Chapter 17 Alibi

Wu Yongcheng took out his ID and clearly told the other party his identity.

"Can we come in?" Wu Yongcheng asked.

"Oh, sure, sure." Zhang Xinli immediately took a step back to make way for the three people.

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan followed Wu Yongcheng into the house. Although they were entering the house, they were actually in the living room area at the door.

Searches require procedures, and police must abide by the law when handling cases.

However, just some of the things he saw in the living room made Zhou Yi fall into deep thought.

This should be a two-bedroom, one-living room house, but judging from the layout of the living room, the area is not very large, probably just over 60 square meters.

In the center of the living room, on the wall behind the sofa, there is a wedding photo.

Zhang Xinli was wearing a white wedding dress, and next to her was a man with ordinary looks, a little fat, wearing thick beer bottle-shaped glasses.

There were wedding characters pasted on the doors in the house, and even the television on the chest of drawers was covered with festive red cloth to prevent dust.

"Did you get married recently?" Wu Yongcheng asked.

Zhang Xinli smiled faintly: "We got the certificate on the 14th of last month. They said that day was Valentine's Day."

"Congratulations. No wedding banquet?"

The reason why Wu Yongcheng asked this was because Zhang Xinli’s marital status had not been updated in her information.

But this is normal, after all, we have only been married for a month.

It's not like when he was young. He got married in 1981. Back then, he had to ask his unit to write a letter of introduction and it had to be stamped for it to be valid.

Freedom of marriage is now advocated.

But out of professional habit, he still asked.

"Oh, my husband and I are not from Baicheng. We plan to go back to our hometown to hold the wedding banquet when we have time. Our colleagues and friends here will just give us some wedding candies and cakes, so we didn't make it public." Zhang Xinli replied indifferently.

"What does your spouse do for a living?"

"He works as an electrician at the power supply station," Zhang Xinli suddenly asked anxiously, "Could something have happened to him?"

"No, it has nothing to do with him. Du Xiaolin is your colleague, right?"

"Yeah, we went to work together yesterday. Did something happen to Xiaolin?"

The police came to the door and specifically asked his colleagues. Even a fool would know that something must have happened.

"She was murdered yesterday on her way home from get off work."

"What!" Zhang Xinli's face was filled with shock. "How could this be... Has the murderer been caught?"

Wu Yongcheng did not answer the other party's question, but asked: "When did you get home yesterday?"

"I got home around eleven yesterday."

"So early? Doesn't your mid-shift end at twelve o'clock?"

Wu Yongcheng and Zhou Yi were both a little surprised, but Zhou Yi did not say anything. Wu Yongcheng was the one asking the questions.

Chen Yan was responsible for taking notes, while Zhou Yi quietly moved to the side, observing the other person's every expression.

Although he is not an expert in micro-expressions, some ordinary clues are still difficult to escape his eyes.

"I felt a little uncomfortable in my stomach yesterday. Since the department wasn't very busy, I said goodbye to them and left. I guess this is a common practice among everyone." Zhang Xinli rubbed her abdomen while speaking.

"Can anyone prove it?"

"My husband, I called home before I went back and asked him to make some porridge for me."

"If it's convenient, please let us know your lover's workplace later."

Zhang Xinli nodded.

"Have you ever gone out again since then?"

"No, I fell asleep right after I finished the porridge. I didn't even notice when my wife left for work that morning."

Wu Yongcheng gave Zhou Yi a look, and Zhou Yi immediately understood.

"Excuse me, can I use the restroom?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Okay, okay, it's right here, you can use it."

"Thank you." Zhou Yi followed the direction she pointed and walked into the bathroom.

Before closing the door, he heard Wu Yongcheng continue to ask, "Do you know if anyone at work has a conflict with Du Xiaolin?"

After closing the door, Zhou Yi quickly looked around the bathroom. It was less than two square meters and had a washbasin, toilet, bathtub, several washbasins and towels, as well as some toiletries and skin care products.

Zhou Yi touched the inner wall of the bathtub, and then checked the drain and some inconspicuous corners.

In order not to arouse suspicion, Zhou Yi pressed the flush button of the toilet, turned on the faucet, washed his hands, opened the door and walked out.

"Your toilet is very easy to use and has a strong flush. What brand is it? I'm also renovating my house recently and I'm going to buy the same one later." Zhou Yi shook his hand and asked casually.

"Ah, I don't really understand this either, I just... buy it from a street vendor."

Wu Yongcheng said, "Let's leave it at that for now. If you think of any useful clues, you can contact us."

Zhang Xinli nodded sadly: "Comrade police, you must catch the murderer. Xiaolin is a very good girl and has a good relationship with everyone. You must give her justice."

Wu Yongcheng replied in a businesslike manner: "Don't worry, it is our police duty to catch the murderer."

The three of them walked out of the corridor and headed towards Santana.

Chen Yan suddenly said, "Zhou Yi, you made a mistake this time. Zhang Xinli didn't have the time or motive to commit the crime."

Zhou Yi didn't say anything, but Wu Yongcheng asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Master, look, Zhang Xinli went home at 11 o'clock last night and slept until this morning. So her husband is her alibi."

Wu Yongcheng lit a cigarette and said quietly, "From a legal perspective, it's not that alibis provided by immediate family members are inadmissible. However, immediate family members are interested parties, and the validity of their admission depends on the credibility of the evidence and the court's judgment."

"Master, are you saying that Zhang Xinli's husband might have committed perjury?"

Wu Yongcheng blew out a smoke ring and said nothing.

"I think it's unlikely. Didn't Zhou Yi say before that the murderer's motive for murder was an emotional dispute?"

"But Zhang Xinli is already married. Even if there was any conflict before, she is the winner. She has no motive to kill."

"It's even more unlikely that her husband would cooperate with her and perjure her just to kill a woman with whom he had a close relationship."

"He's not a fool. Isn't he afraid that his wife will hack him to death in his sleep one day?"

Chen Yan spoke a lot about his thoughts. After the three of them got in the car, Wu Yongcheng said, "Xiao Chen's analysis seems to make some sense."

The words sounded like he was confirming Chen Yan's reasoning, but he turned sideways and looked at Zhou Yi in the back row.

Seeing that Zhou Yi didn't respond, Wu Yongcheng lost his patience and called him directly.

"Zhou Yi, you haven't said a word since leaving Zhang Xinli's house. What's wrong? Are you feeling hurt by your misjudgment?"

"Captain Wu." Zhou Yi looked up.

"Um?"

"How much is your monthly salary?"

Wu Yongcheng was stunned: "Why are you asking about my salary?"

Zhou Yi pointed to the window of Zhang Xinli's house and asked, "How much is her monthly salary?"