Miss Forensics – Chapter 21

Volume One: First Scroll

Suspicion

Nothing is tastier than dumplings, nothing is more fun than sister-in-law.

A flurry of footsteps came from upstairs. The man in black dodged into a utility room filled with cleaning supplies, wiped the sweat from his forehead, pressed the miniature microphone on his collar, and gasped heavily.

“Stall her for ten minutes!”

The footsteps drew closer. Song Yuhang held her gun and advanced with several criminal police officers in tactical formation.

Pressed against the wall, the man in black gripped his black mechanized baton, trying to regulate his breathing. He swallowed hard, his body taut from the back of his head to his toes. Holding the baton in a reverse grip, he looked like a beast ready to pounce.

The footsteps were almost upon him. He counted silently: One, two, three…

Song Yuhang’s hand touched the doorknob. The fragile wooden door creaked softly under her touch. At that very moment, the man in black’s knuckles, gripping the mechanized baton, turned white.

He shifted his weight slightly, about to burst out and fight his way clear, when several gunshots rang out from beyond the door.

“There! Don’t let him escape!” Several criminal police officers fired their guns while chasing after someone.

A black figure leaped from the stair landing down to the first floor.

A sliver of light came through the open doorway. The footsteps outside disappeared.

The man in black slumped against the wall, letting out a few suppressed coughs. He wiped his lips; a smear of crimson stained the back of his hand.

Damn it, they’d really pushed him to this.

He glanced at his watch. Time was running out. He couldn’t delay any longer. Propping himself up with the mechanized baton, he stood, removed his hood and cumbersome clothing, grabbed some dirty cleaning uniforms from the utility room, smeared mud on his face, changing his appearance completely, and swaggered out.

“Group one, flank him!” Several plainclothes officers staking out downstairs saw someone emerge and rushed forward with their electric batons. The man in black was highly skilled. He twisted one officer’s wrist, grabbed his arm, and drove his knee upwards. The knee, one of the hardest parts of the human body, struck with tremendous force. The officer felt agonizing pain in his internal organs.

The plainclothes officer immediately spat out fresh blood and went flying!

Another plainclothes officer lunged forward, aiming a blow at the back of his head, intending to subdue him instantly.

The man in black grabbed the shoulder of the person in front of him and delivered a flying kick in mid-air. This move was quite similar to the one he’d used on Song Yuhang upstairs.

If the officer hadn’t instinctively blocked with his electric baton, his jaw would have been shattered. Even so, he staggered back several steps, his ears ringing. When he opened his mouth, he coughed up a broken tooth mixed with blood.

A dark gun barrel pointed at him. Song Yuhang gently squeezed the trigger, yet she still felt something was amiss.

This man in black was more agile and forceful than the one from before. The earlier man was also highly skilled, but definitely not forceful in the same way.

She had fought him, and she understood. That knee strike required not only quick reflexes and strong core strength, but also tremendous force to send a 1.8-meter (5’11”) tall, over 200 jin [100 kg ≈ 220 lbs] burly man flying. The previous man had agility, but lacked power. Otherwise, with that kick, Song Yuhang wouldn’t be standing here now.

Moreover, the previous man was clearly injured when he escaped. This man, however, was nimble, easily handling the siege by multiple trained criminal police officers. It even seemed like he was toying with them, not at all in a hurry to escape.

Alarm bells went off in Song Yuhang’s mind. She holstered her gun and lunged forward: “Take him alive!”

The man, seemingly sensing her intent, pushed the criminal police officer he had just apprehended towards her, slipped through the encirclement in a few swift moves like a fish, dodged left and right amidst the ensuing hail of bullets, rolled on the ground, and a bullet grazed his ear.

Facing a two-meter (6’7″) high wall, the man in black grabbed a branch, using its leverage to swing himself up. He firmly gripped the top of the wall with one hand. The branch he had just grabbed was instantly shattered by bullets.

Without hesitation, he kicked off, pulled himself up the wall, and flipped over. Bullets struck the broken tiles, sending sparks flying.

By the time Song Yuhang and her team chased after him, the long street was bustling with people, and the man had vanished without a trace.

She paced back and forth irritably, and finally couldn’t help but punch a utility pole.

Her shoulder-length hair, loose when she arrived, was now tied back, with her bangs clipped up, revealing her smooth forehead and bloodshot eyes.

She spoke through gritted teeth: “Call Forensic Doctor Lin and ask her what she is doing.”

---

“Sorry, the number you dialed is currently unavailable…”

The mobile phone screen on the pillow beside her dimmed and brightened repeatedly. The cold, automated message kept playing from the receiver.

Duan Cheng hung up, his face anxious. He couldn’t understand how Forensic Doctor Lin had become a suspect and gotten involved in this case. Two people were dead, and the charges were serious.

“Captain Song, no…no one answered…”

“Who else is in technical investigation?”

The scene had been cordoned off, the police tape stretched to the first unit’s entrance. The flashing police lights made Song Yuhang’s face appear even paler and colder.

Duan Cheng hurriedly called Zheng Chengrui, pressing the numbers while saying: “Old Zheng…Old Zheng is there. Have him go check.”

Song Yuhang hummed in acknowledgment: “Take a few more people with you.”

Take a few more people…What did that mean?

Duan Cheng dared not speculate further. The call connected quickly. Hearing half the story, Zheng Chengrui dropped the chicken leg in his hand onto the keyboard with a “plop.”

A group of criminal police officers hurried through the corridor, heading straight for the on-call room. Zheng Chengrui cleared his throat and knocked: “Forensic Doctor Lin, Forensic Doctor Lin, are you there?”

Silence. No one answered.

“Fatty” swallowed nervously and stepped back, letting another officer knock. Still no response.

They exchanged glances. Fatty took a step back, preparing to force the door open, when Lin Yan, carrying a washbasin, a towel around her neck, her hair dripping wet, and wearing a tank top and shorts, appeared in the corridor.

She seemed to have just returned from the shower room near the autopsy lab.

Her expression was somewhat displeased: “Yo, what’s with the crowd here?”

Fatty’s leg, halfway through a kick, retracted with lightning speed. He forced a smile: “No…no…Captain Song is looking for you.”

Lin Yan gestured for them to move aside, walked through them, tucked the basin under her bed, and grabbed her phone from beside her pillow. A string of unlisted numbers flashed on the screen.

She answered.

Song Yuhang’s voice was like glacial ice, and upon closer listening, there was a hint of gritted teeth.

“Li Shiping is dead.”

---

The air conditioning inside was set very low. Lin Yan shivered as soon as she entered. To preserve the scene, footprint mats had already been laid out. Sun Xiangming lay face down on the floor, a syringe beside him.

Li Shiping lay not far away, traces of blood on her lips, her hand clutching her phone tightly.

Forensics were already at work.

Putting on her gloves, Lin Yan walked over to Sun Xiangming and, together with Duan Cheng, flipped him over. Due to rigor mortis, it took some effort.

Lin Yan handed the inspection lamp to someone else, gently tilted Sun Xiangming’s jaw with her right hand. Under the lamplight, a tiny needle mark was visible on his neck.

Fang Xin picked up the syringe from the floor, placed it in an evidence bag, and handed it to her: “Preliminary assessment shows only one set of fingerprints on it. We’ll need to run a fingerprint comparison back at the station to confirm the identity.”

Song Yuhang took the bag and scrutinized it for a moment, then her gaze fell on Lin Yan.

Her eyes were indescribably cold and piercing, with a trace of disgust.

The object of her gaze pried open Sun Xiangming’s mouth, removed her mask, and leaned in slightly. Duan Cheng watched, dumbfounded, thinking she was about to have intimate contact with the deceased.

“Forensic Doctor Lin…”

Lin Yan was indeed leaning very low, one hand on the floor, her nose almost touching the deceased’s. She sniffed lightly, then, as if uncertain, repeated the action.

The scent of bitter almonds.

After confirming it several times, she stood up: “Death by central respiratory failure caused by cyanide poisoning. Whether it’s organic or inorganic cyanide will require further autopsy.”

She addressed this to Song Yuhang, who seemed to ignore her words.

Song Yuhang opened the curtains. Outside, the sky was still dim. She tried to push the window; it wouldn’t budge. Welded shut. This meant that the third person present couldn’t have climbed in through the window.

She returned to the door.

Signs of struggle were concentrated around the entrance. The lock was intact, but there were compression marks on the side of the door. She touched it lightly with a gloved finger, and some wood shavings fell off.

She instructed someone to take photos and collect samples.

Since the lock was intact, it meant this person hadn’t forced entry. He knew both Sun Xiangming and Li Shiping; perhaps Li Shiping had opened the door for him.

Why?

Wasn’t Li Shiping afraid it was the police?

Or did she already know this person would come?

Song Yuhang glanced over. Lin Yan was squatting, conducting a preliminary examination of Li Shiping. The mask obscured most of her charming face. Her hair was neatly tucked into her cap, revealing her slender, white nape.

Song Yuhang strode over.

A shadow suddenly fell before Lin Yan, blocking the light of her inspection lamp.

Lin Yan looked up impatiently: “Move, don’t you know you’re blocking the light?”

Song Yuhang stared into her eyes, her gaze deep, as if trying to discern a hidden message in her face.

Lin Yan felt unnerved under this scrutiny, but forced herself to remain calm, her amorous eyes revealing a hint of playfulness.

“What is it, Captain Song? Have you taken a fancy to me? I wouldn’t mind, after all, nothing is tastier than dumplings, nothing is more fun than sister-in-law, wouldn’t you say?” [好吃不过饺子，好玩不过嫂子 | hǎochī bùguò jiǎozi, hǎowán bùguò sǎozi | This is a vulgar proverb/saying implying a sexual innuendo related to a brother’s wife. The first part about dumplings is a common saying without such connotation]

Fang Xin coughed lightly and turned away, tugging on Duan Cheng’s clothes.

Duan Cheng, still holding a magnifying glass and examining the deceased’s mouth, was caught off guard and dragged away by his collar.

“Ah…ah, I haven’t finished looking yet…”

“Look later!”

As their eyes met, Song Yuhang crouched down and seemingly intimately put her arm around Lin Yan’s shoulders, only she knew how much force she was using.

Lin Yan winced in pain, feeling as though her bones were being crushed, but she couldn’t flinch, let alone retaliate.

Just like that night, they spoke close to each other’s ears.

“Li Shiping is dead.” Song Yuhang’s voice was almost a growl.

Lin Yan pointed to the corpse before them, her eyes feigning innocence: “I know, isn’t that why I’m here?”

“Ding Xue is dead, Sun Xiangming is dead, they are all dead, are you happy now?”

Her cool lips were almost touching Lin Yan’s ear.

Lin Yan turned her head, and were it not for the mask, they would have almost kissed.

She looked into the light brown eyes before her and said casually: “What’s there to be happy about? I’d rather get more sleep.”

Her expression was open, without a trace of evasion in her eyes or brows.

Someone like Lin Yan was far more difficult to deal with than Sun Xiangming.

Song Yuhang still held her shoulder, peering into those dark pupils.

They were empty, reflecting only her own image.

She smiled as well: “Forensic Doctor Lin, you have quite the mentality. Still able to sleep. Did you hear the cries of Sun Xiangming’s parents and daughter downstairs? White-haired parents burying their child, a young child losing both parents, many things can happen in a long night, hell is empty and all the devils are here. I hope Forensic Doctor Lin sleeps well every night.”

She spoke lightly, then leaned in again, lowering her voice with a hint of seduction.

Warm breath brushed against Lin Yan’s earlobe.

Lin Yan moved; Song Yuhang prevented her from escaping, her lips nearly grazing her ear, tracing the delicate curve down to her neck.

She inhaled lightly, as if sighing: “Forensic Doctor Lin, your perfume today is quite unique. I’ll remember it.”

“Captain Song, the neighborhood canvass—” Someone approached with a notepad and pen. Song Yuhang released Lin Yan and stood up, as if nothing had happened.

Lin Yan lowered her eyes slightly, rubbing her sore shoulder, her lips barely moving as she muttered: “Damn, teasing me.”

She made a mental note of this, vowing to return the favor with interest.

Looking at Ding Xue’s pale, bloodless face, Lin Yan paused for a moment, reaching out to pick up the mobile phone on Ding Xue’s chest when her own phone rang.

She took off her gloves and stepped aside to answer: “Hello?”

The moment the person on the other end spoke, her expression changed. She snatched off her cap and ran outside.

Song Yuhang reached out to stop her: “Where are you going?!”

Lin Yan roughly grabbed her collar, shoving her aside: “Get out of my way! Don’t stop me, or I won’t let you off!”

Those usually mocking, disdainful, cold, or sarcastic eyes held a rare flicker of panic.

While Song Yuhang was momentarily stunned, Lin Yan had already let go and run off. She rushed downstairs and hailed a taxi.

“Driver, Tai’an Psychiatric Hospital.”

She fastened her seatbelt, her expression anxious. As the car slowly pulled out of the residential complex, body bags were being carried down from upstairs.

The moment the elderly couple saw the body bag, they collapsed to the ground, wailing.

Ding Xue’s mother held Ding Ya in her arms. The little girl cried, reaching out for her father. The mother pulled her back, wiping away her own tears.

Song Yuhang looked up at the sky, which had started to drizzle. She recalled Li Shiping’s smile when she spoke of Ding Xue during their visit to her home.

“She was an excellent teacher, a kind and gentle person, well-educated and refined, treating all students equally…”

Even though Ding Xue was gone, the thought of loving someone should bring a warm smile to one’s face, no matter when or where they are remembered.

Her gaze followed Lin Yan’s departing taxi. The miniature microphone in her ear transmitted a crackling sound.

“Still following?”

Song Yuhang lowered her voice: “Yes. She’s cunning. Be careful.”

---

LP: Re-translated on March 19, 2025

---

---