Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Wow, if that’s the case, then our being here wasn’t even part of the original plan! Should we thank the Golden City police for not finding the letter?” Zeng Ke asked.
Wu Xiumin said, “You’re right! If they had found the letter, there would have been no reason to contact us, Xie Tongguo would most likely still be at large, and Han Kuan could have been acquitted! Then, just like Zhang Jingru said in the recording, Han Kuan would become famous, and his novel would sell copies like crazy, making him a very wealthy man.”
Zhao Yu looked at his two team members and said, “But… As Zeng Ke said earlier, although our hypothesis looks like it is the truth, it is still just a guess for the time being! At this critical moment, we have to let the facts speak for themselves! So, as far as the current situation is concerned, we must clarify four things before we can truly know whether Han Kuan is the real boss behind the scenes.”
Zhao Yu then turned and pointed to the white boards, where he had already written four goals for the investigation. He then said, “First, we need to close the serial murder case as soon as possible, as well as find out whether Xie Tongguo has any connection to Han Kuan and his wife. We also need to see if there are any connections between the two cases.”
He then pointed to the second and third objectives, saying, “Second, we need to check Zhang Jingru’s original recording to see if it has been edited. It may even be a fake! Third, we should investigate whether Zhang Jingru rented the safe in the bank herself. If not, we need to find out who else was involved.”
Zhao Yu then emphasized the importance of the last goal, “The fourth goal is the most important one! We must find out the reason why Han Kuan killed his wife! I don’t believe that Han Kuan would kill his wife only to increase the popularity of his book. After all, they were married for ten years!”
He shook his head, then said, “As Wu said earlier, Han Kuan must have his own purposes for doing these things, so we cannot stop investigating both Han Kuan and his wife. Also, we must find out whatever problems they may have had, both in their marriage and individually. That’s the plan!”
At this point, Zhao Yu’s mobile phone suddenly rang. It was deputy leader Miao Ying.
“Leader Zhao, we are done here!” Miao Ying reported with satisfaction. “We found Xie Tongguo’s home and Han Kuan’s lost manuscripts. And… Just as Xie Tongguo said, all of the manuscripts are here!”
“Good! Then…” As Zhao Yu was just about to say something, Miao Ying kept talking over him, as she could not wait to report, “Xie Tongguo said that he didn’t have an accomplice. He did all of it himself! Also, because he and Han Kuan were neighbors, he knew Han Kuan and his wife, but he never talked much with them, just a greeting here and there!”
Miao Ying then added, “Xie Tongguo also knew that those manuscripts belonged to Han Kuan. He said that he had wanted to talk to Han Kuan, but because he had stolen his stuff, he was too embarrassed to do so. He also admitted that he related on a personal level to Han Kuan’s books, especially 11 Kills! This is because the main character in the book had a miserable experience that was similar to his.”
Miao Ying then said, “Apparently, they were both treated unfairly. So, he killed people and copied the book’s killing methods. Although his logic was not good, the details that he shared about the crime were consistent with our findings. Therefore, it looks like Xie Tongguo is our guy!”
“Oh… So… Then…” Zhao Yu wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Miao Ying yet again!
With excitement in her tone, she reported, “Oh! We also found a list of victims on Xie Tongguo’s desk. It turns out that he had arranged for exactly 11 victims. These 11 people had all treated him very badly, and the group included a few of his clients at work, some colleagues, his boss, and even a few of his classmates, who apparently beat him up at school. Fortunately, we stopped him. Otherwise, we don’t know how many more people would have died!”
“Wow, in that case…” Zhao Yu still wasn’t able to finish his thought when Miao Ying interrupted him for the third time, “Oh yeah! I heard from Wu that you are about to crack the case! Has the evidence been confirmed? Was it really Zhang Jingru’s own plan all along? If so, that means that we have all solved two cases in one day!”
“Alas… It’s hard to get a word in with you talking nonstop!” Zhao Yu finally got the chance to speak, and he said with a sigh, “I told you earlier that my case is more difficult than yours! So, we’ll wait till you come back, and then we can discuss it together!”
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“Well, we’re ready to come back now!” Miao Ying said quickly. “See you later!”
After hanging up the phone, Zhao Yu furrowed his eyebrows, drew a big X on his first investigation goal on his list, and murmured, “It seems that we can drop the first goal, as the serial murder case is clearly not related to Han Kuan and his wife!”
At this time, Wu Xiumin, who was listening to someone talking to her on her phone in the distance, waved to Zeng Ke and said, “Zeng Ke, look at your computer! The Longjiang police just sent the security camera footage over.”
She then covered the mouthpiece on her phone and said to Zhao Yu, “Team Leader, maybe the third goal can be removed now!”
“Ah!” Zhao Yu rushed over to Zeng Ke’s computer, while Zeng Ke quickly clicked on the video that he had just received. It was obvious from the video that Zhang Jingru was the one who had rented the safe, as the footage clearly showed Zhang Jingru going into the bank alone and rented a safe. The footage also showed that Zhang Jingru was holding a yellow plastic bag in her hand. Based on the shape of the bag, they could safely assume that it held to recording pen within it!
Hence, they could tell from this video that Zhang Jingru did rent the safe by herself, and she also put the pen in it herself. There was no other person involved in the whole process!
But, as Zhao Yu watched Zhang Jingru’s movements, he felt that something was off. Zhang Jingru was dressed in pink and looked very fashionable. As she rented the safe, her actions and facial expressions were calm, as if she was doing something that she did every day. Moreover, when she was waiting for confirmation after signing the contract for the box rental, she even showed a trace of impatience.
After Zhao Yu paused the video at the exact moment when Zhang Jingru’s impatient facial expression first appeared, he hesitated for a moment before he turned to Wu Xiumin and Zeng Ke and said, “I feel that she behaved perfectly normal, which gives me pause…”
Wu Xiumin agreed. “Yeah! After all, if Zhang Jingru knew that there was a recording pen in the bag, then she should at least have glanced at the bag once or twice a bit nervously. But… She didn’t! Not even once!”
Zeng Ke scratched his head and said, “Zhang Jingru would also have known that there was a camera recording her. Could it be that she deliberately avoided doing that on purpose?”
Zhao Yu pondered this for a moment, then said with a firm tone, “No. I don’t think so, as from this video, it appears that Zhang Jingru left the recording for the police on purpose. So, she should have acted like that bag was very important, maybe even causing her to make a gesture to the camera.”
“So… You’re suggesting that Zhang Jingru probably didn’t know about the recording pen at all?” Zeng Ke was shocked as he asked, “So… Han Kuan used her?”
Wu Xiumin frowned. “But… How did Han Kuan manage to do it?”
Suddenly, Zhao Yu thought of something important and shouted, “We are in trouble now. If Han Kuan is really the murderer, then we can’t stop him!”
“Ah! Why?” the other two exclaimed at the same time.
Zhao Yu pointed to the computer screen and replied, “This video just proved that Han Kuan is innocent… Or… At least it makes it look like he is! No matter what we do now, Han Kuan will get away with his crime seamlessly!”
Once again, Zhao Yu clenched his fist and said angrily, “Han Kuan fooled us all!”