Reservoir Dogs chapter 99
Field Visit
The case files were all available for review, and Jiang Chengyuan had researched them thoroughly beforehand. This time, they were making a field visit to check for any overlooked details or contradictions not covered in the documents.
After nearly six years, people and things had changed drastically. The criminal police who had investigated the case back then had been promoted to other locations, and only two assisting officers were still around, but they were both out on fieldwork. After finding nothing at the police station, they decided to visit the crime scene. The bar from back then had closed and turned into a bathhouse, with the owner having changed twice.
Jiang Chengyuan got out of the car and stood at the intersection in front of the bar, observing the surroundings and trying to match them with the descriptions in the files. Back then, Li Xin and Xiao Zhou had a dispute, and Xiao Zhou left first. After Li Xin was helped up by his companions, he went back to his booth, drank a few more drinks, had a fit of temper, and was then sent home by his companions.
Jiang Chengyuan returned to the car and instructed Ji Yang to drive to Li Xin’s home.
Not far from the crime scene, it was a regular residential area with a six-story building. But from the moment they approached the nearby neighborhood, Jiang Chengyuan’s expression became somewhat subtle. Once they parked in the neighborhood, Jiang Chengyuan walked to the base of the building, looked up, and did not hurry to go up.
Ji Yang found it strange and asked what he was doing.
Jiang Chengyuan shook his head and walked into the hallway. Although Li Xin’s home was on the fifth floor, Jiang Chengyuan stopped at the fourth floor, squatted down, and retrieved a key from under the doormat at the entrance of the household on the left.
Ji Yang, seeing the key in Jiang Chengyuan’s hand and the dust that had accumulated from disuse, widened his eyes in surprise, “How did you know there was a key here?”
Jiang Chengyuan’s expression turned serious, his brows furrowed, and he muttered to himself, “It really is here…”
Ji Yang watched him open the unlocked iron door, then use the key to open the inner door, and could only exclaim, “What are you doing? This is someone else’s house. Isn’t this considered breaking and entering?”
As the door opened, a stale, musty smell that indicated a lack of ventilation wafted out. The room was dimly lit, and dust particles floated in the air, revealing an extremely simple interior.
Jiang Chengyuan walked in, touched the thick layer of dust on the shoe cabinet by the door, clearly indicating that no one had lived here for a long time.
Standing at the doorway, Ji Yang finally reacted, “Do you know the people who live here?”
Jiang Chengyuan turned around and nodded, “This was my mentor’s home. After he divorced his wife, he moved here alone. I only came here once after he passed away, so my memory is a bit hazy. I just wanted to give it a try.” He then walked further inside. It was a small apartment with a straightforward layout, combining the living room and dining area, with one kitchen, one bathroom, one bedroom, and a study.
Following behind him, Ji Yang was dumbfounded, “How could it be such a coincidence?”
“It really is a coincidence.”
Since no one had been there for a long time, the furnishings remained as they were when the occupant was alive.
Standing in the center of the room, Jiang Chengyuan observed everything around him. On the coffee table in the living room, there was a TV remote, a notebook with a pen, some gold and silver foil paper, and a bag of already folded incense paper in the corner of the sofa. On the dining table, there was a teapot, teacups, and a bag of traditional Chinese medicine with hospital markings, pressed under a medical record. Jiang Chengyuan walked over to take a look; the date was still recent.
Everywhere bore traces of the deceased’s life, leaving Jiang Chengyuan somewhat dazed, as if seeing his mentor’s thin figure pacing around the room, sitting alone on the sofa folding the incense paper. Shortly after his mentor’s death, it was Wanwan’s death anniversary, and those incense papers were likely folded for her.
At this thought, Jiang Chengyuan paused and furrowed his brow again. Previously, Liang Hanqing had told him that their mentor became ill from grief over his daughter’s suicide and his subsequent divorce, and then jumped to his death. The details were not clearly stated, but looking at the hurried arrangement of the room now, it was indeed unexpected.
On the coffee table was a notebook. Jiang Chengyuan picked it up and flipped through a couple of pages. They were cases Wu Yichang had handled before his death. Each case was categorized with label paper, separated one by one. The last case was unfinished, related to a mining contract fraud case, with only a few points recorded due to it still being under trial. To an outsider, it looked like messy scribbles, but Jiang Chengyuan, having worked with Wu Yichang for nearly ten years, was familiar with his handwriting and knew from the points listed that it was another tough case.
Closing the notebook and putting it back, he found it suspicious but didn’t dwell on it.
They left Wu Yichang’s home and went upstairs to briefly understand the situation of the deceased, Li Xin. Li Xin’s parents were both home. Ji Yang pretended they were reporters preparing a report on recent criminal death cases to learn about the situation and gave them an interview fee, which made the elderly couple let their guard down.
After leaving Li Xin’s home, Ji Yang, who initially didn’t know much about the case, also sensed something was wrong, “There are many suspicious points in his parents’ account that weren’t mentioned in the case files.”
Jiang Chengyuan nodded, “According to the case files, Li Xin left the bar at 10:20 PM. We just drove from the bar to here in twenty minutes despite the city traffic, but his parents said he didn’t get home until midnight.”
“Exactly, the timeline doesn’t match up. And the injuries—his parents said he was covered in blood when he got home, but his friends’ testimonies stated that his injuries were minor and they had given him simple first aid.”
“And the blood on Li Xin’s clothes that didn’t belong to him, which still hasn’t been identified.”
“The most likely scenario is that he had another altercation with someone,” Ji Yang frowned, “but if Li Xin did have a conflict with someone else, why didn’t he mention anything to his parents when he got home?”
“Maybe he was drunk at the time? A head injury could also cause temporary memory loss or confusion, making it hard for him to explain clearly.”
Ji Yang thought for a moment, “That’s possible. Anyway, something must have happened during that missing time.”
Jiang Chengyuan nodded, “If we can’t find the real culprit, the key will be the forensic evidence. If it can’t conclusively prove that the injury causing Li Xin’s death was from the scuffle at the bar, we can overturn the original verdict due to insufficient evidence.”
Ji Yang sighed, “That’s easier said than done. Without the real culprit or other solid evidence, reopening a closed case is nearly impossible.”
Jiang Chengyuan also agreed with Ji Yang’s words. It would not be easy for the judiciary to overturn the original judgment. Not only would it be a court assessment item, but there would also be concerns about the possibility of wrongful release, which could have a more severe social impact than sticking with the original decision.
As they walked down the stairs and passed the fourth floor, Jiang Chengyuan stopped again.
Ji Yang asked him what was wrong.
“I still feel it’s too coincidental. Besides the case itself, there’s something else that doesn’t add up,” Jiang Chengyuan said.
“What is it?”
“Liang Hanqing,” Jiang Chengyuan stared at the red-painted iron door with a deep gaze. “If he was sincerely defending Xiao Zhou, the result wouldn’t be like this. This can’t be explained by carelessness or a mistake.”
Ji Yang was stunned and instinctively tried to find an excuse, “He was the lawyer for the second trial, and achieving a reduced sentence under the circumstances set by the first trial is already quite good.”
Jiang Chengyuan shook his head, “Maybe for an ordinary lawyer it’s good, but for him, this is a serious failure.” He thought for a moment, then opened the door again with the key, walked directly to the coffee table, and picked up Wu Yichang’s notebook, “The case wasn’t finished, the yuanbao was folded in half, and he had just gotten medicine from the hospital,” Jiang Chengyuan turned to Ji Yang, “Do you think this is something a person who was terminally ill and had no hope would do?”
Ji Yang’s eyes tightened, “What do you mean?”
Jiang Chengyuan pondered, “I think Liang Hanqing didn’t tell me the truth.”
Jiang Chengyuan walked towards the closed study room with the notebook, pushing the door open. The warm sunlight from the south-facing window fell on a long table piled with thick books, an old-backed chair with a cushion leaking cotton, a pen that had been put down halfway through writing, and a cup with a thick layer of tea stain, seemingly forgotten by time.
Jiang Chengyuan’s chest felt tight, as if something was pressing down, making it hard to breathe.
Ten years of mentorship, avoiding the truth for five years, suddenly resurfacing today, forcing him to face it.
He slowly walked to the table and saw the detailed materials of the last case Wu Yichang handled. As he read, his expression changed dramatically, and he snapped the materials shut on the table, then said to Ji Yang, “Let’s go back now.”
Ji Yang hurriedly followed, confused, “Where are you going?”
“To find him.”