Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1215: Chapter 56: Required Course

Right in front of Wang Liang’s rented apartment, Chen Mingming stopped and looked downstairs.

The hallway light in the old building flickered on and off, and because a corpse was discovered here, several of the upstairs and downstairs tenants had moved out in the past few days.

Even a light footstep could be heard clearly at this time.

Finally, Zhao Le appeared in Chen Mingming’s view… He touched the stair railing, looked up, expressionless, and walked up step by step.

Eventually, Zhao Le finished climbing the stairs and stood next to Chen Mingming.

Only then did he begin to speak, his face not as stiff as when he was coming upstairs, seemingly fearful, “This isn’t right… There’s a seal on this door.”

Chen Mingming didn’t mind and casually tore off the seal (he had visited once with Zhou Yusheng and stuck a new seal upon leaving).

Seeing Chen Mingming tear off the seal, Zhao Le opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but swallowed it down.

But next, Chen Mingming directly pulled out a key, and as he opened this rented apartment door, Zhao Le could no longer maintain his composure, exclaiming: “How… how do you have a key?”

“Come in,” Chen Mingming said casually as he pushed the door open, and then he turned on the lights inside from a button at the doorway.

Upon entering, Chen Mingming took off his shoes, placed them aside, and truly walked in.

Zhao Le hesitated for a few seconds, with countless questions in his mind… But considering he’d already followed up here, he took a deep breath and walked in.

He didn’t take off his shoes, just gently closed the door.

Upon entering the house, Zhao Le saw Chen Mingming leaning against a refrigerator in the middle of the living room, looking at him like that.

Zhao Le was about to speak, but Chen Mingming spoke first, “Shall we do some homework?”

“Homework?” Zhao Le was slightly stunned.

Chen Mingming nodded, “Like an assignment from a teacher… Let’s deduce what happened here during the crime incident.”

Zhao Le said, “Mingming, stop playing… This should be handed to the police, we’re just students, nobody… Did you borrow or steal the key from your dad?”

“Don’t worry, the key was obtained through legitimate channels.” Chen Mingming said calmly, “There won’t be any consequences of illegal intrusion… Let’s continue our homework as we mentioned earlier.”

“I don’t have time to go crazy with you.” Zhao Le’s face darkened, “I have something to do, I’m leaving.”

Chen Mingming said, “You don’t want the police to know you sneaked here alone at night, do you? You not only came but also deliberately parked your bike at the supermarket; you’re planning to ride from there when you return, right?”

Zhao Le turned around, silent for a moment before frowning, “You… you never left?”

Chen Mingming didn’t answer, instead continued speaking to himself, “This is the primary site where the corpse was discovered, the deceased Wang Liang, his body was concealed in this fridge here. His corpse was dismembered very thoroughly and incompletely by the murderer. To date, several body parts are still missing, presumed taken away by someone, so the cause of death is unknown… Let’s deduce, if you were the murderer, how would you commit the crime?”

“I said stop playing!” Zhao Le shouted angrily.

Chen Mingming suddenly walked over to the sofa and lay down, “Suppose I’m Wang Liang, lying here asleep, what would you do?”

“Enough!” Zhao Le almost roared.

Chen Mingming remained expressionless, but casually picked up the phone, “Though it seems a bit underhand, I think your sister wouldn’t want you being taken in for questioning, right?”

“You…” Zhao Le gritted his teeth, then slowly exhaled, “Fine, I’ll play along.”

He walked directly to the sofa, looked at Chen Mingming lying there, then glanced around… Zhao Le spotted a fruit knife on the coffee table and quickly picked it up, then looked at Chen Mingming, eyes cold.

“With a knife?” Chen Mingming said calmly.

Zhao Le replied impatiently, “How should I know, you use whatever’s handy in a fit of rage, isn’t that how it is in impulsive killings?”

Chen Mingming said, “The body was dismembered; using this knife wouldn’t allow for force. The kitchen does have heavier knives…”

“I told you, I didn’t kill anyone!!” Zhao Le angrily interrupted.

“This is just a simulation.” Chen Mingming sat up, looking upwards, “Why such excitement.”

Zhao Le sneered, “Anyone would be excited after what you’ve done! What exactly do you want? Playing detective games? Or is it that boring children of police families like you want to prove something?! Am I supposed to be suspected just because I’m a family member of the victim?!”

Chen Mingming, however, continued to speak to himself, “Using a knife doesn’t fit; with a knife, blood would splatter, whether on the sofa, bed, or floor, there’d be traces left… The police have means to check that.”

“I’ve already said, I’m not the murderer.” Zhao Le slowly put down his hand… yet the knife didn’t go down.

Chen Mingming said, “Actually, there’s another thing not made public, which is the place of dismemberment… the bathroom.”

Zhao Le subconsciously looked towards the bathroom, then frowned, “So what!”

Chen Mingming slowly said, “Bloodstain examinations reveal the bathroom walls, ceiling, have a large amount of blood… Moreover, in the U-shaped drain trap, Wang Liang’s remains were found…”

Zhao Le suddenly said, “You’re wrong, why in the living room sofa? Why not the bathroom? Wang Liang was taking a bath, and the murderer broke into the home, then directly killed him in the bathroom!”

Chen Mingming still didn’t answer, instead asked, “Impulsive killing… You just mentioned? Why the term impulsive killing?”

Zhao Le said bitterly, “How would I know! You’re forcing me to do this! I just saw the fruit knife, picked it up, isn’t that impulsive!”

Chen Mingming shook his head, “It’s not impulsive, should be premeditated murder… See that fridge? It’s Wang Liang’s second fridge; obviously, the murderer had prepared to hide the corpse long ago.

“This has nothing to do with me.” Zhao Le snorted coldly.

Chen Mingming stepped closer step by step, “In fact, the police have already found where the fridge was sold from, and have learned some characteristics of the person who bought it from the shop owner.”

Zhao Le’s eyes slightly stirred… the fruit knife in his hand also trembled slightly at this moment.

“The police… have they found that person?” Zhao Le looked at Chen Mingming, seemingly holding his breath.

“You’re quite tense.” Chen Mingming suddenly said.

“Who wouldn’t be tense after being brought here by you and hearing all these things!” Zhao Le took a deep breath, “I’m going crazy!”

Chen Mingming looked Zhao Le in the eyes and said, “Earlier you said… that person? Strange, why not directly call ‘the murderer,’ but… ‘that person’?”

Zhao Le calmly said, “Don’t play these word games with me. ‘That person,’ ‘the murderer,’ it’s just a form of reference!”

Chen Mingming suddenly nodded, looked at Zhao Le holding the knife and stood up, “Alright… homework’s done, let’s go.”

Zhao Le was stunned, he was even prepared for certain things, but never expected Chen Mingming to suddenly abandon the questioning, leaving him feeling at a loss.

“Mingming… you… what on earth?”

“I already said, we’re just doing homework.”

Chen Mingming arrived at the doorway, casually took a shoehorn from the shoe cabinet drawer at the entrance, put on his shoes, “I’m not a real cop… You’re not leaving? I’m going to lock the door.”

Zhao Le’s lips moved slightly, and he finally put down the fruit knife.

He remained silent, following Chen Mingming all the way out… until they reached the entrance of the old street.

By now, the surrounding area was no longer deserted; there were some figures moving about… not quite a crowd, but any movement could naturally be seen by someone.

Chen Mingming checked the time, “Thirty-seven minutes in total… You might want to pedal a bit faster on your bike when you return.”

Zhao Le couldn’t quite grasp Chen Mingming’s intentions and hesitantly spoke, “Tonight…”

But Chen Mingming waved his hand and said, “You actually visited the crime scene, right?”

Zhao Le’s breathing clearly became quicker.

Chen Mingming slowly backed away, saying, “When I mentioned the killer dismembered the body in the bathroom, you instinctively glanced over… Of course, you could say you noticed it when you came in. But I think some sudden reactions are uncontrollable, right? No matter what I say tonight, I have no evidence. These are just my speculations… Who knows.”

Zhao Le opened his mouth.

Chen Mingming turned around, walked into the dimness, and finally said, “I’m leaving in a few days… I hope I can hear your story before I go.”

Zhao Le ultimately said nothing, turned around, and quickly left… then started running.

…

…

On the old street, Chen Mingming walked and then stopped.

He turned around, looked up, and saw two faintly glowing lanterns and an ancient pine door… Chen Mingming thought for a moment and then pushed the door open, walking inside.

In the hall, which was not particularly spacious but had a strong sense of space, Chen Mingming saw the Boss, with his back to him, sitting at the bar.

The phonograph in the corner emitted a low sound.

Chen Mingming approached the Boss, glanced around, and curiously asked, “Where’s your maid, Ms. Ren?”

Boss Luo casually replied, “She’s busy with something…”

Saying this, Boss Luo walked into the bar, his fingers lightly brushing the cabined, “Have a seat, what would you like to drink?”

Chen Mingming sat down but didn’t order anything, only asked, “Did I come here by myself, or did you summon me?”

Luo Qiu smiled and said, “Those who wish to come will naturally come; this place… never refuses.”

Chen Mingming was silent for a moment before quietly saying, “Thank you… for giving me this identity.”

“You’re welcome,” Luo Qiu gently said, “It’s just to facilitate the examination… Since it’s a test, naturally there are correct answers and ways to approach it. I just designed the questions, not questions that can’t be solved.”

Chen Mingming raised his head and looked directly at the Boss, “Zhao Le… might not be the killer?”

Luo Qiu smiled slightly.

Chen Mingming continued, “But he might know who the killer is… Otherwise, you wouldn’t have given me such a hint on the goatskin. Yet, this hint makes it easy for me to subconsciously misjudge. So this hint is disrupting the information, right?”

Luo Qiu said, “If the examination lacked difficulty, it would lose its original meaning… In fact, your progress is quite good.”

Chen Mingming instinctively frowned.

He didn’t think reaching this progress with hints was commendable — he felt the Boss referred to some other progress.

The examination consists of two questions, the first is assisting his father in solving a case, and the second is… Progress, referring to the second question?

Chen Mingming slowly sighed, suddenly smiling bitterly, “Indeed, there are completely two kinds of unequal information. Facing you with such a huge information gap leaves me with a deep sense of powerlessness.”

Luo Qiu noncommittally said, “Indeed, I am not necessarily smarter than anyone else.”

Chen Mingming said, “This is probably the charm of intelligence gathering… Besides this intelligence, if you and I were on the same intelligence level, how would you judge this case?”

Luo Qiu began mixing drinks, using the ‘Red Dust’ technique he’d learned from Ms. Ren, “Those who monitor shouldn’t end up well.”

Chen Mingming’s eyes suddenly brightened, “This test seems to have no restrictions on my ability to buy information… I can choose to directly purchase information to help with the examination, can I?”

Luo Qiu smiled, “Do you plan on buying information?”

Chen Mingming shook his head, “You didn’t say cheating is disallowed, but also didn’t say it’s allowed… It’s reasonable for invigilators to expel cheaters from the exam hall.”

‘Red Dust’ was almost finished. Boss Luo, looking quite pleased, watched the final product as he poured it into a glass, appearing thoroughly focused.

Chen Mingming suddenly asked, “Is the question… really just as simple as solving a case?”

Luo Qiu said, “What do you think?”

Chen Mingming shook his head, gazed at the glass pushed towards him by the Boss, sighed, and stood up, “I’m not drinking… Thank you for the hospitality.”

“You’re welcome.”

Chen Mingming turned to leave, his brows deeply furrowed.

…

“Did a guest arrive?” a voice from the stairs asked, “Chen Mingming?”

“You’ve been busy,” Luo Qiu gestured.

The maid stepped forward, appearing before the bar in the next step, “Seems he’s encountered a place of doubt?”

Luo Qiu didn’t conceal anything, he smiled and said, “He asked what the meaning behind the test questions was.”

The maid also smiled, “How did the Master answer him?”

Luo Qiu shook his head, “Suddenly felt a mischievous urge, so I didn’t say.”

You Ye said, “Solving a case is merely searching for the truth. Finding the truth implies you’d affect someone’s fate and life afterwards… Equating to mastering someone else’s life under one’s control, whether good or bad, all depends on one’s willingness. Controlling life… a compulsory course for a Black soul envoy.”

Boss Luo pushed ‘Red Dust’ towards the maid, gently saying, “Don’t let it go to waste, try my skills, see how they compare.”

“Hmm…”

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PS: (7/29)