Chapter 998: The Visit

Thud. Thud. Thud.

“Hello? Is anyone home? We’re police—Homicide Unit.”

The police outside heard no movement; after the doorbell rang, they began knocking.

Xu Juan took off her shoes, walked barefoot to the door, remembered yesterday’s experience, and simply didn’t look through the peephole—she leaned against the wall beside the door and sat down slowly.

She now had some experience dealing with police, and wasn’t as panicked as yesterday.

Thud. Thud.

“Sun Youqiang? We’re police—please open the door.”

“Is Sun Youqiang here? Is this Sun Youqiang’s residence?”

“Hello, police!”

The police were polite but kept knocking insistently.

Xu Juan’s eyelid twitched—these police were looking for her husband by name.

Xu Juan couldn’t think of any reason they’d want her husband, but she still ignored them—what if they just waited? Without evidence, could they force the lock? If they had evidence, they’d have stormed in already.

Instead, Xu Juan sat on the floor and began reflecting on her work these past days.

She had no regrets about killing her husband—in fact, she’d once imagined it in her mind, but never thought she’d actually do it, until that slap across her face.

Under Sun Youqiang’s violence, Xu Juan felt her dignity stripped away; even after he apologized, she no longer believed him.

Online, everyone says domestic abuse only has one time or countless times—this, Xu Juan knew from her husband’s drinking: a man who never changes.

Besides, Sun Youqiang refused to leave empty-handed, and after their fights, he’d just roll over and sleep.

Xu Juan found it disgusting to share a bed with him anymore.

Better to kill him and be done with it.

She just hadn’t expected so much work after killing someone.

Fortunately, she was smart—she’d immediately dismembered her husband’s body; otherwise, the stench would’ve been obvious, and the police outside might’ve smelled it.

Killing someone at home wasn’t bad—you could order cleaning supplies online, pay extra for same-day or next-day delivery, and even have a delivery guy buy them for you if needed.

Also, Xu Juan thought her disposal plan was good—the old suitcase hadn’t been used in years; after cleaning it thoroughly, there were no traces left, and no purchase records either.

The suitcase was just too small—it couldn’t fit Sun Youqiang’s whole body. This useless man earned nothing during the day but drank himself full at night…

Luckily, they still had the camping van—brought home the first year of marriage, when Sun Youqiang still had time to spend with her, and their relationship was still decent.

Xu Juan thought of this and suddenly felt a pang—no wonder many women who kill their husbands get their lovers to help. It’s such heavy work; next time, she should’ve cheated first, so she’d have an accomplice.

“What are you doing here?”

A woman’s voice suddenly came from outside the door.

Xu Juan turned over curiously, pressed close to the door, and listened quietly.

The police outside lowered their voices, but the quiet environment made it still barely audible: “We filtered the men in nearby buildings by age—this household’s male didn’t answer his phone; checking his records, we found his phone signal vanished in the past few days, so we listed him. What about you?”

“Our police dog followed the scent up here,” said the female officer at the door, paused, then asked: “What does the man who didn’t answer look like?”

“Uh… let me check.”

“You didn’t look?” the female officer asked, surprised.

The officer knocking on the door felt embarrassed: “We made too many calls yesterday… that one… looked kind of similar? The photo in the file was thinner…”

Ding!

The elevator door chimed again.

Several officers stepped out quickly, momentarily held back by colleagues and dogs.

"What clues did you follow up on here?" Li Li, the female officer leading the police dog, asked immediately.

The officers just out of the elevator hesitated, then one said: “A breakfast vendor thought the sketch matched one of his regular customers—we traced him through payment records.”

The three groups exchanged glances—all realized the suspicion level for this apartment had skyrocketed.

Li Li lowered her head, stroked Da Zhuang’s head, then stepped back two paces and whispered: “Call for backup.”

The popular home security doors in China are still hard to break open—best to have professional equipment or personnel.

Li Li made the suggestion; the earlier-arrived homicide officers nodded.

At that moment, the security door in front of them creaked open.

Xu Juan, barefoot, looked at the group of police outside, her face slack, and said: “Come in.”

Contrary to her expectations, the police surged in without hesitation—Li Li rushed forward first.

Li Li was the only female officer present; handcuffing her would be best handled by her.

Xu Juan submitted quietly as they cuffed her, then watched the police flood into her kitchen and bedroom.

The officers entering the bedroom were all stunned by the mattress, torn apart into pieces.

Only then did Xu Juan suddenly realize—she’d overdone it by dismantling the entire mattress.

But the effect was good—at least the fabrics had been washed repeatedly clean; if the police hadn’t come so fast, she’d have disposed of them by afternoon.

“Why dismantle the mattress?” the officer who entered asked—no obvious bloodstains were visible in the bedroom, but such a bizarre act still required on-site questioning.

Xu Juan snorted, didn’t answer.

At that moment, Da Zhuang began whimpering.

Li Li gently comforted it, then followed Da Zhuang to the window.

Under Da Zhuang’s guidance, Li Li easily spotted the bloodstains soaked into the bottom hem of the heavy curtains.

“Blood,” Li Li called out, and took a photo.

Xu Juan’s composure cracked—she knew the room wasn’t fully cleaned, but she’d completely missed the curtains.

The room had been too reeking with blood these past two days—she couldn’t spot such a small spot. Also, she’d unconsciously never planned to wash the curtains—they were too big and thick, and most importantly, removing them now would leave the bedroom completely exposed.

“Xu Juan, where’s your husband, Sun Youqiang?” the lead officer decided to press while the suspect was unsettled.

This time, Xu Juan hesitated, then spoke slowly: “He hit me—I took a knife from the kitchen and told him if he dared hit me again, I’d kill him. He didn’t believe me, hit me again—I closed my eyes and swung the knife, and it just happened to cut his neck—he bled a lot…”

This story was half-truth, half-lie—the Plan B Xu Juan had prepared.

A few days ago, she thought she’d never need this plan—but now she did.

If she couldn’t escape this mess, she’d claim self-defense. Xu Juan didn’t understand the law well, but she knew this version would help her.

The questioning officer didn’t dwell on it—he only asked: “What did you do after killing him?”

“I… cut him up.”

“What do you mean, ‘cut him up’?”

“I chopped him apart.”

“Dismembered him?”

“Yes.”

“Who helped you dismember him?”

“No one helped.”

“You did it alone?”

“Yes.”

“How did you transport the body?”

“I put half in a suitcase, wrapped the rest, and took it out in the camping van.”

“Where’s the camping van?”

Xu Juan answered each question, hoping the case would unfold as she’d planned.

The officer asking questions, under the camera, reached the camping van—by then, he was satisfied. From the police’s perspective, the evidence chain was nearly complete.

As for what Xu Juan said, the police didn’t care at all.