Chapter 64: A bribe for meddling.

Linlin raised her voice. “Are you sure?”

Dachang nodded. “She wasn’t having it. She loved me and only me,” he said, voice trembling. “That is why she announced our wedding personally, she was fighting for control over her life. She wanted to prove that she could make it on her own without the family money. She wanted to prove she wasn’t the black sheep anymore. To show everyone that redemption could be achieved.” He broke down. “She had turned her life around, we were going to be so happy together. How could this happen? I….what do I without her?” he whispered the question.

Liwu softened slightly. She had seen grief faked a thousand times, but Dachang’s was raw, unpolished and painfully real.

She called an officer to escort him home because he could not stay in the precinct.

Linlin stared at the empty chair where he had been sitting and muttered, “That diamond could have paid off Dawei’s debts. Just saying, he had reasons to kill her.”

Liwu shrugged.

Ma Xuanji walked over and activated the virtual murder board. The SOB had long moved away from physical ones. “Autopsy report is out and you can download it. It confirms what we already know. She was bashed in the head with something and dumped in the water. That is not what killed her however. She was still alive when she went in, but she was unconscious and losing blood really fast so she could hardly swim.”

“So she drowned.” Liwu concluded.

Xuanji nodded. “She was only twenty seven, still so young. She was clean, there was no trace of drugs in her system. She really did turn her life around. Five years of snorting drugs and living a risky life did not kill her but when she lived right, someone did!. What a tragedy!”

Liwu sighed and closed her notebook. It was time to head home and continue tomorrow. She would work on the contradictions after taking a bath and figuring out how to use her bad luck to solve the case. But not before bashing her own husband over the head.

That was exactly what she did when she walked in on Weijun, watching the news in the living room at the villa. She tapped the back of his head with her note book. As he winced and looked at her in shock, she raised it again.

He jumped and moved away from her. “I can ignore the bad luck, but I will not be abused by my wife,” he said hastily.

Butler Chen cleared his throat. Both of them ignored him.

“You had me assigned to the Dou heiress murder.” Liwu pointed the notebook at him. “I warned you about meddling in my cases. When will you learn to stick to running your company and the city and leaving me alone?”

“Dinner is on the table.” Butler Chen announced.

Majesty pushed him aside. “This is better than dinner, don’t ruin it.”

Reaper agreed. He was eating meat and watching a free show. Pet life was awesome!

Weijun gulped. “Look, a dead heiress whose body was found floating in the sea which just returned is not exactly a good look for the city.”

“And the assistant city master pulling strings to assign his wife to the case is not a good look for the Bureau. What were you even doing in the Dou mansion today?” Liwu quizzed.

Weijun blinked, “They are friends of the family. I knew Yahui personally just like I knew you would be the first detective to figure out what happened to her.”

Liwu snorted. Her anger meter was not going lower, it was just rising. “Well next time, talk to me first before making decisions that affect my career. And, while we are at it, do not hope to use me to sway the investigation in any way. I heard that your brother once dated my victim. Get him on the phone so that he can tell me if he had heard from her recently.”

“He has not spoken to her in ten years.” Weijun replied in a rough gravelly sure voice. “If this is about the marriage between our families, her father suggested it but Weijun turned it down.”

Liwu did not move. She had this feeling that the city master she hated was not related to the case, none the less she continued to probe. “Why?”

“Because her reputation was not the best.” Weijun replied freely. “Not even after she cleaned up her life. You come from an elite family yourself and you are a cop so you know how these things work. Once the bullet has left the gun, it cannot be taken back. She ruined herself and she displayed it all online for the world to see.

Her escapades made the papers on a weekly basis. She was in a three-way relationship for a year!

She was a hot potato that no wealthy family was willing to touch. Some assume that it is why she chose to settle down with an unknown man.” He sighed. He had been expecting her to come home angry and he made some preparations.

He clapped his hands.

Mo Xia walked into the living room carried a bouquet of lilacs and jewelry box. She gave them to Weijun and he held them out to Liwu from a safe distance.

“What is this?” she asked.

“My apology,” he replied candidly, “I knew that you would be unhappy about this but I had no choice. The Dou’s have done a lot for this city and they called me as soon as they learned of the death of their daughter. I went over there and promised them that the best detectives would work the case. You are the best detective I know. I figured it would be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

Liwu huffed. Her anger meter started going down, one bit at a time. It was not because of the bribe but because he had called her the best detective he knew. He was better than his brother who only knew how to bad mouth her on television.

She took the flowers and jewelry box. Then she said sternly, “No meddling. Since you sent this case to me, I will work it as if it is any other case. If you so much as hide a witness from me, I swear that you will meet an end worse than my murder victim.”

She spun around and walked up the stairs.

Weijun gulped.

Shen Yuening sighed.

Butler Chen updated Elder Zhang on the threat. Just in case Liwu made good on her promise, they had to be prepared to hide the evidence and tamper with the witnesses.

“She won’t kill me in my sleep tonight, will she?” Weijun asked Mo Xia. His wife was a Tai, she came from a jewelry legacy. This bribe was not going to impress her much.

Mo Xia shrugged, “If I were you, I would sleep in the office tonight, just to be safe.”

Weijun looked at the servants and Butler Chen. “Take my pillows, a duvet and dinner to my office. If my wife asks for me, tell her I am in a meeting.”

“How long will this meeting last?” Butler Chen asked.

Weijun did not know either. All he knew was the sharing the bed with his wife before the murder was solved was not wise. Maybe even after.

“Maybe eternity,” he muttered.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep