Chapter 1059: Perplexed and Smitten (119)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
They could deduce if those people were possible suspects just by the frequency of their entry and departure.
Half the number of suspects was left after they’d eliminated those who were unlikely to be the culprit.
“No. 5, go back to the guardroom to check the surveillance camera footages and see if those people have shown up three days ago.”
“Okay.”
While he went to the guardroom, An Xiaoning received a call from the police station. In order to render assistance to An Xiaoning, Pan Zhenghui had sent a few police officers to check the surveillance camera footages and record all the license plate numbers of the cars that were captured, as well as the information of the owners, and told An Xiaoning to collect them later. She expressed assent and waited for No. 5 to return.
Whenever she was panicking, her brain would often remind her to keep her cool and calm herself down, so as to find out the culprit using the leads she had obtained.
She removed the lid of the water bottle and chugged all the mineral water down in one go, after which she burped and began crushing the bottle with all her might, seemingly venting all her anger and frustration on the poor, innocent bottle.
Time passed by, minute after minute. No. 5 finally returned after a long while.
“Sis, according to the surveillance camera footages from the past three days, there were six people who did not show up, amongst which are a man and a woman who showed up with the same frequency.”
An Xiaoning asked, “On which floor do they live?”
“They don’t live here. They seem to be the relatives of one of the residents here. However, I don’t know exactly on which floor they live.”
“There are only a few households in the estate. It would be easy to find out whose relatives they are. We’ll just knock on the door of each unit and show them the photos of those people. Get No. 9 and No. 10 to do it instead, lest you bump into Mo Li. It’ll be hard to explain to her then. Stay home to wait for their news. I’ll be making a trip to the police station now.”
“Alright, drive safely.”
….
After collecting the information of the car owners from the police station, she quickly rushed back to Sanqiao Estate without further delay.
Upon the sight of her return, Shi Qingzhou frantically asked, “It’s already noontime. Xiaoning, will you be having lunch at home?”
“Yes.” She entered the house with her car keys. Not long after, she received a call from No. 9.
After hearing what he had to say, she stood up again and headed opposite.
Coincidentally, she bumped into Mo Li at the lift lobby while waiting for the elevator. Mo Li was startled to see her when she came out of the elevator, after which she asked, “Aren’t you and No. 8 overseas, according to No. 5?”
Having been through lots of trials and tribulations and faced all sorts of circumstances, An Xiaoning could lie through her teeth and cover things up seamlessly.
“I came back first because of something urgent. No. 8 is keeping tabs on his own.”
Mo Li smiled and said, “I went to the supermarket to buy some things. Hurry and go in.”
“Alright.” An Xiaoning entered the elevator and pressed the elevator button, the smile on her face vanishing while she watched the doors close slowly.
The elevator stopped on the seventh floor. She exited and was greeted with the sight of No. 9, who said, “Sis, it’s this one.”
“Is that couple their friends?”
“Yes.”
There seemed to be nothing peculiar about it, since friends don’t necessarily have to visit friends every single day.
However, she decided to just ask in detail and make things clear since she was already at their doorstep.
The mistress of the apartment happened to be home at the time. Upon the sight of An Xiaoning, she hurriedly served some tea and said, “Ms. An, please take a seat.”
“Thank you. May I ask if those two people in that photo are your friends? Or are they your husband’s?”
“They’re my husband’s friends and they’re a romantic couple,” she answered with a smile.
“Did they visit your house because you and your husband had invited them?”
Shaking her head, the mistress answered, “I’m not too sure about that, but it seems like my husband had arranged for them to come over. I don’t know if he had invited them or if they’d initiated paying us a visit.”
“Could you call your husband and ask him about it? But don’t tell him that I was the one who had asked you.”
“Alright, please give me a moment.” The mistress called her husband to ask him about the matter.
After ending the call, the mistress answered while smiling, “My husband said that they’re the ones who asked if they could come over. The toilet and flushing system in their home were faulty, and hence, they stayed over at my place for a few days. They’re on very close terms with my husband and so I agreed to lend them a hand.”
“When did they move back to their own home, then?”
“This morning.”
An Xiaoning asked, “Were you home last night?”
“Yes. I’ve put my work aside for now because I’m planning to get pregnant. I’ve been staying at home recently.”
“Recall carefully, what time do they usually go out when they were staying in your house?”
“They usually go out in the morning and come home in the evening. They would usually have lunch outside. Ms. An, did my husband’s friends do something?” asked the mistress, who was puzzled by An Xiaoning’s questions.
“I can’t confirm that yet. That’s why I came here to find out more about the situation. I hope you’ll answer all of my questions truthfully.”
The mistress nodded fervently and said, “Yes, of course. Just feel free to ask me any questions you’d like.”
“What time did they return home yesterday?”
“Yesterday? Seven something. They had dinner outside before coming home.”
“Seven what? Give me a rough estimate.”
After recalling carefully, the mistress answered, “They returned after the evening news program ended. I reckon it was somewhere between half past seven and eight.”
“May I ask, what are their professions?”
“My husband works as an IT personnel in a video game company. They’re his colleagues.”
“Could you give me their mobile numbers and home addresses?”
“I only know where they live but I don’t know the exact address. I don’t have their mobile numbers either. I’ll have to ask my husband.”
“Alright, could I trouble you to call him again, then?”
“No problem.” The mistress gave her husband another call.
Her husband again asked about what was going on, to which the mistress answered that she would explain the details to him when he gets home.
However, her husband refused to divulge their contact details unless she told him explicitly what was going on.
An Xiaoning motioned for the mistress to end the call.
An Xiaoning then said, “Let’s go to your husband’s office and get him to come down later.”
“Alright.”
An Xiaoning headed to the mistress’ husband’s office together with the mistress while No. 9 stayed behind.
When they reached the office building, the mistress called her husband again. Two minutes later, he exited.
The mistress waved at him from the window and called, “Hubby, I’m here.”
The young man was momentarily stunned to see his wife sitting in a Ferrari. He immediately stepped forward and asked, “Whose car is this?”
“Hubby, hop on first. Ms. An has some questions for you.”
The man bent forward to look at the driver’s seat before getting inside the car.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Dong. Here’s what happened, my bodyguard went missing all of a sudden last night at the lobby opposite my mansion. I don’t know if he’s dead or alive at present, and I’m currently investigating this matter. On top of that, your friends are on my list of suspects. I’m not saying that they’re the culprits, but if you’d like to prove their innocence, please cooperate with me. It’d be better if you can prove them to be innocent.”