Detective L Episode 4 Recap
> Detective L Recap
Recent headlines proclaimed the devastating Yellow River flood, prompting the Jin Chamber of Commerce to organize a large-scale donation drive for disaster relief. Within the Chamber's finance department, finance group leader Chen Xiangdong introduced a new colleague, Han Wei Wei, to the team. Later that night, as Han Wei Wei walked home, she felt followed, and upon returning to her apartment, she was tragically murdered.
The following day, her neighbors discovered her body and alerted the police, leading Qin Xiaoman and her colleagues to the crime scene. Luo Fei, arriving at the scene, conducted a meticulous examination. He discovered dog hair in the victim's mouth and concluded that she had been attacked with a ceramic object. While no weapon was found, two decorative items were missing from her desk.
Noting that Han Wei Wei was from Wuxi, Jiangsu, Luo Fei surmised the murder weapon was a pair of clay figurines, a local specialty. He also found that three pages of the deceased's notebook had been torn out. By rubbing a pencil over the remaining pages, he uncovered a series of numbers, "720900," and the character "Dong" (东), alongside mentions of the "Jin Chamber of Commerce" and the "Yellow River."
Han Wei Wei's books indicated a keen interest in finance, though at a basic level, raising questions about her employment at the powerful Jin Chamber of Commerce. Luo Fei also retrieved shredded photographs from the trash, suggesting the killer knew Han Wei Wei intimately, likely as her boyfriend, and sought to conceal their relationship. The absence of the victim's fierce hound's bark during the attack further supported this theory.
Luo Fei further deduced that the killer was right-handed, contrasting with Han Wei Wei's left-handedness, and estimated the assailant's height to be at least 1. 8 meters, based on a stool found at the scene. Overwhelmed by Luo Fei's rapid deductions, Qin Xiaoman struggled to keep up. Suddenly, Luo Fei declared they needed to meet someone.
They proceeded to the police station's autopsy room, where they met Benjamin, the French Concession's sole Western-educated forensic pathologist and a good friend of Luo Fei. Despite his handsome appearance, Benjamin exhibited a strong aversion to women. Luo Fei explained Benjamin's troubled past: his mother was a prostitute, and he grew up in a brothel before being abandoned at St. Mary Hospital at age three, eventually adopted by Professor Benjamin.
This upbringing, Luo Fei suggested, contributed to his discomfort around living women. Luo Fei then played a prank on Qin Xiaoman, making her believe the steak he was eating at the autopsy table was human flesh, causing her to vomit in disgust. Benjamin, unperturbed, confirmed it was merely beefsteak. During the autopsy, Benjamin revealed Han Wei Wei died from blunt force trauma, with no rib fractures, and identified elements of steamed fish in her stomach.
Given the Jin Chamber of Commerce's influential background, the Detective Superintendent assigned Luo Fei and Qin Xiaoman to investigate discreetly. They were to pose as a wealthy married couple making a substantial donation of five thousand silver dollars and ten thousand legal tender to gain access to the Chamber's high-ranking finance personnel. Luo Fei explained he acquired the large sum as a reward for assisting a Northern Warlord.
At the Jin Chamber of Commerce, Luo Fei was recognized by a staff member who informed Secretary Chen. While Qin Xiaoman proceeded to the finance office, Secretary Chen invited Luo Fei to his private office. Secretary Chen, admiring Luo Fei's investigative prowess, sought his help with a sensitive matter: Chairman Tang had received death threats from the notorious Japanese assassin organization, the Black Dragon Society, ahead of a major fundraising event.
Luo Fei immediately spotted that the envelope containing the threat had been swapped, revealing the original was an internal Chamber document. Secretary Chen confessed to the switch, fearing the negative publicity. He then revealed the most perplexing detail: these threat letters did not arrive via mail but mysteriously appeared in Chairman Tang's office whenever he stepped out, even for a mere minute or two, creating a "locked-room" mystery. Luo Fei's curiosity was piqued by this enigma.
Meanwhile, in the finance office, Qin Xiaoman encountered Lu Xiangdong, the finance group leader. She inquired if he knew Han Wei Wei, describing her as a left-handed woman in her twenties with basic financial skills who used to work there. Lu Xiangdong denied any knowledge of Han Wei Wei and redirected Qin Xiaoman to Secretary Chen. As Qin Xiaoman prepared to leave, Lu Xiangdong shook her hand and subtly slipped her a note containing the numbers "720900" and an address.
Recognizing the numbers from Han Wei Wei's notebook, Luo Fei suspected Lu Xiangdong knew more than he let on and instructed Qin Xiaoman to press him further the next day. Later that evening, Luo Fei and Qin Xiaoman visited the address provided by Lu Xiangdong, finding it to be a closed Western restaurant.
Luo Fei decided they would return to Han Wei Wei's apartment at the approximate time of her death, believing observing the scene at that hour could offer new insights. He speculated that Han Wei Wei, a journalist for Shenbao, might have been investigating a major scandal, possibly involving Lu Xiangdong misappropriating Chairman Tang's relief funds, and had obtained a black ledger, leading to her being killed to silence her. However, he also believed there could be a third, unexplored possibility beyond Lu Xiangdong being the sole killer.
