Perhaps it was the intensity of Mu Mian's gaze, but Fang Rui turned his head to look at her. "This is a tradition in our city's police department. All new recruits must undergo a psychological test. It's not targeted at anyone."
"May I ask if I passed your psychological test?"
"And what do you think?"
"I should have passed." Mu Mian had read all the psychology books on her sister's bookshelf by the time she was twelve. Since then, she had been able to pass any psychological test.
"You're quite confident."
Although Mu Mian's ability to read facial expressions was weak, she couldn't shake the feeling that Fang Rui's smile suggested he already knew she had autism. Otherwise, there would have been no need to have her take such a psychological test.
Mu Mian quickly regained her composure, took out her pre-prepared bank card from her pocket, and handed it to Fang Rui.
Fang Rui looked at her in surprise. Every action of this Medical Examiner was unexpected.
"This is all the money I have, it's yours."
"Why are you giving this to me?"
"You should know why." Aware that Xiao Zhang was still in the car, Mu Mian didn't want her "bribery" to be too obvious.
Fang Rui furrowed his brow, his expression stiff. "You're not planning to buy my body with money, are you?"
Fang Rui wanted nothing more than to throw Mu Mian out of the car immediately, but considering that she was autistic, he suppressed his anger.
Mu Mian widened her eyes, her tone a little excited. "So, can you really buy it with money?"
After a moment, she lowered her head, feeling dejected. "But I'm so poor now, this is all I have."
At this point, she was more concerned with protecting her secret than Fang Rui's body—she didn't want anyone to know she had autism, as it would mean her dismissal.
She needed this job.
"No!" Fang Rui snapped irritably. "Don't even think about it! From now on, never mention those two words in front of me!"
Fang Rui was a staunch materialist, but no one liked the feeling of being thought of as a mere corpse while still alive.
"Fine." Interrupted like this, Mu Mian didn't know how to steer the conversation back to asking Fang Rui to keep her secret. She could only wait for another opportunity to "bribe" him privately.
After dropping Mu Mian off at her home, Fang Rui and Xiao Zhang first questioned the neighborhood security guard, Old Chen.
Xiao Zhang handed over a photo of the deceased to Old Chen. "Uncle, do you recognize this person?"
"Of course I do," Old Chen glanced at the photo. "This is Ms. Li from Building 8, Unit 3. How could I not know her?"
"Has she had any conflicts with anyone recently?"
"Ms. Li's quite the notorious woman in our neighborhood! She's got a really fiery temper, and she's had plenty of arguments with others. The delivery drivers, they'd rather pay compensation or even quit than deliver to her house. And she's a mistress, too—her boyfriend's wife even posted a notice about it in front of our neighborhood... Oh, wait, the one you brought out this morning, it wouldn't be her, would it?"
Fang Rui interrupted, "Don't ask questions you shouldn't."
Old Chen suddenly became animated, as if a detective had taken over his body. "Police officers, you don't need to investigate this case anymore. The killer must be that young woman in Unit 3, Room 542 of Building 8. What was her name... Mu... Mu something?"
"Mu Mian," Xiao Zhang's body stiffened. "Why do you think she's the murderer?"
"Everyone in the neighborhood knows. This young woman's got mental issues."
"Why do you say that?"
"She moved in three months ago. She was really strange—she wouldn't speak at first, but would smile at everyone. Only, the smile was so stiff, like someone was forcing her to smile. We thought she was mute at first and tried to be nice to her. But when she came across Ms. Li, her words were faster than anyone else's."
Fang Rui seemed to understand what Mu Mian was trying to do—she was desperately trying to pass as normal, but that made her seem even stranger.
With this in mind, Fang Rui felt guilty for having hastily rejected Mu Mian's request to join the special crimes team.
"Later, our property manager, Old Liu, went to fix the plumbing in her place. He saw a whole wall of bones, all sorts of shapes... She even said she wanted to turn Ms. Li into a specimen and hang her on the wall as a painting."
Fang Rui was speechless. This did indeed sound like something Mu Mian would do, especially since the first time they met, she had asked him if he could donate his body to science.
The little guilt he had felt earlier quickly vanished.
Fang Rui took out a photo of the cat and showed it to Old Chen.
"Uncle, do you recognize this cat?"
"How could I recognize it?" Old Chen glanced at it and immediately shook his head.
But after studying it more closely, he muttered, "This cat's so thin, it must be a stray. There are plenty of strays around this neighborhood, all looking the same. But this one's a bit too thin—our neighborhood has several cat lovers who feed them regularly, so they shouldn't be this skinny!"
Fang Rui immediately latched onto his words. "Where do these stray cats tend to gather?"
"Just in the little park next to the neighborhood," Old Chen pointed to a nearby square. "There are quite a few strays—cats and dogs. We can't get rid of them, and we can't kill them, so we just let them stay there."
"When do the cat lovers usually come to feed them?"
"Usually early in the morning or in the evening, since that's when they're free. You wouldn't believe it, but these strays eat better than some of the pets people keep at home. No wonder they won't leave."
"Got it. If you remember anything else, please contact us."
"Ah, I just remembered. Ms. Li once killed a cat, and this one looks kind of like it..."
Xiao Zhang and Fang Rui exchanged a glance. Ms. Li had a history of abusing cats?
After a quick dinner, Fang Rui and Xiao Zhang went to the park next to the neighborhood to continue their investigation.
The spring chill was intense, and the park was nearly deserted. They asked several people who hadn't seen the cat or encountered any of the cat feeders, so they decided to return another day to continue their search.