Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 340 The Money Is Wrong

According to Jiang Wei's confession, on the night he killed Li Youqiang, he found 70,000 yuan in a black plastic bag when he moved the body from the passenger seat to the trunk.

This money became the key reason why he decided to dispose of Li Youqiang's body.

Later, when he disposed of the body, he found more than 7,300 yuan in cash on Li Youqiang.

Therefore, the total was over 77,000. He didn't touch that 70,000. When he went home that time, he secretly hid the money in the ashes under the stove.

Of the remaining 7,300, he gave 1,000 to his stepmother, spent some of the rest, and had some of it confiscated from him when he was arrested.

After learning about this during the interrogation, Pan Hongjie immediately sent someone to the Jiang family's abandoned old house to retrieve the money. Sure enough, they found the black plastic bag in the ashes under the stove, containing 70,000 yuan neatly stacked in oil paper.

"Captain Pan, something seems off about this money." Zhou Yi's words drew everyone's attention.

"Something's not right? What do you mean?" Pan Hongjie asked, puzzled.

"Officer Xia found that on March 17th, Huang Yanli withdrew a 50,000 yuan fixed deposit certificate from her son, which should have been used to pay for the hired murder. However, Jiang Wei found a total of more than 77,000 yuan in the car and on Li Youqiang. In addition, our Hongcheng investigation previously found that before Fu Daqing fled, he went to a nursing home to pay for his father's expenses for a year, and before that, Fu Daqing's financial situation was not very optimistic."

"In other words, Fu Daqing also had some money on him at the time, but it was probably not much, probably less than 10,000 yuan. So, in total, there was at least 90,000 yuan in the car and on Fu and Li, while Huang Yanli only took 50,000 yuan."

Pan Hongjie said, "Are you saying the numbers don't match? Then that's something you've overlooked. Hiring someone to commit murder would definitely involve paying in two installments. If you don't give them a deposit, they definitely won't do the job. Given the Zheng family's circumstances, it's quite normal for them to keep 40,000 yuan in cash at home."

Pan Hongjie thought to himself, "This young man is still too young. He asked a rather impatient question. Doesn't he understand such a simple principle?"

But Zhou Yi's next words silenced everyone.

Zhou Yi said, "Given the Zheng family's circumstances, it's reasonable for them to have 40,000 yuan in cash. But there's another piece of information that everyone might have overlooked. When Fu Daqing first approached Zheng Xiaojun, he said he could give him 10,000 yuan. Later, when Li Youqiang told his family that he was coming to Anyuan to work, he also said he could earn 10,000 yuan. Even if Fu Daqing did take a kickback in this matter, it's definitely illogical to give Li Youqiang only 10,000 yuan out of a total of 90,000 yuan in commissions."

"Moreover, Jiang Wei found the wrapped 70,000 yuan in the car, which means that Li Youqiang knew about this money, and Fu Daqing did not intend to hide it from him. How could Li Youqiang possibly feel at peace with only taking 10% of the proceeds from such a high-risk act as murder?"

This analysis did indeed make everyone think deeply, because Zhou Yi's words made sense.

"Could it be because Li Youqiang is a loyal friend?" someone said.

Zhou Yi replied, "If he were such a loyal person, willing to go to great lengths for a friend without asking for money, why did Fu Daqing initially approach Zheng Xiaojun instead of Li Youqiang? Fu Daqing only approached Li Youqiang after Zheng Xiaojun refused. Moreover, Li Youqiang's wife reported that Li Youqiang was fired from the factory because he stood up for someone, and the person he helped didn't stand up for him. He's learned his lesson in this kind of thing and should be more cautious."

Pan Hongjie said, "It's possible that Huang Yanli increased the remuneration later, since the whereabouts of Fu Daqing and Li Youqiang after they came to Anyuan are still unclear."

Zhou Yi countered, "What's the reason for increasing the remuneration?"

"This……"

At this moment, Guo Yuanchao stood up with his thermos cup in hand, setting the tone for the whole affair.

"I think Comrade Zhou Yi makes a lot of sense. The fact that he can raise reasonable questions from such a subtle point shows that he is very familiar with the case and has conducted thorough analysis and reasoning. You should learn from him and from Hongcheng's advanced case-handling experience. However, don't be discouraged. Under Pan Hongjie's leadership, you have already made a major breakthrough in the case. So, next, you must proceed steadily and spare no effort to thoroughly investigate this case. We must not let a bad person go unpunished, nor can we wrong an innocent person."

Director Guo paused, took a sip of water, and just as someone was about to applaud, he spoke again: "As everyone knows, this case involves three victims. This is a heinous criminal case that hasn't happened in Anyuan for many years. This is a test for our Criminal Investigation Detachment. The country and the people are examining our work. We must not let them down, and we must not disgrace the sacred mission of the police!"

Director Guo's words were powerful and inspiring, stirring the blood of everyone present.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but sigh inwardly, realizing that bureau chiefs were indeed not ordinary people; being able to speak official language well was an art in itself.

"Zhou Yi," Director Guo called out, turning his head with a friendly expression.

"Here, Director Guo."

"So, what do you think is the problem here? Feel free to speak your mind, even if you're wrong. The truth in a case is found through trial and error," Director Guo encouraged. With the local leader speaking, Zhou Yi naturally answered without hesitation.

"Okay, Director Guo, but I don't have any evidence at the moment. I'm just making some guesses based on what I already know."

Guo Yuanchao nodded.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhou Yi spoke up: "There's one thing I've never been able to figure out: why did Fu Daqing come to Anyuan?"

Xia Yu couldn't help but ask, "Wasn't he hired by Huang Yanli to kill Zheng Guangming?"

“That’s right. Based on the information we have now, Huang Yanli definitely hired Fu Daqing to commit murder. But what I don’t understand is why she hired Fu Daqing and not someone else. And how did Huang Yanli get in touch with Fu Daqing?”

"Based on the current clues, there is no direct or indirect evidence to suggest any connection between Huang and Fu. It's impossible for someone to hire a hitman to put up posters and hand out flyers on the street. There must be some connection between the hitman and the employer, but so far, this connection cannot be found between Huang Yanli and Fu Daqing."

Someone asked, "Could it be that Huang Yanli and Zheng Guangming knew each other before Huang Yanli married him? For example, did they meet at the nightclub where Huang Yanli used to sell alcohol? After all, Fu Daqing came to Anyuan to do business, and drinking and socializing were unavoidable."

Zhou Yi said, "I think this possibility is relatively small for two reasons. First, Fu Daqing was cheated and his business failed five and a half years ago. Huang Yanli and Zheng Tianlan reunited seven years ago. When Fu Daqing's business failed, Huang Yanli had already married Zheng Guangming and was pregnant with Zheng Tianyu."

“Even if the two knew each other before, given Huang Yanli’s cunning, it’s impossible for her to maintain contact with Fu Daqing after marrying Zheng Guangming. Therefore, knowing that the possibility of Fu Daqing’s business failing is very small, she would not choose to ask Fu Daqing to kill for her.”

The man who had spoken earlier kept nodding, because what Zhou Yi said made sense. If he didn't know that Fu Daqing was short of money, why would he have asked him to kill someone?

Zhou Yi continued, "The second point is something I haven't figured out either. If Fu Daqing and Huang Yanli knew each other before, and she hired Fu Daqing to kill her husband, wasn't she afraid that Fu Daqing would turn around and blackmail her? After all, Fu Daqing and Li Youqiang could easily find out about the Zheng family's financial situation with a little investigation. Fu Daqing isn't a professional hitman; it's not like he was trustworthy and had a good reputation when he sold watermelons."

Zhou Yi's joke amused everyone present and helped to lighten the mood.

"But if the two don't know each other, they can't establish such an illegal employment relationship. So this point probably needs to be confirmed by interrogating Huang Yanli and Fu Daqing."

Pan Hongjie had to nod in agreement with Zhou Yi's words. If it was someone from the underworld who found someone willing to do this kind of dirty work through some random connections, it would make sense.

But how exactly did Huang Yanli, a beautiful and wealthy woman, manage to find the killer?
Pan Hongjie checked the time. After Director Guo gave the order, he had sent Chen Dejiang with his men to arrest Huang Yanli. He figured they should be back soon.

Zhou Yi said, "However, after Officer Xia found out the amount of cash withdrawn and Captain Pan mentioned the money when he interrogated Jiang Wei, a different idea came to my mind regarding the problem that I couldn't figure out before."

Everyone stared at him with curiosity.

“I’m wondering if there’s a possibility that… the person who hired Fu Daqing to kill someone in Anyuan wasn’t Huang Yanli, but someone else.”

"What?" This statement caused quite a stir.

"Not Huang Yanli? Then who is it?" Xia Yu asked.

Zhou Yi shook his head: "I don't know about that. If I did, I would have said so already. But judging from the 10,000 yuan reward that Fu Daqing promised, they might only have received 20,000 yuan at the beginning, to be split in half."

"You mean... Huang Yanli was hired to kill people after they came to Anyuan?" Pan Hongjie pondered, then suddenly jumped in fright. "Damn, does that mean Fu Daqing and Li Youqiang killed people before that?"

These words caused everyone present, including Guo Yuanchao, to change their expressions.

There are already three bodies. If there are more deaths, how serious must this case be? It will probably have to be reported to the provincial authorities.
Moreover, this case will become a supernatural legend in the entire Anyuan area.

Of course, only Zhou Yi remained calm and composed, his expression unchanged.

(End of this chapter)