Beneath the Dome, Sin within Sins - Chapter 63 - Hallucinogenic
After thanking Zhou Haifu’s wife, I took the incense burner to my sister’s laboratory. Su Mo and the others weren’t at the police station at the time, so there was no point in me going there.
Besides, I was more anxious to get the inspection results for this incense burner. If I went through the police station, the physical evidence inspection would have to be approved by higher-ups, and I didn’t have the time to wait for that.
When I arrived, Lu Che was performing the third phase of testing on the previous virus. I observed for a bit before she came out of the laboratory. Casually, I asked, “How’s the research coming along?”
“Still in the research phase. It baffles me,” Lu Che said as she sipped her water, fuming slightly. “I mean, these people have the time to conduct all these bizarre studies-why can’t they dedicate more effort to public health initiatives?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her indignation. “What you find bizarre might be perfectly meaningful to them,” I said. “My guess? They probably think your research is the real waste of time.”
“Hey! Seriously, bro? How can you say that? Don’t forget your little sister here happens to be a doctor of medicine. Sure, I don’t have a ‘serious’ job right now, but at least I’ve got my own laboratory!”
“Alright, alright. You’re the best. Happy now?”
Seeing her like that made me laugh even more. She may have grown into an adult, but moments like this reminded me of the little girl she used to be.
Lu Che put her glass down, giving me a curious look. “So, why are you here all of a sudden, anyway?”
“I…”
“Wait! Don’t tell me. Let me guess!” she interrupted, staring intently at my face for a few moments before saying meaningfully, “You never just drop by for no reason. Which means you’ve got something to ask me!”
I thought she was about to offer some profound insight, but no-that was all she had.
One corner of my mouth twitched uncontrollably. “You’ve got to be kidding me, sis.”
“Hang on! I wasn’t finished!” she protested.
“There’s no need to finish. All of your ‘guesses’ are based on observable facts, so I might as well just tell you. Time’s short, and if you’re looking to play detective games, go find Lu Xun. He’s way more patient than I am.”
Lu Che’s expression instantly deflated. “Tsk, I knew you’d be like this!”
“All right, all right, enough with the chatter.” As I spoke, I pulled the incense burner out of my bag and handed it to Lu Che. “Che, could you check what’s inside this incense burner for me?”
Lu Che gave me a strange look, then pinched a bit of the incense ash and brought it to her nose to sniff. “This is just ordinary incense ash. What’s your deal?”
I smacked her hand away, a little panicked. “What are you doing?! Smelling it directly like that-don’t you have any common sense?”
“Oh, come on, bro. You’re just being overly cautious. It’s clearly just regular incense ash!”
“If it were just regular incense ash, why would I come to you? This thing might very well be a deadly poison. Can you check properly what’s in it?”
“What?!” Lu Che’s face changed dramatically at my words. “Oh my God, bro! We’ve been through so much together-you can’t be trying to kill me now!”
I nearly burst out laughing at that. Clearly, it was her lack of caution, yet somehow I was the one she was blaming.
“Quit playing, Che. Don’t think I don’t know-you already figured out there’s nothing fatal in here, didn’t you?” I rolled my eyes at her, speaking in an unhurried tone.
“So what if I did?”
She gave me a look, then took off her white coat. From the way she moved, it was obvious she was preparing to leave the laboratory.
“Hey, hey, hey! Che! Where are you going? You haven’t tested it for me yet!”
“With this sort of thing, I don’t even need to test it. There’s hallucinogenic stuff in here-I’ve got a good nose, and I could tell just by smelling it.” She grabbed her bag and added, “I’ve helped you so much already. How about treating me to dinner?”
“As much as I’d love to take you out for dinner, I’ve got somewhere important to be right now, so we’ll have to save that for later.”
With that, I picked up the incense burner, waved goodbye to my sister, and headed out.
Behind me, Lu Che’s loud, dramatic protests filled the air, but I didn’t care in the slightest.
From what I could tell, there was definitely something wrong with the incense burner. This meant the pool of suspects had just grown by one, and Zhang Tu’s level of suspicion had dropped significantly.
After leaving the laboratory, I gave Su Mo a call and asked where he was.
Su Mo told me he was currently at the police station, and that Zhang Tu had already been brought in for questioning.
Judging by his relaxed tone, things seemed to be going smoothly.
“You sound pretty laid-back. What’s going on?” I asked.
“Well, let me put it this way-there are just a few formalities left, and once that’s done, we’re set to have a celebration banquet tomorrow!”
Hearing this, my heart sank. “Don’t tell me Zhang Tu confessed?!”
“Yep! As expected of you, senior! You guessed it right, just like that!”
The more casual Su Mo sounded, the more anxious I became. “Enough! Release him, right now!”
“What? Why?”
“Because Zhang Tu is innocent! Su Mo, are you out of your mind? Just because he said he killed someone, you’re taking his word for it? Did you even ask him how he supposedly did it?”
“They’re questioning him right now. We’ll probably get the results in a bit.”
I didn’t bother continuing the conversation because it wasn’t the kind of thing that could be resolved over the phone. There were far too many details, and this needed an in-person discussion.
“Don’t do anything for now. Wait until I get there, and we’ll go over everything together.”
With that, I hung up, knowing the rest had to be dealt with face-to-face.
To save time, I hailed a cab, and including the ride, it took me about ten minutes to reach the police station.
The moment I got out of the car, I spotted Su Mo waiting at the entrance.
When he saw me, he quickly walked over, looking puzzled. “What’s going on? You didn’t explain anything over the phone and just hung up. Did something go wrong with the case?”
“Did Zhang Tu tell you how he supposedly killed someone?” I asked directly.
“He did. He said he gave Zhou Haifu a hallucinogenic drug.”
“Gave him the drug? Did he specifically say he gave it to him?”
“That’s right!”
“Hah! So, the real murderer is someone else after all!”
I had my suspicions earlier, but Su Mo’s response cemented my conclusion. Everything was finally falling into place.