TPODN Chapter 28

Detective Notes (II): “The Cafe of Murderous Intent”

In the suburbs of Dekai City, there is a little-known cafe. Its customers are long-term residents of the area, with diverse backgrounds, and they all deeply love this cafe.

The owner, Fan Keqin, is a devoted disciple of the late “Coffee King,” Li Yi.

Fan Keqin abandoned a promising future and diligently runs this cafe with his wife, Xu Jie. One day, Wang Linfei and his university classmate, Li Haoran, come to this place…

However, the fragrant coffee has already gathered a bloody taste, and a long-planned murder case occurs here…

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Wang Linfei is sick.

Due to his high-intensity work investigating the “Fengyun City Serial Homicide Dismemberment Case” some time ago, Wang Linfei had only an average of four hours of sleep per day, and he drank at least five cups of high-concentration coffee every day. By the time he arrived at the hospital, Wang Linfei had been awake for a full day and night.

“Officer Wang, no matter what, your health is the most important thing. Your heart rate is already unbalanced, and your biological clock is completely disrupted. If this continues, your body will collapse. I suggest you quit coffee and drink some tea or plain water instead,” Liu Mei, the attending physician of internal medicine at Fengyun City First People’s Hospital, said to Wang Linfei.

Wang Linfei remained silent. Since the major case had ended and he was now returning to normal life, he didn’t know how to face reality for a while.

Lu Yao drove Wang Linfei back home. Because Wang Linfei had been listless recently, Hu Shi asked Captain Liu Zihao to grant Wang Linfei a half-month vacation so he could focus on recovering. Lu Yao drove the car to Wang Linfei’s rented apartment in Fengyun City, which was also Lu Yao’s first time visiting Wang Linfei’s home.

Although it was a rental, Wang Linfei kept the place very tidy. The clean bedroom was free of any clutter, making it hard to imagine that Wang Linfei was a single person living alone.

“Actually, it’s just a place to sleep. Lu Yao, make me a cup of coffee.”

“Wang, are you still drinking coffee? Do you want to die?” Wang Linfei walked to the coffee machine as usual and reflexively started fiddling with the coffee beans. Lu Yao quickly stepped forward to stop him.

“Dr. Liu Mei told me not to drink it anymore. If you keep drinking, the investigation team will lose its deputy captain.” Although Lu Yao said this jokingly, she was very concerned about Wang Linfei’s health. Take the previous “Serial Homicide Dismemberment Case” for example, Wang Linfei almost always had a cup of coffee in his hand. He even asked for a cup of coffee when he met Jin Sisi. At that time, Wang Linfei was focused on the case, so he didn’t take the matter of his health seriously. Now that the case was over, Wang Linfei’s overly tense nerves also relaxed, and the aftereffects of drinking too much coffee followed.

“Wang, I’ve always had a question. Why are you so addicted to coffee?” Lu Yao asked in confusion.

“A moderate amount of coffee can speed up your thinking.” Wang Linfei brewed a pot of tea and poured a cup for Lu Yao. Although tea also contains caffeine, it is still much less than coffee.

“I remember when you first came to our team, you didn’t like coffee that much. I remember you liked to drink cola back then. When did you start drinking coffee?” Although Wang Linfei is the deputy captain of the “Special Criminal Investigation Unit,” Lu Yao arrived earlier than Wang Linfei. Lu Yao comes from a family of police officers; her father is a cadre in the Provincial Public Security Department of another province. Lu Yao has two older sisters, and she is the youngest. As a descendant of police officers, Lu Yao also has a degree in the field. She interned at the Fengyun City Public Security Bureau as early as her university internship, so her work experience is longer than Wang Linfei’s.

Wang Linfei took a sip of tea, and his restless mood calmed down. He said that his elementary school classmate, Li Haoran, introduced him to coffee. Li Haoran and Wang Linfei were roommates in elementary school, and they were classmates for four years. Wang Linfei didn’t know that Li Haoran was actually the grandson of “Coffee King” Li Yi.

After Wang Linfei entered the Fengyun City Public Security Bureau, Li Haoran invited Wang Linfei to play in Kenya. Wang Linfei wondered what was so fun about Africa? But since it was the annual vacation, Wang Linfei thought about catching up with his old classmate, so he went to Kenya. As it turned out, Li Haoran’s family had ten coffee processing plants in Kenya.

Kenya is privately regarded as one of the best coffee bean producing countries in the world. Originally, Li Haoran’s family was in the coffee business, and Li Haoran’s grandfather, Li Yi, was one of the first veterans in the country to introduce Kenyan coffee beans. He is known as the “Coffee King” in the coffee industry. Not only in Kenya, but also in China, Li Haoran’s father has opened many coffee chain stores. It can be said that Li Haoran’s family has been deeply involved in the coffee industry, and Li Haoran is regarded by the family as the third-generation “successor.”

During that week in Kenya, Li Haoran took Wang Linfei to taste coffee brewed from the world’s best coffee beans. Wang Linfei joked that if he had his blood drawn at that time, it would be coffee blood. Since then, Wang Linfei fell in love with coffee.

Li Haoran and Wang Linfei maintained a loose friendship and often sent Wang Linfei coffee beans from Kenya via express delivery. During the previous “Fengyun City Serial Homicide Dismemberment Case,” when the case was at a standstill, Wang Linfei also took a lot of the coffee beans that Li Haoran had sent him back to the bureau. In cups of fragrant coffee, Wang Linfei finally apprehended the murderer.

Lu Yao nodded. With such a friend, it would be difficult for Wang Linfei not to drink coffee. Then, out of professional habit, Lu Yao searched for information out of interest. She took out her mobile phone and looked up Li Haoran’s grandfather, Li Yi, on the encyclopedia. As Wang Linfei said, he was indeed recognized as a leading figure in the coffee industry in China and was called the “Coffee King.” He had published no fewer than fifty academic reports on coffee, and it could be said that he had dedicated his entire life to coffee.

“Let me put it this way, Lu Yao, now the people in your country who are engaged in the coffee industry, whether they grow coffee beans or are well-known coffee chain store owners, are basically all disciples of Mr. Li Yi. This is not an exaggeration at all,” Wang Linfei said.

After the lighthearted topic, Wang Linfei treated Lu Yao to a simple meal. After Lu Yao told Wang Linfei to take care of himself, she hurried back to the Fengyun City Public Security Bureau to work overtime. Because Lu Yao still had a case closing report to write, and the provincial department was also paying attention to the previous case, Liu Zihao asked the case team to write the case closing report as soon as possible. The provincial department also had to use the case closing report to go through the judicial process, such as the suspect’s confession, evidence, and relevant legal provisions, which are very enlightening for the public. And the most important thing is to give the public an explanation. Lu Yao is now responsible for writing the case closing report, so she has been under a lot of pressure recently.

“Do you want to take some authentic Kenyan coffee? I’ve been under a lot of pressure recently too,” Wang Linfei joked.

Lu Yao took some and left in a hurry.

…

Night——

After taking the medicine prescribed by Dr. Liu Mei, Wang Linfei felt very sleepy and prepared to fall into a deep sleep.

Just then, Wang Linfei’s phone rang. Wang Linfei looked and saw that it was Li Haoran calling him.

“Linfei, how have you been lately?” The sound of machinery operating was very loud on Li Haoran’s end, making it impossible for Wang Linfei to hear what Li Haoran was saying.

“Go to a quiet place. You’re not showing off the facilities in your factory again, are you, Li Haoran?” The banter between friends is so natural.

“Linfei, let me just tell you something simple. I’m planning to go to Fengyun City to find you soon. Take me to a place that I’ll definitely be satisfied with, hehe…”

“A place?”

“Yes, a place that I’m interested in. I’ll keep it a secret for now, and I’ll tell you when I go to Fengyun City, hehe.”

Li Haoran hung up the phone quickly. Wang Linfei wasn’t very interested on this side, maybe because he hadn’t slept for a day and a night, or because the medicine prescribed by Dr. Liu Mei was too effective. After Wang Linfei hung up the phone, he immediately got into bed and fell asleep.

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