Physician's Odyssey Chapter 603 - Murder

When Su Tao pressed on the doorbell, no one opened the door for him. But when he took a sniff, he actually caught the scent of blood.
However, he did not barge into the door and called for the hotel's assistance. After making his explanation, the hotel staff opened the door and caught sight of a bloody scene. She immediately screamed, but Su Tao was already used to life and death, so he was calmer than he had imagined and immediately called for the police. Roughly ten-odd minutes later, the police arrived and sealed off the crime scene. At the same time, they even arrested Su Tao. After all, they couldn't rule out that he's not suspicious despite being the one who called for the police.
The one that took Su Tao's statement was an officer that looked to be in his late twenties.
"Do you know the deceased?" He asked.
"I don't!" Su Tao wryly smiled.
"If you don't know him, why did you tell the hotel staff that he's your friend and you suspected that he committed suicide?" The police officer pursued.
"I have no idea how he got my number, but he gave me a call and wanted to meet me." At this moment, Su Tao could only sigh for his bad luck to be involved in a case of murder. Furthermore, based on logical conjecture, he was suspicious to be there.
"You don't know the deceased, and yet, you were present at the crime scene. If you can't give us an explanation on this matter, we'll have reasons to suspect the possibility of you being the culprit." The officer firmly said.
It's not surprising for thieves to scream wolves. The officer read that in many cases, many of the culprits were the ones who called for police.
Organising his words, Su Tao patiently explained, "My company encountered a controversy crisis. He called me, claiming to know the truth and wanted to meet me. But after I pressed on the doorbell for a long time, no one answered the door, and I even caught onto a blood scent. This is the reason why I called for the hotel's assistant. As for why I claimed that he was my friend, it is all to convince the hotel's staff to open the door."
Shaking his head, the officer sighed, "Is there any evidence?"
"None! I forgot to record it, and I only have a call history." Su Tao helplessly stretched his hands out.
Instantly, the officer became a little unhappy. The call history could only prove that Su Tao contacted the deceased, and call history cannot be used as evidence now since it didn't cost much to create one. Knocking his finger on the table twice, he replied, "Since you're so uncooperative, then we can only hold you here!"
This was a routine method used by police when interrogating suspects. They had to show a tough side to them.
The hotel's surveillance camera was fiddled with, so they couldn't retrieve the footage. Furthermore, there's a certain room for error when examining the corpse. Since the time difference was only ten minutes apart, it couldn't be ruled out that Su Tao wasn't suspicious.
Suddenly, the door was opened and the officer immediately stood up and greeted, "Station Chief Xiang!"
Nodding his head at the officer, Station Chief Xiang asked, "Are you done with the statement? If so, then release him."
The officer was a little surprised, to which he replied, "I'm not done with the statement, and there are a lot of questions yet to be answered. Furthermore, there's a high possibility of him being the culprit."
"If I told you to release him, then do as I say! Why are you talking so much?" Station Chief Xiang glared at the officer in annoyance before he continued, "This case is to be taken over by a higher department. Sort out the information in a bit and prepare for the handover."
Glancing at the officer, Su Tao could see that the former's face was filled with grievance and helplessness. In his heart, he admired this officer a little. After all, anyone with dreams and principles was worthy of his admiration. This officer was indeed investigating the case, where many officers would brush it off since they knew that no matter how hard they worked, it'd be futile. In the end, the criminal department would definitely take over the case.
Walking over to Su Tao, Station Chief Xiang smiled. "Vice-President Su, I'm sorry about that. It was all a misunderstanding!"
Station Chief Xiang never met Su Tao before, so he addressed Su Tao by his position in Jianghuai Hospital. Evidently, he was already greeted by someone.
Waving his hand, Su Tao smiled. "I feel that this officer's attitude was pretty good when working."
As for the officer, he inwardly sighed since he had no idea of Su Tao's identity. When he followed the two of them to the lobby, he suddenly saw a heroic figure, and his heart jolted. It was his idol, Jiang Qinghan!
Standing before Jiang Qinghan was a robust man, the other badass in Hanzhou City's criminal police department, Zhang Zhen.
Patting Su Tao's shoulder, Zhang Zhen laughed, "My colleague did not make things difficult for you, right?"
"Nope! I never expected that the two of you would be alarmed by this case!" Su Tao smiled, shaking his head.
Moving to Su Tao's ear, Zhang Zhen whispered, "It was mainly because the Chief heard that you were arrested and immediately rushed over."
Looking at Jiang Qinghan, Su Tao smiled. "Thank you for your concern!"
When the officer saw how familiar Su Tao, Zhang Zhen, and Jiang Qinghan were, he inwardly sighed and started to doubt his speculation.
Walking over to the officer, Zhang Zhen flipped through the case as the officer reported, who at the same time, also revealed his own thoughts, "Su Tao reported the case, and he also has suspicion to be related to the case. Due to the fact that there's a conflict, he does possess a motive for murder."
Upon hearing those words, Zhang Zhen was briefly stunned before he sourly smiled. "Young man, you cannot handle the case in this manner. If you knew the background of the person who reported the case, you wouldn't say those words anymore. But judging from the information you've collected, it's still pretty professional and complete. Leave the rest to us."
As the officer's lips moved, he wanted to speak of his thoughts, but he felt that it would be futile and kept his mouth shut.
After Jiang Qinghan, Zhang Zhen, and Su Tao left, the officer took out his phone and started to search for Su Tao's information. When he did, he was deeply shocked. That fellow might be young, but his résumé was decorated with all sorts of titles. Not only was he the Vice-President of Jianghuai Hospital, but he's also the person behind the Qihuang Charity Funds, and had also recently become a National Healer. Just any one of his titles alone was worthy of having the Station Chief personally send him off.
At the same time, the Vice-Bureau Chief of Hanzhou City's Public Security Bureau, Mei Dongcheng gave a call to Zhang Ping and reported, "Su Tao has already been brought out."
As Zhang Ping acknowledged, he instructed, "He is now an important figure in Hanzhou City. Nothing must go wrong in this matter."
Mei Dongcheng knew what Zhang Ping was talking about. Su Tao was now a National Healer, so his patients didn't only consist of ordinary people, but also the nation's leaders.
Although Zhang Ping had a transcendent position in Hanzhou City that even surpassed Yan Jing, just Su Tao's connections alone were worthy of Zhang Ping to treat the latter with importance. Who knows when he might require Su Tao's help in the future in his career development.
Initially, Zhang Ping wasn't too concerned of a young doctor like Su Tao, but just a few days ago, an old classmate of his in Beijing told him that a great figure praised a National Healer who hailed from Hanzhou City. Since Su Tao has resolved several difficult situations for him in the past, Zhang Ping only realised today that he had such a deep and unfathomable figure by his side.
"I will definitely investigate and find the culprit." Mei Dongcheng promised. However, he never expected that Zhang Ping's first reaction wasn't to find the culprit but making sure that Su Tao was fine. Hence, his promise sounded a little weird.
"The case must definitely be investigated, but you guys have to provide around-the-clock protection for Su Tao. This case is definitely targeted at Su Tao, so he's also in danger." Zhang Ping instructed after a brief pause.
Inwardly sighing, Mei Dongcheng immediately agreed, "I will get to it immediately!"
The three of them came to a street food stall, which Zhang Zhen slapped on his chest and declared that he would be paying. Hence, they ordered four dishes along with soup and chatted as they ate.
"The deceased's identity is out. His name is He Yu, thirty-six this year. He created a compassionate public platform online in the past. Nominally, it's meant to aid poor students in their financial aid, but it's actually a shady business. They mainly targeted female students with low-income families. If they wanted to receive financial aid, they would have to sign a contract and be in a relationship with their investor. Three years ago, he was reported to the authorities and fled. However, we never expected that he would hide his name and return." Zhang Zhen furiously said as he drank two mouthfuls of white liquor.
"This sort of person is practically scum by using charity as a name for flesh business." Even Su Tao was a little speechless. However, he was curious about why He Yu would contact him. At the same time, He Yu seemed to be able to help Su Tao in resolving the current straits judging from his tone.
Putting down the chopsticks, Jiang Qinghan crossed her fingers together and said, "The key in solving the case is to find out his objective for contacting you. There must be a story behind this matter."
"Qihuang Charity Funds encountered malicious slander online about our first charity event, and He Yu contacted me at this time. Judging from his tone, he seemed to possess some secrets and intended to get a sum out of me. Furthermore, his death must be related to this secret." Su Tao sighed.
Patting on his thigh, Zhang Zhen analysed, "This case is a little clear. The person who maliciously slandered the Qihuang Charity Funds might be the same one behind He Yu's death."
"Right now, the Qihuang Charity funds has to filter out its competitors so that we can comb through and find some clues." Jiang Qinghan nodded her head.
Holding onto his chin, Su Tao pondered for a long time before he bitterly smiled. "I have too many enemies, and it's not easy if you want me to filter through them. But I might be able to find clues from the deceased to help in the case."
Upon hearing those words, Zhang Zhen's eyes lit up with interest. Su Tao was going to show his detective abilities once again.