Chapter 17: Accidental Coincidence

Zi Zhen City is split in two by the Qingjiang River; the riverside beaches on the Jiangdong side stretch for dozens of kilometers. In Mangniu Town, under Jiangdong’s jurisdiction, a sand-dredging vessel, fully loaded with freshly extracted river sand, was preparing to dock when its hull suddenly jolted, swaying slightly as it neared shore—the experienced captain immediately sensed something beneath the water.

The dock had seen little vessel traffic lately, and Captain Yang Jun didn’t know what obstacle lay underwater, so he ordered a crewman with good swimming skills to dive down and investigate.

Soon, the diver surfaced and shouted to Yang Jun on the boat: “Captain Yang! There’s a car standing upright underwater—pressed right up against our hull! We have to remove it, or we can’t dock!”

Yang Jun heard this and felt something was wrong. He recalled that cars sinking in rivers usually meant either an accident or a crime—he should report this to the police immediately!

An hour later, the salvage vessel arrived, and a nearly seven-tenths-new black Toyota sedan emerged from the water.

On shore, officers from the branch’s technical unit were already prepared, inspecting the vehicle.

—————

Neither the busy police officers nor the salvage crew realized that, at this moment, about five hundred meters from the dock, in a high-rise apartment along the river in Jiangpan Haoting, a telescope was protruding from a window—a tall man was intently observing the scene through it…

At Jiangdong Branch, Gu Changzheng stared at the forensic report: the tire tread patterns and wear levels of the Toyota recovered from the riverside dock matched exactly those found at the scene of the June 23 charred corpse case!

“Ha!” Gu Changzheng chuckled inwardly—it seemed the day to bring the mastermind behind Case 6.21 and the killer in Case 6.23 to justice was drawing near!

All he needed now was to confirm the Toyota belonged to Ren Jiahe, find traces left by him on the car, and then arrest Ren Jiahe—how could he possibly refuse to confess then?

Just then, the office door opened and Luo Fei rushed in: “Captain Gu! We’ve identified the owner—it’s a woman named Qin Lingli. She’s Ren Jiahe’s ex-wife!”

“Oh? Interesting! Is Ren Jiahe trying to reconcile with his ex—or what? Using her car to commit crimes?” Gu Changzheng laughed. “Find Qin Lingli immediately!”

Qin Lingli’s workplace and home address were quickly confirmed, but interrogation proved she had no connection to the case. The car was indeed registered under her name, but it had always been used by Ren Jiahe. Moreover, several days before and after the June 23 incident, she had solid alibis—she was consistently at work and at home, with no opportunity to commit the crime.

This outcome was precisely what Gu Changzheng had anticipated. It seemed Ren Jiahe hadn’t expected the car to be discovered so soon—perhaps right now, Ren Jiahe was preparing to flee Zi Zhen City!

Gu Changzheng immediately assembled his criminal investigation team, heading toward Ren Jiahe’s company and the Fenglin Garden residential complex simultaneously. He reported the situation to Gao Jianjun, who coordinated with local police stations and armed police to set up checkpoints at train stations, bus terminals, airports, and along expressways, provincial, and national roads—no matter what, they must capture Ren Jiahe!

————

The man watching the salvage operation from Jiangpan Haoting was Ren Jiahe himself. Since Gu Changzheng’s last visit, he had realized the officer suspected—or worse, had already concluded—he was involved! His greatest fear was the car being found. Although the dock hadn’t been used in years, the car wouldn’t be easily swept away by the current in such a short time. For safety, he claimed he couldn’t stay at his company and rented an apartment in Jiangpan Haoting with a full view of the riverbank, monitoring the riverside daily.

When he saw a crowd gathering by the river, he realized the car had been discovered! After seeing the vehicle pulled from the water, he knew he had little time left—the car bore numerous traces of him, and the gasoline canister and wrench were still inside!

“Hmph! All because of that Hong Kong guy! Pushing me so hard! I didn’t get the compensation, so where am I supposed to get money to pay him the balance? Hmph! Too greedy! Why not just take the 500,000 and go back to Hong Kong? Why force me to kill you? Bastard!” he cursed inwardly.

In his hand was a brown shoulder bag—the 500,000 yuan in cash he’d retrieved from Xi Gui, along with Xi Gui’s dagger, a coil of thin steel wire, gloves, and a wig. He glanced at the gray-white wig, thought for a moment, took it into the bathroom, and soon a tall, elderly man with streaks of white hair appeared in the mirror.

“Hmph, Xi Gui was quite professional—prepared so many disguise items. Clever bastard!” He stuck on a pair of white mustaches. At first glance, even he was momentarily confused—he didn’t recognize the man in the mirror as himself!

“Perfect! The police won’t recognize me now!” Thinking this, he grabbed the cash in the bag, hurried downstairs, got into a Volkswagen, started the engine, and drove straight toward Fenglin Garden. There was something important he had to retrieve!

Ren Jiahe knew he must leave Zi Zhen City by tonight at the latest. Once the car was recovered, the police would quickly trace it to Qin Lingli. Once they confirmed the car had been at the sand site and found the wrench and gasoline canister, they would arrest him—soon, his photo might be everywhere. He had to return to Fenglin Garden Unit 301 tonight and retrieve his belongings!

Of course, if Ren Jiahe could foresee the future, even if the items in Unit 301 were worth a hundred times more, he would abandon them instantly and flee Zi Zhen City. But how could a person sense an extremely unlikely future event? Besides, the value of that item held considerable temptation for Ren Jiahe now. So, believing the risk manageable, he chose to return to Fenglin Garden.

————

Fenglin Garden was not large, nor were its facilities impressive, but due to its prime location—less than five hundred meters from Zi Zhen’s commercial center, Yinzuo Building—its property prices were among the highest in the city. Its residents were mostly well-paid civil servants and mid-level business owners.

Zhang Hongyu also bought a home in this complex. Though he was merely a police officer at a local station, his family was well-off; after marriage, his parents paid for a two-bedroom apartment in Fenglin Garden for him and his wife. But his wife taught at No. 2 Middle School in Jiangnan District, worked long hours, and commuting daily between Jiangdong and Jiangnan was inconvenient. His job also made it impossible to pick her up every day, so the couple temporarily lived at her parents’ home in Jiangnan, renting out the Fenglin Garden apartment. His father-in-law usually collected rent and handled utilities.

Unluckily, a few days ago, his father-in-law twisted his ankle while going downstairs and was now resting at home.

Today, the property management contacted the elderly man, informing him that water bills for Fenglin Garden had been unpaid for a long time. Since they knew the apartment was rented out and couldn’t reach the tenant, they’d called the homeowner. Unable to go out, the old man notified Zhang Hongyu to go to Fenglin Garden when he had time.

Thus, it was not Zhang Hongyu’s father-in-law who went—but Zhang Hongyu himself—and thus, by a twist of fate, a massive case unfolded.