novelcrest Chapter 13: Julien Twelve
Chapter 13: Julien Twelve
Chapter 13: Julien Twelve
TL: cici, Editor: MochiMochi, QC: Me3
Synopsis: "Have you ever heard of the Golden Triangle Area, then?"
First Published on Ainushi.
"Around ten past nine He Zhongyi got on a No.34 bus at the East Nanping Drive Stop. About 20 minutes later, the No. 34 bus arrived at the Wenchang Intersection Stop. He Zhongyi got off and the surveillance camera near Wenchang Crossing captured his figure from the back. A few minutes later, he walked out of the area covered by surveillance and became untraceable."
Luo Wenzhou grew up in Yancheng, so names of the places were enough for him to figure out the approximate location.
"Wenchang Road" was located in the area southeast of the Central Business District of Huashi District. Meaning, after the deceased left Chengguang Mansion, not only did he not go home but he also went further in the opposite direction.
"I'm at the Wenchang Intersection right now," said Tao Ran with a mobile phone in his hand, traffic noises all around him. "So at least between nine o'clock and half past nine, He Zhongyi was not at the Western District. The noises heard by the people around at the time were unrelated to the murder. Ma Xiaowei was wronged. Why did Wang Hongliang capture him in such a hurry? Those who don't know the details will think it was the police who killed and wanted to find someone to take the rap."
"Captain Luo." At this moment, a criminal policeman ran over and tackled Luo Wenzhou with a pile of material. "Colleagues from legal medical sent over the report. It is estimated that the time of death of the deceased, He Zhongyi, was between nine o'clock and ten o'clock in the evening of the 20th." nine o'clock to ten o'clock," Luo Wenzhou took over the material and browsed through them, not answering Tao Ran's question. "According to this conclusion, it is highly probable that He Zhongyi was killed shortly after he got off the bus."
Tao Ran apparently found a quiet place so there was much less noise on the phone: "At about nine o'clock, dinner at Chengguang Mansion was just over. Zhang Donglai came out of the room and was recorded by the surveillance camera in the courtyard for the first time. He stayed in the courtyard for a while and then returned to the room. At around a quarter to ten, he was seen again by the surveillance camera in the courtyard. He talked to a girl for some time and then they went to the grove together."
Luo Wenzhou sighed: "I think Young Master Zhang has a really tight schedule and should be too busy to kill someone."
"If Zhang Donglai doesn't have a twin brother, he is indeed cleared of suspicion. Do we have to let him go?"
Luo Wenzhou did not express an opinion on this matter and asked: "What else have you found?"
"Communication records," said Tao Ran, "Let me tell you, this is strange. The deceased made a phone call when he was waiting for someone outside Chengguang Mansion, didn't he? I got his number from his roommate and checked his communication records. In the evening of the 20th, He Zhongyi communicated several times with an unregistered number by phone."
"Hmm?" Luo Wenzhou raised his eyebrows. "How is this strange? We have deduced that the deceased and the murderer should know each other, haven't we?"
Tao Ran said: "The strange part is not the phone calls - around ten to ten that evening, He Zhongyi received a text message from another unregistered and untraceable number, which reads 'Checkout location was changed to the Golden Triangle Area, May 20th'. What do you think this means? Checkout? Checkout for what? With whom? And what is this 'Golden Triangle' Area? I sort of feel that this name is a bit..."
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Luo Wenzhou suddenly interrupted him: "Before that, Wenchang Road is the core area of the old city and is heavily populated. Nine o'clock to ten o'clock is not too late. Take a few brothers there, ask around to check if anyone there saw him."
Tao Ran was puzzled. Before he could say anything, Luo Wenzhou had already hung up in a hurry. He could not help but frown at his mobile phone. Before this case, Tao Ran thought that Wang Hongliang was simply just a bug in the system; all he wanted to do was shift his responsibility to others and enjoy all the privileges without doing a stroke of work. Therefore, in order to prevent him from doing anything that goes over the line, breaks the rule or obstructs the investigation, it was better to find an excuse and kick him down.
It was not until this moment that Tao Ran was finally aware, vaguely, of the fact that there was more to this case than just politics.
The Criminal Investigation Team of the Bureau worked very efficiently. In less than an hour, the criminal police were all in position. They were divided into four groups and began to ask around with a detailed close-up photo of the deceased, He Zhongyi.
Generally speaking, this kind of work was one of the criminal police's daily activities. It had to be done, but it was extremely time-consuming and boring. It was about as painful as handing out leaflets along the road. They had to explain the same thing to countless people many times over, but whether they could find any clues or not still depended on luck.
Because the human eyes are not surveillance cameras, it is impossible for them to keep a record of every passer-by.
And the city was too large. Everyone moved round and round in the torrent of daily commutes - most of the neighbors were just bowing acquaintances to each other. There was nothing but a large blanket of lowered heads in public transports. With just a palm-sized screen, one could watch the farce happening at the other side of the ocean, dive into the tales of the north and south poles, and participate in the discussion of all the major events happening in the 9.6 million square kilometers area (1). People were busy every single minute. Of course they had no time to remember a trifling, inappropriately dressed worker.
Because he was too ordinary and too boring, he was not good enough for others to look at, nor good enough to be kept in anyone's memory even for a short time.
Living or dead.
Luo Wenzhou did not turn a hair: "Illegal parking, I will not plead for you in the submission of fine."
Chen Zhen was pale with humiliation and anger intertwining on his face. He glared at Luo Wenzhou fiercely: "My sister is not that kind of person."
Luo Wenzhou remained unmoved, reached out and knocked at the window, stressing every syllable: "E -- vi -- dence."
"My sister wasn't able to tell me anything in time," said Chen Zhen, "During those days she was not able to fall asleep night after night. Everyday she seemed to be afraid of something. If I asked her, she would lose her temper at me, and told me not to put my finger in her pie. I... I overheard her call with someone..."
Luo Wenzhou: "Who?"
Chen Zhen lowered his head, wiped his eyes and shook his head quickly.
Luo Wenzhou pulled out a piece of tissue from beside him and handed it to Chen Zhen: "Have you ever heard of the Golden Triangle Area, then?"
Chen Zhen was puzzled.
At the Fei building, the secretary knocked on the door of Fei Du's office: "President Fei, Rong Shun's Lawyer Zhao came."
Fei Du nodded: "He has an appointment, welcome him."
The secretary had never worked overtime ever since she started to work for her current boss, Fei Du, nor had she seen him meet a work-related guest at this hour. Therefore she could not help but feel a sense of novelty.
She smiled and led the guest to Fei Du's office. After that, she served the tea and sized him up stealthily. She found that this Lawyer Zhao was well-dressed, tall and handsome; there was, however, a special air of youthfulness in his eyes and eyebrows, both of which combined and produced a special pure temperament.
The secretary always knew that this Fei guy was always fine with both man and woman. Particularly, he liked the type that was gentle, quiet, pure and relatively not one to take the initiative. Therefore, she was suddenly "enlightened". Before she could figure out everything, her eyes met with Fei Du's eyes and faint smile. With her tongue sticking out, she quickly picked up the professional conduct of "Imperial Palace Steward" and left with her eyes looking at her nose and her nose looking at her mouth (4).
Rong Shun was the legal advisor they employed for a few special projects. Fei Du supported his chin and listened to Lawyer Zhao describing several documents in detail as if he was really absorbing. And then he cut in with the gloves off: "How is Ting Ting?"
Lawyer Zhao was puzzled. Apparently he did not expect that this trust fund baby, who was lacking in both learning and practical ability, would not even bother to pretend to understand things for a while. He quickly reacted, however, remaining calm and laying down the materials he had prepared for a long time: "I heard from a classmate majoring in penal law that the evidence of the police is not enough to carry out the arrest. President Zhang should be released tomorrow. It's nothing serious. Ting Ting was falsely alarmed. Thank you for your concern."
"Ting Ting is not my only concern," Fei Du smiled ambiguously like he had said a thousand word without speaking. "It seems that at crucial times, it is really useful to know a few young talents like Lawyer Zhao - would you indulge me by staying here for dinner together?"
Lawyer Zhao frowned and was about to reject. However, Fei Du had already stood up without allowing him to speak and gave him a "please" gesture.
Fei Company was Rong Shun's biggest client. The two parties started the cooperation even before Fei Du became the president, so it had always been a big source of Rong Shun's revenue. Zhao Haochang had to give face to Fei Du, so he had no choice but to stand up.
"I don't know if you avoid certain food, so I let them prepare something random," Fei Du walked in front of him and asked seemingly without intention, "By the way, Haochang, where is your hometown, are you a native?"
This should be a normal, very-easy-to-answer question. However, Zhao Haochang was suddenly stuck. Not until Fei Du felt something was wrong and looked back at him inquiringly, did Zhao Haochang finally avoid Fei Du's gaze and block him off with an "mm", neither affirming nor denying it.
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(1) 9.6 million square kilometers: The area of China.
(2) Put a 'criminal' hat on him: Means to put a 'criminal' label on someone.
(3) Mediterranean Sea: Since Mediterranean Sea is almost completely enclosed by land, this phrase is used as a metaphor for people who's bold at the top of the head but has hair around that area.
(4) Her eyes looking at her nose and her nose looking at her mouth: Buddhists believe when we concentrate on our nose, we could somehow see things through it. So this sentence basically means only focus on herself.
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