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CHAPTER 4
PART 4
Everyone in the room stared at Li Xueli, noticing her troubled and unreadable expression, making it impossible to guess her true thoughts at the moment.
After a while, Li Xueli finally said, "Yes, I went out, but it has nothing to do with what happened to Yamei."
"Then do you want to explain this matter?" Tan Yong asked.
"I don't want to," Li Xueli firmly refused. "This is my private matter and has nothing to do with all of you. Tan Yong, if you think this makes me a suspect in Yamei's murder, then go ahead and investigate me."
"Xueli, I asked you to explain, not just for me to hear. Everyone present here probably has doubts about this matter. Don't you want to avoid being suspected and distrusted by everyone?" Tan Yong persuasively said.
This struck a chord with Li Xueli, and after considering for a while, she reluctantly said, "Fine, I'll tell you all. Last night, I went to a barbecue restaurant."
"Which barbecue restaurant?" Tan Yong asked.
"'Ma Ji Kao Rou Chuan' on Yushu Street."
"You had supper with Gong Yamei, right? You just finished a bowl of fermented rice soup dumplings, and then you got hungry again and went for barbecue."
"I didn't go for barbecue."
"Then what did you go for?"
Li Xueli closed her eyes, frowned, and after a few seconds of contemplation, she blurted out, "I went to meet the owner of that restaurant! Fine, I'll be direct about it. I went to sleep with him! I spent the night at his place. Satisfied now?"
Having said that, she turned her face away as if feeling humiliated, and tears started rolling down her cheeks.
A silence filled the living room. Fan Lin said, "I've been to that restaurant before. The owner seems to be a nearly forty-year-old bachelor, short and unimpressive appearance... Xueli, you like that type of man?"
"What do you think? If I really intended to be with him, why would I hide it from all of you? I already said it plainly enough. I went to meet him to sleep with him. We're just casual partners! Are you satisfied now? Is that illegal?"
"Not illegal," Tan Yong intervened. "This is indeed your private matter, and there's no need to discuss it further. We will go and verify the situation at that barbecue restaurant. Now, for the sake of fairness, please let each person here state what they were doing between 10:50 and 11:50 last night."
"I already said it earlier. After dinner, I took my daughter home and didn't go out again," Fan Lin said. "Tan Yong, why do you need to ask so clearly? You already mentioned that from the surveillance footage, only Yamei and Xueli were seen leaving the community, indicating that the others didn't leave."
Tan Yong fell silent for a moment. "Alright, I might as well be straightforward. From the surveillance video at the entrance of the community, the only identifiable individuals were Gong Yamei and Li Xueli. However, due to the nighttime and the low resolution of the surveillance cameras, we couldn't accurately identify every person entering or leaving the community. In other words, it is possible that the killer deliberately disguised themselves and left the community looking completely different from usual."
"But there are cameras in the elevator, right?" Fan Lin said.
"But there aren't any in the stairwell. If the killer went to such lengths to disguise themselves, would they take the elevator?" Tan Yong replied.
Fan Lin shrugged helplessly.
"Fan Lin, what time did Wen Jing go to bed last night?" Tan Yong asked.
"I don't know, around ten o'clock, I suppose. She usually goes to bed around that time."
"That means you were alone at home for the next hour, and no one can verify your whereabouts?"
"Yes, and then I changed into men's clothing, wore a wig and a hat, sneaked out of the community, and pushed Gong Yamei into Yuehai," Fan Lin rolled her eyes and said sarcastically.
Tan Yong's expression turned serious, raising his voice, he spoke sternly, "Fan Lin, although we're friends in ordinary times, I want you to be clear that I'm not talking to you as a friend right now, I'm questioning you as a police officer. Are you sure you want to speak to me in this manner? Or were you being serious just now? Then please come with me."
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Fan Lin widened her eyes, showing an incredulous expression, and stood up from the sofa. "Tan Yong, even an idiot can tell that I was just... Sorry, I didn't mean you. Well, fine, I take back what I said earlier. Yes, after Wen Jing went to bed, I stayed at home all the time, in my own room, watching short videos, and I went to sleep at half past eleven. But I'm afraid no one can prove this."
Tan Yong gestured with his eyes for her to sit back down, noted down what Fan Lin said in a small notebook, and then said, "Next."
"Tan Yong, as I said earlier, after watching TV series at Xueli's house, at 10 o'clock, Feng Xia and I went downstairs and returned to our own home," Yuan Dong said.
"And then, did both of you go out?"
"Of course not, we never go out so late."
"You should know that spouses or lovers cannot testify for each other, right?"
"But... you know my situation, no one can walk without a cane, so I can't move around independently."
"But Feng Xia can move around independently, don't worry, I'm just saying that it's a possibility. I am a police officer, and I treat everyone impartially."
Yuan Dong and Shen Feng Xia exchanged a glance, both furrowing their brows.
"Wang Xingxing, Xia Qi, Su Xiaotong, Han Lei, you four went to the bar. Can you testify for each other?" Tan Yong looked at the four of them.
"I'm afraid... we can't," Wang Xingxing said. "At eleven o'clock, Xia Qi and Su Xiaotong went back first."
"What about you? Did you stay at the bar and continue drinking?"
"Yes."
"Can the people at the bar vouch for you?"
"They can only testify that I was at the bar before eleven o'clock..."
"Does that mean you left the bar after eleven o'clock?"
"Yes. I was planning to approach a girl or something, but it didn't go well, so I left."
"Where did you go? Didn't you go straight home?"
"Yes. I was wandering on the street..."
Tan Yong looked at him. "You were wandering on the street after eleven o'clock?"
"Uh..."
"It seems a little hard to justify."
Wang Xingxing showed an embarrassed expression. "I was looking for some fun, but couldn't find any, so I went back home."
"What time did you get home?"
"Around midnight."
"So, during the time when Gong Yamei was killed, there was no one who could verify what you were doing."
"It seems that way..."
Tan Yong shook his head, made a note, and then turned to Han Lei. "What about you, Han Lei? Were you at the bar from ten fifty to eleven fifty?"
"No, I was probably at the hospital or on my way back from the hospital."
"Why did you go to the hospital?"
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Han Lei glanced at Su Xiaotong and the others. "Something went wrong during the performance last night, and a guest got injured with a big bruise on their head. They insisted on going to the hospital for a check-up. The boss and I went along with them, and it took more than an hour. Sorry, Xingxing, Xia Qi, and Xiaotong, I didn't tell you the truth."
The three of them nodded in silence.
"When we left the hospital, it was around eleven o'clock. Feeling a bit upset, I wanted some time alone, so I walked back home. I think I arrived around eleven forty."
"You walked back alone?"
"Yes."
Tan Yong made another record. After that, Xia Qi said, "Xiaotong and I left the bar at eleven o'clock and took a taxi directly back home. We got home around eleven thirty, and I didn't go out again."
"Same here. When I got home, my son was already asleep. I chatted with Gu Lei for a while, then washed up and went to bed. I didn't go out again after that," Su Xiaotong said. Gu Lei nodded beside her.
"Xia Qi lives alone, so there's no need to discuss her. As for you, the couple, you cannot testify for each other," Tan Yong looked at the notes in the notebook and found a problem. "In that case, it seems that no one here can provide an alibi."
"I can." Li Xueli said, "The owner of 'Ma Ji Barbecue' can vouch for me. After I arrived at his shop, I didn't leave again."
"What time did you arrive at that barbecue place?" Tan Yong asked.
Li Xueli thought for a moment. "I walked there, probably around eleven o'clock."
"So, during that time when Gong Yamei was killed, you were still within that time frame."
"According to what you said, doesn't that mean each of us has the possibility of being the culprit?" Li Xueli shook her head and sighed. "Tan Yong, I know you're a police officer, investigating the case is your duty. You're right about what you said earlier, that Gong Yamei only had connections with people here in Lishi. So, it's only natural for you to question us. But have you thought about a crucial question, none of us here had a motive to murder her."
"Li Xueli is right. I said it before too, what reason do we have to harm Gong Yamei? Tan Yong, I'm not teaching you how to do your job, but I just feel that you've been wasting so much time questioning us, and you've been going in the wrong direction from the start. Why not spend your time investigating other leads? Like you, we also want to catch the person who killed Gong Yamei as soon as possible!" Fan Lin said.
Everyone in the room nodded in agreement. Tan Yong didn't confirm or deny, put away his notebook and pen, stood up, and said, "I'll leave for now. If I remember anything later, I'll come and ask you again."
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TL CORNER
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