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CHAPTER 12
PART 2
"In front of everyone stood Ma Qiang. He was a man of average height and appearance, with dark skin, a broad face, and wearing rather drab grey clothes. Seeing the surprise on everyone's faces, he seemed a bit embarrassed and scratched his head, saying, "Sorry, I didn't intentionally eavesdrop on your conversation inside. It's just that when you mentioned me, I felt compelled to come out…"
"Then come and have a seat; I actually have something to ask you," Tan Yong said.
Ma Qiang obediently brought over a chair and sat a little farther away from them. It seemed he was aware that he wasn't part of the 'family.' Compared to the others, he appeared somewhat restrained and distant.
"Why did you stay here overnight yesterday?" Tan Yong asked.
"It's not my first time here; I've been here many times. I and Xueli consider ourselves boyfriend and girlfriend," Ma Qiang glanced at Li Xueli. "It's normal for me to stay overnight at her place, right?"
"This house was originally bought by your mom, right?"
"Yes, but after that incident, my mom sold the house to Xueli, this outsider, and made her suffer…"
"So you feel guilty?"
"Yes."
"Your way of making amends is by coming here to accompany her?"
"Yes, I couldn't think of any other way. I can't just buy the house back."
"But your mom probably wouldn't agree to you staying here, right?"
"Yes, so I didn't tell her. My mom is a rural woman, she's old and not well-educated. But I'm different from her, I don't believe in those superstitious beliefs."
"Have you been staying here these past few days?"
Ma Qiang glanced at Li Xueli again, as if afraid of saying something wrong. Seeing Li Xueli remaining silent, he continued, "Yes, ever since the 'poison chicken soup' incident happened, I've been staying here every night. Xueli is scared to be alone, so I come to accompany her."
"What about your barbecue business? Aren't you taking care of it?"
"No, I only come after 11 PM, by then it's almost closing time. I leave it to the chefs and assistants in the shop."
"Wasn't it Li Xueli who used to stay at your place? How come it's now you coming over?"
"You mean my shop?" Ma Qiang said, feeling a bit embarrassed, "There's a small room on the second floor of my shop that can accommodate people. But the conditions are too poor, it can't compare to the houses in Yuehai Bay. Occasionally staying there is fine, but for a long time, it would be too much for Xueli."
While Li Bin was taking notes, he said, "You said your shop closes at 11? But wait, your barbecue shop used to do good business, I've been there. Sometimes it's open until one or two in the morning."
"That was before... We don't operate that late anymore."
"Why?"
"Operating until the early hours is too tiring."
"You can earn money, why find it tiring? Operating a barbecue shop until the early hours is normal."
As Li Bin said this, he exchanged a glance with Tan Yong. Tan Yong immediately understood his meaning and asked Ma Qiang, "Since you're in a relationship with Li Xueli, you must know everything that has happened recently, right?"
"Um…"
"So, you think it's not necessary to work tirelessly because you know Li Xueli is about to inherit more than twenty million. If you two get married, that money will be yours too, right? As for the 1203 house, it won't matter how it's dealt with then."
Ma Qiang opened his mouth, looking a bit unsure of how to respond. But from his appearance, it was clear that Tan Yong had hit the nail on the head.
"Old Tan, Ma Qiang is an honest person, why are you asking him these things? Does it relate to the case?" Li Xueli said.
"Alright then, I'll ask something related. Ma Qiang, you must answer truthfully," Tan Yong said.
"Sure," Ma Qiang nodded.
"Last night, what time did you arrive at Yuehai Bay?"
"Around 11:30."
"After that, you and Li Xueli didn't leave the house?"
"Correct."
"What time did you both go to sleep?"
"Let me think... I arrived, took a shower, then went into the bedroom, around 11:45 or so."
Tan Yong keenly noticed a problem and asked Li Xueli, "At that time, wasn't Xia Qi sending that crucial message in the group? You and Ma Qiang shouldn't have been asleep then. Did you see that message?"
"I... I didn't see it; I only saw it when I woke up this morning."
"Why didn't you see it?"
"At that time, we..." Li Xueli blushed. "Old Tan, do you think Ma Qiang came over here just to sleep?"
Tan Yong understood. "So you're saying, at that time, you two were... occupied and didn't bother to check your phones?"
"Um..."
"Xueli, don't blame me for asking in detail. This question is quite crucial—how long were you two occupied? From midnight to half-past twelve, were you together the whole time?"
"Yes," Li Xueli affirmed firmly, "we were engaged until almost one... together the whole time, never apart."
"An hour?" Wang Xingxing muttered softly, a tone of surprise and envy in his voice.
Saying these things in front of so many people made Li Xueli feel quite uncomfortable. She said embarrassedly, "Old Tan, isn't this enough? Why keep asking us? Don't you want to ask others?"
"Of course, I will." Tan Yong addressed the other members of the 'big family,' "Everyone, please tell us what you were doing from midnight to half-past twelve yesterday."
Wang Xingxing spoke first, "I was playing games last night, from after dinner until around three in the morning. Many people can vouch for that."
"Many people… meaning?"
"It was a massive online game, team battles and such. My teammates can vouch for me; I was online the whole time."
"Is that it? You could've let someone else use your account," Li Bin raised doubt.
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"In theory, yes, but practically impossible. My gaming skills are top-notch, and my combat style is unique. It's not something anyone can replicate. If you don't believe me, ask my teammates if I was online last night."
Li Bin fell silent. Tan Yong continued, "We'll verify that later. What about others?"
Han Lei said, "Since the 'poison chicken soup' incident, I haven't been to the bar to work. I've stayed at home every night. Last night, I was at home alone, bored, just scrolling through short videos. After eleven, when I saw Xia Qi's message, I immediately responded with a series of questioning emojis, then I kept thinking about what was going on. I fell asleep after one."
Tan Yong said, "Only Wang Xingxing, Han Lei, and Gu Lei replied to Xia Qi's message last night. Did any of you later send a message or make a call to Xia Qi?"
The three shook their heads. Wang Xingxing said, "Because Xia Qi clearly said 'we'll talk tomorrow,' I guessed she didn't want to discuss it for the time being, so I didn't call."
"Same here, the matter was too sensitive. I thought if she wasn't a hundred percent sure, she wouldn't tell me," Han Lei said.
"Xiaotong and I thought the same. We were at home, saw Xia Qi's message, started discussing, which lasted until half-past twelve, then we slept, although it took a long time for us to sleep," Gu Lei said, then chuckled and scratched his head, "Although Xiaotong and I can testify for each other, Old Tan, as you said last time, the testimony between spouses is invalid. So, effectively, we have no witnesses."
Tan Yong didn't respond, looking towards Fan Lin and Shen Fengxia.
"I don't have a witness either. Wen Jing slept after nine; I read for a while, went to bed before eleven, turned off the Wi-Fi, so I didn't see Xia Qi's message at all," Fan Lin said.
"I went to bed after ten last night, didn't do anything else," Shen Fengxia said shortly.
"So, it means none of you have solid alibis," Tan Yong said.
"Ma Qiang said..." Li Xueli started but sighed halfway. "Because we're boyfriend and girlfriend, we can't testify for each other, right?"
"Old Tan, what you call 'solid alibis' means whether we were with non-relatives or others at that time, right? But how is that possible? After such an incident, who among us would dare to go out at night? And didn't you also remind us to lock our doors and stay at home? So, we're destined not to have any witnesses," Fan Lin said.
In fact, Tan Yong also knew that asking this question wasn't very productive. But procedurally for the case, it was necessary. At this moment, he contemplated the next strategy.
After a moment of silence in the living room, Gu Lei said, "Last night, both Old Tan and Li Bin reminded us to lock our doors, and we all did. Xia Qi surely wouldn't be an exception. So, if that's the case, how did the murderer enter and kill Xia Qi?"
"I'm also pondering this question," Han Lei said uneasily. "If locking the doors doesn't prevent the murderer from entering, what should we do? Can we still sleep?"
About this point, during the meeting at the Criminal Investigation Bureau, Tan Yong had already shared his speculations and thoughts. However, he wanted to hear how others were considering this issue.
"What do you think, then? How did the murderer manage it?" Tan Yong asked.
"I think there's only one possibility," Su Xiaotong said.
"What is it?" Tan Yong inquired.
"The murderer used a method or trick to deceive Xia Qi into opening the door, and then attacked her in that split second," Su Xiaotong said.
Exactly what I was thinking. Tan Yong pondered silently. Su Xiaotong, this woman, had exceptionally clear thinking and analytical abilities compared to most. If she were the culprit, it didn't seem necessary for her to reveal the method of the crime... But on the contrary, what if the culprit anticipated that the police would think this way and acted differently? For a cunning perpetrator, that was entirely plausible.
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"But I can't figure out, in such a cautious and highly guarded situation, how the murderer could have tricked Xia Qi into opening the door," Fan Lin said. "If it were me, in such a sensitive period, especially past midnight, regardless of who's at the door, I wouldn't open it."
"Me neither," Han Lei said, nodding along with others.
"Was there a peephole on Xia Qi's door?" Gu Lei asked.
"No," Shen Fengxia said, "I just checked; there's no peephole."
"So, she couldn't see who was standing outside the door, right?" Gu Lei said.
"That's correct, but?" Shen Fengxia asked.
"I'm thinking, if Xia Qi believed that the person at the door couldn't possibly be the murderer, would she still open it?" Gu Lei said.
"But among us, is there anyone who 'absolutely couldn't be the murderer'?" Fan Lin asked.
"Maybe Xia Qi thought someone 'absolutely couldn't be the murderer,'" Wang Xingxing said.
"You mean, she thought the culprit was person A, so she believed that the others definitely weren't the culprit. But in reality, she misjudged; the real culprit was person B. And it happened to be this person B who tricked her into opening the door and then killed her," Fan Lin said.
"That's a possibility," Wang Xingxing said.
"But logically, it's still a bit unclear. If Xia Qi could really be a hundred percent sure who the culprit was, she wouldn't have posted those messages in the group; she would have just called the police," Li Xueli said.
"That's true..."
"In fact, among us here, there's one person who Xia Qi absolutely trusted, without a doubt," Su Xiaotong said.
"Who?" Several people asked simultaneously.
Su Xiaotong opened her mouth, looking somewhat hesitant. After a few seconds, everyone suddenly realized who she was referring to and turned to look at Tan Yong together.
Tan Yong was taken aback. "What do you mean? Are you suspecting me now?"
Li Bin immediately got upset. "Hey, all of you! Is it us, the police, investigating you, or is it you investigating us? Don't confuse things! You suspect Old Tan? He's given up inheritance rights just to solve this case, what more do you want? Intentionally diverting attention?"
"No, Officer Li, you've misunderstood. Of course, we have complete trust in Old Tan, as did Xia Qi. But perhaps the murderer exploited this point, impersonating Old Tan to deceive Xia Qi into opening the door," Su Xiaotong said.
Tan Yong's head felt like it was being pounded. Although Li Bin wanted to defend him, Tan Yong gestured for him not to speak. After a moment of silence, he looked at Su Xiaotong and said, "Share your speculation on how the murderer impersonated me."
"Imitating your voice," Su Xiaotong said, "Two prerequisites: first, we often gather, everyone is very familiar with your voice and speech patterns, so imitating your voice isn't difficult; second, last night, you were downstairs and came upstairs to see Xia Qi, which is entirely possible."
"My voice is relatively deep. For a man, maybe it's easier to imitate, but for a woman to produce such a low tone should be quite difficult, right?"
"Old Tan, nowadays, there are many voice-changing apps in online stores or mobile apps. Changing your tone and pitch is straightforward. Besides, when the murderer spoke to Xia Qi, it was through a metal door; she couldn't hear very clearly. When she heard the killer claim to be you, perhaps she didn't think much and just opened the door..."
After Su Xiaotong finished speaking, the living room fell into silence. Tan Yong's mind buzzed — was it really like that? If so, didn't it mean that by moving into Yuehai Bay Community, he inadvertently provided the opportunity for the murderer to kill Xia Qi? It was an ironic fact; he tried to protect them, but ended up being utilized by the cunning murderer to deceive Xia Qi into opening the door!
Li Bin noticed that Tan Yong seemed deeply affected. He couldn't comfort him in front of these people, so he said to them, "This is just one possibility, not necessarily true."
"Yes, I only proposed this hypothesis," Su Xiaotong said.
"Did you record what they just said?" Tan Yong asked Li Bin.
"I did," Li Bin replied.
"Then let's head downstairs. You all go back home." Tan Yong addressed everyone, "Stay indoors for these two days. I might reach out to you for questioning at any time." He paused for a moment. "To confirm it's me, before you open the door, give me a call."
Everyone nodded in understanding. Tan Yong and Li Bin got up and left Li Xueli's home.
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