The Unlikely Alibi

"The subway body case has been making a lot of noise in the news. You must have noticed it over the past few months, right?" a detective asked.

"Yes, we've noticed it," the two men sitting opposite him answered in unison.

"There are photos of the suspect after his arrest, as well as videos of him being interviewed on TV. His face has even become a meme on many chat apps. Have you seen them?"

"Yeah, we've seen them."

"The news detailed that he committed the murder on the night of March 1st. And on that same night, you two were having dinner with him, and later, you were in the café talking until late. Didn't it occur to you, while watching the news, that the man described in the report was the same one who had dinner with you? Did you not think about his whereabouts on the night of the crime?"

One of the men spoke up: "I never thought the person in the news was the same lawyer, Mr. Li, who had dinner with me that night."

"Me neither," the other man added.

"Mr. Li?" The detective frowned. "His name is Zhang Chao."

The man thought for a moment and said, "The law firm called me the day before and told me that a lawyer named Li would be coming to Beijing on a business trip and wanted to meet with me to discuss my case. The next day, he called to arrange dinner. He didn't give me a business card, and I just kept calling him 'Mr. Li,' and he never corrected me. I didn't find out his name was Zhang until you contacted me."

"Did he ever lie to you, telling you his name was Li?"

He thought for a moment and replied, "He never said so directly, but I just assumed he was Mr. Li."

The detective, who had been taking detailed notes, continued to question them.

"I had the same experience. The law firm called me to say Mr. Li would come to Beijing. I had already hired another firm in Hangzhou for my case, so I wasn't going to meet him. But he seemed eager to meet me, saying it was just a casual conversation and he wouldn't charge me for the consultation, so I agreed. But in the end, after we talked, he said my case was too small to pursue and suggested I find another lawyer. It was all very strange."

"I had the same thing. We ate dinner together, and he insisted on picking up the check. Then he said the case wasn't worth pursuing and refused to take it on. My case wasn't big to begin with, and he knew that from the start, yet he came across as eager to take it, only to drop it later. I even offered to increase his fee by a few thousand to help win the case, but he still refused. It was baffling."

The detective pressed again: "There are photos of Zhang Chao after his arrest, and scenes from his interview on TV. You both must have seen them. Why didn't you recognize him as the lawyer who met you a few months ago?"

"Who would think it's him? The guy in the news looked shabby, like a beggar. Even in the interview, he had a shaved head, wore a prison uniform, and looked nothing like the lawyer we met. When we met, he looked so well-groomed—wearing a red scarf, fancy silver-framed glasses, a well-styled haircut, a designer watch, and a leather bag. He spoke in a way that felt very distinguished."

"Yeah, I remember his glasses were an expensive brand. That really stood out to me."

"The guy in the photos didn't have glasses on, and his hair was completely different. His whole demeanor was completely changed. If you hadn't asked me, I'd never have realized that the person in the news was the same lawyer I met."

"Exactly, it's like my wife. She looks completely different when she wakes up in the morning compared to when she's all made up. Apart from me, even her mom wouldn't recognize her. It wasn't until you guys came to me that I looked at the photo closely and thought there was some resemblance. I never would've imagined that the nationwide news murder suspect was the same guy I had coffee with."

"I never said I was Mr. Li," Zhang Chao, now wearing the resin glasses provided by the detention center, looked directly at the detective and said confidently, "I can confront them directly."

"But they kept calling you Mr. Li, and you didn't correct them."

"What's the big deal? They made a mistake. The law firm called me the day before, saying Mr. Li would meet the client in Beijing. But then I remembered I had a case in Ningbo the next day, which Mr. Li was handling, so I ended up going to Beijing instead."

The detective was skeptical: "You're a well-known criminal defense lawyer in Hangzhou, yet you flew all the way to Beijing to meet two clients with minor contract disputes? Isn't that a waste of your time and the cost of the flight?"

"Of course, the main reason I went to Beijing wasn't just to meet those small clients. My wife had mentioned several times she wanted to eat authentic Peking duck from Quanjude. Our wedding anniversary was on Sunday, so I decided to surprise her with a trip to Beijing. The next day, I even stopped by home to put the duck in the fridge before heading to Jiang Yang's place. You can check with my wife about this. Since I was already in Beijing, I thought I'd take the opportunity to meet the two clients. Although their cases weren't big—only about ten thousand each—it's still money. My law firm is small, just me and two other lawyers, and two interns. I have to support them, after all. You know how big law firms don't refuse small cases. My small firm can't afford to be picky."

The detective, frustrated with Zhang Chao's nonchalant answers, slammed the table and shouted, "Stop with the slick talk! Do you think this is a joke?"

Zhang Chao feigned surprise, clutching his chest as he said, "You scared me."

But it was clear he wasn't intimidated. The detective glared at him, his patience running thin. "You flew to Beijing just for the Peking duck? Why didn't you buy it online? Can you honestly expect us to believe that?"

Zhang Chao looked at him for a moment before smiling. "Whether or not you believe me is up to you. People have different values. A rich person might spend a fortune sponsoring space programs and bring back a piece of moon rock for their girlfriend. Why don't you ask them why they don't just buy a cheap meteorite from eBay? I'm doing fine financially, so a flight to Beijing for some Peking duck isn't a big deal. Online shopping? It's just not the same."

His smile was confident, and the detective, feeling awkward, was reminded of his own online shopping habits, where he spent hours comparing prices just to save a few dollars, while a wealthy person would casually swipe their card for the same item. Zhang Chao was from a different world.

The detective coughed to regain composure and pressed on: "You said your firm takes on business opportunistically. Why did you reject these two clients in Beijing later?"

"That's a question for other law firms. See if they'll take on any case as long as the money's right. These two cases were contract disputes, not big ones, but very complex. The contracts worked against the clients, and their expectations of winning didn't align with my understanding. The costs involved in pursuing these cases were high, and I wasn't sure we could win. So I decided to pass on them."

The detective, unable to counter his arguments, seethed with frustration.

"Yes, there was indeed a Peking duck in the fridge," Zhang Chao's wife responded calmly to the police's questioning.

"Didn't you know it was from Quanjude in Beijing?" the officer asked.

"It said so on the packaging, but so what?"

"Didn't you know your husband flew to Beijing just to buy it?"

"How could I have known? I thought he just ordered it online. That afternoon, the police called to say my husband had been arrested for murder. I rushed to the station and spent the next few days dealing with the aftermath. Do you expect me to care about some stupid Peking duck when my husband's in trouble?"

The officer rolled his eyes. At that point, any normal wife would be focused on their husband, not where the duck came from.

"Didn't he mention his trip to Beijing to you?"

"No, I found out about it during the trial."

"Wasn't it strange that he didn't come home the night before?"

"It wasn't strange. He's busy with work, often traveling. I'm a professional myself, and we respect each other's careers. He's a great husband, and I support his work. I'm not the kind of woman who needs to micromanage every detail of her husband's life. Are you asking if you should question your wife every time you go on a mission at night?"