After reviewing Xiong Zhiyang and Lü Yuchan’s WeChat chat history, the task force unanimously suspected that Xiong Zhiyang was responsible for the “7.18” poisoning case because he had a sufficient motive. He very likely entered the community and sneaked into Li Yuehua’s home to commit the crime during the power outage in Prosperity Garden on July 15th.
However, to the police’s surprise, through careful interrogation and investigation of Xiong Zhiyang, he had a perfect alibi for that time period. Additionally, investigators searched his home and his renovation company thoroughly but found no trace of cyanide.
That day, after lunch at 11:00 a.m., Xiong Zhiyang met two friends to go fishing at an artificial lake. The fishing spot was at least twenty kilometers away from the crime scene community. They returned around 4:30 p.m. According to his two friends, Xiong Zhiyang did not leave during the fishing trip. Task force members reviewed surveillance videos along the route and confirmed that what he and his friends said was completely true.
Faced with Sun Rumin’s interrogation, Xiong Zhiyang admitted that his marriage with Lü Yuchan had a huge rift due to Li Yuehua’s interference. He also admitted that he had said many harsh words threatening Lü Yuchan and Li Yuehua. However, he argued that he was just talking big. He was a giant in words but a dwarf in action. He didn’t have the guts to murder them.
Regarding Wu Shuqi’s questioning on the night of the incident about whether his wife’s relationship with Li Yuehua had exceeded the normal boundaries between men and women, he didn’t tell the truth. He explained to Sun Rumin: He no longer had feelings for Lü Yuchan. Now that she was dead, he only hoped that the police investigation would end as soon as possible so that the matter could be closed, minimizing the impact on his life.
In addition, his son, Xiong Tong, was at home. He believed that his son must already be very sad after learning of his mother’s death. If his son were to learn that his mother had an affair with another man and that her death was indirectly related to this, it would inevitably leave an indelible shadow in the child’s heart. It was because of these concerns that he didn’t tell the police the truth.
Sun Rumin felt that it was reasonable for him to have such thoughts.
Although Xiong Zhiyang had an alibi for the day of the incident on July 15th, his suspicion was not completely ruled out because he might have instructed others to poison them. After all, money makes the world go round.
Through an investigation of the suspect Xiong Zhiyang’s social connections, a middle-aged man named Shen Pengfei, who had been in close contact with Xiong Zhiyang recently, aroused the police’s suspicion.
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Sun Rumin and two investigators found Shen Pengfei in a billiard room.
Upon learning why the police were looking for him, Shen Pengfei was very surprised and expressed his willingness to cooperate with the police investigation.
Faced with the police’s inquiries, Shen Pengfei admitted that he had recently been hired by Xiong Zhiyang to investigate whether Lü Yuchan and Li Yuehua had an improper relationship, but he ended his cooperation with Xiong Zhiyang a month later because Xiong Zhiyang believed that he was not doing a good job and had not found any evidence of Lü Yuchan and Li Yuehua’s affair.
The police then asked Shen Pengfei where he was on July 15th of this month. Shen Pengfei said that he and a friend drove to Wutong City at about 9:00 a.m. that day and did not return until after 8:00 p.m.
The police found the friend mentioned by Shen Pengfei. After careful questioning and investigation, it was verified that what Shen Pengfei said was completely true.
Shen Pengfei’s suspicion was ruled out.
While investigating Xiong Zhiyang’s social connections, task force members conducted a comprehensive investigation of the crime scene community and its surrounding areas because the police insisted that the murderer entered the community during the power outage in Prosperity Garden and its surrounding areas on July 15th. After a lot of trouble, they did not obtain any valuable clues.
In addition, the task force also investigated Xiong Zhiyang and Li Yuehua’s online shopping records for the past six months but found no suspicious transaction records.
The case investigation was making no progress, and the task force felt under great pressure.
At the case analysis meeting, task force members spoke enthusiastically and brainstormed ideas. After some discussion, everyone’s opinions were very unified, believing that there were three possibilities for the case:
First, Xiong Zhiyang hired a murderer, but the police have not yet mastered the clues. The police also suspect that Xiong Zhiyang’s invitation to his friends to go fishing was a carefully laid out plan, deliberately done for the police to see, to clear his criminal suspicion. This is because the police learned from the two women who went fishing with him that day that they had never seen or heard of Xiong Zhiyang fishing before.
Second, Li Yuehua offended someone in business or interpersonal relationships. Others found a way to get a copy of his house key and then took the opportunity to enter his home and poison them.
Third, Li Yuehua seemed to have no motive for committing the crime, but his suspicion could not be ruled out.
Wu Shuqi asked Li Yuehua about the suspicion that he had offended someone.
“Could it be him?” Li Yuehua blurted out, with a look of fear on his face almost at the same time.
“Who?” Wu Shuqi asked eagerly.
“Gou Zhenghui. I have a conflict with him. I suspect he has always wanted to retaliate against me!” Li Yuehua recalled, “My key was lost once half a year ago. It was lost in the studio I rented to do We-Commerce. It was picked up by him. He is my superior agent. He often comes to the studio for business needs. After he picked up the key, he called me. I was eating with the owner of an eyeglasses store at the time, so I asked him to send the key to the Cuicheng Dry Cleaners in the community where I live. I am familiar with the owner of the dry cleaners. But when I came back, he hadn’t arrived yet. He said he was delayed on the way because of something.”
Wu Shuqi’s eyes lit up and she quickly asked, “How long was the interval from when he picked up the key to when he gave it to you? Why did you two become enemies?”
“It’s estimated to be two hours—no, it should be three hours.” Li Yuehua frowned as if thinking, “We are fellow villagers, but we didn’t interact much before. We only became closer after he joined my We-Commerce team. But then, about three months later, we suddenly fell out. The reason was that he took 20,000 yuan worth of eye protection patches from me half a year ago. After selling them for a while, he couldn’t sell them anymore. He told me that he didn’t want to do it anymore, and then he took the goods to my house and demanded that I refund his investment. Of course, I didn’t agree. He wanted to be an agent himself, and I didn’t force him to join. So, we started arguing, and he even hit me, threatening to kill me.
“He must have secretly copied my house key. At that time, he may have just wanted to steal something from my house. Later, I had a conflict with him, so he went to my house to poison me and wanted to kill me. That person is very vicious!”
He then explained, “Why do I think he only wanted to steal something from my house at the time? Because I knew he was dishonest. People who are familiar with him know that he has this habit. I have seen him take other people’s things twice. Once he took a wallet, and once he took a mobile phone power bank.”
Wu Shuqi and Sun Rumin looked at each other and said to Li Yuehua in unison, “Where does Gou Zhenghui live? Take us to find him immediately!”
“He lives in Daba Village. I’ll take you there now!” Li Yuehua said, “But I don’t know if he has moved.”
Forty minutes later.
Three plainclothes policemen stood against the wall on both sides of the red small door of a rental house in the urban village. They were focused, waiting for Wu Zhi, who was disguised as an electrical repairman, to knock on the door. Then they would enter and question Gou Zhenghui. If necessary, they would control him.
“Is anyone home? I’m an electrician, here to check if there are any aging electrical wires.”
There was silence in the house.
“Can you open the door, please!”
Still no response.
Previously, Wu Shuqi and Sun Rumin found the landlady in the elderly activity room next to the village committee and learned the situation from her. The landlady said that the house was indeed rented to a foreigner named Gou Zhenghui. The old lady also said that fifteen minutes ago, she saw Gou Zhenghui carrying a roast duck towards his residence.
They knocked on the door for a long time, but there was still no response, and no movement was heard inside the house. Wu Shuqi thought that since Gou Zhenghui had just returned with the roast duck, he should be at home at this time. Could it be that the “7.18” poisoning case was related to him? He suspected that he knew that the people at the door were police and was hiding in the house, afraid to speak?
Just as the policemen were whispering to each other to discuss countermeasures, a young man with a cigarette in his mouth walked slowly from the end of the L-shaped alley. When he reached the corner of the road, he suddenly saw Sun Rumin, Wu Zhi, and others standing in front of the house he rented. His face changed immediately, and he turned around and ran away as if facing a formidable enemy.
“Stop! Stop!” Sun Rumin realized that this person was very likely the suspect Gou Zhenghui, so he immediately rushed over, determined to catch him.
Wu Zhi also immediately chased after him.
Li Yuehua glanced at the person running away and quickly said to Wu Shuqi, “That’s Gou Zhenghui!”
Wu Shuqi’s steps were vigorous, her appearance was heroic, and her capable and decisive style was vividly displayed in her running speed and posture.
Gou Zhenghui ran through the winding alley. Due to panic, he knocked over the trash can on the side of the road at the street corner. Immediately, he staggered and fell to the ground. Due to lack of physical strength, he was unable to get up. Finally, he was pinned to the ground by Sun Rumin, whose physical strength and endurance were superior to his, and was soon handcuffed by Wu Zhi.
“What’s your name?” Wu Zhi was not sure if this person was Gou Zhenghui.
“I… Gou Zhenghui… Ow! Are you… Are you… police? Why are you treating me so violently… Ow!” Gou Zhenghui gasped and grimaced.
“Yes, we are the police!” Wu Zhi pulled the suspect up and patted him hard on the shoulder to show his power, “Tell me honestly, why did you run away when you saw the police?”
“I… Oh, why didn’t you say so earlier? If you had said so… I wouldn’t have run away! I thought you were…” Gou Zhenghui shouted and argued, “Hey, you caught the wrong person! You definitely caught the wrong person! I didn’t break the law!”
“Thought we were who?” Wu Zhi asked sternly.
Gou Zhenghui said loudly, “Thought you were… were Li Xiaomei’s old man hired to cause trouble…”
“Why would others cause trouble for you?” Wu Zhi’s voice was still very stern.
“This… this is a personal matter, I don’t have the right to tell you.” Gou Zhenghui said with his head lowered.
Wu Shuqi suspected that he had a problem when she saw the suspect hesitating, and said to Wu Zhi, “Take him back to the bureau!”
“Hey, the police can’t just arrest people! Let me go! Let me go!” Gou Zhenghui showed an angry expression of being wronged, “I’m waiting, I’m going to sue you for abuse of power! Ow—!”
As the police escorted Gou Zhenghui past Li Yuehua, Gou Zhenghui glanced at Li Yuehua in astonishment, seeming to understand something, and muttered, “I should have known it was him…”