Chapter 313: Silencing the Witness
When Wu Yongcheng heard what Zheng Xiaojun said, he knew that he must know something.
"You have a good relationship with Fu Daqing?"
"It's okay. We met at the dance hall and got along pretty well."
"Do you know anything about Fu Daqing?"
Zheng Xiaojun hesitated, sighed, and nodded.
"Tell me what the situation is." Wu Yongcheng took out a cigarette box and handed one to the other party.
Zheng Xiaojun took a puff of his cigarette and said helplessly, "I should have stopped him at the time and prevented him from doing anything stupid."
Zheng Xiaojun said that just before the Spring Festival this year, Fu Daqing suddenly found him one night and asked him if he was short of money.
Zheng Xiaojun thought he was asking for a loan, so he started crying poor and said he really didn't have any money. He explained to Wu Yongcheng that it wasn't that he didn't want to borrow money, but that he was just a small business owner and didn't have much money.
But unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, Fu Daqing immediately said, that’s perfect, he has a business that he wants to find him to be a partner, and if it succeeds, he can give him 10,000 yuan.
Zheng Xiaojun said he was immediately attracted because his hair cutting business could only barely make a living. He had always wanted to open a larger hair salon, but he had no start-up capital.
He immediately expressed his willingness and asked Fu Daqing what the business was.
"He refused to tell me at first and insisted that I swear not to tell anyone."
Wu Yongcheng had basically guessed it, but Zheng Xiaojun still had to say it himself.
"Then... he asked me to help him kill someone, and he would give me 10,000 yuan after I was done." Zheng Xiaojun said with horror.
Wu Yongcheng nodded. It was indeed the case. This matched Zhou Yi's previous speculation that Li Youqiang went to Anyuan to kill people.
"Who does he want to kill?" Wu Yongcheng asked.
"How could I dare to ask? I was so scared at that time. I was going to be a murderer for no reason. I was tired of living like that."
"You refused on the spot?"
"Yeah, I asked him if he had too much to drink. He was just talking nonsense. Murder is against the law and you will go to jail. You might even lose your head if you're not careful."
"What was Fu Daqing's reaction?"
"He initially said he wasn't local, but then changed his tune and said he was just joking with me. After we sat for a while, he left and said he'd treat me and Lao Li to a drink after the New Year."
"Who is the Lao Li you are talking about?"
"Li Youqiang, the three of us sometimes drink together. He's familiar with Fu Daqing. They knew each other longer than I did."
"Have you seen Fu Daqing or Li Youqiang since then?"
Zheng Xiaojun shook his head and said, "I haven't seen them. They used to come to me often for haircuts, but after the Chinese New Year this year, neither of them came. Officer, could they have... really killed someone?"
Wu Yongcheng exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask."
Zheng Xiaojun nodded repeatedly.
"Did Fu Daqing mention where this would be done?"
"No... After he said he was joking, I didn't dare ask any more questions. I was afraid that if I knew too much, he would want to kill me. What if I did?"
"Do you know if Fu Daqing has any enemies? Or if he has a serious conflict with anyone?"
Zheng Xiaojun immediately nodded and said, "Yes!"
"who?"
"Back when he was doing business, someone cheated him. Every time he gets drunk, he curses that person, saying that if he finds that bastard, he'll tear him into pieces and eat him alive." Zheng Xiaojun asked in surprise, "Could this be the person he wants to kill?"
"What's this man's name?" Wu Yongcheng asked.
"My name is... Jiang... Jiang Shun."
"Are you sure?"
Zheng Xiaojun nodded: "I don't know if this is how the word is written, but it is definitely pronounced this way."
"Okay, Chen Yan, give him your phone number. If you think of anything else, or if you find any trace of Fu Daqing, feel free to call us and let us know. Don't even think about covering up for him, okay? Just do your business well and stay on track. Keep it up."
Zheng Xiaojun nodded repeatedly in agreement.
After Chen Yan left him a number, the two left.
Zheng Xiaojun suddenly realized something. Why did the old policeman only say that he found Fu Daqing and called the police, but didn't mention Li Youqiang?
After hearing Wu Yongcheng's words, Zhou Yi felt that they seemed to be correct. Pan Hongjie was very excited and shouted into the phone, "Deputy Captain Wu, I still have to thank you for finding such important information. It seems that it is correct. Fu Daqing must have asked Li Youqiang for help and came to Anyuan to avenge the murder of Jiang Shun. It just so happens that we found two bodies, a man and a woman. Maybe it is Jiang Shun."
"What? You found two more bodies?" Wu Yongcheng asked in confusion.
"Hey, just found him. The time of death is probably earlier than Li Youqiang's. Oh, Li Youqiang's hidden knife was also found at the burial site. The initial diagnosis is that the knife was used to inflict the wounds on the deceased's body. Now all we have to do is confirm that the deceased man is Jiang Shun, and the case will be solved."
"Oh..." Wu Yongcheng drew out the word and said nothing.
But Zhou Yi could tell from this "oh" that Wu Yongcheng felt the same as he did, and thought that this case would not be solved so easily.
"Well, let's continue tracking down Fu Daqing. And then Zhou Yi."
"Captain Wu, I'm here."
"You need to cooperate with Captain Pan and get to the bottom of this case before you come back, okay?"
"Captain Wu, don't worry, I understand!" This was the tacit understanding between him and Wu Yongcheng.
"Okay. Captain Pan, we'll synchronize any clues we have."
Pan Hongjie was in a much better mood. "Thank you for your hard work, Deputy Captain Wu."
After hanging up the phone, Pan Hongjie said to Xia Yu: "Notify everyone to check the local household registration files and migrant population registrations of all people named Jiang Shun and match them with the deceased."
"Okay, Captain Pan."
After a while, Xia Yu asked, "Captain Pan, I have a question."
"you say."
"If Fu Daqing and Li Youqiang killed Jiang Shun and that woman, then how did Li Youqiang die?"
"That must be Fu Daqing who murdered to silence the witness."
"Murder to silence witnesses? What was Fu Daqing's motive for doing this?"
Pan Hongjie said confidently, "Of course it's the hidden knife. Didn't Zhou Yi analyze it before? The woman wasn't dead at first, but she woke up when the body was being buried. She tried to escape and was stabbed again before dying. The knife belonged to Li Youqiang, so the one who stabbed her must also be Li Youqiang. Afterwards, they discovered the knife was missing, so Fu Daqing was afraid that Li Youqiang would be found out and implicated, so he simply killed her to silence her."
Xia Yu nodded: "It seems... to make some sense."
"Of course, this is just my speculation. We still need to confirm the identities of the two bodies, the red car that transported the bodies, and complete the chain of evidence. And, most importantly, we need to arrest Fu Daqing. Then everything will be clear."
Pan Hongjie smiled and turned around and asked, "Zhou Yi, are you right?"
"Well, Captain Pan has thought very comprehensively." Zhou Yi replied.
He didn't know whether Pan Hongjie was just average or was under pressure to solve the case, but he knew that if it were Wu Yongcheng, he would definitely not say that.
The reason is simple, there are too many doubts.
First, the logic of wanting to kill and silence the witness because the murder weapon is lost seems valid, but it is actually untenable.
Li Youqiang and Fu Daqing were close friends. When Li Youqiang left Hongcheng for Anyuan, he traveled with Fu Daqing. Once Li Youqiang disappeared or was found murdered, the first suspect would be Fu Daqing, there is no doubt about it.
Fu Daqing's target of murder was Jiang Shun, not Li Youqiang. It was impossible for him to deliberately hide his relationship with Li Youqiang in advance.
Killing an accomplice directly for a weapon that might reveal its loss and exposing yourself to greater risks is a losing deal no matter how you look at it.
Even if the murder weapon was missing, shouldn't they have gone back to look for it first? The body was buried in a remote mountain area, and the risk of going back to look for it was obviously much smaller than killing another person.
Zhou Yi felt that Li Youqiang might not be very smart, but Fu Daqing would definitely not be too stupid. People who are too stupid cannot do business. He was just not smart enough.
Second, the question that has never been solved is how did Fu Daqing suddenly find out the whereabouts of his enemy, hundreds of kilometers away, and then drag Li Youqiang to seek revenge?
There is no Internet, and no friends on Anyuan's side are watching him. Could it be that he has inexplicably opened his third eye?
To be honest, if Jiang Shun had cheated him of his money and ran away to other provinces or cities.
There is a high probability that Fu Daqing will never be able to find this person in his lifetime, even in the era of developed Internet information, more than 20 years later.
Even if Jiang Shun didn't run away, or even returned to Anyuan after a few years, Fu Daqing would have to go to Anyuan at least every few days.
It's unbelievable that someone would suddenly seek help to kill someone for no reason.
Finally, Zhou Yi had reservations about whether the male corpse was Jiang Shun.
Because he was suspicious of one thing. If Jiang Shun had deliberately deceived Fu Daqing from the beginning, then the name Jiang Shun might not be real.
But Pan Hongjie obviously hoped that the male corpse was Jiang Shun's. The reason was very simple. In this way, he would not have to apply to his superiors for a notice to identify the body, and the case would not have to be made public.
Zhou Yi looked at the gradually darkening sky outside the car window and felt a little anxious. The case seemed to be making progress, but in fact, more problems emerged.
After returning to Anyuan Municipal Bureau, Pan Hongjie began to arrange various investigation tasks.
Looking at the busy crowd, Zhou Yi felt a little bored.
"Captain Pan, is there anything I can help you with?" Zhou Yi seized the opportunity and asked Pan Hongjie.
"Zhou Yi, it's my fault. I completely forgot about you. Look, I've already finished all the work. The clues about the salvaged hammer, the red car, and the identity matching for Jiang Shun have all been arranged." Pan Hongjie said embarrassedly, "It's getting late today. Why don't you go back and rest? You've been very hard-working these past two days. After all, you're a guest from far away. Our director just asked me to report on the case, so I have to go first."
"Captain Pan, you go ahead and do your work. I'll go back later." Having said that, Zhou Yi didn't bother about it anymore.
He went to the second team's office and looked, but no one was there.
Just as I was about to leave, the phone on the table rang.
Zhou Yi picked up the phone and heard a familiar voice ask, "Excuse me, is this Officer Xia? I'm Ding Wenyuan."
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