Chapter 353: The Imitator (1/2)

While waiting for the results of their investigation, I returned to the store. Because there weren’t as many customers in the morning, Dali had gone out to market our product. When I got there, Luo Youyou was playing Plants vs Zombies on the computer. My presence made her a little nervous since I was also considered her boss.

I waved my hand and said, ”It’s alright. Continue with your game!”

“Song Yang, don’t you have any cases to solve today?” she asked.

”Even investigations require division of labor,” I explained. “My part is done. In fact, a consultant’s job is rather relaxing.”

”You feel relaxed because you like the job,” Luo Youyou laughed. “I heard from Dali that solving crimes is very difficult.”

I watched as she continued her game. Plants vs Zombies wasn’t a game I usually played, so many of the intermediate levels were new to me. I saw two Peashooters among her plants, one of which was grey and wasn’t shooting peas.

I asked curiously, ”Is this a new plant?”

”No, this is called Imitater and its special ability is copying other plants… Oh, no, I was so engrossed in our conversation I didn’t even notice that my sunflower was eaten!”

Her words seemed to inspire an idea in my head. As I contemplated, I finished up some chores and organized the shelves. More often than not, I found doing menial tasks was helpful for brainwork.

I stayed in the store all morning and even helped sell some of our products, though lacking in eloquence. The girls laughed at my recommendations which I fumbled through with much stuttering.

When Dali came back at noon and caught me promoting a product, he seemed surprised. ”Dude, how come you’re here?”

”I wanted to familiarize myself with the business,” I said. “I can’t just leave everything to you, can I? I’ll drop by when I’m not investigating cases. I’ll do whatever I can.”

”Sounds great!” he grinned. “I’ll teach you what you need to know.”

After spending a day at the store, I received a call from Xiaotao at about 4:00 pm. ”Song Yang, we’ve found some clues. The apartment opposite of the Ding home was rented out but the landlord has never met the tenant! The landlord says a man called after seeing the advertisement and paid for 3 months’ rent through WeChat. He asked the landlord to place the key in the milk box.”

”That sounds suspicious!”

”Would you like to take a look at the place?” she asked.

”Yes, I’m in the store now,” I answered.

On one occasion, the next-door neighbor was on the balcony in the middle of the night when he saw flames flickering on and off behind the window of that apartment. Frightened out of his wits, he immediately assumed it was a burglar. He went to the property manager only to discover that the unit was actually rented out.

The neighbor wondered if the man was a bit of a loony for standing motionless at the window in the middle of the night without any light on while smoking a cigarette.

Xiaotao and I headed to the apartment and found the door locked. I looked into the milk box near the door and found a key which perfectly fit the lock. As soon as I opened the door, we were choked by the overwhelming odor of cigarettes and dust. God knows how long it had been since the place was ventilated.

There was a TV in the living room and countless cigarette butts and leftover food wrappers littered around the couch which was covered in newspapers and magazines.