False evidence

Chapter 21 Veterinarian
Gao He's eyes narrowed, and at the same time, Tong Xiangnan grabbed my sleeve. "Who killed my sister?!"

"Don't touch him! Sit down!" Gao He showed a stern expression for the first time.

He then turned his head to look at me: "Who is the murderer?"

I took a deep breath and mustered my courage to say, "Male, photographer, around twenty years old."

Gao He closed his eyes. "Besides the studio owner, the other two photographers are both men, and they're about the same age..."

I asked, "How old is Tong Liru?"

Gao He immediately replied, "39!"

I said, "If you didn't falsify your registered age, then you should be the youngest one."

I pointed at Pidan with my other hand, "That's the one who took her picture!"

Gao He stared at me for a while, then suddenly grabbed the phone:
"Everyone, move out! Including the photo studio owner, all nine people must be in custody within one hour!"

"You're not a police officer, you're... a veterinarian?" Tong Xiangnan finally stood up and asked me, "How do you know who the murderer is?"

I took a deep breath, met his gaze for a moment, and then looked at Gao He.

Gao He seemed to sense something was amiss and said in a deep voice, "Say what you want to say!"

I shook my head and pointed at Tong Xiangnan: "Can we take him back first?"

Tong Xiangnan suddenly grabbed me. "Liru is my only family. I broke the law, and I'm willing to pay the price. But if you only say half of what you mean, I'll die. You studied psychology, and you're even more narrow-minded."

Gao He remained unmoved by his behavior, only staring at me and saying, "So young, why are you so hesitant? Can't you just be straightforward?"

I took another deep breath and felt that this world was incredibly cruel.

Pidan was also affected by the atmosphere, and neither she nor her mother dared to say a word.

I hesitated for a moment, then turned to Tong Xiangnan and said, "When we last met, seeing you, I... imagined something in my mind."

Tong Xiangnan, on the contrary, calmed down, took two steps back, and leaned against the wall. He didn't say anything, but just stared straight at me.

Looking at the wound near his nose on the left side of his eye, I gritted my teeth and said, "I was wrong last time. Back then, you should have had two other relatives. Now, you only have one left."

"What do you mean?" Gao leaned back heavily in his chair, staring at me.

I felt a bit numb in my brain. I subconsciously took two steps back and sat heavily on the sofa. After a long silence, I looked up at Gao He and asked, "Where's the child?"

"What?" Perhaps my voice was too soft, because Gao He and Tong Xiangnan both leaned forward and asked at the same time.

I swallowed hard and raised my voice, "A child! Tong Liru's child! If he's not dead, he should be between eighteen and twenty years old this year!"

I pointed to the photos scattered on the table. "In these photos, all the women have different expressions. That's because they look different, and their expressions are different. But their eyes are all similar! Some are happy, some are helpless, and some are mercenary..."

But their similar gazes indicated that they were photographed by the same photographer! This is because photographers only have a few tricks up their sleeves when it comes to making people laugh! What a coincidence—the same receptionist, the same photographer, and the women are all single mothers…”

Gao He said, "This cannot be used as direct evidence. Also, repeat what you just said to me, what child?"

Perhaps because he was anxious about the case, he spoke very rudely.

I jumped up, looked around, and asked him, "Do you have a magnifying glass?"

"What do you want to say?" Gao's tone became even more stern.

Feeling somewhat lost, my gaze inadvertently fell on an unopened file folder on the table. I quickly pointed at the folder with one hand and at Tong Xiangnan with the other:

"Find the youngest photographer and see if he looks like him!"

Gao He emptied all the photos and documents from the file bag, quickly examined them, then looked up at Tong Xiangnan, took a deep breath, and slowly pushed a photo in front of me: "Sun Jing, registered age is 21, and his registered residence is less than 300 kilometers away from Tong Liru's hometown."

Tong Xiangnan was also breathing heavily: "When I was giving Liru psychological counseling, I asked her... what happened to that child back then. She said... the child was sold by her mother. She didn't know where the child was sold to."

Gao He's lips curled down for a moment, then he picked up the phone again: "Arrest Sun Jing!"

"What? He's not home?"

"Find! Find! Find!"

Gao He erupted into a rage on the phone, yelling, "Ignore everyone else, just arrest him!"

Gao's anger came and went quickly. After hanging up the phone, although he was still a little out of breath, his expression had calmed down considerably. He opened a drawer, took out a very professional magnifying glass, and began to examine the photos one by one again.

"call……"

He put down what he was holding, leaned back heavily in his chair, looked up at me with his eyes down, but didn't say anything.

Instead, Tong Xiangnan said to me, "These are just sample photos taken by the photo studio. They haven't been enlarged. In photos, the pupils of the people in the photos may reflect the photographer's image, but with photos of this size... how could you possibly see the image in the pupils?"

I shook my head, walked up to Gao He, and held out my hand across the table: "Can you give me a certificate?"

"Not for now."

"Why?" I had a bad feeling.

Gao looked up at me for a moment, then suddenly said, "I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my temper flaring. "What else do you want from me?"

Gao He leaned back in his chair again, somewhat weakly saying, "Last time... about Elephant Trunk Lane, we've already communicated and explained to the school. But... but about you working at the Sichuan restaurant... about that drink, they went back on their word and said it wasn't like that at all. The key... the key is that the restaurant owner... probably under some kind of pressure, also went back on his word and stopped testifying for you."

"Heh...haha...and then what happened?"

Gao He covered his eyes, put his hands down and looked at me: "Don't rush, let me try harder to fix it for you."

You fucking lied to me!

I kicked his desk hard.

Gao He simply closed his eyes, turning the swivel chair around as well.

I never imagined that it would be Tong Xiangnan who would comfort me at this crucial moment.

"Don't be impulsive! Officer Gao will definitely help you with this. But... it's not easy. Here's what we'll do: write down this phone number. It's my friend, a lawyer. You contact her, and I'll settle all the expenses with her."

"Why should I?" I asked him sideways, my eyes red.

Tong Xiangnan actually laughed. "Two reasons. First, you helped my sister. Second, you really look like me when I was young."

I looked at Gao He again. Gao He still had his eyes closed: "I told you, I'll do my best to help you with this, even if it means stripping myself naked!"

"Thank you!"

I said bitterly, "I'm sorry, but there are no suitable jobs for me where I live now. Since I can't... I can't go to school... I... I'm short of money."

Gao He, with his eyes closed, took out his wallet, pulled out a card, and handed it to me with his eyes still closed: "This is my secret stash. Even my wife doesn't know about it. The password is... Take this in case of an emergency."

I took the card without ceremony, grabbed the half-pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from the table, and turned to leave.

As soon as the door opened, Tong Xiangnan said from behind, "I still suggest you find a lawyer. Her number is... By the way, her surname is Bai, and her name is Bai Jing."

(End of this chapter)