The Case of Love

Chapter 97 Close to the truth
Li Zhisong and Ma Nan went to investigate the source of Chen Hongjie's large sum of money, but they did not find it. After returning to the police force, Zhou Yifeng asked them to investigate Du Peng of Pengda Company.

Zhu Xiaofeng and Xu Jungang came to report to Zhou Yifeng after they had interrogated Chen Hongjie's three friends. According to Zhu Bin, one of the three, he and Chen Hongjie met in a karaoke bar. Although Chen Hongjie did not have a job, he was generous. They often played together. Chen Hongjie rarely contacted anyone except with them and Cui Na. Only once did he see a man come to him and hand him a paper bag. He remembered that Chen Hongjie opened the paper bag and took a look, and a very satisfied look appeared on his face. As for what was in the paper bag, he said he did not see it.

"Did he tell me what the man who delivered the gift to Chen Hongjie looked like?" Su Xiaohan asked.

"I asked him, and he said that the man was tall and strong, and quite dark, and looked very manly," said Zhu Xiaofeng.

Su Xiaohan looked at Zhou Yifeng, their eyes met, and they both thought of Du Peng.

Su Xiaohan hurriedly gave the portrait to Zhu Xiaofeng and asked him to ask Zhu Bin whether the person who delivered the gift to Chen Hongjie was the person in the portrait.

Zhu Xiaofeng took the portrait to the detention center and ran back quickly.

"Boss, Xiaohan, Zhu Bin said that the person he saw that day looked very similar to the portrait!" Zhu Xiaofeng was a little out of breath.

"Zhisong and Ma Nan went to Pengda Company. Call Zhisong and ask them to bring Du Peng back for investigation!" Zhou Yifeng said to Zhu Xiaofeng.

Zhu Xiaofeng took out his cell phone and called Li Zhisong. Li Zhisong said that he and Ma Nan had already arrived at Pengda Company, but the front desk staff said that Du Peng was on a business trip and was not in the company for the past two days. He called Du Peng using the cell phone number provided by the front desk staff, but the other party's phone was always turned off.

"Tell Zhisong to stay at Pengda Company and wait for our news!"

"Xiao Han, go check and see if Du Peng has any record of buying the ticket!"

Zhou Yifeng said to Zhu Xiaofeng and Su Xiaohan.

"Yes, boss!"

"Okay, Captain Zhou!"

Zhu Xiaofeng and Su Xiaohan responded in unison.

Su Xiaohan checked Du Peng's ticket purchase record and found that he had bought a ticket from Beijing to Chengdu two days ago. She confirmed with the airport staff that Du Peng had boarded the plane that day. Considering that his phone had been unreachable, Zhou Yifeng was worried that he had bribed Cui Na to replace Chen Hongjie's medicine and then escaped.

That night, Li Zhisong and Ma Nan took the next flight to Chengdu. The next day, with the cooperation of the local police, they found Du Peng in a hotel in Chengdu. They brought Du Peng back to Beijing that day. At night, Zhou Yifeng and Su Xiaohan interrogated him.

Du Peng admitted that he knew Chen Hongjie and had sent him something, but he said he did not know Cui Na and would not instruct her to replace Chen Hongjie's medicine.

Due to insufficient evidence, it is impossible to link Du Peng and Chen Hongjie's illness together based on Cui Na and Zhu Bin's testimonies alone.

After coming out of the interrogation room, Zhou Yifeng organized the team to go to the conference room to discuss the case. Director Wu of the detention center called and said that Chen Hongjie had woken up and could be visited later. Zhou Yifeng and his team all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Captain Zhou, I think if we go to the hospital to find him this time, he will definitely tell the truth." Su Xiaohan said confidently. "He didn't say anything before, so what can he say now that he's sick?" Li Zhisong disagreed.

Zhou Yifeng looked at Li Zhisong with an angry expression: "Xiao Han means that we can tell him that someone replaced his medicine and almost killed him."

"Oh, I get it! When Chen Hongjie heard that someone wanted to silence him, he was so angry that he didn't care about anything!" Li Zhisong suddenly realized, "Okay, Boss, you and Xiaohan are really in sync. You understand everything Xiaohan says as soon as you hear it!"

"It's not that Xiaohan and I have a tacit understanding, it's that your brain is too..." Zhou Yifeng smiled and poked him on the forehead.

Seeing Li Zhisong's embarrassed look, Su Xiaohan and the others laughed.

The next day, Zhou Yifeng and Su Xiaohan went to the hospital to visit Chen Hongjie. Because only one person was allowed to go in, Zhou Yifeng gave the chance to Su Xiaohan.

Seeing that Chen Hongjie was in good condition, Su Xiaohan told him that Cui Na had been instructed to replace his medicine.

Su Xiaohan was originally worried that Chen Hongjie would get excited, but unexpectedly he was unusually calm. She sneered and said, "I didn't expect that he still worried about me. This day has finally come."

Su Xiaohan heard something behind his words and asked hurriedly, "Who is he?"

Chen Hongjie looked at the ceiling with a hollow look in his eyes and said, "It was Du Peng. He asked me to kill Zhang Tai. Zhang Tai came to me that day and said that he lost money in business and asked me to give him some money. He said that if I didn't give him the money, he would tell others about what I did. How could I have the money to give him? All my money was given by Du Peng! Besides, I was working for Du Peng, why should I give him money? I went to Du Peng and told him that Zhang Tai wanted money. He said that if I didn't give Zhang Tai the money, he would ask me to kill Zhang Tai. After that, he would give me a large sum of money. He said that his boss never gets threatened by anyone."

"What did you do? Who is his boss?" The closer Su Xiaohan got to the truth, the more nervous she became. She knew that the man lying on the bed was probably the one who killed her father. Of course, he was just an executioner, and there must be someone behind him.

"You are right. The person in the surveillance video is me. More than four years ago, Du Peng found me and told me to go to Jun'an Garment Factory at night to destroy the circuit in the factory. He would give me 30 yuan. I was in urgent need of a heart stent, so I was tempted. I thought it was just destroying the circuit, what could be the problem. I didn't expect the factory to catch fire that day, and I heard that several people died..."

"My father was among those people!" Su Xiaohan interrupted him, her voice full of anger and sorrow.

Chen Hongjie was shocked by her emotions. After a while, he said guiltily: "I'm sorry, I didn't expect it to be so serious..."

"You don't have to say sorry, you are unforgivable! Not only did you kill my father and several workers, you also destroyed the garment factory that my father had run for most of his life! The law will not forgive you, and I will not forgive you even more!" Su Xiaohan tried her best to restrain herself and didn't say anything else.

"I'm sorry! I know saying sorry is useless. I will make amends and tell you everything I know. I also have evidence that Du Peng asked me to destroy the circuit and kill Zhang Tai. It's under the mattress in my bedroom. However, I don't know who the boss Du Peng mentioned is. Du Peng asked me to destroy the circuit and kill Zhang Tai." Chen Hongjie mustered up the courage to look at Su Xiaohan and said earnestly.

"Du Peng asked you to kill Zhang Tai because Zhang Tai threatened you with the surveillance video, right?" Su Xiaohan asked.

"Yes. I entered the factory that night and avoided several surveillance cameras, but I was so nervous that I forgot about the surveillance camera at the back door of the factory. After I went back, I was particularly worried that I would be photographed, so I went to find Du Peng. Du Peng told me to take money to find the security guard. Zhang Tai was a security guard at the garment factory at the time and had that video. I guess it was because the factory caught fire and the camera was burned, so except Zhang Tai, no one knew that there was a camera there. I asked him to delete all the videos taken by the camera and leave Beijing. Unexpectedly, he kept a copy for himself and used it to threaten me!" Chen Hongjie said a lot of words in one breath, slightly panting.

(End of this chapter)