False evidence

Chapter 15 The Hunt for the Killer (Part 2)

As soon as they got out of the car, Gao He and Lin Dan came over together.

I looked back. "Just the two of you?"

Gao He frowned: "You haven't explained anything clearly, how am I supposed to bring people?"

I didn't say anything more to him and called Monkey again, but no one answered the phone.

Gao He said, "The killer has a new target? Who is it? Give me the address!"

"I have no idea!"

I said anxiously, looked around, and ran into the restaurant next door, "Boss, where is Pidan's house?"

The restaurant owner already recognized me, but he was a bit older and a slow-paced person, so he asked me somewhat warily, "What do you want with preserved egg?"

Gao He showed his ID: "Tell us where he lives!"

After getting the address, I rushed out the door. Just then, the heavy rain finally started.

Gao He shouted to Lin Dan, "Go turn on the sirens first!"

Amidst the piercing sirens, I rushed into the adjacent street.

In the chaos, I didn't notice anyone coming out and bumped into them head-on. The other person was knocked flat on their back by my collision.

I didn't care about the other person anymore and ran wildly through the rain until I reached the end of the street. I saw the gate of the courtyard wide open, and through the gate, I saw a person holding an umbrella at the door.

"Hey? Sanqi, you're here so soon? What's wrong? You didn't explain clearly on the phone..."

Upon seeing the monkey, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Where are Pidan and her mother?"

"Who?"

A voice came from inside the house, followed by a pretty girl carrying a folding umbrella, frowning as she walked to the door. It was none other than Pidan, whom I had seen at the clinic last time.

Gao He wiped the rain off his face, exchanged a glance with Lin Dan who had arrived later, and then both looked at me. All three of them were soaked to the bone, so they could only go into the yard and take shelter under the eaves.

After catching my breath, I asked Monkey, "Why didn't you answer the phone just now?"

The monkey grinned. "Don't even mention it! I had food poisoning at noon and have been running around all afternoon. When you called me, I was on the toilet, unable to stand up! And now, I've just arrived, and I'm at someone else's house again... I didn't bring my phone to the bathroom. By the way, you sounded like you were in a real panic on the phone, what's wrong?"

Gao He revealed his identity to Lin Dan, and not only Monkey, but even Pi Dan, who had been looking impatient, realized the seriousness of the situation and ushered the three of us into the house.

Seeing no one else around, I eagerly asked Pidan, "Where's Auntie?"

"Who's your aunt?" Pidan glanced at Gao He and said, "My mom went to play mahjong on the street in front of the house. With this heavy rain, how could she possibly come back?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than someone walked in from outside.

The man hurried to the eaves, muttering something as he closed his umbrella.

"Mom, why are you back?" Pidan asked as he walked over.

"Don't even mention it! Your Aunt Zhang was so scared by a bolt of lightning that she had a heart attack. She had to be taken away by ambulance. What's the point of playing now?"

When Egg Mom turned around, she realized there were other people in the room. "Oh dear, why are there so many people?"

When I saw her face clearly, my heart skipped a beat again.

I've only met Pidan once, and I've never met her mother. But for a moment not long ago, that unfamiliar face vividly appeared in my mind!
Pidan introduced us to her mother, then tilted her head and asked Gao He and Lin Dan, "Police officers, what brings you to our house?"

Seeing Gao He and Lin Dan both looking at me, I was speechless for a moment.

I'm increasingly realizing that what I saw in my daze was only my personal experience. To put it bluntly, it was more like my own 'fantasy'. For a moment, I did 'fantasize' about a bloody scene, but with so many people around, it's impossible for what I 'saw' to happen again. How am I supposed to explain this to them? Should I just tell the mother and daughter that someone wanted to kill them? And, I clearly saw how they died?

Gao He's phone suddenly rang. He looked at me and said to Lin Dan, "I'll take this call and go turn off the sirens while I'm at it."

After Gao He went out with an umbrella, I thought to myself that this stalemate couldn't go on forever. Just as I was wondering how to start the conversation, I noticed a delivery bag on the table.

I felt a jolt of fear, stood up, and looked around at the furnishings in the room.

In my memory, everything makes sense, but in my 'fantasy,' this delivery bag is nowhere to be found.

I picked up the delivery bag, and when Pidan saw it, he took two steps over and snatched it away, saying, "Are you crazy? Why are you touching other people's things?"

I had already noticed a detail on the surface of the courier bag and said to Lin Dan, "This could be evidence."

Pidan frowned: "You're talking nonsense! These are my private photos, how did they become evidence?"

Lin Dan walked over to her and said, "If it's not too private, can we take a look?"

"It doesn't matter whether I look at it or not," I said subconsciously. Suddenly remembering something, I asked Pidan, "There's no delivery slip on it. Was it delivered by someone? Who delivered it?"

Pidan clearly didn't like me anymore, but luckily Lindan repeated my question, so she had no choice but to answer: "It was delivered by a lady from the photo studio. She happens to live nearby and brought it back for me after get off work. Just now, Monkey Brother came in and immediately told me to go to the police station with him. The lady was afraid of delaying us, so she left without even having a sip of water."

"Oh no!" I slapped my thigh. "Was that woman about your height, and wearing big sunglasses?"

Pidan said, "Oh, she said she got a sty, and I even said I'd ask Monkey to help her..."

I abruptly interrupted her: "Does she really live nearby?"

Pidan shook his head, "That's what she said, how would I know where she lives? I didn't ask..."

Just then, the sound of police sirens could still be heard in the distance. Gao He rushed in and said in a deep voice as soon as he entered the room, "Tong Xiangnan has finally told the truth. The murderer is actually his sister!"

Lin Dan was taken aback: "His sister?"

I said, "Do you remember the woman I bumped into at the street corner before I ran in?"

Gao He and Lin Dan both widened their eyes at the same time. Lin Dan said, "Are you saying that woman is the murderer?"

"Wearing sunglasses on a cloudy, rainy day, who else could it be but her?"

Although I didn't pay attention to the person after I knocked them down, I remember very clearly that the person I knocked down was indeed wearing a pair of exaggeratedly large sunglasses.

"Lin Dan, stay behind just in case. Report to me immediately if anything happens!"

"Sanqi, if you think of anything else, tell me over the phone!" Gao He quickly said to me again, then turned and ran out.

Pidan and her mother were even more confused. Pidan tugged at me and asked, "What murderer? What exactly happened?"

I said, "That woman is very likely the perpetrator of a series of murders. Her targets have always been single mothers and daughters."

Eggplant Mom's face turned deathly pale: "You mean, she wants to kill us?"

"Why?" Pidan asked.

I shook my head, looked at Lin Dan who was looking at his phone, and suddenly a thought popped into my head: "You should have met the murderer!"

I suddenly realized that, apart from that night in Elephant Trunk Alley, every time I saw Lin Dan, I would have these 'fantasies' about this series of cases.

Lin Dan looked up and said, "I did see the murderer." He then held his phone up to me.

(End of this chapter)