Mysteries in the Darkness Chapter 7

"Tao...Vice Captain Tao Tao!"

When Sterling turned around, he saw Reece, the guy from the branch who was wearing glasses and was running towards him.

Reece's glasses were broken yesterday, and he didn't bother to replace them with new ones. They fell crookedly to his cheekbones. Out of breath, he stood in front of Sterling, taking a few breaths with an unusually serious expression. Sterling felt a little tight in his chest.

Reece's face looked tense as if he had just had a facelift. He wiped the sweat from his hands on his pants and straightened his lingering glasses. Then you could clear your throat and take out the cell phone memo from your pocket: "Vice Captain Tao, I have a situation I want to report to you."

Sterling waited patiently for him to catch his breath and said, "Don't be anxious. If you have something to say, speak slowly."

"It's like this. When I visited the West District yesterday, I found that the people living there are very mixed, and the mobility and seasonality are very strong. It is common for tenants to change jobs and move away. It is not so much a group rental. In fact, it is more like a medium- and long-term small hotel with poor conditions. Therefore, the relationship between people is not very close, unless they are fellow villagers who take care of each other. My colleagues had a busy day yesterday and there was not much useful information. "

Sterling nodded to him with some encouragement: "Yes."

"But among the people who lived with Mason, there was one from the same province as him. This person's name was..." Reece flipped through the memo, "his name was Zhao Yulong, and he had a good relationship with the deceased. It is said that He He was the one who introduced me to the job of Mason Deliveryman. Quinn said that he had something to go back to his hometown for the past two days. "

Sterling raised his eyebrows in surprise. He wanted to contact this person.

Reece: "I found the person in charge of the coffee chain's distribution point last night and asked for Zhao Yulong's contact information. After he heard about it, he agreed to take the last long-distance bus back to Yancheng urgently last night. I told him Make an appointment to meet today."

Sterling looked at him thoughtfully: "I thought the branch's current investigation focus was on Quinn."

Reece's face tightened even more, and he subconsciously tugged at the hem of his shirt: "I...I always feel that there is something wrong with the mysterious person who gave the deceased his cell phone. Now that I have determined that Quinn is the murderer, there are still some doubts." There are many... I also told our captain about this situation... He told me not to always be self-righteous and look for trouble. "

When Sterling heard this, his face darkened and his gentle smile disappeared: "What time did you make an appointment?"

"Oh," Reece looked at his watch, "If the long-distance bus is not delayed, it will be in an hour."

Sterling made a quick decision: "I'll go with you, let's go!"

While the lower-level detectives were walking through the streets under the sun, Mr. Fei was leaning on the soft leather swivel chair in his office.

He gently put a finger on his forehead. On the laptop screen on the desk next to him was Mason's brief and lackluster life story. Casper dug out the contact information of someone from his address book and called him.

"Hey, Brother Chang, it's me," Casper listened to what was said on the other end of the phone and lowered his head with a smile, "Well, I'm sorry to say it, but I do have something I need to ask for your help with."

In less than half an hour, Casper successfully got what he wanted - the records of all nearby surveillance cameras on the night Chengguang Mansion opened.

It was lunch break. Casper heated up a can of sweet milk in the microwave in the tea room. He complimented the secretary's figure and told her to eat well and stop losing weight. Then he locked the door of his office and put on his headphones. Playing the song in his car, he pulled out an A4 paper.

He traced a simple topographic map on the paper using an abstract painting method that only he could understand. Then he turned the pen, thought for a moment, lightly marked a few circles on it, and wrote "20:00-21: 30", then, with a pause of his pen, he changed: "20:00" to "20:30".

Casper selected a few from a large number of surveillance records, put them together, selected the time period from 8:30 to 9:30, and started watching them with fast forward.

Several sets of pictures on the screen flashed back quickly at the same time. He leaned back lazily on the chair, and all his energy seemed to be concentrated in his eyes, staring at the screen motionlessly.

At this time, Elliot was walking around a transportation hub in the flower district with a briefcase under his arm and wearing his cool sunglasses. From time to time he waved to the taxis passing by on the road. Unfortunately, none of the taxis that ran over were empty. Upon seeing this, a group of black taxi drivers parked on the roadside, a specialty of the flower market, collectively issued an invitation to him.

"Would handsome guy take the car?"

"Handsome guy, where are you going?"

"Cheap and faster than a taxi!"

Elliot carefully inspected the army of black cars, and finally stopped in front of a young man with a crew cut.

The young man was very obedient and immediately opened the car door for him diligently: "Get in the car, where are you going?"

Elliot said nothing and sat sideways.

The young man with a flat head turned on the air conditioner for him and drove the car smoothly out of the convoy: "Handsome guy, you haven't said where you are going yet?"

"Just drive forward." Elliot took off his sunglasses and looked sharply at the driver through the rearview mirror. The driver was stunned for a moment, feeling uneasy for no reason.

"I have an anonymous report material here." After walking for a while, Elliot calmly opened his briefcase, took out a copy, and flipped through it. The driver's expression immediately changed, and he almost got into trouble with a car next to him. After scratching and receiving a long whistle, Elliot remained calm and said, "I'm not from your branch. Don't panic. Just keep driving forward. I have a few questions for you."

Sterling and Reece successfully met Zhao Yulong, a fellow countryman of Mason, and the three of them went to a small noodle shop together.

Zhao Yulong is over middle-aged and has worked hard in Yancheng for many years. Although he still has difficulty establishing himself, he looks much more respectable than the young people who are running into obstacles everywhere. The man had a tired look on his face after sitting on a long-distance bus for more than ten hours. He blinked hard a few times, and the wide-rimmed bags under his eyes were crumbling: "I really didn't expect anything to happen to him-------Officer, I'll have a cigarette." ?"

No one in the small noodle shop enforced the anti-smoking regulations, and there were old men everywhere. Zhao Yunlong took a couple of strong puffs and rubbed his face: "Mason is a well-behaved child. Many people go to the billiards hall and chess and card room when they have nothing to do." , he never goes, he works steadily to save money, saying that he will take it home to treat his mother's medical treatment. He does not steal, rob, gamble, and does not cause trouble. Why did something happen to him? ------You two If you want to ask anything, as long as I know it, I will definitely not hide it. "

Sterling looked at Zhao Yulong and found that although he used his right hand to eat with chopsticks, the hand he used to hold cigarettes and the handle of the tea cup were all on the left. In the old days, parents were afraid that their children would "fight" at the table and would force them to do so. "Correcting" left-handers is quite common.

Sterling took out a photo from his wallet, which showed the pair of shoes worn by the deceased: "I would like to ask, did you lend these shoes to Mason?"

Zhao Yulong looked down, his eye circles were almost red, and he nodded absentmindedly: "They are mine, he...did he walk in these shoes?"

"Yes, these shoes are very crucial," Sterling said, "Do you know why he borrowed these shoes?"

Zhao Yulong was a little confused and thought for a while: "I said I was going to meet someone in a very high-end place called... what's the name... Chengguang Building or a villa?"

Reece suddenly sat up straight: "Chengguang Mansion!"

"Yes," Zhao Yulong said, "that's the name."

"Who are you going to see? What's going on?"

Zhao Yulong shook his head: "I didn't tell you, I asked. That kid has a very upright idea and a strict mouth."

Reece quickly asked: "Mr. Zhao, Mason has a new mobile phone, right?"

"Ah, there is one," Zhao Yulong said, "The white one, right? He usually doesn't want to use it, and he still uses the old one. Sometimes he takes out the new phone to look at it. It has several layers of film on it. "

Reece: "Then do you know who gave you the phone?"

Zhao Yulong slowly frowned.

Sterling asked: "What?"

"When he first said it was a gift from a fellow countryman, I felt very strange at the time because I had never heard him mention any local acquaintances before. I was afraid that he would encounter some bad people because he was heartless. I bought it for you for no reason. Isn’t this an act of courtesy for such an expensive thing?” Zhao Yulong flicked the ashes from his cigarette, “I chased him and asked, and then he told me that one day he had a little conflict with someone while delivering the goods. , I was hit a few times, but he didn’t fight back. I don’t know if he regretted it or something, but apologized to him. "

Sterling and Reece looked at each other - they had never heard of this situation during their previous visits.

Is there anything worth hiding about having a conflict with someone and then having the other person apologize?

If it was true, why was Mason so vague and pretended that it was a gift from an acquaintance?

Mason lived with so many people, but no one saw that he was beaten, which shows that the physical conflict was not serious at the time. So why did the other party "apologize" and also give valuables at the same time?

Suddenly, this murder case, which seemed to reveal the murderer just by looking into the deceased's personal relationship, became inexplicably confusing.

Zhao Yulong didn't know the exact origin of the mysterious mobile phone, but he provided an approximate time when the conflict occurred. Sterling and Reece had no choice but to follow this clue and find the distribution company where Mason worked, searching for clues.

In the afternoon, the originally clear sky changed without warning. The arrogant sunshine was surrounded by dark clouds that came from nowhere. The suppressed wind was filled with moisture, and a sudden shower was about to happen.

Elliot got off the car near a subway entrance, but did not leave. He stretched out his hand to press the car door and glanced around. A bread truck that was originally parked at the intersection suddenly moved when his eyes passed by, as if he was acting guilty. Drive away slowly.

Elliot bent down slightly and whispered in the driver's ear through the half-open window: "Someone is watching you, be careful. If anything happens, come to me at any time."

The driver of the black car was blowing cold air from the air conditioner, still sweating on his forehead, and nodded quickly.

Elliot looked at him deeply, turned and walked towards the subway station. Just after passing the security check, his cell phone rang.

"Sterling, how's it going?" He said as he swiped his card to enter the station, then suddenly stopped, "What? Repeat that name again."

The window in Casper's office that had no windows clicked shut as it was blown shut by the wind, and a few pieces of paper fluttered to the ground. At this moment, his hand that was holding the mouse suddenly moved.

Casper froze one of the surveillance pictures, zoomed in and flipped it back, and found that the time was about 8:50 pm.

It was a very peripheral camera, almost no longer within the scope of Chengguang Mansion. It took a picture of a gravel path.

Because it is close to the water system, there are still many mosquitoes even in early summer. There are very few people passing by after dark. Even if there are occasional people, they are all walking in a hurry--but a hesitant shadow lingers under the street lamp for a long time. .

From the camera, you can only see the man wearing a rough and uncoordinated formal suit. He is not tall and a little thin. He is standing there and smoking several cigarettes in a row. He held a brown paper bag tightly in his hand and looked up in one direction from time to time. After a while, he seemed to have received a phone call. He said a few words to the person on the phone and then hurriedly walked out of the camera range.

Casper watched the video several times, not sure if it was the deceased he had met once. He grabbed the car keys, closed the computer and went out.

Forty minutes later, Casper arrived at the central business district of the Flower District.

He looked up at the increasingly gloomy sky, took out an umbrella from the trunk of the car, and walked to the landscape area near Chengguang Mansion.

Casper had an excellent sense of direction and found the location of the surveillance camera without making many detours.

The water vapor in the air was already so thick that it was about to fall. He carefully observed the position of the surveillance camera, recalled the direction in which the person in the camera had been looking, and turned around - at the end of the path, he could just see the shadowy Chengguang Mansion.

Casper's eyes fell on the trash can next to him - on the cigarette extinguishing stones, there were a few cigarette butts lying alone.

This place is deserted and the trash cans are clean. Almost no one throws anything in there. The cleaners only come to clean it every ten and a half days. Casper took out a silk handkerchief from his pocket and carefully picked up the cigarette butts. .

At this moment, his cell phone rang suddenly.

Casper wrapped up the cigarette butt calmly and then took out his mobile phone. When he saw the caller ID, he smiled before saying anything: "What, you suddenly treat me like three autumns after not seeing me for one day?"

Sterling's voice was quite serious: "Were you at Chengguang Mansion the night before yesterday?"

"Here," Casper paused, "What's wrong?"

"Are you with a man named Zhang Donglai?"

Casper was stunned for a moment. Before he could reply, a loud thunder sounded and heavy rain poured down.