Chapter 2057 - Chapter 2057: She's Dead

Chapter 2057: She’s Dead

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“The problem lies right here,” Lin Yi said.

“Usually, when someone orders takeout in the middle of the night, it’s because they’re hungry. And when people are hungry, they tend to order something heavy and flavorful. But look at what she ordered—plain millet porridge and a single bun. And she didn’t even finish the bun, and barely touched the porridge. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“You’ve got a point,” Gu Yiran said.

“The amount she ate wouldn’t even satisfy my cat, so it’s unlikely she ordered it out of hunger.”

“So these details are worth investigating, and right now, these are our best leads,” Lin Yi added.

At that moment, Song Gang approached them and said,

“Officer Li, we’ve completed the initial investigation. It looks like the victim died from cyanide poisoning, and the poison was ingested through the takeout she ordered.”

“The takeout was poisoned?”

The three of them spoke in unison.

“Yes.

“The reagent we used on the porridge tested positive for cyanide, and the estimated time of death matches when she ate the takeout.”

“So now the question is how the poisoning happened,” Gu Yiran said.

“It seems unlikely it was a mistake by the vendor.”

“That’s impossible,” Lin Yi said.

“Cyanide is a strictly controlled substance that ordinary people can’t get their hands on. The takeout vendor wouldn’t have the capability to do this even if they wanted to.”

“So this had to be the work of an outsider. We just need to figure out which step in the process was compromised.”

Li Xianghui thought for a moment.

“Gu Yiran, you investigate the restaurant and the delivery driver.”

“Got it.”

“Little Lin, you keep an eye on the hospital and see if any new leads come up in the inheritance dispute case.”

“No problem.”

With their tasks assigned, the two of them got to work. Gu Yiran went off to investigate the takeout.

Meanwhile, Lin Yi headed to the hospital.

About twenty minutes later, Lin Yi met up with Zhang Zixin at the hospital.

“Brother Lin, how did it go on your end? Did you find Sui Xin?” Zhang Zixin asked.

“Yes, but she’s dead.”

“Dead!?”

Zhang Zixin’s eyes widened in shock, her mouth hanging open.

“Cyanide poisoning. It’s been determined as a murder, but we’ll need to wait a bit longer for the full report.”

Zhang Zixin quickly absorbed the news of Sui Xin’s death.

“I thought she might be the killer, but I didn’t expect her to end up dead too,” Zhang Zixin said with regret.

“Her sudden death makes her an important lead. We can use her as an entry point to investigate further,” Lin Yi said.

“How’s your side of the investigation going?”

“One of the patients is in critical condition, so the doctors and nurses are busy with that. It’ll be a while before they’re free.”

“Then we’ll wait.”

Around noon, the doctor and nurse on duty that day emerged from the ICU and were brought to the meeting room by Lin Yi.

This was Lin Yi’s first time meeting them.

The doctor, Ren Zhiyong, was in his forties, wore thick glasses, and looked disheveled, with an oily head of hair and slippers on his feet, presenting a rather unkempt image.

The nurse, Zhang Lele, looked slightly better but was still visibly exhausted, with sweat covering her face. For them, being able to sit down and rest was a rare luxury.

“Dr. Ren, we’d like to ask you a few questions. I hope you can cooperate,” Lin Yi said.

“No problem. Ask whatever you need, and we’ll do our best to cooperate.”

“Based on the preliminary investigation, the deceased, Li Wenguang, died from asphyxiation. But given his condition at the time, many factors could have led to his death. I want to ask, was the oxygen equipment functioning normally?”

“Yes,” Ren Zhiyong replied firmly.

“The ICU is different from other wards. We check the equipment daily, and the hospital has an independent power supply, so there wouldn’t be any issues with the hardware. You can rest assured about that.”

Lin Yi and Zhang Zixin remained silent. If equipment failure was ruled out, then murder was the likely cause.

“Who was responsible for caring for Li Wenguang at the time?”

“We don’t have specific assignments like that. If a patient has an issue, whoever is available will check on them. There’s no set assignment.”

“Then among the three of you, who had the most contact with Li Wenguang?”

Ren Zhiyong licked his lips nervously. “I’m not trying to shirk responsibility, but as an ICU doctor, I had the least contact with him. Most of the care was handled by Lele and Little Xin.”

Lin Yi turned his gaze to Zhang Lele, clearly expecting an explanation.

Zhang Lele became flustered and quickly explained,

“Officer, you can’t accuse an innocent person. While I did take care of him most of the time, I didn’t do anything wrong. When he died, I was attending to the patient in the next bed. I only realized something was wrong when I heard the alarm from the ventilator.”

“Was anyone with him when he died?”

“Strictly speaking, no.”

“What do you mean? Can you clarify?” Zhang Zixin asked.

“Li Wenguang was in bed 7, while beds 6 and 8 were occupied by other patients. I was attending to the patient in bed 8, and Little Xin was looking after the patient in bed 6. So both of us had our backs to Li Wenguang. It wasn’t until the ventilator alarm went off that we realized he had passed away.”

Zhang Lele spoke quickly, seemingly trying to prove her innocence through her tone.

“And Dr. Ren was nearby at the time. He can vouch for us,” she added.

Ren Zhiyong scratched his head awkwardly.

“They should both be in the clear.”

Zhang Zixin frowned and asked sternly,

“Why do you doctors always like to use words like ‘should’? Is it a professional habit?”

“It’s not that,” Ren Zhiyong replied, embarrassed.

“The patient died in the morning after we had been working all night. We were all exhausted. So at the time, I was ordering breakfast on my phone and didn’t pay much attention to what they were doing. But I could see them out of the corner of my eye, and their actions seemed fine.”

After a moment of thought, Lin Yi asked,

“Did any of you have the opportunity to be alone with the patient?”

“Yes,” Ren Zhiyong replied.

“There were times when I wasn’t in the ICU and left them in charge. If one of them went to the bathroom, the other would be left alone with the patients. And since we weren’t particularly busy that week, we’d sometimes take turns napping, leaving one person to watch over the ward. So yes, we all had opportunities to be alone with the patients.”

Ren Zhiyong’s honesty aligned with Lin Yi’s expectations. He was well-acquainted with the workings of hospitals.

While larger hospitals like Huashan Hospital were more strictly managed, they weren’t immune to lapses in protocol.

“Officers, I think you shouldn’t just be looking at me and Dr. Ren. What about Xin Xin?” Zhang Lele suggested.

Lin Yi paused for a moment and then said,

“She’s dead. It was murder. She won’t be able to provide any testimony.”

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