Red Makeup Serial Murder Case (17)
Meng Siqi seemed to remember that not long ago, after get off work, Chen Jierong left with a man in a suit in his thirties. At that time, she guessed that he was Chen Jierong's blind date. She was too busy recently and had no time to ask her about the blind date. Unexpectedly, this man became the object of Chen Jierong's suspicion. This undoubtedly showed that the blind date had failed.
Lu He folded his hands, leaned his firm hips against the edge of the table, lowered his shoulders slightly, and faced Chen Jierong at about the same height, listening to her description with a serious expression. Like Meng Siqi, he believed that Chen Jierong had made an important discovery, especially when the case was confusing, any piece of information could be the key to solving the case.
Chen Jierong turned the book to the front and said, "Zhong Yanbin is a company executive and a suspense writer. The book "Hunting" in my hand was written by him, and it was adapted based on the tragic case that happened in our city last year, with Xin Shu as the prototype."
Xin Shu? Meng Siqi quickly remembered that Xin Shu's father, Xin Tianfei, was the murderer of the tragic case that wiped out the whole family. Chen Jierong handed the book to her. She took it and looked at the cover carefully. The cover showed a girl's back in black with a few bloodstains splashing on it. At first glance, it was indeed suspenseful and terrifying. Next to the two big black words "Hunting" was the author's name, Zhong Yanbin.
"Zhong Yanbin invited me to dinner twice," Chen Jierong said, "We had a pleasant chat the first time, but during the second time, he asked about the TV station case..."
Meng Siqi suddenly felt strange. The case on TV was the third case of the Hongzhuang serial murders. Why did Zhong Yanbin ask about this case? Did he want to inquire about the case with Chen Jierong?
"He may have been unintentional, because his next plan was to write a female murder serial case, so I didn't pay much attention to it. For some reason, I left the date halfway, and I planned not to contact him anymore, but Zhong Yanbin didn't give up. When I refused again and again, it rained last night, and he called my house again and asked me if the case at the TV station was so difficult that I didn't have time to meet him."
Chen Jierong shook her head slightly as she described it, and her worry was more obvious. "I was very surprised, why did he always bring up this case. Last night, I remembered something. Zhong Yanbin has a habit when he eats. We met twice, and I found that he has a special habit, especially the second time we had a meal, we had grilled fish together, and Zhong Yanbin arranged all the fish bones he had eaten from large to small."
"From big to small?" Meng Siqi almost blurted out. No wonder Chen Jierong suspected him, because the characteristics of Zhong Yanbin were too coincidental. The first was that he was concerned about the information of the Hongzhuang serial murder case, and the second was that he had a special habit of arranging things around him, because at the scene of the Hongzhuang case, the murderer had this habit.
Lu He also frowned but didn't say anything. Chen Jierong said, "Of course, these are just my suspicions. He doesn't necessarily have to be the suspect. I bought this book at the bookstore early this morning. I think you can take a look at it and see if it will be helpful."
"Don't worry, Sister Rong. We will not let go of any doubts."
"If you have no questions, I will go back first. By the way, Zhong Yanbin's business card is in the book. You can contact him."
Meng Siqi had no problem at the moment, and glanced at Lu He. Lu He understood, and stood up from his leaning position. He seemed to think for a moment before saying, "Jie Rong, excuse me, how did Zhong Yanbin know your mother?"
"Oh," Chen Jierong said, "There is a park in the city, I forgot what it was called, my mother likes to go there whenever she has time, there is a blind date corner there," Chen Jierong smiled helplessly as she described, "My mother probably thought that I must find someone to marry. Zhong Yanbin's sister happened to go to the blind date corner that day, so we naturally got to know each other. My mother came back and told me that Zhong Yanbin was a senior executive of a company, managing hundreds of people, and asked me to seize this opportunity..."
Chen Jierong shook her head helplessly again, "Hey, you guys are not going to laugh at me, are you?"
"How could that be?" Meng Siqi said immediately, "Sister Rong, we can only wish you the best."
"Okay," Lu He said, "Jie Rong, Si Qi and I will go visit today. We will tell you as soon as we have news. Of course, I also hope that this matter will not affect your... life."
At that moment, a slight embarrassment appeared on Chen Jierong's face. Meng Siqi rolled her eyes at Lu He. Lu He seemed to have received her message and shrugged slightly.
After Chen Jierong left, Meng Siqi had to say: "Lu He, you don't know how to grasp the key points, and it affects your life. Do you think Zhong Yanbin and Sister Rong still have a chance? Sister Rong just said that they will not meet again."
Lu He smiled, looked at Jin'er who was defending her, and said in a gentle tone: "I just want to say that you should not let this incident affect your future blind dates."
Even so... Meng Siqi curled his lips and ignored him.
In the afternoon, the two drove to the building where Zhong Yanbin's company was located according to the address on the business card. In fact, the building was not entirely Zhong Yanbin's company, but an office building. Zhong Yanbin's company was a trading company and only occupied part of the office area on one floor of the building. In other words, the information that Zhong Yanbin managed hundreds of people was false, because his company did not have that many employees at all.
He is a business manager and manages at most 10 to 20 people, but the information provided during a blind date may be exaggerated, so this is not surprising.
Lu He planned to indirectly investigate Zhong Yanbin's whereabouts that day. Meng Siqi happened to find that in the milk tea shop downstairs, a girl was sitting alone by the glass window, and the work badge around her neck was the brand of this company.
The two of them visited her together. The girl happened to be Zhong Yanbin's subordinate. She said that Zhong Yanbin was working in the company last Thursday, which was the last day of June. Under Meng Siqi's questioning, the girl provided some information. Zhong Yanbin usually returned to the office after lunch at 12:30 noon, and went to the coffee shop downstairs to have a cup of coffee at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. This is basically his daily schedule.
Meng Siqi confirmed: "Does he go to the coffee shop at three o'clock every day?"
The girl answered without thinking, "Yes, this is Manager Zhong's lifestyle. He has had this habit for many years. Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless he has something to do that afternoon and can't leave."
Meng Siqi asked hurriedly, "Think carefully again, what was his whereabouts around 3:00 p.m. on June 30th?"
"Excuse me, police officer. I'd like to ask you what crime did Manager Zhong commit?" There was some worry in the girl's eyes.
Lu He comforted her, "It's related to a case. It's just a routine investigation. Don't think too much about it. I hope you will cooperate as much as possible and keep this interrogation confidential."
"I know." The girl thought for a moment and said, "I remember the last day of last month. It was around noon when Manager Zhong returned to the office. He told me that he had something to deal with. Although I was his assistant, he would not tell me where he was going. He returned to the office around three o'clock with a cup of coffee in his hand, the kind he often bought."
"Do you remember exactly what time he returned to the office?"
"I really don't remember, it was probably around three o'clock."
In addition to visiting the girl, the two also found another witness in the company, and were able to basically confirm Zhong Yanbin's work and rest time, especially the information that Zhong Yanbin returned around three o'clock in the afternoon that day.
The two went to the coffee shop next door to inquire, and the waitress said that Zhong Yanbin usually came to drink coffee at three o'clock on weekdays. She also said that Zhong Yanbin came almost every afternoon last week without missing a single time.
Walking out of the coffee shop and back into the car, Meng Siqi looked a little worried. Between 2 and 3 p.m. on June 30th was the time when Tan Xiaoshuang's incident happened, but Zhong Yanbin seemed to have an obvious alibi.
Meng Siqi is a person who always likes to be full of doubts. She shook her head and said, "Lu He, will Zhong Yanbin leave right after lunch? He has a small car and can definitely reach the TV station within an hour and a half."
"It does take one hour to get to the TV station from here. It may take a day longer on rainy days, but one and a half hours is definitely enough. There is no problem getting to the TV station at two o'clock." Lu He said, "But there is a situation where Zhong Yanbin returns to the coffee shop at three o'clock in the afternoon. He can't do it."
It is indeed impossible, and this is what Meng Siqi is anxious about. What can be inferred now is that Tan Xiaoshuang was attacked after leaving the TV station, was knocked unconscious by drugs, and was abandoned at the construction site. However, the murderer returned to the construction site at dusk. This is the time she calculated last time when Meng Tingzhe committed the crime, but it does not seem to be true for Zhong Yanbin.
"No." Meng Siqi suddenly thought of something, "Lu He, there is a situation you may have overlooked. Three o'clock in a coffee shop is only three o'clock in the conventional sense. If Zhong Yanbin was late that day, do you think the waiter would care?"
Because three o'clock is an established habit, even if there is a mistake on a certain day, no one cares.
Lu He also fell into deep thought and immediately said, "Okay, let's go check with the waiter."
The two returned to the coffee shop, but the waiter said he didn't remember what time it was. Meng Siqi asked for the order for coffee purchased that day, but the waiter said there was no order with specific customer information, and the order was just a queue number, so there was no way to determine what time Zhong Yanbin bought the coffee.
Back in the car, Meng Siqi said, "Lu He, do you want to take Zhong Yanbin back to ask him?"
Lu He seemed to think about it carefully and answered: "Let's do this, Siqi, we will go up and talk to him, but we won't use the Hongzhuang serial murder case as an excuse, we will just conduct a routine investigation."
Meng Siqi also wanted to meet him, but she also had concerns, and immediately said, "Will this alert the enemy? He mentioned the case to Sister Rong, and he must be very familiar with the information from the Thursday before last. I'm afraid he would know the time if we asked him."
Lu He said: "In fact, we interviewed his colleagues today, and he may know sooner or later. Anyway, we have to find out the truth. If he is really the murderer, we can also give him a warning and make him reveal his true intentions."
Meng Siqi also thinks that, although there is no evidence at present, if the police have doubts, the other party will definitely be wary, and perhaps some clues will be revealed in the future.
"Siqi, you come and ask."
Meng Siqi thought for a moment and said, "Okay, remember to remind me if there's anything."
"Okay, no problem, just ask whatever you want to ask, you are very smart."
Meng Siqi pursed her lips and smiled. She felt that Lu He had now learned to flatter people.
The two went upstairs to Zhong Yanbin's company and met each other. Zhong Yanbin closed the office door and poured tea for them.
Zhong Yanbin has his own office. Although the decoration is ordinary, it can be seen that he is a very particular and tidy person. At first glance, the house seems to be in order, the furniture is placed in an orderly manner, and the trophies and certificates in the windows are arranged like soldiers in a row.
Even the wrinkles on the sofa cover were invisible, and Meng Siqi felt embarrassed to sit on it.
On his desk, she found that the pen he used was lying on the desk at an angle that was completely parallel to the edge of the desk. Zhong Yanbin must have a certain degree of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Putting aside these special habits, Zhong Yanbin himself has a good appearance and temperament, wears a pair of silver-rimmed glasses, and a high-end suit that is very slim-fitting. He is gentle and refined. If it weren't for the suspicion of the case, she thinks Chen Jierong and Zhong Yanbin are likely to get together.
"Why did the two police officers come to see me?" Zhong Yanbin sat down. The sofa was placed at a right angle, so he sat on the side, with his hands on his knees, quite politely.
"It's like this, Mr. Zhong," Lu He said straight to the point, "There is a case recently that may require your assistance in the investigation. This is a routine investigation, so please don't be nervous."
Zhong Yanbin's eyelids were slightly drooped. Even though he looked calm on the outside, Meng Siqi could still tell that he was a little nervous. His fingers were on the trousers at his knees, making slight wrinkles. He asked, "Oh, what's the matter?"
Meng Siqi had already opened the notebook. She asked directly, "Mr. Zhong, do you remember that you left the company on June 30, which was at noon the Thursday before last?"
"Last Thursday?" Zhong Yanbin seemed to be reminiscing, but soon, he seemed to remember something and his eyes flickered.
Meng Siqi captured this information very well, but this does not mean anything, because Zhong Yanbin may have thought about the sensitivity of this time.
"I remember I went out that day," Zhong Yanbin replied.
"Where did you go? Can you tell me more specifically?"
"I recently met a blind date. She works in your city police station and is a forensic doctor."
Meng Siqi frowned slightly, and so did Lu He. She had never expected Zhong Yanbin to mention Chen Jierong.
Zhong Yanbin continued, "I went out at noon that day to get her a gift. We had originally agreed to meet that evening."
Meng Siqi always felt that this was too strange, but she couldn't let Chen Jierong affect her. She quickly calmed down and asked, "What gift did you get? Where did you get it? What time did you go there? What time did you come back?"
"It's a necklace. I bought it for her. We met once before and I was very satisfied with her, so I decided to give her a gift when we met for the second time. She has a beautiful neck, so I chose a pearl necklace and ordered it in advance. I picked it up at noon on the agreed day. I set out at about 12 o'clock, but it started to rain heavily right after I set out. I drove for a while, but found that the rain was too heavy, so I had to turn back. I was unlucky on the way back. I almost collided with a large truck. I made a sharp turn and the wheels got stuck in a mud pit. I stayed there for more than an hour. Fortunately, a kind person drove by and helped me with a trailer hook. It was about three o'clock when I got back to the company. I bought a cup of coffee and never went out again."
Zhong Yanbin described everything in great detail, as if he had prepared the answer in advance, but if you think about it calmly, with Zhong Yanbin's personality and his love of writing suspense novels, he might express something like this. Meng Siqi grasped the key point and asked: "Do you remember the license plate number of the kind-hearted person?"
Zhong Yanbin seemed to think about it carefully, "I don't remember. I didn't pay attention to the license plate that day. It was raining too hard and I was in a bad mood."
"What kind of car is it? Can you describe the kind-hearted person's appearance?"
"It was a small truck, the kind with a gun, dark blue, I didn't notice the logo. He was a man, about 40 years old, 1.70 meters tall. It was raining hard and he was holding an umbrella, so I couldn't see him clearly. He must have had an ordinary face. I remember giving him a pack of cigarettes, but he didn't take it, so I threw it into the car."
All this information seemed very detailed, but in fact it was very vague. It was impossible to find the witness, not to mention that it was raining heavily that day, and it was impossible to find out how many small trucks had passed by on this road.
"Okay," Meng Siqi continued to ask, "What time did you get off work that day? Where did you go after get off work?"
"I left an hour late, around 6 o'clock, and went straight home."
"Has anyone seen you since you got home?"
"Well, I live alone. It was raining heavily that day, so I went back home and cooked some food for myself. I didn't see anyone else."
All the time was perfectly avoided. Meng Siqi continued to press, "You made an appointment with that blind date to meet in the evening, but later cancelled it?"
"Yes, I took the initiative to call. I wanted to pick her up, but it was raining too hard. Considering the girl's feelings, I made an appointment with her to meet the next night. But the next day, she said she had to work overtime and cancelled the date."
Meng Siqi roughly understood that Tan Xiaoshuang's body was found the next day, and Chen Jierong had to perform an autopsy as soon as possible, so there was no time for a date. She continued to ask: "Has the gift been given out later?"
"No, the second time we met, I wanted to give her a surprise after dinner, but that day, she suddenly left because she had something urgent to do."
It all seemed to fit in. Meng Siqi remembered that Chen Jierong also said that she left the dinner party halfway for some reason.
She felt that the other party's confession was a little too perfect, so she confirmed again: "What time did you return to the company at three o'clock?"
"Three... ten, I think. You can ask the coffee shop. That's when I bought my coffee."
It is simply too late to get from the TV station to the company at this time, but no one can accurately determine this time. It is possible that Zhong Yanbin deliberately set a time.
After asking all the questions, Lu He did not speak. In order to make sure that this trip would not be in vain, Meng Siqi suddenly asked, "Mr. Zhong, have you been concerned about the girl who was murdered on TV recently?"
Zhong Yanbin finally showed some timidity in his eyes, and his face turned pale. "Officer, you don't think I have anything to do with that case, do you?" He tried to explain, "I asked forensic doctor Chen about that matter, but I'm a suspense writer, I'm just curious!"
Meng Siqi read his expression carefully. He was not as calm as before. Maybe it was a normal reaction. However, Meng Siqi had seen too many masters of disguise, so she was not sure if there was anything wrong with Zhong Yanbin.
After the questioning, Meng Siqi asked to see the necklace and asked for the phone number and address of the necklace store.
Back in the car, Meng Siqi said anxiously: "Lu He, don't you think it's strange that Zhong Yanbin directly told us 3:10. Does anyone really remember the time? He didn't even remember the license plate!"
Lu He thought for a while, and when he looked up, there was a soft light of comfort in his eyes, "Siqi, I know you want to find the murderer, but as long as Zhong Yanbin insists that he went to the coffee shop at 3:10, we can't get him. Just like Zhong Yanbin's subordinates also said that he went to drink coffee at 3 o'clock. Time is a very strange thing. As long as you keep doing this, time is like fixed."
Meng Siqi also understood that even if someone could prove that Zhong Yanbin went to the coffee shop at 3:30 instead of 3:10, so what, because there was no evidence to prove that he had been to the TV station.
It's not surprising that a suspense writer would seek information about the Hong Zhuang case out of his keen sense. It seems that many people also have the habit of arranging fish bones neatly. It's just that Zhong Yanbin happens to combine these two characteristics, so it makes people suspicious.
Lu He said, "Siqi, don't worry. I will send people to continue investigating Zhong Yanbin's schedule that afternoon, and also to track Zhong Yanbin's whereabouts, especially on rainy days. But I don't think Zhong Yanbin is the first suspect, because if you were the murderer, would you take the initiative to expose your information, and even to a forensic doctor who is closely related to the case. Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that the murderer has this kind of arrogant mentality. In short, we now have two important suspects, Meng Tingzhe and Zhong Yanbin, and I will arrange people to track them, so don't worry."
Meng Siqi realized that she was a little anxious just now. As she got deeper into the case, she found that the truth was getting further and further away from her. She felt an inexplicable sense of anxiety in her heart, but fortunately Lu He was always calm. She nodded slowly, "Okay."