Chapter 98 98 You can’t do such a heartless thing, right? ...

When the first surveillance video was opened, Guan Xia took a special look at the time in the upper left corner. It was 17:32 on the afternoon of July 12, 2023. Judging from the furnishings in the room, this was a living room.

The living room is not big, with a sofa and a small coffee table. The coffee table is foldable, and when the two long sides are opened, it becomes a dining table that can barely seat four or five people. There are already several dishes on the table, and every ten minutes or so, Meng Lan can be seen busy serving the dishes.

Guan Xia adjusted the speed. About half an hour later, a few new people walked into the living room. Judging from their age, they should be Meng Lan's parents and younger brother.

Guan Xia turned up the volume of the stereo and finally heard the conversation between the few people.

Meng Lan tried her best to appear enthusiastic, but her behavior and expression showed that she was a little reserved. Meng Lan's younger brother didn't say a word the whole time. He just sat down on the sofa after coming in. Without even saying hello, he took out his mobile phone and started playing games indifferently. On the contrary, Meng Lan's parents were very affectionate and kept talking to Meng Lan about this and that.

About fifteen minutes later, judging by her attire, the housekeeper whom Meng Lan had hired walked into the living room. After bringing the last two dishes to the table, she said that the kitchen had cooked some soup, which needed to be boiled over high heat for seven or eight minutes, then simmered over low heat for thirty minutes. The heat could be turned off around 6:45, so Meng Lan should not forget it.

Meng Lan's mother was talking to her, and Meng Lan took the time to reply. Perhaps her attention was drawn to her, and she seemed to have completely forgotten about it afterwards. The other three people also seemed not to have heard it, and they all picked up their chopsticks and started eating.

Meng Lan's father also opened the wine he brought with him. After eating a few bites of the meal, he seemed to be addicted to alcohol and dragged Meng Lan to drink one glass after another. Including Meng Lan's younger brother, soon everyone was drunk.

Guan Xia glanced at the time in the upper left corner again. It was already 18:34 in the afternoon. Although it was not yet the time for the housekeeper to turn off the fire, it was already past the time to turn down the heat.

Although Guan Xia's cooking was not very good and she rarely made soup, she knew that if the fire was high and the lid was covered, the soup would definitely spill out. She was afraid that by this time, the natural gas would have already started to spread throughout the house.

A few minutes later, Meng Lan was still barely conscious, not knowing whether it was because she was drunk or for other reasons, but the other three were already lying on the sofa. Meng Lan staggered to her feet from the stool, first looked around, and then seemed to walk towards the bedroom, but after taking a few steps, she seemed to remember something, shook her head hard, and while shouting something laboriously but vaguely, she walked towards the door with difficulty.

Because of the placement of the camera, the door was not captured, but from the creaking sound heard one minute later, it can be judged that Meng Lan walked to the door and opened it.

After that, Meng Lan never appeared in the surveillance video again. It was probably as she mentioned in her confession that she fainted at the door until her neighbors found her and called the police.

After pressing pause, Guan Xia still frowned. From the surveillance video, it can be seen that everything seemed so normal, and it really looked like an accident.

Pang Le also said: "Although forgetting something like this could be intentional, judging from Meng Lan's behavior in the surveillance video, it doesn't seem like it was intentional. If it weren't for your intuition, even I would think it was indeed an accident."

Guan Xia didn't say anything. She really didn't know what to say, so she could only silently click on the next surveillance video.

Judging from the furnishings this time, it is clearly a kitchen. The camera is very high-definition, not only can it see all the movements of the housekeepers busy in the kitchen, but it can even clearly see the expressions on their faces.

Even Guan Xia, who was looking for loopholes, found nothing after monitoring the video until it ended.

Meng Lan appeared in surveillance videos several times, her expression was a mixture of excitement and anticipation, without any negative emotions at all. Any normal person, just looking at her body language and expressions, would never imagine that she wanted to kill someone.

Guan Xia, who has always trusted her intuition, couldn't help but doubt herself a little after all the surveillance videos were played. The system interface had not been triggered, so could it be that her intuition was wrong?

Just as this thought came to her mind, Xu Nian, who had also been silent, suddenly said, "If we treat this accident as a homicide, there are actually some doubts."

Guan Xia and Pang Le were both perked up when they heard this, and asked hurriedly, "Suspicious points? Where are the suspicious points?"

Xu Nian reopened the first surveillance video with an awkward gesture, fast-forwarded it a few times, and said, "Pay special attention to the reactions of Meng Lan's parents and his brother."

Guan Xia had been concentrating on staring at Meng Lan before, and hadn't really paid close attention to the three people. Now that he was concentrating on observing them again, he did feel that something was wrong, but he couldn't put it into words for the time being.

Guan Xia couldn't help but look at Xu Nian with a questioning look.

Xu Nian rewound the progress bar of the surveillance video until he reached the scene where Meng Lan's father was drinking with her. He then stopped and let the video play normally. At the same time, he explained in a gentle tone, "Look at how often Meng Lan's father drinks with her. It doesn't seem like a normal family dinner. Instead, it seems like he's trying to get her drunk."

Guan Xia's eyes widened in surprise, and Pang Le sat up straight, suddenly realizing something. "No wonder I always felt something was wrong. It turns out it's here. If we put aside the blood relationship between these two people, it's obvious that a middle-aged man urging a young girl to drink like this has bad intentions."

After Xu Nian's explanation and Pang Le's supplement, Guan Xia also realized that such behavior at a family dinner was indeed somewhat contradictory.

Although she hadn't spent much time with her family before or after her time travel, she knew from TV and movies that a normal family gathering would involve eating, chatting, and toasting when things got exciting. Even if they got drunk, it would be at least a few hours later. But what about Meng Lan's father? Almost as soon as Meng Lan picked up a piece of chicken and put it in her mouth, before she could chew and swallow it, he couldn't wait to open the wine he brought and pour her a full glass. It wasn't beer or red wine, but white wine. If someone couldn't hold their liquor well, that would make them drunk.

Meng Lan's mother's reaction was also a little unusual. Although she didn't urge Meng Lan to drink, she ate normally and chatted with Meng Lan enthusiastically, but her hands were very busy. She picked up food for Meng Lan and poured her wine. The glass was almost full as soon as she finished drinking. It seemed like she was taking care of her wholeheartedly, but from another perspective, wasn't she cooperating with Meng Lan's father to force her to drink?

As for Meng Lan's younger brother, he seemed to have not participated in it. He kept silent the whole time, eating and playing with his mobile phone. But from the expression when he occasionally looked up at Meng Lan, he was not very friendly. He seemed to be smiling, and there was always a feeling of gloating.

Once the target of suspicion changes, the surveillance video that originally looked normal immediately becomes suspicious.

Guan Xia pondered and said, "But what is their purpose in getting me drunk? For money? If I remember correctly, Meng Lan's biological father seems to be quite rich. Meng Lan told me that they have their own company, live in a villa and drive a luxury car. For love..."

Guan Xia paused here, and just after uttering two words, he felt that his analysis was unreasonable. Although Meng Lan had just reunited with her biological parents, they were still related by blood, and Meng Lan's mother was also there. Even if Meng Lan's father was really a beast in human form and had some dirty thoughts about his own daughter, it would be impossible to convince Meng Lan's mother to cooperate.

If it was out of hatred, it would be even more impossible. If there really was hatred, Meng Lan would hate them more than anything else.

Guan Xia couldn't think of a possible reason after thinking about it, so she simply looked up at Xu Nian and asked, "After the accident, were autopsies performed on the three deceased? Were any suspicious physical evidence collected from the scene?"

Xu Nian said, "This accident resulted in three deaths and one serious injury. While Meng Lan was unconscious, her sister agreed to autopsies on the three victims. After the autopsies, no abnormalities were found, and there was no physical evidence. Meng Lan's parents went to Meng Lan's home and found two bottles of wine, some personal belongings, and identification documents."

Guan Xia originally wondered if Meng Lan's father would take advantage of her drunkenness to trick her into putting her fingerprints down as a guarantee or something, but since she didn't bring any documents with her, this suspicion was dispelled.

Pang Le suddenly thought of something and asked Xu Nian with a serious expression, "Besides Meng Lan's father and brother, was there a fourth person they knew who appeared near Meng Lan's house that day?"

Guan Xia was a little confused and took a few seconds to react. She looked at Pang Le in shock, "You mean... Meng Lan's parents sold her?"

Pang Le said, "I'm just guessing. I watched a crime drama a few days ago, and the motive for a murder in it was that the murderer's boyfriend sold her out, got her drunk, and sent her to her partner's bed. In order to control her, he even filmed her."

Guan Xia couldn't believe it. "Meng Lan is their biological daughter after all. She can't do such a heartless thing, right?"

Pang Le said, "So I'm just guessing, but there's one thing I really want to say. Although she's their biological daughter, she didn't grow up with them, so how deep can their relationship be? And judging by how easily they abandoned Meng Lan, they're not people with high morals and strong sense of responsibility. And what's more, for the sake of profit, there's nothing a conscienceless person wouldn't do."

Although what Pang Le said made sense, Guan Xia's three views were still shocked and it took a long time for him to come back to his senses. When he glanced at the surveillance video, he didn't think much of it before, but now looking at it again, Meng Lan's parents looked hateful no matter how he looked at them.

Unlike Guan Xia's shock, Xu Nian's expression was calm. After a few seconds of contemplation, he said, "Let's make a bold assumption and carefully verify it. We'll know if it's true after investigating. The surveillance footage from the July 23 case is still within the preservation period. As long as the necessary procedures are met, it can be easily retrieved."

Guan Xia looked at Xu Nian, then at Pang Le, and after calming down his complicated emotions, he said, "Then should we go to Linshan City to investigate?"

Xu Nian was very decisive. He took out his phone and typed a message while saying, "I'll apply now. If everything goes well, we can leave as early as tomorrow."