Chapter 6
Edward Quan ·
The older officer—whose surname, I later learned, was Tao—led me into another room. Someone else was waiting.
A man in plain clothes, about forty. A laptop sat on the desk.
“Zhao Yanqing, this is Captain Meng from the Criminal Investigation Unit.”
Criminal investigation.
Not traffic police anymore.
I sat down.
Captain Meng turned the laptop toward me. A video was paused on the screen.
Night footage from a dashcam.
A sickly green image. A two-lane road ahead, streetlights far apart, the shadows of trees stamped across the surface.
“I’m going to play it. Watch.”
The image moved.
The car was going fast. The picture shook.
The time in the bottom right corner: 22:31.
A figure appeared up ahead, walking along the right-hand edge of the road.
The car didn’t slow.
The figure drew closer.
Then the impact.
The image jolted violently. The car visibly checked. A crack appeared in the lower left corner of the windshield.
My stomach turned.
The car stopped for about three seconds.
Something lay on the road ahead. The person was on the ground, motionless.
Then the car began reversing.
I thought the driver was going to flee.
He wasn’t.
It backed up about two meters. Paused.
Then moved forward again.
Straight over the person on the ground.
I could hear myself breathing.
The footage continued. The car accelerated away from the scene and into the darkness.
Captain Meng paused it.
No one spoke.
Cold air from the air conditioner blew against the back of my neck.
“The first impact was at 22:31:07. The car stopped for three seconds, reversed, then ran over the victim again at 22:31:14. Seven seconds between the two.”
Seven seconds.
The first impact could have been a drunk-driving collision.
The second could not.
Seven seconds was enough time to make a decision.
Reverse. Run over them again.
This was no longer a traffic accident.
Captain Meng closed the laptop.
“We enhanced the footage of the driver’s seat. The driver is confirmed as Zhao Yanwen. The passenger seat was empty.”
Officer Tao held out a cup of water. I didn’t take it.
“Zhao Yanqing, your brother stated that there were two people in the car. But the dashcam’s view of the rearview mirror and the audio from inside both show he was alone.”
“He deliberately ran over the victim a second time,” Captain Meng said evenly.
“This no longer falls under a traffic-collision offense. We’re reopening the case on suspicion of intentional homicide.”
Intentional homicide.
I looked down at the desk.
Someone had scratched a character into the wood with a ballpoint pen. I couldn’t make it out.
“Your mother, Zhao Guiying, came to the station at six this morning.”
I looked up.
“She wanted to change her statement. Said she’d misheard, got confused. That Zhao Yanwen himself was actually driving last night.”
Changing her statement.
“She also said she was willing to cooperate fully and volunteer everything she knew.”
“Does she know about this video?”
Officer Tao and Captain Meng exchanged a glance.
“No. She changed her statement because… your aunt spoke to her after she went home yesterday. Your mother concluded she couldn’t make the accusation against you stick. So she changed tactics: admit defeat, cooperate, and seek leniency.”
Not conscience.
She had simply run out of road.
“But she doesn’t know he ran over the person a second time.” My voice was flat.
“Correct. She still thinks it was a traffic accident.”
I stood.
“Can I go?”
“Yes. As before, keep in touch.”
I walked to the door.
“Zhao Yanqing,” Captain Meng called behind me.
I turned.
“Now that the nature of the case has changed, the victim’s family will be very upset. Take care of your safety.”
I nodded.
Outside the station, I stood on the steps.
There was a new message on my phone.
From my mother.
Just a few words:
“Yanqing, come home.”
I stared at them for ten seconds.
Then I locked the screen and walked down the steps.
In the opposite direction.
On the third day, the news spread.
I wasn’t the one who released it.
Mr. Fang, from the victim’s family, posted it online.
He uploaded the recording of Zhou Xue’s call. Her voice. Every word perfectly clear.