Card Room (Rebirth)
chapter-73

The evidence was collected and they put it in the attendant’s office at the front of the carriage. Xiao Lou looked at the syringes and empty bottles on the table thoughtfully before asking, “Group Leader Yu, can we directly search the passengers’ backpacks? There should be some clues.”

Yu Hanjiang thought about it carefully. “I remember that in 3 of Hearts, the students went to the playground and I went to the classroom to search the school bags for evidence. We should be able to do the same in this secret room. The identity of an attendant is convenient for us to search at any time.” He declared simply, “Try it.”

Xiao Lou nodded and turned to keep up with Yu Hanjiang.

The two people headed to Room 1 and Yu Hanjiang calmly said, “At the request of security services, we need to carry out a simple security check of your luggage. Please cooperate.”

The passengers didn’t object. They seemed to be used to the security actions of the train attendants.

An old man came up and asked Xiao Lou, “Did Old Li die of heart disease?”

Xiao Lou smiled at him. “There isn’t an exact conclusion yet. Uncle, please give your backpack to me.”

The old man handed over the bag. ”I didn’t bring any flammable or explosive products. The bag is full of food.”

Xiao Lou opened it and it truly was a big bag full of food. The old man was a foodie.

He asked, “How many days will you be staying in the City of the Moon?”

The old man replied, “Three days and then we will fly back. That’s why everyone doesn’t have much luggage.”

Xiao Lou turned to look. All the luggage was a black bag that had been uniformly purchased by the travel agency. The backpack had name tags on them in order to not get it wrong.

Yu Hanjiang checked his luggage under the pretense of ‘security checks’ and the other three cooperated by taking down their backpacks.

Only the old lady in 1A was still reading a newspaper. This old lady was over 70 years old and her hair was completely white. Her back was hunched over and her face full of wrinkles. She walked with a crutch and there were also problems with her ears. The others took care of her and called her ‘Sister Mei.’

Seeing that she didn’t respond, the old lady next to her gently shook her arm. “Sister Mei, the train attendant is doing a safety check.”

Sister Mei was shaken and looked up in a questioning manner. “What?”

The old lady yelled loudly. “The attendant wants to check your luggage!”

Sister Mei’s face was still blank. “What?”

Yu Hanjiang pointed to her backpack so she could take it down. She finally understood the gesture and stood up in a trembling manner to grab her bag. The old man next to her saw her inconvenience and gave her a hand.

Yu Hanjiang opened her backpack to see a few old clothes, some antihypertensive medicine, a few newspapers and nothing else.

The old man explained, “Sister Mei is old so she isn’t as mobile and her ears aren’t good. She is the most senior member of our unit and was there since the boss started it. In the company personnel department, most of the employees were recruited into the company by her. Her daughter had her follow us and she isn’t happy since she feels she is too much trouble.”

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang glanced at each other. Since this Sister Mei was the company’s oldest senior staff, she would certainly know some hings.

Her luggage wasn’t abnormal and Yu Hanjiang intended to wait for a moment when she was alone to ask her questions. Her ears couldn’t hear properly but she could write. The elderly person wearing thick reading glasses should be able to see words, right?”

Both backpacks had no problems. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly checked the remaining two separately.

Yu Hanjiang found some needles, cotton swabs and a row of ballpoint pens in one backpack. He wasn’t sure and showed it to Xiao Lou. After carefully looking at it, Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang’s ears, “This is an insulin pen.”

Yu Hanjiang flipped over the tag on the backpack to see the name—Niu Dapeng.

He looked at the old man on IC and asked, “Uncle Niu, is this bag yours?”

Niu Dapeng nodded. “Yes.”

Xiao Lou smiled and asked, “Uncle, do you have diabetes?”

“I have been suffering for many years and have been relying on this to control it.”

Yu Hanjiang then asked, “Do you know that Li Zhemin has diabetes?”

Niu Dapeng looked calm. “I know. Previously, I saw Old Li at the same hospital.”

Yu Hanjiang wrote down the name Niu Dapeng.

Nothing was found in the last backpack. The two people left Room 1 and continued to search Room 2.

Since the deceased lived in Room 2, this room really needed to be checked.

The old man who swapped beds with the deceased and slept in the upper bunk was the most obvious balding one in the group. White hair covered only half of his head and he was highly recognizable. This man was called Zheng Weiguo. Yu Hanjiang searched his bag and found similar needles, cotton swabs and insulin pens.

Yu Hanjiang asked, “How long have you had diabetes?”

Zheng Weiguo looked embarrassed. “I didn’t pay attention as a young man and often ate fish and meat. Five years ago, I checked and found I had diabetes and high blood pressure. I have been using insulin and antihypertensive control.”

Ina addition, Yu Hanjiang found a deck of cards in the bag of an old man called Liu Yuming. The other side explained, “Old Li loves playing cards. The four of us played last night until two in the morning before going to sleep.”

Yu Hanjiang wondered, “It was lights out. How did you play cards?”

“I always like going to the toilet in the middle of the night. My eyes aren’t good and I can’t see things at night. This time, my son prepared a light for me so I could use it when going to the toilet. Last night, Old Li wanted to play cards so I turned on the electric light and put it on the floor.

The other two nodded. “Yes!” “Old Li was very happy when playing cards last night. I didn’t expect… alas.”

The group of old people actually opened the light to play cards at 2 a.m.

Yu Hanjiang asked him, “Did you go to the toilet in the middle of the night yesterday? Did you see anything?”

Liu Yuming shook his head. “I got up once at 3 o’clock. Everyone was sleeping and all the doors were closed.”

“At that time, Li Zhemin didn’t move?”

Liu Yuming thought about it carefully. “I remember that Old Li seemed to have turned over and was also gently snoring.”

In other words, Li Zhemin had died after 3 a.m.

There was no other suspicious evidence in this room. The two people came to Room 3 to check the luggage when an old lady became very angry. “What right do you have to search my luggage? This is an invasion of privacy!”

She looked extremely agitated.

The old lady’s name was Shu Ping. She was 60 years old but she only looked around 40. Her skin and body were very well maintained. This beautiful old lady was wearing a dress and her hair went down to her shoulders. She was the youngest and most beautiful old lady in this group.

Yu Hanjiang calmly stated, “It is a routine security inspection. Auntie, please cooperate.”

Xiao Lou smiled and echoed Yu Hanjiang. “Yes, everyone else cooperated with the inspection. If you are worried about privacy then you can follow us to the office alone. We will privately help you check.”

Shu Ping was pale as she refused to let go of her bag.

Her bizarre actions made the three people in the same room look at each other. Yu Hanjiang frowned. “If you don’t cooperate then we can only temporarily control you and wait for the guards to deal with you.”

He reached out to the other person’s backpack. Shu Ping was worried for a long time before handing the backpack to Yu Hanjiang.

Yu Hanjiang opened it and glanced inside. Apart from clothes, he once again found insulin at the bottom of the bag. It was just that… wasn’t the dose too much? It was almost twice as much as what Niu Dapeng and Zheng Weiguo carried in their backpacks.

Seeing them search deeply, the old lady’s face suddenly became extremely ugly.

Xiao Lou smiled and asked, “Auntie, how long have you had diabetes? Why did you bring so much medicine with you?”

Shu Ping grabbed her backpack and replied in a sullen manner. “I found out last year. My illness is more serious so I use more medicine than the average person.”

The old lady next to her stared with amazement. “Little Ping, you have diabetes? Why didn’t you tell us?”

Another person said, “Yes, diabetes isn’t shameful. A lot of old people get it. Why did you hide it from everyone?”

Shu Ping’s face was green and white. She quivered for a long time but couldn’t answer.

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a look and turned away from the room.

The other passengers also cooperated with the checks. However, most of them had nothing to do with the old group. Their luggage was full of good and clothes.

Once they finished with the entire 6th carriage, the two men returned to the attendant’s office at the front of the carriage.

There was limited space at the front of the carriage. The office was only around 1.5 square metres and there were a small table and chair. The two big men standing inside made it feel slightly crowded. Their bodies were standing close together.

Yu Hanjiang wasn’t used to being close to each other. They were so close that their breathing would be in each other’s faces when talking, which wasn’t very polite.

He suggested, “Professor Xiao, take a seat.”

Xiao Lou wasn’t polite and sat down in the chair. This gave Yu Hanjiang a relatively large amount of space. Xiao Lou looked up at the standing Yu Hanjiang and asked, “Group Leader Yu, what do you think?”

Yu Hanjiang leaned back on the table, legs overlapped and hands folded over his chest as he whispered, “At present, there are four clear suspects. Niu Dapeng in Room 1. He previously attended the same hospital as the deceased. This means he must know very well about the deceased’s diabetes.”

“There is Zheng Weiguo in Room 2. The deceased slept below him and they played cards together until 2 a.m. last night. He can easily know if the other people in the room are asleep. He can easily kill Li Zhemin in his sleep and he is also diabetic.”

“Liu Yuming of Room 2 says he often wakes up at night to go to the toilet. It is also possible that this is just a cover-up and he got up at 3 a.m. to kill Li Zhemin.”

“Finally, there is Shu Ping in Room 3. The old lady was a bi agitated and insulin was hidden at the bottom of her backpack. The dose is twice as much as other people. She says she is seriously ill but I don’t think it makes sense.”

Xiao Lou touched his chin and thought about it.

Yu Hanjiang asked, “What do you think?”

Xiao Lou replied, “Group Leader Yu, did you notice that the insulin that the elderly people take is different from what we found in the trash can?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “They brought insulin that is similar to a ballpoint pen. Did you say it was an insulin pen?”

Xiao Lou’s right hand was resting casually on the table, his slender fingers slightly bent as he gently tapped the table while carefully analyzing, “I have a classmate who is a doctor in endocrinology. At present, the most commonly used method to treat diabetes is this insulin pen. It is easy to carry and secondly, it eliminates the need to extract insulin with a syringe.”

He paused before adding, “The insulin pen has a thinner needle and this reduces the pain. The dosage is obvious on the label and the core can be replaced at any time. This makes the daily injection very convenient.”

In order to better help Yu Hanjiang understand, Xiao Lou gave an example. “It is like the difference between a ballpoint pen and a traditional pen. The ballpoint pen has no ink and can directly change the core to continue to use it. It is also convenient to carry extra pen cores. However, a traditional pen needs to draw ink and you might draw too much or too little. This is very inconvenient and is like a traditional syringe. Absorbing insulin would be more troublesome and it isn’t as easy to carry. Therefore, most suggest using an insulin pen to inject it.”

There was a lot of professional knowledge and Yu Hanjiang immediately understood. “You mean, the traditional syringes found in the garbage can don’t belong to Li Zhemin?”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Yes, Li Zhemin is so rich and the insulin pen is easy to carry and convenient to use. There is no reason for him to not know about the insulin pen and to use the old syringe to give himself injections.”

Xiao Lou picked up a ballpoint pen and quickly wrote a formula on the book. “There is a problem. I have carefully thought about it and the amount of insulin can be estimated according to this formula. Aunt Shu Ping is very thin and weighs up to 50kg. The insulin usage rate is 20U and the dosage in her bag is enough to last her a month.”

Yu Hanjiang looked down at the formula.

Fasting blood sugar (mmol/L) x 18-100 x 10 x weight (kg) x 0.6 ÷ 1000 ÷ 2…

Xiao Lou managed to write such a long formula due to his outstanding memory.

Yu Hanjiang lowered her head and pondered for a moment. “According to your analysis, the needles and syringe in the bin don’t belong to Li Zhemin because Li Zhemin would definitely use the more advanced ‘insulin pen’ rather than the traditional syringe. We found no insulin in Li Zhemin’s bag but Shu Ping’s bag has a higher than normal dose of insulin. Therefore, it is most likely that Shu Ping stole Li Zhemin’s insulin?”

Group Leader Yu understood Xiao Lou’s meaning in seconds.

Xiao Lou nodded with appreciation.”I asked Guide Qin and this travel group’s journey from departure to return will last 10 days. The return trip is directly by plane and Shu Ping definitely doesn’t need one month’s dosage.”

Bring a dose of 30 days for a 10 day journey, this was enough for two people.

It seemed that Old Li had offended a lot of people and this Shu Ping actually stole his insulin.

Yu Hanjiang organized his thoughts. “Shu Ping looked ugly and she didn’t want us to check her bag. This is because she stole Old Li’s insulin and was afraid we would find out. This woman has a big problem.”

Xiao Lou followed up closely. “However, Old Li was injected with almost 30U from a traditional syringe. It isn’t necessarily Aunt Shu Ping. If it was her, she wouldn’t need to steal Old Li’s insulin pen.”

Yu Hanjiang agreed. “It seems there still needs to be further investigated. This old group really isn’t simple.”

Just then, the tour guide Qin Shiyue came over with a stack of information.

She had gone through psychological adjustment and her face was much better. She knocked on the door of the attendant’s office and handed the information to Xiao Lou. “My travel agency’s registration requirements for this group was relatively high. The registration form must be filled out in detail. Here are the 12 entry forms and includes information on their families and past history.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Thank you.”

Qin Shiyue was silent for a moment before clenching her fists. “If it is murder then be sure to find the murderer!”

“Rest assured, we will find out as soon as possible.” Xiao Lou focused on the information and Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. “Little Qin, I want to ask you a few questions. How long have you guided the 12 people? Who has a better relationship with Li Zhemin?”

Qin Shiyue frowned and thought, “I took them to play in the City of the Sun for three days. Old Li is well-known and most people like to butter him up. His son is very rich and in the City of the Sun, he invited all of us to a big seafood dinner in a fancy restaurant. He ate hundreds of thousands of gold coins in one meal. He has a sense of obligation to others and will help anyone who seeks him out.”

Yu Hanjiang wondered, “He didn’t have any arguments with anyone?”

Qin Shiyue shook his head. “I guided them through on these days and they got along very well. They talked and laughed with nothing usual happening. Yesterday, Old Li invited everyone to eat in the dining carriage.”

Yu Hanjiang asked, “No one hates him? For example, they privately expressed disgust towards him.”

“This…” She scratched her head and thought, “Uncle Niu obviously hates him. They never talk and don’t sit at the dinner table. It is like they don’t know each other. There is Shu Ping who always rolls her eyes behind his back. I saw many times that she sneers when Old Li talks about his son.”

Yu Hanjiang asked, “The three in Room 2, do they have the best relationship with Old Li?”

Qin Shiyue nodded. “Their seats are always together when buying tickets and since Old Li wanted to play cards, he specifically asked me to change the seats at the ticket office so they are staying in the same room.”

This was in line with the findings of Room 2. The four old men did indeed play cards last night.

Xiao Lou suddenly looked up from the pile of information and added, “Old Li sleeps very well?”

Qin Shiyue was startled for a moment before nodding. “It seems so. Everyone said that he is open-minded and his son is rich and filial. He has several apartments in his family and has nothing to worry about. Therefore, he sleeps soundly and won’t even wake up from thunder.”

After all, this tour guide’s contact with the group was very short and she didn’t know much information. Yu Hanjiang understood and told her, “Can I trouble you to go and call Shu Ping over?”

Qin Shiyue turned and went to Room 3 to call Shu Ping.

The youngest and most beautiful old lady normally had a proud expression but her face was currently white.

She took a deep breath and headed to the door of the attendant’s office where she saw the two people sitting inside.

There was a handsome man sitting with clear eyes and a gentle expression. He looked very kind.

The man standing behind him had eyes as sharp as an ice arrow. Once his cold eyes swept over here, Shu Ping’s legs trembled with fright. She wore very fine high heels and she almost fell. She hurriedly grabbed the doorknob next to her and steadied her body.

Yu Hanjiang asked lightly, “Tell me, why did you steal Li Zhemin’s insulin?”

Shu Ping, “……”