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CHAPTER 11
PART 1
Tan Yong, nearly fifty years old, has had a habit for many years. Before going to bed at night, he turns off the Wi-Fi and mobile data to avoid the disturbance of notification sounds from apps like WeChat, which might disrupt his sleep. However, he keeps his phone on so that if anyone has an emergency, they can reach him by phone.
At seven in the morning, Tan Yong got up. The rented house didn't have Wi-Fi, so he turned on the mobile data on his phone, and various WeChat messages flooded in with a series of "ding dong" notification sounds.
Upon seeing the group chat messages in the 'Big Family' chat, Tan Yong's eyes widened. He hurriedly got dressed, didn't even knock on the door, and directly pushed open the adjacent door belonging to Li Bin, waking him from his slumber: "Hey, take a look at this!"
Li Bin sat up from the bed, rubbing his drowsy eyes, and asked, "What's up?"
Handing him the phone, Tan Yong replied, "Xia Qi said she knows who the culprit is?"
"Yeah, but when Wang Xingxing and Gu Lei asked her, she didn't say. She only replied, "I'll tell you tomorrow.'"
"She sent this last night, and now isn't it 'tomorrow'? Hurry, call her and ask."
Tan Yong nodded and initiated a WeChat voice call, but after ringing for a long time, Xia Qi didn't answer.
"Maybe it's too early now. She might not have gotten up or turned on the Wi-Fi. Let's just call her directly."
Tan Yong then dialed Xia Qi's phone number, but similarly, there was no answer.
"Why isn't she answering the phone?" Tan Yong muttered.
"Young girls love to sleep in. Maybe she's still asleep or her phone isn't nearby. Let's try again later."
Tan Yong didn't say anything, his brow furrowed.
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Li Bin put on his clothes and said to Tan Yong, "Anyway, our task for this period is to investigate this case. We don't need to report to the Criminal Investigation Detachment. Let's have breakfast downstairs and then contact Xia Qi."
Tan Yong actually wanted to go directly to Xia Qi's place, but it was only just past seven, and disturbing her at this hour didn't seem appropriate. So, reluctantly, he nodded.
After washing up, the two left the house and went to a breakfast shop near the community, ordering rice noodles, soy milk, and tea eggs. While eating, Tan Yong said, "What did Xia Qi do last night? How could she know who the culprit is?"
"Are you sure she really knows who the culprit is?" Li Bin slurped a mouthful of rice noodles. "Her words seemed a bit ambiguous. Maybe she's just guessing."
"Even if it's a guess, there must be some basis. She said, 'I've thought about it for a long time tonight,' indicating that her statement wasn't groundless. Besides, she knows I'm in the group chat, so obviously, she thought about it before sending such a message. I'll definitely ask her today. If there's no reasonable suspicion, would saying this make sense?"
"Yesterday, Fan Lin said Xia Qi was the prime suspect. Yet, last night, Xia Qi claimed she knew who the culprit was—it feels like she's diverting attention."
"If she's not the culprit, why would she intentionally divert our attention? In fact, if she's deliberately redirecting us, it further increases her suspicion."
"True, so when we meet her later, let's see what she says. Unless she can reasonably point out who the culprit is, we can almost conclude she is the culprit."
"Even so, we have no evidence."
"But at least, after identifying the main suspect, we can launch various psychological tactics against her, rather than facing seven or eight suspects like we are now."
Tan Yong nodded, agreeing with Li Bin's reasoning. He couldn't even finish the remaining half bowl of rice noodles, took out his phone, and tried calling Xia Qi again—yet, just like before, there was no answer.
"What if something happened to Xia Qi?" Tan Yong said.
"What could happen? I went door to door last night, reminding everyone to lock their doors securely. Could something happen in such circumstances?"
Tan Yong felt theoretically impossible, but unease persisted. This was a special situation—Xia Qi couldn't possibly sleep so soundly. After several calls and no response, either her phone wasn't nearby, which was unlikely in this modern age where people are almost inseparable from their phones, or...
Tan Yong couldn't eat anything anymore. He stood up and said, "Let's go to Xia Qi's place now!"
"Alright, let's go." Li Bin also stopped eating, wiped his mouth with a tissue, paid via WeChat, and returned to Yuehai Bay Community with Tan Yong.
Xia Qi's home was on the 9th floor, Unit 902 of Block 3. Tan Yong arrived at the door, rang the doorbell, knocked, but after waiting a few minutes, there was no response. He called Xia Qi's phone again, then pressed his ear against the security door to listen carefully. Faint music could be heard, but as soon as he hung up, the music abruptly stopped—evidently, it was Xia Qi's phone ringtone.
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"Her phone's inside, which means she's inside, but she's not answering the phone or opening the door. Something might have happened to her!" Tan Yong said, his expression serious.
Li Bin also sensed that things were amiss. "Shall I contact a locksmith to open her door?"
"I know a locksmith nearby. We're old acquaintances. I'll call him over."
This locksmith Tan Yong mentioned was the same person who opened the door to 1203 two years ago. Locksmiths need to register with the police, and this man, in his fifties, often cooperated with the police, was honest, tight-lipped, and only followed instructions without prying. Tan Yong trusted him.
After about fifteen minutes, the locksmith arrived. As usual, he was taciturn, took out his tools, and got to work. With decades of experience, he fiddled for a moment and opened the security door. Li Bin asked, "Was this door locked from the inside?"
The locksmith shook his head, "No, if it were, I wouldn't have been able to open it so easily."
Li Bin and Tan Yong exchanged a glance but refrained from saying much in front of the locksmith. Tan Yong gave the locksmith fifty bucks, saying, "Thanks, you can go now."
The locksmith nodded in acknowledgment and took the elevator downstairs.
Tan Yong and Li Bin pushed open the door and entered Xia Qi's home.
"Xia Qi?" Tan Yong called out, receiving no response.
They walked through the hallway and living room, reaching the bedroom, where they found Xia Qi lying in bed. Unable to determine her current state, Tan Yong called out again and approached.
Xia Qi lay on her side, covered with a blanket, appearing to be in deep sleep. But with his experienced eye, Tan Yong immediately noticed something was wrong. He swiftly pulled back the blanket, and both of them gasped in shock, witnessing a horrifying scene.
A knife was lodged in Xia Qi's chest area; she had been dead for quite some time.
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