SOTC Chapter 41

The clock had already struck twelve, but the lights in Xu Qing’s apartment living room were still brightly lit.

This was destined to be another sleepless night, all because of what Yang Xu had said:

“Could it be because someone felt that if you continued to investigate, you might find something? Or that you actually already found something, but you yourself haven’t realized it?”

Yang Xu’s words startled Gu Zheng like a wake-up call, bringing his thoughts back to the original starting point: the motive.

Regardless of the crime, the perpetrator would certainly have their own motive.

And in a meticulously planned crime, any seemingly incomprehensible development could very well be a crucial piece of overlooked evidence.

Gu Zheng had been sitting on the sofa for a full three hours, trying his best to recall any details he might have missed in the Chen Fan murder case.

There’s a misconception in this world called “others think you know something.”

Although this situation doesn’t happen often, Gu Zheng had experienced similar cases.

Back when he had just become a criminal police officer, a habitual burglar, during a routine interrogation by a household registration police officer, thought his crime had already been exposed. He stabbed the police officer and fled, only to be caught by Gu Zheng himself.

At the time, after being arrested, the criminal suspect also had a degree of disbelief about the situation.

Gu Zheng had a deep impression of that case because the injured police officer was in the hospital for three months before starting to recover, almost losing his life because of that coincidental misunderstanding.

But… why would this kind of thing happen to him?

If it weren’t for this incident, he would never have suspected anyone within the police force.

In other words, for the perpetrator, this was also an extremely risky move.

But in reality, he had never found any clues about the perpetrator. So, at what point did this misunderstanding arise?

“Boss Gu, Boss Gu, are you okay?”

Gu Zheng rarely showed such a dazed expression. He mechanically shook his head and said softly, “I’m okay, but…”

“Boss Gu, there’s something I’ve always wanted to ask you: Before I was suspended, did I come to the scene of Chen Fan’s murder?”

“No, after being suspended, of course I couldn’t get close to the scene. So, I focused my investigation on the people who killed Chen Fan. Is there a problem?”

Gu Zheng looked at Yang Xu questioningly.

“It’s not exactly a problem. I’m just wondering if there’s a possibility that the reason you were suddenly suspended was because someone was afraid that if you continued to investigate, you might find something. Think about it, Chen Fan’s computer was completely destroyed, and the scene also looked like it had been ransacked. The reason Chen Fan was able to blackmail Zhao Yangfu must be because he obtained some important evidence… So, has this evidence really been found or destroyed by those people?”

“That’s right, you’re right!”

Gu Zheng gasped.

“There were no signs of beating or forced confession on Chen Fan’s body. This means that he wasn’t bound or tortured, but was knocked down or killed the moment the perpetrator entered the house. The thugs searched his villa, but they probably didn’t find the evidence Chen Fan used to blackmail Zhao Yangfu. They completely destroyed Chen Fan’s computer, but there’s also a possibility that Chen Fan locked the important data on the computer. The perpetrators couldn’t open it, and couldn’t take the suspicious step of directly taking the computer away. So, they simply destroyed the host. So, in essence, they couldn’t be sure whether the evidence Chen Fan left to blackmail Zhao Yangfu was fake or had been destroyed. In this situation, if I continued to conduct a crime scene investigation, I would very likely discover the things Chen Fan had hidden and expose the evidence that they were willing to kill to hide.”

“That’s it, Boss Gu! This is the only reason that can explain why you were suddenly punished. Otherwise, this matter would be too unbelievable. Is Chen Fan’s case still being investigated?”

Yang Xu slapped his thigh and revealed an excited expression.

“This matter has already passed for more than three months.”

Gu Zheng shook his head and said to Chen Fan, “As far as I know, other than my wanted warrant, all other investigations have been stopped. Including the villa he lived in before, it has also been resold to others through his family.”

“Sold? A villa where someone died was bought so quickly? Boss Gu, haven’t you investigated this?”

Yang Xu suddenly stood up from the sofa and grabbed Gu Zheng’s shoulder, his face flushed with excitement.

“Calm down, Yang Xu.”

Gu Zheng frowned and pried open Yang Xu’s hand. “Although I’m a criminal police officer, I can’t investigate everything, especially since I was still suspended at the time. Regarding bank transfers or records of purchases, the bank won’t cooperate if there isn’t an investigation warrant. Don’t you know this?”

“I know, of course I know. I just… can’t control myself. We finally have some leads in the case, but we haven’t found any evidence, not even a little bit of evidence. If this continues, neither I nor Boss Gu will be able to prove our innocence.”

Yang Xu was breathing deeply, trying to force himself to calm down.

Xu Qing watched silently from the side, understanding Yang Xu’s feelings at this moment.

To this day, no matter how much she knew about the case, they were ultimately unable to touch the perpetrator hidden behind the scenes. This feeling was truly uncomfortable.

“That’s right. We’re not facing ordinary criminals, but a well-organized gang of evil forces. They can use any means to achieve their goals, and even have deep experience in counter-reconnaissance. But even so, there are still many things they can’t do, right? Especially in Chen Fan’s case, if things are really as we suspect, then Chen Fan completely forced himself into a dead end. He used the evidence in his hand to threaten Zhao Yangfu, and Zhao Yangfu wanted to get the evidence back from Chen Fan. You said that when you went to see Chen Fan that day, he seemed very scared. Have you ever thought about why he was so scared?”

“Because he was threatened by Zhao Yangfu? It seems like that’s the only possibility. Chen Fan must have been mentally prepared when he decided to blackmail him. The only reason he suddenly became so flustered was because the development of the situation exceeded his expectations.”

Yang Xu reasoned along Gu Zheng’s line of thinking.

“That’s right. Chen Fan didn’t know what was hidden behind Zhao Yangfu. And when he found out, things had far exceeded his expectations. In this situation, he wouldn’t casually hand over the evidence he had, because that thing might have already been regarded as his life-saving charm. In this situation, is there a possibility that the evidence Chen Fan possessed wasn’t hidden in the villa where he lived, but was hidden in a safer place using some method? But…”

Speaking of this, Gu Zheng suddenly frowned.

Based on Zhao Yangfu’s methods and the previous cases committed by this gang, they should have conducted a thorough investigation of Chen Fan before taking action. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have dared to kill him rashly. Which is to say, from the time Chen Fan died until he was suspended, the other party didn’t find the so-called evidence. Only to prevent the evidence from being seized by him did they reluctantly make such an unreasonable arrangement.

“Yang Xu, Xu Qing, help me think. If Chen Fan’s life trajectory was completely under Zhao Yangfu’s surveillance, but they still couldn’t find the evidence Chen Fan left behind, and even very likely were forced to buy the villa where the crime occurred to prevent the evidence from being obtained by others, then where would Chen Fan hide the evidence?”

“But you still don’t know what that evidence is.”

Xu Qing said with some hesitation, “Is it a document, or some object, or… a photo? If you don’t determine this, how can you know where the evidence might be hidden?”

“But no matter what it is, he should have left some clues, otherwise, if something really happened to him, wouldn’t no one ever know?”

Gu Zheng looked at Xu Qing and said.

“But if Zhao Yangfu has been monitoring Chen Fan, then if he does anything strange, he will definitely be discovered, right?”

“Which means that Chen Fan didn’t do anything strange, so Zhao Yangfu couldn’t find the place where he hid the evidence. Then is there any channel that wouldn’t arouse suspicion at all, and could also naturally hide evidence or clues? Yang Xu, do you have any ideas? Hey, Yang Xu. Yang Xu?”

Yang Xu’s appearance was a bit strange now. He was just like Gu Zheng before, staring blankly ahead.

It wasn’t until Gu Zheng suddenly called out his name that Yang Xu suddenly reacted. Then, he looked at Gu Zheng and Xu Qing with a helpless look, constantly saying, “I… I seem to know, I remember, Chen Fan asked me about something before, he said… he said…”

Yang Xu was so excited by the sudden inspiration that he couldn’t even speak clearly.

“Don’t get excited, speak slowly.”

Seeing this situation, Gu Zheng quickly pressed his shoulder.

And Xu Qing immediately poured a glass of water and handed it to Yang Xu.

Yang Xu took the glass and drank half of it in one gulp, before gradually calming down.

“I’m not excited, I’m not excited. Boss Gu, Sister Qing, don’t be excited either. I suddenly remembered that Chen Fan asked me about codes about half a month before he was killed. Because this kind of thing is too common in detective novels, I didn’t pay attention to it and told him a few methods I knew.”

“What method?”

Gu Zheng immediately asked.

“There are many, but they all need to be hidden through text. Just now, Boss Gu, you said whether there is any channel that wouldn’t arouse suspicion at all, and could also naturally hide evidence or clues. So, I suddenly thought of this: the most natural place for Chen Fan to hide clues is his book! Isn’t that right?!”

“Book! That’s right! How could I not have thought of that.”

Xu Qing suddenly shuddered upon hearing this, and immediately rushed into the room and turned on the computer.

Chen Fan’s book was published on the Yulin Publishing House’s serial section and then reposted to various novel websites across the country.

And after Chen Fan died, his novel was naturally discontinued.

However, the novels he had published before were not removed from the shelves because of this.

Yang Xu searched for the novel chapters published by Chen Fan after he was killed using the reverse order method. Before long, he suddenly shouted, “I found it! I found where Chen Fan hid the evidence!”

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