A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Chapter 897: The Crystal Teddy Bear

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

After the simulations, the private investigator reported to them. “Based on our reenactments, it appears that what the gangster said in his statement was accurate. His motion path on stage was the best possible one—hiding behind the curtains backstage, under the drum set, moving rapidly when the lights went out. The person that designed the path of movement must have surveyed the venue many times.”

Xia Ling and Li Lei exchanged a glance.

Li Lei instructed. “Find out who came into the venue before the concert, as well as where Young Master Wang, the murderer, and Xia Yu went in the three months before the incident.”

The private investigator went off to do his bidding.

Xia Ling felt a little dizzy as she looked up at the vast concert venue, a surreal feeling coming over her. In her reverie, she felt the lines between the present and the past blurring, and she felt as if she had returned to the concert in her past life. “Feng Kun was sitting here... and Xu Fosheng from Star Entertainment Weekly was sitting here...”

She pointed toward the first-row VIP seats and recited.

Li Lei looked at her, worried. “Xiao Ling?”

Xia Ling suddenly pulled his hand and dragged him onstage, pointing animatedly at the VIP seats. “Xu Fosheng was beside Feng Kun, and Xia Yu was beside Xu Fosheng! When I was stabbed, Xia Yu wasn’t in her seat!” When she was singing the encore, the lights were too dim offstage, and she was overcome with sadness. Hence, she didn’t realize who was present. Live videos of her concert never filmed the VIP row in the audience as well.

When she was reenacting the scene, she felt that something was missing.

She finally recalled that Xia Yu wasn’t present then!

“You’re sure that she wasn’t there?” Li Lei asked. The incident was many years ago, and it was dark offstage. Since she hadn’t recalled this detail before, was she absolutely sure that her memory was accurate now?

Xia Ling replied, “I’m sure! Her health was bad, and Pei Ziheng wanted to bring her to the VIP room on the second floor.” She pointed to the middle of the audience stands on the second floor, where there was a private room in a prime location. This was the most expensive and exclusive seats for the concert. “Pei Ziheng didn’t like mixing with the crowds, and would always watch my concert from the private room. In the past, Xia Yu always chose to sit with him in the room. However, during the tenth-anniversary concert, she said that she hadn’t watched my concert in a whole year, and insisted on sitting in the first row. Pei Ziheng merely let her be.”

Li Lei nodded. This did appear suspicious.

Xia Ling had mixed feelings and spoke in a pensive tone. “Then, even though she berated and cursed me, I thought that her conscience got the better of her at my concert, and her sisterly bond with me triumphed her feelings for Pei Ziheng. I thought that that was why she had rejected Pei Ziheng’s suggestion that she sit in the private room with him, and wanted to sit in the front row of the audience stands. I...”

As she spoke, she shook her head and her eyes were filled with sadness.

Li Lei consoled her. “You can never read a book by its cover. Don’t waste your time and emotion on someone like her. Was Xia Yu not at her seat from the beginning of the concert?” Li Lei looked at the empty seat.

Xia Ling shook her head again. “No, if she wasn’t there from the start, I would have noticed it immediately. She was there throughout the concert, from the first song to the encore. She only left her seat when I sang ‘The Caged Butterfly.’ I gave her a crystal teddy bear key chain, and even though she told me that she hated it when I was imprisoned, she would still hang it on her bag to show Pei Ziheng how close we were.

“When I was singing ‘The Caged Butterfly,’ I saw that little bear moving along in the aisle. That’s the bear that I personally bought from one of the luxury shops. It’s one of a kind. I won’t be mistaken.”

Xia Ling asserted. “Believe me!”

“Of course I believe you.” Li Lei’s deep voice had the power of calming her. He took her hand and said, “Let’s go... let’s walk along the aisle and see how long it takes to reach the power supply room.”

In Xia Ling’s murder incident, other than masterminding the murder, the other charge pinned on Young Master Wang was him switching off the main power in the concert venue, creating the perfect cover for the murderer to jump into action. Young Master Wang’s hair was found in the power supply room and was the main evidence that resulted in his conviction.

But... what if Young Master Wang was framed?

Then, Xia Yu would have to be responsible for switching off the power.

She was the real culprit for the blackout!

Li Lei said, “You should run there once, walk there once, and briskly walk there once, to see how long each method would take.”

Xia Ling nodded and did as he said. “How tiring...” She complained after completing the final run.

Li Lei laughed. “You’re a woman... it’s more accurate to take your timings than mine.” He would have done the honors if he could, but as a man who had been through the tough training of a mercenary, he would likely be much faster than Xia Yu, who was known to be sickly. The timings taken would have been a horrible benchmark.

“Xia Yu’s health was weak.” Xia Ling commented. “You should still increase the time needed from my timings.”

Li Lei nodded and adjusted the range accordingly.

“Ok, let’s go.” He said. “We’re done here. Let’s go home for dinner.”

Xia Ling was stunned. “We’re done already? We’re not doing any more investigations?”

“What investigation? I’m hungry!” Li Lei remarked lazily. “We’ve done all we can. I’ll speak to the private investigator on our suspicion for the power supply cut, and then we can wait for their investigation findings. And also...” He smiled menacingly. “... figure out how to make Xia Yu admit to her crime.”

Xia Ling followed him out of the venue.

Their footsteps echoed in the long, empty corridor.

Xia Ling asked after a moment of quiet contemplation, “If Xia Yu was really behind that incident, what should we do with her?” The probability of Xia Yu being the mastermind was high given all that they had found out in recent days. While there hadn’t been any success in the investigation into Wang Jingwan’s case, the investigation had instead revealed new insight into her own murder case.

Li Lei held her hand tightly. “If it was really Xia Yu, I won’t let her off easily. The police or feeding her to the sharks... we’ll do whatever you like.”

Xia Ling lowered her head again as she followed beside him.

When they reached the end of the corridor, she said in a low voice, “Send her to the police.”

“Hmm?” Li Lei was surprised that she would choose the most troublesome method out of all the methods they could use to punish Xia Yu. However, he supported any decision that she made. “Send her to the police, you say? Okay, let me think of how I can make her admit to her crimes and pay for it.” This was an old case and evidence was scant. He might not have enough evidence on hand to get a conviction.

Xia Ling asked, “Will it be too much trouble?”

Li Lei smiled and replied, “It’s more troublesome than feeding her to the sharks, definitely. But don’t worry, there’ll be a way.”

Xia Ling said softly, “I don’t want to punish her through private means. She owes both me and the Wang Family a life. We should help overturn Young Master Wang’s conviction to return him his innocence. Perhaps... we should also find out what happened to Wang Jingwan.”

Li Lei promised. “Wang Jingwan? I will definitely find out the truth on her death as well.”

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