Free Web NovelChapter 592: Chapter 562 Old Classmate_1
Mr. Qu was quick with his hands, and in a moment, a satellite map appeared on the big screen. Xu Dayuan also started to introduce:
"The information was scarce before. We checked it, and Liu Meiling left Qindao by car early in the morning at around six o’clock on the 18th. She arrived at Qifeng City, the capital of Yunan Province, at 20:22 that evening and checked into the Blue Sea Hotel she had booked."
The location of this Blue Sea Hotel is not the city center, but behind the Qifeng City Museum. To the west is Zhongyi Lake, and to the north and east are residential complexes and office buildings under construction. The surrounding facilities are very new; the roads are not yet marked, so surveillance is only available around Zhongyi Lake.
As for the BMW 5 Series belonging to the deceased, it was parked in the parking lot north of the Blue Sea Hotel. Since she checked in on the evening of the 18th, the car hasn’t moved. Fang Mu has already had someone unlock it, and inside there were Liu Meiling’s vehicle registration and driver’s license, as well as some change and shoes.
The car’s tank was full. Local trace investigators helped with the inspection; fingerprints of four individuals were found inside the car—Liu Meiling’s, her parents’, and Xu Qingquan’s. There were no bloodstains or signs of struggle. As for the hotel room, the deceased’s identity card, wallet, and luggage were all there, everything except the person herself."
On the morning of August 20th, at 7:13, after Liu Meiling got up, she didn’t go for breakfast. Instead, she took her cell phone and backpack, left the hotel through the main entrance, and headed west. But once she left the range of the hotel’s surveillance, it was impossible to determine her subsequent whereabouts since there were no surveillance cameras in the parking lot behind."
Xu Dayuan’s introduction was very detailed. Now, looking at the satellite map Mr. Qu had displayed, you could clearly see that indeed, there was a museum in front of the hotel, and to the west was Zhongyi Lake. To the north and east were construction projects, and the roads had no names. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
In such an environment, it was indeed difficult to make use of existing technological means, and surveillance wasn’t of much use.
Staring at Zhongyi Lake, Zhou Ning squinted his eyes. From its shape, he could tell that Zhongyi Lake was an artificial lake, constructed to complement the front plaza, serving as a local recreational area for citizens.
There was surveillance here, and it was very dense. Mr. Qu searched around, and after 7:13 am on August 20th, he didn’t find any footage of Liu Meiling.
Liu Yongxin came over and, seeing the twenty or so surveillance feeds that Mr. Qu had pulled up, patted his shoulder.
"If there’s nothing, don’t waste your energy. If there had been any discovery near the lake, they would have found it long ago. We can now hypothesize that the death of Li Li, the poisoning of Xu Qingquan, and the disappearance of Liu Meiling, if all perpetrated by the same person, would have left no trace beforehand, and this area would have been investigated already.
However, back to the point, Liu Meiling arrived in Qifeng City on the evening of the 18th, saying it was a self-driving tour. Why was there no activity on the 19th? Or is it that the murderer led her here, and perhaps this guidance left no traces through communications tools like WeChat, QQ, or phone calls, so we can’t find any?"
Xu Dayuan sighed.
"So as you say, whatever these three people did before, someone is out for revenge, which I very much agree with. That’s why, let me tell you, Fang Mu and his team have already thoroughly searched the three construction sites nearby, but without success. They are just waiting for our command on whether to tackle this lake."
Zhou Ning did not speak. At that moment, the door sounded, and Zhu Xingxing walked in with others. Seeing Xu Dayuan there, she immediately walked obediently over to Zhou Ning’s side.
"Director Xu, boss, I heard from Mr. Zhao that we should head to Yunan immediately?"
Zhou Ning saw that Xu Dayuan did not speak, so he hurriedly nodded.
"Go ahead, especially Mr. Yang and his team. Take all the necessary equipment and head straight to the airport. Director Xu has already arranged for the flight tickets. There are three things to note: the killer might be the same person who poisoned Li Li and Xu Qingquan.
"So collect all the garbage, cups, toothbrushes in the room, anything that may contain residues. I won’t mention testing; Fang Mu and his team will coordinate with the local police for that.
"The second point is to pay attention to footprints. Analyze the shoes found in the deceased’s car, take impressions of any footprints, and if you’re not adept at matching them, send them back here. Identify unique characteristics, then search the surrounding area. Although it’s been a few days, there’s a lot of construction nearby, and the museum is close by. Given the museum’s likely low occupancy rate, there might be discoveries.
"The third point is that the hotel is still a key search location. Although surveillance showed Liu Meiling heading west, they also said there’s no monitoring in the parking lot on the north side. I don’t believe they have no staff passage leading from the north side to the small doors by the elevator shafts. Otherwise, all garbage disposal and everything would have to go around, which is unreasonable."
Zhu Xingxing paused, pondered Zhou Ning’s words, and then widened her eyes as she said:
"Boss, are you suggesting Liu Meiling might not have left the hotel at all, but rather went from the front entrance towards the west, then returned to the hotel from the north side, only she didn’t go upstairs? If she met with foul play, her body might still be in the hotel?" freewebnovёl.ƈom
Xu Dayuan glanced at Zhou Ning and saw that Zhu Xingxing was just staring with wide eyes, not making any notes.
"Doctor Zhu, don’t you need to write this down?"
Mr. Zhao grinned.
"Her memory is like a computer. Ask her about the state of any body from the autopsies she’s ever handled, the conditions of the scene, and she can recite it all. So, boss, let’s not worry about this."
Xu Dayuan gave Mr. Zhao a blank look and huffed twice.
"You haven’t learned yet, either. Doctor Zhu, hurry and set off. Making sure you’re safe comes first. Report any findings as soon as possible."
Zhu Xingxing nodded, called the team, and left. Mr. Zhao gestured to send them off - after all, this was his potential future daughter-in-law going alone to lead a major task across provinces, and not being worried would be a lie.
Xu Dayuan’s WeChat on his phone kept ringing, and Liu Yongxin leaned in.
"Everyone’s there?"
Xu Dayuan nodded and waved his hand towards the three of them.
"Alright, come over with me and listen. If there are any questions, we can adjust our deployment at any time. Although it’s a big mess right now, I always feel this is the darkness before the dawn. We’re not far from cracking this case. After all, we’ve found all the dead ends and wrong paths, so what’s left can only be the truth."
Liu Yongxin coughed and nudged Xu Dayuan.
"Boss, I’ve noticed that ever since you became the deputy director these past two years, your speech has improved tremendously. It’s to the point where if we don’t work our hearts out for you, it would be a cosmic injustice. You’re really good at brainwashing."
Xu Dayuan laughed, put his arm around Liu Yongxin’s neck, and they walked ahead. Mr. Qu packed up the computer and followed closely behind with Zhou Ning. As soon as they descended the stairs, they saw Mr. Zhao running over. Without asking a question, he obediently followed towards the front building.
Passing through the corridor, the doors of the offices on both sides were closed. Through the glass, one could see people talking inside.
Mr. Bai came over quickly, grinning at Xu Dayuan.
"Director Xu, all nine people are here, but we’re short-staffed. No one has talked with the last person who came in. What should we do?"
"You can’t talk to him yourself?"
Mr. Bai shook his head.
"I know my limits. If I talk to him, it might hinder our progress and make him guarded. Maybe you should question him? How about that?"
Xu Dayuan didn’t continue with other matters but simply gestured with his hand and entered the interrogation room. The room was indeed for interrogation, with a long table and chairs on both sides and a small desk with a computer for taking notes.
A man sat inside, somewhat nervous, occasionally glancing towards the door.
At the door, Xu Dayuan gave Zhou Ning and the others a look. Zhou Ning nodded and headed to the observation room next door. Mr. Bai switched on the law enforcement recorder and followed him inside.
The man was startled to see Xu Dayuan in a white short-sleeved police uniform and quickly stood up.
Xu Dayuan waved his hand, indicating for the man to sit down. Mr. Bai placed the law enforcement recorder on the side table, adjusted the angle, and Xu Dayuan glanced at the information sheet Mr. Bai gave him before he began to speak:
"Sun Heping, right? My name is Xu Dayuan. I’m the head of the Qindao City Public Security Bureau Criminal Investigation Detachment and also the deputy director of the Qindao City Bureau. We’re short-staffed today, so I’ll be the one to talk to you.
The Criminal Investigation Detachment deals with criminal cases. To put it bluntly, if no one dies or the crime isn’t severe, I usually wouldn’t be here. We’re pressed for time, and I don’t want to waste it, nor do I want to delay yours. How about we have an open and honest talk?"
Sun Heping rubbed his hands together, swallowing repeatedly. He was visibly nervous, his fingers trembling, and whether from fear or not, he kept biting his lip, which already looked bloodied.
"Officer, no, Director Xu, I haven’t..."
With a raise of his hand, Xu Dayuan stopped Sun Gaotie in his tracks, even bringing his breathing to a halt. Zhou Ning squinted his eyes. A grown man, even if nervous, shouldn’t react like this in front of the police. This man was panicking.
"Mr. Qu, connect the surveillance monitoring to your interrogation software. This guy is so nervous, he looks like he’s done something wrong."
Mr. Qu tapped away at his computer. Liu Yongxin folded his arms, eyeing the man in the interrogation room.
"This kid is interesting. Is he acting? What’s so scary about the police that would make him react this way?"
Zhou Ning looked towards Xu Dayuan, whose form didn’t contain much — just a name, phone number, occupation, address — the basics one would expect. Reflecting on previous speculations, Zhou Ning became more focused.
"Let’s listen. It’s different when Director Xu himself is doing the questioning; the presence of that white shirt is totally different."
The two fell silent, and inside the interrogation room, Xu Dayuan watched Sun Heping intently for over a dozen seconds before he smiled.
"There’s no need to be so nervous. Tell me about Li Li, Liu Meiling, and Zhang Fangfang. How long have you been schoolmates with them? Since primary or junior high? If I remember correctly, the Gulou District Experimental Primary School and Experimental Junior High are right across from each other, and the catchment isn’t different, right?"
Sun Heping coughed, glanced quickly at Xu Dayuan, averted his eyes, and took a deep breath.
"My family moved to the Gulou District when I was in fifth grade. I’m originally from Xinghua. Because of my accent, my classmates made fun of me for half a year. It wasn’t until I changed my accent in junior high that the teasing stopped."
Xu Dayuan nodded encouragingly.
"Good, continue. From the messages in the WeChat group, you were in the same class, right? Tell me, did these three ever bully anyone, or was there something that happened at school that particularly stands out in your memory?"
