Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Where is your informant?

Tang Ci, Cheng Mo and Xiao Wu kept their mouths half open the whole time as they watched Ji Yinhe's smooth and skillful operation.

Hearing that Lao Liu finally gave in, they no longer cared about the stench and squeezed into the interrogation room together, sitting down in a row in front of the table.

"First, tell me how you got to know Zhang Hongbo?"

Old Liu wiped his lips and said in a deep voice, "Zhang Hongbo and Zhang Chunbo are both orphans. Actually, so am I. My father died early because there was a famine. My mother begged all the way from Liujiang to Jiangtan. Not long after, she fell ill... I grew up eating at many people's homes and was bullied a lot. Although they were younger than me, they had more social experience, so I followed them and earned some money to go to technical school. Later, I was assigned to the cold drink factory. We can be considered friends because we went through hardships together in our childhood."

Everyone listened attentively. Xiao Wu took notes quickly in his notebook with his ballpoint pen. Tang Ci glanced at Che Zhiwen who was hiding outside with a guilty conscience.

Yesterday he asked Che Zhiwen to take Cheng Mo to visit the relatives and friends of the deceased to build a network of interpersonal relationships.

As a result, he only investigated the leaders and colleagues of the Zhang brothers in the compressor factory, and revealed all their personal relationships!

As for Ji Yinhe, he held his chin and shook his head.

——This Old Liu is not that loyal. He sold out his good brother whom he had known for many years just for a few hometown dishes.

Old Liu stared at the lunch box in front of him, swallowed his saliva, and continued:

"After work, we didn't interact as often, but we would still get together during the holidays. Hongbo was the factory doctor, so we would ask him to see any minor ailments at home. He even cured my wife's illness... After Chunbo's accident, I saw that Hongbo was not feeling well, so I asked him if there was anything he could do to help. He didn't say anything at the time. It was only a week later that he asked me if I could get some dry ice."

Tang Ci interrupted him, "Did you know at that time that he had become a 'master' by pretending to be a god?"

"...I know. I even helped promote him at the cold drink factory." Old Liu lowered his head, looking aggrieved. "Hongbo is indeed quite capable. I saw him turning iron into gold and retrieving objects from frying pans. Maybe he really had some guidance from a master. I had no idea it was all just a trick!"

Tang Ci knocked on the table and reminded: "Dry ice."

"Oh, our cold drink factory has a factory anniversary every August, and we use dry ice to preserve fresh cream. I thought no one would notice if one or two cans were missing from the warehouse, so I agreed."

Cheng Mo asked, "Didn't you ask him what he wanted this for?"

"No, how could I dare to ask? What if he turns around and draws lightning to strike me—"

Tang Ci coughed lightly, and Old Liu immediately turned back to the main topic. "The day before yesterday afternoon, I took dry ice from the factory and called him. He told me to put it at the entrance of the wire hole. I don't know what he did afterwards. I only heard about the accident at the compressor factory yesterday at noon, so I rushed over to check on the situation. I didn't expect someone to die! Officer, I've told you everything I know. Can you please let me..."

He stretched out his hand and pointed towards the bowl of boiled noodles.

Tang Ci's gaze wandered over his face for a moment, and he raised his hand to push the lunch box over.

"Let's do this for now, let's go to the meeting to discuss it...Xiao Ji, what's wrong?"

Old Liu was eating voraciously. The criminal police officers all stood up and walked out the door, but Ji Yinhe, who was leaning against the wall, did not move, and wrinkled his delicate and straight nose.

She had a hunch that something was wrong: it sounded like what Old Liu said didn't indicate a very good relationship with Zhang Hongbo.

If it’s just an ordinary relationship, how could it have lasted until now?

What Old Liu said was too unusual, there must be something hidden behind it!

At this moment, everyone's attention was focused on Ji Yinhe. She folded her arms, tapped her elbows slowly with her slender fingers, and asked, "Where were you yesterday morning? Did you meet Zhang Hongbo?"

Old Liu, completely relaxed, looked up blankly. After two seconds, he replied, "No, I haven't seen him. I'm at work. Our cold drink factory operates three shifts."

"Really?" Ji Yinhe tilted his head. "I find it strange. Why aren't you surprised at all?"

"……What?"

Old Liu put down the aluminum lunch box and slowly sat up straight.

"If I remember correctly, we never publicly announced that the body wasn't Zhang Hongbo's, nor did we tell you that Zhang Hongbo might still be alive." Ji Yinhe said calmly, "As someone who doesn't know the inside story, shouldn't you be surprised by my question?"

Old Liu's face turned pale instantly, but he still tried to explain, "Maybe... maybe those two police officers mentioned it when they interrogated me last night-"

"Impossible." Tang Ci interrupted him, "We didn't reveal any details. We have the recording as proof."

He took out a pocket-sized Sonar recorder from under the interrogation table.

Old Liu's shoulders suddenly trembled. "I remembered it wrongly! I met Zhang Hongbo, he's not dead, he was the one who told me not to say anything! We didn't kill anyone, this should be..."

"You certainly didn't kill anyone," Tang Ci said gravely. "But Zhang Hongbo is at least suspected of provoking trouble, and your deliberate concealment of the facts has seriously impacted the investigation. The court will definitely sentence you."

“……!”

Old Liu was completely limp, slumped on the table, "But Hongbo said I'd be fine..."

A faint sigh echoed in the interrogation room. Everyone was still sorting out the truth that Lao Liu had been tricked into confessing. In the silence, only Ji Yinhe's voice could be heard:

"Where was the last time you contacted Zhang Hongbo?"

Old Liu took a few deep breaths before answering, "Yesterday morning, he left a note in my dorm mailbox. He said the police arrived too quickly and left in a hurry, so he had to leave his electrician's knife and dry ice can on the side of the road. He was afraid the police would find them, so he asked me to go get them... So I don't know where he's hiding now."

Ji Yinhe thought about the location of the cold drink factory dormitory in his mind - it was also in the western suburbs of the city, and it was not easy to use this to determine Zhang Hongbo's hiding place.

She hummed, then nodded slowly with her eyes wide open. "Why did Zhang Hongbo fake his death?"

"Because... he felt there was something fishy about Chunbo's death," Old Liu hesitated. "He didn't explain the specific circumstances to me."

"He suspects Zhang Chunbo didn't die accidentally at work?" Ji Yinhe asked thoughtfully, "Was he... killed by Li Guoping?"

Old Liu lowered his head and said nothing, but his silence said it all.

Xiao Wu looked at Ji Yinhe and couldn't help but applaud. Tang Ci, who had come to his senses, turned to him and ordered, "Let Ye Qing perform another autopsy!"

Xiao Wu let out a howl and ran out like a police dog.

In the interrogation room, Lao Liu raised his head and tears streamed down his face.

"Officer, Hongbo has his reasons! Both brothers are good people, but they both have suffered a lot!"

*

Ten minutes later, everyone in Team 1 returned to the office.

Ji Yinhe left the boxes of Liujiang vegetables in the interrogation room. In fact, she didn't eat much at all, she was just pretending for Old Liu. Now her stomach was growling with hunger, so she picked up the remaining pot stickers in the food bag and stuffed them into her mouth.

Although it was cold, the dough was still chewy and had crispy edges. The peppered meat filling was not fishy at all, but rather fragrant, sweet, tender and juicy. It was so delicious that she almost bit her tongue.

While she was admiring Ms. Lian's excellent cooking skills in her heart, she rolled up her sleeves and stood in front of the blackboard, writing down all the clues that Lao Liu had just given her.

This interrogation further confirmed her speculation yesterday that Zhang Hongbo's motive for faking his death was Li Guoping.

Coupled with what Old Ji had said last night, she already had a vague guess in her mind -

Li Guoping must have financial problems. Judging from her social status, she is either corrupt or accepting bribes.

Zhang Chunbo accidentally discovered her criminal facts, which led to his "accidental work-related death."

As the factory doctor, Zhang Hongbo must have discovered that there was something fishy about his brother's death, but the other party was rich and powerful, so he had no evidence. So he staged this eye-catching revenge drama just to get the Municipal Bureau involved.

It is not easy to directly check Li Guoping's personal account based on just one bloody word and Lao Liu's silent consent.

Otherwise, Tang Ci would definitely ask her where she got the clues from, and Old Ji and Ms. Lian would be in great risk of being exposed.

And what about Zhang Hongbo? Where is he hiding?

Ji Yinhe put down the chalk and rubbed his cheeks in distress.

Tang Ci stood not far away and saw a light layer of white chalk dust on her cheek, and couldn't help but laugh softly.

But his smile was quickly interrupted by someone rushing in.

"Captain Tang! Captain Tang!" Xiao Wu clutched his stomach, gasping for breath from running. "Old Tian just finished the test. He extracted two fingerprints from the handle of the dry ice thermos. One of them belongs to Old Liu, and the other one we compared with the fingerprint we collected at Zhang Hongbo's house is confirmed to be the same person!"

With this physical evidence, it can be basically confirmed that what Lao Liu later confessed was the truth.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Tang Ci raised his hand and pinched his brow. "It took more than ten hours to compare a few fingerprints. Old Tian is really slow."

Then Xiao Wu reported again, "Medical Pathologist Ye also re-examined the body's electrical spot. She said there were signs of carbonization in the center, likely caused by... high-voltage electricity."

"High voltage electricity? That's impossible!"

Che Zhiwen was a seasoned veteran, and when given the chance to show off, he immediately stepped forward. "Captain Tang, I've been to the compressor factory's assembly workshop several times. I remember clearly that the nominal voltage of their motors is 380 volts, which is far below the high-voltage line!"

In an instant, a question popped up in everyone's mind -

Who connected the high voltage wire to the motor?

Tang Ci's face was stern, and he immediately gave the order:

"Lao Che, Cheng Mo, someone from the Xijiao Police Station should have been on the scene when Zhang Chunbo had the accident. Find the relevant police officers and question them! Xiao Wu, let's go to the compressor factory and find the security department and Li Guoping's secretary!"

"yes!"

"This case concerns Zhang Chunbo's murder twelve days ago. It's basically confirmed to be murder. Everyone must carefully investigate. If anything happens, notify the team first. Don't alert the suspect!"

A group of people ran out of the office with a rumble, making the floor buzz.

Ji Yinhe, who had not been assigned any tasks, was still leaning against the table, staring at the photos on the blackboard in a daze.

"...Xiao Ji."

Tang Ci, who had already gone out, suddenly turned back and called her softly.

Ji Yinhe raised his face, "What's wrong, Captain?"

Tang Ci glanced outside the house, making sure everyone had gone out, then he walked towards her.

"Where's your informant?" He narrowed his eyes, staring into her clear ones. "Has he contacted you in the past two days?"

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