Free Web NovelChapter 255: Chapter 252 Hanging by a Thread_1
At that moment, Xu Dayuan’s cell phone rang.
He took it out and saw several pictures—a white CC car’s trunk with a huge cardboard box inside. Underneath was a message from Mr. Zhao.
"Busy with the interrogation, leader? Call back when convenient; we’ve made a discovery here and reenacted quite the emotional drama, even more detailed than what I sent you earlier. Looking forward to your reply!"
With an annoyingly playful tone, Xu Dayuan’s eyebrows twisted into an ’S’ shape. He gestured to Liu Yufei and He Chunyang to wrap things up and then left the interrogation room, heading quickly towards the tech department.
Before he even reached upstairs, he heard a whistle. Following the sound, he saw Mr. Zhao standing cheekily by the garage, waving at him. Xu Dayuan hurried over.
"You’d better have some serious business to tell me, or else I won’t kill you but will call your family to complain tonight and have you transferred tomorrow."
Mr. Zhao shook his head and clicked his tongue, seemingly not at all intimidated.
"Leader, you’re getting angry out of embarrassment, come on over. Did you see the pictures I just sent you?"
Xu Dayuan nodded.
"I saw them. I didn’t expect Wen Xiue to be cousins with the Ren Family and also related to Beishan Group; this is something I hadn’t considered."
Mr. Zhao relayed their recent findings to Xu Dayuan in detail, and Xu Dayuan raised an eyebrow.
"The timing of Zhang Yonggui’s death, and Wen Xiue’s changing of her household registration, is very intriguing. I feel there is more to it than meets the eye, probably a power struggle.
As for her hiding her identity and returning to Qindao to work as a nanny at Fang Wenjie’s home, one reason is to avoid being implicated; another might be to keep an eye on Fang Wenjie and his wife, looking for any evidence they might be hiding. I wonder if Mr. Qu has decrypted that memory card."
Mr. Zhao nodded.
"The password has been cracked. Just now we sent it to the financial investigation experts to take a look, because, after all, we don’t understand the contents."
As they were speaking, Xu Dayuan’s phone rang again. It was Mr. Qu calling.
"Mr. Qu?"
"Please hold on, Xu Da; I’ll let the financial investigation expert explain it to you. This information is more detailed than the one Qin Xuejin hid on him before."
The person on the phone changed.
"Xu Da, we’ve looked over this data, and it marks out the paths of the hidden debts of Beishan Group, not just the two companies we previously knew about. freēwēbnovel.com
There are also seven other companies that appear unrelated on the surface, including joint ventures and foreign enterprises. The transfers were done through Ying City accounts, with detailed evidence, and all paperwork and information are complete.
We checked the handler, and it was all Qin Xuejin. His entanglement in prison and subsequent surveillance seem to be because of this information. Should we submit it directly to the special investigation team sent by the department?"
"Yes, submit it directly, but make sure to back everything up. By the way, how much money is involved in these transfers?"
"It’s more than double that of Guanghai Pharmaceutical Group’s, and much more concealed. Without this information, the routes provided, and all the paperwork, it would have been impossible to discover."
Xu Dayuan’s mouth fell open in shock. The amount Guanghai Pharmaceuticals transferred had already been astonishing, but now there was a figure double that size and coming after Beishan Group had been investigated. It seemed that old saying was true: the leanest camel is bigger than the horse.
"Hurry up and submit it."
After the call ended, Xu Dayuan was still somewhat shaken when Mr. Zhao carelessly came over.
"All that money, can it be recovered?"
Xu Dayuan fell silent. After over three years and such massive amounts transferred, he truly didn’t know if it could be recovered. After all, he wasn’t in economic investigations and didn’t understand the ins and outs. However, there had been cases before where large sums of illegally raised funds were indeed recovered, though not entirely.
"Do your own job well and don’t pry into such matters. The department has set up a special investigation team, so we just need to cooperate with them. Tell me why you called me here?"
Mr. Zhao flashed a grin, knowing Xu Dayuan was a bit upset, and quickly led him toward the garage. The white CC car was parked inside. Zhou Ning stood on a ladder at a height, his back to them.
Meanwhile, Zhu Xingxing had laid out a plastic cover about twenty square meters on the ground next to it, covered with cardboard boxes, wrappers, and more plastic, all stained with dark purple blood.
Xu Dayuan’s expression turned serious, obviously this was the discovery Mr. Zhao had mentioned over the phone.
"So much?"
Zhou Ning turned around, climbed down from the ladder, and signaled Xu Dayuan to have a look for himself. Xu Dayuan did, and from that vantage point, he could see the details more clearly—the size and shape were exactly those of the first crime scene of Fang Wenjie’s murder.
"Before I came here, Wen Xiue voluntarily confessed. She said she hid evidence in the trunk, evidence the killer had told her to dispose of. She pretended to agree but kept it hidden, and she did it under duress from the murderer."
Mr. Zhao raised an eyebrow, and Zhou Ning gave him a sidelong glance, clearly guessing right that Wen Xiue was unsurpassed in playing the vulnerable card.
Moreover, the fact that she could immediately cover her tracks after Wang Guanli’s murder, leaving the groundwork for her future capture, showed a level of intelligence and forethought not everyone possessed—ready for any outcome.
Xu Dayuan stepped down from the ladder and took another look at the punctured area, then said:
"Did you find fingerprints or any other information from anyone?"
"We found many cigarette butts. As for the plastic covers and cardboard, there were plenty of bloody fingerprints, except for one set of prints, the rest were all Wen Xiue’s."
Xu Dayuan turned his head and looked at Zhou Ning.
"Was that one from Wang Guanli?"
Zhou Ning nodded vigorously.
"It’s incomplete, only a part of the fingerprint from the center of the fingertip, but it can completely serve as evidence. He inadvertently cut his own leather glove during the assassination of Fang Wenjie.
That’s why he left this partial print. Of course, those items also include the victim’s glove, which has already been sent for analysis. Additionally, tucked in the edge of the box was a dagger. We’ve compared it with the silicone wound mold taken from the previous injuries, and they match perfectly.
We can confirm that this is the murder weapon used to kill Qin Xuejin and Fang Wenjie. There’s also some mud on it, likely because the killer threw the dagger into a drainage ditch or sewer, but Wen Xiue picked it up."
Xu Dayuan clenched his fist tightly.
"Brilliant! By the way, have you gotten the results from the evidence you sent for examination last night?"
Mr. Zhao leaned in, bumping against Xu Dayuan with his ruffian-like attitude.
"We found some cigarette butts outside Qin Xuejin’s window, and one of them had Wang Guanli’s DNA on it. Combined with the surveillance footage of him smoking at the window and Wen Xiue’s comings and goings, the evidence chain for the Qin Xuejin murder case is complete."
Xu Dayuan patted Zhou Ning on the shoulder with great force, his excitement palpable.
"What time are the results expected from the items you sent for examination today?"
Zhou Ning glanced at the time before slowly responding:
"We just sent another batch for examination, which is somewhat simpler. Only the DNA test for the cigarette butts will take longer. Assuming all the results come back, it should be around one o’clock this afternoon. Why do you ask?"
Xu Dayuan dismissed the question with a wave of his hand.
"Got it. At half-past one, bring all the examination results and meet me in the observation room. I had He Chunyang and the others wear down Wen Xiue all morning. I’m going to get some sleep now so I can have a good talk with her in the afternoon."
Mr. Zhao’s eyes bulged as he moved closer, his face filled with disbelief.
"Boss, aren’t you going to make an appearance at the special investigation team? And besides, hasn’t Ren Guangzhi and his team failed to get anything solid from their interrogations?"
Xu Dayuan gave him a look and raised three fingers, then held up one more.
"I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in four days; my blood pressure is definitely over 160. I don’t want to burst a blood vessel – even if the Jade Emperor himself shows up, I need my rest. I’ll rejuvenate in the afternoon and then go head-to-head with them. Zhou Xiaozhou, don’t schedule anything else for this afternoon, you must be there!"
Mr. Zhao grinned, about to say something about a mascot, but he swallowed his words when he saw Xu Dayuan’s stern look.
Zhou Ning nodded seriously. This case was something he wanted to hear, and declaring Wang Guanli a fugitive was not at all easy.
Furthermore, why had Wang Guanli become a military attaché at the Sapporo Country Embassy?
Where had he been all these years?
Besides him, who else was connected to the case of his parents’ tragic deaths?
And as for Xia Shouchang, was it just a casual visit, or was there really a connection?
Zhou Ning wanted to know, and he was even more eager to be personally involved.
It was this case that weighed so heavily on him, and he did not want it to come between him and Xia Momo; after all, in his heart, Xia Momo was still the girl who stood in the studio with him, working on facial reconstruction sculpture, and who taught him how to paint, hand in hand. She was also the only girl he didn’t push away.
"Okay, I’ll go straight to the observation room at half-past one. Boss, go and rest. I’ll go to the examination room and greet Mrs. Cui to expedite the examination process."
After speaking, Zhou Ning quickly walked toward the stairwell. Xu Dayuan sensed something and kicked Mr. Zhao.
"Haven’t you been keeping an eye on him these past few days?"
Mr. Zhao approached secretly and whispered:
"Ah, I’ve been watching him like a hawk without blinking. It seems like nothing’s wrong, but occasionally he’ll stare blankly at a spot, then work as if he’s on adrenaline. Until this case is solved, he won’t relax. Moreover, we don’t know how deeply the Xia Family is involved. After all, he and Xia Momo..."
Mr. Zhao didn’t continue, and Xu Dayuan sighed in understanding.
"You stay with him, I’m going to find Mr. Liu. It’s okay while we’re busy with the case, but I’m afraid when it suddenly ends, and we let our guard down, the tension that’s been holding us up will disappear. Didn’t Mr. He find him a psychologist?"
Mr. Zhao froze for a moment, then his smile faded as he nodded earnestly.
"I’ll talk to Mr. He later. We’ll take turns accompanying Zhou Xiaozhou for a while. He’s a good guy, just a deep thinker. This is something he has to work through on his own."
Xu Dayuan nodded.
"For the next few days, don’t go home; stay with Zhou Xiaozhou. Keep an eye on his condition and call me immediately if there’s even a hint of a problem. He might not listen to anyone else, but he’ll listen to Mr. Liu."
...
