Chapter 657: A Million Times for You (19)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Ma Jianguo continued, “The surveillance footage that she appeared in was destroyed, but we found her acting quite normal lately and ruled out the possibility of suicide. The Bureau Chief was too embarrassed to call you, so he made me call to ask if you could come back to take this case.”
An Xiaoning’s nerves tightened. Yuan Mingzhu was dead. The psychic person who took over her position was dead…
Why did it happen so suddenly?
Who was the one who murdered her?
“Xiaoning…” Since she didn’t answer, Ma Jianguo called out to her again.
“No,” she rejected him directly. “All of you should solve this case on your own.”
“Xiaoning… Team Leader Yuan is dead. All the members of our team are uneasy about it. We’re not sure whether her death is a result of someone taking revenge because we unintentionally offended someone when we were solving previous cases.” Ma Jianguo went on, “Or whether it is due to some unknown reason. Now, there’s no one to lead the Special Investigations Unit anymore, and the Bureau Chief can’t find someone like you or Team Leader Yuan to take over in such a short time. Can’t you just come over and help, please?”
“I’ve something on today, so I’m not free. Leave this issue to Bureau Chief Pan to pass on to Team Leader Zhang of the Serious Crimes Investigation Unit.”
Since she was unwilling to help, Ma Jianguo had no choice but to end the call.
He conveyed her exact words to Pan Zhenghui.
“She really said that?”
“Yes, she did.” Ma Jianguo confessed frankly, “Chief, when you got Team Leader Yuan to take over Team Leader An’s position, you didn’t even give her a heads up…”
“I made a mistake in handling that matter. However, back then, I wasn’t even sure of Xiao Yuan’s level of capability…” Pan Zhenghui continued, “I’ll pass Xiao Yuan’s case to the Serious Crimes Investigation Unit to investigate whether it was a suicide or something else. We’ll wait for the coroner’s report first.”
“Chief, do you still intend to arrange a team leader for our special team?”
Pan Zhenghui remained silent for a moment before replying, “Of course, there has to be a team leader, but we’ll keep the position empty for the moment. We’ll wait for a suitable candidate to appear before arranging it.”
Ma Jianguo returned to the office and glanced at the team leader’s seat, his face a shade of gloom. “From what all of you have seen, was the team leader acting normal recently?”
“She was, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual about her,” Gong Le replied.
“That’s my exact sentiments. To say she committed suicide… I don’t think it’s even possible at all. She didn’t seem like someone who didn’t want to live that much,” Zu Dong chimed in.
“Xiao Ding, what do you think?”
Ding Liang thought for a moment. “Lao Ma, I don’t feel the same. Team Leader Yuan said she recently bought a house nearby, I think that’s rather unusual. With our salary, how was she able to afford a house? If we didn’t know Team Leader Yuan’s family situation, then it’s fine. But we know her family doesn’t have much money, and we also know the average price of houses near the station. Where did she get the money to buy a house and a car?”
“Right, this point is rather strange. We’ll update the Serious Crimes Investigation Unit later and get them to check this suspicious point.”
“…”
Yuan Mingzhu’s mother took a taxi from her house to the station.
After seeing Yuan Mingzhu’s body, Mrs. Yuan wept in devastation and could not make out why her child was gone just like that.
Moreover, the fact that she had lost her only daughter was definitely a huge blow to her.
After understanding the situation from her, the police brought her to Yuan Mingzhu’s house.
This was also the main investigation scene.
Yuan Mingzhu was unmarried and had no children. She was only twenty-six years old, so her monetary assets and house were naturally inherited by her mother solely.
After investigating the place, the police officers found it too creepy. There was a room specifically for doing rituals that had many things displayed in it, which made one wonder: was it some ritual she did that had caused her to invite trouble to herself?
But a speculation remained a speculation, and they still had to start from somewhere else.
Yuan Mingzhu’s phone was sent for repair and, after the telecommunications company had compiled the list of her frequent contacts, they realized that she had frequent contact with a certain number. The person who owned this number was none other than Xu Youran.
The other numbers she contacted, other than Yuan Mingzhu’s mother, was the officers from the station.
Xu Youran was called to the police station.
Her stomach was bulging, and she was wearing loose clothing. After she sat down on the chair in the interrogation room, the police officer started interrogating her.
“What was your relationship with Yuan Mingzhu?”
“We were good friends.” Xu Youran’s expression was slightly sorrowful, and she raised her hand to wipe the tears on the corner of her eye. “This was really unexpected, it’s so upsetting.”
“We’ve found out that you transferred ownership of a house to Yuan Mingzhu and even transferred a few million dollars to her bank account. What was your reason for transferring a house and money to her?”
Xu Youran had long since prepared for such questions during the interrogation. When she was asked this, her face remained unchanged and she replied, “Mingzhu was a remarkable person; she can do fortune-telling, so I asked her to read my fortune and that of my husband. I’m carrying a child as well, so I intended to ask her to help read the fortune of my child when he or she is born later on. If there’s to be any disaster, then we’ll be able to overcome it. I gave her the house and money as she’s alone here and still has to live in a dormitory. Since I have a house that’s vacant, I just gave it to her.”
The police officer recorded her statement and continued asking, “The two of you just spoke on the phone yesterday, did you find anything unusual about her?”
Xu Youran shook her head. “No, she sounded normal when she spoke on the phone with me.”
The police officer then asked her a few more questions, and Xu Youran answered them one by one.
After answering all the questions, she left the interrogation room.
Her sorrowful face completely faded away after she returned to her car and sat inside.
Xu Youran could never have expected Yuan Mingzhu to actually get killed for some unexplainable reason. She was rather confident that Yuan Mingzhu did not commit suicide because she no longer wanted to live.
She had become acquainted with Yuan Mingzhu not long ago, and the two of them had a certain level of understanding about each other.
She could not have possibly done something so cowardly.
When she learned of this news this morning, Xu Youran thought that she was dreaming. It was not until Gu Dongcheng affirmed this that she collapsed weakly on the bed.
From what she knew, Yuan Mingzhu’s death was definitely related to herself somehow.
She could vaguely guess who was the one who wanted her dead, but she wasn’t a hundred percent sure.
She just ended up dead like that without any warning beforehand. Xu Youran lost a huge chess piece who assisted her. Where was she supposed to find such a capable psychic?
The person who’d had her killed must have found out something. So, was it Gu Beicheng, Lin Mingxi, or Jin Qingyan?
Or was it An Xiaoning, who used black magic to cause her death?
She did not dare to think…
In that moment, Xu Youran’s head felt numb and her palms were sweating. A thick layer of heavy clouds enveloped Xu Youran’s head.
It was also as if a heavy stone weighted down on her heart, making her out of breath.
At this moment, Lin Mingyuan’s call came.
Xu Youran put on her earpiece and drove out of the police station.
“How did she die?” Lin Mingyuan suppressed her anger as she asked this on the other end. “We haven’t even gotten that thing done and now she’s dead already. What kind of rubbish is this?”
“She was murdered.” Xu Youran went on, “For now, we’re still unable to find the person behind her death. However, our cooperation remains, and I’ll find someone to replace her as soon as possible.”