Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the way back to Yongjin Island via police speedboat, Zhao Yu and Zeng Ke received the results of the others’ investigation. However, their information was not very helpful.
For example, the investigators learned from some of the actresses that actor Xie Hao had acted indecently towards them on the set. Many actresses suffered at his hands, but because they were worried about their reputations, they had kept quiet.
In addition, the policeman who was responsible for exploring the details of the insurance company confirmed that Gao Peng did not lie, and said that the Anlumei had indeed gone bankrupt and had been acquired by Haipingyang. According to the purchase agreement, there were many restrictions on the compensations.
Specifically, even if the crew’s deaths were accidental deaths, the insurance company’s compensation would not fully be in compliance with the original agreement’s standards. Moreover, now that the six victims were involved in a murder investigation, Champion Pictures couldn’t win at all if the lawsuit was brought to court. Therefore, the suspicion that Gao Peng and other company staff members had committed the murders for the insurance money payout was completely ruled out.
Then, in order to ensure that nothing was missing, Ran Tao had even joined the Jinhai police to investigate Qiao Ruxue and her husband thoroughly. Qiao Ruxue and her husband had not left Jinhai in recent months, and the report about her husband’s heart bypass surgery was absolutely true.
In addition, their private accounts were clean, and they had not recently contacted any suspicious people. So, they had been basically excluded from the suspects list at this point.
The police speedboat was so fast, it took them less than an hour to get to the command vessel on Yongjin Island. When Zhao Yu arrived, Captain Dou rushed forward to greet him and told Zhao Yu that he had sent policemen to search the lighthouse.
Zhao Yu was not concerned about this matter any longer, and after seeing Captain Dou, he asked him about the lighthouse and the old case that had happened on Yongjin Island. When Zhao Yu mentioned the old case, Captain Dou was a little stunned at first.
Then, he stroked his hand through his greasy hair and asked, “Leader, why did you suddenly bring up that case? That was such a long time ago, when I wasn’t even born! Does that case have anything to do with the current case?”
“So, you know about it?” Zhao Yu pressed him for more information.
Captain Dou nodded. “Quliang is a small place. There are very few murders around these parts. That case was known to everyone at that time. Moreover, the case happened on Yongjin Island, which is so isolated. As of today, there has been no final conclusion yet, so although it occurred a long time ago, people still enjoy talking about it.”
Zhao Yu nodded and said, “Well, tell me what you know.”
While Zhao Yu and Captain Dou were talking, Zeng Ke returned to the office and started attending to his own work. At this moment, only Zhao Yu and Captain Dou were on the deck.
Captain Dou nodded obediently, then took out a cheap cigarette. He then leaned on the railings and said to Zhao Yu, “When I had just become a policeman, I saw the old case file. It happened in the early 1980s, either in 1981 or 1982. At that time, the lighthouse was still functioning well.”
He inhaled a deep drag on his cigarette as he recalled the details from the past, “The couple lived on Yongjin Island in order to guard the lighthouse. I forgot what their names were. At that time, the unit responsible for the lighthouse was called the Maritime Bureau. One day, the Maritime Bureau received a report from the couple that they had rescued a sailor from a wrecked fishing boat on Yongjin Island.”
He exhaled slowly, then said, “After receiving the report, the Maritime Bureau sent some of its staff members out to the island the next day. However, as soon as they arrived, the lighthouse keeper’s wife, who was partly naked, rush into the speedboat in a panic! She told the bureau staff members that the sailor had not only raped her, but had brutally murdered her husband!”
Captain Dou went on, “The Maritime Bureau was shocked by this scene. So, they immediately arrested the sailor.”
As he was speaking of this, Captain Dou’s telephone rang suddenly. When he looked down at his phone, he awkwardly signaled to Zhao Yu, then answered the phone with his face turned away from him. Although he covered his mouth with hands, as Zhao Yu was beside him, he could hear what Captain Dou was saying over the phone quite clearly.
“Hey darling… You miss Daddy, don’t you?” Captain Dou smiled as he whispered into the phone softly, “Not today. Daddy is working on a case! When the case is over, how about we see a movie?”
“No, that’s absolutely impossible. Ha ha ha ha…” Captain Dou spoke patiently to his daughter, “Daddy can promise you almost anything, but that is really impossible!”
Captain Dou talked for a long time before finally hanging up the phone. When he turned back to face Zhao Yu, his face showed a sweet smile.
He then blushed and explained, “Sorry, that was my daughter. She asked to come to the island!”
Captain Dou smiled awkwardly. “I obviously didn’t agree, so she was yelling at me! Ha ha ha…”
Captain Dou then threw his cigarette butt into the sea, sighed, then said, “I’m divorced, so I dare not make my little princess angry!”
“Oh…” Zhao Yu nodded slightly.
“Um… Let’s carry on…” he said, while he took out another cigarette. “Now… We come to the arrest of the sailor! Later, the police found the sailor’s fingerprints on the murder weapon, and the blood stains on the sailor corresponded to the deceased’s DNA! Moreover, the sailor’s semen was found in the lighthouse’s wife. The sailor was then sentenced to death soon after this evidence was confirmed!”
Captain Dou smoked his cigarette quietly, as if he had finished the story.
“Um… Is that all?” Zhao Yu asked. “What happened then? Did the sailor actually die?”
“Yes,” Captain Dou replied. “But… It was not because of the death penalty, but a terminal illness.”
“Why was the death penalty not carried out?” Zhao Yu asked.
Captain Dou tried hard to recall. “I believe that the sailor denied the accusation after he was arrested. He maintained that he was wronged and would never admit to his guilt. So, the death penalty was not executed, but a suspended death sentence or an indefinite death sentence was issued… Or… Something like that!”
“Oh…” Zhao Yu thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you know what happened after that? Is the wife still alive?”
Captain Dou seemed to notice something, then asked, “Leader Zhao, do you think that the case that we are working on now is related to this old case from several decades ago?”
“Leader!” Before he could answer Captain Dou, Zhao Yu was interrupted by Zeng Ke, who had just run up to them with his laptop.
He then said excitedly to Zhao Yu, “I found something important! The sailor who was sentenced to death was Cai Xiangbin! And… Cai Xiangbin was the scriptwriter Cai Jinda’s uncle!”
