Suddenly, Xu Xiaolin's phone rang. "Okay, I got it, I'll be right there." Xu Xiaolin waved her phone at Wang Shen. "I have to say goodbye, an editor from a magazine has asked me to do an interview."
"Since you have something to do, then go ahead and take care of it." Wang Shen nodded.
"Oh, right." Xu Xiaolin suddenly remembered something, picked up her bag, rummaged through it for a while, and took out two coupons and placed them in front of Wang Shen.
"What's this?" Wang Shen picked up the two tickets and looked at them with a puzzled expression. "Swimming tickets?" Wang Shen looked at Xu Xiaolin in surprise.
“Yeah, it’s a swimming party at a private club. Tomorrow’s the weekend, why don’t you come and relax?” Xu Xiaolin stood up from her seat and looked at Wang Shen. “Here are two vouchers, handsome, why don’t you come along too?”
"Oh? Can I go too?" Liang Zichen was overjoyed to hear Xu Xiaolin's words. He smiled and glanced at Xu Xiaolin, then turned his gaze to Wang Shen, his eyes filled with a hint of pleading.
"I don't have time." Wang Shen gently placed the swimming voucher on the table and shook his head with a smile.
“Officer Wang, I know you well enough to know you. What else could you possibly do besides work? But…” Xu Xiaolin paused, pouted, and continued, “I also invited Qi Huan, thinking she could relax a bit. Maybe you could ask her directly for some information. Sigh, but since some people don’t appreciate my good intentions, then so be it.” With that, Xu Xiaolin bent down to retrieve the two swimming tickets.
"No way, Sister Xu, how could our Captain Wang let such a good opportunity to solve the case pass by?" Liang Zichen grabbed the two swimming vouchers and looked at Xu Xiaolin with a smile.
"The little brother is so sensible. Okay, be there on time at 2 PM tomorrow." Xu Xiaolin winked at Liang Zichen, then slung her bag over her shoulder and left "Zhile Cafe".
Wang Shen said nothing, picked up his coffee, took a sip, and then frowned slightly. Liang Zichen glanced at Wang Shen, his heart pounding. Liang Zichen placed the two swimming vouchers on the table and finished his meal. During this time, Liang Zichen noticed that Wang Shen remained silent, holding his coffee cup and frowning slightly.
Liang Zichen wiped his mouth with a tissue, then straightened his back and looked at Wang Shen seriously. "Captain Wang, did I make a mistake?" After saying that, Liang Zichen silently lowered his head.
Wang Shen shook his head slightly and took another sip of his coffee. "Zichen."
"Huh?" Liang Zichen was startled and suddenly stood up from his chair.
Wang Shen was taken aback by Liang Zichen's action. He looked at Liang Zichen with surprise, waved his hand, and gestured for him to sit down. "Under what circumstances would someone keep someone they don't really like by their side?" Wang Shen looked at the notebook in his hand, underlining several lines under a certain sentence Xu Xiaolin had said.
Hearing Wang Shen's question, Liang Zichen finally relaxed. After thinking for a moment, Liang Zichen said, "Captain Wang, do you mean that since Qi Huan dislikes Han Lin, why does she still keep him around as her restaurant manager?"
“That’s right.” Wang Shen nodded.
"I think there are only two possibilities in this situation. First, Han Lin is indeed very talented and can bring profits to the store. Simply put, in terms of benefits, he is a useful person to Qi Huan. Second, it's just that they have no choice but to use him." After Liang Zichen finished speaking, he picked up his coffee and took a big gulp.
“I’ve considered the first possibility, and it certainly exists. According to Xu Xiaolin, the store has been profitable year after year. From this perspective, Han Lin is a useful person to Qi Huan. But, you said the second possibility is that we have no choice but to use this person. What do you mean?” Wang Shenwei frowned as he looked at Liang Zichen.
Liang Zichen immediately put down his coffee cup and explained, "What I mean is, if Qi Huan has some leverage over Han Lin, then Qi Huan will be threatened by Han Lin and will have no choice but to comply with his demands."
"A handle?" Wang Shen wrote those two words in his notebook. "Would there be such a conflict or entanglement between them? If so, what exactly is it?" Wang Shen pressed his temples a few more times, closed the notebook beside him, and lay down on the sofa.
At that moment, Wang Shen's phone rang. "Okay, I'll be right back at the station."
Wang Shen sighed and looked at Liang Zichen, saying, "Let's go, the test results are in, time to get back to work."
The office was the same, but besides Wang Shen and Liang Zichen, only two colleagues from the laboratory were present. "Tell us your test results," Wang Shen said, sitting on one side of the desk and looking at his colleague standing next to the screen.
The man nodded, turned on the projector, and pointed to two gloves on the screen, saying, "These two gloves look almost identical. Without close inspection, it's nearly impossible to tell the difference. However, we've tested the materials, and they're completely different. The glove on the left, which is the one we use normally, is made of fire-resistant asbestos. The glove on the right, on the other hand, is filled entirely with cotton. As everyone knows, cotton is an extremely flammable material."
What the colleague in the lab said was exactly what Wang Shen had guessed: the gloves had been switched. As Wang Shen was pondering the problem, his colleague's words interrupted his thoughts once again.
“Not only that, we also detected gasoline residue in the gloves. And it was only found in that cotton glove. Apart from that, we didn’t collect anything else at the scene that could be tested.” After saying this, the man stood aside and looked at Wang Shen.
Wang Shen nodded, stood up from his chair, and was still holding the bag he had received from the hospital. "Inside are the injured person's clothes and a key. Please check them again."
The lab technician opened the plastic bag, glanced at it, and nodded at Wang Shen. "Team Leader Wang, don't worry, we'll work overtime today, and we'll have the results tomorrow." With that, the two men took the bag and headed out the door.
"By the way, could you please make a copy of that key for me? I need it. Please help me," Wang Shen called out to the laboratory staff, his voice pleading.
"No problem." After saying that, the person from the laboratory left the office.
"Captain Wang, judging from the test results, this incident must have been caused by someone," Liang Zichen said, looking at Wang Shen who was deep in thought.
“That’s right, there are two things I can’t figure out right now.” Wang Shen tapped his head.
"What are the two problems? Captain Wang, what do you think? Maybe I can offer some advice," Liang Zichen said with a smile, trying to sound relaxed.
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