You're supposed to be a security officer, what case are you solving?

Chapter 142 The real killer is someone else!

"The storage room on the second floor? That room is usually locked. There's a laundry sink next to the window. I wash my bed sheets there during the day while I'm at work."

“Okay.” Yang Jinwen nodded.

He Jinbo instructed the police officer standing to the side, "Ask her who stayed at the hotel before she got off work. Their names, heights, and if you remember the addresses, that would be best. Verify everything."

Upon reaching the corridor, he addressed Zheng Kang, Yang Jinwen, and Maozi, saying, "We have a meeting early tomorrow morning, and we can't be without a direction for our investigation."

"Alright, Lao Zheng, you take Yang Jinwen and Maozi and go to the mahjong parlor on Jianshe Road right now to find Tian Xiong."

“Okay.” Zheng Kang nodded.

"Take two more people, and bring their guns."

"it is good."

It was already 8 p.m. when Yang Jinwen, Zheng Kang, and Maozi drove to Jianshe Road.

Upon arriving at their destination, they parked their car in front of the savings bank and then drove into the alley.

The alley is lined with shops on both sides, but most of them are closed. Once inside, you'll find yourself in a square surrounded by commercial buildings, which are not very tall, with a maximum of three floors.

The shops on the ground floor facing the street were either hair salons, mahjong parlors, or audio-visual stores, and they were still open at this time.

There was only one mahjong parlor, located in a semi-basement, with the word "Mahjong" written on its glass window.

Zheng Kang, with a bag tucked under his arm, nodded to Yang Jinwen and Maozi. The three of them stepped down the cement steps and pushed open the door.

The room was filled with smoke, with about ten people playing mahjong. The air was thick with the pungent smell of smoke, and the sounds of washing mahjong tiles and shouting out the results filled the air.

Yang Jinwen glanced around and saw that several tables were occupied by thugs dressed in blue denim jackets or black suits.

People who are seriously playing cards usually keep their eyes on the cards, but these few people looked up and glanced at Yang Jinwen and the others.

Zheng Kang patted the back of a chair behind one of the thugs and asked, "Where is Tian Xiong?"

The thugs ignored him, and Zheng Kang glared at them fiercely: "I'll ask you one more time, where is Tian Xiong? I need to talk to him about something."

The thugs remained silent, focused only on stacking cards.

Zheng Kang smacked his lips. At that moment, Yang Jinwen took out cigarettes and smiled as he handed one to each of the thugs.

"Brothers, don't be offended. My uncle is a businessman and not very good at talking. We're looking for Brother Tian Xiong to partner with us in some business."

A thug glanced at Zheng Kang, then smiled at Yang Jinwen and said, "Go in through the back door, he's outside, but you'll have to wait a bit. A girl lost all her money and wants to borrow some from Brother Xiong, who's searching her right now."

After he said that, the others chuckled.

"Thank you," Yang Jinwen nodded.

Zheng Kang shook his head and followed Yang Jinwen and Maozi through the crowded tables and chairs to the back wall, where a calendar was hanging.

The bottom half of the calendar features a beautiful woman in a swimsuit, and the date is December 11th, the tenth day of the lunar month.

The door on the left was ajar, and Yang Jinwen peeked through the crack; sure enough, there was someone outside.

A fat man with a mullet-shaped hairstyle and a thick gold chain around his neck was hugging a woman and groping her body. The woman was wearing red leather pants, and half of her buttocks were exposed.

Zheng Kang also noticed this and said, "You two, stop staring around. Hurry up and ask your questions so you can go back and report."

"Okay." The cat swallowed.

Yang Jinwen opened the door, coughed twice, and called out, "Tian Xiong."

Tian Xiong's body was originally turned to the side, but as soon as Yang Jinwen called his name, he immediately turned around, turned the woman around, and made her back face the door.

This was a defensive move, and Yang Jinwen immediately placed his right hand on his lower back.

"Who are you?" Tian Xiong asked nervously.

Zheng Kang replied, "The police."

"Oh my god, that scared me to death."

Tian Xiong pushed the woman away and pointed at her face: "I thought he was this woman's husband."

The woman glared at him, her face turning ashen.

Tian Xiong waved his hand: "Go, go find Da Chun, ask him to lend you some money. Forget about the interest, don't lend such a large amount, lend a small amount, one day at a time..."

The woman then smiled broadly, pulled up her trousers, and went inside.

Cat took a closer look; the woman was quite attractive, even pretty.

Tian Xiong shook his hands and wiped his palms on his suit.

"What do you want from me? I don't think I've done anything wrong lately, have I?"

Zheng Kang asked, "Do you know Yan Dahong?"

Tian Xiong narrowed his eyes, seemingly pondering the meaning behind those words.

Zheng Kang continued, "This is none of your business. Just answer honestly."

Tian Xiong chuckled: "I'll definitely cooperate with the police. I'm doing legitimate business. I know Yan Dahong, we're quite close. What did he do wrong?"

"how did you guys meet?"

Tian Xiong pointed inside the door: "Where else could it be? The mahjong parlor. This is where I socialize. I met most of my friends here."

"Did Yan Dahong borrow money from you?"

"Yes."

"What does he need the money for?"

"He said it was for his son's medical treatment and lent me five thousand."

Zheng Kang wanted to ask more questions, but Yang Jinwen interrupted, "You're not being honest, you're lying! What does he need the money for? Tell the truth." Tian Xiong smiled and said, "You can't hide it from you. Yan Dahong told me to say this to the outside world. Actually, he just lost at cards here."

"Where did the money for his child's medical treatment come from?"

"Oh, what bad timing. He already had money to treat his child's illness. If he gambled it all away, he'd have nothing left. So he asked me to borrow from him. That's what he told me to say to him."

"Where did his money come from before?"

"He saved it, he runs a guesthouse..."

Yang Jinwen took a few steps closer, staring at Tian Xiong: "Let me say it again, you'd better cooperate and not take the blame for Yan Dahong. You can't afford to. Do you think his wife doesn't know about the money he's saved?"

"Hey, it was stolen." Tian Xiong curled his lip.

Whose was it stolen from?

"Who else could it be but the guests staying at his guesthouse? They just sneak in while people are asleep and rummage through their bags."

"He told you?"

"Yes."

Does he have accomplices?

“He didn’t tell me, but I figured he definitely did. He’s such a coward, he couldn’t have done it alone. Besides, his guesthouse isn’t far from the train station, and that area is full of thieves. It would be easy for him to find an accomplice.”

Has he been short of money lately?

“Yes, I’m short of money,” Tian Xiong said. “Of course I am, you owe me 15,000 yuan.”

"Is the ten thousand in interest?"

Tian Xiong laughed and said, "I was just afraid he wouldn't be able to pay it back. I was just trying to scare him. If the interest rate isn't high enough, he won't work hard or save money. That won't do. Officer, didn't you just say you weren't here to cause me any trouble?"

When was the last time you saw him?

“It was about two weeks ago. He came to visit me and walked around, but he didn’t play any cards. He just watched other people play cards.”

What do you think of Yan Dahong?

"He's quite cunning and ruthless. Anyway, I don't think he's a good person."

"Why do you say that?"

“If he dares to steal, he dares to rob. There are many bag snatchers around the train station. He has sold stolen goods for others. And the last time I saw him, he said he wanted to make a lot of money to pay me back.”

Zheng Kang interjected, "Did he really say that?"

Tian Xiong nodded: "Yes, if you don't believe me, go ask a few of my underlings, they heard it too."

"Are you telling the truth?"

"That's definitely the truth."

“Okay.” Zheng Kang glanced at Yang Jinwen, and seeing that he had no questions, the three of them left the mahjong parlor.

They returned to the branch office after 11 p.m.

He Jinbo was still in the conference room, organizing materials for tomorrow's meeting.

After Zheng Kang told him what had happened, He Jinbo said, "Yan Dahong is a possible perpetrator. Director Ma and the others determined that the fire started on the second floor, and the storage room was the first place to catch fire. This is an attempt to destroy evidence."

Zheng Kang nodded and asked, "How many victims' identities have you found?"

"Old Jiang and his team only found out one person's identity. He found out that there was a shampoo girl in a hair salon across from the train station who disappeared last night after going out with a man."

In room 202 of the Dongfeng Guesthouse, a woman's red handbag and red high heels were found, matching the belongings of the shampoo girl named Wu Qingfang. The other victims are still being searched for by Lao Jiang and Lao Xu.

Zheng Kang asked, "What did the Municipal Bureau say?"

"The municipal bureau doesn't care, it's mainly the leaders above who are demanding that we solve the case within a limited time. Director Yang and Captain Wen are trying to negotiate with them to see if they can give us more time."

He Jinbo sighed, took a drag of his cigarette, and looked at Yang Jinwen sitting across the conference table: "Young Yang, Captain Yang, what are your thoughts on this case?"

Yang Jinwen was holding a pen, drawing a floor plan of the guesthouse, as well as the location where the body was found and the place where the fire started.

He put down his pen, looked up, and pondered for a while before saying, "Captain He, we need to see if Yan Dahong is among those corpses. If we can't confirm that, we can't proceed with our investigation."

"What I'm asking you is, could it be that Yan Dahong committed the crime?"

Yang Jinwen thought for a moment and said, "I think this case is a gang crime, not a case committed by one person."

He Jinbo nodded: "We've thought about that. Killing so many people, piling up the bodies, dousing them with gasoline, and burning them—one person couldn't do that. And we also need to investigate where all that gasoline came from."

Yang Jinwen said, "They covered up the victim's identity, hindered our investigation, and the crime scene was so close to the train station."

We need to check the earliest train that left Annam City early yesterday morning. These people robbed the money; they're most likely going to flee.

He Jinbo hurriedly said, "This line of thinking is correct. I will call Jiang Jianbing immediately and tell him not to investigate the victim's identity yet, but to investigate the train station first."

He had just stood up when the landline phone rang.

Cat happened to be next to the phone. He picked up the receiver and pressed speakerphone: "Hello? This is Chengbei..."

"Don't interrupt!" Wen Ling's tired voice came through: "Where are Captain He and Captain Zheng?"

"I'm right next to you, what do you need?"

"We've examined all the bodies. Yan Dahong is among the seven..."

He Jinbo was startled and quickly asked, "Wen Ling, are you sure? You can't just say that carelessly."

Wen Ling seemed very impatient: "All the forensic doctors in An'nan City are with me, Captain He, why don't you ask them?"
This is our unanimous judgment, primarily based on oral examination. Yan Dahong had a tooth extracted at a clinic before, so it's beyond doubt that Yan Dahong is indeed dead. The specific cause of death for these individuals will be discussed at tomorrow's meeting.

Wen Ling hung up the phone, and the conference room fell silent...

The hotel owner, Yan Dahong, is not the perpetrator; the real culprit is someone else!
(End of this chapter)