Detective Files II

Chapter 155 Metamorphosis

"I heard that Zhou Xiaoyue has a boyfriend outside the school? Do you understand this situation?" Tian Mi felt that Hou Qiang, the head teacher, seemed to be too perfunctory when answering questions about Zhou Xiaoyue.

Sure enough, Hou Qiang still couldn't give an accurate answer to Tian Mi's question, and said vaguely: "I heard that she has a boyfriend outside, but I don't know the specifics."

"Puppy love at school, don't you even ask the head teacher about this kind of thing?"

"It's not that I didn't ask, I asked, Zhou Xiaoyue didn't admit it at all, and I couldn't help it. As teachers, we can only persuade and educate, and the parents are unwilling to cooperate. Since her family is like that, what can I do! "Hou Qiang's return is quite reasonable.

The director of the political and educational department also chimed in: "Isn't that right? You may think that our school is shirking responsibility after saying this, but the truth is that you don't know how unruly children are these days. Do what people do, you say that puppy love is not a serious matter, we don’t dare to take care of it, if there are too many students going home to complain, parents will come to make trouble at the school, and it’s useless to take care of it.”

"Then about Zhou Xiaoyue having a boyfriend outside of school, have you reported it to her parents?" Tian Mi felt a little annoyed. Zhou Xiaoyue was killed, and the men she had close contacts with were the focus of attention, but on this important issue The school asked a lot of questions and didn't know anything. Apart from accusing Zhou Xiaoyue of what a troublesome student he was, he hardly gave much valuable information.

"I mentioned this matter to Zhou Xiaoyue's parents after the parent meeting, but as for whether this matter has attracted enough attention from her parents after returning home, I am not sure," said Zhou Xiaoyue Hou Qiang's face showed a bit of disdain: "What kind of people are her parents? .”

Since there was no way to ask about the situation, Tian Mi simply did not intend to continue wasting time with them. According to the usual practice, she left her contact information and asked them to contact Lu Xiangdong in time for any new information. Then she said goodbye to Lu Xiangdong and left.

Walking out of the teaching building, Lu Xiangdong did not go straight to their car, but searched among several rows of parking spaces. Tian Mi knew that he was looking for Hou Qiang's car, so she also helped filter the license plate, and soon found the car with Hou Qiang's car. A champagne-colored Chevrolet that fits the description strongly.

After confirming that the license plate was correct, Tian Mi immediately called back, requesting to transfer the surveillance video from last night at the big intersection that must be passed through from the top of the mountain, and check the time when Hou Qiang's car passed there.

"Do you also think Hou Qiang is suspicious?" Tian Mi hung up the phone and asked Lu Xiangdong.

Thanks to his ear, I just heard Hou Qiang talking on the phone outside, and found an excuse to get his car information, otherwise it would be really difficult to verify whether he was lying, after all, even the school Zhou Guiren, the watchman in the house, is nowhere to be found, and it is difficult to find any witnesses.

Lu Xiangdong's answer was more cautious: "Whether it is considered suspicious or not, we can't draw a conclusion, but at least he is deliberately concealing some things, and he is somewhat repulsive about talking about Zhou Xiaoyue."

"Have you noticed that Hou Qiang's sweater is black, and his sleeves are stained with red nail polish?" Tian Mi asked.

Lu Xiangdong nodded: "I see, what does this mean?"

"It means that he and Zhou Xiaoyue had physical contact like tearing!" Tian Mi explained: "Yesterday Zhou Xiaoyue's dead fingers were painted with red nail polish, but some of them had already been spent, and on Zhou Xiaoyue's clothes, A small amount of black fibers were found - when she was killed, she was wearing a fan's coat, and the clothes inside were also light-colored, without any black knitwear, so we suspect that the black fibers belonged to the murderer. It happened to be Hou Qiang's woolen sweater It's black, and it's stained with red nail polish, don't you think it's a coincidence?"

"It is indeed a coincidence," Lu Xiangdong first affirmed Tian Mi's conjecture, and then commented objectively: "But because these constitute suspicion, the evidence is obviously not strong enough. There is another question, have you thought about it, is Zhou Xiaoyue's nail polish How did you spend it?"

"You mean...?" Tian Mi looked at Lu Xiangdong in confusion.

Lu Xiangdong glanced at Tian Mi's clean hands: "Although you don't use any cosmetics, you are still a woman anyway, so it shouldn't be difficult to understand. Nail polish is similar to paint. If it gets on your clothes, it means that at that time The nail polish was not dry yet. The director of the Political and Education Office said that he called Zhou Xiaoyue to the teacher's office because he saw Zhou Xiaoyue painting her nails at the back of the classroom. About two and a half hours, even if she really used paint, it would have dried long ago."

After Tian Mi heard his words, she was also stunned, and waved to Lu Xiangdong who was about to drive, "Go, go to the small church on Xuezi Road and ask. Hou Qiang said that Zhou Xiaoyue was not there when I just started class in the afternoon. If she comes to class, then she probably skipped half a day of class in the afternoon and came here in the middle, maybe someone will have an impression of her."

On the way out of the school to the chapel, Tian Mi kept silent. After the two of them walked for most of the distance in silence, Tian Mi suddenly stopped abruptly and stomped her feet: "I thought of it!"

"What do you think of?" Lu Xiangdong also stood down.

"You're right. Zhou Xiaoyue's nail polish may have rubbed onto Hou Qiang's sleeve for some reason when the director of the Political and Educational Office called her to the office. But what is the reason? Hou Qiang's attitude is secretive. Even if Zhou Xiaoyue's nail polish was spent before it was dry, that is, around four o'clock, it cannot be ruled out that Hou Qiang would let Zhou Xiaoyue leave at four o'clock as he said. You can’t just remove the suspicion.”

"You're right," Lu Xiangdong showed a faint smile, "So it depends on what kind of answer the surveillance camera at the intersection gives."

"I knew, with my smart mind, I won't be stuck by you!" Tian Mi felt a little proud.

Lu Xiangdong glanced at her with a smile that was not a smile: "It took me so long to think about it, and only your face dares to boast so much."

At noon, there were a few old ladies in their 70s and [-]s in the chapel. When they saw Tian Mi and Lu Xiangdong enter the door, they thought they were church members with the same faith. They surrounded them enthusiastically and asked questions. Tian Mi finally caught them The opportunity to talk, the two identities, took out the photos Zhou Xiaoyue took at the New Year's Day party that they got from the school, showed them to a few old ladies, and asked them if they saw this girl the day before.

The old ladies were very warm-hearted, and even the people who were not present the previous afternoon actively followed and passed on Zhou Xiaoyue's photos, but most of the time after that, they were tsk-tsk regretful, pestering Tian Mi to find out the inside story information.

Finally, an old lady looked at the photo and said in an uncertain tone, "I seem to have seen this little girl yesterday afternoon!"

"Are you sure?" Tian Mi's attention immediately shifted from the chaotic discussions of others to the old man who was speaking.

The old lady took the photo and looked at it carefully, and said, "Well, it's her, she also has dark circles painted like this, but the color of her hair is different."

"Is it sorrel?"

"Seems to be."

When Tian Mi heard that she really saw Zhou Xiaoyue, she hurriedly asked, "What time was it? Did she go up the mountain or down the mountain? Is there anyone else around?"

"Other people?" The old lady tilted her head and thought for a while: "No, she was alone, carrying a small shoulder bag, and walked up the mountain unsteadily. The time was probably after two o'clock, before three o'clock. Bar."

Apart from this point, the old lady didn't know any other information, and others could only watch the fun, so Tian Mi had no choice but to thank the old ladies, and headed eastward to the 21st Century Middle School to pick up the car.

Back at school, she found Hou Qiang who had just come back from lunch break, and proposed to take away Zhou Xiaoyue’s schoolbag that was still in the classroom—there was no trace of the schoolbag at the scene of the crime the night before, unless it was taken away by the murderer. There is only one possibility, that is, the schoolbag is still in the classroom.

Sure enough, Hou Qiang took them to the classroom to have a look. Sure enough, there was a single-shoulder bag on the table, which was deflated, and there was no book in it.

"You don't have to be surprised. If Zhou Xiaoyue found a textbook in her schoolbag, I would be surprised instead." Hou Qiang said without surprise.

Leaving 21st Century Middle School, the car was still handed over to Lu Xiangdong to drive. Because the downhill road was slippery, Tian Mi was even more courageous. This was just right. When Lu Xiangdong was driving, she sat in the co-pilot, opened Zhou Xiaoyue's bag, and checked the contents. thing.

There are a lot of messy things in the bag, such as facial tissues, keys, powder, mascara, mobile phones, and some girls' gadgets.

The mobile phone is naturally the most important thing. Tian Mi plans to wait until she returns to the bureau to try to obtain Zhou Xiaoyue's boyfriend's information from it. What she cares about now is a problem——

"Look! I guessed it right!" She found Zhou Xiaoyue's lipstick, pulled off the cap and twisted out the lipstick to check the color: "Zhou Xiaoyue's lipstick is pink! Also, there is only eyeliner in her bag, no eye shadow !"

"So?" Lu Xiangdong asked without squinting while driving.

"Zhou Xiaoyue herself used pink lipstick, which didn't match the color on the corpse at the scene, and she had heavy eyeshadow on her face when she died," Tian Mi said, "And Zhou Xiaoyue's schoolbag was found by the class today, so I gave it to Zhou Xiaoyue. The eyeshadow and lipstick that were put on after death were all brought by the murderer himself!"

Speaking of this, she suddenly stopped, turned her head and asked Lu Xiangdong worriedly: "Tell me, is the murderer of this case a pervert?"

(End of this chapter)