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

Chapter 293 Golden Buddha!

That afternoon.

While Yang Jinwen was in the office, Cai Ting and Qi Bin returned.

"Captain Yang, we have investigated Yuan Dajun's social connections before his death, and here is the list of people involved."

Cai Ting handed the notebook to Yang Jinwen. It contained three names: Du Junhong, Sun Kang, and Tao Jianye.

Cai Ting drew a horizontal line under Tao Jianye's name.

She explained, "These three people are all factory owners who buy a lot of coal from Yuan Dajun's mine every year."

We interviewed Du Junhong and Sun Kang, who admitted to knowing "Yin Hong" but insisted that they did not force "Yin Hong" to have a relationship with them.

This Du Junhong is the purchasing manager of Annan Steel Plant…

Yang Jinwen recognized the man and frowned, saying, "I remember that the coal used by Annan Steel Plant was all transported from Danan Coal Mine."

"That's right, so Du Junhong bought coal from Yuan Dajun's mine at an extremely low price, and then sold it to the steel mill as coal from Dannan Coal Mine, passing it off as high-quality coal."

He also colluded with the accountant to falsify accounts, which constitutes a suspected job-related crime. We have already reported this to Angang Steel, and the factory said they will handle the matter themselves.

Yang Jinwen nodded. This Du Junhong was the brother-in-law of the director of An'nan Steel Plant. He was incredibly arrogant. Even when Yang Dachuan was the deputy director, he didn't dare to confront him directly.

"Where is this Sun Kang?"

“Sun Kang is the owner of the metallurgical plant. He said that in order to maintain business relations with him, Yuan Dajun once hinted that ‘Yin Hong’ could accompany him for a few days.”

Sun Kang himself said that he did have this idea, but he has a six-year-old daughter and felt that as a father, he shouldn't do it, so he refused.

"The 'Crimson Red' gift that Yuan Dajun gave to his business partner was this Tao Jianye?"

"That's right, Tao Jianye is the deputy general manager of An'nan Chemical Plant, a state-owned enterprise."

"What about others?"

"disappeared."

"When did this happen?"

Cai Ting raised her voice and replied, "Late at night on January 22nd, after Yin Hong went missing."

Upon hearing this time, Yang Jinwen abruptly stood up: "Are you sure it's this time?"

Cai Ting nodded: "We went to Tao Jianye's home, and his wife and parents said the same thing. Three days after Tao Jianye went missing, his family reported it to the police. We went to the local police station to verify and confirmed that Tao Jianye was missing."

"Does nobody know where he went?"

Nobody knows.

"Who was Tao Jianye's last meeting? Where did he go? Has that been investigated?"

Cai Ting shook her head: "We came back immediately after hearing the news, and we haven't had time to investigate yet."

"Come with me." Yang Jinwen picked up the holster from the table and tucked it into the belt at his waist.

Tao Jianye lives in the Chengbei District of An'nan City.

Besides being the old town, Chengbei District has many state-owned factories located here, the largest being Anan Steel Plant and Chemical Plant.

Compared to the north of the city, the factories in the south of the city and Jiaxing District are all emerging enterprises, such as electronics factories and computer malls, which are located here.

Two hours later.

Yang Jinwen, Cai Ting, and Qi Bin drove to the city.

Tao Jianye did not live in the chemical plant's staff housing; he had a three-bedroom apartment outside where he lived with his wife and children.

When Yang Jinwen arrived, it happened to be lunchtime.

Needless to say, Tao Jianye was not a clean and honest person. At a glance, the furnishings and appliances in his house were not things he should have; they were all foreign brands.

The wine cabinet was filled with expensive imported liquors, and there was also a display shelf in the living room with a golden Buddha statue and two very beautiful antique vases.

Tao Jianye is 46 years old. His son is an adult but not yet married and works at a chemical plant.

"Your name is Tao Xiang?"

"Yes, may I ask which unit you are from?" Tao Jianye's son spoke with an air of someone from within the system.

Cai Ting showed him her identification: "Municipal Public Security Bureau."

"So you're from the Municipal Bureau." Tao Xiang put on a smile and gestured, "Please have a seat. Let me pour you some water. Would you like tea or a soft drink?"

"Either is fine," Cai Ting replied.

When Tao Xiang returned from making tea in the kitchen, he handed it to Yang Jinwen and the others, saying, "My father has been missing for half a year. The police station has been investigating for a long time, but there's still no news. I was thinking of going to the branch office to ask about the situation, but I didn't expect to alarm your Public Security Bureau."

Yang Jinwen took the teacup, placed it on the coffee table, but did not drink any water.

He laughed and said, "Your father is the deputy general manager of the chemical plant, with a deputy division-level position. If he suddenly disappeared, given his position, it would have alarmed the branch office to investigate. Why would the police station be asked to look for him?"

"Uh, this..."

Tao Xiang laughed awkwardly, "Mainly because we don't want to take up public resources..."

Yang Jinwen squinted and asked, "Are you afraid that the branch office or the municipal public security bureau will find out something?"

"You've misunderstood, that's not it..." Tao Xiang quickly took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and handed one to Yang Jinwen.

Yang Jinwen waved his hand, and Tao Xiang awkwardly withdrew his hand, too embarrassed to pull it out himself.

"Captain Yang, my father's disappearance has nothing to do with his work."

This means that if Yang Jinwen is to investigate, he should avoid this particular area.

Yang Jinwen wasn't buying it: "What does that have to do with?"

Tao Xiang glanced at his mother sitting to the side and said, "Mom, go to the bedroom for a while." Tao Jianye's wife sighed and nodded.

After she left, Tao Xiang said, "Captain Yang, let me be frank with you, my dad's behavior... is really not good. I suspect he might have fallen for some woman."

Yang Jinwen squinted: "Why do you say that?"

"He has problems in this area."

"Then name a few."

Tao Xiang nodded and named several women who had been associated with Tao Jianye in the past.

Yang Jinwen asked, "Has the police station investigated them?"

"We've checked, but we still can't find the person."

"You said your father went missing on January 23rd, but what exactly was that?"

After thinking for a moment, Tao Xiang replied, "The specific time should be the evening of January 22nd. Because it was almost Chinese New Year, my father had a lot of drinking parties. That evening, after having dinner with some friends, he was about to take a taxi home, but he didn't get home and disappeared."

This is what the police station told us after their investigation.

As for where he went, nobody knows.

Yang Jinwen pondered for a moment and asked, "When was the last time your father's friends saw him?"

“I asked them, and they said it was past 11 p.m., almost midnight.”

On the evening of January 22, the deaf-mute woman died in 'Yin Hong's' home. Later that night, after 1 p.m., Zhong Aihua drove home from the city and found that 'Yin Hong' was missing.

Around midnight that night, Tao Jianye, the deputy general manager of the chemical plant, also disappeared.

The relationship between 'Yin Hong' and Tao Jianye was facilitated by Yuan Dajun. In order to secure his own coal mine business, Yuan Dajun gave 'Yin Hong' to Tao Jianye as a form of 'reward'.

From 'Yin Hong' instigating Yuan Lang to kill Yuan Dajun, to her own participation in the murder.

Undoubtedly, she deeply hated Yuan Dajun.

After killing Yuan Dajun, 'Yin Hong' did not target Tao Jianye. What was the reason for this?

It's simple, because she wanted to just walk away, since murder is a capital offense.

Zhong Aihua confessed that he met "Yin Hong" six months ago and began to pursue her. The two young people fell in love and got married a few months later.

Until January 22nd, the deaf-mute woman boarded the K121 green train, ingested paraquat, endured excruciating pain for more than ten hours, and risked certain death to reach Danan County, where she broke into 'Yin Hong's' home, shattering her peaceful life.

So why did 'Crimson' suddenly leave?

Before she died, the deaf-mute woman insisted on finding "Crimson." What was she trying to tell the other person?
Was Tao Jianye's disappearance a coincidence? Or is it related to 'Yin Hong'?

A series of questions surfaced in Yang Jinwen's mind.

After a long period of thought, he asked, "Mr. Tao, have you searched the places your father frequented?"

"I've looked for it."

"Where is his phone number?"

"I can't get through."

"Besides this house, does your family own any other houses elsewhere?"

Seeing Tao Xiang hesitate, Yang Jinwen narrowed his eyes and said, "Tell the truth."

"Yes, we have two other houses, but I went to check them out, and he wasn't living in the new house."

“Okay.” Yang Jinwen stood up, preparing to take his leave.

Seeing his unpleasant expression, Tao Xiang quickly said, "Captain Yang, regarding my father's conduct, I would like to ask you..."

Yang Jinwen glanced at him and pointed to the golden Buddha on the display shelf: "You'd better go to the relevant department and make an explanation, or I'll have to report you."

As for Tao Jianye's whereabouts, we will notify you once we find him, or his body.

Upon hearing this, Tao Xiang's face immediately darkened: "No, Captain Yang, that's not right. What do you mean by 'go to the relevant departments to make an explanation'? You even reported them..."

Yang Jinwen stared coldly at him, pointed at his chest, and said, "How many laid-off workers are there in An'nan City this year? How many workers from your chemical plant have been laid off this year? How many of them have families to support?"

I'm giving you three days. If you don't make a decision, don't blame me for reporting this to my superiors.

Also, if you care about your father, you should have heard me just now. I said I was talking about finding your father's 'body'!
You'd better think carefully about what you should really care about.

Yang Jinwen stepped out of the room, and Cai Ting followed behind him. She turned around and left a message: "Our team leader's name is Yang Jinwen. You'd better go and ask around. He usually keeps his word. I advise you not to hesitate, lest you end up in a bad situation."

Qi Bin wasn't much of a talker. He extended his index and middle fingers, pointed to his eyes, and then to Tao Xiang.

It means don't even think about running away, we're keeping a close eye on you.

As the group prepared to go downstairs, they heard Tao Xiang cursing and the sound of a door slamming shut.

Cai Ting asked, "Captain Yang, how do we investigate now?"

Yang Jinwen stopped on the stairs, thought for a few seconds, and replied, "If Tao Jianye's disappearance is related to 'Yin Hong' and the date is January 22nd, then she did not leave from Danan County Railway Station. She should have taken a train from Anan City Railway Station and gone somewhere, most likely to Deyang."

Call the Chengbei Criminal Police Team to help investigate whether Yin Hong appeared at An'nan Railway Station on the morning of January 23.

Also... also check which hotels Tao Jianye frequently ate at and stayed at, especially on the night of January 22nd, to see if he stayed at any of them.

"Okay," Cai Ting replied.

Yang Jinwen quickly went downstairs, his mind filled with images of the woman named 'Yin Hong,' which were sometimes unfamiliar and sometimes familiar.

Investigating this case felt like holding a scalpel, dissecting 'Crimson's' life, and investigating her long past...

(End of this chapter)