Zhao Dehou looked at the members of the investigation team and Liang Damin, then cleared his throat.
"The old man who was killed was queuing for food in our staff canteen about a week ago. He was wearing work clothes at the time. Later, I saw him sitting at a table behind Director Qiu in Workshop 3, staring at Director Qiu's wife all the time."
As Zhao Dehou spoke, he seemed lost in memories.
This was originally a simple message.
However, it stirred up quite a ripple in the heart of veteran detective Shao Jian.
Did the deceased become connected to Qiu Jingwen's family again, and have another encounter with them?
He didn't interrupt, and instead gestured with his eyes for the other person to continue.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhao Dehou continued:
"Later, I found that after he finished eating and put down his chopsticks, he would leave the cafeteria and squat in front of the cafeteria door to smoke."
Upon hearing this, Liang Damin felt that Zhao Dehou lacked a sense of priorities and urged him on:
"Old Zhao, get to the point. Didn't you say you had clues about the deceased's work clothes and meal tickets? Why are you bringing up this useless stuff?"
Upon hearing Liang Damin's apparent dissatisfaction, Zhao Dehou quickly replied:
"Section Chief Liang, look at me, I forgot the important point. Yes, that dead man drank with Niu Dajiang, a retired worker from Workshop 5. I also heard Niu Dajiang say that he sold his old work clothes to someone else. I think it must have been sold to that dead man, because the dead man is not an employee of our factory at all."
Wu Dinghuai quickly pressed for an answer:
"Old comrade, how did you know at the time that the deceased Liu Xianghai was not an employee of your factory?"
Zhao Dehou grinned and began to explain to everyone.
“Officer, I applied to be transferred here when the Hongqi Factory was built and put into operation. Although there are 2,000 employees in the factory, after more than 20 years, apart from the younger generation who just joined the factory, people of our age definitely know whether they are employees of the Hongqi Factory or not. Besides, once when I went to the market in Yushan Township, I saw Niu Dajiang getting a haircut in a barbershop. I was also planning to get a haircut at the same time, and I greeted Niu Dajiang. The barber is Liu Xianghai, who is posted on the notice board.”
Wu Dinghuai nodded and continued to ask:
"Old comrade, you remember it very clearly?"
Zhao Dehou chuckled sheepishly, a smug expression on his face.
He glanced at Wu Dinghuai, then at Shao Jian, Zhao Le, and Liang Damin, and then said proudly:
"To be honest with you police officers, I was also a soldier, and even a reconnaissance soldier. Later, I was injured and then assigned to a military factory."
"That day, when I saw that dead man staring at Director Qiu's wife in the canteen, I thought to myself, an old geezer staring at Director Qiu's beautiful wife must have ill intentions. And I just couldn't figure out that he was a factory worker."
"Later, the scar on his face reminded me that he was a barber in the market town."
At this point, Zhao Dehou added a few more words.
"Whether Niu Dajiang lent his work clothes to that dead man or sold them to him, or sold him meal tickets, I can only guess. I can't be sure. You can't wrong an innocent person. You have to investigate carefully."
"Officer, I don't want Niu Dajiang to know what I'm here to report. If he does, won't his family talk behind my back and curse me?"
Wu Dinghuai picked up the conversation and made a promise to Zhao Dehou.
"Old comrade, don't worry, we will keep the information provided by the comrades confidential. Think again, besides seeing him in the canteen and the barbershop, where else have you seen him? For example, have you seen him go to Niu Dajiang's house for a meal or something?"
Zhao Dehou shook his head in denial.
“No, I haven’t seen this person again. Today, I saw the poster on the union bulletin board, saw the photo, and saw the scar on the dead man’s face. That’s when I thought of these things. I feel that as a veteran and old employee, I have an obligation to report what I know to you police officers.”
After hearing this, Liang Damin took out a cigarette, handed it to Zhao Dehou, thanked him, and then led him away from the interrogation room.
After seeing off the veteran employee Zhao Dehou, Liang Damin came back and gave Shao Jian and Wu Dinghuai two cigarettes each. However, Zhao Le, who was in charge of taking notes, did not smoke, so Liang Damin did not give him a cigarette.
After offering cigarettes, Liang Damin lit one for Shao Jian. When he took out another match to light one for Wu Dinghuai, Wu Dinghuai took the match and matchbox and lit it for himself.
After all, Liang Damin was the head of the security department of the Hongqi Factory. In terms of rank, he was only one level lower than Deputy Director Shao Jian, and in terms of age, he was Wu Dinghuai's elder.
In terms of division of labor, as the head of the security department of Hongqi Factory, Liang Damin was only there to assist the investigation team. Therefore, after saying goodbye to Shao Jian and the others, he was about to leave.
Shao Jian called out to him.
"Section Chief Liang, the information that Lao Zhao just provided is very good and very important. Here's what we'll do: immediately send someone to bring Niu Dajiang over for questioning."
Yes, Shao Jian was asking questions, not trying to understand the situation.
In his view, Niu Dajiang and Liu Xianghai definitely had a special relationship, and he was fairly certain that the Hongqi Factory work uniform that Liu Xianghai was wearing was provided by Niu Dajiang. As for whether it was sold to Liu Xianghai, he could only find out when Niu Dajiang arrived.
After hearing this, Liang Damin nodded in agreement.
"Director Shao, I understand. I'll arrange for someone to bring Niu Dajiang here right away. No, I'll take some people to Niu Dajiang's house myself."
After saying that, he didn't linger and walked straight out of the investigation room.
Shao Jian watched Liang Damin's departing figure, took two puffs of his cigarette, then exhaled a few smoke rings into the air, a thoughtful expression on his face.
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