their son, Lin Qi. Li Li works at a garment factory near the boy's school, and Lin Datong always worked at construction sites. Every now and then, he'd go drinking and gambling with his coworkers. He has no prior criminal record and hasn't borrowed any loan sharks' money, so we can rule out loan shark-related killing."

"This Lin Datong only had a vice for drinking and gambling, nothing more. Maybe it was a crime of passion?"

Xie Xun downplayed Lin Datong's hobbies, and Fang Lai disdainfully said, "Just being a violent drunk proves Lin Datong didn't exactly ooze charm. He had no money, who'd fancy him? Unless, like you, they were blind."

Normally, Fang Lai wasn't one to talk much, let alone make sarcastic remarks. Noticing his sour expression, Cui Jingfeng asked, "Looks like you don't think much of Lin Datong, eh, Fang Lai..." As he spoke, Xie Xun rubbed his chin and nodded in agreement.

At that moment, Xing Zui spoke up. "Li Datong is indeed a poor excuse for a man, but we can't rule out the possibility of a crime of passion. Fang Lai, go investigate the people Li Li usually interacts with, and what she's been doing between October 7th and now. Blindy, keep an eye on her. And Fengzi, ask around near Lin Datong's home, see if there are any other clues."

Cui Jingfeng said, "Boss, are you suspecting his wife?"

Xing Zui replied, "I visited Lin Datong's home today, Li Li kept deliberately avoiding eye contact with me."

At this, Xie Xun interjected, "Well, you're too handsome, what woman would dare look you in the eye?"

Xing Zui crossed his arms, resting his chin on his hands, and looked at Xie Xun with amusement. "And Li Li qualifies as a woman, does she?"

Xie Xun scratched his head awkwardly, and Xing Zui went on, "Lin Datong's house is most likely the first scene of the crime... Li Li claimed she's allergic to dust, to the point of needing herbal medicine. If that were true, she wouldn't be suitable for work in a garment factory."

Xie Xun said, "So Li Li is lying..."

Xing Zui rose slowly to his feet. "I'll apply for a search warrant... She couldn't have done it alone."

Cui Jingfeng immediately understood what he meant.

‿︵‿︵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: June 28, 2025 by Angel

Edited: May 14, 2026 by Angel