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墨書 Inktalez
Early that morning, I woke up early, but Zhao Mingkun always managed to wake up even earlier than me. I had never seen Zhao Mingkun refuel the motorcycle, which meant that while I was sleeping, she was doing many things I didn't know about. I couldn't help but wonder if this sister ever needed sleep.
After a simple breakfast, I pulled Zhao Mingkun to a place. She rode the motorcycle with me as we headed to the alley next to the train station, specifically to the courtyard behind the station where the Pyramid Scheme team was located. Analyzing the situation at that time, it was likely that these people had fled upon realizing our identities.
As the saying goes, "The monk can run away, but the temple remains." Even if these people could leave, the building would not vanish. As long as there was a building, we could find its owner. And as long as we could find the owner, we could discover who rented the place. If we could locate anyone from the Pyramid Scheme, we could easily find the rest and learn about Lu Xiangyang.
This was a common investigative method used by the police.
Of course, we only knew about this place from Gu Chen and Lu Xiangyang's descriptions. The courtyard gate was closed but not locked from the outside. When I gently pushed it, surprisingly, it opened easily, indicating it wasn't locked from within either. Stepping inside, I found that it was already empty.
The courtyard wasn't large; some clutter was piled in a corner. The dust on the ground suggested it hadn't been cleaned in quite some time. It was a two-story building, and whether on the first or second floor, looking through the glass revealed little furniture inside—just a few bunk beds.
I glanced at the lock on the door; it looked new and seemed to have been recently installed.
Through the window, I could see that all the furniture inside was gone. The floor still looked relatively new, indicating someone had swept it recently. Zhao Mingkun pointed to a white paper next to the stairs; it had several lines of text and a phone number written on it. The note indicated that this house was for rent and interested parties should contact Ms. Wang.
After contacting Ms. Wang, she arrived an hour later. We inquired about the previous tenants of this place, but Ms. Wang refused to discuss anything, stating that it was confidential information and she couldn't disclose even a bit of it. Even showing my Police Badge didn't help; she firmly insisted she wouldn't leak any information.
However, after Zhao Mingkun greeted Ms. Wang "cordially" with her gun drawn, Ms. Wang cooperatively shared the story of what had happened before.
Two months ago, someone offered ten thousand yuan to rent this second floor for two months. In reality, the monthly rent here was only three thousand yuan. This person had requested to move in as many bunk beds as possible. The cost of these bunk beds was included in the ten thousand yuan; however, their price wasn't high at all, meaning Ms. Wang ended up pocketing several thousand yuan for nothing.
I spoke up, "So you're saying these bunk beds were moved in only two months ago? There weren't any before?"
Ms. Wang nodded in response.
I asked again, "Who is the person renting the house? Is it a young person?"
"No," Ms. Wang shook her head and replied, "The person renting the house is not young; he must be around thirty. He was the one who came to negotiate with me. However, when he requested so many bunk beds, I found it a bit strange. It seemed like he was expecting quite a few people to stay."
After a moment, Ms. Wang continued, "But I'm just a landlord, so I don't concern myself with what they do. Besides, it's only for two months, which isn't long. I agreed at the time, and indeed a few dozen people came over. However, they didn't seem like they were involved in any pyramid scheme; they just looked around and then left. It seems no one has actually lived there since."
I tugged at my hair, beginning to piece things together. These people had only moved in two months ago, and usually, the place was empty. This clearly indicated that it wasn't a pyramid scheme hideout; a pyramid scheme would never allow its members to stay out all night.
Someone had rented this place in advance for two months, which coincided with Lu Xiangyang's departure. Financially speaking, it also added up. I remembered that at the train station, someone mentioned a few people who often loitered outside with signs, and Lu Xiangyang had also been hanging around outside the train station for quite some time.
Could all of this have been orchestrated deliberately for us to see?
"Do you have that person's contact number?" I asked Ms. Wang. "The one who contacted you about the rental."
"Yes!" Ms. Wang nodded slowly. "Let me find it for you, but please don’t let it get out that I gave you this number; after all, I promised him it wouldn’t go beyond this."
Nodding in agreement, we dialed the number. When he heard we had a money-making opportunity, he agreed to meet us at our designated location. From his appearance, he looked to be in his thirties; however, we had seen him during the scuffle in the alley.
He clearly recognized us as well; upon seeing us, he immediately tried to run away. But Zhao Mingkun and I weren’t going to give him that chance. I took off after him, but Zhao Mingkun coldly stated, "I suspect you are involved in a murder case, so if you don’t stop, my gun doesn’t have eyes."
Zhao Mingkun's words were slow and not very loud. Yet as soon as he finished speaking, the man halted in his tracks. It seemed Zhao Mingkun had instilled quite a bit of fear in him; otherwise, he would have run a few more steps and disappeared from our sight.
He slowly turned around and walked back towards us, standing still in front of us.
Zhao Mingkun looked at him and smiled, saying, "Why aren’t you running now?"
The man sighed helplessly and said, "Why would I run? I wouldn't dare to. Besides, what I've done isn't serious enough to get a death sentence. I might as well behave myself."
I felt equally helpless and asked, "Two months ago, you rented a second-floor apartment, bought a lot of bunk beds, and found many people. Can you tell me why?"
He nodded, thinking for a moment before replying, "About two months ago, I was working near the train station."
I inquired, "What kind of work were you doing?"
The man awkwardly nodded and replied after a moment, "I was scamming people. I'd take them to an office and tell them there was a job that could earn them a hundred right away. They had to pay a hundred as a deposit first, and then they would get back two hundred later. Of course, most people wouldn't fall for this trick; it usually works on those who just arrived from out of town and know nothing."
I nodded and gestured for him to continue.
He went on, "Then about two months ago, someone came along who was interested in this job. But this person was wearing a mask and a hat, so I couldn't see their face clearly. I followed the usual procedure, but as soon as I started speaking, the person asked if I wanted to make forty thousand."
"I thought to myself, could this be a fellow scammer?" he said. "But then they handed me twenty thousand in cash. I looked at it; it was real money. Then they told me to rent a place and buy some bunk beds to put in it. They even had the location picked out; all I had to do was make a phone call."
After pausing for a moment, he continued, "Ten thousand was for arranging all that, and ten thousand was for me. Then they asked me to find some people to act as a hideout for a pyramid scheme. I was curious about how someone like that existed. But since it seemed profitable, I agreed."
I tugged at my hair; it seemed this situation was getting interesting.
The man sighed again, saying, "I didn't really know what they were up to but went along with it anyway. So this person gave me another twenty thousand for recruiting costs. I thought if I took their money, I should help them work properly. So I specifically found a hideout for the pyramid scheme and borrowed over seventy people from the high-rise to give him ten thousand."
"After that," he continued, "the high-rise lent me over seventy people under the pretense of letting them learn from me when in reality they were just loaning them out. Then that employer sent over a high school student for us to catch and then quietly release him afterward; I just did what they said. The people who moved in were genuinely involved in pyramid schemes; although I didn't understand much about it, they certainly did."
"Go on," I urged him.
The man nodded and said, "Yeah, after that, we brought him in. Then I let those involved in the Pyramid Scheme go home. Once they left, we released the high school student. Not long ago, the Employer had those involved in the Pyramid Scheme stay there, and soon someone came looking for them, and that high school student moved back in."
He shrugged and continued, "He stayed for about a week or so. You probably know what happened next..."
I nodded, recalling how Gu Chen went in to rescue someone and ended up being intercepted.
Furrowing my brow, I asked, "Let me ask you a question: is your mysterious Employer the same person as that high school student?"
The man pondered for a moment before replying, "They have similar height and build, but I never saw the Employer's face. His voice was very hoarse; I don't know if it was a throat issue or something else. It didn't sound quite like the high school student's voice later on. But I'm not sure if that person spoke like that on purpose."
At this point, I had a pretty good understanding.
"After that high school student was rescued," the man shook his head and said, "the Employer later gave me ten thousand to forget about it. Who would have thought I'd run into you guys? But I didn't kill anyone; any murder case has nothing to do with me. That's all I know; beyond that, I'm clueless."
This was a solid cover story, the best kind of alibi. Those involved in the Pyramid Scheme would believe he was just someone who got caught up in it. In reality, they had unknowingly participated in a well-orchestrated act alongside Lu Xiangyang. It was clear now that Lu Xiangyang was definitely involved in this matter.
"By the way!" I turned to Zhao Mingkun and asked, "Do you know what day it will be in a month?"
"What day?" Zhao Mingkun looked at me.
I replied, "Lu Xiangyang's eighteenth birthday."
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