Free Web NovelChapter 577: Chapter 547 Banana Too Wolf_1
Mr. Qu laughed, but he didn’t respond to Mr. Zhao, hurrying instead to speak to Fang Mu and Zhou Ning:
"Mr. Dui, boss, I’ve finished my search here. I’ve captured images of everyone who has entered and exited the unit in the past half month and created a timetable. There are almost no strangers who have only come once. The one who came the least still appeared twice, and the others, I don’t think they are outsiders."
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"We’ve just made a new discovery, it’s not necessarily someone who has only come once. Look for the men who entered and exited around the time Li Li did. Also, didn’t I send you a picture of the cake box? Did anyone carry it in?"
Mr. Qu quickly set down the computer and started searching through the footage as he replied:
"The cake box picture was sent to me. I found last night’s surveillance footage. Li Li brought the box home herself, carrying quite a few things, including what looks like a plush toy. It’s a big item, and the key thing is I couldn’t see clearly what it was."
As he said this, he had already found the surveillance footage, which he had marked. The position of the camera was very clear, exactly facing the direction of Building 2 from the roadside, capturing everything in front of the westernmost unit door.
Indeed, at the marked time, 16:33, Li Li got out of a red Mazda 6 holding a huge plastic-wrapped object, which appeared to be something grey and fluffy, and in her other hand was the cake box.
Seeing this, Zhou Ning’s brow furrowed slightly. She brought it back herself, which made the source even harder to investigate.
Mr. Zhao asked Mr. Qu to take a screenshot and enlarge the fluffy object. After crouching in front of the computer and looking carefully for a while, he slapped his thigh and said:
"I’ve got it, this is Banana Wolf."
Zhou Ning was startled, it sounded familiar. Xia Momo had mentioned a movie, called "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: The Happy Dragon Year," in which there was Grey Wolf, definitely not Banana Wolf, and Fang Mu also looked perplexed.
But Mr. Qu quickly found a picture of it, compared it, and then nodded eagerly.
"This Banana Wolf is not a main character, so the merchandise isn’t very common. It’s okay that you are not familiar with it. See this banana in its hand? Banana Wolf doesn’t eat meat, it likes bananas, it’s an interesting character. My nephew really likes it."
After hearing Mr. Qu’s explanation, Mr. Zhao stood up and quickly headed to the various rooms. After a search, he came back empty-handed.
"But, we didn’t find this plush toy in the room. If someone gave it to her, she would keep it at home. She couldn’t possibly bring it up only to take it back down again. Mr. Qu, when Li Li left, did you see her carrying the Banana Wolf down in the footage?"
Mr. Qu shook his head.
"She left home at 8:44 on the morning of September 1, only carrying a small purse, wearing flip-flops and a dress. I compared it, and this outfit is exactly the same as the one our boss wore while dealing with the accident. She didn’t take anything down in her hands."
Fang Mu grew excited.
"Quick, look to see if someone has carried something of that size out. If there is, that person definitely went to Li Li’s home, maybe it’s that permed-hair guy."
Mr. Qu didn’t know what they meant, nor did he understand who the permed-hair guy was. All he knew was that Fang Mu was in a rush, so he quickly fast-forwarded the surveillance footage from after 16:33 on August 31. Indeed, he had watched it once before but hadn’t noticed if anyone carried out a large package.
Jumping to 8:02 on the morning of September 1, a man and a woman walked out of the unit, the woman appeared to be about forty, constantly muttering something at his side.
The man just listened quietly, pulling a suitcase, dressed in a loose short-sleeved T-shirt and baggy pants, very tall, with shoulder-length, moderately long hair, tied into a ponytail that looked somewhat permed.
Zhou Ning moved closer to the computer screen. In the footage, the two talked and got into a white Hummer and then drove away. Without waiting for Zhou Ning to speak, Mr. Zhao had already begun searching, and seeing the results along with the residential information displayed, Mr. Zhao’s eyes widened.
"Oh man, that’s Kong Wanshan’s wife, Xu Qingshu. What is she doing here, could it be..."
Zhou Ning thought for a moment.
"I remember Kong Wanshan mentioning that his brother-in-law bought a house in this unit building, probably a secondary-market purchase as well. Haven’t you already organized the property information? Check to see if there’s anyone with the surname Xu on the fifth or sixth floor?"
Mr. Qu flipped to the list and hurriedly said:
"The owner of the sixth floor’s east unit is Xu Qingquan, 29 years old, a cellist with the Qindao City Symphony Orchestra, unmarried. Let me check the residential information."
Mr. Zhao waved his hand and held up his police mobile device, saying:
"No need to check, I’ve already found it. The Xu family’s parents are no longer living, and there are three siblings in total. Xu Qingshu is the eldest, and this Xu Qingquan is the youngest. But does a cellist with the symphony orchestra have that much money? According to this transaction information, the house was purchased at the end of last November, fully paid, with a transaction price of 4.7 million yuan, with an area the same as the west units, 156 square meters."
Fang Mu crossed his arms and said:
"Kong Wanshan did mention that his brother-in-law was living upstairs. I guess his wife chose this house. However, buying a house above her lover’s place, that’s something I didn’t expect."
Mr. Zhao grinned with a bared-teeth smile.
"Kong Wanshan made his fortune, and his brother-in-law’s house was probably mostly paid for by him, though he likely didn’t have the final say on the location. After buying it, he realized it was in the same unit as his lover. That’s probably why, according to Kong Wanshan, he rarely spent the night here; he was afraid his brother-in-law would find out."
Zhou Ning nudged Mr. Qu, signaling him to open up the list they had just been viewing. Mr. Qu had organized it very detailedly, recording who the residents were and when they had purchased their apartments. Not to mention this unit, there were two households that completed their transactions relatively late. One was the fourth-floor west apartment, occupied by Li Li, purchased three years ago, and the other was Xu Qingquan, whose transaction was in November last year.
"Since you’ve taken screenshots of the faces of people entering and leaving the unit, did you manage to find any information on them?"
Mr. Qu nodded.
"I found it. That person who only came here twice is the brother of someone living in the first-floor west apartment. Other than Xu Qingshu, all are residents of this unit."
"And Xu Qingquan, unmarried, lives here?"
"I couldn’t find more information, but we could ask the neighbor across from him. I’ve searched a month’s surveillance, and Xu Qingquan almost comes back every night, leaves in the morning, and occasionally takes a suitcase with him, usually returning the next day.
Xu Qingshu came here this morning at 7:20, stayed upstairs for forty minutes, then came down with Xu Qingquan at 8:02. It looks like she came specifically to pick up Xu Qingquan. Could it be that she was taking her brother somewhere?"
Mr. Zhao leaned in closer.
"It’s very likely that they were going out for a performance. But for now, it appears that the ’Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf’ plush has not been moved out separately, and neither has Li Li’s. Do you think she might have given it to a neighbor?"
Fang Mu sighed.
"Let’s wrap up here. I’ll have someone go door-to-door and conduct an investigation, first to see when Xu Qingquan did his renovations and whether he lives alone, and second to find out who Li Li was close with and who might have received the plush toy from her?"
No one objected, and as they all began to leave, Zhou Ning glanced at the surveillance screenshot of Xu Qingquan. The man was tall, a head taller than his sister Xu Qingshu. Though he followed behind without lifting his head, his good looks were evident, bearing a striking resemblance to Xu Qingshu, a handsome appearance with hair spray on the crown of his head and combed meticulously, revealing his long hair only with a slight turn of his head. freёwebnoѵel.com
Zhou Ning had a feeling that this man must be connected to Li Li.
As everyone made their way out, Fang Mu was on the phone arranging things, and after he hung up, Zhou Ning tugged at his sleeve.
"What’s up, Director Zhou?"
"Can we find out if Xu Qingquan has any travel information? Or could we contact the symphony orchestra and inquire whether they have any performances scheduled in the next couple of days? If they’re local, it would be good to collect some blood samples and fingerprints."
Fang Mu didn’t ask why and quickly sent people to check. By this time, they were already downstairs, getting into the car. Mr. Zhao moved closer to Zhou Ning.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, what are you getting at? Do you really think Xu Qingquan is involved with Li Li, or are you suggesting that Xu Qingquan is the man who was playing cards with Li Li?"
Zhou Ning nodded. Fang Mu, who had also gotten into the car, overheard Mr. Zhao’s comments and showed no surprise, prompting Mr. Zhao to nudge Fang Mu.
"I’m saying, Mr. Dui, you’re very receptive. How are you not surprised by all this? Did you have the same thoughts from the beginning?"
Fang Mu smiled and shook his phone at Mr. Zhao.
"I just spoke with Liu Da on the phone, and she said to respect all of Director Zhou’s ideas. Besides, I also think that Li Li’s death might have been carefully planned, staged like a car accident. But the car has been burned to a wreck, making it difficult to find any clues.
We can only start with the people around us. And indeed, Kong Wanshan’s wife is a suspect. Appearing around the victim’s home at such a sensitive time, and her brother living just above his mistress—can all of this really be just a coincidence? I don’t believe there can be so many coincidences."
Mr. Zhao gave Fang Mu a thumbs-up.
"You really do have strong acceptance!"
The ride back to the station was silent. The car quickly returned to the bureau and parked in the back courtyard. Zhou Ning put away his phone; he had just spoken with Mrs. Cui, and the examination results would take a while. Even the residue on the cake box needed another half hour to complete.
"Director Zhou, you and Mr. Zhao come with me to the interrogation room. Kong Wanshan’s wife has been brought in; shall we listen in?"
Zhou Ning nodded. He was very interested in this case and sent a message to Xia Momo to go back first with Zhu Xingxing, while he headed to the front building with Mr. Zhao. Before reaching the observation room next to the interrogation room, Fang Mu received a message on WeChat.
"The person checking on Xu Qingquan responded. He’s in the provincial city for a performance tonight. I’ve sent someone to rush over there, and they’ll be back tomorrow morning. I’ll ask Liu Da if we should send someone to the provincial city to bring him back as soon as the performance is over."
Zhou Ning remained silent, not wanting to get involved in making decisions. They entered the observation room, where Xu Dayuan stood in front of the window, waving at Zhou Ning, who quickly joined him, as Mr. Zhao fetched three bottles of mineral water.
After Fang Mu greeted Xu Dayuan, he went next door.
After listening to Mr. Zhao’s detailed account of events, Xu Dayuan furrowed his brow, glancing at the scene inside the interrogation room.
