The Poisoned Pen: A Guardian Story

Chapter Seventeen: The Upcoming Nuptials

"He's coming to Lin Jing's wedding!"

Shen Ling put her phone down on the kitchen table and smiled broadly at her boyfriend.

"Gao Han, this is huge!  It's the first time he will have left the estate in ages!"

Her companion's smiled echoed her own.

"That's great news.  It seems like your brother is making real progress, even with everything else that's been going on recently."

Shen Ling frowned.

"Yes.  Actually, it might be safer if he doesn't go.  I'll call him back and tell him to stay at home."

She reached for her phone again, then felt a restraining hand on her arm.

"Don't.  Like you said, this is huge progress, and I'm sure nothing will happen to him.  He'll be surrounded by people, including us.  It will be perfectly safe."

She smiled again, gratefully.

"Of course, you're right, Gao Han.  And knowing Shen Wei, he won't even stay that long.  He'll be back at the house well before the sun goes down, I'm certain."

"Is he coming alone?" the journalist asked, suddenly curious to know just how far his girlfriend's brother was stepping outside of his comfort zone.

"No," she replied.  "He's bringing Zhao Yunlan along.  They've become close colleagues."

"Are you sure that's all there is to it?" Gao Han enquired, hesitantly.

Shen Ling considered the question only briefly as she bustled around the kitchen, distracted with preparing a pot of coffee.

No, I suppose you'd say they were more like friends than colleagues," she admitted, offhandedly, as she reached for two cups.

Gao Han's eyes narrowed.  He was not so sure that there wasn't much more to it than that, but he would soon be able to judge for himself.

***

Zhao Yunlan was frustrated.  He had been out every morning other than a couple of days when Shen Wei had needed his assistance with some task or other, but he had not seen the grey car at all.  A promising lead had now disappeared.  He did not think it was possible that his cover had been blown.  That left only three options.  First, the car's owner had become fed up of waiting for the author to appear and had given up.  Second, he had found other, more concerning ways to feed his obsession.  Third, his situation had changed, and he was no longer in a position to come and go as he pleased in the mornings.

He supposed it did not matter much which of the options was correct.  Even if he knew, at this stage none of them moved the case along.  They needed more.

He glanced at the clock on the wall.  Shen Wei was expecting him in his bedroom in five minutes.  He had asked for assistance in choosing an outfit to wear for Lin Jing's wedding, which was now only a couple of days away.

In the few minutes he had left, Zhao Yunlan thought about his last conversation with Da Qing.  Just as he had feared, the PO Box that received the envelopes had been registered to an individual who did not appear to be associated with any of the businesses on the premises.  Also, unless the person renting the box really did share a name with a famous historical poet, his suspicion that they would use a fake identity had been well-founded.

Payment for the brief period the box had been rented had been in cash, so no trail to follow there.  He had to hand it to the stalker, or should he say murderer.  The man had been very thorough.  Now, all they had left was the CCTV on the building's entrance, but Chu Shuzhi had indicated to him that people were coming and going all the time during working hours, there was no suspicious activity at night, and the cameras were not pointed directly at the area where deliveries were made and collected in any event.  Ultimately, they had hit a dead end.