When Wu Yongcheng and Zhou Yi brought their men back to the station, they ran right into Chen Yan, who had just returned.
"Boss, we didn’t find any large transactions in Du Xiaolin’s bank account," Chen Yan reported. "But her mother said that during the Lunar New Year two months ago, Du Xiaolin gave her eight thousand yuan to save up, claiming it was a bonus from the hospital. I checked with the hospital, and they never issued such a bonus. That means the source of this money is unknown.
"I also took a look at Du Xiaolin’s bedroom. There are a lot of cosmetics and shopping bags with English packaging. I took a few photos; they all look like designer brands."
"Any updates from Biaozi and Qiao?" Wu Yongcheng asked.
Zhou Yi highly approved of Wu Yongcheng’s arrangements. If Zhang Xinli was the killer, she would need to dispose of at least three things after the murder: the murder weapon, the bloodstained clothes, and the shoes used as a disguise.
As for the shoes, she most likely wore Wang Youfu’s, since the size matched perfectly. Based on Zhou Yi’s discovery that the bathtub had been scrubbed, Zhang Xinli had probably washed the bloody clothes and shoes overnight. As a result, even if they found these two items, it was unknown whether they could still detect Du Xiaolin’s blood on them.
Furthermore, Wu Yongcheng couldn’t apply for a warrant to search Zhang Xinli’s home based on mere speculation. Therefore, the most crucial piece of physical evidence was the murder weapon.
Although a murder weapon could be washed, there were always tiny nooks and crannies that were difficult to clean completely. The only way to thoroughly sanitize it was by using specialized chemicals. Moreover, the forensic examiner could verify the exact weapon by comparing it with the wounds on the victim’s body.
There were only two possibilities for how Zhang Xinli disposed of the weapon. She either threw it away on the road after fleeing the scene last night, or she took it home to dispose of it later. Wu Yongcheng had arranged for a grid search and surveillance specifically for this key piece of evidence. Now that the police had paid them a visit, Zhang Xinli would be even more desperate to get rid of it.
Chen Yan replied, "Sister Qiao is still keeping an eye on things. She said Zhang Xinli hasn’t left the house, but her husband went back. Brother Biao doesn’t have any news yet. He’s probably still searching since the area is a bit large."
"If he’s short on manpower, tell him to ask the nearest local police station for help. Build a good relationship with the grassroots units; tell him not to be so rigid," Wu Yongcheng instructed.
"Got it." Chen Yan nodded and pointed to the adjacent inquiry room. "Boss, do you need me to go in?"
"No, Zhou Yi will go in with me. He’s more familiar with this case," Wu Yongcheng replied. "By the way, go keep an eye on the summons process for Zhang Xinli and Wang Youfu. As soon as the approval comes through, bring them in immediately."
"Yes, sir!"
Before entering the inquiry room, Wu Yongcheng said, "Zhou Yi, you’ll be asking the questions."
"Understood. Thank you for your trust, Captain Wu." Zhou Yi knew that Wu Yongcheng wanted to test his professional capabilities.
An inquiry room was different from an interrogation room. The latter was meant for questioning criminal suspects, while the former was a place for gathering evidence from individuals related to a case. By nature, it was much less tense and oppressive.
After walking in, Zhou Yi first stated his and Wu Yongcheng’s identities. He then asked for Zhu Xuejun’s basic background information, following standard protocol for taking an inquiry statement.
Zhou Yi’s first question cut straight to the chase.
"Do you know Du Xiaolin?"
"Du Xiao..." Zhu Xuejun looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, I remember now. I heard people talking about it when I got to the hospital this morning. She’s the female nurse from the emergency department who was murdered, right? Sigh, I brought this up with the security department ages ago—the safety of medical staff needs to be taken seriously, we need to..."
"Zhu Xuejun!" Zhou Yi said sternly. "Please answer my question directly."
The man was taken aback. "I... I guess I know her. We’re all colleagues, after all."
"What about Zhang Xinli? What is your relationship with her?"
Hearing that name, Zhu Xuejun’s expression changed drastically. "Also a colleague."
"Just a colleague?" Zhou Yi stared at him with a scrutinizing gaze.
Zhu Xuejun raised his hand, wiping away a drop of sweat rolling down his temple under the guise of scratching an itch. "Ah, yes... just regular colleagues."
Zhou Yi pulled out a photocopy and placed it in front of the man. "A regular colleague you transfer fifty thousand yuan to? That amount is equivalent to ten years’ wages for an ordinary steelworker. You’re quite generous, Director Zhu. Don’t tell me it was a loan."
Zhu Xuejun clearly hadn’t expected the police to have dug this up. Faced with the photocopy of the bank transfer record, he knew that making any more excuses would be futile.
He let out a long sigh. "Alas, I admit that I’m indeed a bit open-minded when it comes to my personal lifestyle. Once, when I was drunk, I was seduced by Zhang Xinli, and some things happened that shouldn’t have. Later, she used that incident to harass and threaten me. She demanded to be my mistress; otherwise, she would report me and ruin my reputation completely.
Zhou Yi noted how conveniently Zhu Xuejun’s excuse completely absolved him of any blame. He and Wu Yongcheng remained silent, continuing to watch him put on his show.
"I hated it. I hated myself for letting alcohol cloud my judgment," Zhu Xuejun continued. "But I couldn’t just let my future be destroyed like that, could I? Besides, I still had so many patients waiting for my treatment. I had no choice but to give in. Yet, she pushed her luck, constantly demanding this and that, relentlessly blackmailing and extorting me.
"In the end, I really couldn’t take it anymore and begged her to let me go.
"Officers, can you guess how shameless she was?
"She said I had to give her fifty thousand yuan to settle the matter privately before she would leave me alone, or else she would sue me for rape. Tell me, is there any justice in this world?"
The more Director Zhu spoke, the more aggrieved he seemed. By the end, he couldn’t help but take off his glasses to wipe his tears. Had Zhou Yi and Wu Yongcheng not already known what he did to Xiao, they might have almost believed the guy.
"So, it sounds like you took quite a loss," Zhou Yi asked with a smile.
"Sigh, I hold some responsibility too. My willpower wasn’t strong enough. How could I have known that young girls these days were so cunning?" Zhu Xuejun shook his head, his face full of bitter regret.
However, Zhou Yi felt that his clumsy acting was nothing but a facade. From the money aspect alone, it was obvious that Zhu Xuejun always used cash when committing his dirty deeds.
He had used cash when he molested Xiao. The source of Du Xiaolin’s eight thousand yuan and her funds for buying designer cosmetics and clothes was definitely cash from Zhu Xuejun as well.
The only strange detail was that fifty thousand yuan transfer. Aside from that sum, there wasn’t a single transaction in Zhang Xinli’s account related to Zhu Xuejun.
This indicated that when Zhu Xuejun was being "extorted" by his mistress, Zhang Xinli, he had given her cash. Aside from the fact that cash left no trace and its source was untraceable, Zhou Yi thought of another reason why he would insist on using it.
That was, the source of the money itself was highly questionable.
This was exactly the "foul play" Zhou Yi and Wu Yongcheng had discussed. However, it was still unknown whether this foul play had anything to do with Du Xiaolin’s case.
"So, does that mean Du Xiaolin learned from Zhang Xinli? She seduced you while you were drunk and insisted on being your mistress?"
"Du Xiaolin?" Zhu Xuejun looked completely bewildered. "No, she and I really are just regular colleagues."