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墨書 Inktalez
When Chen Bo called again to inform us that they had found a divorced man, I instinctively knew that such a person was likely the murderer.
"What’s the situation with this person?" I asked.
At that moment, Chen Bo replied, "This person matches your description quite well. We investigated based on the school records and found that he divorced his wife a year ago. The child was awarded to the ex-wife, and he has been living alone since then."
"Moreover, this man is named Zhang Zijun, and his son is named Zhang Zuocheng. This year, he should be eight years old. Their child was in first grade at Taishan Academy but then transferred to another school. We don’t know what happened during that time; all we know is that they left like that."
I frowned and asked, "Did you investigate the child's situation thoroughly?"
Chen Bo responded, "Not particularly, because our main focus is on adults. The child is just a breakthrough point for us. We are still concentrating on the adults. I'm almost passing by your location now; do you want to come with us to this place first? Then we can return and investigate the child's situation later?"
"Alright, come over," I said.
After hanging up the phone, I told the others, "Let’s have the three of us follow Chen Bo to investigate this person."
The two nodded in agreement.
I turned to the School Leader and said, "You check into what kind of situation Zhang Zuocheng is in. Call us if you find any information, alright?"
"Understood," the School Leader replied.
A few minutes later, Chen Bo arrived.
Gu Chen drove while Chen Bo joined us in the car. At that moment, Mary pulled out her laptop and said to Chen Bo, "I just pulled up a map of this town. Based on an estimated speed of forty miles per hour, we calculated possible hiding spots for the murderer."
With that, Mary handed the map to Chen Bo for review. After looking it over, Chen Bo shook his head and said, "Either your estimated range is off or this person isn’t the murderer."
He pointed out a location far from where we were. "The speed limit in town is forty miles per hour, but there are no speed cameras on the roads. The speed could be higher there; however, road conditions aren’t great either, so it wouldn’t increase much. It’s likely within this range. If that's the case, then this person might not be the murderer."
"Based on our current speed, it should take about an hour and forty minutes," Chen Bo indicated a spot on the map and said, "This is it."
"Drive faster," I urged. "We’re on official business."
Chen Bo nodded and used his phone to notify the police car ahead.
The two vehicles sped towards the location, arriving in about an hour. This place was close to the highway; once on it, one could quickly leave for any city. It was a relatively independent building, occupying around ninety square meters.
Chen Bo approached and knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside.
After waiting for a moment, we heard a low, hoarse voice from within: "Who is it?"
As the door opened, we saw a man standing before us. He was approximately 1.75 meters tall and had a slender build. Dressed in black, he frowned upon seeing us and asked, "Hello, who are you? Who are you looking for?"
Chen Bo took out his police badge and showed it to Zhang Zijun, saying, "Mr. Zhang Zijun, we are here to investigate a murder case. We hope you can cooperate. Of course, we are not saying you are the murderer; we are mainly here to rule you out as a suspect. Do you understand?"
The man nodded and replied, "I am Zhang Zijun. May I take a closer look at your police badge?"
Chen Bo handed over the badge.
Zhang Zijun nodded and welcomed us inside while the other officers stood guard outside.
I surveyed the interior of the house. The furnishings indicated that only one person lived here regularly. Given that it was a one-person household, Zhang Zijun certainly had the means to commit such an act.
However, I noticed there were no cars parked outside. Yet, looking around the house, both the decor and furniture appeared to be of average quality. This suggested that Zhang Zijun should have the financial capability to own a car since purchasing one nowadays isn't prohibitively expensive.
Of course, if he were indeed the murderer, he wouldn't flaunt any vehicle related to the case right in front of us.
I whispered to Chen Bo's ear, "Tell your people to look around nearby for any vehicles that might have been deliberately hidden."
Chen Bo understood my meaning and winked at me, saying, "Got it."
At that moment, Mary spoke up: "Mr. Zhang Zijun, do you live here alone?"
As Mary asked her question, I continued observing the room. The place was impeccably clean, appearing spotless. This detail suggested that Mr. Zhang Zijun likely had obsessive cleanliness tendencies.
I reached out and touched the area of the shoe cabinet near the wall, then looked at my fingers, which were free of dust. This indicated that Zhang Zijun was someone who cared about details. I gently touched my temple and closed my eyes, pondering whether this person could possibly be a murderer.
While I was doing this, I overheard Mary and Zhang Zijun's conversation. I heard Zhang Zijun say, "Yes, I recently divorced my wife. Since the divorce, I've been living alone at home. Feel free to investigate whatever you need; make yourselves comfortable."
I glanced at Zhang Zijun and asked, "Can I look around your house? You know we are here to investigate."
Zhang Zijun looked at me and nodded after a moment.
Following my usual procedure, I first headed to the bathroom. If a man lived here, it seemed a bit too clean. I examined the toiletries on the sink, all of which were for men. I closely inspected the sink for any tiny hair fragments; there were some, but it was impossible to tell if they belonged to a man or a woman.
At this point, it was unclear whether anyone had been held captive in this bathroom; it was too spotless, devoid of any traces.
As I stepped out of the bathroom, I heard Mary continuing to question Zhang Zijun: "I heard your child transferred schools. Why is that?"
As I emerged, I saw Zhang Zijun sitting across from Mary. He leaned back on the sofa with his arms crossed over his chest—a posture that suggested he was protecting himself and subconsciously avoiding us. It seemed he had some resistance to our presence, but it was normal for an ordinary person to feel defensive when police were investigating their home.
Zhang Zijun glanced at me and replied, "Because my wife and I were preparing for divorce at that time, we were considering who would get custody of the child. So before our divorce, on the suggestion of the child's mother, he transferred schools. Later, he went to live with her."
As I moved toward another room upstairs, Zhang Zijun said, "There are some personal things that I'd prefer you not to touch."
I shrugged in response.
Entering the bedroom, I noticed it wasn't very large but still appeared tidy. Given Zhang Zijun's calm demeanor, it seemed unlikely that Hu Ningning could be hidden in this house. However, his description matched quite closely with that of a murderer in my mind.
Yet there was a point of doubt: this place was quite far from where we believed the murderer could have been when making calls. It was impossible for him to have arrived here by then. Therefore, either this person was not the murderer or he had placed Hu Ningning somewhere else before driving here—this was also a plausible scenario; we just didn't know if he owned a car.
I found no useful clues in the bedroom either.
After surveying the room and finding no suspicious signs, I felt an odd sense of unease; everything seemed too clean overall—a hint of something being concealed. With no more leads found in the room, I had no choice but to leave.
"Officer, you've already looked around our home. Can you tell me what exactly you want now?" Zhang Zijun asked me directly.
I shrugged and asked, "Do you have a car?"
Zhang Zijun nodded and replied, "I do have a car."
"Where is your car parked?" I inquired.
"My car isn't here right now," Zhang Zijun said. "A friend borrowed it."
I sat down and pointed to a photo on the cabinet against the partition wall in the living room. I had noticed it when I entered; it was a family portrait featuring a happy family of three, all smiling. It was hard to imagine what could lead such a joyful family to part ways, or why the couple would choose to divorce.
In the image, Zhang Zijun was holding Zhang Zuocheng, while his wife stood beside them, embracing him.
"Why are you getting divorced?" I asked.
"This is our private matter. If there's nothing else, I'd prefer to be alone at home," Zhang Zijun replied.
"Alright," I said. "If anything comes up, we'll come back."
With that, I led the two of them out.
"Is this person problematic?" Mary asked me.
"Absolutely," I responded. "Have someone keep an eye on Zhang Zijun. We need to check into other information."
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