Captain Lu was aloof again today.

Chapter 141 Mysterious Woman
No one expected that there was such a connection involved.

“Li Linlu, who lives in 2202, is your cousin, and Huang Ying, who lives in 2201, is your girlfriend. Is Tangzhou really that small? What a coincidence!” Lu Jingming continued to question, his face still expressionless.

“Well, it’s a long story. It’s not a coincidence. Huang Ying and I both just graduated from school and haven’t been working for long. She’s not a local and needs to find a place to live, while I live with my parents. So, for a while now, I’ve been looking for rental information for her, trying to find a relatively safe and cost-effective place.”

“When I was chatting with Lulu, I casually mentioned this to her. She told me that the landlord next door was moving to a school district house with his child, so he planned to rent out this house. So, after some back and forth, Huang Ying rented this house. We were able to rent next door to Lulu because of her.”

His explanation was complete and reasonable, and could withstand scrutiny.

As for why Huang Ying concealed it before, it's probably because she saw the police asking questions and was worried about getting into trouble.

Lu Jingming and Wei Qingsong exchanged a glance, and Lu Jingming continued, "What kind of person do you think Li Linlu is?"

"Her... well, if you take the initiative to talk to her, you'll find that she's a very easy person to get along with, with a gentle personality. But the premise is that you have to take the initiative. It's impossible to expect her to take the initiative to talk and communicate with people."

“I always joke with her, saying she’s like a frog, you poke her and she jumps.”

"However, despite her social anxiety in real life, she's quite talkative online with a ton of emojis. In real life, she's incredibly quiet, but online, she can send me a barrage of messages."

Wei Qingsong lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment before asking, "According to what you're saying, can I understand that she's happier in the online world than in real life?"

Zhang Tianhua was stunned for a moment and didn't react immediately. After a long while, he nodded in realization: "What you said seems to make sense."

Wei Qingsong's eyes flickered slightly, and she asked again, "You're quite familiar with her. In your impression, is she always on her phone, chatting with netizens anytime, anywhere, and has more online friends than real-life friends?"

This time, Zhang Tianhua quickly nodded: "That's really true."

He then stared intently at Wei Qingsong, seemingly waiting for her next question. However, Wei Qingsong did not ask any further questions, but instead frowned and pondered something.

Lu Jingming's deep voice drew his attention: "Has Li Linlu ever told you that she has suicidal tendencies?"

Zhang Tianhua shook his head blankly: "No, we were chatting online just a couple of days ago, and everything seemed normal."

"Why did you wear a mask when you went to Li Linlu's house?" Lu Jingming asked the crucial question.

Zhang Tianhua's answer was reasonable: "I heard there's a flu outbreak recently, and my mom told me to wear a mask whenever I go out. It's a bit of a hassle, but it's for my own health, so I've been listening and wearing it."

Lu Jingming asked one last question with a calm expression: "After you arrived at Li Linlu's house, were there any other people in her family?"

Zhang Tianhua paused slightly, then shook his head and said, "No, her mother went to work."

His answer was flawless, and the criminal police also called Huang Ying, the resident of 2201, and the landlord to verify, which ultimately confirmed the romantic relationship between Zhang Tianhua and Huang Ying.

After comparing the surveillance footage, the criminal police discovered that Zhang Tianhua was indeed carrying a large bag when he left, which, according to him, should have contained that set of hardcover books.

“Zhang Tianhua arrived at Li Linlu’s house around 12:30. He said he stayed for one or two hours, which means he left Li Linlu’s house around 2:00 pm.” Wei Qingsong took a pen and changed the time sequence written on the whiteboard.

“Now the seemingly strange order makes sense. In fact, the last person to leave was this woman.” Lu Jingming used a magnet to attach the young woman’s photo to the whiteboard.

Having ruled out deliverymen Pu Xingquan and Zhang Tianhua, the only remaining suspect is this young woman wearing a mask.

However, the technical investigation personnel quickly stated: "Although the surveillance footage captured the license plate number of the vehicle she was driving, we checked and found that the license plate number was fake. We were unable to find her identity information."

Wei Qingsong cleared his mind, his gaze sharp: "Now we can reconstruct what happened yesterday afternoon."

"Around noon, this woman arrived at the 22nd floor. She may have been observing secretly, waiting for an opportunity to act, or she may have arrived at Li Linlu's house a long time ago, but hid in the room after Zhang Tianhua's sudden visit and did not show herself. If Li Linlu intentionally concealed it, then Zhang Tianhua actually did not know whether there was a third person in the room at that time."

"After Zhang Tianhua left, Li Linlu committed suicide under the watchful eyes of this woman. This woman filmed the entire process of Li Linlu's suicide, faked a secret room, cleaned up the scene, and left the scene around 4 p.m.."

Lu Jingming nodded slightly, agreeing with her speculation, and said, "The scene was obviously cleaned up, leaving no valuable fingerprints or footprints. The fact that the car she was driving had a fake license plate further suggests that she has something to do with it."

Wei Qingsong crossed his arms, walked to the whiteboard, stared at the woman in the photo, and said slowly, "She is wearing flat shoes. Judging from the image and video, she is probably 165-170 cm tall, with a full figure, and her age should be 25-30 years old."

"If she has been hiding in Li Linlu's house all along, and Li Linlu has intentionally concealed her existence from Zhang Tianhua, then it means that she and Li Linlu know each other. Therefore, we need to investigate Li Linlu's interpersonal relationships."

She paused, then continued, "Personally, I think the investigation into her interpersonal relationships should focus on her online friends. I suspect this woman might be one of Li Linlu's online friends."

The office was completely silent. After a long while, everyone started to move around.

Even with these reference points, finding this person in a vast sea of ​​people is still extremely difficult.

The detectives took the woman's photo and conducted extensive interviews and investigations. Residents and security guards in the community all said they had no recollection of the woman.

In addition, the police monitored the driving trajectory of the car with the fake license plate and found that after leaving the community, the car drove onto Tianlong Avenue and headed towards the old city.

The road surveillance in the old town area is insufficient, and after the car drove into the old town, it disappeared without a trace, as if it had vanished into thin air.

Wei Qingsong proposed two possibilities: "This woman's activity trajectory is likely around the old city area. It is obviously meaningless for the criminal police to continue to investigate the neighborhood with her photo. Taking the photo to visit people in the old city area might lead to a discovery."

(End of this chapter)