Chapter Sixty-Two: The Missing Tricycle

As he spoke, for the first time a look of guilt appeared on his face. He lowered his head, burying it in his large, calloused hands and rubbed it vigorously.

“In truth, I feel quite uneasy about what I did. It’s not because I hit that man named Lu. If it were just about him, I wouldn’t have thought twice about beating him to death. But once I calmed down and looked back on it, I realized that doing it in front of his wife was wrong. Before I went to find out where he lived, I’d already heard a few things about his wife—apparently, she’s had a hard life because of that man, suffered a lot. Back then, I was still stubborn and didn’t believe it.” Xie Leming raised his head again, looking at An Changpu. “Young man, indulge me for a moment. I may not be a great man, but at least I’m a man. A man can fight another man, but he shouldn’t make things hard for a woman—especially not his own woman!”

“You’re right,” An Changpu agreed with him.

“So that day, when I hit Lu in front of his wife, her face turned as white as paper. As soon as I finished, I regretted it, but by then it was too late…” Xie Leming’s tone softened, his earlier anger slowly fading, and he was reminded once more of his current predicament. His voice grew lower and finally fell into silence.

“When you realized Lu Min really was as the rumors said—a man—were you especially furious then?” An Changpu’s tone was casual, as if making idle conversation.

By contrast, Xie Leming was anything but relaxed. He shook his head, replying, “I wouldn’t call it anger. Mostly, I was disgusted. I just wanted to find myself a decent companion and ended up with another man... I beat him because he cheated me out of my money! I asked him to pay me back, but he flat-out refused, claimed he never took my money. Then he even threatened that if I kept pressing him, he’d ruin my reputation and say I’d done things with him. That, I couldn’t stand. I lost my temper and hit him.”

“When you hit Lu Min, did his wife try to stop you?” Qin Ruonan was curious about Ding Mulan’s reaction.

“His wife didn’t really react. Looked like she’d been scared senseless,” Xie Leming scratched the back of his head, glancing nervously at the two officers. “I forgot to mention, when I beat up Lu, his daughter saw too. That girl’s braver than her mother—she tried to pull me off him but couldn’t, so she ran out to get help. I was afraid if too many people came and the story got out, it’d be too humiliating, so I left.”

“His daughter?” Qin Ruonan was taken aback—they’d already met all of Lu’s close relatives several times, and no one had ever mentioned this.

Seeing her surprise, Xie Leming hurried to clarify: “It really was his daughter, I’m sure of it. The girl kept calling him ‘Dad.’ I may have been angry, but I wasn’t so out of it I couldn’t tell.”

“Do you remember what she looked like? Was she tall or short, thin or fat?”

“She was short and pretty thin,” Xie Leming recalled. “Poor kid, having to deal with such an embarrassing father.”

“It seems like you’re less anxious about your own situation now,” An Changpu observed with a faint, teasing smile, noting Xie Leming’s sympathy for Lu Anmei.

Xie Leming hesitated, wanting to say something, but in the end said nothing.

An Changpu understood what he left unsaid. After listening to Xie Leming’s story for so long, he decided it was time to let him know the truth of the situation.

“Lu Min is dead,” he said, dropping his smile and speaking solemnly.

Based on Xie Leming’s brief description, Qin Ruonan guessed the girl who tried to stop him that day was Lu Anmei—a girl with a strained relationship with her father, yet still brave enough to throw her small body between two grown men. That took real courage. She wondered why, after meeting Lu Anmei several times, the girl had never mentioned it. But before she could dwell on it, An Changpu announced Lu Min’s death to Xie Leming, startling Qin Ruonan as well—she quickly shifted her attention to Xie Leming.

Upon hearing the news, Xie Leming was at first stunned, then, unexpectedly, he seemed relieved.

“Why do you look so much more at ease now that you know he’s dead?” Qin Ruonan asked, puzzled by his reaction.

“No, no, that’s not it!” Xie Leming flushed and quickly explained. “I was just afraid that if I’d injured him, he’d report me to the police and I’d end up in court. But since you say he’s dead—and the police wouldn’t lie—I know I didn’t kill him, so I’m not responsible. I can’t help feeling relieved. My son doesn’t know about Lu, and I’m terrified he’ll find out and be ashamed of me. Anyone would feel the same in my shoes.”

“Weren’t you worried we’d suspect you? By your own admission, you hit Lu Min because he cheated you out of money,” An Changpu pressed.

Xie Leming swallowed, struggling a bit to answer. “I’m not trying to dodge responsibility. If you want to pursue the matter of me hitting him, I’ll accept whatever punishment is due. But if he’s dead, and you’re not investigating the assault, then that life has nothing to do with me. You tracked me down even though I used a fake name for the matchmaking, so if I’d killed him, you’d have figured it out. I’m not worried about being blamed for something I didn’t do.”

“Can you tell us where you were when Lu Min was killed, and if anyone can vouch for your whereabouts?” Qin Ruonan asked, specifying the time frame.

Xie Leming thought for a moment and said that he’d just moved to City C with his son at the time. In the evenings, it was just the two of them at home; during the day, his son was at work, and he was alone. No one could vouch for him.

“I think my son once mentioned that there are security cameras in his apartment building. If you don’t believe me, check them! I just have one request—no matter what you need from me, just please don’t let my son find out about this. Otherwise, I’ll never be able to hold my head up in front of him again!” Xie Leming sighed heavily, the fear of his son learning about his misadventures with Lu weighing on him like a stone.

“Why did you suddenly decide to move to City C? I heard you’d always refused to let your son bring you here before.”

“I never wanted to live in the city—I thought it was boring and I’d just be a burden to my son. But after I found out Lu was actually a man, I couldn’t stay in my hometown anymore. Everyone there knew I’d met a beautiful woman and was planning to remarry. If she suddenly disappeared, people would start asking questions. And if word ever got back, I’d be too ashamed to show my face. Better to leave early.”

“By the way, Mr. Xie, you mentioned before that your three-wheeled cart had gone missing. Was it really stolen?” An Changpu suddenly changed the subject.

Xie Leming couldn’t understand why the police kept jumping between topics, but it didn’t matter—he just needed to answer. “It’s really gone! Why would I make something like that up?”

“When did you lose it?”

“I’m not sure. After fighting with Lu, I was out of sorts for a long time. When I finally noticed the cart was missing, I had no idea how long it had been gone. No one comes to my house during the day, and no one saw anyone take it—mine was the only cart like that in the area, so maybe someone stole it at night.”

“Did you try looking for it after you noticed it was gone?”

“No,” Xie Leming shook his head miserably. “I wasn’t in the mood. It wasn’t worth much anyway, and I was avoiding the neighbors in case they asked what happened to my girlfriend. I wouldn’t know what to say.”

“When was the last time you remember seeing it?”

“I don’t really remember. But when I went to look for Lu, I rode the cart there! My hometown’s about forty minutes away by cart from where he lived.” He couldn’t help but ask, “Is there something special about that cart? Why are you so interested in it?”

An Changpu smiled but didn’t answer, only instructed him not to leave town and to stay in touch with the police at all times. Xie Leming agreed to everything, his attitude earnest and sincere.

There was little else they needed to ask Xie Leming, so An Changpu offered to walk him out. After they left the major crimes unit, Qin Ruonan pulled a phone data cable from her desk drawer, transferred a photo from her phone to the computer, and compared it to a photo from the evidence file—a bloodstained three-wheeled cart found near the site where the body was recovered. She enlarged the images, comparing every detail.

After closely examining the photos, An Changpu returned to the office, having seen Xie Leming out.

“He’s gone? You let him leave just like that—aren’t you worried?” Qin Ruonan looked up to see An Changpu watching her compare the photos.

An Changpu shrugged. “I’m not worried, and I’ve already arranged for someone to keep an eye on him. Did you find anything?”

“I did. If you trust my eyes, the cart Xie Leming lost is the same one we found at the crime scene,” Qin Ruonan said with conviction, putting down the photo.