Chapter 32
Zhou Jiyao expressed shock and confusion at all the evidence produced by Yu Lei. He was emotional and even a little angry.
"I admit that the explosion was caused by my lack of carefulness in my work, and I am willing to take responsibility. But the affairs of Liu Dong and Chen Junan have nothing to do with me. How can you think that I did it just because of these inexplicable coincidences?" Zhou Jiyao slammed the small table in front of him, his face full of anger.
Chen Jingzhou's ten fingers tapped the keyboard quickly, and the crackling sound seemed to be acting as an atmosphere for Zhou Jiyao, encouraging him to shout harder.
"Can you guys check this carefully?! There are fewer people parking at Gate 2 than at Gate 1 because Gate 1 is closer to the equipment area, and the guards at Gate 2 are more lax than at Gate 1. Sometimes, even if I'm not wearing work shoes or my work clothes are unbuttoned, the guards at Gate 2 will let me in. I'm definitely not the only one parking at Gate 2, which is farther away from the equipment area. Why are you arresting me?!"
Zhou Jiyao waved his hand vigorously, dropping the photos on his desk to the floor. The room fell silent for a moment, the only sound remaining was the heavy breathing after his loud roar.
Yu Lei nodded in agreement, "Continue."
"I was standing in front of that valve because I had a work message coming in on my phone, and I needed to answer it with my back to the sun. If you don't believe me, you can check my phone to see if I sent any messages during the time shown on the surveillance footage."
"Is replying to messages and opening the valve in conflict?" Yu Lei asked. "That hand valve is only the size of your palm. With your palm size, it shouldn't be difficult to reply to messages with one hand and open the valve with the other."
Zhou Jiyao was speechless. Just as Yu Lei had said, he had stood facing the valve with his back to the monitor for a full five minutes. Even if a message had been sent, it wouldn't have stopped him from opening the valve after sending it, or opening it before sending it, or even doing both at once.
"Just because I stood here, you can't conclude that I moved this valve! You should provide evidence for your claims. I don't need to prove something that you can't prove." Zhou Jiyao said sternly.
Chen Jingzhou, who had been typing, looked up at the words, surprise in his eyes. In this situation, not many suspects could still remember the rule that the one who makes the claim must provide the evidence.
Zhou Jiyao is either truly innocent or has very good psychological quality.
Yu Lei was silent for a moment, then hesitated. Zhou Jiyao was now in a state that perfectly matched the state of someone who had been wrongly accused and was furious, yet still firmly believed in his innocence.
At this moment, Tang Ruxin's voice came from his in-ear headphones.
"Under normal circumstances, the activation of the flare system is strictly planned. When a unit is shut down or started as planned, the flare system will discharge exhaust gas for open-air combustion. If an emergency requires abnormal discharge, the production scheduling department must be notified in a timely manner, and a company-wide announcement and environmental protection department filing must be completed simultaneously. However, this was a planned discharge."
Seeing that Yu Lei remained silent, Tang Ruxin continued to explain:
"The furnace of the reformer is always under negative pressure, and there is no combustible waste gas in the flare system under normal circumstances. Therefore, even if it is under negative pressure, no combustible gas will be sucked into the furnace."
Yu Lei understood.
"You have a channel to learn when your company's flare system will be activated."
Zhou Jiyao was stunned, hesitated for a moment and nodded.
"This is something all plant managers are aware of in advance. They need to ensure that normal production is not disrupted by the flare system. This accident is my responsibility. I failed to confirm that the process connecting the reformer to the flare system was disconnected."
Yu Lei chuckled and said, "You stood in front of this open valve for five minutes and didn't notice it was open."
Zhou Jiyao sighed dejectedly, "I didn't even check the valve. I was looking at my phone..."
"Are only the persons in charge of each device aware of this?" Yu Lei interrupted him.
Zhou Jiyao said hurriedly, "Of course not. The company will announce it at the scheduling meeting and publish an announcement on the company website. Anyone who wants to know will easily find out."
"Besides you, who else in your department has work related to flare emissions?"
Zhou Jiyao was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"Then it will be difficult for you to clear this evidence." Yu Lei said, "Why don't you provide a few possibilities so that we can investigate more deeply."
Zhou Jiyao remained silent for a while longer, then continued to shake his head.
"It's my responsibility. I was the first person to know the flare system was going to be vented, but I didn't schedule a process check."
Upon hearing this, Yu Lei's face darkened slightly, and his mood was no longer as good as when he first entered the interrogation room.
"Have you seen this?" Yu Lei raised his hand and threw a bag of evidence in front of him.
It was a white, slightly fat gel pen.
Zhou Jiyao frowned, then nodded, "I think I've used something similar..."
Before he finished speaking, Yu Lei handed him a screenshot of a news report. It was a report on an interview with Zhou Jiyao, posted by the company's publicity department on the news section of the company's homepage. In the picture, Zhou Jiyao was sitting at his desk, his head bent over, writing, holding a plump, white gel pen.
"Where is this pen now?" Yu Lei asked.
Zhou Jiyao looked confused and thought for a long time before answering, "I haven't seen you for a long time...I think I lost it."
"It was left at the scene of Liu Dong's death."
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhou Jiyao's face changed immediately, and his original anger and unwillingness were replaced by fear and panic.
"I don't know! It's normal for us to lose pens. The office door is open, so anyone can come in and out... This pen, this pen is definitely mine, but I haven't seen it for a long time and thought I lost it a long time ago. I really don't know how it happened..."
Zhou Jiyao spoke incoherently, trying to explain but unable to organize his thoughts.
"You're a grown man, and you use such a cute pen? Did you buy it yourself?"
"No, I didn't buy it. I don't know where it came from. Maybe I forgot to return it to someone when I signed... I really can't remember where it came from, but I did, I did use it..."
"Nonsense, I'm not blind. Can't I see whether you've used it or not?" Yu Lei sneered and pointed at the photo. "You don't seem as confident as before. Good thing. Come on, continue."
As he spoke, Yu Lei took out another evidence bag, which contained a creased A4 paper.
"Your relationship with Liu Dong is more than just what you've heard about it, right?"
After Zhou Jiyao saw the contents on the paper, the blood color on his face slowly faded away. Under the pale light of the interrogation room, he looked like a dead man.
"Stop talking?" Yu Lei waited a moment, but received no response. "Let me speak for you. The anonymous letter that reported Liu Dong and prevented him from applying for the team leader position mentioned the female employee who had an improper relationship with him. That woman is your wife, He Qing, right?"
The blood color on Zhou Jiyao's lips also faded. He sat stiffly, not saying a word.
Chen Jingzhou slammed the table hard and shouted, "Speak!"
Yu Lei, who was concentrating on paying attention to Zhou Jiyao's expression, was caught off guard by Chen Jingzhou's sudden move and was so frightened that he dropped the pen that he was spinning on his fingertips.
Yu Lei glared at him and bent down to pick up the pen.
At this moment, Tang Ruxin's slow and gentle voice suddenly came from the headphones.
"Yu Lei. Either it's not Zhou Jiyao, or it's not just Zhou Jiyao."
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