Chapter 157: Midnight Ghost Wife

Xiao Yu stepped out of his house and got into a police car.

“Boss, an hour ago, Jia Yanli’s husband called the police saying he saw his… wife,” Guo Qiang, driving the car, reported to Xiao Yu in the passenger seat.

“Got it.” Xiao Yu’s expression was calm, showing no surprise. 

It was just as he had predicted. Stealing the corpse had to be for some specific purpose. Without proper storage, it would be hard to preserve the body for long. However, Xiao Yu hadn’t expected things to escalate so quickly. 

The body was stolen only yesterday, and they had already made their move the next day?

But using the corpse to scare the deceased’s husband?

As his mind worked through the details, Xiao Yu began to piece things together, recalling the initial investigation by the local police station. The deceased’s brother had always insisted that his sister was killed by her husband. Could it be the brother who stole the body?

A cold glint flashed in Xiao Yu’s eyes, but he shook his head. It seemed unlikely. Such a straightforward scenario was too easy to deduce and therefore less probable.

Unable to make further sense of it, Xiao Yu set the analysis aside. The police car sped down the road and stopped at a residential complex twenty minutes later. Detectives Li Xin and Liu Hongqiao from the Criminal Investigation Team were already there, waiting for Xiao Yu and Guo Qiang.

“Boss!” Li Xin and Liu Hongqiao greeted them.

“Let’s go.” Xiao Yu nodded and led the way into the complex, followed by the three detectives.

The name of the deceased’s husband was quite uncommon. He had a compound surname: Che Fei, full name Che Feiting. He was 36 years old, originally from another province, and had moved to Bencheng sixteen years ago for work.

At 25, he met his wife Jia Yanli, and they got married when he was 27. His wife was two years older than him. Nothing unusual there. 

Back then, Jia Yanli wasn’t as wealthy as she later became. She was just starting out. The couple had worked together to achieve their current wealth.

According to police investigations, Che Feiting didn’t involve himself much in the company’s affairs, he was a ‘supportive husband.’ Apart from occasional visits to the company to see his wife, he enjoyed various recreational activities like billiards, bowling, and was part of an old friends’ football club, playing as a defender.

His social interactions were normal, with no signs of abnormal behavior.

Standing in front of an apartment building, Xiao Yu’s mind was filled with the details Guo Qiang had reported. 

After a moment of frowning and thinking, he couldn’t make much sense of it for now.

Xiao Yu arrived at the home of Che Feiting and the deceased Jia Yanli. The door was open. A middle-aged man sat at the entrance, his face pale, smoking heavily, and looking terrified. Two police officers stood by his side.

Seeing Xiao Yu and his team arrive, the officers briefed them on the situation and then left. 

This was the protocol. Some cases weren’t within their jurisdiction, so they couldn’t interfere. Police officers had their own duties, and detectives had their own tasks. Though they were all police, their responsibilities often differed significantly.

“Hello, we’re from the Criminal Investigation Team.” Xiao Yu’s gaze fell on Che Feiting, frowning slightly. “Can you stand up and talk?”

‘This doesn’t add up. That’s your wife, after all. You met and fell in love at 25, got married at 27, and had a nine-year marriage. With an eleven-year relationship, even if your wife’s ghost appeared, why would you be so terrified?’

If it were him and his wife in the future… would they be scared of each other’s ghosts? 

No, they wouldn’t. They’d be happy to follow each other, right?

Of course, people are different.

Xiao Yu stared at Che Feiting’s face. At 36, he was middle-aged but still had a handsome uncle’s charm, with a mature man’s allure that could easily attract younger women. However, his face was now full of fear. His facial muscles twitched occasionally, and his eyes were filled with panic. These were signs of extreme fright!

Terrified by his own wife’s ghost?

Xiao Yu’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as he watched Che Feiting stand up and asked, “Can you describe the situation when you encountered her?”

“Sure.” The pale-faced Che Feiting nodded. “During the day, I received a call from the police informing me that my wife’s body was missing. I went to the morgue and then came home in the evening…”

As Xiao Yu listened to him recount the events, his expression remained unchanged, but doubts began to form in his mind.

His responses were fluent, his psyche seemed stable, and he showed no anger over the missing body, remaining very calm?

‘You know, that’s someone you spent every day with, even closer than your parents. Would a normal man react this way after hearing his wife’s body is missing? Interesting!’

“Just now…” Che Feiting’s face turned even paler, and the terror in his eyes was unmistakable. “I heard something strange at the bedroom window. So, I got up and opened the curtains… and I saw my wife!”

“Huh?” Xiao Yu was stunned. 

‘This was the fifth floor, right? You saw your wife outside the bedroom window?’

“She was floating outside the window, staring at me,” Che Feiting’s body trembled. “Her eyes were gray-white, it was really terrifying!”

Gray-white? Xiao Yu’s scalp tingled, and he took a deep breath. Yes, those eyes should be what a dead person’s eyes look like. The eyes the security guard Miao Jiancheng saw on the female corpse were clearly wrong.

Without further questioning, Xiao Yu walked into the bedroom and looked at the open window.

Fifth floor, how was this done? Did the corpse float up on its own? Could it fly?

A cold smile curved at the corner of his mouth as Xiao Yu opened the window and leaned out to check. He found nothing unusual above or below. Raising a corpse from below would be almost impossible. If it was from above…

Xiao Yu pulled himself back inside, turned to Guo Qiang and the others, and made a gesture. The three seasoned detectives understood instantly and went upstairs to investigate.

In the living room, Xiao Yu smiled at Che Feiting, who was sitting on the sofa. 

“How was your relationship with your wife before she passed away?”

“Our relationship?” Che Feiting was taken aback and shook his head. “We actually didn’t have much of a relationship left. As the business grew, she became more dominant. We’ve been sleeping in separate rooms for years. We were even planning to get a divorce.”

‘I see,’ Xiao Yu squinted. ‘No wonder you weren’t angry or upset when you heard your wife’s body was missing.’

The next moment, Xiao Yu’s eyes fell on Che Feiting’s neck, and he smirked. He noticed a small red mark on his neck, commonly known as a hickey.