The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 198 Denial
Jin Yan subtly pushed the ATM toward the wealthy woman: "If you swipe your card today, we'll give you an autographed item from an African royal family as a gift."

Upon hearing this, Qi Fei almost rolled his eyes. This guy surnamed Jin really talks nonsense without thinking.

Qi Fei's large hand pressed down on the ATM.

Jin Yan looked up with displeasure, but upon seeing Qi Fei's face, he knew that the visitor was up to no good and quickly restrained his temper.

The wealthy woman felt that Qi Fei looked familiar and naturally asked Jin Yan, "Is this a regular customer of yours?"

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I accidentally arranged to meet at the same time." Jin Yan said evasively. "Madam, let me see you off first. I'll call you later about the diamond."

Qi Fei realized that this guy was trying to slip away, so he reached out and stopped him: "You have to stay."

At this point, the wealthy woman realized something was wrong, dropped her feigned innocence, and left.

Qi Fei hung up a "Closed" sign on the door and showed Jin Yan his police officer ID.

Upon seeing the police officer's badge, a flicker of panic crossed Jin Yan's eyes, but it quickly dissipated: "We're operating legally, why did you have to come all this way?"

Qi Fei didn't say much, but pointed to the cubicle in front of him: "Come on, let's go to your VIP reception room and have a good chat."

As soon as they entered the VIP room, Qi Fei threw Su Jing's screenshot in front of him: "You know this person, right?"

Jin Yan's cheek twitched slightly. He didn't answer immediately. Behind his platinum-rimmed glasses, which lacked lenses, his eyes darted rapidly from side to side, as if countless thoughts were passing through his mind.

"Don't dwell on it anymore. Your middleman is dead. You're now suspected of more than just smuggling; you're also being investigated for murder," Qi Fei said coldly.

Upon hearing the word "murder," Jin Yan abruptly raised his head: "I only learned about that person's death from the news; I didn't kill him!"

As soon as he said that, he regretted it, because Qi Fei across from him smiled and said, "So it seems you did know the deceased Chen Hao?"

"Ah, this..." Jin Yan, who was usually so eloquent, was speechless for a moment. "I booked my plane ticket through this person." He seemed to have made up his mind and suddenly raised his voice.

However, these were all expected. Qi Fei tossed another screenshot of the airport surveillance footage to Jin Yan: "Your method does leave fewer traces online, but how should I put it, you've outsmarted yourself. Chen Hao's booking information clearly shows the time and name. Just check the airport surveillance footage against the flight information, and you can clearly see your actions."

On March 24th, you bought a short-haul ticket to Baicheng, and Chen Hao, a thoughtful ticketing manager, picked you up at the airport as agreed.

It's ostensibly a service, but in reality, it's about handing you diamonds disguised as cosmetic boxes.

You had found a blind spot in the surveillance, which would have allowed you to complete the transaction without anyone noticing.

However, something unexpected happened that day. After you got Chen Hao's things, you, who were experts in jewelry appraisal, immediately saw that the diamonds on them were fake.

So when you came back to find Chen Hao, you threw the loose powder box at him.

This action was clearly captured by the surveillance cameras. See that sparkle? That's from the rhinestone-encrusted powder compact.

Of course, more importantly, we found multiple fingerprints on this box, and I think one of them is yours, right?

"Hey handsome policeman, you can find these kinds of makeup boxes everywhere. These are just your interpretations based on the pictures."

Even if I threw something at Chen Hao, it was because he booked the wrong flight and delayed my business. I was so angry. Is there a problem with that? Hearing this, Jin Yan was no longer flustered. He felt that the police's discovery was nothing special. "This is a makeup box that I picked up casually. I don't know where it came from." He puffed out his chest, seemingly very satisfied with his answer.

Qi Fei wasn't in a hurry when he heard this. He simply took out a business list: "Every time Su Jing comes back from Africa, you should ask Chen Hao to book the cheapest round-trip flight."

"Would you mind telling me what you were doing going to these places?"

Jin Yan leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest: "Please help me out, okay? I do custom tailoring, so going to the nearby place is obviously to meet my clients."

"Heh, I bet these client lists are confidential, you can't provide them, can you?"

"You are very smart."

"I must thank you for your confirmation. Since you put it that way, let me share my guess. As a shrewd businessman, you always choose the cheapest flight. I was wondering, once you arrive at your destination, would such a shrewd person be willing to spend extra money on a car to leave the airport?"

As Qi Fei recounted his story, Jin Yan's expression changed.

Qi Fei continued, "So, being the clever person I am, I contacted several of your destination airports and retrieved the surveillance footage from the day you arrived. Could it be that your high-end clients are meeting you at these airports?"
Oh, no, you don't even have time to meet with clients, because you'll be catching a flight back to Nancheng soon.

Upon hearing this, Jin Yan fell silent, his face turning pale and then red. However, he quickly came up with an excuse: "I was just embarrassed to admit that I have a hobby of flying. That's not illegal, is it?"

"If that's the case, what did Chen Hao do to bother you and make you so angry?" Qi Fei seized on Jin Yan's loopholes. Of course, he knew that such an argument was pointless, so he presented more compelling evidence: several unusual perspective drawings were placed in front of Chen Hao.

"These are security check images of your and Su Jing's suitcases from all your trips. You must be familiar with the things circled on them, right?"

Every time, you and Su Jing carry the same things, sometimes cosmetics, sometimes keychains. Of course, you can tell me that this is just a coincidence, but what is even more coincidental is..." Qi Fei said, pointing to an inconspicuous gray spot on these items, "As a jewelry appraisal expert, tell me why the material of one of the inlays on these items is completely different from the other inlays when viewed through the lens?"

"It can't be such a coincidence that you two have diamonds of the exact same size and shape set in the same item, can it?"

Jin Yan's confident gaze began to waver.

Qi Fei stared intently at his face: "Even if you don't say it, we can still use technical analysis to determine that this gray development belongs to the same rare substance."

Just like the sales pitch you use on wealthy women, every diamond born in Angola is unique.

I can't wish you happiness this holiday, so I'll wish you peace and joy instead.