[Detective L]
[Episode 11] [The Wrathful Begonia: B]
Xiao Lu didn't have to die
It was my fault
I sent him to Captain with my own hands
Dr. Huo
If someone got shot here
and developed dementia,
can they still recover from it?
Impossible
What do you see from the corpse?
The fatal cut was on the right side of her neck,
Her carotid artery was cut
The murderer must have used a knife
The cheongsam she was wearing
was made from high-quality imported enamel fabric
It's fitted and must be tailor-made
Within the French Concession,
only ten tailors can make a cheongsam like that
Are you Wang Jia De?
-We... -We found a woman's body
dressed exactly like your wife
You'd better go and verify the body at the police station
Qi Meng
I found a toxin in the body
What is it?
Strychnine
Was she poisoned?
Yesterday, your wife pretended to go play mahjong
In reality, she went to the Tian Xiang Hotel at 4th Road
to meet with her lover
You followed her all the way there
and in a fit of blind rage
killed your wife with the scissors
The murderer killed her with a knife,
why would he poison her in advance?
I will tell you the truth
Your wife never touch mahjong
in the last few years
The person who called her was not Mrs. Li,
but the liaison of a dark horse gang
How did you get in here?
It doesn't matter
The point is, Det Sup Savoy just called and said
Wang Jia De just escaped from the interrogation room
What?
He hit a police detective during his escape
and stole a pistol
I'll give you five minutes and wait for you downstairs
When I came back to the station yesterday,
the officer on duty in the detention room told me
that Wang Jia De
wanted to see me
to confess to the murder
So I took him to the interrogation room
During the interrogation,
he said he wanted to go
to the washroom
I figured I'd keep an eye on him,
so I walked with him
Unexpectedly, halfway there,
he suddenly hit me from behind
taking me by surprise
and I passed out
When I came to,
I noticed
that he'd run away with my pistol
What are you looking at?
You're lying
When a man is lying,
some physiological characteristics will give him away
Such as a dry mouth and evasive eyes
Yours are too obvious
From the start you were averting your eyes
And while you were speaking,
you have been licking your lips and swallowing saliva
So, your mouth must be very dry
I just felt hot
Don’t give me that!
Stop making things up out of thin air
Okay
Well, let me ask you
Wang Jia De doesn't know you
Why did he specifically ask to confess to you?
And also
when a prisoner wants to go to the washroom,
he's always accompanied by a policeman
Why did you do it yourself?
Lastly,
you said Wang Jia De attacked you from behind
and knocked you out
Why is the wound on your face then?
I...
You...
That's enough
You two, explain to me
I told you not to interfere with Ye Chang Qing's case
Why are you still investigating it?
We didn't directly get involved in the investigation before
But Detective Ye let the suspect go
and lost his pistol
No matter what,
the station is in big trouble
Sir
If it wasn't Luo Fei,
Detective Ye might not even have found the identity of the deceased
Xiao Man, cut the crap!
Of course I know her identity
How was I talking nonsense?
All right, stop it
I'll allow you two to join and help Detective Ye in the investigation
Thank you, sir!
Ye Chang Qing
Losing your pistol is a major issue
If you don't want to make it worse,
you must tell us the truth
Yesterday, when I came back,
the officer on duty said,
the deceased's husband was locked up here
because he assaulted a policeman
So I thought
he had to be the murderer
and I questioned him
Mr. Wang
Actually, I feel sympathy for you
If you confess now,
we will treat it as
you turning yourself in
I don't know if you have ever seen
an execution by firing squad
A bullet
is shot at the back of the brain
and comes back out from the front
Bang!
The face explodes, leaving nothing behind
Have you thought it through?
What's your decision?
A bullet
or
a confession?
That's a real pistol! Dangerous!
Calm down!
I'm not the murderer!
My wife's not an unlicensed prostitute
You liar!
Put it down first!
My wife just went to play mahjong
You must have got it wrong
I'm going to ask Mrs. Li right now
Don't stop me!
Cool down!
I'm changing your statement to innocent
I'll change it to innocent
Such a serious matter
Why didn't you say so earlier?
Send someone to Mrs. Li's house now
I already did
They didn't find Wang Jia De
I'm afraid he's not looking
for his neighbour, Mrs. Li now,
but the Mrs. Li who called his wife
I don't care who he's looking for
He assaulted a police officer and stole a pistol, he's a felon now
I want you to arrest him within 24 hours
and make amends for your mistake
Yes
You two
Find the Mrs. Li who called the deceased
-Yes -Okay
Wait a moment
I got it
Got it
You can call our center
from your home
and tell the operator
the number of the person you want to talk to
The operator will try to connect to them
After the other party answers,
the operator will note down the start and end time of the call
For every call?
Yes
We use that record
to calculate a phone bill
Look
Could you please find out
the number which called this number
around 3 pm two days ago?
I'm afraid I can't
Why not?
Didn't you just say
every phone call is recorded?
We only record the caller's number,
but not the receiver's number
There's no charge for answering calls so there's no need to record it
There were so many calls coming in
around 3 pm two days ago
We can't confirm
which one was to to the Wang's
If there's a phone call to this number today,
could you please record it?
There are hundreds of operators here
Each person has to answer hundreds calls a day
Now you're telling us to add a work procedure
and modify the record format,
That's not realistic
What about this?
If a call comes in
I'll let you know via a different call
When you get my notice,
you can ask them
to check who's the connecting number
Theoretically, we can do it
But it's a bit troublesome
Could you please cooperate with us?
Okay
Operator,
this is 1397, can you hear me?
Okay
Sir
We have connected the phone
Is there anything else?
Nothing
Thank you
Remember, when a call comes in later,
you try to stall them,
and I'll inform the telephone exchange
Are you sure she'll call?
No
But it's the only way
Wang Jia De mentioned
that she used to call around 3 pm
every Wednesday and Friday
Today is Friday and it's almost 3 pm
Today should be no exception
What if she knew that
Zhao Qi Meng was killed?
I've asked Det Sup Savoy
to keep the news under wraps
They won't know about her death so soon
Remember, when a call comes in later,
you pretend to be Zhao Qi Meng
Let's practice
Ring ring
-Hello, who's... -Stop
That's not how Zhao Qi Meng speaks
You heard her speak before?
No
But Mrs. Li said,
Meng has the best temper
Beautiful with a soft voice,
Men were always spellbound by her voice
An enchanting voice?
I can't do it
Give me a demonstration
Hello
Who's this?
This is Qi Meng
How can I help you?
Is it that hard?
Again
No, it's really too hard for me
I can't do that
Quick, it's almost 3 pm
Ring ring
Hello
Who's this?
Relax your voice
it should sound like just woke up
Hello
Who's this?
Be natural
Hello
This is Qi Meng
Do I have to pick it up?
Remember,
You're Zhao Qi Meng now
You're a prostitute
If you talk like usual,
you won't get customers
I believe in you
Hello, this is Zhao Qi Meng
Who is this?
Qi Meng, I'm Mrs. Li
Mrs. Li
What's the matter?
Qi Meng
Why did your voice change?
I...
I have a cold
Did you get it?
Stall her
Hello
Are you sick?
Can you come here today then?
It's alright
Just a minor ailment, nothing serious
Where is it today?
5.30 pm at the Little Hibiscus Hotel
It's Mr. Zhang
Remember that
I'll remember
Okay, that's it
Wait a minute
Mrs. Li
I have something to discuss with you
[Qian Qi Yue]
What's the matter?
Yeah
What's the matter?
I...
Want to fly...
What?
I want to quit
Why?
You do good work
Yeah
Why?
My man has started to suspect me
I'm afraid he'll find out
and kill me
I'm scared, Mrs. Li
What are you afraid of?
We've braved many storms over the years
Why would you be afraid of a man?
Hello, this is Luo Fei
Is there someone next to you?
No, Mrs. Li
My husband's not at home
That's a sound of radio
I'm off, someone is knocking at the door
I got a customer
Hello?
You got it?
Yes
I'm coming, you sex maniac
Why did you get here so early?
Who are you?
Miss Qian
Hello, Miss Qian
This is the police
Miss Qian
Stop!
Triangular knife
A cut on the right side of the neck
Same weapon
Same murderer
Stop!
Found them?
No
I've told the cinema staff
to block all the exits
Don't worry
She can't run from here
But the movie
still has a 15 minutes left
When it ends, we won't be able to contain the audience
But with time so limited
and this place so dark,
how can we find anything?
Sit down
Ladies and gentlemen
Don't panic and don't be afraid
We are the police and we're on duty now
Please cooperate, it'll be over soon
Thank you, so sorry
You followed us?
Don't say it like that
We're on the same team, aren't we?
It's information sharing
Do you want some?
Weren't you going to catch Wang Jia De?
Xiao Man
If you know
the next target of the murderer,
then you're able to catch up to him
It's so simple, of course I knew
Xiao Liu, did you find Wang Jia De?
No
Luo Fei, aren't you...
They're all women, I've checked
What are you looking for?
Luo Fei
We're looking for a man
She's the murderer
Cut the crap!
How can it be?
Xiao Man just chased
a person in a suit,
Not necessarily a man
Besides, from her running posture,
you should have been able to infer her gender
Although you put your hair down,
the creases on your hair betray you
They prove you were wearing a hat before
And the creases at the bottom of your shirt
prove you had your shirt tucked in your pants
and only just now took it out
You have sweat stains
on your forehead and your body
I've never seen
people sweat while watching a movie
If I'm not mistaken,
the suit you just took off is under your seat right now
I'll give you one last chance
What's your name? What's your occupation?
What's the relationship between you and the deceased?
[Sister Qi]
Tell us!
Just because you want to interrogate me,
You shouldn't be ask around about my title
Title, huh?
Come on, tell me
In the Shanghai French Concession,
not many women can scare people
with her title
And there's only one woman
who usually wears a suit
It's 4th Road's Sister Qi
Why did you kill Qian Qi Yue?
When did you see me killing her?
Then why did you appear in the deceased's room?
And
why did you run when I was chasing you?
Miss High and Mighty, this is how I make a living
I just went there to collect some protection money from several of them
Nothing unusual, right?
Moreover,
I saw a dead body lying on the bed
when I had just stepped into the room
-The autopsy report -I didn't even see it clearly
and then you ran into the room
Of course I ran away
It's same as Zhao Qi Meng
They were stabbed in the neck with scissors
and died due to blood loss
We can be sure
the murderer was the same person
The wound is shallow
The murderer was either a short and small man
or a woman
Hear that?
The murderer was a woman
We have conclusive evidence now
You still won't confess?
She wasn't the murderer
According to the autopsy report,
the two murders were apparently by the same person
The fatal wound of the two victims
is on the right side of the neck
That means
the murderer killed them with their left hand
Sister Qi can't kill anyone with her left hand
Two fingers
No...
Even if she only has two fingers,
if she knows martial arts, she can apply a chokehold just like her
The deceased's neck was pierced
There's a rupture at the carotid artery and serious blood loss
There are bloodstains all over the scene
If Sister Qi is the murderer,
then why are there only stains on the soles of her shoes
But not on her clothes?
It means I didn't kill anyone
Can I go now?
Sister Qi
You just said "several of them"
I bet it's not just two people
Besides Qian Qi Yue and Zhao Qi Meng,
who else works as an unlicensed prostitute?
Boss,
we found Wang Jia De
Really?
Yes
Let's go
Ye Chang Qing, Xiao Man!
I heard you let the suspect go
Sir, Luo Fei has confirmed
that she's not the murderer
I asked you to keep it low-key,
but you make it so widely known
You surrounded the cinema just to catch a woman
Now you say you got the wrong person
They gave me the wrong info
When did we give you the info?
You followed our operation without permission
If I hadn't arrived in time,
you wouldn't have been able to catch the suspect
I told you, Sister Qi wasn't the murderer
That's enough, shut up!
If the Inspector-general comes looking for someone to blame who's going to take responsibility?
I want you to solve the case within three days
It won't take three days
I can solve it in two
One day
I can solve it in one day
Fine
Split into two groups
Let's see who catches the murderer first
If you can't solve the case,
all of you will be suspended
Luo Fei
You're going to lose
With everyone here as my witness
Let's go
Luo Fei
Look at his smug look
I bet he knows Wang Jia De's whereabouts
I'm sure
Wang Jia De isn't the murderer
Besides having a different dominant hand
the deceased was stabbed on the right side of the neck with the same weapon that killed Zhao Qi Meng
When Wang Jia De ran away, he didn't have a knife on him
nor did he go home
He grabbed Ye Chang Qing's pistol and didn't use it,
but instead tried to find
an exact replica of the murder weapon to kill the victim?
It's illogical
According to Sister Qi's statement,
there were three people in the unlicensed prostitution ring
But two of them are dead
The last person is
either the murderer
or
the next victim
The third person Sister Qi mentioned is called Sun Qi Xue
Her husband, Zheng Song is a primary school teacher
Both husband and wife are said to be law-abiding people
with a harmonious home life
They get along very well with their neighbours
Seems unlikely to be involved in this kind of business
Could it be a mistake?
We'll know
after we meet her
Hello
Hello...
Is this Sun Qi Xue's home?
[Sun Qi Xue]
Yes
Why are you looking for me?
Do you know Zhao Qi Meng and Qian Qi Yue?
No, I don't
You may have gotten the wrong person
Xue
Who's that?
Nothing, they may have gotten the wrong house
So sorry
Wait
Can we talk inside the house?
Xue
Go and get a glass of water
What brings you here for Xiao Xue?
Recently, two women have been killed
in the Shanghai French Concession
One of them is Zhao Qi Meng
Another one is Qian Qi Yue
Xue, are you okay?
It's okay
It slipped accidentally
I'll clean it up now
Let me do it
Be careful with your hands
Sorry, we have no hot water
I'll go and get some hot water for you
No need
We'll be leaving soon
Detectives,
Why are you looking for
my Xue after these murders?
Well
We heard rumors
that your wife knew the two victims
Do you know the two victims?
I don't know
I've never heard their names before
You must have gotten it wrong
My wife doesn't know them
What's wrong?
Mr. Zheng
Are you sick?
Yes
I had a lung disease two years ago
I went to several hospitals but they couldn't heal me
You have a private phone
Xue wanted to install it
Ever since my illness,
Xue has been running
a tuition class for kids to make some money for our household
She installed the phone
to be able to contact the children's parents
about the timing for the classes
Mrs. Zheng
You have a good income from your tutoring, don't you?
She's famous
Her fee
is more than what a primary teacher like me earns
Only,
she needs to go out early every day
and come back only at midnight
She works so hard
What do we do?
It's hard to question her like this
Mrs. Zheng
I have a nephew who just entered primary school
He's weak in his studies
and looking for a private teacher
If you're interested,
I can introduce you to him
This...
What about this?
I'll bring you to see him
so that you can talk face to face
It's inconvenient to do it here
as it will disturb your husband's rest
Don't you think so too?
Yes
Thank you
Zhao Qi Meng, Qian Qi Yue and Sun Qi Xue
All your names
have "Qi" in them
The surname is different,
and you don't look alike
So you're definitely not siblings,
but you've known each other for a long time
We're all abandoned orphans
We grew up in an orphanage in Suzhou
When we were sixteen,
[Madam Qi]
a woman named Madam Qi
picked us up from the orphanage
We all thought
that she was a good woman who was going to adopt us
When we reached her house,
[Man Ting Fang]
we realized that it was a brothel
Come and have a look
From now on this is your home
She adopted us
not to raise us to be proper adults
but to train us to be a lady of the evening
The Chinese term 女先生 literally translates to "female teacher" and is a euphemism. I picked an English equivalent.
Lady of the evening?
Another word for prostitute
Xiao Liu Zi
Take two of them over there
You two come with me
Let's go
Madam Qi gave us all names
Qi Meng
Qi Yue
Qi Xue
Maybe because we were pretty and young
we were popular among the men
Soon after that,
we became the stars of the brothel
But it was all just a veneer
At even a hint of defiance,
she would beat and scold us
Even while sick,
we had to force a smile
Until one day,
we couldn't stand it anymore
We wrote a suicide note together
and jumped into the Wei Qing river
But we were rescued by fishermen on their journey
and those kind fishermen sent us to Shanghai
In Shanghai I used to work as a babysitter
and a spinning mill worker
With our good looks,
we were all able to find men
Qi Yue was kept by a rich man
Qi Meng married a tailor
And I met my husband, Song
So, the three of you changed your names
We didn't want to be remninded of the past
nor let our families know about our identity
So we lied to them
saying we fled from famine to Shanghai
Since the three of you have your own man,
why are you doing this again?
A storm may arise out of a clear sky
The good days didn't last long
Qi Yue's man found another woman
Qi Meng's man hit her when he was drunk
And my husband
unfortunately developed lung cancer
To make a living,
we had to go back into the business
Qi Yue lived alone
She was in charge of soliciting customers and setting up meetings
Once she finds a customer, she will assign the appointment
and call you two
To hide from people,
she pretended to be mahjong friend
and the parents of students
Hello, Qi Meng
There's a customer tomorrow afternoon, can you make it?
Mrs. Li
I'm free for mahjong in the afternoon
Tian Xiang Hotel at 4th Road
Or you can book the room first
Okay, Mrs. Li
I'll come over when I settle my housework
Don't worry, Mrs. Li
I won't be late
or delay your son's homework
After you got an appointment,
you'd make a room booking at the hotel you agreed on earlier
If there's a Mr. Wang looking for Mrs. Wang later,
tell him my room number
Alright
That day, Qi Meng was waiting for the man in the room
But, she was killed unexpectedly
Mr. Wang who had an appointment with her
couldn't open the door
He thought he had been cheated
and he left
He left after being up there for a little while
Zhou Xuan hadn't finished the song yet
But Mr. Wang
had no time to commit a crime
The murderer should have arrived earlier than him
and he knew the room number
He must have followed her all the way
Who do you think killed Qi Meng and Qi Yue?
I don't know
Do you three have any enemies?
No
This is how Qi Meng and Qi Yue looked when they died
Their face were slashed
by someone after they were already dead
Do you know why?
It's her
Who?
Madam Qi
When we lived in Man Ting Fang before,
there was a girl named Begonia
She fell in love with a graduate student
and they ran away together
When they were caught
The legs of the graduate student were broken
and Begonia's face
was slashed
Madam Qi warned us
If anyone of us ever did what Begonia did,
we would end up like her
Even if Madam Qi
knew where you are,
surely she wouldn't go so far as to murder you
If she knew we were still alive,
she would definitely come after us
If that's the case,
the murderer's next target
will be you
I don't care what happens to me
But I don't want to involve my husband
We'll put your family under police protection
I have a request
I hope you will keep my secret
and not tell him about it
Thank you
I should go back now
She's not the murderer
Yes
So pitiful
How could she kill them?
Are you moved by her miserable life just like me?
She usually uses her right hand
Boss
Where is he?
Are you sure?
Yes, it's him
Boss, catch him
He has my pistol
It's very dangerous
Observe first, take it easy
Hold it
Let's go
Let me tell you,
my wife is beautiful
She's prettier than movie stars
She was always so obedient
lit. "tell her to stay east, she dare not go west"
and never went against me
lit. "tell her to beat the dog, she dare not chase the chicken"
Ask your wife to come and
play mahjong at my house tonight
Come on! Drink
Cheers!
Alright, come on
Hold it
So nice
Pour it
What did you say?
It has nothing to do with you
I invited someone over for mahjong
It's you
You shameless whoremonger!
You shouldn't go whoring!
Stop it!
It's okay
We're the police
It's okay
How dare you hit me with my gun?
I'll kill you!
Boss
There are so many people here
So many people
Officer,
does your wife often play mahjong too?
Cheers!
Boss
My baby!
I've checked it out, all the bullets are there
What a good day!
You guys helped me
to catch that man
and found my pistol as well
I'm so happy
Come on, cheers!
Good work
Come on! Bottoms up!
Don't mention it
Bottoms up!
I haven't seen Bin and Hao
They're watching Sun Qi Xue's house overnight
What?
For what?
Luo Fei said,
the murderer might go there tonight
So Det Sup Savoy sent them on a stakeout
Think about it
We arrested the real culprit
A stakeout for what?
That's right
The credit is finally yours
It's ours
Come on
Cheers!
Go and get Bin and Hao
Let them leave
Tell them I said so
Okay
Hurry up!
Cheers!
It's so dark
Not a single person around
[Suzhou]
It's not busy as the nightlife in Shanghai
People have nothing to do after dinner
so they go to bed early
When Man Ting Fang was opened,
this area was hustle and bustle
Now it's closed,
this place is even more deserted
How did you know?
Can it be that you went there before?
That's right
I used to come here every day
No one's inside, huh
Let's check it out
Anybody here?
Anybody...
[Preview]
Hello
Sun Qi Xue, please come to the police station
Sun Qi Xue didn't tell us
the entire truth about her past
That's what Madam Qi said?
Of course, I don't have a reason to forge a statement
What are we doing here?
Damn it!
Us four sisters
did not ask to be born on the same day of the same year
But we hope to die on the same day of the same year
Four sisters?
It's not a suicide note from three people
It seems Qi Xue was trying to hide
a fourth person