Ask the Parties Involved

"What's the plan?" Chen Ke instinctively asked.

Xu Mo replied succinctly, "Take this video and go ask the people involved."

They now had video evidence of the arsonist setting the fire, and they could directly approach the victims—the young couple who had been severely burned in the middle of the night.

The arsonist hadn’t burned down the piano store for no reason; there must have been some conflict or dispute between her and the couple.

In the surveillance footage, the arsonist’s face wasn’t visible, and the officers couldn’t identify her based on her figure alone. However, the injured couple might be able to recognize her from the video.

...

**Hospital.**

The couple, who had been burned, had been rushed to the hospital late last night and were now out of immediate danger. However, they were each lying in separate sterile rooms.

The officers, carrying a copy of the video from the private museum, arrived to gather some information from the couple.

Outside one of the sterile rooms.

Wang Dachuan and several officers were negotiating with a nurse.

They flashed their police badges.

"We’re officers investigating a case. We’d like to ask them a few questions. Is that possible?"

The nurse thought for a moment, then shook her head with a troubled expression.

"Not right now. They’ve just stabilized, and their condition is still fragile. Plus, they have severe burns. If you go in like this, there’s a risk of infection, which could be fatal... Maybe you could wait until they’ve recovered a bit more?"

The couple’s burns were severe. They had been in critical condition all night and had only just been stabilized. Burns are particularly sensitive, and any infection at this stage could be life-threatening.

If something happened to the patients in the hospital, the hospital would be held responsible. For safety reasons, the nurse wasn’t willing to let the officers in. Investigations could wait, but an infection would be disastrous.

"We’ll just ask a couple of questions and leave quickly," Wang Dachuan insisted, taking a step forward.

"Really, no," the nurse quickly moved to block the door, shaking her head again. "The patients are in no condition for visitors right now."

Just then, Han Fei and Xu Mo arrived.

"What’s going on?" Xu Mo asked, seeing the standoff between the officers and the nurse at the door.

When they first entered the hospital, they had seen a doctor being harassed by a patient’s family. Xu Mo and Han Fei had stepped in to mediate, allowing the other officers to go ahead to the rooms to gather information.

But now, it seemed the officers hadn’t even been able to enter the rooms and were being held back by the nurse.

Wang Dachuan scratched his head.

"Captain Xu, Captain Han, this nurse won’t let us in."

Hearing this, the nurse realized that the newcomers were likely the officers’ superiors. She explained again, "It’s not that I don’t want to let you in, but hospital regulations prohibit visitors for patients who’ve just stabilized."

Han Fei spoke up, "We’ll just ask a couple of quick questions and leave immediately. We won’t cause any trouble... You can even stay and supervise. If the patients show any discomfort, we’ll leave right away."

The nurse still shook her head.

"That’s not possible. The patients have severe burns all over their bodies. Even though they’re out of danger, they’re still highly susceptible to infection. Any infection could be catastrophic."

"Little Yang, what’s going on?" A voice came through the crowd.

It was the attending physician of the burned couple.

"Doctor Liang, these officers want to go in and ask the patients some questions. I didn’t let them in," the nurse explained to the doctor.

Notably, Doctor Liang was the same doctor Xu Mo and Han Fei had helped earlier in the hospital lobby when he was being harassed by a patient’s family. If it hadn’t been for their intervention, he might still be tied up.

"Officer Xu, Officer Han, it’s you... I thought your backs looked familiar," Doctor Liang said, then turned to the nurse. "You can go. I’ll handle this."

With a familiar face involved, things became easier. Han Fei smiled.

"Doctor Liang, we’ll just ask a couple of questions and leave right away. What do you think?"

Doctor Liang also shook his head with a troubled expression. "I’m afraid that’s not possible. Hospital regulations are strict."

But then he added, "However... what do you need to ask the patients? I could go in and relay the questions for you."

Under normal circumstances, Doctor Liang wouldn’t have volunteered for such a task. But since Xu Mo and Han Fei had just helped him out, he was willing to return the favor.

"It’s a matter of case confidentiality. We’d prefer to ask them ourselves," Han Fei replied. "Is there really no way we can go in?"

Doctor Liang hesitated.

He wanted to repay the favor, but he was also worried about the risk of infection. The patients had just come out of surgery and were still in critical condition. Their severe burns meant they had to stay in sterile rooms for now, and any external bacteria could be deadly. Only fully sanitized medical staff were allowed in.

Suddenly, Doctor Liang thought of a compromise.

"You can go in, but you’ll need to disinfect and wear sterile suits. And only one person can enter."

This was the most he could allow.

Han Fei nodded without hesitation. "Deal."

Then he turned to Xu Mo. "Captain Xu, you go in."

Xu Mo gave a slight nod.

Doctor Liang led Xu Mo into the sterile room.

The room had two doors. The first led to a small, enclosed area with disinfection facilities and sterile suits. Medical staff had to disinfect and change into sterile suits before passing through the second door into the patient’s room.

Under Doctor Liang’s guidance, Xu Mo went through the disinfection process, put on a sterile suit, and even placed his phone in a pre-sanitized transparent bag.

Doctor Liang, also in a sterile suit, accompanied Xu Mo through the second door.

"This is Officer Xu. He’s here to ask you a few questions about the case. Please cooperate as best as you can. If you feel any discomfort during the questioning, press the call button immediately."

After introducing Xu Mo to the patient, Doctor Liang nodded and left the room, waiting in the disinfection area outside. He needed to stay close in case the patient’s condition worsened during the questioning.

Once Doctor Liang left, Xu Mo opened his phone through the sanitized bag and showed the patient the surveillance footage.

"This is the person who set the piano store on fire. Do you recognize her?"

The woman, wrapped in bandages and wearing an oxygen mask, looked at the phone. Her eyes widened suddenly, as if she had seen something unbelievable...