Red Bean Lives in the Republic of China - Chapter 45

Chapter 45

“Speaking of this guy, Yunqin should be familiar with him.” Wang Peter stroked his beard. “He’s Xu Yishan, the manager of Langhuan Bookshop.

“Mr. Xu?” He Yunqin was taken aback. ‘That guy came to our wedding just yesterday…’

Wang Peter sighed before saying, “Xu Yishan was discovered dead at home around 10 PM last night. There was a bridesmaid named Gu at the wedding who happened to be a distant relative of his. When she found out about this, Miss Gu contacted my detective agency that same night.

“Gu Jun?” Yu Hongdou was a bit surprised, but after a moment of thought, she realised this was exactly the kind of thing Gu Jun would do.

Wang Peter: “Miss Gu mentioned that Xu Yishan lived in the French Concession. After his family reported the incident, the police from the French Concession came to look into it. They initially thought it was a suicide. Miss Gu recalled meeting Xu Yishan at the wedding, where he was cheerful and showed no signs of being suicidal. Worried she might miss the chance to investigate, she found my apartment number and called me for help. I noticed there was no link to Bai Haili’s gang in the International Settlement. Miss Gu was very earnest on the phone, so I decided to go to Xu Yishan’s place.”

Of course, the hefty reward offered by the other party was what really caught his attention, but Wang Peter didn’t feel the need to mention that in front of Yu Hongdou.

“And then?” Even though He Yunqin and Xu Yishan were merely casual acquaintances, they still knew each other fairly well. They had crossed paths the day before, and now he was hearing about his death. After a brief moment of shock, a wave of seriousness washed over him. “After you checked the scene, did you find out that Xu Yishan died in the same manner?” 

Wang Peter had the urge to taste alcohol at this moment, and he nearly reached into his pocket before he remembered he was still in the He Mansion. “It was still hanging from the beam. The marks on the beam were messier than those in the Keyu Theatre case. The similarity between the two cases is that Xu Yishan’s struggle was much more intense than what you’d expect from a typical loss of consciousness. On this point, I agree with your earlier opinion: the murderer first used other means to hang Xu Yishan from the beam, and after briefly enjoying the victim’s terrified struggle, he tightened the rope around the victim’s neck, watching as the victim slowly lost consciousness, and when the victim died, he calmly put away the tools used to hang him, making it look like a suicide.”

“Calm?” That word felt strangely out of place. Yu Hongdou was surprised and asked, “Why does Inspector Wang think the murderer was calm?”

“Because I found a half-smoked cigarette butt at the scene. I asked Mrs. Xu, and she said that Xu Yishan usually smoked Sanwu brand cigarettes, but the one found at the scene was the cheaper Changle brand. Just think about it: the murderer was relaxed enough to smoke while committing murder. Do you think he/they were calm or not?”

Yu Hongdou took a moment to think and asked, “So how tall and heavy is this Manager Xu?”

Any adult male with a normal build would weigh at least 130 pounds, and it was clear that it would take a considerable amount of strength to hang such a man from the beam.

Wang Peter remarked, “He was taller and was heavier than the previous martial artist. It was said he was 6 feet in height and weighed 162 pounds.”

 Yu Hongdou was unable to remain still any longer. She cast a glance at He Yunqin, who was deep in thought without uttering a word and said, “A man of such height must have fought hard or called out for help before being killed. Was there really no one in the Xu family who heard anything?”

  “I suspect Xu Yishan, similar to Yang Yutian, had something jammed in his mouth before his death, preventing him from calling for help. And it’s quite the coincidence that the Xu family’s housekeeper took a leave the day before and wasn’t around for the last two days. When Xu Yishan and his wife returned from the wedding, Mrs. Xu took her daughter and the old maid to her parents’ place to play mahjong. Mrs. Xu didn’t return home until ten o’clock, so there was no one else in the Xu family at that time.”

  He Yunqin: “So the killer was aware that no one except Mr.Xu was at the Xu family that night. Have you inquired with Mrs. Xu whether she had planned to visit her parents’ home last night, or was it a spur-of-the-moment decision?”

  Wang Peter flashed a mysterious smile before replying, “It’s exactly the point I came to meet you. I asked Mrs. Xu that, and she initially had no plans to go back to her parent’s home, but she bumped into an old acquaintance from her parent’s place at the wedding. They chatted for a bit and ultimately decided to head to Mrs. Xu’s parents’ home to play mahjong.”

  He Yunqin and Yu Hongdou exchanged surprised glances. “Are you suggesting that the murderer went to Xu’s house that night because he caught wind of Mrs. Xu’s plans? In other words, the murderer was likely at the wedding?”

Wang Peter raised his eyebrows and remarked, “I really enjoy working with you two. I never have to spend too much time chatting. It’s exactly because I can’t dismiss this possibility that I came here today to request yesterday’s visitor list. I figured that by looking through the list, I might uncover something.”

He Yunqin looked at the man intently and replied, “You know very well how many people attended the wedding at Dawanguo yesterday. Using this method to pinpoint the murderer is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Besides checking the scene, did you see Xu Yishan’s body?”

“No,” Wang Peter said with a shrug. “But I’ve tried to obtain Xu Yishan’s autopsy report. Mrs. Xu last saw Xu Yishan at 6:30 PM, right when the wedding banquet wrapped up. The couple parted ways at the Dawanguo gate and took rickshaws home. She got back around ten o’clock. If we exclude the half hour it took Xu Yishan to get to his apartment, we can estimate that he was killed between seven and ten in the evening.”

Yu Hongdou was left speechless. ‘If that were true, we couldn’t ignore the chance that the murderer was at the wedding.’

Wang Peter went on. “After that, I looked into the scene and noticed that he and Yang Yutian had a lot in common regarding their murder methods: First, nothing was stolen from their homes, indicating that the murderer wasn’t after money. Second, the signs of struggle and the extent of the fight were quite unusual. Third, when they were killed, no neighbours heard them scream for help, and there just happened to be no witnesses.

“But Yang Yutian is a martial artist in the opera troupe, while Xu Yishan manages a bookshop. Their social backgrounds are so different. Why would the murderer target them? Killing is one thing, but using such a complicated method is another…” He Yunqin said.

After a brief pause, he added, “To hang two tall adult men from the beams, requires careful planning and a lot of manpower. It’s tough for one person to pull that off alone. I’m starting to think that someone else was involved in this crime. Plus, considering how calm the murderer was and how they dragged out the victim’s struggle before death, it seems like there might be some deep-seated hatred involved. Did you look into Yang Yutian’s social background this month to see if he had any conflicts with anyone?”

Wang Peter had a peculiar smile as he said, “This guy is quite handsome, turning thirty-five this year. He was sold to a troupe when he was just a kid and has been performing Wusheng at the Keyu Theatre for many years. While he might not be as well-known as Bai Fengfei and Xiao Jinnan from the same troupe, he has managed to gather a decent fanbase over time. I did some digging this month and didn’t find much else, but I did learn that Yang Yutian and Bai Fengfei have a bit of a complicated relationship behind the scenes. Even though Bai Fengfei has been secretly dating Yang Yutian, she’s hesitant to marry him because she thinks he doesn’t have enough money.  Bai Fengfei is nearly thirty, but she’s truly gifted. No one in Shanghai can sing quite like her. She’s been in the spotlight for years and has plenty of admirers. If she were to marry an actor, she wouldn’t have any support, and it would also cut off her financial independence. It’s no surprise she’s not keen on tying the knot. Aside from that,…last night when I asked Xu Yishan about his hobbies, Mrs. Xu mentioned that he didn’t have many interests, but he was a big fan of Bai Fengfei, so he often visited the Keyu Theatre to catch her performances. However, the night Yang Yutian was killed happened to be your mother’s birthday, and Bai Fengfei was performing at the He Mansion after being invited by the He family. When Xu Yishan was murdered last night, Bai Fengfei was on stage at the Keyu Theatre. So, while Bai Fengfei connects the two victims, it could just be a coincidence.”

He Yunqin pondered for a moment, then opened the door and stepped outside to instruct the servants to bring the guest list from the steward for the banquet that took place yesterday.

Before long, the list arrived, and the three of them gathered around a small round table to go over it. The list contained thousands of names from various backgrounds, not to mention the staff from the Grand International Hotel at that time.

“This really isn’t a great idea,” Yu Hongdou said with a bittersweet smile.

He Yunqin passed the list to Wang Peter. “While we can’t draw any conclusions from this list by itself if we uncover more information later, we can at least identify some commonalities here and narrow down our search for the killer.”

Wang Peter tucked the list in his pocket, realising he had accomplished his goal. “I probably shouldn’t have shown up the day after your wedding. It’s not every day you two are so accommodating of my unannounced visit. I’ll head out now. If I come across anything, we can talk about it later.”

When Wang Peter left, the phone in the living room rang. One servant picked it up and learnt that someone was asking for the eldest young lady, so he quickly rushed upstairs.

He Yunqin lingered downstairs for a bit. Since Xu Yishan was dead, he felt he should pay his respects. But the case was still open, and he had no clue when the Xu family intended to hold the funeral. Today was the second day of their wedding, and Yu Hongdou was really worried about it. It was quite inconvenient for him to head to the crime scene, so he asked Yu Hongdou, “Do you want to head back to the room and take a break?”

After hearing about the case, she had been planning to have a serious chat with He Yunqin, so she nodded and allowed him to guide her back to the bedroom.

Just as they were about to enter the room, someone suddenly called out from behind, “Second Young Master.”

Yu Hongdou turned around and saw it was a servant from Duan Mingyi.

The servant approached, first greeting Yu Hongdou, then turning to He Yunqin. “Mr. Xu from Langhuan Bookshop had an incident last night. Mrs. Xu just called and mentioned they’ve hired Inspector Wang Peter to look into it. I was eager to find out the investigation’s outcome, so I called Inspector Wang’s place this morning. The servant there told me he came to the He Mansion, so I quickly reached out to the eldest young lady. She mentioned that the second young master also studies traceology. I was wondering if he found anything with Inspector Wang just now. If he did, please let Mrs. Xu know to ease her worries.”

He Yunqin’s face suddenly fell.

Yu Hongdou was only aware that He Yunqin was a PhD holder in engineering, but she had no clue that he also studied traceology. Plus, from what people usually talked about regarding He Yunqin, he had never brought this up himself around others.

‘It turns out Duan Mingyi actually knew about it.’

She felt really uneasy, and without even glancing at He Yunqin, she pouted and opened the door. “I’ll head in first.”

End of chapter 45

Have a nice day!