Zhou Ning didn’t get overly excited and waved towards Mr. Zhao.
"This is of great importance. Which one of you can make a run and deliver the card to Mr. Qu? Of course, he could also co over to pick it up himself."
Mr. Zhao glanced at the ti. It was already past six, so he hurriedly called Mr. Qu’s mobile phone.
"Where are you at, mate?"
"I’m almost ho. What’s up, got sothing for ?"
"We are at the Rose Court on Beizhai Street. How far are you from here?"
"Not far."
"Then hurry over. I’ll wait for you at the east gate. We’ve found new evidence, another storage card. I’m afraid it might be encrypted too. Zhou Xiaozhou said that he doesn’t trust just anyone to send it to you; it must be handed over to you in person."
The last sentence made Mr. Qu very satisfied.
"I’ll be there in five minutes."
Mr. Zhao hung up the phone and ran out quickly.
Zhou Ning stood in the living room, motionless.
Yang Xuetong moved closer, looked at Zhou Ning, and expressed confusion.
"Team leader, haven’t we found the things Qin Xuejin hid? What else are you looking for?"
Zhou Ning didn’t take the bait but asked himself rhetorically:
"Tell , if you were the killer and you had killed soone and were leaving this place, what would you do?"
Yang Xuetong was taken aback and looked towards the door. At this mont, he wished Mr. Zhao would fly back. He had never killed anyone, how could he put himself in that position?
"I have no idea."
Zhou Ning said nothing, and soon Mr. Zhao ran back in. Seeing the expressions on both of their faces, he hurried over. Yang Xuetong quickly recapped Zhou Ning’s recent question, and seeing Yang Xuetong’s constipated face, Mr. Zhao burst into laughter.
"You’re too honest. No one’s asking you to kill anyone, just to get into the mindset. Haven’t you ever guessed the plot while watching a movie? If I were the killer, no, I should say, if I were Wang Guanli, who has killed at least eight people, the first thing is that I would thoroughly enjoy the process.
I read that book on criminal psychology that Zhou Xiaozhou gave us, and it said that during the killing process, many killers have a surge of adrenaline, just like at the climax. After all, the process of killing Qin Xuejin is similar to executing a captive.
So, he might take a mont to admire the victim, even stand where Zhou Ning is standing, go to the window, and blow off so steam with a cigarette. And as for searching the place, he might not do that; it doesn’t fit his mood then. Later, he would check his gloves and shoe covers, and if there are no issues, he would leave quickly.
After all, the sophisticated doorbell, which Mr. Qu previously inspected, is high-end and clear enough—but it doesn’t record like a surveillance cara. I think we can recheck the surveillance based on the ti the victim was killed."
Zhou Ning nodded, clearly approving of Mr. Zhao’s words, and then squinted his eyes.
"Last ti, we estimated that the victim Qin Xuejin died between 10 PM on January 28 and 2 AM on January 29. We checked the surveillance footage then but didn’t spot any suspicious drivers entering or exiting."
Mr. Zhao moved closer, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, I think you’re thinking too narrowly. Who says the killer had to drive himself? Wang Guanli could have gotten soone to drive, right? Besides, as you said, this place has been searched many tis. Could Wang Guanli have been looking every ti? I don’t think so. He may have committed the murder, but perhaps not the other things."
Zhou Ning glanced at Mr. Zhao, and without saying it, his words hit the nail on the head. Perhaps when Qin Xuejin was killed, there was soone else here to escort Wang Guanli away, and that person was a guide.
"Call Mr. Qu and have him check the surveillance. I assu he can view the recordings here without having to go to the control room, right?"
Mr. Zhao smiled, showing his teeth.
"Mr. Qu has probably just left. I’ll get in touch with him right away. If necessary, let him co back."
With that said, Mr. Zhao made the call to Mr. Qu and relayed Zhou Ning’s request. Mr. Qu sighed and after a short while arrived at the door carrying an enormous bag. He ca in and Yang Xuetong led him straight to the dining area, which was relatively clean.
After so rapid clicking and clacking, Mr. Qu leaned into the computer. Zhou Ning and the others crowded around, and Mr. Qu hurriedly explained.
"Last ti you guys were here to investigate, I already copied all the surveillance footage from this community for the month. At the ti, there was nothing out of the ordinary, but I’ll look for you now.
I saved screenshots of all the vehicles entering and exiting the community’s gates from 10 PM on January 28 to around 2 AM on January 29. Here are all the photos of the vehicles and the people entering and leaving, and I searched the n’s information. They’re mostly residents or have relatives living here."
As they were browsing one by one, Zhou Ning leaned closer to the screen and pointed at a picture of a woman.
"Enlarge this photo, is this the clearest it can get? Did you find any information on the vehicle?"
Mr. Qu nodded, opened the software, and after so manipulation, the photo beca evidently clearer. Mr. Zhao had been standing far away, but when he clearly saw the woman’s face in the screenshot, his jaw nearly dropped in astonishnt.
"How is it her?"
Mr. Qu looked surprised, tilting his head to see Mr. Zhao’s reaction while Yang Xuetong also showed shock. Mr. Zhao blurted out:
"Isn’t that the nanny from Fang Wenjie’s ho? What’s her na? My mind has gone blank, seems like her last na is Wen. Even the property manager knows her. Before Fang Wenjie had an issue, he even left her a sum of money."
Zhou Ning’s face was serious; her mind was in uproar as she tapped the increasingly agitated Mr. Zhao.
"She’s called Wen Xiue, check the license plate, see whose na it is?"
Without Zhou Ning’s instruction, Mr. Qu had already started searching rapidly, and monts later the screen displayed all the information—the vehicle, a black modern Hyundai Sonata 8th generation 2.0T, was registered under the na of Wen Xiue, and no loan information was found.
Mr. Zhao, standing nearby, leaned in, squinting his small eyes as he quickly said:
"The 2011 Hyundai Sonata 8th generation 2.0T, that’s the high-end version, with a naked car market price of about two hundred and ten thousand. Add taxes, insurance, and such, and the price is nearly two hundred and forty thousand. A nanny, even if she earns a lot, driving such a car seems a bit too showy, especially considering the annual costs aren’t low."
Yang Xuetong poked Mr. Zhao.
"You’re getting off topic!"
Mr. Zhao imdiately shut up, and Zhou Ning gestured at Mr. Qu with his chin.
"Find the location of this screenshot, slow it down and play it."
Mr. Qu operated the system, and directly found a segnt from 23:13 on the evening of January 28th, then clicked to play it in slow motion.
They saw the Sonata drive directly up to the north gate where Mr. Qu worked, then the car stopped, Wen Xiue turned her head to say sothing, took out a Bluetooth card from the central armrest, waved it in front of her, and then drove away.
This ti, without Zhou Ning’s prompting, they all realized soone else was in the car, and Wen Xiue was communicating with that person.
Zhou Ning pulled out his phone and dialed Xu Dayuan’s number. It rang over a dozen tis before the other party picked up.
One could hear Xu Dayuan shutting a door before he spoke:
"What’s up, Zhou Xiaozhou? I’m in the middle of an interrogation. Is it sothing urgent?"
Zhou Ning knew Xu Dayuan must be extrely busy, given that Ren Guangzhi, Ren Jingmin, and those high-ranking officials who were brought in, were all detained at the detective team’s office for an urgent interrogation.
"It’s urgent. Xu Da, hurry up and have soone bring Wen Xiue in for questioning, and get her car as well. It’s best to tow it, without touching anything inside. Send it directly to the tech departnt—I’ll co to check it out after working late tonight.
We’re currently at Qin Xuejin’s place and just found so new evidence that can prove Wen Xiue drove Wang Guanli away from the residential complex where Qin Xuejin lives."
Xu Dayuan was taken aback, as the news was quite unexpected.
"You’re saying, the nanny Wen Xiue that works for Fang Wenjie, she took Wang Guanli to Qin Xuejin’s place, even helped Wang Guanli to leave?"
"Yes, of course, I’m still looking for evidence to prove that the murderer who ca to kill at Qin Xuejin’s place was Wang Guanli."
"You keep looking, and let know imdiately if there’s any news. I’ll send soone to arrest Wen Xiue right away—after all, taking the murderer to the scene would make her an accomplice."
Zhou Ning murmured an acknowledgnt and hung up the phone.
At this mont, Mr. Qu was using the screenshots of Wen Xiue to search through several surveillance caras at the entrance of the complex. Wen Xiue’s number of entries into the complex was as high as nine tis, and this surveillance could only save footage for one month.
That is to say, Wen Xiue lied. Besides cleaning Fang Wenjie’s and Elder Cui’s places, she also took care of Qin Xuejin’s, as no one is more familiar with a ho’s situation than a nanny.
Zhou Ning’s brow was furrowed as he waved his hand at Mr. Qu.
"Mr. Qu, see if you can find any information in the other surveillance footage shortly before Wen Xiue left, like whether there is a surveillance cara in the building in front that could capture the angle of the south window of Qin Xuejin’s place."
Mr. Qu got busy, and Mr. Zhao glanced over at the south side’s electric curtains, which were open when they arrived. They hadn’t found a remote control, despite searching around for one.
"With such a fancy renovation, how do you open or close the electric curtains without a remote control?"
Yang Xuetong glanced around and thought aloud:
"My house was just renovated, and I rember the salesperson telling about a luxury item that didn’t necessarily require a remote control, voice commands would do. It seems to be connected to so sort of smart ho system, everything like the air conditioner, TV, and projector could be connected to it—you just have to speak a command."
Mr. Zhao blinked.
"I think I’ve heard of that, but how do you say it? ’Open sesa’, please close the curtains!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a sound echoed across the room. Everyone turned in surprise to see that the curtains had indeed closed, which seed entertaining to Mr. Zhao who quickly continued:
"Open sesa, curtains open!"
After a brief pause, the curtains opened again.
"..."
The others looked at Mr. Zhao as if he were an idiot, while Mr. Qu couldn’t stop laughing.
"It seems Qin Xuejin is on par with you, setting such a passphrase."
Mr. Zhao slapped Mr. Qu on the back and, rolling his eyes, urged him:
"Enough talk, get on with it!"
At that mont, several surveillance feeds were flickering on the computer screen in front of Mr. Qu. Clearly, he was searching for a surveillance cara with the right angle. Suddenly, in the corner of a screen, soone approached the window, seemingly looking out.
"Zoom in on that!"
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