eurekapd Chapter 1056 New Clues Discovered
Chapter 1056 New Clues Discovered
Xiao Wang crouched down and found half a torn ship ticket in the corner of the freezer. The destination was a port in Southeast Asia, and the date was the third day after Zhao Dehan disappeared.
The most troublesome case is Liang Kuan. This hot pot restaurant owner has locked himself inside, with a two-meter-high iron fence welded to the door, and a loudspeaker playing a recording that "the police have been notified" on a loop. "I've been utterly swindled by Zhao Dehan!" Liang Kuan's voice trembled with tears through the iron gate. "He said he knew someone at the bank who could get me a low-interest loan, but he led me into Li Biao's trap! Now they control all the cash flow of the hot pot restaurant!" Xiao Wang peeked through the crack in the door and saw a family photo hanging on the wall inside the restaurant. Liang Kuan's daughter's bright smile was a stark contrast to the debt-collecting graffiti covering the walls.
While screening the bank statements of the three individuals, the technician made a sudden discovery. On the very day the loan was disbursed, Liang Kuan's account transferred 50,000 yuan to an unknown account. "This account is very interesting," the technician said, zooming in on the screen. "The account holder is a 70-year-old woman, but three months ago she suddenly started receiving large transfers frequently, all of them 'kickbacks' from different borrowers." Xiao Wang immediately recalled the ledger found in Zhao Dehan's rented room, where one page had "Liang Kuan Project, Commission 50,000" written in pencil.
When investigators found the old woman's residence, they discovered she had already moved. A neighbor recalled, "A man wearing a baseball cap often came by; he helped the old woman move last month." Community surveillance footage showed that the license plate of the truck on the day of the move belonged to a property under Li Biao's name. Staring at the surveillance screenshot, Xiao Wang suddenly noticed a half-exposed flame tattoo on the passenger seat—identical in style to the tattoo on Zhao Dehan's waist.
In the interrogation room, Li Biao remained unmoved. "Zhao Dehan was just an ordinary customer. How was I supposed to know he was dragging people into this?" He crossed his legs, his gold chain dazzling. Only when Xiao Wang produced Liang Kuan's transfer records did Li Biao's expression change: "That was their private transaction, it has nothing to do with me!" "Is that so?" Xiao Wang pulled up the truck's surveillance footage. In the video, a man wearing a baseball cap turned his head, clearly revealing a mole behind his left ear. "This guy, aren't you going to explain yourself?"
Meanwhile, the team tracking Chen Feng reported back. They spotted the figure carrying crates of seafood on the dock's surveillance footage. The moment the container was opened, amidst the stench of rotting fish, a whole crate of cash was revealed, each bundle of banknotes tied with red string—exactly the same way the cash was bundled in Li Biao's company safe. Zhang Guang's call records showed that before Zhao Dehan's disappearance, he had frequently contacted an overseas number, the IP address of which was ultimately traced to a casino in Southeast Asia.
As night fell, Xiao Wang stood before the whiteboard, weaving new clues into a web. Zhao Dehan was not only a borrower but also Li Biao's "key business partner," dragging acquaintances into the abyss of usury by acting as guarantors for them. Zhang Guang, Chen Feng, and Liang Kuan—some wanted to resist, some wanted to escape, and some sank deeper and deeper into the web of profit. Outside the window, the city's neon lights flickered, and the lights of the Criminal Investigation Division remained on all night. This battle between desire and evil had only just entered its most intense phase.
In the interrogation room of the criminal investigation team, the halo of the incandescent light cast mottled shadows on Zhang Guang's greasy work pants. The strong tea in the enamel mug that Xiao Wang pushed over had gone cold, the tea stains on the cup resembling an abstract map. "Where were you between 8 pm and 10 pm on November 12th?" His pen hovered over the notebook, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the other man's right index finger unconsciously rubbing the calluses on his palm—marks left from years of holding a wrench.
Zhang Guang's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice carrying the distinctive smell of engine oil from the auto repair shop: "I was working overtime in the workshop repairing a large truck, Boss Liu can testify." He suddenly ripped open his collar, revealing a pale pink scar on his collarbone. "Li Biao's men came to cause trouble on the night of the 10th, and I was slashed. How could I have the strength to kill someone?" Xiao Wang opened the forensic report, which confirmed that the laceration caused by the knife blade did indeed require seven stitches, and the healing process perfectly matched the timeline he described.
The most crucial alibi came from the surveillance footage. At the entrance of the auto repair shop where Zhang Guang worked, an old-fashioned surveillance camera faithfully recorded every moment: at 6 PM on November 12th, he pushed a tire covered in oil into the workshop; at 1 AM, he dragged his exhausted body out. His seven entries and exits from the warehouse were clearly identifiable, and the distance from the body disposal site was sufficient to rule out the possibility of him committing the crime. "When Zhao Dehan vouched for you, did he mention Hongxing Machinery Factory?" Xiao Wang suddenly asked. Zhang Guang's shoulders visibly stiffened, but he quickly shook his head: "I only know he's a pimp, nothing else."
When questioned, Chen Feng's younger brother was squatting on the cement floor of the seafood section of the market, washing the smelly ground with a high-pressure water gun. "Before my brother ran away to Southeast Asia, he transferred all his savings to my account." He held up a screenshot of the transfer record, water splashing on the phone screen. "He said he could never pay back the money he owed in this lifetime, so he had to run away." Xiao Wang noticed a suitcase hidden under his stall, with a faded photo hanging on the lock—Chen Feng and Zhao Dehan standing at the entrance of a hot pot restaurant, both smiling with their eyes narrowed, Liang Kuan's signboard faintly visible in the background.
High-definition screenshots from the dock's surveillance cameras were magnified to their maximum on the projector. Chen Feng's figure, dragging crates of seafood onto the ship, appeared particularly hurried in the twilight. The size of the crates closely matched the black plastic bag used to dispose of the body. "But the timing doesn't match," Technician Xiao Li pointed to the timestamp. "He boarded the ship at 3 a.m. on November 13th, while Zhao Dehan's time of death is estimated to be before 10 p.m. on the 12th." More importantly, customs records show that Chen Feng is still overseas, and the distance between his mobile phone signal location and the body disposal point is enough to give him a perfect alibi.
An eerie silence enveloped Liang Kuan's hot pot restaurant. Xiao Wang stood inside the roller shutter door, able to hear the hum of the refrigerator compressor and faint sobs. "I really didn't kill anyone!" Liang Kuan held out bank statements through the crack in the door, the edges of the paper wrinkled with sweat. "The day Zhao Dehan disappeared, I was at the hospital taking care of my daughter who had a high fever. The medical records can prove it!" His voice suddenly rose, filled with hysterical despair. "You should investigate Li Biao! He's the one who drove us to this dead end!"
However, when Xiao Wang reviewed the hospital's surveillance footage, she discovered that Liang Kuan was not present in the pediatric ward between 8 PM and 10 PM on November 12th. "He did complete the admission procedures, but he left for two hours in between," a nurse said, flipping through the visiting records, the pen scratching harshly on the form. "He said he went home to get his daughter's toys, but who knows where he actually went?"