บท 21: The blunt truth
Mingshen's expression grew ecstatic. "That's an excellent observation! I was waiting for you to make that point, Spicy~"
"Why? Do you know where the inhaler is?"
"Nope. It's missing. That's why it's interesting," his gaze glittered as that of a child's who got a puzzle to solve. "Inhaler would have been the topmost priority item in her handbag to have. That's the first thing she would have reached to take it out. But it's nowhere here."
Jia asked Huojin, "Are all the necessary pictures and evidence taken from the scene?"
Huojin nodded. "Xiyang just confirmed that."
With that clear, she slowly lifted the handbag from the floor and checked the contents of all its pockets inside. But she didn't find any inhaler.
"It isn't inside either," she frowned. "Let's ask Dai Fengge about this."
She looked at Bojing and asked, "What's the estimated time of death?"
Bojing was about to answer when Mingshen cut him off and cheerfully chirped. "Livor mortis is just beginning to set in. It hasn't been much time since she died. Around twenty-five to thirty minutes I say."
"I was asking Bojing."
"I am the lead medical examiner here. I will answer all your questions~"
She didn't fail to openly express her displeasure through her glare. "Sometime you will really be dead by my hands," and she turned to the other side and walked away without sparing him a second glance.
Huojin gave a helpless look to Mingshen which he didn't care about and then too followed Jia.
Mingshen lazily said, "Make arrangements to take her to the lab."
Bojing tremblingly advised. "Boss, c-can you please not keep messing with sis Jia?"
"I want to mess with her, that's precisely why I am here. Otherwise what force exists in the world that would prompt the great Yang Mingshen to leave his lab and waste his precious time to join teams with such lowly cops? And by lowly cops, I mean of course excluding my Spicy~"
Bojing lacked tears to shed.
Ahhh, where will this cooperation take Boss and sis in the future?
—
"Did your mother always carry her inhaler with her?" Huojin asked Dai Fengge as they stepped out of the tapes again.
"O-Of course. Mom has asthma. That's the first thing she always checks in her bag before going out anywhere."
Jia said, "But we didn't find any inhaler. Neither in her bag nor among the other items spilled outside."
The astounded look in his eyes was clear to express his own disbelief. "That's impossible! Mom didn't forget to take her inhaler with her. I saw her check the inhaler myself before we left home. H-How did you not find it? No…" his face turned white as tears brimmed in his eyes, "Is it because she…c-couldn't get her inhaler in time that she…"
Jia shook her head. "That was of course, what made the situation dire for Mrs. Dai, but it was actually triggered by an allergic reaction."
Dai Fengge was more dumbfounded now. "Allergy?"
"Yes. We have found her skin inflamed with hives and rashes. That's why we came to ask you. What was Mrs. Dai allergic to?"
By then Mingshen and Bojing came out too. Mingshen had his hands in his pockets as he was bored to stay here any longer.
"M-Mom was allergic to fur. Like pet fur or animal dander…That's why she was always very cautious walking outside e-especially if there were stray dogs or cats around or if somebody was out with their pet…"
Bojing made a mental note of the allergen to test for its presence in post mortem.
Dai Fengge's voice broke down, having to refer to his mother with the past tense. Yin Xiaoling patted his shoulder with sorrow reflecting in her eyes too. "Fengge…it will be alright…"
"How can it be al-alright Xiaoling…? Mom…Mom was here with us j-just until a few hours ago and now…" he couldn't talk any further, but he firmly clutched on to her hand.
Jia and Huojin exchanged glances and watched their interaction in silence.
It was Mingshen who stretched his arms and yawned. "Whoever you are, aren't you sticking to that married man a tad closer than necessary?"
Jia, Huojin, Bojing - "..."
The look of horror etched on their faces was indescribable.
That sarcastic remark came so out of the blue that Yin Xiaoling and Dai Fengge stayed in a daze for sometime as they blankly stared at Mingshen. The implication then dawned upon them, and her face flushed bright red with embarrassment. She immediately let go of his arm and stood up, flustered.
Dai Fengge, needless to say, was offended. "You...How can you say that so bluntly?"
"Truth is always blunt, whoever you are," Mingshen dryly commented. "And by asking that question back, you are basically admitting the implication I made, which is quite bold of a married man I must say," a chuckle escaped his lips. "Even I won't have such confidence if I get married, right Spicy? But worry not! Yang Mingshen will never betray you~!"
At that point, Jia looked nothing less than a demoness descending from hell itself as she locked her murderous gaze at him.
Bojing's face paled so duller that he wished he could dig a hole and never step out of it.
B-Boss, what are you doing!?
Dai Fengge's fury only crossed the threshold even further with Mingshen not only accusing him of an affair but also laughing at him in mockery.
He glared at Jia and Huojin and exclaimed indignantly. "Wh-who is this man in your team!? I…I just lost my mother here and he is being so insensitive at such a time? Is this how you officers talk to people who have lost their loved ones!?"
Huojin tried to diffuse the heated situation. "We are really sorry-"
"You are the last person to tell me how to act who basks in another woman's warmth at such a 'sensitive' time himself," Mingshen snorted.
"Sh-she is just my friend!"
"In your illusions? Sure, why not~?"
Yin Xiaoling stuttered, "T-That's preposterous and rude!"
He brightened. "Oh you finally found your voice to speak? Congratulations~"
"You…"
Jia suddenly grabbed his arm and spoke, her expression crackling with anger. "Come with me, Yang Mingshen. We need to talk."
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