Case Files Chapter 24: Angel of Death (4)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

“Right, you seem to be very familiar with this place,” commented Lu YunYang.

“Yes, after I bumped my head, I stayed in this hospital, and I’ve been here several times later.” Guan Jin recalled a certain doctor, and his skin prickled.

“Well, it just so happens that I have a friend here. I want to get a better understanding of the first victim’s death, so with his help, it’ll be a lot more convenient,” said Lu YunYang.

“The first case? The one from two years ago?”

“Yes, that’s the starting point of the series of cases. Usually, the first case is best for understanding what conditions triggered the murderer’s motives.”

“What if they’ve committed an earlier murder?”

“That’s also possible, but currently, we only have these to work with, so let’s check it out.”

The two of them walked towards the Medical Department and slowly approached an office at the end of the corridor. Guan Jin suddenly felt very apprehensive. Lu YunYang knocked on the door. “Please come in.”

The doctor sitting behind the desk stood up, and Guan Jin froze immediately; enemies really were bound to meet on narrow roads.

“I heard that you became a policeman? You’ve really started to investigate cases?” teased the doctor.

“Yes, I’m just repaying my country.”

“Huh? Aren’t you…” The doctor pointed at Guan Jin. “You again?”

Guan Jin coldly scoffed, “I’d like to ask you the exact same thing back, doctor.”

“It turns out that you were Guan Jin’s doctor. Hey, this isn’t acceptable, our Little Jin still has amnesia.”

“That’s his brain’s problem, not mine.”

This is the unscrupulous doctor’s true nature, don’t you see?!

“Jiang Tong is a good friend of mine. Right, he’s your leader’s older brother, and we met through Jiang Tong,” introduced Lu YunYang.

Guan Jin froze for a moment. Damn, I finally know what it means for birds of the same feather to flock together! These three are all my nemeses!!!

“Right, I happen to have a problem and want to ask you for help.”

“Ask away.”

“You’ve heard about the case today, right? Two years ago, it was also a nurse that was killed in the same way, and from what I know, she worked in inpatient care.”

“Are you talking about Fang XiuQin? Yes, she indeed did work in inpatient care, I knew her.”

“Can you talk about this person in general? Anything you have an impression of.”

Jiang Tong thought for a moment. “Fang XiuQin was in her early thirties at the time, and she was very experienced. She was very careful and quite enthusiastic towards people. She probably liked this profession, so she wasn’t very ambitious.”

Guan Jin suddenly asked, “During her nursing process, did she ever have any conflicts with the patients, or any large grudges?” 

Lu YunYang looked at Guan Jin with an approving gaze for having gotten to the main point so quickly. Unfortunately, it was completely ignored.

“I haven’t heard of anything like that. Even if there were, it shouldn’t have been that big of a problem, or else everyone would’ve known about it. I’ll go find a nurse that worked together with her at the time and was quite close to her, and you two can ask her these questions.” Jiang Tong dialed a number.

The person who came was someone that had grown up in the same hometown as Fang XiuQin, and when the two of them graduated, they had both been assigned to this hospital. “Ah, it’s been two years, I didn’t expect that something like this would happen again.”

“Did Fang XiuQin have any enemies?” asked Guan Jin.

“XiuQin was very honest, sometimes a little too much so, and if she didn’t really like a newcomer or a patient, she’d say it. She probably offended many people, but definitely not enough for someone to want to kill her!”

After they asked a few questions, they sent the nurse away. Lu YunYang pondered for a while and said, “Jiang Tong, I have a request.”

“Hm, by the way you said that, I feel as if you want me to climb a mountain of swords or plunge into a sea of lava.”

“Ha, I just want to look at the daily work dynamic of the nurses that work in inpatient care. It won’t disturb their work.”

Jiang Tong nodded helplessly. “Fine. You can, but it’s too late today.”

“No worries, I’m not in a hurry.”

Suddenly, the door opened, and someone poked their head in. “Brother…”

Lu YunYang and Guan Jin said in unison, “Wu Meng?”

Wu Meng walked in. “Officers? It’s you two? Did you come to investigate the case?”

Jiang Tong was surprised. “You guys know each other?”

“These two officers are the ones who questioned me earlier.”

Lu YunYang understood. “This is your aunt’s daughter? Your little sister?”

“Yes. Yesterday, when she went on her night shift, I heard that something had happened, so I was shocked and quickly went out to take a look. I happened to bump into her as she was entering the hospital.” Jiang Tong said to Guan Jin, “Officer, for the safety of my little sister and the many angels in white, you’ll have to crack the case as early as possible.”

“Officer, if there’s anything I can help with, just ask! My brother’s friends are my friends, and I would bend over backwards for my friends!” boasted Wu Meng.

“What are you rambling about?!”

“I might really need Wu Meng’s help.” Guan Jin had an idea.

“What is it?!” Wu Meng excitedly bounced over.

“Gather the nurses’ discussions and any information, whether they’re true or not, and send them to me.” Guan Jin offered his business card to her.

“That’s dangerous!” protested Jiang Tong.

Lu YunYang took the business card and wagged it at Wu Meng. “It’s fine if you want to participate, but you have to promise not to investigate anything. You can only listen, and don’t pretend to be a detective. It’s a risky business.”

“Okay!” Wu Meng grabbed the card. “Rest assured, although I really like to read mystery novels, I’m very timid, and I cherish my life. I understand that curiosity kills the cat.”

Jiang Tong couldn’t do anything except glare fiercely at Guan Jin.

“So now I’m a spy for the police? Ahaha!” Wu Meng crazily ran a few circles around the room, clutching the business card, before she bounded out like a rabbit.

Guan Jin turned around and looked at the stony Doctor Jiang, “You two are really relatives?”

“Nonsense!”

*****

“Do you suspect it has something to do with medical malpractice or a doctor-patient relationship?” Guan Jin asked on the way back.

“I think that there’s something wrong with this line of reasoning now. It’s true that two of the victims out of these three cases were nurses from the same hospital, but don’t forget that the second victim worked at a nearby private clinic, so it’s really hard to link them with these other two,” replied Lu YunYang.

“Aren’t you the expert? You don’t have any idea either?”

“I’m an expert in academic research, but in real cases, there are a lot of complicated variables and clues that need to be dug up. The police are better at these.”

“You mean, you’re going to wait for us to finish investigating everything while you sit back and then give a summary at the end?”

“It’s not ‘us’, it’s them. You’re with me now,” corrected Lu YunYang. Then, he asked, “Shall we have dinner together?”

“No need, I don’t want to get indigestion.”

Lu YunYang didn’t insist. He dropped Guan Jin off, waved goodbye, and left.

Guan Jin climbed upstairs and flopped onto his bed, unmoving.

It wasn’t a problem if his body was exhausted, but it was problematic if he was mentally tired. He kept warning himself to sit on the sidelines and go with the flow, but he had accidentally gotten trapped in and was even seriously considering this case. His mind was practically playing tug-of-war with itself, which didn’t do him any good at all.

Guan Jin rolled over and sat up, still feeling quite conflicted. His current life didn’t seem to be as repulsive as it had initially seemed, and he felt quite content with it. These cases piqued his curiosity and determination to never admit defeat, and the process wasn’t even that tedious. Of course, if there wasn’t that annoying piece of ‘plaster’ always sticking to him, then everything would be even more perfect. Could he really just continue living like this?

Anyway, the future was still an unknown, and there was only one thing for certain: he wanted revenge! As an assassin for over a dozen years, having been sniped by someone else was ridiculous. Guan Jin sat at his desk, opened his computer, and logged onto the forum.

There was a reply!

[You still have the leisure to look at the stars? Come back tomorrow to play Texas Hold’em with me!]

Guan Jin couldn’t stop his racing heart: It was Tony! These were code words that only they knew! He had finally gotten in touch with that brat!

Tony was from Texas, and this meant that he was inviting Guan Jin to contact him directly on a chatting interface. The so-called tomorrow was a time that they had arranged, effective everyday.

Guan Jin picked up his briefcase and rushed out the door. He found a low-profile cafe nearby and used the public wifi to log onto a chat interface he hadn’t used for a very long time.

Sure enough, Tony’s profile picture was lit up. However, after a while, he didn’t send anything.

[Ethan: What are you pretending to be dead for?!]

[Tony: …Who are you?]

[Ethan: Who do you think?]

[Tony: How do you know Ethan’s and my code words and his account information?]

[Ethan: I’m the person he trusts the most.]

[Tony: What?! Bullshit, didn’t he say that he trusted me the most!]

[Ethan: Which is why he died.]

[Tony: …You don’t suspect me, do you? Why would his death be beneficial to me?!]

[Ethan: First, tell me how he died.]

[Tony: It’s a long story. That day, after we finished the mission, he didn’t show up at our designated meeting spot. I couldn’t help but violate the rules and search along the route he took. I saw that kid lying dead there, with his eyes still open. I was shocked. It was clearly him who had gone to kill someone, yet he ended up dying himself.]

[Ethan: And then?]

[Tony: And then, I bought him a very nice coffin and spot in the graveyard, which cost quite a bit of money.]

 

Guan Jin rubbed his temples. Having a partner like this, it would’ve been strange if he hadn’t died!