From Evil Sect Leader to Doctor

Li Zhong asked, "Where are we going next?"

Lu Qi replied, "Let’s go check out Chen Weiwei’s manicure shop."

As soon as he finished speaking, his phone rang.

After answering the phone, his expression became serious after a few words, and he hung up and said to Li Zhong, "The fingerprint and hair analysis results are out. The fingerprints and hair found at the crime scene all belong to Chen Weiwei."

Li Zhong said, "I thought so, this Chen Weiwei is the prime suspect, it’s most likely her!"

Lu Qi said, "You can’t say that, Chen Weiwei lacks a motive for the crime. Let’s go! Let’s check out the manicure shop first."

Chen Weiwei’s manicure shop was still in operation, but currently only one employee was preparing work, as Chen Weiwei was under police investigation. Because the fingerprints and hair found at the scene matched hers, suspicion focused on her.

At this time in the morning, the manicure shop had just opened not long ago and there were no customers yet.

Lu Qi and Li Zhong revealed their identities, and the somewhat anxious employee invited them inside.

The two had a clear division of labor, with Li Zhong responsible for inspection, and Lu Qi chatting casually with the employee.

Lu Qi showed a photo of Yang Mufeng to the employee, "Have you seen this person?"

The employee carefully examined the picture for a while and nodded, "He... he’s been here before."

"How many times? When was the most recent visit?"

"I can’t remember exactly, he doesn’t come often. The last time I saw him was... about a week ago..."

Lu Qi asked, "Do you know what his relationship with Chen Weiwei is?"

The employee shook their head.

"Try to recall the scene from the last time they met."

The employee thought hard, "I felt Sister Weiwei didn’t seem very happy to see him, and they got into an argument."

"What did they argue about?"

"I don’t know, I just saw from a distance. You know, I’m just a worker; it’s not my place to ask about the boss’s affairs."

"Where does Chen Weiwei usually keep her personal belongings?"

The employee pointed inside the shop, where there was a small dressing area with a wardrobe.

Although the wardrobe was locked, the lock was not very difficult. Lu Qi managed to open it with a flathead screwdriver.

Lu Qi found two tubes of lipstick in the wardrobe, opened an evidence bag, and placed them inside.

After thoroughly inspecting, Lu Qi asked, "Are you the one usually doing the work?"

The employee replied, "I handle the regular customers; Sister Weiwei attends to the important ones personally."

"Lu Qi, come over here!"

Lu Qi walked over to Li Zhong’s side and saw that he had found a castor bean in the work area. Recalling the ricin toxin that caused Yang Mufeng’s death, Lu Qi tensed up immediately. He decided to temporarily close the manicure shop and have the forensics team come over quickly for a full investigation.

Chen Weiwei was already aware something was off. She had been at the police station for a whole morning, and as she sat anxiously, Lu Qi and a female officer with big eyes walked in.

Chen Weiwei said, "Officer Lu, what’s going on? When will you let me go? I have a lot to handle at my shop."

Lu Qi gestured for her to sit down and said sternly, "Chen Weiwei, I have a few more questions for you."

Chen Weiwei said, "Do you suspect I’m involved in Yang Mufeng’s death?"

The female officer with big eyes said, "We haven’t started asking questions yet, how do you know what we want to ask?"

Chen Weiwei insisted, "I swear, I haven’t seen him in over a week, his business has nothing to do with me."

Lu Qi said, "There’s no need to be agitated or scared, we’re just going to ask some routine questions. You just need to clarify things."

He took out the lipstick and pushed it toward Chen Weiwei, "Is this lipstick yours?"

Chen Weiwei picked it up and glanced at it, then nodded.

The female officer with big eyes said, "Answer!"

Chen Weiwei said, "It looks like mine."

"Is it?"

Chen Weiwei was about to cry, "I don’t know. I do have lipstick of this brand and shade, but I’m not sure if it’s mine."

Lu Qi said, "We found it in your wardrobe."

Chen Weiwei paused, "You searched my place?"

Lu Qi said, "We have a warrant for search."

Chen Weiwei said, "What are you trying to prove?"

Lu Qi said, "We found castor oil in your manicure shop."

Chen Weiwei said, "Castor oil? Yes, those who do manicures frequently often have brittle nails, which can delaminate and lose shine. I found that using castor oil on nails helps with that. What’s suspicious about it?"

Lu Qi asked, "Did you extract the castor oil yourself or purchase a ready-made one?"

"Of course, it’s purchased. Extracting oil is a hassle, why would I do that?"

Lu Qi said, "We found castor seeds in your shop."

"Yes, I have it to introduce to customers. Our castor oil is all naturally refined, and those are samples for demonstrations."

"You just said they were purchased finished products."

Chen Weiwei became agitated: "Do you understand promotion? Customers are very picky these days."

Lu Qi asked, "Did you graduate from a medical secondary school?"

Chen Weiwei responded, "What exactly do you want to ask?"

Lu Qi continued, "What was your major back then?"

"Biopharmaceuticals! What about it? Are you investigating a case or a household registration?"

Lu Qi closed the file.

Chen Weiwei asked, "Are you done? Can I leave now?"

"Sorry, you can’t leave yet."

"Why?"

Lu Qi said, "Some hair and fingerprints found at the scene have been proven to belong to you.

Chen Weiwei exclaimed, "Impossible, I never went there, you’re trying to frame me!"

The female officer sternly said, "Watch your language!"

Lu Qi said, "Calm down. You better carefully recall every detail from last night."

Chen Weiwei leaned on the table, her hands in her hair: "My mind is a mess now. Let me calm down."

Lu Qi said, "One last question, did you personally pay for the house you’re living in now?"

Chen Weiwei bit her lip: "Yang Mufeng gave me some money."

"Gave or lent?"

Chen Weiwei’s face paled: "He gave it to me."

Lu Qi said, "We found an IOU in the deceased’s office drawer." He passed a photocopy of the IOU to Chen Weiwei.

Seeing her own signature on it, Chen Weiwei’s lips trembled.

Lu Qi said, "According to this IOU, he lent you one million. Handwriting analysis has confirmed that you personally signed it."

Chen Weiwei said, "He tricked me into signing it; that one million was promised to me."

Lu Qi said, "You should calm down and tell the truth about everything if you want to clear your name. Hiding or lying will only cause unnecessary trouble for you in the end."

Lu Qi left the interrogation room, and the female officer followed him out: "Senior Brother, why didn’t you continue questioning? She’s already lost her composure. We should strike while the iron is hot."

Lu Qi smiled, "What do you think?"

"It’s highly likely that Chen Weiwei is the murderer."

Lu Qi countered, "A murderer capable of poisoning someone in public must have a very strong mentality and consider everything thoroughly. Even if the hair might have been shed unintentionally, what about the fingerprints? Assuming it’s Chen Weiwei, she could have easily taken away the cup as evidence."

"Maybe she was careless."

"Why would she kill Yang Mufeng? There must be a motive for the crime."

"She owed Yang Mufeng one million. I think after they broke up, Yang Mufeng asked for the money back, and Chen Weiwei, pushed to the edge, contemplated murder."

Lu Qi said, "Chen Weiwei’s nail salon is in a prime location, and her net profit is about thirty thousand a month. Her annual income should be about three hundred thousand. Plus, she’s a beauty influencer. I had someone check her account; even though she hasn’t been broadcasting for long, she still makes about ten thousand a month, not counting profits from selling cosmetics."

"Making that much? Our police salary is really low." Women always focus on different things.

Lu Qi said, "With an income of nearly five hundred thousand a year, would you murder someone just because they asked you to repay a debt of one million?"

"I’m a cop. I wouldn’t do anything illegal."

"Chen Weiwei has the means to repay it, and she’s young and attractive. Gambling her future over one million doesn’t seem reasonable."

"Maybe Yang Mufeng pushed her too far."

Lu Qi said, "Yang Mufeng is also considered a successful person. His annual salary at Huanyan Health is two million, and he’s generous with women. He wouldn’t ruin things with a woman over one million."

"Senior Brother, do you believe Chen Weiwei is innocent because she’s pretty?"

Lu Qi smiled, "That’s not the reason. I went to Chen Weiwei’s nail salon today, and Li Zhong found some castor seeds in the corner."

"Wasn’t Yang Mufeng killed by ricin? Chen Weiwei studied biopharmaceuticals in the past; she might know how to extract ricin."

Lu Qi didn’t say anything, but he felt that all evidence was pointing towards Chen Weiwei. Normally, Chen Weiwei would be the most suspicious, but when pieced together, these clues seemed like deliberate markers leading to Chen Weiwei.

The lipstick on the collar, the fingerprints on the wine glass, the hair on the sofa, the WeChat message Yang Mufeng sent to Chen Weiwei, and the castor seeds at the nail salon.

At the scene, Yang Mufeng’s phone wasn’t logged into WeChat; almost none of his social media accounts were logged in, indicating he had recently switched phones. But where’s his old phone? Where is his old phone?

"Maybe Chen Weiwei took it and disposed of it."

Lu Qi said, "Based on Chen Weiwei’s description, investigate the surveillance of her route last night and pinpoint the exact times she passed each intersection."

"Got it!"

Lu Qi went to the forensic department. The autopsy report had come out; Yang Mufeng died between eight and nine in the evening. The direct cause was ricin, but no ricin was found in the wine glass at the scene. It’s unclear how the poison was administered.