Chapter 8 A Beautiful Girl Calls
As soon as the meeting ended, Ji Feng went straight to the archives to retrieve the interrogation record of Shen Zhaoran's case. In order to study it carefully, he did not look at it in the archives. Instead, after registering it according to regulations, he borrowed the materials back to his office and began to read them carefully.
He first found Zhou Wenlan's information and immediately dialed the number listed there. A woman's voice came over: "Hello?"
"Hello, is this Mr. Zhou Wenlan calling?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm Ji Feng from the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Langu City Public Security Bureau. I'd like to ask Mr. Zhou about Shen Zhaoran's situation." Even though he was unassuming, Ji Feng deliberately restrained himself and spoke formally in front of an older man. Furthermore, the deterrent effect of Dean Lu's WeChat message wouldn't be erased in a short period of time.
There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds, and then a woman's voice said, "Mr. Zhou isn't feeling well and is currently receiving a specialist consultation. I'm his wife. Is there anything I can tell him?"
"Oh, that's not necessary. Let Mr. Zhou rest and recuperate. I wish him a speedy recovery."
"You can call back in a few days and I'll tell him when he's finished with the consultation."
"Okay, thank you." After hanging up the phone, Ji Feng said to Xin Xiao, "The old man is not in good health and can't answer the phone. Please contact him in a few days."
"Okay, I'll remember it." Xin Xiao said.
Just as he turned the phone back to normal mode, Ji Feng's phone rang and the words "Hua Ailing" popped up on the screen. He tapped the screen to answer the call.
"Brother Lie, I'm not blocking your sun, am I?" Her voice was clear and her Sichuan accent was melodious, just like usual.
"Don't block my sun" is Jifeng's WeChat nickname, and Hua Ailing often teases him like this.
"What's up, hot girl? Are you flirting with me again?" Ji Feng was already used to such greetings, so he didn't respond. Instead, he imitated Hua Ailing's tone and gave her a Sichuan-style nickname in return.
"Can't I just chat with you for a bit if there's nothing else to do?" She pretended to be angry.
"Our bet is almost a year away. Do you want to see me embarrass myself so early?" He imitated Hua Ailing's Sichuan dialect and made a joke.
"That's not the case, but you have to remember the agreement and don't try to back out." Hua Ailing switched to Mandarin and spoke.
"That agreement itself is an unequal treaty. It only stipulates my obligations but does not mention yours." Ji Feng said as he read the interrogation record.
"Are you trying to cheat so soon? It seems the case isn't as simple as you thought."
"Do I look like that kind of person?" he asked.
"Like." He was about to refute, but she interrupted him: "I'm asking you something serious, you have to tell the truth." She said seriously.
"Ask." He continued to look down and read.
"After you went there, did any pretty young lady flirt with you?" she asked sourly.
"Are you doing serious business? No." Ji Feng answered simply.
"real?"
"Believe it or not."
"Don't forget, my major is traceology. If I conduct a surprise inspection one day, no clues will escape my eyes." She threatened.
"You're not planning to use a magnifying glass to check my sheets, are you? Haha..." Ji Feng laughed. For some reason, he always liked to make slightly excessive jokes with her, and she didn't seem to care.
"Huh, you think I can't do it?"
"You have to tell me in advance before you come, otherwise don't blame me if I'm away on a business trip," he reminded.
"I'd rather miss than let you off guard."
"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten that this case might require the assistance of a trace expert like you. Don't say you don't have time when the time comes." Ji Feng put down the interrogation record and said.
"What you should be worried about is whether my helping you solve the case will affect our bet." She said seriously.
"Although I don't trust your character, I do trust your professional ethics, haha."
"Get out of the way. I heard that several sophomore female students are planning to go to Lan Valley to see you. This is the consequence of you hanging out with students all day long!" Hua Ailing's tone was clearly filled with dissatisfaction.
"I don't know. No one told me they were coming to see me. I swear."
"Really?"
"What's the matter?"
"I told you a long time ago to stay away from female students, but you didn't listen and insisted on flirting with other girls."
"What? Why didn't you tell me that there are so many other boys who often play ball and drink with me?"
"I don't care. Stay away from female students. You are 40 years old and she is only 20, twice as old. You are almost like a father."
Ji Feng showed a helpless expression: "Okay, I'm busy, you can just focus on your work." He didn't want to continue this boring conversation.
"How often do you plan to come back?"
"Who knows? I'll treat you to a meal when I get back."
"I have to warn you, we've got Dean Lu all wrapped up in this, so don't let him down. He put a lot of effort into getting you to Lan Valley, changing your identity and moving across departments."
"Do I make you worry so much?"
"From the tone of your voice, you still sound unruly. How can anyone trust you? Be more restrained."
"I've been keeping my tail between my legs, don't worry, big sister."
"Hold on tight, I have to go to class."
"Okay. Goodbye, Professor Hua--" He dragged out the last syllable and hung up the phone.
After putting down his phone, Ji Feng's thoughts immediately shifted from the flirting and into thinking about the clues of the case.
After a brief thought, he decided to investigate from the outside in. This approach was both safe and prepared, and would avoid alerting the suspect if he did find one. Having made up his mind, Ji Feng decided to review the interrogation transcript first, then directly approach Lan Ruojin.
Rereading the interrogation transcript, Lan Ruojin begins with her own account. The transcript states that on the night of the incident, she and five friends gathered at an upscale club. From 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. the following morning, they ate, drank, played mahjong, and sang songs, never leaving the club. This is supported by surveillance footage, testimony from the boss, testimonies from friends, and spending records.
Records show that she confessed to having a dull relationship with her husband, Shen Zhaoran, who was busy with their own affairs and had reached a tacit agreement not to interfere with each other. She had no contact with her husband on the night of the incident and knew nothing about the cause of his death. Data retrieved from the telecom operator also confirmed her claims. She claimed to have gone to the restroom three times, each time for less than five minutes, a fact confirmed by her friends who were traveling with her.
When asked about Shen Zhaoran's social relationships, Lan Ruojin said that Shen Zhaoran's circle of friends is basically limited to the business circle, including the antique circle and the collection circle. Because the auction house is equivalent to the intermediary between buyers and sellers and does not involve the core interests of both parties, there are few people with whom he has grudges, let alone enemies.
When discussing the lost premium spice ornaments, Lan Ruojin stated that Shen Zhaoran had been involved in the spice industry before marrying her, and that the Lan family had never been involved in this field. Shen Zhaoran had been running the spice business on his own, and their collaboration with the Lan family was limited to auctions of collections such as calligraphy and paintings, porcelain, and unearthed cultural relics.
As for the lost spice ornaments, she claimed she had never seen them before, and compared to auction houses, the spice industry was just a sideline for Shen Zhaoran. Although the price of thuja spices has risen in recent years, it is still a niche collection compared to other traditional collectibles.
Lan Ruojin also said she only heard the rumors after Shen Zhaoran's death. He was a leading figure in the spice industry, particularly in thuja spices. He was a major collector and a top player nationwide, monopolizing the vast majority of the thuja spices industry and holding undisputed pricing power. With the depletion of thuja resources and the continued expansion of the luxury goods market, the vast quantities of thuja spices he controlled were rapidly appreciating in value, and the rate of appreciation was accelerating. Industry experts predict that top-quality thuja spices will be priced by the gram, similar to agarwood, and may even replace agarwood as the bellwether of the wood spice market.
When asked if she knew Lin Wantang, Lan Ruojin said she had never heard of this name, and she didn't know what the feud between him and her husband had, and she had no idea about Lin Wantang's motive for murder.
The transcript also recorded Lan Ruojin's laissez-faire attitude towards Shen Zhaoran's private life. She said that she did not know whether her husband had a third party outside. As for Shen Zhaoran's ex-girlfriend, she only heard him say a few words when she first met him, and there was no communication after that.
Ji Feng frowned, thinking to himself: It seems that Lan Ruojin is not very familiar with the affairs of the Thuja arborvitae circle. After Shen Zhaoran's death, has his huge Thuja arborvitae resources been controlled by Lan Ruojin?
Ji Feng put this doubt aside for the time being and opened the transcripts of other people to read. Unexpectedly, he finished reading the transcripts of other people in less than an hour, because except for Shen Zhaoran's driver, who was the first eyewitness at the crime scene and said a few more words, the others either had alibis or were completely clueless.
Looking at all the case files, apart from those worthless clues, almost all the valuable ones pointed to Lin Wantang. Captain Jiang's identification of Lin Wantang as the murderer was not wrong.
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