Chapter 215: The Real Culprit Appears?

The phone rang a few times before Gao Ye answered; Gu Changzheng said: “Gao Ye, check all of Lou Zhen’s call records around 5:30 p.m. yesterday!”

He suddenly realized he might have made a stupid mistake—only investigating Lou Zhen’s final call, while ignoring the possibility she received or made other calls during that same time.

Of course, the child’s words might not be trustworthy either, but this procedure was necessary.

Not long after, Gao Ye’s investigation results came back: indeed, at 5:26 p.m. yesterday, Lou Zhen received a call lasting three minutes and twenty-six seconds; immediately after that call ended, Zhang Zhiyuan’s phone rang in.

Gao Ye continued: he checked the number and found it had extremely high call frequency with Lou Zhen, and each call lasted a long time—but the owner of this number was a man named Mei Ling, from Taogu County under Zizhen; his exact identity is still under investigation.

After hanging up from Gao Ye, Gu Changzheng returned to Xiao Hai’s side and asked: “Xiao Hai, are you certain you’ve never seen that man before?”

Xiao Hai blinked, thought for a moment, then said: “Never seen him!”

“Good, thank you for your cooperation. Later, I’ll send a police artist to you—please describe the man’s appearance in detail to him, is that alright?”

Xiao Hai nodded: “Alright.”

Gu Changzheng chose to send the sketch artist partly out of consideration for Xiao Hai—the child was too pitiful, and Gu Changzheng truly didn’t want him to bear more pain.

Leaving Xiao Hai, the two returned to the branch office; Gu Changzheng immediately convened the special task force for a case analysis: based on existing clues, the victim Lou Zhen received a call from a man at 5:26 p.m. on September 12, and they arranged to meet at Tianyang Hotel; the man’s identity remains unknown, but it’s confirmed he is not Zhang Zhiyuan—this is supported by Xiao Hai’s testimony—and yet he contacted Lou Zhen frequently, likely a lover.

After Lou Zhen’s fall, Zhang Zhiyuan was found to have been at Tianyang Hotel that night, but his statement was verified—he was indeed attending a gathering with friends at the hotel, with multiple witnesses; the key allegedly lost by hotel staff member Huang Li was confirmed to be a lie she told to help her lover Zhang Zhiyuan.

All current evidence now points to the man who contacted Lou Zhen repeatedly. Gu Changzheng was waiting for the DNA comparison results between Zhang Zhiyuan’s sample and the bodily fluids found in Lou Zhen’s body, which would fully eliminate Zhang Zhiyuan as a suspect.

Based on existing clues, Gu Changzheng reassigned the investigation: Jiang Fan would immediately meet Xiao Hai with the city bureau’s sketch artist to produce a suspect portrait; Liu Han would continue leading the team to review surveillance footage from that night, identifying all male guests who left their rooms after Lou Zhen arrived at the hotel and returned before her fall; Gao Ye would trace the phone number’s owner and determine if he might know the suspect.

Meanwhile, he was anxiously awaiting Old Zheng’s DNA comparison results; for now, assume the man who left bodily fluids in Lou Zhen was not Zhang Zhiyuan—could that man’s DNA be in the database? Such a possibility wasn’t out of the question; in any case, he couldn’t ignore any possibility.

———

While Gu Changzheng led a team of well-trained, experienced investigators tirelessly pursuing the truth behind this case, not far from Zizhen, in a place called Taogu County, a small town with its own unique character and stories.

On a slightly secluded street in Taogu County stood an old, modest little inn. At this moment, in one of its rooms, a handsome, distinguished young man sat alone on the edge of the bed, gripping a cold can of beer, tilting his head back to gulp down the liquid in large swallows.

Because he drank so quickly, much of the beer spilled from the corner of his mouth, trickling down his chest and soaking his shirtfront—but he seemed utterly unconcerned.

Soon, the entire can was emptied. He then squeezed the empty aluminum can with all his strength until it crumpled completely, then swung his arm and hurled the crushed can far away. After these actions, he took several heavy breaths, as if he’d just fought a fierce battle.

After calming his breathing slightly, the young man reached for a cigarette on the small table, lit it skillfully. As the flame flickered, thin tendrils of smoke curled upward. Closer inspection revealed the cigarette butt bore three prominent Arabic numerals—“5”.

If Xiao Hai were here now, he would be astonished to recognize this smoking young man as the very person who had bought cigarettes at his supermarket—and who had called Lou Zhen!

After Lou Zhen fell, he panicked, unsure what to do, and ultimately chose to flee the scene—he didn’t know if anyone had seen their meeting, remembered their prolonged intimacy, and realized he never used protection—likely leaving traces on her. But he thought he had no criminal record; in this vast world, the police would never find him.

Yet he couldn’t accept that a woman who had just shared pleasure with him had become a corpse—it was unbearable. Worse, he feared if Lou Zhen’s death exposed him, his marriage to Qiao Li would be ruined! All his years of silent endurance would be wasted!

That’s why he’d fled in haste—but he was grateful his fake ID for the room couldn’t be traced back to him.

Now he only regretted how he’d fallen for those older women. If he could relive it, he’d control himself and never be tempted by that seductress!

“Ugh!” he sighed heavily. Tomorrow he had to return to work normally—he couldn’t stay away too long, or Qiao Li’s cousin would find fault with him again!

———

In Xiao Hai’s small supermarket, Jiang Fan, accompanied by the sketch artist from the city bureau, was slowly drawing based on his description on a sketchpad; half an hour later, a portrait of a handsome young man around thirty appeared before them. Xiao Hai glanced at it once and cried out: “Yes! That’s him! You drew him perfectly!”