Chapter 483 - Assault
Sitting on the couch, Xia Yu shook his legs as he drank tea while patiently reporting the information he got on Ling Yu, "There doesn't seem to be anything unusual with that brat. Aside from treating patients in streets and alleys, he hasn't been doing anything special. His consultation costs a standard price of ¥50, and he doesn't seem to have the bearing of a divine physician."
However, Su Tao's expression had turned solemn upon hearing this and sighed, "You're wrong. He's accumulating his fame right now, and he's just using a different method!"
"Oh? He can gain fame from treating those old ladies?" Xia Yu doubted.
"We aren't the only one paying attention to Ling Yu right now, the judges of the National Healer Selection are also paying attention to him. Or put it in this manner, all the participants are being watched by the judges. Aside from it being one of his habits to treat common folks, Ling Yu is also doing it for the judges. Look at it in this way, if you're one of the judges seeing a junior lowering his status to treat common folks, what will you think?" Su Tao smiled
With Su Tao's explanation, Xia Yu instantly figured it all out as he slapped on his thigh and sighed, "If that's the case, then this brat doesn't seem to be as honest as he looks. He's pretty cunning!"
Since the beginning, Su Tao failed to see through Ling Yu, and he judged that Ling Yu seemed to be like a gentleman. Even now, he couldn't find any signs of Ling Yu being a hypocrite.
Despite his shrewdness, Su Tao believed that there were true gentlemen in the world.
He never doubted the existence of genuine benevolent people in the world.
To deal with a hypocrite like Wang Guofeng, Su Tao could afford to use schemes. But he was vexed when encountering a true gentleman, since he had no idea how to deal with Ling Yu, and it seemed like his only option was to defeat Ling Yu fair and square.
"Furthermore, Bassoon has been paying attention to Huo Kun in this period. Just recently, he met with Wang Guofeng at the golf club." Xia Yu's tone turned solemn as he analysed, "I suspect that they might be cooking another scheme."
Nodding his head, Su Tao helplessly replied, "I've already secluded myself in my apartment from the world. It's partly to make preparations for the National Healer Selection, and secondly, I'm also worried that I might fall for their schemes. Continue to keep an eye on both of them and notify me immediately if there are any movements. Aside from this matter, how's your investigation on the Witchcraft Sect going?"
"Jianwei has been searching in secret, and the Witchcraft Sect is constantly masked in a veil. We still have no news of them for the time being." Xia Yu's expression turned grave.
After a brief pondering, Su Tao gave a call to Liu Jianwei.
At this moment, Liu Jianwei was in Nanyue Province's Shenzhou City since the headquarters of the Witchcraft Sect was located there. Since he previously lived in Nanyue Province, he had some resources in Shenzhou City as well.
"How's your investigation into the Witchcraft Sect?" Su Tao turned on the speaker mode and allowed Xia Yu to join the call.
"I've found quite a lot of clues. The Witchcraft Sect doesn't have a lot of members, and their entire sect only has roughly twenty to thirty people. But needless to say, every single one of them is a formidable figure. Right now, the Witchcraft Sect is gathering their strength to take revenge against you." Liu Jianwei further continued, "All of them are formidable, and they're proficient in disguising themselves. I managed to find one of them, but he escaped when I nearly caught him."
After a brief consideration, Su Tao instructed, "They're in the dark, and you're in the light right now. There's no longer any meaning for you to stay in Shenzhou City, so leave immediately. Remember, pay attention to your safety!"
"Don't worry; those old foxes don't dare to deal with me head-on." Liu Jianwei replied in a domineering tone.
Foxes might be cunning, but they can only cower when facing a ferocious tiger.
However, Su Tao was still determined for Liu Jianwei to stop his investigation and head over to Beijing to meet up with him.
According to the intelligence provided by the 33 Bureau, the Witchcraft Sect must've hidden around him, so there might be an optimistic outcome to have Liu Jianwei investigate in Beijing instead.
Since he was still worried about his master, Jiang Qinghan, Su Tao waited for Xia Yu to leave before he gave her a call.
It has been some time since they met, and Jiang Qinghan's voice resounded with more strength.
"I was just about to call you, I never expected that you would be the one to call me first."
"It seems like our hearts are connected!" Su Tao smiled.
"Cut the nonsense!" Jiang Qinghan rebuked with an unusually stern tone before she muttered as if she was mumbling to herself, "There was a murder cast last night. The victim is a lady who was jogging in the park, and after our forensic investigation, we discovered that the victim wasn't violated. She died due to a sudden death from her exercise. But for some reason, there's something about this that feels fishy to me. I don't think that this case is that simple."
Su Tao never expected that Jiang Qinghan would talk to him about a case. With her ample experience as an officer, she had a natural sense of smell that could detect if a case was fishy, but she had just failed to discover anything suspicious about it.
"Generally speaking, this sort of case is something meticulously planned, and the culprit must have a great understanding of the victim's personal life. The culprit must be someone close to her, so you can try and start your investigation from those around her. Furthermore, I also have tons of means to kill someone without leaving any traces, which you can use as your reference." Su Tao patiently analysed.
After that, Su Tao started to describe a few methods of murdering someone from his angle as a physician.
Hearing his examples, Jiang Qinghan fell into silence and sighed, "I never expected that you would have so many bad ideas in your mind! If you committed a crime, I'm afraid that no one will be able to catch you."
"Well, I feel that you won't be willing to catch me anyways." Su Tao immediately continued, "Not only can doctors save someone, but they are also great as murderers. Send me the video later, and I'll see if I can find any clues."
"You're pretty bold!" Jiang Qinghan bitterly smiled, seeing how Su Tao took the initiative to ask for a video.
Generally speaking, people would be disgusted and horrified by gore stuff, but Su Tao wasn't.
Or perhaps it was due to his profession that he's already numb to the human body; this was Jiang Qinghan's explanation to herself regarding Su Tao's mindset.
"I'm trying to help you here! Otherwise, who's willing to see that sort of stuff?" Su Tao helplessly replied.
Hanging up the call, Jiang Qinghan soon sent a video over. The video was taken attentively, which practically included every single angle.
Su Tao paused at every second as he slowly watched the entire video before giving Jiang Qinghan a call back, "Your intuition was right. This is a murder case, and the park isn't the first crime scene!"
"Oh?" Jiang Qinghan furrowed her brows and asked, "What makes you say that?"
"Judging from the deceased's situation, she hasn't been exercising for long before her death. Regardless of her muscles, skin, or veins, there's something unusual about them. Usually, exercising will cause the pores in the body to open up, and when sudden death occurs, the pores won't have sufficient time to close up. But the bodily function still exists for a short period of time, and in a cold environment, the pores that rapidly closed up wouldn't be in a relaxed state. Instead, they would be tense and stiff. Thus, I can conclude that the victim's death isn't caused by sudden death from her exercise. She should have been murdered somewhere else before she was dumped in the park." Su Tao patiently explained.
"How did you see that?" Jiang Qinghan asked, with her brows locked.
"There's a tiny incision on her wrist, have you noticed it?" Su Tao pointed out.
"We did, but this incision is extremely small, and it has already formed a scab. Furthermore, it won't cause massive bleeding, so it can't be the cause of her death." Jiang Qinghan explained.
"That wound might not be fatal, but it has a direct connection to her death." Seeing that Jiang Qinghan still hasn't figured it out, Su Tao patiently explained, "From the forensic investigator's conclusion, the victim died because of her heart failure and further concluded that it was related to her exercise in the middle of the night. But there are many ways to cause organ failure, like being in a strained state for a long time, for example. When the heart can no longer take the strain, it will start to fail."
"Stop beating around the bush, what's your conjecture?!" Jiang Qinghan sighed.
Su Tao patiently speculated, "I suspect that the murderer captured the victim before he cut a small incision on her wrist and linked a tiny pipe to her wound to allow blood to flow, allowing the victim to think that she's constantly losing blood. When the victim thought that she's constantly losing blood, she's naturally terrified. After being in a terrified state for an extended period of time, it resulted in her heart failure. After that, the murderer dumped her corpse in the park, and created a false appearance as if she died because of her exercise."
Hearing his words, Jiang Qinghan sighed at Su Tao's compelling logical reason and asked, "What's your suggestion?"
After a brief pause, Su Tao replied, "The murderer should be someone highly educated and intelligent; he might even be in the same industry as me. Furthermore, seeing that the victim has no other wounds, the culprit must be someone close to her. At the same time, his age should be within the range of thirty-two to thirty-seven, and he might even have an intimate relationship with the victim."
Letting out a gentle breath, Jiang Qinghan bitterly smiled. "You've shrunk our investigation range by a lot, we should be able to find the culprit swiftly. Furthermore, there's another matter that I would like to remind you about. It's regarding the Witchcraft Sect…"
Su Tao knew that Jiang Qinghan talking about the case was just laying a foundation for this topic, which he interrupted, "Master, please be reassured. I'm safe in Beijing, you're the one that has to be careful."
Wearing a grave expression, Jiang Qinghan warned, "The Witchcraft Sect has existed for a long time because of their own set of rules and regulations. They won't take revenge against a public servant like me since it will cause huge implications."
"I will pay attention!" Su Tao replied after seeing how Jiang Qinghan came to an identical conclusion as the 33 Bureau.
"Oh, right. I will be coming to Beijing next week to participate in a national conference, so we can meet up at that time." Jiang Qinghan said after a brief pause.
Hearing her words, Su Tao grew a little emotional.
"Master, have you decided on your lodging?"
Just when he was about to suggest that she can stay with him if she hasn't found her lodging, Jiang Qinghan interrupted him with a smile, "They're generally prepared since this is an official trip, so you don't have to worry about that."
After chatting with Jiang Qinghan a little more, Su Tao hung up the call, and he wore a silly smile recalling Jiang Qinghan's voice.
Anyone could be in a position of showing a smitten side of them.
Suddenly, his doorbell rang, which interrupted his line of thoughts. After opening the door, he saw two officers standing outside. One of them took out his identification and asked, "You must be Su Tao, right? We're now suspecting you to be involved with a case of assault, so please make a trip with us!"
Su Tao was instantly dumbfounded. He never expected that he would become a suspect in the blink of an eye just when he helped Jiang Qinghan to resolve her case.