Free Web NovelChapter 476: Chapter 447 The Woman in the Photo_1
Zhou Ning thought for a moment and looked at Xu Dayuan.
"When we came back, Mrs. Fei had someone stay at the scene. At that time, they also found a woman in a red down jacket to understand the situation. She had a mole between her eyebrows, and I think they must have kept contact information. We can take this screensaver photo to her and see if it’s the same person she saw at the supermarket, possibly Zhang Bo’s girlfriend."
Xu Dayuan nodded and dialed Ma Liang’s phone.
"Who is at the scene?"
"Leader, I’m at the scene. Liu Da is not letting us clean up yet, just cordoned it off and pitched a tent to cover the bloodstains."
"Earlier, when Liu Yufei asked you to investigate the neighbors, there was a woman wearing a red down jacket with a mole on her forehead carrying a child. Who went to inquire and did you leave contact information?"
"I went, and I left a phone number and address. It’s in Building 5, Unit 2."
"Then you go there. I’ll send you a photo shortly, and ask her if the girlfriend of Zhang Bo she saw at the neighborhood supermarket is the same person in the photo?"
After hanging up, Mr. Qu had already sent the picture to Ma Liang. Mr. Qu glanced at Zhou Ning.
"Director Zhou, if this Zhang Manli is not Zhang Bo’s girlfriend, then why use this picture as a screensaver?"
Zhou Ning looked towards the conversation room where Liu Yufei was still chatting with Chen Meilin. When they got to an exciting part, Chen Meilin clenched her fists.
"No rush, the leader has it all planned out. Just listen to their statements here, then follow up. But we really need to soothe Chen Meilin well; making a scene at her door right now would alert Zhang Bo."
Xu Dayuan was editing a message on his phone the whole time and, after hitting send, gave Zhou Ning a thumbs-up.
"Good, Zhou Xiaozhou thinks the same as me."
At that moment, Liu Yufei took out her phone. It was evident that Xu Dayuan had sent Liu Yufei the message. Liu Yufei held up the phone, showing the screensaver photo to Chen Meilin.
"Do you recognize this person?"
Chen Meilin glanced at it and shook her head slightly.
"I don’t know her."
Liu Yufei was slightly surprised.
"Didn’t you say that before your son was born, you caught Zhang Bo cheating and even hit his mistress? Then Zhang Bo pushed you, and you had a stomachache for a few days before giving birth prematurely. Is there another woman?"
Chen Meilin snorted disdainfully and said:
"Back then, I was blind to think that although Zhang Bo was uneducated, he seemed diligent and decent-looking. He pursued me relentlessly, even against my parents’ opposition. And I married him. When I had my daughter, I noticed he was a bit off.
At that time, I didn’t think much of it, not until the accidental pregnancy with my son when I found out at three months along. He started disappearing, claiming to go get supplies, but would be away for days. His parents yelled and made a fuss, to no avail.
I wanted to terminate the pregnancy, and that’s when he started restraining himself a bit. In May 2011, he was caught soliciting prostitutes, and then I realized he just became more secretive. That was the first time I initiated a divorce. Zhang Bo seemed tired of it too and agreed.
We both went to the civil affairs bureau. However, his mother caught up to us at the entrance, knelt down, and begged me. The children were innocent, and if Zhang Bo ever did this again, she’d break his legs. But in August, I inadvertently followed him and discovered he was seeing another woman.
After catching them, I went back to my parents’ home in anger. Yet within a few days, my belly hurt so much that I gave birth prematurely. Once the confinement was over, I filed for divorce in court. After several mediations over seven or eight months, Zhang Bo insisted on custody of our son.
Out of desperation for a divorce, I agreed. My mother said to cut my losses, and only then did I realize my parents had better judgment about people. Regrettably, on May 11, 2012, we divorced, and Zhang Bo got our son’s custody. Yet, he never really cared for the child; it was his mother who looked after him.
About those women involved with him, although I knew of three, I only saw one during that hotel incident. She was quite old, in her thirties, older than me, but it wasn’t the one in the photo."
Liu Yufei nodded, put away her phone, and wrote down her phone number on paper.
"This is my number; I’ve already saved yours. If anything comes up, or if you remember some details, you can call me. The police will do their utmost to investigate the cause of death of the two children and restore the truth. You need to take care of yourself, especially since your parents are elderly and need your care. Hearing this news, they must be even more heartbroken."
Chen Meilin started tearing up again, but this time she quickly got her emotions under control, stood up, and bowed deeply to Liu Yufei.
"Thank you, officer. I know your intentions are good. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of my parents and control my emotions. I want to know the true cause of the children’s death and ask you not to let the killer get away. I don’t believe the children could have climbed up to the windowsill and fallen accidentally."
Liu Yufei also stood up, patted Chen Meilin on the shoulder without saying much, and had Zhang Ping see her out.
After a glance at the glass window, Liu Yufei quickly walked to the next room and immediately asked Zhou Ning: free𝑤ebnovel.com
"Director Zhou, have the autopsy results come out? Were the two children murdered?"
Zhou Ning shook his head and repeated what he had just said to Xu Dayuan.
"The situation is as such, we have to wait for the test results, but this time it’s going to take a while, at least three days. The effectiveness and location of fingerprint extraction from the clothing need further assessment, after all, high-fall accidents are the most difficult to judge, and the suspect is the child’s own father."
"Did Zhang Bo mention who his current girlfriend is?"
Liu Yufei sighed.
"He said he doesn’t have a girlfriend. He had dated quite a few in the past, but they’ve all drifted apart recently. He also said his mind is a mess, full of images of the child’s accident. Whatever we ask him, his responses are all over the place, this excuse, or rather, this reason, is flawless."
Xu Dayuan nodded.
"Alright, Zhou Ning is keeping an eye on the examination side. As for Zhang Bo, Yufei, assign a few more teams to watch him closely. They say even a tiger doesn’t eat its cubs, and since there was nobody else at home and both children had such sudden accidents, this can’t be a whimsical act. Right, check whether the children had high insurance policies and whether Zhang Bo has any large debts or high-interest loans, including private loans."
Liu Yufei hurried off while Zhou Ning said goodbye to Xu Dayuan and went back to his office. A crowd gathered around, and Zhao Xinli eagerly asked.
"How is it? Is there any progress? Is Zhang Bo really the killer?"
Zhou Ning shook his head, and before he could answer, Mr. Qu had already briefed everyone on the events and the interrogation. One by one, as they listened, they all felt deflated.
"So you’re saying, we can’t do anything right now and just have to wait?"
Zhou Ning looked at Mr. Qu.
"Go check again how the mobile phone is being handled. Also, track down that Chanafanghua QQ account. We didn’t get to check his chat history earlier."
Mr. Qu didn’t waste any words and quickly picked up his computer. Just as he was about to leave, Zhou Ning stopped him and said:
"When you went to Wanke Charm City before, you entered their surveillance room. Can you remotely access it, or rather, can you retrieve the surveillance footage at any time?"
Mr. Qu rubbed his nose, a gesture he made whenever he felt a bit embarrassed. Mr. Zhao slapped his hand.
"If you can do it, just say it. We’re all on the same team. Why feel embarrassed? Why hide your abilities?"
"I won’t get into the technical details, but it can be done, though I need a little time. When I checked before, I added a line to their surveillance system’s network, and it takes me ten minutes to connect."
Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief.
"There’s no need to rush. In a while, go to the technical department and have one of their computers directly monitor the surveillance of Unit 2. Of course, we need to retrieve the footage from the time we were away, and also from a month before the incident, to see who visited apartment 1502." ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Mr. Qu nodded.
"Okay, I’ll head to the technical department right away. It’s time to give those guys something to do. If I retrieve any content from the phone, I’ll tell you immediately."
Mr. Qu left, and Mr. Zhao looked at Zhou Ning.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, why are you so distracted? Didn’t you say the phone’s content would be available soon?"
Zhou Ning glanced at him. The rest quickly went back to their duties while the two walked to the window.
"I was wondering, if we hadn’t discovered the fall immediately, would this case have been different?"
Mr. Zhao blinked, nodding continuously.
"Mr. He rushed to give medical aid and we preserved the scene, calling Mrs. Fei right away and even going to the primary scene immediately. If it were just onlookers who called the police, they would probably dial 110, and then Liuhe Police Station behind Wanke Charm City would send someone over.
Even though it’s only about two or three kilometers away, they wouldn’t have been as fast as us. Once there, if they had noticed something amiss, they would have contacted the city bureau, but if they couldn’t find anything, it would likely have been dismissed as an accidental fall.
Even later on, once Chen Meilin knew about it, it would have just been a request for an autopsy, which would mean at least a few more days. Moreover, if the child’s body had been cremated during this time, the evidence would have vanished into thin air."
He paused, and Mr. Zhao’s usual casual demeanor turned serious.
"I think, because we discovered it timely, even if someone wanted to tamper with the scene or set things up, they no longer had the chance. However, Zhang Bo’s phone was indeed reset to factory settings, which is quite a coincidence in timing."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"The milk stain on the window, no one may have noticed it or cleaned it up in time, while mobile communications can be anticipated in advance. Now we need to find out who made such a foresight.
Zhang Bo’s emotional grief, there’s truth and falsehood in it, but I feel it’s more panic than sorrow. When he rushed out and saw someone treating the child, he first grabbed the child’s hand, which was to check if the child was still alive."
"Yeah, it’s precisely because of this that we suspected him. He was going from threatening suicide to wailing and crying, indeed looking more like an act."
