Chapter 132: The Key and the Lock
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was noon. Other than the colleagues from Team A, Zhao Yu had also asked Zhang Jingfeng and Liang Huan to go to Frying Fish Restaurant. The two had just left Team A and were not considered outsiders. After the seafood dishes were served, the group started exclaiming in amazement. No one had expected Zhao Yu to be so generous. There were even huge lobsters and abalone were on the table! His generosity made everyone feel overwhelmed. Of course, only Zhao Yu and Li Beini knew how they had gotten the huge lobsters and abalone. They originated from Zhao Yu’s sinful hands…
As they had to work in the afternoon, the group did not drink alcohol, but the atmosphere was fiery as usual. At the dining table, the group loudly discussed expected topics, such as praise for Zhao Yu, congratulations for Zhao Yu, discussion on case developments, Team A’s outlook etc.
There was only one person in the group who was unhappy, and that was Liu Xueshan who had teamed up with Zhao Yu to search for the criminal! This fella remained silent while chewing crab, and his mind was filled with regret and hatred! He regretted not following Zhao Yu to search for Yang Wentao! If he had also gone to Yinpan Town, who knows, he might also have had a share in being commended! His own laziness had caused Zhao Yu’s unlimited glory and his own insignificance, it was really depressing…but from that moment on, Liu Xueshan decided that he must follow Zhao Yu for future missions! This young man was really something!
However, Zhao Yu was acting a little unusual at the moment. Although he still displayed his arrogant and domineering attitude at the dining table, he seemed a little out of sorts during the conversations, as if he had something on his mind! Everyone was a detective so they could naturally tell, but as they ate the delicious seafood, no one had the time to probe.
Zhao Yu definitely had something on his mind and it was not just one issue! What he wanted to find out the most was if the clue that he had gotten was the key to solving Jian Wenli’s case? He had taken the risk of being absent from the meeting to interrogate Liu Pengfei in the detention center with the hope of verifying if his thinking was correct. Moreover, it had been proven in the end that the direction of his investigation could be right again! For now, he was waiting for the investigation results on Miao Ying’s side which was why he looked a little preoccupied.
When Huahua mentioned losing her key and getting Yang Hong to change the lock the day before, Zhao Yu had already realized something. When Li Beini introduced the Nursing Home Robbery Case and mentioned the key and lock again, it finally got Zhao Yu’s attention! Zhao Yu vividly remembered that in Lin Meifeng’s statement, she clearly stated that the door was locked when she entered Jian Wenli’s house and attempted to murder her!
The gate was locked, and the room door was also locked! Lin Meifeng had used the keys from Liu Pengfei in order to enter. Thinking this detail over now, and combining it with his prior speculation, Zhao Yu seemed to have figured out something…
First of all, with his prior use of his lie detector and the evidence obtained by Captain Miao recently, it could certainly be said that Jian Wenli had been strangled to death before Lin Meifeng entered the room and stabbed with the knife. Lin Meifeng was only stabbing a corpse! Then…the problem came! How did the person who killed Jian Wenli enter the room in her house? The room was locked when Lin Meifeng entered. She had used a key to open the door, which meant that the door lock was still intact at that time, and the real murderer did not break the lock to enter!
So…how did he enter? In order not to make any mistakes, Zhao Yu carefully reread the records from that year. It indeed clearly stated that there were no signs of Jian Wenli’s house lock being broken! In other words, it was highly possible that the real murderer also used a key to open the door! That’s right! This was the crucial detail that Zhao Yu was thinking about! If the real murderer had also used a key to open the door, then…where did his key come from? If the origin of the key could be found, then could the real murderer be identified!? Therefore, with this thought in mind, Zhao Yu had rushed to the detention center to interrogate Liu Pengfei again.
According to Liu Pengfei’s account, his house only had two sets of keys, each held by the husband and wife. Other than Lin Meifeng for the exchange murder, he had never duplicated the keys for anyone else. After hearing Liu Pengfei’s answer, Zhao Yu instinctively thought of a possibility! Had Jian Wenli have any problems in her life? Could it be that she was the one who duplicated the real murderer’s key? Or, did the murderer not have the key, and Jian Wenli opened the door for him? Jian Wenli had an affair with the real murderer, the real murderer’s love turned to hatred, or he had wanted to steal something from Jian Wenli’s house but bumped into her by accident and strangled her to death? However, after some careful thinking, Zhao Yu abandoned that thought.
This was because, the detectives had done a focused investigation on Jian Wenli’s lifestyle and background that year, but had not discovered that she had had an affair. If the real murderer really had an affair with Jian Wenli, the truth behind the case would have been uncovered long ago! Also, Zhao Yu still did not believe that the real murderer and Lin Meifeng’s murder exchange were just pure coincidence! It would be too much of coincidence! If it had not been discussed previously, how could it be so coincidental? He had always felt that the real murderer must have had something to do with either Lin Meifeng or Liu Pengfei!
Before this, Zhao Yu and Miao Ying had both suspected Lin Meifeng’s husband; however, evidence had shown that not only did the two not know each other, but they were not even in the same city. Lin Meifeng’s husband was also not related to Yu Zhigen, Liu Pengfei, or Jian Wenli! If it was not Jian Wenli’s lover or Lin Meifeng’s husband, then…what exactly was the truth?
At that time, Zhao Yu saw that he was not able to get any valuable clues from Liu Pengfei and had wanted the prison officers to take Liu Pengfei away; however, just as Liu Pengfei took a step out of the room, a thought suddenly flashed through Zhao Yu’s mind and he called him back again. At that moment, the key and the lock appeared again in Zhao Yu’s brain, making him rethink the whole situation. He thought of another important point. “Liu Pengfei, I wanna ask you another question.” Zhao Yu wanted to give it a try. “The key that you gave Lin Meifeng, where did you duplicate it?”
“Mmm…” As too much time had elapsed, Liu Pengfei had almost forgotten. He thought for a good five minutes while scratching his nose before replying with uncertainty, “Officer, I remember that to avoid being seen by familiar people, I probably went somewhere faraway to duplicate the keys! That place…should’ve been a suburb at that time, I can’t really remember the name, but I can still roughly remember the location…”
“There…” Zhao Yu took out a paper and a pen. “Draw it out for me! Oh yeah, do you still remember what the person who duplicated the keys looked like?”
“That I do remember!” Liu Pengfei held the pen, ready to start drawing as he answered without much thinking, “That man was bald, half a head taller than me, also…he walked with a limp!”
“What!? What did you say!?” Hearing this, Zhao Yu was shocked and gave a deafening roar. Liu Pengfei got a big shock and even dropped the pen and paper on the floor!