Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 195 The Murderer Tan Jia 14
Everyone on the investigation team got busy, reviewing previous statements and evidence, and continuing to investigate further along the leads previously laid by the criminal investigation team.

At this time, the criminal investigation team was not so busy, and Tan Ming even had time to come to the hospital to see Tan Jia as a family member.

He had prominent dark circles under his eyes and a stubble beard, looking even more haggard than she, the person directly involved in the crisis.

“You have a pretty good attitude,” Tan Ming said, his brow furrowed. “I don’t even dare to go home now, for fear that your aunt will ask. The chair in the office is uncomfortable to sleep in, and I have to keep an eye on those people.”

Tan Jia, holding a dough figurine in her hand, used it as an opportunity to offer Lin Zhiyue the peeled fruit: "Thank you for your hard work."

Lin Zhiyue glanced at him indifferently, said nothing, and continued peeling the second one.

Tan Ming, however, frowned as he looked at Tan Jia and asked, "Has he stayed here the whole time without leaving? Sleeping here?"

She was wearing slippers, had changed her clothes, and her hair was still slightly damp.

This is their honeymoon home.

Tan Jia nodded casually, then asked about the important matter: "Didn't you say you'd been keeping an eye on those people? What did you find?"

Tan Ming then turned his gaze away from Lin Zhiyue with annoyance and said, "I don't think there's necessarily a mole, but their personnel configuration is problematic. None of them are willing to submit to anyone else, and they all have their own ideas. From the beginning, it seems that they all had a preconceived notion that you were the murderer, and they were just waiting to pry you out of your mouth. So the focus of the investigation was on Xiao Qian's case. They only started to really investigate your and Wen Jinbing's matter yesterday, but the time wasted was enough for the murderer to destroy the evidence and run away in advance."

She paused in her dough-sculpting motion. "That's a brilliant trick. Anything else?"

"The guesthouse manager has some issues. He had shown signs of softening his stance a couple of days ago, but after one night, he started being stubborn again."

"Were you threatened? Did you check his call logs and chat software?" she asked curiously.

Tan Ming shook his head: "He hasn't spoken to anyone on the phone, hasn't chatted with anyone, hasn't even gone home, and hasn't communicated with anyone."

So you just slept one night and your "faith" was reaffirmed?
Tan Jia raised an eyebrow: "Was he scared by the threats before, or was he too brainwashed? In any case, this person must have had some contact with the murderer before."

“That’s what we think too, and we’ve got people keeping an eye on things. Also, regarding Wen Jinbing’s buying of information, someone in the freelance market said that he mentioned hiring a private investigator. Apparently, that private investigator is very capable and knows everything, even the details.”

She subconsciously said, "Of course I know, maybe he did it, or maybe he saw it when he was secretly filming someone else... No, that's not right."

She instantly sat up straight from her reclining position, staring at Tan Ming and said, "Would the murderer carry a phone and camera and follow people to a remote county town? And then just happen to witness Wenwu being beaten to death at the scene? He could only get incriminating evidence against many people by either gathering them together and watching them drink and reveal their true nature, using a camera that wouldn't be easily detected, like his father Zhou Yuan used to do. Or he would have to use a lot of people to specifically follow and film a particular person under investigation, but that doesn't work for people in high positions of power. Those people are very cautious about their private matters, and simple tracking and filming won't yield any useful information."

"Also, he seemed to know all about my plans for going out, even though it was a last-minute decision between Lin Zhiyue and me, and Lin Zhiyue booked the room the night before—"

Lin Zhiyue immediately said, "I haven't told anyone." "Then how did the murderer know so much? The county where Wenwu was killed, our destination, the odd-job market where Wen Jinbing worked, the accomplices in the guesthouse... He seems to be everywhere."

Tan Ming frowned even more as if he remembered something: "This reminds me of a case I investigated before. After breaking up, the man installed hidden cameras in his ex-girlfriend's company, home, friends' homes, and even her hometown and the hotels she often stayed at when she was on business trips, in order to track her whereabouts and determine if she had a new boyfriend. Finally, following the clues he found, he chased after her and killed the male colleague who was trying to pursue her."

Tan Jia murmured, “Miniature camera? In the case of the internet celebrity’s murder, a surveillance camera inexplicably appeared in the forest directly opposite the hotel room. Nobody knows when it was installed. If the murderer had installed many surveillance cameras in various places before the money laundering case… Yes, that way he could randomly refresh a secret, without even going out to see it, without following others, he could just stick a tiny camera somewhere when he had nothing to do.”

The more they talked, the more familiar they seemed, and suddenly she remembered a website.

"It's very similar to Skyline Webcams, a global live camera that can broadcast live tourist attractions, famous landmarks, squares, buildings, and even offices around the world. As long as it's a place that can be publicly accessed, you can see the real-time situation directly. You can stay at home and see what tourists are doing in Hawaii, or how many people are taking photos and checking in at a square in Tokyo."

"What the murderer did was like building a website, except that Skyline Webcams connects to public cameras in various locations, while he was illegally installing his own private cameras to film other people's secrets."

Tan Ming was stunned: "There are websites like this?"

Tan Jia glanced at him: "Yeah, if you log in now and select an airport in the United States, you might see my parents dragging their suitcases into the car."

Tan Ming was impressed and even made a bold guess: "The murderer probably borrowed the idea from this website. At first, it was just for fun, or maybe it was just to film the secrets of those who launder money, so as to help Zhou Yuan infiltrate high-level circles and facilitate money laundering. But since they know your whereabouts and even things in remote counties, it's hard to say how many cameras they've installed so far... No, I have to contact the National Security Bureau."

He suddenly stood up, about to leave in a hurry, when he remembered there were two things he hadn't said.

"Deep tire tracks were found seven or eight kilometers away from the crime scene where Xiao Qian was murdered. We are currently investigating the vehicle model and external surveillance footage, but it seems that the surveillance footage is not very reliable at the moment."

"And that little black ball you found, it's most likely a miniature camera inside. When Xiao Qian was killed, he might have discovered this truth that we're speculating about, or the murderer might have deliberately let him take it so that it could end up in our hands and be used to monitor our investigation in real time."

If it's the latter, then the murderer is incredibly audacious.

He left in a hurry, leaving Tan Jia to continue sculpting the dough.

This matter should be investigated and clarified soon. Since it involves national security, there can't be an inside man trying to cover it up.

Zheng Yan and his team thought the same thing. With the case escalating again, even the investigation team had no choice but to hand it over.

But to their surprise, the next morning, Lin Zhiyue informed them that Tan Jia had been taken away.

(End of this chapter)