Chapter 855: Chapter 845: The Scheme

"Are you suspecting the murderer is among those transfer students?"

Lin Chengcai asked with a furrowed brow, contemplating the possibility in his mind.

If they were classmates with Su Qing, they should be about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, possibly twenty-five by nominal age.

Su Qing started school early, in any case, he is already 24 by nominal age this year, so the age fits, and according to their speculation, if the murderer is male, then physically it is plausible, making it somewhat possible.

"A bit, because I don’t know Zhang Shunzhi. If she is the root of this case, then it’s quite possible, since I don’t know her. I can’t think of anyone else who knows both her and me.

Of course, if we are overthinking, and the case has nothing to do with Zhang Shunzhi, then this assumption doesn’t hold!"

Su Qing said, though he knew the case was definitely related to Zhang Shunzhi, but others didn’t, so he had to pretend.

"Old Lin, what do you think?" Zhao Minghui asked as he drank strong tea to refresh himself.

Upon hearing this, Lin Chengcai thought for a moment before replying, "My intuition tells me there should be a relation between the two."

"Reason!" Zhao Minghui continued.

Without asking for evidence, since Lin Chengcai himself said it was intuition, and they’ve worked together for years, they had this understanding.

"First of all, the deceased Zhao Dongyang indeed had a relationship with the Zhang family’s eldest daughter in Qingshu Village. Although there’s no direct evidence and nobody reported it, I had Xiao Qiang inform you when we received this news yesterday. Further investigation confirmed it.

Not only do people in Qingshu Village know about this matter, but individuals in Yushu Village and several surrounding villages also know, indicating this isn’t baseless rumor.

Given the relationship, just over a month ago, the eldest woman from the Zhang family—Zhang Shunzhi—committed suicide by jumping into a well; a month later, one of the so-called parties involved—Zhao Dongyang—was discovered dumped near the entrance of Qingshu Village, about one hundred meters away from the well where the Zhang family’s eldest daughter committed suicide. This is quite a coincidence."

Upon hearing this, both Su Qing and Zhao Minghui nodded; after integrating the information at hand, Old Detective Lin Chengcai analyzed the case thoroughly, able to pinpoint the doubts and irrationalities with one glance.

Moreover, this result isn’t difficult to infer; since their visit to Qingshu Village yesterday, the case seems to inevitably link back to Zhang Shunzhi’s suicide case, as if someone intentionally did so.

"It’s indeed quite coincidental; if it’s revenge, that explains why the murderer would torture Zhao Dongyang. If deduced this way, the murderer should have had a rather good relationship with the Zhang family’s eldest daughter." Zhao Minghui spoke while habitually tapping his fingers on the table.

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but look at Su Qing and said, "Xiao Su, gather the information of your classmates later, I’ll assign someone to investigate!"

"Okay, no problem."

Although the direction wasn’t what he wanted, he knew that if no actions were taken on his side, the case couldn’t progress; without triggering narration, he wouldn’t understand why a familiar figure lurking in the shadows brought him in or what the purpose was.

In the midst of their conversation, the office door swung open and Du Qiang rushed in, "Master, Captain Lin, there’s news!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Minghui and Lin Chengcai’s spirits lifted, while Su Qing was somewhat puzzled, what kind of news already?

Apparently, the police also hadn’t been idle all night.

Immediately, Du Qiang handed over the documents and said, "According to the news we gathered from visiting Qingshu Village yesterday, combined with the information Yang’s team collected from Yushu Village, we confirmed another key player in the Zhang Shunzhi event.

Liu Chunbao, male, age 35, resident of Dalincun, a small labor foreman whose usual work involves taking acquaintances to job sites. He used to work in Jiang City or surrounding county cities, but two months ago he suddenly moved to Kangyang City; we’ve already contacted him, he’s currently on a job site there!"

As Du Qiang explained, Lin Chengcai and Zhao Minghui focused their attention on the document for a long time, Lin Chengcai couldn’t help but dryly laugh:

"No silver at the murder scene, seems like he knew he caused trouble this time and ran away to hide."

Zhao Minghui nodded, "Indeed unusual, having worked in Jiang City for so many years, and now at the critical juncture, suddenly went to another city; seems there is something to it."

Not all labor foremen can be called contractors; contracting involves having to pay out of pocket.

At most, he is merely a small foreman capable of extracting head fees, yet the income is higher than typical workers.

"Have they contacted the local police to keep an eye on him?" Zhao Minghui asked.

To this, Du Qiang laughed, "Don’t worry Master, it has already been notified; although he can’t be defined as a rapist, saying he’s involved in a murder case and questioning him is no problem. If he dares to run, it’ll be easier!"

Indeed, all present knew the Zhang Shunzhi incident was most likely true; however, since two among the three individuals involved were already dead and Zhang Shunzhi’s family chose to settle privately, even they couldn’t forcibly open an investigation unless there’s direct evidence for prosecution!

But if the other party dares to flee, it implies guilt revealed; the hardest part of a case is not apprehending but identifying clues and finding the true culprit, as for arresting, it may have been challenging before, but society’s increasingly improved system today means being labeled by police as a fugitive is no joke.

Not even requiring identity information would allow access; one couldn’t even enter an internet café.

"Okay, then hurry and act. Regardless of the outcome, shake him a bit first," Zhao Minghui stated.

While talking, no one noticed that Su Qing’s palm was slightly trembling; upon closer inspection, one could see his pupils contracting.

[Target appeared, the murderer’s goal reached, some people shouldn’t die, some aren’t even worthy of living, the murderer will contact you voluntarily soon!]

Listening to the narration in his mind, Su Qing suddenly realized the target was Liu Chunbao.

Yes, Zhao Dongyang was just one of the murderers, there’s another one yet punished, but Liu Chunbao is outside, completely untouchable, let alone attacked.

So the murderer deliberately set a trap, escalating the situation to draw people out; as for involving him, it’s merely waiting for another perpetrator to be found to utilize him in obtaining information.

Why the other party was certain he would inform despite knowing, is because... they’re acquaintances.

With preparation against the unprepared, if unaware before the event, he could truly be set up.

Now, the thoughts in Su Qing’s mind exploded; most of the case’s details became clear.

What remains is the murderer’s identity and all the intricate case specifics.

The murderer has calculated everyone, including the police, unable to find Liu Chunbao’s whereabouts but the police?

As long as they make him show up, whether upon self-discovery or contacting him for questioning, it may not be a 100% solution, but at least a method.

Now it seems the choice is upon him: whether to notify his acquaintance of this information or to cooperate with the police for their arrest?

Such meticulous mind, intense hatred, cold disposition, this person... feels like a natural criminal.

An ordinary person encountering this wouldn’t dare speculate so boldly regardless of whether it’s planned.

He reflected on the classmates he noticed last night, none contacted for over a decade; have those individuals stepped this far?

He couldn’t imagine what his former classmates experienced to become so crazed.

"What’s wrong Xiao Su? Are you okay?" Lin Chengcai asked noticing his sweaty state.

Upon hearing this, Su Qing jolted back to reality, noticing the beads of sweat already across his forehead.

"No... nothing, just thinking about things, it’s too hot in here, I’ll go wash my face!"

With that, Su Qing got up and left.

"This youngster, I haven’t slept all night yet didn’t space out either, young people, their ability to handle stress is too poor." Zhao Minghui shook his head and chuckled bitterly.

In contrast, Lin Chengcai narrowed his eyes slightly, eyeing Su Qing’s departing figure with intrigue, as if harboring some idea, yet dared not confirm. Since Su Qing wouldn’t speak, there wasn’t much he could do, but ultimately shook his head.

On the other hand, as soon as Su Qing exited, a heat surged in his nose, causing him to bolt towards the restroom.

...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.