Chapter 73 The murderer's alibi

Chapter 73 The murderer's alibi

Chapter 73 The murderer's alibi
If we can figure out when Song Lang was poisoned, the scope of the case investigation can be narrowed down a lot.

Du Yu asked Li Dusheng for the surveillance footage of the nightclub on the day of the incident and the three days before. Because ice is consumed and replenished every night when the club is open, and there is a large flow of customers, a lot of ice is used, and it has to be purchased almost every day.

This means that more people will have contact with the kitchen, but finding a needle in a haystack has always been Du Yu's strong point, and now it's not even the sea, at best it's just catching fish in a small bay.

Li Dusheng said on the phone that he needed to deal with the surveillance. He said that the nightclub run by Xiaolang was considered the best nightclub in Jiangcheng, and some people who came to the club did not want to be seen on the surveillance.

Du Yu asked him back, what if the person he wanted to deal with was the murderer who killed Song Lang?
How much does Song Lang's life mean to him?

Li Dusheng was silent for a long time on the phone, then told Du Yu that he would send every bit of the surveillance footage to the Criminal Police Brigade, and made a gentleman's agreement with Du Yu that no matter who he saw in the surveillance footage, he should not make it public.

In the Criminal Police Brigade office, Du Yu and Xu Yiqing were waiting for Li Dusheng to send someone to deliver the surveillance USB flash drive.

Zhou Shi and several police officers from the investigation department went to No. 4 Middle School to investigate. Before the Song Lang case, there was a secret room of the principal of No. 4 Middle School waiting for them.

Lin Sheng was left by Xu Yiqing in the Forensic Department to complete Song Lang's autopsy report and toxicology test. The young man was happy to do this kind of clerical work, especially when Xu Yiqing was not around, he could slack off in the office as much as he wanted. As long as he could complete the work within the specified time, Xu Yiqing would not say anything to him.

Du Yu took a sip of instant coffee and asked, "Guess which dignitaries will be in the surveillance video later?"

Xu Yiqing spread his hands: "Will these people you mentioned really go to places like nightclubs? I think high-end restaurants are more likely."

Du Yu waved his hand meaningfully: "That's because you haven't cracked down on pornography before, you don't understand. There's no fun in high-end restaurants. Those are places for eating, showing off, and talking about things. After talking about things, you have to have fun. Otherwise, why do you think Li Dusheng hesitated and refused to hand over the surveillance at the beginning... He is not the type to dawdle."

Xu Yiqing stopped talking. He was not familiar with and had no interest in the ups and downs of officialdom and business dealings. He just wanted to do his job well.

In Du Yu's words, he was born to be a slave. If it weren't for his top knowledge and skills in the field, he would have become an ordinary worker who couldn't speak and had no emotional intelligence.

But this is where Xu Yiqing excels. He is so capable that he doesn't need to read people's expressions or engage in intrigue.

Moreover, he always considers others in everything he does, saving his fellow detectives a lot of trouble, and there will always be people who remember his kindness.

Even the director of Jiangcheng whose surname was Fu, although he was always called Director Fu by Xu Yiqing, would give Xu Yiqing the green light for any task within his responsibility as long as Xu Yiqing asked.

"Captain Du, someone is looking for you."

While the two were chatting, the police officer in the office received a call from the security guard and reported to Du Yu.

Du Yu said: "Tell him to come to my office directly."

After he finished speaking, he looked around the office, thought for a moment, and called two old detectives he trusted and who kept their mouths shut: "Lao Liu, Wen Yuan, put aside what you are doing and watch the surveillance with me later."

Xu Yiqing said: "Then I'll go back to the Forensic Department first. When you're done here, give me a call and let's go to No. 4 Middle School together. I have some ideas about the secret room."

"Old Xu, don't go back yet. Stay here and watch together."

"This is inappropriate. I'm not a criminal police officer. How can I watch surveillance?"

"We are the only two people in this office who have actually come into contact with the [Cleaner], and I need you to help me keep an eye out for suspicious people. You know what I mean, right? I'm afraid I won't be able to spot this kind of professional poisoning method."

Xu Yiqing thought, there is nothing wrong with this. Since the ice is poisonous, it must have been frozen long ago. All he needs to do is pay attention to who has touched the ice and whether anyone has put anything in the freezer or ice bucket.

But then I thought to myself that Du Yu probably had other plans and was just casually saying this as a reason to keep me here, so I didn't refute it.

Soon there was a knock on the office door.

Du Yu and Xu Yiqing were somewhat surprised by the people who came.

An elderly man, followed by Li Dusheng's cousin who was a henchman.

Du Yu and Xu Yiqing both felt that this elderly man, who was nearly seventy years old, looked somewhat familiar.

"Wait for me outside." The old man said to Li Dusheng's cousin, then looked at Du Yu: "Captain Du, right? My nephew is busy and can't come in person. Please bear with me."

Hearing this, Xu Yiqing and Du Yu looked at each other and suddenly realized.

The night Li Dusheng brought Li Yueyue's body back, they went to look for him and saw the old man in the mourning hall.

The uncle who took Li Dusheng to Hong Kong to work hard.

It is early summer now. The old man is wearing a thin but well-made jacket. At first glance, you can tell that it is made of high-quality fabrics with knitted embroidery, and is worth a lot of money.

He was wearing a small felt hat, which he took off after entering the office and held in his hand, pinning it against his chest.

This old man is well-mannered in his words and deeds. Considering his age, he was able to have such culture and style in the last century, which shows that he was also a well-known figure in Hong Kong when he was young.

Now he has returned to his hometown in Jiangcheng and retired behind the scenes, but he has encountered accidents one after another. First, he lost his loved ones, and now his nephew is in trouble again. He has no choice but to come out and move around.

After greeting Du Yu, he looked at Xu Yiqing meaningfully, from head to toe, and nodded secretly.

"My last name is Li, and my given name is Chuang." The old man introduced himself, and then took out the USB flash drive from his arms and said, "My nephew asked me to give this to you."

"Thank you for the trip, Mr. Li. We have received the stuff. I will leave the USB drive at the gate after I use it. You can ask the guard tomorrow."

Du Yu took the USB flash drive, then waved to the two veteran detectives who had just called out, asking them to come over and look at the surveillance footage.

Li Chuang gave the USB flash drive but showed no intention of leaving and just stood there.

Du Yu asked, "What else does Mr. Li need?"

Li Chuang had a smiling expression on his face. "Before I came here, my nephew told me to come and watch it, and said that Captain Du would agree. When people get older, they have nothing to do all day. Anyway, I am an old man and I don't have anything else to do. Captain Du can just ignore me."

What does Li Dusheng mean?
Du Yu frowned slightly, thinking that it seemed that the guy with a fox heart was still worried about the surveillance.

After thinking for a moment, he nodded: "Okay, but don't move or look around. This is because the surveillance belongs to you, and... we are also in the wrong about Song Lang's matter."

Although the poisoning occurred in the nightclub, Du Yu felt a little guilty about Song Lang's death because he failed to fulfill his promise to protect his personal safety.

Li Chuang laughed and waved his hand: "Of course, there is no order without rules. I am too old to go to jail."

Du Yu chose the computer in the corner to watch the surveillance. It wasn't that he didn't trust his colleagues, but since Li Dusheng had greeted him, he would probably see some familiar faces of the leaders in the surveillance. It was like giving the leaders some face in front of their subordinates.

Du Yu plugged in the USB drive, thinking that after several rounds of severe crackdowns, it shouldn't be too outrageous.

It was just as he thought. Because there were only surveillance cameras in the lobby and the kitchen, no one who made Du Yu particularly embarrassed was captured. Occasionally, there were a few people he remembered, such as the owner of a real estate agency, or some rich second-generations he always encountered during the crackdown on prostitution.

"Let's start with the surveillance footage from three days ago." Du Yu divided the time periods. He, two detectives, and Xu Yiqing divided the work among them and played it at double the speed so they could finish watching it quickly.

Li Chuang stood behind a few people, squinting his eyes and looking at them with his hands behind his back, looking very casual, as if he was shopping in a mall and choosing goods.

Stand here and look around, then look over there.

Three days of surveillance, four people watched it at triple speed for two hours.

Whenever someone appeared in the kitchen or approached the bar, Du Yu would pause and ask Li Chuang about the person's identity. According to Li Chuang himself, most of them were nightclub staff, and a small number were also Li Dusheng's henchmen.

"How long have they been with Li Dusheng?"

Li Chuang smiled meaningfully: "What's the point of following or not? We are doing a legitimate business, officer. But I understand what you mean. They have known my nephew for a long time and have a clean background."

"Is there no possibility of being bribed?"

"No one is perfect, so this is possible." It was obvious that Li Chuang had been in Hong Kong for so many years and was used to betrayal and intrigue, but he changed the subject and said, "But Xiaolang has never offended anyone. If he really was bribed by a villain, it would be my nephew who died, or at least my old bones."

Li Chuang told a little lie as to why Li Dusheng didn't come.

After learning in the early morning that Song Lang died of poisoning, Li Chuang asked Li Dusheng to stay in a safe place and not move around, and all his food and drink were strictly controlled until the police caught the murderer.

He, the uncle who once took Li Dusheng out to explore the world, temporarily took on the responsibility of running around.

Du Yu continued to watch the surveillance video, and he found that Li Chuang often went to Song Lang's store. The surveillance video had sound, and no matter what Song Lang was doing, as long as he saw Li Chuang coming in, he would immediately put down what he was doing and stand up, showing full respect for the elders.

"Mr. Li, do you often go to nightclubs?"

"I didn't go there often before." Li Chuang smiled no matter what he said, a real smiling tiger: "Recently, my nephew wants to do some other business, and Xiaolang's store often has distinguished guests visiting. From time to time, I go to say hello to Xiaolang and remind him of some things."

"You also drank the wine Song Lang mixed for you?"

"Little Wolf is good at mixing drinks, and customers like it. How can you do business without trying your own craft? Besides, I'm an old man now, I've been drinking Shaodaozi and kaoliang wine all my life, and I want to try foreign goods occasionally... Haha, to be honest, I'm not destined to enjoy it, and I still think Shaodaozi is spicy."

Du Yu pondered for a moment after hearing this and didn't say anything more.

About half an hour later, he ordered us to leave.

"Mr. Li, please go back. I have other things to do later... Or would you like to come with me?"

"Haha, officer, you're joking. The old man still knows his place. I won't bother you any more."

"I'll leave the USB drive at the gate. Please tell Li Dusheng to remember to pick it up."

"It's just a small gadget and not worth much. It would be best if I could use it in the bureau. I won't bother with it."

Li Dusheng's henchman had been standing outside the corridor until his legs were sore. There was no stool to sit on, and he didn't dare to leave Li Chuang alone. There was a lot of connections involved, because they were relatives, he had a much higher status than the average henchman, and he also knew how angry Li Dusheng would be if he neglected his uncle.

"Uncle San, you're finally out." Ma Zai rubbed his legs and beat his calves, his face full of sadness.

Li Chuang glanced at this relative who was very different from Li Dusheng, sighed and shook his head.

Fortunately, it was Li Dusheng who took the child away. At that time, the brother and sister were all alone and helpless, and my momentary kindness paid off.

Du Yu stood outside the corridor, watching them leave the police station from the window, and picked up the intercom: "Follow them until you can't catch up with them anymore."

Xu Yiqing rubbed the corners of his sore eyes: "You deliberately sent them away, right? I don't trust this Li Chuang either."

"He's old and cunning. I'm thankful that half of what he said was true." Du Yu was helpless: "I will back up the surveillance. If there are any suspicious people, I will notify you... Besides, sending guests away is not just sending them away."

He pointed to the sky outside and said, "It's getting late. Zhou Shi and the others are still waiting for us at No. 4 Middle School. Didn't you say you had some ideas to share? Let's go to the scene and talk about it together."

The two of them drove to No. 4 Middle School with the two veteran detectives.

Summer is the time when the days are long. It was already getting dark during the New Year, but it is still bright now.

Since the principal started the reform, No. 4 Middle School has added evening self-study classes, and students have to go home later. At this moment, there are only a few families living nearby the school gate who have applied for day student permits and go back for dinner.

In fact, few people really went home for dinner. Instead, many boarding students borrowed the ID cards of day students in their class to go out.

"When I was in school, this kind of thing was common." Du Yu joked as he drove into the school gate.

Xu Yiqing sighed: "The classes didn't stop even after the principal died."

"It's summer now, and the high school entrance exam is coming up. Your parents don't want you to suspend classes." Du Yu shook his head and sighed: "Parents nowadays, ah, it's better not to talk about it."

Xu Yiqing called Zhou Shi and asked her to gather at the administrative building.

Ever since the murder, the administrative building has been in a semi-blocked state. The school leaders moved the meeting location, and even their offices were temporarily moved to the Science and Technology Museum or the academic affairs offices of each grade.

There was a cordon at the door and a policeman was guarding it. When they saw Du Yu coming, they greeted him immediately.

"Captain Du."

"Has anyone entered the scene during this day?"

"No, we sealed off the entire floor of the principal's office. Except for Dr. Lin from the Forensic Department and Consultant Zhou from our Criminal Police Team who stood outside the door today, no one else has approached the scene."

"I see."

Du Yu nodded.

Although many things happened in between, only one day passed from the discovery of the body of the principal of No. 4 Middle School to the unraveling of the mystery of Song Lang's poisoning.

Zhou Shi came over soon. She had been visiting the school principal and school leaders in the afternoon. It can be said that she had interviewed all the officials from top to bottom in No. 4 Middle School.

Especially the old teachers with nearly double-digit teaching experience, who taught Song Lang’s class.

"Did you find anything by calling me over?"

The sound of high heels came closer and closer. Zhou Shi walked up the stairs and looked at the two people standing at the door of the principal's office and asked.

Du Yu gestured to Xu Yiqing, meaning that our great doctor Xu was going to make an important speech.

Xu Yiqing didn't waste time and got straight to the point: "There is only one entrance and exit to the administrative building, and there is a surveillance camera at the door. All the windows are burglar-proof windows and are tightly closed. We have checked them all, so the [cleaner] can only enter and exit from here."

Du Yu nodded: "Yes."

"We also watched the same surveillance. From the time we got off work on Friday to the time we got on work on Monday, no one came in. Only the principal of No. 4 Middle School came to work overtime, and he locked the door himself."

"Right."

"That's the question. How did the murderer get into the principal's office and how did he leave after killing someone?"

"Let's just say the conclusion."

"I was almost locked up in the morgue of the Forensic Department last night. If the guard hadn't found me, I would have been locked up until Mr. Lin opened the door of the morgue the next morning." Xu Yiqing paused and said, "I would have stayed with the corpse all night."

Zhou Shi frowned when he heard this. It was obvious that it was already very uncomfortable to be in the same room with a pile of corpses, let alone spend the night.

"Wait." Suddenly she was stunned, and then realized that Xu Yiqing would not talk about such an experience for no reason.

"You mean, the murderer never left after killing someone...she stayed with a corpse all night?"

"A whole day to be exact," Xu Yiqing said.

[The cleaner] had been hiding in the house after killing someone until the security guard went upstairs and knocked on the door because parents were visiting. He discovered something was wrong and opened the locked principal's office!
Du Yu was also shocked: "Isn't she afraid of being discovered?"

Zhou Shi closed his eyes and thought for a while, then pushed open the door of his office and said, "For a security guard who earns 4,000 yuan a month, his first reaction when he sees someone dead is definitely to call the police and ask for help. I guess he won't have the courage to check every corner of the room... such as a closed closet."

Xu Yiqing nodded: "I also think that the murderer killed someone and hid in the closet."

Du Yu also figured out the reason: "We didn't see anyone on the surveillance video because the [cleaner] took advantage of the chaos on Friday, the day of the parent-teacher meeting, to sneak into the office and hide in the closet, waiting for the principal to work overtime on Sunday?"

Xu Yiqing said: "She may not have been hiding in the office on Friday. After all, the principal would have taken clothes from the closet before leaving. I tend to think that she was hiding somewhere on this floor on Friday, such as the toilet, and then she would pick the lock and sneak into the office late at night to wait for the principal to come in."

Zhou Shi was puzzled: "Then how can she be sure that the principal will work overtime on Sunday?"

Du Yu was certain: "She's exposed! She must have done something. It's certain that the principal will return to school this weekend... I'll go back and check his call records and messages!"

"Wait a minute." Xu Yiqing stopped Du Yu: "If it is really as we speculated, it would clear the suspicion of the [Cleaner]... Of course, I am not referring to this case, but the one involving Song Lang."

Xu Yiqing pondered, "If the [Cleaner] really had been hiding in the building since Friday, and had stayed in the office with the principal's body after killing him until the guard discovered the body on Monday morning, and then she escaped through the open door, then she would not have had time to poison Song Lang."

"Song Lang didn't wake up until we went to look for him. The store was closed during that time. If the poisonous ice had been in the store since Friday, the person should have died after two days of operation."

There is one more thing Xu Yiqing didn't say.

[Cleaner] threatened to kill himself, and the murderer who poisoned Song Lang was afraid of killing himself.

This means that the person who killed Song Lang was not the [Cleaner], but someone else? !
(End of this chapter)