frightfiction Chapter 1332 1 men and 1 woman
Chapter 1332 1 men and 1 woman
"These are the copper fittings, and two old printers that he found in the basement junk. He said he knew the surveillance cameras in the basement of the Northern Building were broken, and last week he discovered that the fire escape door was not locked, so he thought he would go in and steal some things to sell for money. Around 10 p.m. on the night of the incident, he sneaked into the basement, intending to pry open the door of the equipment room to steal the cables inside, but as soon as he touched the door, he heard a noise around the corner, which scared him so much that he quickly hid in the junk."
"What noise did he hear?" Li Ming immediately asked, as this detail was likely related to the murder case.
“He said he didn’t see the person clearly, only heard two people arguing, a man and a woman. The man’s voice was very deep, and the woman’s voice was very high-pitched. They seemed to be talking about words like ‘money’ and ‘betrayal’.” Xiao Zhou’s expression became serious. “He hid for about ten minutes, then heard footsteps coming towards the equipment room. He was so scared that he grabbed the stolen parts and ran through the fire escape. He specifically checked the time as he ran. It was 10:22, which coincides with our estimated time of Ma Jianguo’s death.”
This discovery instantly heightened the tension in the office. Everyone had assumed the killer was acting alone, but it turned out there was a second person at the scene, and a woman at that. "Wu Xiaolong, can you describe the exact location of the argument? And what are the woman's distinctive features?" Li Ming's eyes lit up; this was the most valuable clue at the moment.
“He said the argument was coming from the pipe shaft opposite the equipment room, but he couldn’t remember the exact location because he was too scared and just wanted to hide.” Xiao Zhou shook his head helplessly. “As for the woman’s voice, he said it was very high-pitched, like she was in her thirties, and she spoke with a local accent, but he couldn’t tell exactly what kind of accent it was—he had only been in the city for half a year and was not familiar with the local accent.”
"Did he see the woman? Or hear the murderer leave?" Lin Xiao asked curiously as she joined in.
“No, he was only thinking about getting away as quickly as possible when he ran, and he didn’t dare to look back,” Xiao Zhou added. “We have conducted a full investigation into Wu Xiaolong, and he has no motive—he and Ma Jianguo are complete strangers with no social interaction whatsoever, and he is only 165cm tall and thin, which does not match the 43-yard footprint found at the scene. The forensic department also compared his fingerprints and DNA, and they did not match the cigarette butts or fingerprints found at the scene. He is indeed just a thief.”
The clues took another turn, only to quickly reach a new impasse. Although it was confirmed that a woman was involved, she had no other distinguishing features besides a "high-pitched voice and local accent." Li Ming stood up, walked to the city map on the wall, and circled the locations of the Northern Building and Limin Lane in red pen: "Xiao Zhou, continue interrogating Wu Xiaolong. Make him carefully recall the details of the argument, not letting a single word or interjection escape his attention. Also, expand the search area around the Northern Building, focusing on local women in their thirties with high-pitched voices, especially those who know Ma Jianguo."
"Understood!" Xiao Zhou immediately stood up. "I'll go back and interrogate him now, and try to get him to recall more details. By the way, Captain Li, we've already sent the copper fittings and old printer that Wu Xiaolong stole to the technical department for testing to see if there are any fingerprints or fibers left on them from other people at the scene."
“Okay, let me know as soon as you have any results.” Li Ming nodded, then looked at Lin Xiao, “Xiao Lin, coordinate with Zhang the forensic doctor and re-examine Ma Jianguo’s clothes and body to see if there is any female hair or cosmetic residue—we previously thought it was a male crime and may have missed this clue.”
"I'm going to the forensic lab right now." Lin Xiao picked up her work bag and strode out.
Li Ming was left alone in the office, staring at the red circle on the map, lost in thought. Ma Jianguo was a mechanic, introverted in life, with few enemies. His social relationships were simple—besides family, colleagues and clients. Who was the woman he argued with in the basement? Was she a client? A secret lover? Or someone with whom he had a financial dispute?
Just then, his phone rang. It was a call from the team member responsible for investigating Ma Jianguo's social connections: "Team Leader Li, we found that before Ma Jianguo disappeared three years ago, he had financial dealings with a woman named Liu Mei. This Liu Mei is a local, 38 years old, and runs a small machinery repair shop. Ma Jianguo worked in her shop before his disappearance, and the two had a conflict over wages. Moreover, we found that Liu Mei's husband owed high-interest loans due to gambling three years ago. Shortly after Ma Jianguo's disappearance, her husband paid off the high-interest loans, but the source of the debt is unknown."
“Liu Mei…” Li Ming found the location of Liu Mei’s repair shop on the map. It was on a street east of the Northern Building, very close by. “Is her voice very high-pitched? Does she have a local accent?”
“Yes! We found her former neighbors, who said that she had a very high-pitched voice, and when she argued, the whole street could hear her. Moreover, she was a native of the area.” The team member’s voice was excited. “We also found that Liu Mei was not at home between 8 and 10 p.m. on the night of the incident. She claimed that she was working overtime at the store, but no one could verify that.”
A surge of excitement welled up in Li Ming's heart. This Liu Mei was very likely the woman Wu Xiaolong had overheard. "Immediately retrieve the surveillance footage from Liu Mei's repair shop, as well as her bank statements, to see if there were any large sums of money transferred before and after the incident. Also, send people to stake out the area around her repair shop to confirm her whereabouts, but don't alert her."
After hanging up the phone, Li Ming looked out the window again. The night was deeper, but his mind was clearer. From the unidentified body to confirming Ma Jianguo's identity, from a single murderer to discovering a female accomplice, the case had been full of twists and turns, but every clue was guiding them closer to the truth. He believed that as long as they followed Liu Mei's lead, it wouldn't be long before they found the real killer of Ma Jianguo, and both the three-year-old missing person case and the recent murder would be solved.
At 1 a.m., Xiao Zhou returned to the branch with new interrogation records. "Team Leader Li, Wu Xiaolong remembered. He seemed to hear the woman say, 'You took my money, and now you're trying to deny it?' The man retorted, 'I didn't take it, you lost it yourself.' Then he heard something fall to the ground, and then there was no more sound."
"Money?" Li Ming's eyes sharpened further. "It seems that the conflict between Ma Jianguo and Liu Mei is not just a simple matter of wages. Xiao Zhou, go and meet with this Liu Mei first thing tomorrow morning. I want to see what secrets she's hiding."