TPODN Chapter 69

Letting himself be the first discoverer should be a smart choice, right?

To assist with the investigation, A Zhang couldn’t help but ask himself this question while waiting in a small room at the police station.

Under those circumstances, he really had no choice. It was unexpected that Chairman Zhou Runmin’s body would move near the doorway. Since it was a position visible from the gap in the curtains, not notifying the security guard might have aroused suspicion instead.

When he discovered the body had been moved, he felt a burst of surprise in his heart. Could it be that the impact wasn’t strong enough, and he didn’t die on the spot but crawled to the door before passing away?

No, wait!

An ominous premonition arose in his mind. A Zhang sat in the chair, leaning his upper body forward, clasping his hands together in prayer.

It hasn’t been confirmed yet whether he’s actually dead.

At least, after the attack, he struggled for a while. Perhaps because he was discovered early and handled properly, he might have been saved.

Assuming that’s the case, he probably wouldn’t even know why he suffered a head injury and shouldn’t immediately suspect his savior.

But what if Chairman Zhou Runmin discovered the diamond was missing?

The first to be suspected would be internal company employees who could enter and exit the chairman’s office.

However, what if it was initially determined that everyone was innocent?

He shouldn’t have notified security at the beginning, he should have waited until he was certain he was dead.

Except, someone would have discovered it sooner or later. The time difference would probably be no more than ten minutes. So, reporting it himself should have been the right thing to do…

Just as he was lost in tormented thought, the police appeared.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Can we start with your statement now?”

“Excuse me, officer…”

A Zhang stood up and asked.

“What is it?”

“Was the person who fainted saved?”

The policeman looked regretful.

“No, unfortunately, it was too late.”

“I see.”

A Zhang looked upwards, but his heart was at peace. If there was no one else at the scene, he might have struck a victory pose immediately.

The statement, which had made him so nervous, ended so easily.

Perhaps this was only natural. After all, he discovered the body through thick glass, and didn’t even step into the top floor. Logically, the chance of him being suspected of involvement was zero, and he had no connection with the murdered chairman. Therefore, the police only asked in detail about the discovery of the body and whether he saw any suspicious people around.

Full of confidence, A Zhang responded to the police’s questions with ease.

By comparison, what made him most uneasy was when he was initially asked about his identity. He stuttered twice even when asked simple questions like his name, address, and hometown—questions that were impossible to answer incorrectly. Fortunately, the police kindly attributed it to the shock of discovering the body. Moreover, it was quite common for young people from the countryside to work in Fengyun City these days, so he wasn’t asked about the details of his personal background.

After leaving the police station, he returned to the company and reported the whole incident. Discovering a body during work was unprecedented in the company. A Zhang was bombarded with questions from his colleagues and became the most popular person on the spot. As more colleagues returned to the company, more and more people joined the discussion. In the end, everyone was competing to compare the most shocking scenes they had witnessed while cleaning windows.

Using fatigue from giving his statement as an excuse, A Zhang withdrew from the lively chat as soon as possible.

His body, freed from abnormal tension, felt an inexplicable urge to have a drink. But looking at his wallet, he only had a few hundred yuan bills left. To prepare for this murder plan, he had spent not only his savings accumulated over many years, but also his gold necklace. Of course, he couldn’t sell the diamond worth tens of millions on the market right now.

Moreover, what he feared most now was his apartment being burgled. A Zhang decided to go straight home and bought a paper-packaged wheat shochu and some ice at a convenience store along the way, making himself an iced shochu.

What a long day.

But, you still overcame it beautifully…

Letting the intoxication produced by the alcohol spread throughout his body, A Zhang was immersed in an unprecedented sense of accomplishment. But his sprained right wrist was still throbbing faintly.

Perhaps because his physical and mental fatigue had reached its limit, he got drunk faster than usual tonight. He felt the room spinning after only three glasses.

Lying on the cold tatami mat, before long, his consciousness disappeared into darkness.

In an instant, he suddenly woke up.

The pitch-black ceiling rushed towards him, filling his entire field of vision.

His whole body was as immobile as if possessed by a ghost.

He couldn’t hold on any longer. His whole body was standing on end with fear. The police’s investigation would be approaching soon.

He had actually done such an irreversible thing…

The room was cold enough to make him shiver, but his whole body was as wet as if he had just taken a shower. The swelling in his right wrist throbbed, making him feel that his life had entered a countdown phase.

It would be good to end it sooner.

What life? It’s good to end it early.

That way, this suffering could come to an end, right?

Until dawn, A Zhang only wrapped himself in a blanket and didn’t close his eyes once.

But what was surprising was that he didn’t suffer from nightmares again after that night, and smoothly welcomed his third New Year in Xijing.

A Zhang spent almost the entire day locked in his room, not stepping outside. Anyway, he had already prepared rice and other food at home to get through the New Year holidays. He probably only went out once every two or three days to the laundromat.

Therefore, A Zhang had a lot of free time. He also picked up some old magazines from the trash to read and pass the time.

Although he didn’t have much money to go out and have fun, it wasn’t as if he couldn’t even go on a short trip. However, as soon as he thought about the diamond, he couldn’t relax. He would start to feel anxious if he left the room for more than five minutes. Even though he had spent a lot of effort hiding it, he was the one who had found the cleverly hidden diamond in the first place. Thinking about this, he couldn’t relax at all.

He stayed alone in his room, hugging his knees, letting fear and hostility breed in his wild thoughts. Although he thought it was unlikely that thieves would target this dilapidated apartment, he couldn’t help but get up and prepare himself at the slightest sound.

Therefore, he had iron bars and large screwdrivers ready at hand, but even these didn’t put his mind at ease. Having said that, he couldn’t afford an expensive Japanese sword either. On a whim, he went to a hypermarket that opened on the second day of the Lunar New Year and bought a steel ruler. Because he didn’t have a knife sharpener at home, he started with a cement block, then placed it on a damp brick to sharpen the steel ruler. Although it was a monotonous and unbearable task, it was an ideal way to kill time.

The sharpened steel ruler, although the blade had some imperfections, was as sharp as a kitchen knife. After inserting it into a wooden handle and fixing it with adhesive, it became a weapon that, although not very attractive, was quite lethal. Because it didn’t have a blade, it couldn’t stab the opponent, but if he aimed for the neck, cutting the jugular vein would be easy. Even cutting through clothes should cause the opponent a lot of damage.

A Zhang was like a turtle guarding its eggs, never leaving the diamond’s side.

Occasionally, he would think that things shouldn’t have been like this. As long as he got the diamond and successfully shut President Yingyuan’s mouth, wouldn’t the whole world be his for the taking?

But what was the reality? He had simply received the evil spirit attached to the diamond.

Be careful! Thieves are everywhere! Those guys can find hidden money with their keen sense of smell. No matter how strict the precautions, they can break them, hurt people, kill people, and take everything from me!

The evil spirit whispered repeatedly in A Zhang’s ear.

Open my eyes wide, prick up my ears, keep my five senses working keenly, and be ready to attack at any time, without slackening for a moment!

A Zhang’s sweaty hands gripped his handmade sword tightly all day long, holding his breath and concentrating, waiting for the invisible enemy.

He received a call from the company when the New Year atmosphere outside was gradually fading.

A Zhang continued to take leave after the Spring Festival. Although the sprain had improved a lot, he really couldn’t bring himself to sit in the hanging basket and clean windows.

His left hand seemed to have been infected with the touch of killing Chairman Zhou Runmin. Every time he wiped a window, he seemed to recall that scene and be filled with fear.

He had considered quitting his job, but apart from the difficulty of finding a new job, he was afraid that quitting at this time might attract suspicion, so he couldn’t make up his mind. However, in any case, it seemed that he had to give up the job of high-altitude worker. He would find a suitable opportunity to ask the company to transfer him to the department that cleaned the inside of the building.

The call from the company wasn’t to urge him to return to work soon. It was about the Maoyuan Mansion case. He had already seen the news on TV that the product planning department minister of that company had been arrested. But he heard that the police officers of the Fengyun City Public Security Bureau’s “Special Criminal Investigation Unit” had something they wanted to talk to him about.

To avoid arousing any suspicion, A Zhang agreed to the appointment.

He didn’t expect to meet a young woman at the agreed-upon cafe. Saying she was young, she should be around twenty-five to thirty years old. Her candid eyes and beautiful appearance made A Zhang feel dazzled.

“I’m sorry I’m late. Are you Mr. Wen Hanzhang?”

“Yes, I am…”

“I’m Lu Yao, a member of the Fengyun City Public Security Bureau’s ‘Special Criminal Investigation Unit’. Nice to meet you.”

Lu Yao naturally extended her hand, but A Zhang timidly only shook her fingertips.

“I think you’ve heard that Mr. Zhao Menglin has been taken into custody as a suspect in the Maoyuan Mansion case.”

A Zhang nodded.

“Therefore, I would like to ask you about the situation when you discovered the body that day.”

“…I don’t know if I can be of any help.”

So, A Zhang explained everything from when he got into the hanging basket to when he glimpsed the body through the window of the chairman’s office. There was no need to lie about this part, so he reported everything truthfully. Since he had already explained it to the police before, he was now able to grasp the key points and make a concise statement.

“Thank you, this is very valuable.”

Lu Yao held her coffee with one hand and pondered thoughtfully.

Even if I’m a criminal police officer, there’s no way that beautiful head can figure out my modus operandi. Looking at the intellectual curve of her forehead, A Zhang felt a strange joy.

“When you discovered the body…”

Lu Yao asked, sentence by sentence, as if organizing her thoughts.

“Was there anything unusual about the body?”

“Well…”

A Zhang used the coffee cup to hide the corners of his mouth, which were almost loosening.

Thinking back, he had clearly placed the chairman horizontally in the center of the room before killing him, but in the end, he had moved near the doorway. If there was anything unusual, it should only be this.

“When you discovered the body, the curtains on the window were already drawn, and the room was dark. Right?”

“Yes.”

“And the window should have been very dirty?”

“Yes.”

“So, you couldn’t see very clearly, right?”

“Um, I had wiped the window… but, I couldn’t see very clearly.”

“I’m going to ask a slightly strange question. What you saw, was it definitely the chairman’s body?”

“What?”

A Zhang opened his mouth wide as soon as he heard this. He wasn’t acting.

“I didn’t see the body’s face, did I?”

“No, because the body was lying face down, and the face was turned to the other side.”

“So, I can’t say for sure that it was definitely the chairman’s body, right?”

“Well… I didn’t know what he looked like in the first place, so I can’t say for sure that it was the chairman’s body.”

“Didn’t you suspect that it might be someone else?”

The topic was beginning to develop in an unexpected direction.

“But, you hadn’t taken your eyes off it since you first discovered the body. About five minutes later, someone went into the room.”

“Was it the general manager and three secretaries?”

“I think so.”

Lu Yao leaned forward, as if about to reveal a secret. The faint scent of perfume stimulated A Zhang’s olfactory nerves.

“But, actually, only the general manager confirmed the body. The secretaries were all frightened and flustered and didn’t see the actual situation at all.”

“Huh? What do you mean…”

“I have another question to ask. When you discovered the body, did you see a chaise lounge on the left front side of the room?”

“Chaise lounge?”

“It’s something not much different from a sofa, and the sofa set is against a different wall, used for the chairman to take a nap.”

A Zhang searched his memory for a while.

“…I don’t remember very well. I guess I didn’t see it. Because the range visible through the gap in the curtains was too wide.”

“I see.”

Lu Yao showed a satisfied expression for some reason. A row of white teeth was revealed between her lips.

“Um… what you mean is, there might have been two bodies?”

A Zhang asked in confusion. What connection did this have with the body’s movement?

“No, there’s only one body. If there were two bodies, the police would have found them, right?”

Seeing question marks appear above A Zhang’s head, Chunzi smiled slightly.

“Can you keep this a secret?”

“Yes,” A Zhang nodded without even thinking.

“The crux of the problem now is that the room is a completely locked room. And assuming Mr. Jiuyong is indeed innocent, then no one else had the opportunity to commit the crime.”

“…I see.”

In that case, it was a bit tricky. He hadn’t originally intended to stage a perfect murder, but in terms of the result, it might develop in this direction.

The most ideal thing in the plan was to handle it as a simple accident, but for some reason, Chairman Zhou Runmin was found to have been murdered. Well, that being the case, he could only let Executive Jiuyuan be the scapegoat.

“However, if the chairman’s body you saw was actually a mannequin, then the whole situation is different. If the general manager and the secretaries opened the door while the real chairman was still napping in the chair, then the actual crime could have happened after that.”

A Zhang was speechless.

“But, a mannequin…”

“That company has a lot of crash test dummies, like the ones used in car crash tests. You should have seen them on TV.”

Lu Yao took out a family photo from her bag.

“Just looking at it like this, you can tell it’s a mannequin at a glance, but if you put on real hair and clothes, it should be harder to tell the difference. Plus, the body was lying face down, so you couldn’t see the face at all.”

If that was the case, then when was the mannequin placed inside? A Zhang found it difficult to understand.

“So, are you asking me if what I saw could have just been this kind of mannequin?”

A Zhang resisted a smile and took a sip of his coffee.

“I don’t think that’s possible.”

“It’s been a while since the incident, so it might be difficult to recall every detail.”

“Yeah. But, it’s impossible.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you so sure?”

A Zhang licked his lips, carefully recalling the scene when he committed the crime.

“Um… I saw his neck and his hands.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t a mannequin?”

“Um, if it were movie special effects, it might be impossible to tell the difference. But the body I saw at the time was completely different from this kind of mannequin. At least the texture of the skin was different.”

“Is that so?”

Lu Yao seemed very discouraged.

Her expression looks troubled, beautiful police officer.

A Zhang observed Chunzi’s expression while sipping his cold coffee.

You still have piles of accurate answers you want to tell me, but it also concerns your whole life.

Sorry, Sister Lu Yao…

The following week also passed safely. A Zhang’s life gradually returned to a stable rhythm.

His request to the company to transfer him to the unit that cleaned the inside of the building was also immediately approved. The higher-ups probably thought that the discovery of the body had been a big blow to A Zhang.

A Zhang participated in the training for cleaning the floors and waxing together with other new recruits.

First, wipe the floor with a dry mop, then use a vacuum water extractor to suck up the sewage. There was nothing particularly difficult about it. As for waxing, in principle, avoid uneven patches. He quickly learned this part.

Speaking of which, the most difficult part was operating the floor polisher.

Although the machine looked simple, it was a brush with an electric motor attached to a steering wheel, but at first, it was difficult to even go straight. For example, if you wanted to turn the brush slightly to the left, the entire machine would veer to the left with just a little force. Almost everyone who participated in the training was dragged around by the floor polisher. But after a little practice, A Zhang got the hang of it. As long as he grasped the direction of rotation and the handle while imagining that he was leading a super-stupid dog, he could generally control it as he pleased after thirty minutes. A Zhang’s performance impressed everyone, and they almost all applauded him.

Download Chapter as TXT