Chapter 229 - 155: I Got It! Baihan Clubhouse

Two people had emerged in the case so far: the madwoman and the victim who had been skinned alive.

Through their investigation, the police quickly identified them.

A pair of sisters!

The deceased was the younger sister, Lin Miao; the madwoman was the older sister, Lin Miao.

And after canvassing the neighborhood, the neighbors had this to say...

"Slut. She’s a complete and utter slut!"

"Son of a bitch! That little brat was always flaunting herself, crawling into bed with men day after day. A filthy slut, the biggest whore of them all!"

A sneer spread across the slightly heavyset woman’s face.

She made no attempt to conceal her malice.

"You mean..."

Zhang Liang frowned, starting to ask.

"You mean she was... selling her body?"

"’Selling her body’? What a polite way to put it..."

"She was a whore!"

The woman sounded as if she had phlegm caught in her throat, yet her gravelly voice couldn’t mask her deep-seated resentment.

"She was for sale, a stinking whore! Her whole family can go to hell, from morning till night..."

"Stop, stop, stop."

Zhao Gang, the head of the Special Fifth Bureau’s special task force, felt a headache coming on.

’We’re here to investigate, to find clues, not to listen to her tirade...’

"Stick to the point. What was her social circle like? Did she have any conflicts with people around here?"

Zhao Gang asked.

At his words, the woman’s expression hardened, and she looked ready to speak again, but Xu Huo cut her off.

"One moment. Thank you for your cooperation. Sir, could you please take a moment to cooperate with our investigation?"

Xu Huo looked at the man who had been standing behind the woman the whole time.

The man looked uncomfortable. He was about to turn and leave, but an officer escorted him over.

The woman’s expression stiffened. She stood to the side, wanting to watch, but Zhao Gang led her away.

"What was your relationship with her?"

Zhang Liang looked up, eyeing the man before him.

The man looked to be about fifty, with a gaunt frame and swarthy skin. Not exactly old, but certainly no longer young.

"My wife... that’s my wife." The man chuckled sheepishly.

Evidently, he found his wife to be quite a handful.

However...

"And what about Lin Miao?"

Xu Huo suddenly asked, his eyes silently watching the man.

"Lin... Little Lin... she... she was nice..."

The man stammered, becoming evasive.

A shout suddenly erupted from the distance. They all looked over and saw the woman, glaring hysterically at the man and spewing curses.

"That’s bullshit, you son of a bitch!"

"You fucking shameless old bastard! You worthless piece of shit, I’ll fucking—"

A stream of vulgar curses rang out, one after another.

"Zhao Gang," Zhang Liang called out helplessly.

Zhao Gang covered his face and had someone take her home to calm her down.

Xu Huo looked at the man. The wife’s attitude made it obvious he had done something.

"I’d advise you to tell the truth."

The man fell silent.

After a long moment, he braced himself and said with an awkward laugh:

"It was... that kind of relationship..."

"What kind of relationship?"

"It was... you know, that kind..."

The man was about to say more, but in the next second...

CLANG!

A pot lid came flying down from above, aimed straight for the man’s head. It zipped past him and crashed onto the ground, horribly bent.

Everyone looked up in astonishment.

There she was—the woman they had just escorted inside—now standing on the flat roof of the house. Her face was contorted in fury, eyes practically shooting sparks, and she was raising something else to throw.

’When did she get up there!?’

Stunned, Zhao Gang personally led his men up to drag her back down.

"Sigh..." The man sighed.

"Keep talking," Xu Huo said, his face impassive, as if nothing had happened.

"It was only twice. I was just giving her some business."

The man muttered, his head lowered.

"You have to be almost sixty, right!?"

Zhang Liang’s eye twitched as he sized the man up. "You’re old enough to be Lin Miao’s grandfather!"

"You’re at least thirty years older than her! She’d just been born when you were thirty!"

The man didn’t reply, just kept his head down.

"Cut the irrelevant details," Xu Huo pressed. "Lin Miao’s personality, her life, did she have any enemies?"

The man thought for a long while before shaking his head and saying:

"No. Miao’s the type who wouldn’t start trouble, but she wasn’t afraid of it either."

"She was generally friendly. As for this line of work... she was only selling her body because she had to."

"Her younger sister was only four years younger than her, you know..."

The man couldn’t help but put in a good word for her.

Xu Huo ignored the man’s sentiment. He looked up, glanced around, and asked:

"Did she usually work around here?"

"No, it was at a clubhouse. I think it was called the Baihan Clubhouse," the man replied.

Xu Huo paused, then waved his hand, dismissing the man.

The man sighed, turned, and looked at the open door of his home.

An expression of long hesitation appeared on his face. Then, he gritted his teeth and walked inside.

A few moments later, from inside the house came a cacophony of hysterical screams, vulgar profanity, and the distinct sound of clattering pots and pans...

Zhao Gang and his men emerged.

"Boss, does this count as a work-related injury?"

Zhao Gang asked resignedly, pointing at a scratch on his face.

"It does."

Zhang Liang replied casually, then looked at Xu Huo.

"What do you think?"

Xu Huo spoke. "The connection is superficial. That old man interacted with Lin Miao, but they had no deep relationship. He was a familiar stranger, nothing more."

There were no more leads here at the house. Only three useful pieces of information could be deduced from the crime scene.

One, the older sister, Lin Miao, knew the killer or knew one of their locations. That’s how she could have found the younger sister Lin Miao’s skin at the murder scene without having any injuries herself.

Two, the killer’s true target was the skin. They returned to the scene and searched for something.

Three, the killer’s own aura!