Chapter 24
Chen Pu reallocated the investigation tasks: divided them into groups of two, and checked other properties under Gao Jichang's name, bank spending records, especially hotel room bookings and purchases of women's items, chat records of various communication software, etc. This was a huge workload, so Li Qingyao continued to form a new group with Zhou Yang to check the communication software.
Dusk had already fallen, and the detectives' work for the night had just begun. Chen Pu assigned the tasks, checked the time, glanced around, and called Li Qingyao's name: "You are responsible for ordering takeout for everyone, and ordering supper again at 2 o'clock. Remember to issue an invoice, and the amount should not exceed the specified meal standard."
This task has always been done by the newcomers in the team. It used to be Yan Yong, and now it has been replaced by Li Qingyao.
Li Qingyao nodded in agreement.
This matter was not complicated. She asked Yan Yong about several restaurants that he often ordered from, counted the flavors that each person wanted, and quickly ordered dinner. She noticed that Chen Pu ordered stir-fried lean meat with green peppers and rice, with an egg. The meat and rice were very solid, and just reached the upper limit of the meal budget, so she silently made a note of it.
They worked until midnight.
At 2 o'clock, Li Qingyao did not follow Yan Yong's usual practice of ordering only dry food such as fried noodles and fried rice, which he felt could fill his stomach. Instead, he ordered some soups, which received unanimous praise. Everyone felt that eating this way made their stomachs more comfortable. Li Qingyao kept his achievements and fame hidden, which earned him the admiring gaze of Yan Yong.
This time, Chen Pu ordered mutton offal vermicelli soup, with notes that it should be less spicy and oily, and have more chopped green onions and coriander. Not only him, Li Qingyao wrote down everyone's taste in a notebook - she was always so meticulous in her work. She also drew a pig in Chen Pu's column, implying that he could not live without meat and was really good at eating.
However, Li Qingyao did not relax at all on her work, and she did these chores whenever she had time.
She and Zhou Yangxin quickly obtained Gao Jichang's QQ, WeChat, email, Douyin account, Xiaohongshu account, and even MSN from earlier years.
However, it can be seen that Gao Jichang was very cautious. In the communication records for nearly a year, he had no contact with Zhang Xiyu. This can also explain why the police investigating the case last year missed this clue due to limited time and unlimited pressure.
But as we investigated further, the fox gradually revealed its tail.
It was probably in the fall of 2022, when Zhang Xiyu was just in her second year of high school. They found the two's WeChat chat records for more than ten days. Looking at those records, they seemed to see how Gao Jichang used psychological offensive and sophisticated words to express his love step by step, and Zhang Xiyu was brainwashed and fell step by step.
However, these chat records did not mention "sex" and stopped abruptly. It should be that at Gao Jichang's instruction, the two changed their contact information.
Zhou Yangxin shook his head - these were not even evidence to convict Gao Jichang, at most they could only prove that Gao Jichang had poor teacher ethics.
They continued to investigate and found that five years ago, Gao Jichang had a similar ambiguous conversation with another high school girl, and the language used was exactly the same. But the chat history also ended after the layer of paper was punctured.
Li Qingyao wrote the girl's name on the file and marked it as number 2.
Half a year earlier, it was discovered that Gao Jichang had cancelled another WeChat account. The two of them perked up—there was something fishy! And generally speaking, the crimes committed by habitual criminals in their early years are relatively rough, but they become more and more meticulous in their later years.
They immediately contacted the telecommunications company, but were told that the records of canceling the WeChat account would be deleted from the cloud data after a period of time.
"Is there no way to recover?" Li Qingyao asked.
The other party replied: "No. Moreover, Xiangcheng changed the server four years ago and had a comprehensive data cleanup and upgrade, which makes it even more impossible to restore it."
Li Qingyao and Zhou Yangxin sat opposite each other and scratched their heads. Li Qingyao asked, "Where's QQ?"
Zhou Yangxin: “Give it a try.”
But he didn't hold out much hope, because even five or six years ago, very few people of Gao Jichang's age used QQ.
As a result, they found that Gao Jichang had also cancelled his QQ account during that period and it could not be restored either.
"Damn!" Zhou Yangxin slammed his fist on the table, "This old fox."
Li Qingyao let out a long sigh, put his hands on the armrests of the chair, turned his head to look at the dark night outside the window, and his eyes suddenly became calm.
"Crime always leaves a trace, no matter how long it's been," she said softly. "It's hidden somewhere, we just haven't found it yet."
——
Chen Pu came back from outside with his men at around three in the morning and completed the inspection of all the properties under Gao Jichang's name.
The spring night was humid and his black coat was filled with cold air. He walked into the office and unconsciously pulled his collar closer. When he looked up, he did not see Li Qingyao's small head among the people in the room.
When he looked again, he found that Li Qingyao had fallen asleep on the table.
Besides her, there were two or three other people who collapsed in the office. After all, we are all made of iron and we all have to take a nap during the night. He'll have to take a nap later.
Chen Pu walked past her with light steps, and with a glance, he saw her coat fallen on the ground behind the chair. It was the coldest time of the year, and Chen Pu felt cold just by looking at the thin white shirt she was wearing.
He frowned and stopped. Zhou Yangxin, who was beside Li Qingyao, noticed it, looked up and asked with a questioning look: Is there something wrong?
Chen Pu lowered his voice and said, "The clothes fell off! Aren't you cold?"
Zhou Yangxin had just taken a half-hour nap before Li Qingyao took over his sleep. He was still dazed. He followed his gaze and saw the clothes on the ground. He said "oh" woodenly and was about to bend down to pick them up when a hand was faster than him and picked up the clothes from the ground.
"You have rough hands and feet! Don't touch me." Chen Pu's eyes were full of disgust.
Seeing that there was nothing for Zhou Yangxin to do, he turned around and continued to check the records. His mind was working too slowly at the moment, and he just wondered why Chen Pu was nagging today.
Chen Pu gently unfolded the beige jacket and placed it on Li Qingyao's shoulders. His hands were steady and not even a hair was disturbed. When he raised his eyes again, he saw Li Qingyao's profile. Because his face was pressed on his arm, his usually oval face was squeezed to look chubby, and his pink lips were pouting. His eccentricity and coldness and gentleness were all gone, leaving only a naivety and softness that he had never had before. Chen Pu stared at it for a few seconds, smiled lightly, and turned away.
Oh, it would be nice if she was like this all the time, he thought, this is how he imagined his sister would be.
——
At dawn the next day, Chen Pu received several calls from the director, deputy director, and Ding Guoqiang. Without exception, they all asked about the progress of the case, because the police were facing very great pressure due to the current investigation of the second team. Even people from the provincial government came to inquire.
Chen Pu collected the investigation results of each team and weighed the matter in his mind. If he delayed any further, he was afraid that someone from above would intervene. He gritted his teeth and said, "Let's have the trial!"
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