We were busy until it was dark and hungry, so Captain Hou suggested that we go to the cafeteria to eat something and discuss the case by the way.
We agreed and followed him to the canteen of the Public Security Bureau.
There were still many people eating in the cafeteria, so we found an empty seat and sat down, each took a buffet plate, and randomly picked some dishes and rice. Then we ate and talked.
"I think it is necessary for us to sort out the itinerary of Li Mingming and He Xiaoya on the day of the crime. Uncle Jiange said, putting a piece of meat in his mouth, chewing a few times, and taking another sip of soup.
"Okay. Captain Hou nodded, "Then let's start with Li Mingming." He had planned to fly to Los Angeles at 10 a.m. that day, as arranged by his father. So he stayed that morning and the previous few days in a five-star hotel in Hangzhou. "
But what he didn't expect was that after he arrived at the airport to check in for his boarding pass, he received a text message from the airline informing him that the plane was going to delay its departure due to a malfunction.18 Hours. This made him angry and helpless. "
So he temporarily decided to take the bus back to Yongjia. This is confirmed by our camera surveillance video at the exit of Yongjia long-distance bus station. The footage shows him arriving at Yongjia around 12 noon. "
Regarding the purpose of returning, Li Mingming said after opening his mouth that he came back and planned to kill his father. The motivation was to remove the obstacles to his and Ho Xiaoya's relationship, because his father strongly opposed their relationship and wanted to leave the inheritance to others. At the same time, it was also to seize the inheritance, because the father was worth a lot. "
Li Mingming also said that he had not seen He Xiaoya that day. Just called her to tell her he was going to the U.S. and didn't know when he would be back. "
"What about He Xiaoya? She first claimed that she stayed at home with her mother that afternoon to watch TV dramas. Uncle Jiange continued, "This is proved by her mother's testimony. Her mother said the two of them hadn't been out since noon and watched a few episodes in the living room. "
"But the problem was that no third party other than her mother could confirm that the two of them were actually at home at the time." There was no physical or video evidence to support their alibi. "
And more importantly, He Xiaoya later retracted this confession after turning herself in. After claiming that he actually went to the long-distance bus station to see Li Mingming, and persuaded Li Mingming to return to Hangzhou, he went to the Li family manor alone, where he was Caused this gas explosion and killed Li Shilan. "
Regarding the purpose of Li Mingming's return, He Xiaoya gave the same reason as Li Mingming: because Li Shilan asked Li Mingming to stay for a longer period of time after going to the United States, waiting for further notice. So Li Mingming wanted to meet his girlfriend before going to the United States. "
And He Xiaoya persuaded Li Mingming to leave, according to her confession, she did not want Li Mingming to hinder her execution of the murder plan. She said that she had long wanted to kill Li Shilan because he was a ruthless tyrant, not only did not allow herself to be with Li Mingming, but also threatened to sever the father-son relationship with Li Mingming and not leave him a penny. "
"Then what is the reason she used to persuade Li Mingming away? She said she had an interview in the afternoon and needed preparation. Since Li Shilan does not agree to the two of them being together, it is possible to cut off Li Mingming's source of income, so in order to be together, it is necessary to support himself. She said the reason convinced Mr. Li that she was serious about their future, and got on the bus back to Hangzhou. "
But this is also her personal statement, which has not been confirmed by other evidence. We're checking the cameras around the bus station to see if any of them can catch the whereabouts of the two of them. "
"Hopefully, something will be found and tangible evidence will be found as to who the two of them are lying." Uncle Jiange said.
"By the way, speaking of time, it reminds me of an interesting thing. Captain Hou suddenly changed the subject.
"What's going on? Uncle Jiange asked curiously.
"It's a small thing. Captain Hou smiled and recalled the trivial incident that happened a few days ago, "The day after you just came to Yongjia, we went to Liu Xiaojing's house together to ask her about the case. Liu Xiaojing was very cooperative with our investigation at that time and provided a lot of information. One of the messages was about her and her two girlfriends drinking tea and chatting outside on the afternoon of the crime. "
"I remember you asked her two girlfriends for their names and phone numbers, and made an appointment to meet separately to verify the situation. Uncle Jiange nodded, "You also asked me to go with you to meet one of my best friends, named Wang Meimei, who works in a bank." "
"Yes. Wang Meimei told us the same as Liu Xiaojing, there is no contradiction. Another girlfriend is Shi Xiaoyu, who works as a designer in an advertising agency. I made an appointment to meet her at a nearby café to talk about what had happened that afternoon. When I called her, she said she would come straight after work and would be there around half-past five. "
"You synced the results with me later, right? After verification, it was confirmed that Liu Xiaojing was indeed drinking tea and chatting with two girlfriends at that time, and had not left the restaurant. That is to say, Liu Xiaojing has a flawless alibi. Uncle Jiange said.
"That's right. What I want to say is not that there is anything wrong with Liu Xiaojing. But Shi Xiaoyu arrived long early that day, and I was waiting in the café until I fell asleep. I arrived more than half an hour later than the agreed time, which made me embarrassed and thought I had misremembered the time or place. Captain Hou shook his head.
"The result? Uncle Jiange asked.
"As a result, Shi Xiaoyu actually apologized to me. I apologized to her vigorously at that time, embarrassed, but Shi Xiaoyu said that it was her own problem, and she had read the wrong time on her phone, so she arrived early. Captain Hou said in an incredulous tone.
"Oh, and this? Can you also read the wrong time on your phone? Uncle Jiange thought thoughtfully.
"Yes, she said that she is not usually like this, it may be that such a big change has occurred, there have been too many troubles recently, she is in a very bad mood, and she is in a trance, just like this in recent days."
"So did you check her phone then?" "
"Yes, I asked her to show me her phone to see if there was really something wrong as she said. She agreed, but I didn't find anything wrong with the phone, and the time on the phone was displayed accurately. "
After Captain Hou finished telling this interesting story, everyone was silent for a while, as if thinking about the complexity and difficulty of the case, and whether this interesting story had anything to do with the case.
After a few seconds, it was Uncle Jiange who took the lead in breaking the silence, and he said in a serious and firm tone: "There is another person who is also worth investigating: He Lihui." She is Li Shilan's neighbor and friend, and one of our key targets. "
"Understood," Captain Hou replied, "Regarding her whereabouts on the day of the crime, according to herself, she has been watching TV dramas at home, and has not gone out or contacted anyone. But we found no evidence to support her claim, so this is doubtful. But beyond that, there really wasn't anything else to be found in her. She usually behaves normally and friendly, and there is nothing unusual or suspicious about her. "
"Their family has suddenly become very rich in the past six months, where did all this money come from? I heard that she often bought valuable items and clothing, and got a new car. Is her money related to the unknown cash that Li Shilan has taken away in the past six months? In fact, these are all doubts, and she deserves to investigate in depth. Uncle Jiange paused, "However, it is really difficult to ask her these questions directly without tangible evidence, after all, a direct connection has not been found." We need to tread carefully. "
"Okay, I'll send someone to investigate the situation. Captain Hou said, "Thank you for reminding me of this clue." "
Two days later, Uncle Jiange took me to the office of the county public security bureau again, saying that he had a new clue to share with Captain Hou.
After we entered the door, Captain Hou greeted him warmly and shook hands with Uncle Jiange in greeting.
Uncle Jiange did not procrastinate and cut directly to the point: "After we talked last time, I contacted an old classmate of mine who worked in the Ministry of Public Security and asked him to help investigate He Lihui's background information, but I didn't expect to find a very interesting thing. "
"Oh? What's going on? Captain Hou asked curiously. "Tell me first, have you found any new information about He Lihui's character?" Uncle Jiange asked rhetorically.
"Nope." Captain Hou shook his head, "We conducted some investigations on her and found that she did not have any legitimate professional sources, but she had a large amount of cash deposits at home. We suspect that she may be involved in money laundering or other criminal activities, but we have not found any evidence to support this speculation. And the money she deposited in her family was all deposited in cash, and there was no record of any money transfers. "
"Then it may be related to the large amounts of cash that Li Shilan withdrew." Uncle Jiange analyzed, "What if Li Shilan gave the money to He Lihui or someone else to keep or transfer the assets on his behalf? "
"But that doesn't mean anything." Captain Hou said, "We can't just rely on such an assumption to find He Lihui guilty." We have found no evidence of her money laundering or other criminal activities, nor can we prove that the money in her family is the money that Li Shilan withdrew. "
"Moreover, she herself is not a state servant or other person with a specific status, so we cannot open a case against her for the crime of 'unknown source of huge wealth'."
"That's right. So tell me, what interesting things did you find? "
"Actually, I found an old case that was very similar to the death of Li Shilan. "
"Similar? How is it similar? "
"They all died because of the fire. "
"What a coincidence? When did that old case happen? "
"25 years ago, in Yiwu City. There was a young couple who ran a small commodity wholesale business there. They may not be doing well because of their lack of experience and financial support, and they have a lot of usury debt. They are often violently collected and intimidated by creditors, and repeatedly call the police for help. According to the information provided to me by my old classmates in the Ministry of Public Security, they called the police 20 or 30 times in six months. "
"So did the police help them solve the problem? I couldn't help but interject.
"Of course not! Uncle Jiange shook his head and said, "At that time, the state had not yet clearly regulated and cracked down on usury, and regarded this kind of thing as an economic dispute, and let them negotiate by themselves or go to the court to file a lawsuit." But the creditors do not want to go through the legal process at all, they just want to use violence to force them to pay them back. And the couple did not have the ability to go to court to sue, so they could only swallow their anger. Therefore, the national judiciary has not been involved in this case. "
"And what about later? How did they die? Captain Hou asked.
"Then one night, a sudden fire broke out in their residence, and the whole room burned beyond recognition. When the fire brigade arrived, it was too late to rescue. At the scene of the fire, only one charred body was found, and at that time China had not yet fully promoted DNA identification technology, so the identity of the deceased could not be determined at that time. His wife was nowhere to be seen. "
"She ran away? "
"It wasn't that she ran away, but she just happened to return to her hometown to visit relatives and wasn't at the scene of the fire. She rushed back to identify the body after receiving the call, and after her identification, it was determined that the deceased was her husband, and this was confirmed by comparing height and size. She was already pregnant for several months at the time, and because of such blows and stimuli, she soon gave birth to a daughter prematurely. Luckily, my daughter survived and was in good health. She left Yiwu City with her daughter, changed her name, and started a new life. "
"What about the creditors? Was he arrested? I asked.
The creditor was then identified by police as a suspect in the arson killings and was taken away for interrogation for several months. He has consistently denied his guilt, but he has been unable to explain his whereabouts and motives at the time of the fire, after all, he had repeatedly violently called the young couple for debts. So everyone believes that the situation may have gotten out of control when he once again violently collected debts to the deceased, which eventually led to such a result. But the problem was that the police did not find enough evidence and witnesses to prove that he was the murderer, so they reluctantly abandoned the charge against him and released him. The fire was eventually characterized as an accident and no one was held accountable. "
"Later, did the creditor stop pestering the wife? "
"Yes. Her husband had died and left her with no property or security. The creditor was also worried that he was almost jailed, so he did not dare to go to her again to ask for money, and it is said that the debt was silently forgiven. "
"What happened to that creditor?"
"It's a difficult question to answer because his fate has nothing to do with the case, and his follow-up is not recorded in the file." However, we can speculate about his possible whereabouts and encounters based on some clues and common sense. Uncle Jiange said.
"First of all, we know that he is a small businessman engaged in usury activities, and usury is an illegal practice in China. The standard for determining usury was more than four times the interest rate on the bank's loans for the same period, and the interest rate on the money he lent to the young couple met this standard. Therefore, he not only faces the risk of the inability of the young couple to pay their debts, but also bears the possibility of pursuing criminal liability because the judicial authorities suspect that he forced the debtor to death. Especially after this case has attracted widespread attention in society, he is more likely to become the focus of the public security department's crackdown on loan shark crimes. "
"Secondly, we know that he is a Cantonese and does business in the Yiwu market. Yiwu Market is the world's largest wholesale market for small commodities, attracting merchants and buyers from all over the country and even around the world. Doing business here requires strong competitiveness and flexibility, but also faces a complex and changeable market environment and policy regulations. As a result of his months in detention, which has led to business disruptions and losses, he is likely to have lost his customers and supply chain, and will struggle to regain credibility and market share. Moreover, in Yiwu, a place with a large foreign population, complex social relations, weak awareness of the rule of law, and intertwined black and white, as a foreigner suspected of usury crimes, unclearly involved in a murder case, his identity is not stable enough, his background is not strong enough, his funds are not abundant enough, and his contacts are not extensive enough, he may also encounter many difficulties and dangers in surviving in the local area. "
"In summary, we can speculate that the creditor is likely to choose to leave the Yiwu market later and may give up loan sharking activities." Perhaps he will return to his hometown in Guangdong to start a new life or look for new opportunities; Perhaps he will go to other cities or countries to explore new markets or invest in new projects; Perhaps he will change his original identity or name to avoid judicial prosecution or social pressure; Perhaps he will be retaliated by other usury rivals or enemies and be imprisoned or even killed; Or maybe he just disappeared into obscurity in the vast sea of people.... "
"So what does this story have to do with He Lihui? I asked, "Is it..."
"That's right! You guessed it! That woman is He Lihui! The daughter she gave birth to is He Xiaoya! "
"Oh my God! This is amazing! Captain Hou said in surprise, "I've never heard He Lihui have such a past. "
After Uncle Jiange finished telling this story, we were all silent for a while. I can't help but think of He Lihui and He Xiaoya, they both seem to be gentle and kind, it is hard to imagine that they have had such a painful experience. Captain Hou was also frowning and thinking about something.
"Uncle Jiange, do you think there is any intrinsic connection between this matter and Li Shilan's death?" I couldn't help but ask curiously.
"This..." Uncle Jiange mused, "Actually, I'm not sure, but I just think it's too strange to be such a coincidence." "
"Are you saying that He Lihui may be the culprit in the murder of Li Shilan?" Captain Hou asked in surprise.
"No, no, no." Uncle Jiange quickly waved his hand, "I didn't mean that. Just thought she might have some secrets we didn't know. "
"For example?" Captain Hou asked urgently.
"For example, why these two accidents are fires, and He Lihui is involved, it is said that the probability of such a coincidence should be very small!" In the end, what kind of story is hidden between He Lihui and Li Shilan? "
"I think it's a bit far-fetched for you to say that," Captain Hou said unconvinced, "Li Shilan and He Lihui are not related, even if she has suffered two fire accidents in her life, this does not mean anything, if both of them are her husbands, you say that the chance of such a coincidence is very small, I agree with this." But this time it was only her neighbors who died in the fire, and the odds are not necessarily very small. "
Uncle Jiange also didn't want to argue with Captain Hou on this issue, but just said: "Everything about He Lihui, what is her recent source of income, and whether she and Li Shilan really have secret contacts that we don't know about, these need to be investigated more deeply and carefully." "