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CHAPTER 14
PART 4
In the office, Jiang Ming said to Tan Yong and Li Bin, "I just contacted someone from the telecommunications company to send me Fan Ke's recent call records from that phone number. Turns out, not only has Fan Ke not been in touch with anyone from the family lately, he hasn't even called Xia Qi once. In fact, looking at his call records, he's barely spoken to anyone recently, quite odd, right?"
"Yeah, how's that possible?" Li Bin said in surprise.
"Old Tan, what do you think?"
Tan Yong thought for a moment and said, "This doesn't prove Fan Ke's innocence; it just suggests he's very cunning, perhaps having two phones. His contact with Xia Qi and 'that person' might all be through another phone. So, even if investigated by the police, they won't find anything."
"Exactly! Your thoughts align with mine. Moreover, not only Fan Ke, but even the 'other person' cooperating with him also likely has two phones. Meaning, neither of them used their personal phones to contact each other. That shows how cunning and cautious these two are."
"Then, can't we go to Fan Ke's place and look for the other phone?" Tan Yong suggested.
"When you interrogated Fan Ke earlier, I already had Xiao Liu's team search the room in the guesthouse where Fan Ke stays, but they didn't find a phone. So, I assume both phones are with Fan Ke. If he sensed trouble, he might have ditched or destroyed the other phone while escaping. Also, during that time, he most likely informed 'that person,'" Jiang Ming explained.
Tan Yong furrowed his brow, "Initially, I thought if 'that person' didn't know about Fan Ke's arrest, we could immediately search the homes of all family members nearby, maybe find the other phone."
"It's a slim hope," Jiang Ming shook his head, "Even if Fan Ke hasn't communicated with that person yet, with only one phone found, it's challenging to prove that person was in contact using that specific phone. We need both phones to make it evidence."
"Yeah," Tan Yong sighed, then asked Jiang Ming, "Captain Jiang, did you watch the interrogation just now?"
"I did. I believe the situation is clear—Fan Ke orchestrated this event, he might not have committed the murder himself, but definitely in collaboration with someone. The focus now is to find the 'second collaborator,'" Jiang Ming stated.
"He found two collaborators, like 'double insurance.' If things went smoothly, Xia Qi and that person would inherit at least two portions of the estate. If not, for instance, if one disagreed or had second thoughts, the other could eliminate her—this might be why Xia Qi was killed," Tan Yong speculated.
"Entirely possible. And I assume Xia Qi didn't know about the 'second collaborator.' After the 'poisoning incident,' she felt suspicious, wondering if Fan Ke had found someone else to collaborate with. Hence, she started probing those four women. This action signifies her loss of trust in Fan Ke, so Fan Ke and 'that person' decided to get rid of Xia Qi," Jiang Ming said.
"So, Su Xiaotong, Fan Lin, Li Xueli, and Han Lei, these four women, indeed have considerable suspicion."
"Not a hundred percent certain, but Fan Ke's 'second collaborator' is highly likely a woman. You've seen him, a typical handsome guy; with a bit of skill, he can captivate women to do his bidding. Xia Qi was just a pawn in this game; there's another player more deeply hidden. But, isn't there another woman in the family named Shen Fengxia? Why didn't Xia Qi call her?"
"Probably because Xia Qi believed Shen Fengxia was highly unlikely, so she didn't bother probing her. Shen Fengxia and Yuan Dong have a deep bond, they've known each other for years, especially from their time in the remote mountains of Guizhou, which made it unlikely for them to have any connections with Fan Ke living in a big city. So, Xia Qi ruled her out," Jiang Ming nodded slightly, stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray. Just then, Li Bin returned and said, "I just confirmed with the relevant person; Fan Ke's alibi for the nights Gong Yamei and Xia Qi were killed checks out."
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"Yeah, we already thought of that. He's the mastermind behind it; he didn't commit the murders himself," Jiang Ming said.
Li Bin sat down, opened a bottle of mineral water, drank most of it, and asked, "What do we do now?"
"Keep him in custody for 24 hours, for starters. Besides, even if he's not the killer, he's still an accomplice or mastermind and remains a major suspect. I'll request from Director Chen to restrict Fan Ke's movements. During this time, he'll have to stay put in Li City and be available for questioning at any time. Also, I'll have someone keep a close watch on him to prevent any attempted escape," Jiang Ming said.
"Great! We can't let this guy off easily. I knew he was suspicious right from the start, definitely the mastermind behind this!" Li Bin exclaimed passionately.
"We all see that. The current issue is how to find the 'second person' collaborating with him," Tan Yong said.
After pondering for a while, Jiang Ming asked, "Old Tan, do you know the sequence of 'The Family' members moving into Yuehai Bay?"
"Yes," Tan Yong said, walking to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and started writing. "The first to move in was Gong Yamei, two years ago; then Li Xueli, who bought the murder house, unit 1203, right below Gong Yamei. Then came Fan Lin and her daughter; after that was Wang Xingxing; following him was Xia Qi, followed by Han Lei, and then Yuan Dong and Shen Fengxia—these people moved in relatively close intervals, roughly within half a year of each other. There was a long gap until about a month ago when Su Xiaotong, Gu Lei, and their family moved in and joined 'The Family.'"
"So, the last one to move in, Su Xiaotong, does she have a higher suspicion?" Jiang Ming questioned.
"Are you suggesting she's the 'second collaborator' Fan Ke brought in to replace Xia Qi? It's a possibility. But here's the thing, how could they be sure that Gong Yamei would include them in the inheritance list when they just arrived? Also, from what I observed, Su Xiaotong and Gu Lei didn't deliberately try to please Gong Yamei," Tan Yong explained.
"Yeah, from Fan Ke's perspective, it would've been safer to insert the 'second piece' earlier," Jiang Ming said, "So, let's analyze it now: Li Xueli, Fan Lin, and Han Lei, who's more likely?"
"I've analyzed this before," Tan Yong continued, "From the timeline, shortly after Gong Yamei moved into Yue Bay, Li Xueli arrived in Li City from out of town and bought unit 1203, directly below Gong Yamei's place. Of course, this could be a coincidence. But later, Li Xueli discovered it was a murder house, got scared, and started gathering 'The Family,' inviting Gong Yamei and others for dinners and gatherings, further building relationships."
"Hey, Tan, listening to you, could Li Xueli have intentionally bought this murder house? So she could have a reasonable excuse to get close to Gong Yamei. Of course, she couldn't just focus on winning over Gong Yamei alone; the others were just a facade to prevent Gong Yamei from suspecting," Li Bin suggested.
After some thought, Tan Yong said, "That's a possibility."
"Continue analyzing Han Lei and Fan Lin," Jiang Ming prompted.
"Han Lei used to be a pole dancer at nightclubs, and nightclubs are the kind of places someone like Fan Ke frequents. Han Lei is beautiful, curvaceous, quite charming; the probability of her and Fan Ke knowing each other and being attracted to each other is very high.
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"As for Fan Lin, she mentioned herself that her previous marriage was enticed by a man's 'beauty,' then she married that man. It indicates she's easily attracted and beguiled by handsome men—exactly the kind of person Fan Ke is."
"Going by your analysis, Su Xiaotong is the last to arrive, suspected of replacing Xia Qi; Li Xueli intentionally building 'The Family,' suspected of deliberately getting close to Gong Yamei; Fan Lin's fondness for handsome men, likely manipulated by Fan Ke; Han Lei, the nightclub queen, easily accessible to Fan Ke—looking at it this way, doesn't it mean all four women have considerable suspicion?" Jiang Ming spread his hands. "What do we do?"
"We'll have to question them separately," Li Bin suggested.
"Questioning is one thing, but will they admit?" Jiang Ming pondered.
Scratching his head, Li Bin remained silent.
After a moment's thought, Tan Yong said, "We're detaining Fan Ke for 24 hours, right? I believe we should use him as the breakthrough point."
"But if he remains tight-lipped, we have nothing on him. He's not the killer himself, but he'll do everything to protect the real culprit; otherwise, he's finished too," Jiang Ming remarked.
"I'll talk to him again. Even if I can't get the identity of the killer from him, I'll try to extract other clues. I'll make the most of these 24 hours of detention," Tan Yong said firmly.
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