Murder in a locked room bed and breakfast (14)

Zhao Leiting asked: "You don't want to say that the murderer is Kong Qushan's son?"

"Yes, he was ten years old at that time. Eight years later, he is exactly eighteen years old this year."

"Xu Liang?" Zhao Leiting's eyes flashed.

Romantic Poetry B&B’s chef Xu Liang is 18 years old this year. What a perfect coincidence.

"But his surname is not Kong?" Zhao Leiting became confused again.

Meng Siqi was also puzzled as to why Kong Qushan's son did not have the surname Kong. It turned out that his true background had never been investigated before. He had a father who was still alive.

Unless Xu Liang's mother remarried and Xu Liang took his father's surname and changed his ID card, in that era personal identity was not registered online, and it became easy to change information, so Xu Liang's life before the age of ten was erased.

The car drove to a telephone booth, and Zhao Leiting got out of the car to call the bureau. As soon as he answered the call, Zhao Leiting's face changed. Meng Siqi didn't know what happened and couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Zhao Leiting finished explaining the situation of the investigation and said seriously before hanging up the phone, "I understand. Don't worry, Brother Feng. I will go to the hospital with Siqi right away."

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Leiting said, "Brother Feng answered the phone. Gui Xiangyang was stabbed last night, and Tang Xiaochuan was on his way to the hospital."

Unexpectedly, this matter has become so complicated that Meng Siqi frowned unconsciously.

Zhao Leiting waved his hand, "Let's go and meet up with Old Tang. Brother Feng said he would bring back Xu Liang and the evidence from the B&B."

"Okay." Meng Siqi nodded. Now it seems that Xu Liang and Gui Xiangyang may be related to this case. Feng Shaomin may think that Gui Xiangyang is also a suspect, so he asked them to go and investigate.

Half an hour later, the car arrived at the city hospital parking lot. After asking the nurse, the two immediately rushed to the inpatient ward on the second floor.

Tang Xiaochuan and a young policeman were waiting in the corridor. When they saw them coming, they immediately said, "Gui Xiangyang is in this room, and his wife Zhang Hui is also here."

"Okay, Old Tang is reliable." Zhao Leiting praised with a smile.

I knocked on the door and it was Zhang Hui who opened it. Zhang Hui looked to be about 27 or 28 years old, with good skin, carefully trimmed black eyebrows and red lips, gemstone earrings, and a crystal necklace around her fair neck. At first glance, she looked like a very delicate woman.

Tang Xiaochuan explained his purpose. Zhang Hui didn't look happy. Although she opened the door, she still said impatiently, "Now the police won't let people rest, right?"

Tang Xiaochuan explained gently: "I'm sorry, Ms. Zhang, we are just following orders, and hope you understand. I heard that your husband Gui Xiangyang was assassinated last night. This may involve a criminal case, so we came to inquire about it."

Perhaps because of the relationship between Zhang Hui and Han Changlin's sister, Tang Xiaochuan's tone was very gentle.

"Okay. After all, you are my brother-in-law's subordinates, so it's okay to ask." Zhang Hui turned around and walked inside, still reminding, "Don't take too long, the patient needs rest!"

Tang Xiaochuan turned around and told the policeman who came with him, "Xiao Xiang, you stay at the door."

"I understand, Brother Chuan."

Three people walked into the ward, Zhao Leiting walked in last and closed the door. Meng Siqi looked around the environment. This was a VIP ward with a large space, clean and tidy. There was a small hall at the entrance with many flower baskets and fruit baskets. There was a beige curtain that separated the front and back of the ward, and the sunlight from the window shone through the curtain.

The smell of disinfectant mixed with the fragrance of flowers permeates the entire space, giving people a special sense of tranquility when walking in from the noisy corridor outside.

Walking past the curtain, Meng Siqi saw Gui Xiangyang lying on the hospital bed. He was half lying on the rocking bed, with a quilt covering his waist and a hospital gown on his upper body. One arm was bare with a large bandage wrapped around his arm. It seemed that Gui Xiangyang was stabbed in the arm. If he was hospitalized, it meant that the injury was quite serious.

Gui Xiangyang looked very calm. He looked at the three people who came in and said with a smile, "Hello, nice to see you again."

"Hello, Mr. Gui." Tang Xiaochuan responded.

"Zhang Hui, find some stools for them to sit on."

"No, in summary, we'll just ask a few questions and leave so as not to interfere with your rest."

"Okay, go ahead and ask. It's not easy for you either. I'll tell you everything I know." This time, Gui Xiangyang seemed to be very cooperative.

Meng Siqi immediately took out a notebook and a pen and prepared to take notes. During this process, Zhang Hui did not rest either. She picked up the apple on the bedside table, washed it in the next room, wiped it clean after returning, and sat on the edge of the bed, picking up a fruit knife to carefully peel the fruit.

"Can you describe what happened last night in detail?" Tang Xiaochuan asked.

"It's nothing." Gui Xiangyang's eyelids twitched lazily. "It must be someone in the business world who is blind. When people get jealous, they get jealous. For someone like me who works hard in the business world, it's hard not to have a few enemies."

Tang Xiaochuan asked, "You mean someone who doesn't get along with you in business is looking for revenge on you?"

"Besides this, what else is there? Anyone who can stab me to death must be an enemy."

"Who do you think did this?"

"I don't know. I have many enemies." Gui Xiangyang raised his eyebrows when he said this. In Meng Siqi's opinion, he seemed quite proud. He said, "I can still explain everything to you. That's impossible. Besides, what if some big boss finds a fool and gives him money to scare me?"

Tang Xiaochuan nodded. "You went to the Vienna Ballroom alone last night. What did you do?"

When the word "Vienna Ballroom" was mentioned, Gui Xiangyang's eyelids immediately twitched, as if someone had touched his eyebrows, and Zhang Hui's fingers, which were peeling an apple, also stopped.

The two people's reactions were a little abnormal. Meng Siqi seemed to see through it. This Vienna Dance Hall might be a place where all kinds of people gather. Gui Xiangyang might have gone there last night to fool around. When he was returning home drunk alone, he was ambushed by someone.

This is most likely a frame-up between enemies, but there are some doubts.

Gui Xiangyang curled his lips and said with a smile, "They are just business friends. Although the environment in the dance hall is messy, it is a suitable place for doing business. You young people may not understand. You may have seen a lot of coffee shops and riverside balconies doing business on TV."

"So after you left the Vienna Ballroom at twelve o'clock in the evening, you were attacked in the parking lot. Can you describe the whole process?" Tang Xiaochuan continued to ask.

"Vienna is not in the city center. It's dark there at night, and the parking lot is also pitch black. What can I see? A figure holding a knife stabbed me in the back. If I hadn't been agile, it wouldn't be my arm that would have been stabbed."

"And then? Did the criminal fight with you?"

"No. The thing stabbed my arm and ran away immediately. I covered my hand with blood and immediately tore off my clothes to wrap it up. I went to a nearby hospital. It's not a serious matter. It's not that my wife was worried and took me to the hospital for observation."

When Gui Xiangyang said this, he deliberately stroked Zhang Hui's back. Zhang Hui was sitting on the bed, having almost peeled the apple. However, her expression had been very solemn when she mentioned Vienna just now, but now her expression relaxed a lot. She threw the apple peel wrapped around her finger into the trash can, turned around and stuffed the apple into Gui Xiangyang's mouth.

Gui Xiangyang's face was filled with joy. He reached for the apple with one hand, but unexpectedly his body moved and his other arm was pulled. He bit the apple and let out a "uh" sound, enduring the pain.

Zhang Hui panicked immediately and quickly took the apple out of his mouth, complaining and showing concern: "I told you that you couldn't even sit still while eating an apple."

Gui Xiangyang smiled with his mouth wide open. Although Zhang Hui had a cold face, she patiently put the apple into his mouth.

Gui Xiangyang took two bites of the apple and ignored the three people for a while. Tang Xiaochuan seemed unable to find any new questions.

Meng Siqi felt that Gui Xiangyang's description was not entirely untrue. It was obvious that he did not tell the complete truth about what happened last night. However, he might not be able to get anything out of him in the ward.

Amid the sound of chewing apples, Meng Siqi asked, "Boss Gui, did you see the suspect's face clearly last night?"

Gui Xiangyang swallowed a mouthful of apple and glanced at her. "I can't see clearly. He seems to be wearing a black mask."

"Can you describe the suspect's height, build, age, and whether he has hair?"

Gui Xiangyang took another bite of the apple. "He looked young and not very tall. He was shorter and thinner than me. It was too dark at night, so I couldn't see his face clearly. When he saw that I was on guard, he ran away in a flash, faster than a shadow."

Meng Siqi's eyes narrowed as she simulated the suspect's appearance in her mind.

"Have you ever had this experience before? Have you ever been attacked? I mean, has the suspect you described ever attacked you?"

Gui Xiangyang ate the whole apple and handed the bone to Zhang Hui, his mouth bulging. "I've said it before, this kind of thing happened more than once, but it was just to scare people. Think about it, if the other party wanted to kill me, would he turn around and run away? A real criminal would definitely stop at killing you."

Meng Siqi asked persistently: "What I'm asking is, has the suspect you described ever attacked you before?"

"How should I remember this? You can't possibly ask me to tell you every single thing that happened in the past."

"Okay," Zhang Hui stood up, "My husband didn't sleep well last night, he needs to rest, please help me."

Tang Xiaochuan turned around and looked at Meng Siqi, who shook her head, meaning that she had finished asking questions.

"Well, sorry to bother you two." Tang Xiaochuan said politely, "Then we'll leave first."

After leaving the hospital and getting into the car in the parking lot, Zhao Leiting saw that there was no one around. He said, "Is this a coincidence?"

Tang Xiaochuan said: "I feel that Gui Xiangyang doesn't want us to investigate this matter. He is not being clear about it."

"It's not accidental." Meng Siqi said, "I strongly suspect that the murderer last night was Xu Liang."

Zhao Leiting and Tang Xiaochuan were both slightly stunned.

Meng Siqi knew that her doubts were a bit bold and confident, but she had to be bold and confident. This courage came from her inner stubbornness, from her father's experience, and from her master's exhortations.

"According to Gui Xiangyang's description of the suspect, he is young, shorter and thinner than him, which is very similar to Xu Liang."

"In other words, it was Xu Liang who assassinated Gui Xiangyang last night. Why did he do that?" Zhao Leiting asked.

Meng Siqi still remembered Feng Shaomin's words, "Make bold guesses and verify carefully", and she made a bold guess: "If Kong Qushan is Xu Liang's biological father, and Kong Qushan's escape with money is related to Gui Xiangyang and Long Shanwen, then the ten-year-old Xu Liang may know some truths about the textile factory, but he did not make it public for some reason. Eight years later, he grew up, and he felt that the time had come. He wanted to punish Long Shanwen and Gui Xiangyang, so he fabricated the B&B murder case and the night stabbing incident."

Tang Xiaochuan nodded slowly, "Xiao Meng, your guess may be very close to the truth. Since Brother Feng has already called Xu Liang, let's go back and ask him."

Zhao Leiting was also full of confidence and immediately said, "Siqi, you and Xiaochuan go back to the bureau together. I will go to Xu Liang's hometown again. I will definitely find out his true identity."

"Okay." Meng Siqi felt that Xu Liang's true identity was the key to solving this case. If Xu Liang had nothing to do with Kong Qushan or the textile factory, then all her speculations would be invalid.

Back at the bureau, Meng Siqi and Feng Shaomin exchanged information about their investigations. Xu Liang has been taken to the interrogation room. He said that he has been staying at his rental house for the past few days and has not been anywhere. Xu Liang's work clothes, aprons, gloves and some supplies that he wore when he worked at the B&B were also taken to the bureau and are being tested.

Because the case happened suddenly, these work clothes and other items were neither washed nor discarded. If Xu Liang and Long Shanwen had direct contact that night and Long Shanwen's fingerprints were accidentally left, then there is a high probability that Xu Liang could prove murder.

Now Meng Siqi has to wait for the results of Zhao Leiting's investigation and Xu Liang's physical evidence testing.

More than two hours later, Zhao Leiting came back, his forehead covered with sweat. He drank a glass of water desperately and was very satisfied. In the expectant and nervous eyes of Meng Siqi, he finally spoke: "Siqi, we found him. Xu Liang is indeed Kong Qushan's son. His mother remarried and passed away two years ago. In addition, Xu Liang changed his name and his current address is too far away from the textile factory, so we never suspected him."

"Really!" Meng Siqi was suddenly excited. This was getting closer and closer to her guess. As long as Long Shanwen's fingerprints were detected in the physical evidence, he could be convicted immediately.

Next, Meng Siqi fell into anxious waiting for the physical evidence testing.

Half an hour later, Wang Wei from the Trace Inspection Department walked into the office with the test report. He looked at Feng Shaomin and said, "Brother Feng, the results are out."

Meng Siqi ran over quickly, "Brother Wei, there is Long Shanwen's fingerprint, right?"

"No." Wang Wei said directly, "We detected multiple fingerprints on the apron, but not Long Shanwen's."

"Multiple fingerprints?"

"Yes, there are Xu Liang's own, his colleague Hao Chunlai's, and others."

"Are the others Ding Qian, Xia Sulan or Sun Yuanyuan?"

"No, it could be Xu Liang's other colleagues. Xu Liang's apron could be shared by the chefs."

Meng Siqi's expectations were dashed. Even if he knew that Xu Liang was Kong Qushan's son, so what? Xu Liang would never confess. There was no evidence pointing to him. It was useless to just guess.

Meng Siqi slowly sat back in her seat, looking a little dazed. Zhao Leiting looked at her and did not go up to comfort her, deliberately leaving her some private space.

After receiving the test report, Feng Shaomin carefully thought about the whole case. Combined with Meng Siqi's guess, he understood her mood at this moment.

The speculation she made about Ding Qian and the other two last time was untrue. This time she made a bold speculation, but could not find any evidence. This undoubtedly dealt her a big blow. Perhaps a girl's mind is still relatively fragile.

After a while, Feng Shaomin took the test report and slowly walked to Meng Siqi's side, comforting her, "Xiao Meng, are you worried about not having evidence?"

Meng Siqi raised his head and slowly stood up. His expression was dull, but there was reluctance in his eyes. "Master, if Xu Liang really designed the locked room case, but we can't find any evidence, can we just release him without guilt?"

“That’s the theory.”

"Do we know that he killed Long Shanwen, but we can't convict him?"

"According to the principle of presumption of innocence, if the evidence is not definitive and sufficient, no criminal responsibility should be pursued. This is also the spirit of justice."

Meng Siqi nodded slowly, his tone dejected: "I understand, Master."

That afternoon, Feng Shaomin took her to a B&B and went back to the crime scene to do some investigation, but found nothing. It seems that Xu Liang might have done it perfectly that night.

The next morning, Meng Siqi went to work as usual. A policeman walked into the office and said, "Brother Feng, the man called Xu Liang who was detained yesterday kept shouting in the detention room that he should be released if nothing happened. He was quite arrogant!"

Feng Shaomin responded coldly: "Tell him to stop yelling, it's not time yet!"

"Okay, Brother Feng."