Chapter 145: Arsenic (1/2)

The florist was done smoking and she pulled out a small bottle and spilled a few pills into the palm of her hand. She was just about to swallow them, but I stopped her immediately. She spread out her palm and said, “It’s just Vitamin C pills! I take them every day after a meal!”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ll have to check it.”

The florist sighed.

“Seriously now!” she cried.

She handed the pills to Bingxin, who tested them and confirmed that they were uncontaminated. Once cleared, the florist went ahead and swallowed the pills.

“Vitamin C is good for the skin,” Xiaotao remarked. “You really do take good care of your body, don’t you?”

“It’s not just that,” the florist replied. “I went to see Dr. Cheng for an illness a while ago, and he told me to take Vitamin C every day.”

The moment I heard this, I panicked and shouted, “Spit out the pills now!”

The florist froze in shock. She uttered, “What….”

Then suddenly she clutched at her throat with her hands, her eyes rolled back, her mouth foamed, and she collapsed to the floor.

I asked Dali to quickly get some soapy water and inserted my fingers into her throat to induce vomiting. When someone got poisoned, their mouth would sometimes clamp shut and my fingers were at risk of getting bitten, but there was no time to worry about that—I had to save the florist’s life!

After a while, she finally vomited. I turned her over on my lap so she could throw up the contents of her stomach better. At that moment, Dali returned with the soapy water. I poured it into her mouth to force her to vomit again and again.

After that the florist was unconscious. I looked around and yelled, “Dali, find some lilies. We can use that to detoxify her if you crush the flowers in some warm water!”

Dali quickly fetched me the lily water and I fed it to the florist. Immediately, her breathing calmed down a bit. Xiaotao had by then called for the ambulance.

“I don’t get it,” Bingxin said. “How could Vitamin C be that poisonous?”

“Vitamin C on its own isn’t poisonous,” I explained. “But it can convert another substance into poison.”

“Arsenic!” cried Bingxin.

To be precise, Vitamin C could convert arsenic pentoxide, which was fairly harmless, into arsenic trioxide, which was highly poisonous.

Qu Tingting had proven to be extremely cunning. I’d never encountered any criminal like her before. I also had a feeling that she’d escaped far away by now.

Fortunately, at least the florist’s life would be safe. The ambulance arrived and took her away. Xiaotao turned to me and said, “I’m afraid Qu Tingting has already fled…”

“The florist takes Vitamin C pills after her meals every day,” I said. “The fact that she only got poisoned now meant that Qu Tingting must’ve met her last night or this morning. Let’s hope that she can provide us with some clues when she wakes up.”

Xiaotao nodded, then said, “I guess everyone’s starving right now. Let’s eat!”

She then called Wang Yuanchao and ordered him to investigate Qu Tingting’s background. We then stopped at a Chinese restaurant and had lunch there. As we were taking our seats, Bingxin hurried to my side and sat next to me, then turned to Xiaotao and grinned at her.

“Do you realize how ridiculous you are?” asked Xiaotao.

“Don’t know, don’t care!”

“Dude!” whispered Dali. “How did you get so popular with the girls? Teach me your ways, Master!”

I forced a smile in response. After their dispute at the florist, Bingxin probably figured out the relationship between me and Xiaotao. I had no idea if Bingxin was just joking or if she was serious at that point, but in all cases, I felt very uncomfortable being caught in the middle like that!

After the meal, we went to the hospital and waited until around five in the afternoon for the florist to wake up. When she did, she told us that a young woman had visited her shop this morning. She wore a hat and a mask. When she approached her and greeted her, the woman left immediately without saying a word.

“Did you eat or drink anything before and after the woman entered the shop?” I asked.

“I drank a cup of coffee by the windowsill,” the florist recalled. “When I finished the coffee, I found some white particles at the bottom of the cup. I assumed it was sugar that didn’t melt and didn’t think much about it.”

There was no doubt that the young woman was Qu Tingting, and that the particles in the florist’s cup was arsenic.

Xiaotao told the florist to take care and we all left the hospital.

“Where are we going next?” Bingxin asked.

Xiaotao glanced at her phone and said, “Wang Yuanchao found Qu Tingting’s address, but the landlord said she hasn’t returned for a long time and that she owes him three months’ worth of rent.”

“That’s strange,” Bingxin commented. “Where would she stay if she didn’t go back home?”

“Would the process of refining and synthesizing the poisons that she used create a strong smell?” I asked Bingxin.