Free Web NovelChapter 510: Chapter 481: Modified Car Scene_1
Liu Yufei didn’t speak, but waved Mr. Zhao over, and Mr. Zhao hurried off as Zhou Ning walked up to Fang Mu.
"Ask the hospitalized homeowner who exactly is renting the fifth floor. According to the neighbors, students live there too, but unlike this group, they don’t have visitors every day."
Fang Mu quickly dialed the landlord’s number; upon answering after three rings, Fang Mu relayed Zhou Ning’s words. The landlord took a moment to think before responding:
"After you took the keys, I checked. Someone who used to rent from me sublet the apartment. After they left, they just sent me a contact number and then continued the rent without meeting me in person.
As for the signature on the contract, it was so scrawly it was illegible, but the phone number was clear enough. I’ll take a photo and send it to you. They rented two units, the east and west ones on the fifth floor. I just found the transfer information; the person who made the transfer is called Zhu Xiaojun."
Upon hearing this name, everyone was taken aback.
"Zhu Xiaojun! Are you sure?" freёwebnoѵel.com
"What’s there to be uncertain about? Just wait, I’ll send you the contract and the transfer records right away. You should be able to check the account information, right?"
As he spoke, the call ended.
Fang Mu’s phone received two photos from the landlord. The first photo was clearly the last page of a contract. The signature was indecipherable, resembling a string of letters, but the name in the transfer records was indeed Zhu Xiaojun, not a single letter off.
Liu Yufei had already dialed a number, reported an account, and almost immediately received a response with the account holder’s information. Fang Mu compared it against Zhu Xiaojun’s registration information and found it to be an exact match. Liu Yufei hung up the phone with a furrowed brow.
"Fang Mu, go and interrogate Zhu Xiaojun alone. Just the fact that he rented the unit at the first crime scene gives us reason to suspect he’s connected to this case."
Fang Mu nodded, summoning his team and heading straight to the office.
Meanwhile, Liu Yufei’s phone rang; it was Mr. Qu on the other end. Liu Yufei quickly answered.
"Mr. Qu, what’s up? Did you find something?"
"Liu Da, I’ve checked the surveillance. Like with the Salt Company Community and the Number Five Middle School, the footage from several key areas is missing, and the DVR has been replaced too. It’s definitely the work of a professional; there’s no way to recover it.
However, I found some footage at a repair shop. They were fixing a car that I just screenshotted and sent to Mr. Zhao. He says it should be the vehicle the suspect used during the crime. The tires and front face of the vehicle are very similar, but it seems the rear has been modified."
Liu Yufei had the call on speaker, so Zhou Ning heard everything clearly and immediately pressed for more details:
"What date is on the surveillance footage, and is the car still at the shop?"
"Right now, I can only trace back to the morning of March 29th. The car is inside the shop. However, the windshield and doors have been removed. I didn’t notice it at first until I fast-forwarded to a mechanic disassembling the wheel hub. That’s when I compared it and realized the hub was similar to that of the black car from the surveillance on the night of March 28th.
After that, I noticed the car has significantly been modified: the paint completely sanded off, the rear style changed, and even the interior seats and cushions have been cleaned and replaced. The only thing left untouched are the tires, which now belong to a red car with plates."
"Tell me the location of the shop, and go there directly. Have Mr. Zhao and his team join you too."
"It’s in a workshop at the very north side of the auto repair factory. Go straight from Centre Road, turn east, and it’s the first shop."
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ning followed Liu Yufei into the car without needing an invitation, driving toward the back of the shop. With such commotion, many pedestrians stopped to watch. Upon reaching the workshop, Mr. Zhao and his team were already running over.
At the door stood an old man in work clothes, arms spread, blocking everyone with a furious face.
"What’s this, you again? I already told you, my two sons don’t listen to me. They don’t come home or here. Can’t you understand what I’m saying? Why are you still here, not leaving? You think you’re so great just because you’re Qindao police, planning to violently enforce the law on me? You two, film this; let’s see if they dare to barge in here."
With that, he motioned for two young men to stand by his side, holding cameras aimed at Liu Yufei and her colleagues.
Clearly, this man was Zhu Yongping. Zhou Ning had never seen such a spectacle before. Knowing it was a police investigation, Zhu was still so defiant, which was quite brave.
Liu Yufei, unflustered, pulled out her phone, found a document and opened it, holding it up in front of the old man. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
"Look carefully, this is a search warrant issued by the Qindao City Bureau, and there’s also an arrest warrant. I don’t need to show that to you just yet. We’re conducting a lawful search of the premises. If you obstruct us, I can arrest you on the spot. If you’ve thought it through and want to confront the police, then continue with your obstruction."
Having said that, Liu Yufei circled around Zhu Yongping’s outstretched arms and walked straight into the factory. Zhu became frantic, reaching out to grab Liu Yufei’s arm. But no sooner had Zhu touched her arm when, before Zhou Ning could even see what happened, Liu Yufei had already flipped the man onto the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw.
Several police officers rushed up and handcuffed him.
This sudden change made everyone stop the shouting and commotion they had just been engaged in. The two people holding cameras instinctively stepped back to the left and right, and even set down their cameras—after all, this was just a job, and no one was willing to get thrown in jail over it.
With the path cleared, the group entered the factory. The equipment inside was incredibly advanced, with every imaginable device present. There were three operating tables, each holding a car. The first two were a Land Rover Range Rover and a Mitsubishi Pajero, respectively.
The hoods of the engines were all open. Mr. Zhao rushed up to take a look, and his eyes lit up with excitement. He kept spouting technical terms—words that he knew well, but when strung together, meant nothing to Zhou Ning and the others. Catching their expressions, Mr. Zhao quickly curbed his admiring gaze and hopped down.
"Both cars are the new 2012 models. Except for the shell, almost everything inside has been replaced. They are essentially modified cars, and the modifications are quite professional. Just look at the layout of this factory, and you’ll know they’ve been in this business for more than a day or two."
Zhou Ning gestured toward the red car at the back and urged in a low voice,
"Let’s remember what we’re here for. Don’t forget to check whether that car is the black car from the video. Then hurry up with the sampling. Pick the parts that haven’t been replaced for examination. Without evidence, even with a search warrant, we’ll have a hard time."
Mr. Zhao saluted Zhou Ning confidently and patted his chest, saying,
"Wait for it, Fatty is on it. I’ve seen the video that Mr. Qu sent me. I know where to start."
While saying this, he was already waving at Mr. Yang and Sun Gaotie. The three of them rushed to the red car on the corner table. Liu Yufei looked worried as she saw the paint job on the car while crossing her arms and furrowing her brows.
"Director Zhou, if the car is indeed the black car used in the crime and it has been modified like this, do you think we can still find any of the previous traces?"
Zhou Ning smiled and reassured,
"If it were anything else, I wouldn’t be confident. But when it comes to cars, no one in the Qindao City Bureau knows more than him. Let him inspect it. Rest assured."
Zhou Ning did not explain much, but these words did indeed calm Liu Yufei down. She patted Zhou Ning on the shoulder and gestured towards the door of the factory.
"Keep an eye on this place. Zhu Yongping and Zhu Xiaojun need to be dealt with. Since the family is so complicated, we must cut off the spread of the news in time. Otherwise, it will be even harder to find Zhu Xiaoguang and Zhu Xiaoming, and it will prevent anyone from tipping them off.
I’m going to interrogate Zhu Xiaojun and Zhu Xiaoyan again. What motives a renter harbors, only he knows. And as for Zhu Xiaoyan, even if she didn’t know about her brothers’ activities, didn’t she feel anything was amiss after He Jiahong died?"
Zhou Ning gave Liu Yufei a thumbs up, saying with a smile,
"Clear reasoning, wise decisions, Liu Da. You seem to have a bit of Director Xu’s style."
Liu Yufei gave him a sidelong glance but couldn’t help bursting into laughter. With that, her previously stern face brightened.
Liu Yufei didn’t waste any more time and left with her team. All the workers from the auto repair shop were gathered together. Ma Liang held a megaphone, separating people from different workshops and leading them to different areas for ID checks and registration.
These were just diversions, to buy time and to prevent anyone from communicating with the outside world.
Zhou Ning glanced at Mr. Qu, who was still tapping on his computer. This guy was even more relentless, squatting on the ground with one hand holding the laptop and the other typing away—the speed just as fast as if he were using both hands.
"Found something?"
Mr. Qu nodded.
"I’m filtering through the surveillance footage of this workshop. After all, they’ve cut off most connections inside the compound, and many surveillance records have been cleared. I guess they’ve kept surveillance here because these two modified cars are very expensive. After all, the cars themselves aren’t cheap, and with the modifications, they naturally wouldn’t want any mishaps.
Director Zhou, look at this. This is a surveillance clip from the afternoon of April 7th. I don’t know if there are other doors to this workshop that they can enter through, but here you can see two men with sunglasses appear. This mechanic led them to have a look at that car, talked for a few minutes, pointed towards the direction of the camera, and then left."
Zhou Ning looked over. He remembered that mechanic— he was the last to leave the workshop. It seemed like he was one of the best technicians here, and Zhou Ning caught a glimpse of him when he passed by: the man was around 180 cm tall and very thin.
In the surveillance footage, even though it was at a distance, it was apparent that one of the men with sunglasses was slightly shorter than the mechanic, and the other was a good half-head taller. That person must be close to 190 cm. As for build, the taller man with the sunglasses could fit two of the mechanics inside him.
This matched up with the footage taken by the fisherman on his phone. Although he couldn’t see the face of the person getting out of the car, his knees were nearly as high as the hood of the car, indicating that he had to be close to 190 cm tall and well-built, and the two people who got out of the car after him were noticeably shorter.
Just then, Mr. Zhao popped his head out of the car, waved energetically at Zhou Ning, and shouted,
"Zhou Xiaozhou, come quick and see what I’ve found?"
