Chapter 32.1: Was it a crime motivated by greed or passion?
Puzzled, Jiang Xia pushed open the door and walked over to the First Squad’s office.
There were only four people in the office at the moment. Besides the administrative clerk, Deputy Captain Zeng, Chen Dong, and the officer surnamed Qin were also there. All three had a slight sheen of oil on their faces, and their hair was a little disheveled. It looked like none of them had even had time to go home last night.
Jiang Xia asked, “Deputy Captain Zeng, have you confirmed the victim’s identity?”
“Yes. He was a technician at the steel mill, and a college graduate, too.”
The moment Zeng Jun saw Jiang Xia, the faint smile already on his face became even more genuine.
“This time, we really have you to thank for the portrait you drew. According to the officers conducting the investigation, the victim had taken an extended leave of absence and gone back to his hometown in Lin City to visit his family. Who would have thought to report someone like that missing? If we hadn’t shown the portrait to the people in the security department and had them recognize him, we definitely would’ve missed it. By then, we could’ve searched the entire city and still wouldn’t have known who the victim was!”
“As long as the portrait was useful.”
Jiang Xia was naturally pleased that her work had served a purpose. The corners of her lips lifted slightly, but she quickly suppressed the smile.
“By the way, Deputy Captain Zeng, does that mean we’re going to the steel mill now to investigate the victim’s background?”
“Yes.”
With Jiang Xia having come all the way here and asked the question so directly, how could Zeng Jun fail to understand what she meant?
She simply wanted to tag along and help solve the case.
Putting aside the fact that the First Squad was already short-handed, even if they had enough people, having one more person to help was still a good thing. Zeng Jun was more than happy to have her. He took the initiative and said, “The machinery plant has more than four thousand employees. The few of us definitely won’t be able to question everyone. Jiang Xia, do you have some free time? Would you like to come along to help us?”
“Of course I do.”
Jiang Xia agreed readily.
Sitting around waiting for news was agonizing. She might as well take the initiative and investigate herself.
The two hit it off immediately. After making a few quick preparations, they left the administrative clerk behind to keep watch at the office and headed straight for the machinery plant.
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The city’s machinery plant mainly manufactured two types of products. One was equipment needed for metallurgy and steel rolling, such as rolling mills and the like. The other was agricultural machinery components, such as tractor frames, engine blocks, threshing machines, and so on.
These were all machinery desperately needed by the country, so the plant was doing very well. Its workers were also among the highest-paid employees in the city.
The machinery produced here was anything but quiet. Even standing outside the main gate, Jiang Xia could hear the rumbling roar of machines operating inside the distant workshops.
Deputy Captain Zeng got out of the car.
Criminal Investigator Guo Yongnian and a local patrol officer were sitting beside the guard booth. Seeing them arrive, they hurried over to greet them.
“Deputy Captain Zeng, you finally made it!”
Guo Yongnian spoke extremely quickly. “Captain Tan just called. He said he’s already gotten in touch with the victim’s supervisor. He told you not to wait for him and to take your people over to the supervisor first to ask about the situation. He’ll be here shortly.”
“All right, got it.”
Deputy Captain Zeng nodded and led them inside.
It was approaching noon, and some of the machinery plant’s workers had already come out of the workshops and were heading toward the cafeteria. Seeing four people in police uniforms suddenly arrive at the plant, each of them looked somewhat surprised. They secretly pointed at the group and whispered among themselves.
Jiang Xia continued walking forward naturally.
She recalled what Deputy Captain Zeng had told her on the way over.
According to the information Guo Yongnian had gathered, the victim, Zhou Jingyun, was a college graduate. He belonged to the group that had passed the college entrance examination in 1978. He had majored in mechanical engineering and graduated last year, after which he was assigned to the city’s machinery plant and given a position in the technical department. He was primarily responsible for mechanical improvements and development, as well as maintaining imported equipment.
According to the security department, Zhou Jingyun had been a hardworking and modest young man. Once he started drawing blueprints in the technical room, he could work on them for an entire day. He was also very respectful toward the veteran workers and often humbly sought their advice.
When the security staff first saw the portrait, several of them had been unable to believe that such a promising young man could have suddenly died outside the plant. They examined it several times and asked about the victim’s identifying features before finally confirming his identity. Once they did, they were all filled with regret.
After all, he was a college graduate. He had been appointed as a section-level cadre as soon as he joined the plant, and in another two years, he could have been promoted to deputy section chief. His future could be described as exceptionally bright.
Who could have imagined that life could be so unpredictable? One moment, a person was there, and the next, they were simply gone.
Jiang Xia felt the same sense of sorrow after hearing all this.
This was a highly talented person who had fought his way through the fiercely competitive college entrance examination. And he had majored in mechanical manufacturing, too. Even if he didn’t go on to become a pillar of the mechanical engineering field, he should at the very least have become a highly accomplished expert.
Yet he had died just like that.
Jiang Xia couldn’t help wondering what kind of grudge could possibly be so deep that someone would insist on killing him.
As she pondered this, they arrived at the technical department.
The department director was waiting outside his office.
His surname was Huang, and he looked to be around forty-six or forty-seven years old. There was little about him that suggested he was a technical professional; instead, he carried a rather pronounced air of authority.
There was still some shock lingering on his face, as though he had yet to fully come to terms with the death of his subordinate. The moment he saw the police approaching, he hurried forward and grabbed Zeng Jun’s hand.
“Comrades from the Public Security Bureau, you’re finally here!”
He paused before asking, “May I ask how I should address you?”
“My surname is Zeng.” Zeng Jun introduced himself. Seeing that several people nearby had already begun curiously looking in their direction, he said, “Director Huang, why don’t we go inside and talk?”
“Of course, of course.”
Director Huang quickly stepped aside and ushered the four of them inside.
Jiang Xia followed close behind.
She sat down beside Deputy Captain Zeng and took out her notebook and pen, ready to record everything.
Old Qin, the criminal investigator, did the same.
“I really never imagined that Xiao Zhou would suddenly just… be gone.”
The word “murdered” lingered in Director Huang’s throat, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He chose a more euphemistic expression instead. He was so distracted that he even forgot to pour them tea. Sitting across from Zeng Jun, he let out a sigh and said:
“Xiao Zhou wasn’t from around here. His family lives in Jiazhou, the neighboring city. He’s only been working here for a year. His parents were already seriously ill, so he’d taken leave to go home and visit them. But instead, he went out and never came back. Tell me, how am I supposed to explain this to his parents?”
As he spoke, Director Huang sighed again. “The factory is responsible for this. If I’d assigned two people to accompany him to the train station, how could this have happened?”
At that, Jiang Xia’s pen paused.
As expected of a state-owned enterprise. They really did take their employees seriously. If this had happened at a private company in her previous life, the bosses would have been doing everything they could to stay as far away from responsibility as possible.
Oh, wait. They’d probably be more concerned about whether the employee’s accidental death had delayed the company’s projects and affected the schedule.
“We’re very sorry that something like this happened.”
The incident had already occurred, and Zeng Jun couldn’t offer any advice on how the machinery plant should deal with the aftermath. He gave a perfunctory response before continuing, “But the most important thing right now is to catch the murderer. Director Huang, how was Zhou Jingyun’s performance at the plant? How did he usually get along with people? Did he ever get into arguments or have conflicts with anyone?”
After considering the implication behind those questions, Director Huang vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
He pondered for a moment, recalling the details as he spoke. “Comrade Zhou was a very hardworking employee, and he got along well with people. Most of the time, he was focused on studying blueprints and asking the veteran technicians for advice. Of course, he did have disagreements with people from time to time, but those were all technical disagreements. Once the discussion was over, everyone would go eat together. I wouldn’t call that a conflict.”
“Besides, our technical department is mainly responsible for product improvements and research and development. We mostly work with the veteran workers at the plant, and there aren’t many young workers around. I haven’t heard of him having any disputes with anyone.”
After saying that, Director Huang paused before adding, “Of course, there may be some things that never reached my ears. Comrade Zeng, you’d better ask some other people as well. Perhaps someone had a personal grudge against Xiao Zhou that I didn’t know about?”
Zeng Jun made a note of that. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Director Huang, from what you’ve said, Zhou Jingyun’s parents are ill?”
“Yes. His mother was hospitalized, but I don’t know exactly what illness she has.”
That question reminded Director Huang of several more details, and he added, “I heard she needs surgery. Xiao Zhou borrowed some money from people at the plant, and it should have been quite a substantial amount. He was carrying the money with him when he left.”
At this, Director Huang’s expression suddenly changed.
“Comrade Zeng, could it have been because of the money…?”
Jiang Xia’s pen stopped.
The victim had actually been carrying a large sum of money?
Oh no. Why did she have a feeling that her deductions were getting further and further off track?
Deputy Captain Zeng glanced sideways at Jiang Xia before turning back to Director Huang.
“It’s possible, but we won’t know for sure until we’ve investigated further. Director Huang, how many people knew about this?”
“A lot, definitely. He borrowed money from quite a few people.”
The regret on Director Huang’s face deepened. He blamed himself bitterly. “You see, I knew he was carrying so much money. How could I have been so careless as to let him go home alone? I should’ve found someone to accompany him. That way, he’d have been safer on the journey, and someone could’ve helped him once he got there!”
Zeng Jun didn’t respond.
Zhou Jingyun wasn’t a senior official, and he was merely going home to visit his family on a personal trip. Who would specifically assign someone to accompany him? Besides, he was a man in his twenties, in the prime of his life. It was perfectly normal for him to travel home alone.
After letting Director Huang vent his regret, Zeng Jun asked, “So, aside from the people at the plant, there shouldn’t have been anyone outside who knew Zhou Jingyun was taking a large amount of money home?”
“Hmm…”
Director Huang hesitated. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Actually, that may not necessarily be the case.”
He explained, “Xiao Zhou is also responsible for maintaining a batch of machine tools our plant imported from Germany. Those things are extremely difficult to deal with. The operating manuals are all in German, and nobody at the plant understands German. He doesn’t either, but he’s very eager to learn. He specifically enrolled in a night school that teaches German, and he goes there for German classes every week. So perhaps… someone at the night school might know about it too.”
There was a night school, too.
Jiang Xia immediately wrote down this crucial piece of information.
So, besides the possibility that someone had learned Zhou Jingyun was carrying a large amount of money, he might also have made enemies with someone at the night school.
Zeng Jun asked again, “Other than that, Director Huang, is there anything else you’d like to add?”
Director Huang thought carefully for a moment, then shook his head. “No, that’s everything.”
Clearly, there was no more information to be obtained from him.
Zeng Jun stood up. “All right, then. We’ll ask some other people.”
Director Huang also got to his feet. “No problem. Our deputy plant director called and said the plant is to fully cooperate with the Public Security Bureau’s investigation. Feel free to question whoever you need.”
After thanking Director Huang, Zeng Jun led the others out.
The moment they stepped outside, the four of them saw Tan Bingyi approaching with a large group of people.
His hair was also somewhat disheveled, and there were faint bloodshot veins in his eyes. It seemed he hadn’t gotten much rest last night either.
“Old Zeng!”
Tan Bingyi called out and strode over. His voice was hoarse as he asked, “Did you find anything?”
“We did.”
Zeng Jun told him everything they’d learned from Director Huang, emphasizing that Zhou Jingyun had borrowed money and was carrying a large amount of cash. He then said, “Captain Tan, I’m starting to suspect this may have been a premeditated robbery-murder.”
“A premeditated robbery-murder?”
Tan Bingyi’s brows furrowed so deeply they looked as though they could crush a fly.
He had originally thought that once they’d confirmed the victim’s identity, the investigation would become easier. How had questioning one person suddenly given them yet another possible direction?!
They really didn’t need another one!
Tan Bingyi’s head was spinning. Yet he had no choice but to grit his teeth and mentally weigh the scope of the investigation and manpower required for each of the three possibilities.
If they pursued revenge, they only needed to investigate the victim’s personal relationships.
If it was a crime of passion, that would be even simpler—just investigate his romantic relationships.
But if it was murder for money…
Well, unfortunately, far too many people knew Zhou Jingyun had money on him. They would have to work outward from Zhou Jingyun as the center, identify everyone who had an opportunity to commit the crime, and then investigate them one by one.
The factory was manageable, but once they included the complicated population at the night school, pursuing the robbery-murder angle would mean throwing everyone into the investigation. They could spend ten days or even ten nights checking people and still not get anywhere!
Jiang Xia was also getting a headache.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t afford to be wrong. She hadn’t handled that many cases yet. If she’d made the wrong judgment, she could simply admit her mistake and be more cautious next time.
It was just that no matter how she looked at it, the robbery-murder theory still didn’t seem quite right.
“Something doesn’t add up.”
Jiang Xia spoke up in opposition. “If the motive was money, then why didn’t they take the wristwatch? It’s small, easy to carry, and valuable. Even if they sold it on the black market, they could easily get thirty or forty yuan for it. That’s enough to cover a month’s wages!”
“This…”
That really was difficult to explain. If the murderer had killed him for his money, why leave behind one of the most valuable things he had?
Zeng Jun hesitated. After thinking seriously for a moment, he said, “Maybe the murderer was too panicked and didn’t have time to take it?”
“The security department saw Zhou Jingyun leave four days ago in the afternoon. He was heading toward the train station.”
Jiang Xia shook her head. “According to Dr. Sun’s estimate, he was probably killed that same night. That means the murderer had at least twenty-four hours after killing him to collect himself. That should have been enough time for him to calm down.”
“Not necessarily.”
Zeng Jun disagreed. “What if the murderer didn’t have time to properly dispose of the body after killing him? He could only hastily hide the body somewhere before rushing off to work. By the time he came back, he might not have had the energy to go through the body again. He might have simply wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible.”
Now they were getting into pure speculation.
Jiang Xia frowned slightly. “We’re only talking about a wristwatch. He could’ve searched the body once and taken the money and the ration coupons. How could he not have had the energy to take something as simple as a watch?”
“Then what about the money?” Zeng Jun threw out another question. “You said it yourself—the money Zhou Jingyun was carrying was all gone. If this was revenge, would the murderer really need to take all the money too?”
“All right, both of you, stop for a moment!”
Tan Bingyi stepped in and interrupted their argument.
“You two don’t need to argue anymore. Revenge and robbery aren’t mutually exclusive. A simple robbery is also possible. We can’t rule out either possibility yet, so let’s investigate both.”
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