Chapter 54 But he did nothing and even fell into the pit...
The murder weapon used by the suspected criminal suspect on the night of the crime was found, but Xu Nian and his team's mission was still a long way from being completed.
The four auxiliary police officers did not go back either. A group of eight people sat down around four desks and held a small case analysis meeting.
There were still some police officers watching the surveillance video in the temporary office, and all eight of them tried to keep their voices as low as possible.
"We've been busy all day and all night," Xu Nian asked. "What are your thoughts?"
Qi Bai was the first to speak. "I think this suspect is a bit strange. He seems so contradictory, both cautious and bold. For example, the surveillance footage shows him taking off his mask to smoke three kilometers from the crime scene. And then there's the way he handled the murder weapon. He killed so efficiently and professionally, like a killer. Even the crime scene was spotless, leaving no clues. Logically, someone with such strong anti-detection abilities would be even more careful with the murder weapon than he was with the actual killing. But look at what he did. He chose a shabby, unfinished building with all sorts of people around him and burned it in a metal barrel in the middle of the night. How could he be so sure we wouldn't detect him?"
Wang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "Lu Manqing is indeed full of contradictions, but we already know he's the suspect. Without these new clues from concerned citizens, it would be difficult for us to directly lock our sights on him. After all, he first appeared on the surveillance camera a kilometer away from the crime scene. He had never set foot in the area, nor had any contact with the deceased Zhang Hongda and others. He even arrived in Yongquan City the afternoon before the crime, with no record of staying there. He even left at noon the next day, completely out of our scope of investigation. And there's another point..."
Wang Yu paused, glanced at Xu Nian, and then continued, "Although the murder weapon has been found, it has been burned at high temperatures, and I don't know what cleaned it afterwards. I now doubt whether I can detect any biological samples belonging to the deceased on the murder weapon."
As soon as Wang Yu said this, Qi Bai and several auxiliary police officers' expressions changed, but Xu Nian and Jiang Yingyao remained calm, and it seemed that they had thought of it a long time ago.
"So," Jiang Yingyao said with a smile, "We've found the murder weapon, but there's still a lot we need to do. For example, the source of the weapon. Lu Manqing flew from Jianyang City to Yongquan City and back, which means he must have obtained the weapon after arriving in Yongquan City. Where did he get it? Did he buy it or steal it? And the connection between him and Zhang Weiyan. We've already ruled out the possibility that the two of them contacted by phone. The Xicheng Branch also checked all of Zhang Weiyan's communication devices. Since he's ruled out suspicion, that means there's nothing wrong with his communication devices."
Speaking of this, except for Xu Nian and Jiang Yingyao, everyone's eyes began to glaze over, already anticipating the days when they would be dizzy watching surveillance videos.
As they were talking, the clerk from the Xicheng Branch brought in a small box of mobile hard drives. Seeing the increased workload, everyone felt that the future was bleak.
Taking the external hard drive and placing it on the table, Xu Nian clapped his hands and said, "Alright, let's divide the work. There are only four computers in total, and there's no need for everyone to stay here. Besides watching the surveillance, some people have to go out on field work. Everyone can work in pairs and divide the work among theirselves."
After a short rotation of rest, everyone continued to devote themselves to their busy work.
Staring at the computer screen every day is boring, but good news comes one after another.
That afternoon, after a short nap and a full stomach, Wang Yu rushed over to take over Jiang Yingyao's shift. After just a few hours of watching, he made a new discovery.
"Captain Xu," Wang Yu called out in a low voice, controlling the volume, "I found some suspicious traces of Zhang Weiyan."
Xu Nian's eyes were sore from looking at the scenery outside the window to relieve his eye fatigue. Upon hearing this, he walked briskly to Wang Yu's side.
"Captain Xu, look," Wang Yu opened several surveillance videos simultaneously, paused each one, and pointed at the screen. "This is the FAW Family Compound, this is the Xindu Residential Quarters, and this is the Sunshine Garden Residential Quarters. They're all older communities that were built a long time ago and have basically no property management, or even if they do, they barely manage the property."
Xu Nian looked at Zhang Weiyan's figure in the paused screen. He was standing in the corner of the gate, smoking a cigarette, and looking into the community.
Two auxiliary police officers who were watching the surveillance footage were also drawn over. One of them couldn't help but speculate, "The surveillance footage is all from around January 20th, 2021, before the crime. He's been checking the surveillance cameras near the crime scene. Why would he suddenly come to this old neighborhood? Could it be that besides the deceased Zhang Hongda's family, Lu Manqing has other targets in Yongquan City?"
This guess shocked everyone.
Wang Yu quickly checked, "These family housing estates are all in Xicheng District, not far from each other."
Another auxiliary police officer quickly pulled out his phone and said, "I'll ask the office staff at the Xicheng District Branch."
The three of them were very nervous. Xu Nian suddenly asked, "Did the surveillance cameras in the community capture Zhang Weiyan?"
Wang Yu said: "I looked, and there are only a few cameras with low pixel counts on the main roads in these communities. There are basically no cameras anywhere else. Even if there are, they are so dilapidated that they are basically not working properly."
As Wang Yu spoke, he fast-forwarded and rewound several surveillance videos, and soon paused at the place where Zhang Weiyan appeared.
Afterwards, Wang Yu enlarged the images and played them one after another. In the video, Zhang Weiyan was walking normally at the beginning, but he stopped while walking, covered his face with cigarettes, and raised his head to look around every few seconds, always in one direction.
Wang Yu also noticed it quickly and frowned, "Zhang Weiyan has been looking in one direction. What is he looking at?"
Xu Nian asked Wang Yu to rewind the video, and after playing it several times, he said, "It looks like he's indeed scouting the area, and he's most likely doing it for a purpose. Let's go and see what he's looking at."
Given that the surveillance coverage in these communities was extremely poor, the few people were unable to obtain sufficient information from the surveillance video to infer Zhang Weiyan's purpose, so they had to go there in person.
In order to save time, they worked in groups of two. Xu Nian arrived at the FAW family compound first with an auxiliary police officer. As soon as he got off the car, he received a call from another auxiliary police officer, Li Fan.
"Captain Xu," auxiliary police officer Li Fan said, "I checked with my colleagues at the Xicheng Branch. There weren't any criminal cases in those family compound areas throughout the first half of 2021. There were only some public security incidents like fights and lost electric scooters."
"Okay," Xu Nian said, "Be careful when you and Wang Yu conduct your investigations, and keep in touch."
Putting away his phone, Xu Nian observed this old community.
Everywhere you look, there are five- or six-story walk-up buildings. Even the main roads are not wide, and the road surface is full of potholes after being exposed to the sun and rain for a long time. The trees on both sides of the road are tall and lush, casting shadows on the road, showing that they are about the same age as this community.
Xu Nian recalled the route Zhang Weiyan took in the surveillance video, and walked slowly along the same route. Then he stopped at the place where Zhang Weiyan stopped in the surveillance video, and looked in the direction Zhang Weiyan had looked.
Almost immediately, Xu Nian understood what Zhang Wei Yan was looking at. He was observing the express delivery lockers in the community.
Auxiliary police officer Li Fan also thought of this and asked with some confusion, "Express delivery lockers? Why would he step on these express delivery lockers at such a critical moment before the incident?"
Xu Nian had a vague guess, but didn't say anything. He walked up the steps connecting the main road and the sidewalk, stood in front of the express cabinet and carefully observed the surroundings.
Xu Nian looked very carefully and spent more than half an hour without finding any surveillance cameras nearby, so he confirmed his guess.
Xu Nian said: "They were using a courier locker to hand over the murder weapon."
Auxiliary police officer Li Fan was a little surprised. "Handing over the murder weapon? In a place like this? In a busy neighborhood?"
Xu Nian looked around and patiently explained, "Old communities like these either don't have property management or they don't really care, so surveillance coverage is very low. Notice how the streetlights are spaced far apart, and some are even broken. This makes it very convenient to hide at night."
Li Fan followed Xu Nian's gaze and looked at them one by one. After a moment, he said in shock, "Brother Qi is right. This murderer is really bold."
As soon as Li Fan finished speaking, Xu Nian's phone rang.
After the call was connected, Wang Yu said, "Captain Xu, we've arrived at where Zhang Weiyan was scouting. We understand what he was observing. He was observing the express lockers. They used this method to hand over the murder weapon."
Having found another clue that could connect Zhang Weiyan to the suspect, Xu Nian felt a little less tired from staying up all night. He said, "It's the same here. Okay, we don't need to check the rest of the neighborhood. Let's go back and continue watching the surveillance."
Back in the temporary office, Wang Yu walked in with a few cups of coffee. His previous expression was numb, and he said with a bit of enthusiasm, "Although I'm going blind from watching the surveillance all the time, the progress is still encouraging."
Qi Bai's dark circles had lessened after a good night's sleep. He took the bags and began distributing them to everyone. "While you were out, I noticed something. Although Zhang Weiyan has a computer at home, he doesn't use it very often. Before his wife passed away, she was the one who used it most of the time. After she died, they even disconnected the internet. When I was looking for Zhang Weiyan's whereabouts through the surveillance footage, I found that he had been to the internet cafe a few days before the incident, more than once."
Everyone was excited, and Wang Yu said excitedly, "It seems this is how he and Lu Manqing communicated. He used the internet to share the information he gathered about the crime scene and surroundings with Lu Manqing."
"Have you decided which Internet cafe it is?" Jiang Yingyao just walked to the door and heard Wang Yu's words, and immediately asked.
Qi Bai smiled proudly and said, "Of course I've confirmed it. It's an internet cafe near Zhang Weiyan's home, called Storm Internet Cafe."
"Qian'an County," Wang Yu raised his wrist to check the time. "It's almost midnight again. Well, I don't need to sleep tonight. Luckily, internet cafes are usually open 24 hours a day, so we shouldn't be in vain."
"Then we'll split up," Xu Nian said. "I'll take Qi Bai and two auxiliary police officers to Qi'an County. Brother Jiang and Wang Yu will take the rest of the team to continue watching the surveillance footage. We'll quickly find out when Zhang Weiyan and Lu Manqing exchanged the murder weapon, and how they did so through the courier."
Several people agreed, and Xu Nian asked Qi Bai to wait downstairs with the auxiliary police, while he went upstairs to ask Zhuang Yinghua for an Internet police officer. Then the five of them drove to Qi'an County at lightning speed.
Although Qi'an County belongs to Yongquan City, it is not very close. Fortunately, it is a county with a relatively good economy. The road is not wide, but it is often repaired and very flat. Except for Qi Bai who was driving, everyone else slept all the way and finally arrived in Qi'an County before three in the morning.
"This county has quite a large population," Qi Bai said, his eyes never idle since entering the county, observing the surroundings while driving. "There are still quite a few shops open at this time, but there are so many drunks."
Qi Bai curled his lips and stepped on the brakes in time to avoid a drunk who was walking in an S-shaped pattern. After he was helped up by his friends and pulled aside, he drove past carefully.
Auxiliary police officer Li Fan said: "I have a classmate who is from this county. Their county has two talented people. After making money outside, they came back to set up factories, which absorbed a lot of people. So unlike other counties where everyone goes out to work, they don't have to leave home and have a stable income. In addition, many of the neighbors know each other, so everyone gets together to drink, so there are more drunks."
"Coming back to start a factory would benefit his hometown," Qi Bai thought for a moment and asked, "Then why is Zhang Weiyan still doing odd jobs? Although he didn't go to college, he graduated from high school at least. This degree is enough to tighten screws in the factory, right?"
Li Fan said: "The smaller the place, the more favors are needed. Moreover, if someone returns home with wealth and glory, he or she will need connections to get in if they are not relatives."
Qi Bai understood and sighed, "That's probably one of the conflicts between Zhang Weiyan and Zhang Hongda. There have been many times when Zhang Hongda could have done anything to make Zhang Weiyan's life better, but he chose not to do anything and even added insult to injury."
According to the navigation, Qi Bai drove the car to the destination while talking. As soon as he stopped the car and hadn't gotten out yet, everyone was dumbfounded.
Looking at the sign in front of him, Qi Bai read aloud, "Feiyang Internet Cafe... The navigation clearly says Baobao Internet Cafe, how could it be Feiyang Internet Cafe? Did I drive to the wrong place?"
Qi Bai was doubting himself when Xu Nian said, "Navigation updates in small towns aren't that timely. Maybe it's just a name change. We'll find out if we go in and ask."
A group of people got off the car, and the Internet police officer put on his computer bag and followed the crowd into the Internet cafe.
The Internet cafe is not big, but there are quite a lot of people. It is filled with smoke, and the sounds of keyboards and mice are mixed together, occasionally with the sound of swearing.
The receptionist was a middle-aged man in his thirties with greasy hair. He was playing a game and didn't even look up when he heard the voice. "It's 50 yuan for a full night, 10 yuan for an hour if you don't plan on staying overnight. You can sit anywhere. You must register with your ID."
Qi Bai knocked on the table twice, then pulled out his ID. "Officer, when did you change the name of this internet cafe? Was it called Storm Internet Cafe before?"
Hearing the word "police," the middle-aged man raised his head, pushed his glasses up, and replied, "My internet cafe has been called Feiyang Internet Cafe since it opened. Storm Internet Cafe was the name given by the previous owner, who transferred it to me 22 years ago."
Although they were mentally prepared, they were still a little disappointed. Qi Bai couldn't help but ask, "Since they've reopened and changed their name, why haven't they changed it on the navigation?"
The middle-aged man said innocently, "There are only a few internet cafes in this county. Whether they're open or not, they all come here to use the internet. Why would I bother? Oh, and why are you looking for the owner of Storm Internet Cafe? Did he commit a crime?"
The middle-aged man didn't know what he was thinking about, and his expression became a little excited.
Qi Bai said angrily, "Don't ask about things you shouldn't ask about. You took over this store, so where are the computers from before? Are they all here?"
The middle-aged man said, "Most of them are here, but some are so old that they can't even run games anymore, so I sold them secondhand and bought new computers."
"Do you know Zhang Weiyan?" Xu Nian took out a photo and handed it to the middle-aged man and asked.
The middle-aged man took the photo and looked at it, his expression becoming even more excited. "I know him. He's a regular at our internet cafe. We sometimes chat. He was a member before Storm Internet Cafe was transferred to me, and he even had his own reserved seat."
The middle-aged man stood up and pointed to a seat in the far corner of the hall. "Here, that's it, B46, closest to the restroom. No one would take the initiative to sit there unless there were too many people. That's why I remember him so well. Whenever he comes, he always chooses that seat. I even watched out of curiosity. He doesn't play games, he just browses forums and chats with people."
Several people looked in the direction the middle-aged man pointed. It was empty at the moment, so Qi Bai cleverly led the Internet police over.
Xu Nian stayed at the front desk and continued to ask, "Has the computer in that location been replaced? Is it from the Storm Internet Cafe?"
The middle-aged man thought about it carefully and said, "After I bought this internet cafe, I was in a hurry to open it and didn't do much renovation. It still has the same layout as the previous internet cafe. The computers in that area are relatively new because of their location, so I didn't replace them."
After getting the answer he wanted, Xu Nian was completely relieved.
Although the change of owner was a bit surprising, fortunately the computer had not been replaced and traces of usage could still be found.
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