Chapter 139: The Three Major Poisoning Cases

Sun Bingxin waved her hands repeatedly. "No, no, Sister Xiaotao, I'll follow all your orders. Please don't tell my dad, okay?"

Huang Xiaotao sneered. "Fine, then I'm ordering you to go back."

Sun Bingxin pouted like a wronged child. "But I want to help solve the case with you. My dad is a cop, and I know a lot of uncles and aunts who are cops too. But my family never lets me become a police officer. I really want to catch bad guys, just like Brother Songyang."

Her voice was on the verge of tears, and I could tell she was sincere. I understood that feeling better than anyone, so I said, "Xiaotao, let her come along. Bingxin's toxicology skills are solid. She might be useful for this case."

Huang Xiaotao sighed. "Alright, but you have to obey my orders completely. If you don't listen, I'll call your dad immediately."

Sun Bingxin raised her hands and cheered. "Awesome! Sister Xiaotao, I knew you're tough on the outside but soft inside!"

Huang Xiaotao rolled her eyes. "Cut it out with the flattery."

Back at the station, I first went to check the body of the white-collar woman. Just as Huang Xiaotao said, the coroner had already taken her internal organs for testing, so there wasn't much more to examine.

The special task force was quickly formed, and Captain Xing's case was brought over. We gathered in a large conference room. Huang Xiaotao stuck photos of the three victims on a whiteboard and said, "One victim is a white-collar worker, one is a model, and the last is a student. They have no connections to each other. The only commonalities are that they are young and beautiful, and all died from poisoning. Any thoughts?"

...

...

I asked, "Did Captain Xing retrieve the hotel's surveillance footage this morning?"

Huang Xiaotao nodded. "Yes. The footage shows that between 9 and 10 a.m., a cleaner entered the crime scene — probably the killer. But the hotel staff say no cleaner was scheduled for that floor at that time. This person must have disguised themselves to get in."

She had a police officer operate the projector to play the video. Everyone leaned in eagerly. However, the footage was blurry, and the suspect was heavily covered, making it impossible to tell their gender or identity. As a clue, it was almost useless.

The case was still in the early stages. Everyone shared their ideas.

Some suggested that since the victims were young, attractive women, the killer was probably a man. Perhaps the motive was unrequited love turned into hatred.

This theory got some nods. Following that, someone proposed checking their social media accounts, thinking that might be their only link.

Sun Bingxin, attending a task force meeting for the first time, was ecstatic. Wang Yuanchao said, "Three murders, three different poisons. The killer must have medical knowledge and access to various drugs. We should start investigating the hospitals."

Many agreed. Huang Xiaotao assigned tasks. There were quite a few hospitals in Nanjing City, so it would take time.

After the meeting, Huang Xiaotao asked me, "Songyang, can your divination help here?"

Sun Bingxin was surprised. "Divination? The one you mentioned before?"

I said, "Yes, but this case can't be divined! The killer acts coldly and deliberately, with a clear goal: to kill. There's no emotional clue to tap into."

Huang Xiaotao smiled. "I've gotten used to relying on you, but this time, we have to do the legwork ourselves. You all can head back."

Sun Bingxin was disappointed. "Is that it?"

Huang Xiaotao replied, "Investigations require running around. That's police work."

Sun Bingxin asked, "Which hospitals have you checked?"

Huang Xiaotao listed several, covering almost all major hospitals in Nanjing City.

Sun Bingxin laughed. "Ha! I knew you missed one — the university's affiliated hospital."

Huang Xiaotao was startled. "True, I'll check it myself then."

Sun Bingxin looked pitiful. "Can we come? It's on my way back to school."

After some thought, Huang Xiaotao agreed. Smart and sharp, plus being the director's daughter, Sun Bingxin seemed to have Huang Xiaotao a bit cornered.

The four of us got into Huang Xiaotao's car and headed to the Medical University Affiliated Hospital. It was a bit out of the way, separated from the medical university by three streets. The hospital wasn't well-known locally. Sun Bingxin explained it mainly served as a training site for medical students, half research, half hospital. No major surgeries were done there.

It was a weekend, and the hospital was quiet. Our first task was to check the medicine storage.

Huang Xiaotao asked the warehouse manager for the drug inventory list. Faced with rows of medicines, she looked a bit overwhelmed. Sun Bingxin volunteered to help verify, then reported the three poisons matched the inventory — none were missing.

Hearing this, we basically ruled out this hospital.

Suddenly, Wang Dali shouted, "Ah, a ghost!"

His yell startled me. I turned and saw a nurse reaching for medicine on a shelf. A large dark birthmark covered half her right cheek. Wang Dali must have noticed it suddenly and blurted out.

The nurse seemed shy about the mark and covered it reflexively.

I scolded Wang Dali and apologized to her. She timidly said, "It's my fault for sneaking in without announcing myself... You don't look like hospital staff."

Huang Xiaotao said, "We're police, investigating a case."

"What case?" she asked.

Huang Xiaotao showed photos of the three victims. "Do you know these people?"

The nurse looked and replied, "Sorry, no."

"Sorry to bother you."

After leaving the storage room, we discussed the next step. I stayed silent.

Huang Xiaotao asked, "Songyang, what's wrong?"

"That nurse seemed to be lying," I said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean 'seemed'?" Huang Xiaotao pressed.

"Maybe she's shy and was evasive, so I can't tell if she's nervous or lying," I explained.

Huang Xiaotao waved her hand. "We can't ignore any suspicion. Let's visit her ward."

We asked the warehouse manager about the nurse. He said her name was Qu Tingting, worked in gynecology, and had a widely known nickname — 'The Blue-Faced Beast.' The manager laughed while saying this, but Huang Xiaotao and Sun Bingxin shot him a sharp look — probably offended by the disrespect to a woman.

After that, Sun Bingxin said, "Thanks, QR Code Uncle!"

The manager was a middle-aged balding man whose head resembled a QR code — the nickname fit perfectly. Wang Dali and I couldn't help but laugh.

The manager blushed and said, "Hey, cops shouldn't say things like that."

Sun Bingxin made a funny face. "You can mock others, but no one's allowed to mock you? Double standards!"

The manager grumbled, "I... I'm going to complain about you!"

Huang Xiaotao quickly smoothed things over. "She's new, she doesn't mean it. Sorry for the trouble."

Then turning to Sun Bingxin with a smile, Huang Xiaotao said, "Well done!"

Sun Bingxin looked like a righteous defender and said, "I hate it when men give girls cruel nicknames about their physical flaws — things like 'flat chest,' 'dinosaur,' or 'bucktooth.'"

Then she said to me, "Luckily, Brother Songyang isn't like that."

I felt awkward and quickly replied, "Of course, I always respect women!"