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墨書 Inktalez
I caught the implication in Captain Shao's words; his final change of tone indicated that he was also beginning to suspect Hao Ren. The timing of Hao Ren's disappearance and reappearance was simply too coincidental. Even if he had gone to Dongxing City for work, he should have at least called home. Yet, for nearly two months, Hao Ren had completely vanished.
It was as if he was deliberately hiding, waiting for things to spiral out of control. And when the situation truly became unpredictable, Hao Ren's appearance undoubtedly added fuel to the fire. Just think about it—a good person who acted bravely ended up causing his family to be torn apart because of that very bravery. How tragic and infuriating it was.
At this moment, Hao Ren had seemingly become the embodiment of justice.
After hanging up the phone, I sat in the car deep in thought.
Looking at Guan Zengbin and Gu Chen, I spoke up, "Hao Ren's build and height are similar to Zhang Bin's."
Gu Chen nodded. "That's right. Although Hao Ren is in his forties, he's more muscular than Zhang Bin. Just look at those thick calluses on his hands; he probably wouldn't even feel pain if they were burned."
"What if..." A thought that had been brewing in my mind surfaced: "What if the one who burned down his own house, rented a place in the suburbs, raped Zhao Li, took the photos used at the press conference, posted them online in Dongxing City, and hired trolls to hype it all up was actually Hao Ren himself?"
I felt there was a strong possibility of this. I continued earnestly, "Do you remember those witnesses? Almost without exception, they all mentioned that the suspect had an injury on his left arm, and often it was the suspect who brought it up first. This person isn't Zhang Bin; it's Hao Ren."
Both of them furrowed their brows.
I pressed on, "Think about it—how could Zhang Bin be foolish enough to go around showing off his injured left arm? The only possibility is that he wanted people to know that the police would definitely ask about the suspect's basic appearance, and an injury on the left arm is a very obvious and memorable mark. This way, we would be led to believe that this person is Zhang Bin when in fact, it's Hao Ren."
"And this," I stated firmly, "is what Hao Ren has been doing during his two months of disappearance."
Gu Chen shook his head. One hand rested on the steering wheel while the other covered his mouth as he said, "Their builds and heights may be similar, but there's a twenty-year age difference."
Suddenly, I recalled something that had been nagging at me for a while. I slapped my thigh and exclaimed, "It can't be wrong! That person is definitely Hao Ren! He wore a hat and a mask, leaving only his eyes visible. It's hard for anyone to distinguish a person just by their eyes."
"Do you remember the house where Zhao Li was imprisoned that Zhao Li took us to?" I asked.
"I remember," Guan Zengbin replied, tilting his head. "What's up? Is there a problem?"
I nodded. "Yes, we have been to that house three times with the three of us. The first time was a cheap container rental, the second time was the house where Zhao Li was held, and the third time was at Smooth Daily Rental. During the first and third visits, there was a clear characteristic about their places, while during the second visit, we didn't see it."
The two of them pondered for a moment before Guan Zengbin suddenly said, "Sanitation."
I snapped my fingers and said, "Exactly, it's about sanitation. In the first and third instances, we confirmed that the three of them were living together. Zhang Bin, being their older brother, if he were a clean person, the others would never throw garbage around the house. Yet their place was littered with trash, clearly indicating that Zhang Bin is not someone who cares about cleanliness."
As I recalled, I continued, "But that house was extremely clean. You were very clean, yet you left fingerprints behind. As the ancients said, 'Entering a fish market for a long time makes one unaware of its stench; entering an orchid room for a long time makes one unaware of its fragrance.' The house where Zhao Li was imprisoned was obviously spotless, and the cleaner it was, the more we wanted to find something dirty about it. In contrast, when we looked at Zhang Bin's place, our first thought was just to find a clean spot to step on."
"This clearly indicates that this house wasn't rented by Zhang Bin," Gu Chen remarked.
I nodded and then held up two fingers. "That's point one. The second point is that Zhao Li had to be living there. I remember when Guan Zengbin examined Zhao Li's lower body; there were no issues found at all, which puzzled Guan Zengbin. But now it seems that Zhao Li wasn't actually kidnapped or raped; she clearly lived there."
Guan Zengbin seemed hesitant to believe me. "But why would she do that? If Zhao Li wasn't imprisoned, why would she report being raped? This isn't something trivial. How many women who have been raped are afraid to report it? Yet Zhao Li, who wasn't raped, claimed she was in front of so many people?"
I fell silent for a moment as all the clues seemed to form a complete line in my mind.
While I contemplated this, I shared my perspective on the entire case: "I think I already know the truth now. We just need to verify it to find out if it was really Zhang Bin who did it."
"Verify what?" Guan Zengbin asked.
I replied, "The voices, even if they don't show on the surface, are worlds apart between Zhang Bin and Hao Ren. As long as we find the introducer of the Real Estate Agent and locate that old man who swims in winter, we'll know whether the voice belongs to Zhang Bin or Hao Ren."
"Even if it is Hao Ren's," Gu Chen said with some concern. "But we can't definitively say that Hao Ren is the murderer. Although those children were adopted by him, he has raised them for twenty years. Would Hao Ren really resort to murder? Moreover, he has no motive for that, so why would he?"
I shook my head and told Gu Chen, "I'm not saying Hao Ren is the murderer. What Hao Ren said at the press conference was quite insightful; to destroy a person doesn't necessarily require physical means. There are many ways to ruin someone."
Gu Chen shook his head. "You're getting more and more cryptic."
"Let's go to the Real Estate Agent first," I said.
For the next few hours, we made our way to the Real Estate Agent and the Winter Swimming Team. We found the introducer of the Real Estate Agent and located the old man from the Winter Swimming Team. When we played both Zhang Bin's and Hao Ren's voices for them, they unhesitatingly identified one voice as belonging to Hao Ren.
In other words, what we all thought was done by Zhang Bin was actually not his doing at all; it was Hao Ren acting under Zhang Bin's name. Thus, everyone who doubted Zhang Bin was wrong; he truly had nothing to do with what happened afterward. If Zhang Bin wasn't lying, then what exactly did Hao Ren do?
Following the timeline, events likely unfolded like this: Hao Ren sent Zhang Bin and his companions to the police station; they were released from detention; they caused Hao Ren to lose his job; they were attacked by Wang An; Hao Ren took Wang An to Teacher Zhao's house; Du Ziguo inadvertently became addicted to drugs; and Du Ziguo raped Fang Qi.
After that, Hao Ren began his revenge.
Hao Ren burned down his own house because Zhang Bin had indeed done something similar. He staged a kidnapping drama with his daughter so that Zhao Li could testify against Zhang Bin. Then, he and his son Du Ziguo planned a sensational murder video incident that made headlines in Yumu City.
We can only speculate about what was said at the table—whether Zhang Bin spoke out of his own sinister nature or if it was merely a drunken jest. This is something we will never fully understand. We can see the surface of events, but it's difficult to analyze the underlying motives.
What we do know is that regardless of whether Zhang Bin acted intentionally or unintentionally, legally he wouldn't face a long sentence because Du Ziguo is an adult capable of making his own judgments and must take responsibility for his actions. However, we cannot deny that Du Ziguo did indeed rape his sister Fang Qi due to this incident, which ultimately led Fang Qi to commit suicide.
From Hao Ren's perspective, we can understand the overwhelming grief he felt at having one son and one daughter destroyed. It is easy to imagine his desire to tear Zhang Bin apart in his anguish. However, Hao Ren chose not to act directly like his son Wang An but instead opted for a way to ruin Zhang Bin's life.
As a citizen, this is clearly a crime, but as a father, it serves as the best tribute to his children.
At that moment, Mary called me. She immediately said, "We've found the mastermind behind this incident. I located the social media account of the person who posted the video, and it’s linked to a phone number that turns out to belong to Du Ziguo."
"So Du Ziguo orchestrated this event?" I asked.
"That's right," Mary replied. "On the social media account registered with that phone number, we found detailed plans he sent to someone else, guiding them step by step on what to do next. This person referred to him as 'dad,' and their IP address is still in Dongxing City."
"His nickname is Fist Master," Mary continued. "And according to his verified information, this person is named Hao Ren."
The mystery was finally unveiled, and I resolved the last doubt in my mind. Hao Ren was a rough man; although he had worked as a security guard in an internet café, he did not possess deep knowledge of computers or the internet. He could chat on QQ or watch videos, but he would never be able to plan an online viral event.
I recalled the grooves beneath Du Ziguo's corpse, which prevented it from floating away. If Gu Chen hadn't stumbled upon the gas ejection incident, we might never have noticed those grooves. We would have remained oblivious to the truth.
"Let's go," I said, glancing at Guan Zengbin. "Did you record the conversation with those two?"
Guan Zengbin nodded. "It's recorded."
"Return to the City Bureau," I instructed. "We need to inform the director and bring Hao Ren in for questioning."
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