Qi Fang hesitated, but seeing that Zhang was about to burst, she pointed in a direction and said, "The restroom is on the right."
Zhang dashed into the bathroom.
Qi Fang looked at Fang Rui, emotion flashing in her eyes. "Officer Fang, have you found Momo?"
"Not yet. We're here because we have some questions for you."
"What do you want to know? Go ahead and ask."
"Where is Su Momo's dog?"
"Dog? You mean Bugu? You should ask Liu Yaying about that. She's been taking care of Momo's dog all along. I think she sent it to a pet hospital for treatment."
"Miss Qi, we've already spoken to the lady who adopted the dog," Fang Rui stared at Qi Fang. "So you don't need to keep making things up. Just tell us the truth."
Qi Fang's expression changed. She quickly defended herself, "I went to get Bugu back myself. Momo asked me to do it, and she told me not to tell Liu Yaying. Liu Yaying has a bad temper and is very strict with Momo. Momo just had a skin allergy, but Liu Yaying insisted it was caused by dog hair and sent the puppy away. I saw how unhappy Momo was, so I secretly checked Liu Yaying's phone and found the dog."
"Where is the dog now?"
"I don't know. Momo's bodyguard took it away."
"Which bodyguard? Take us to see him." Fang Rui noticed Qi Fang's face turning pale as she seemed to be struggling to find an excuse. He asked, "You placed that cursed doll, didn't you?"
"Of course not. How could I curse Momo?" Qi Fang immediately defended herself, "Officer, you can't accuse people without evidence!"
"Then tell me where the dog went."
"It died. I threw the body in the trash."
"There are surveillance cameras near your home and the hotel. Let's go check the footage to see if you threw away the dog's body."
"I..." Qi Fang stiffened her neck, stammering for a while before finally saying, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you."
"That day, Su Momo was wearing clothes identical to yours, pretending to be you when she left the makeup area, right?" Seeing Qi Fang about to quibble again, Fang Rui pointed at her right wrist, "The second 'Qi Fang' who left that area had a scar on her wrist, but you don't have that scar. Are you still going to lie?"
"I..."
"Miss Qi, where exactly is Su Momo?" Fang Rui was almost out of patience.
"I don't know where Momo went either. She forced me to do all this. If I didn't help her, she threatened to report me to the police. Momo already knew that I was the one who placed the cursed doll! I was too jealous of Liu Yaying. I was so good to Momo, helping her manage everything perfectly, and I tried my best to make her happy. But what did I get in return? Momo couldn't see my efforts at all. She was always so nice to Liu Yaying but ignored me. And Liu Yaying always ordered me around like a servant!
I could have endured it. I thought that if I kept being so good to Momo, she would eventually see my dedication. But then I discovered that Liu Yaying was actually with Liang Guangyu, and they had slept together many times. I didn't dare tell Momo the truth, so I could only use this method to drive Liu Yaying away. This way, Momo wouldn't be so heartbroken, and that scum Liu Yaying could stay away from Momo. Someone as good as Momo shouldn't be treated like this!"
Qi Fang became more and more agitated as she spoke, finally covering her face and bursting into tears.
Fang Rui asked, "Why did Su Momo fake her death?"
Qi Fang wiped her tears and said, "Momo's plan wasn't to fake her death. She just wanted to escape from the New Year's Eve performance. She's done this often before. She doesn't like singing, but her manager forces her to, so she asks me to help her escape. I don't know why there was blood in the makeup room. Could it have been Liu Yaying? Maybe she wanted to ruin Momo's career."
"Liu Yaying attempted suicide by cutting her wrists."
"Suicide? How could this happen? Who made that blood then?"
Fang Rui asked, "Where did Su Momo go?"
"I'm not sure. She might have gone to a small island in the south for a vacation, or to the north to see ice sculptures, or to the west to see the desert. She has many places she wants to visit, and I don't know which one she chose. She hasn't contacted me since leaving the makeup room. I've been trying to find her too."
"Why didn't you tell us the truth before?"
"I was afraid it would affect Momo's trip, so I didn't dare tell you. Momo should be fine. She's just hiding because she was deeply hurt by the betrayal of her best friend and boyfriend. She wants some quiet time. I didn't want you to disturb her."
Fang Rui looked at Qi Fang, "Come with us to the station to make a statement. We need to confirm a few things with you." For some reason, Fang Rui still didn't quite believe Qi Fang.
"Alright."
"Why aren't you moving?"
"Officer Zhang is still in the bathroom. Let's wait for him to come out before I go to the station with you." Qi Fang glanced towards the bathroom and quickly looked away.
Zhang came out soon after.
They let Qi Fang get in the car first, then Zhang pulled Fang Rui aside and whispered, "Boss, I made a big discovery. There are two pairs of slippers in her bathroom, both women's. The towels and toothbrushes are also in pairs. Someone else is living in that apartment with Qi Fang."
"Hmm." Fang Rui had already guessed that Su Momo might have been staying at Qi Fang's place these past few days.
"At first, I suspected Su Momo was living at Qi Fang's. But I checked those slippers, they're both old, and the towels don't look new either. Su Momo wouldn't wear old slippers or use old towels, would she?" Zhang analyzed.
Fang Rui frowned. So where had Su Momo gone? She couldn't use her own ID to buy tickets, so she shouldn't be able to travel around freely.
"Boss, I have another guess. Qi Fang seems to be a fan of Liang Guangyu. I saw a keychain hanging in her entryway, it's merchandise from one of Liang Guangyu's roles, worth over a thousand yuan. This merchandise is expensive and hard to get."
Zhang continued, "There were also traces of posters on her wall, very fresh traces with poster fragments still left. She probably hurriedly tore them down and threw them in the trash just before we arrived. I saw the trash can was full of plastic paper. She must be Liang Guangyu's fan! And a die-hard one at that!"
Chen Xue had been obsessed with celebrity chasing recently, and Zhang had accompanied her, so he was very familiar with fan culture, including which celebrities were rivals, what kind of merchandise was available, and so on.
Fang Rui applied for a search warrant to investigate Qi Fang's home.
Just as Zhang had said, the trash can was full of freshly torn posters of Liang Guangyu, some even bearing his autograph. Combined with what Qi Fang's neighbors said, the celebrity she had been obsessively following was indeed Liang Guangyu.
Qi Fang's apartment had three bedrooms and one living room. One room was used for storage, while the other two were occupied. One of the rooms was very simply furnished, with just a bed and a quilt, and almost nothing else.
The other room was covered in posters, all of Liang Guangyu. The desk was piled with magazines, all featuring Liang Guangyu's recent photoshoots. There was even a special cabinet in the room, filled with various Liang Guangyu merchandise: plush dolls, badges, standees, photo books, and albums...
All of this confirmed that Qi Fang was indeed a hardcore fan of Liang Guangyu.
"Boss, do you think Qi Fang might have kidnapped or even killed Su Momo to cover up Liang Guangyu's infidelity?" Zhang asked.
