Chapter 287

The time on the surveillance screen showed 2 o'clock in the morning. On the empty road, a swaying figure appeared on the screen, holding a wine bottle in one hand and pointing to the sky and the ground with the other. Although there was no sound on the screen, one could guess that this person was cursing.

Not long after, a person wearing a hoodie came from the opposite direction, walked up to Ma Ziqiang, took out something, and hit him hard on the head. Ma Ziqiang fell to the ground in response. The person dragged him into the green belt, came out of the green belt in a panic not long after, ran toward the distance, and disappeared at the end of the road.

The suspect and the victim both appeared in the video. This looked like a case that was relatively easy to start with, and it seemed to be a robbery-murder case.

"Check the various surveillance screens along the way and see the direction the suspect fled." Qi Fei said without hesitation.

"Ma Ziqiang's family reported that the deceased had made an appointment with a friend to go out for a drink last night. Because he often drank with people until late at night, they didn't wait for him and went to sleep first. It wasn't until the police contacted them that they found out something had happened." Wu Shanqiu told Qi Fei the situation she had learned on the side, "Ma Ziqiang lived with his parents and wife. The family has already arrived at the police station."

The sunlight fell on the table in the reception room. A pair of fair hands pinched a tissue and placed it on the desktop. The back of the hands was shining brightly in the light. The disheveled woman had red and swollen eyes. Although she was old, she could still see that she was beautiful.

"Are you Ma Ziqiang's wife, Song Yun?" Qi Fei sat opposite her.

The woman nodded: "Who are you?"

Qi Fei introduced himself, "I am Qi Fei from the Nancheng Criminal Police Brigade. I am very sorry about your husband's matter."

Song Yun took a deep breath, barely holding back the tears that were about to gush out, and choked up: "Our family all relied on Old Ma to support us. I really don't know what we should do in the future now that he's gone."

"The scene of Old Ma's accident was captured by surveillance. Now we are tracking the whereabouts of the suspect. We will do our best to bring the murderer to justice. Although it looks like a robbery-murder case now, I still want to understand whether Ma Ziqiang had any grudges with anyone before he died?"

Song Yun shook her head without hesitation: "Our Old Ma was in business and valued friends the most. He was famous in the circle for being loyal. No one didn't like making friends with people like Old Ma." As she spoke, she sighed, "This is all fate. It's because he was popular that he was often asked out for a drink. We were used to it. If it weren't for this, I should have urged him to go home earlier last night. Maybe this wouldn't have happened. Sorry for adding trouble to you."

"No one could have predicted this kind of thing. Don't think like that. Your husband's death is the murderer's fault and has nothing to do with you. Investigating the case is our job; you don't have to apologize." Qi Fei suddenly had an inexplicable good impression of this decent middle-aged woman, especially after experiencing the unreasonable Zhang Yingdi, even more so.

Song Yun took care of her elderly parents-in-law and left the police station together. They looked very harmonious.

"We learned from the side that, just like Song Yun said, Ma Ziqiang was a good person and almost never had conflicts with others. The person who made an appointment to drink yesterday is named Fan Xin. We have also called him over." Wu Shanqiu said and pointed not far away. A tall middle-aged man wearing a white polo shirt walked into the police station.

The position where Song Yun had sat became this man named Fan Xin. His eyes were also swollen. Unlike Song Yun, who was because of crying, this one should be because of a hangover.

"I heard Old Ma had an accident. Is he really gone?" The man looked at Qi Fei with hope, as if he hadn't accepted this fact yet.

Qi Fei showed him the video of Ma Ziqiang being murdered. Fan Xin didn't speak for a long time after watching it, and then his eyes fell on the time on the surveillance screen, muttering: "2 o'clock in the morning, that was already an hour after I parted with him. If I had known, I should have insisted on calling a car to send him home. It was me who harmed him..."

"Where did you drink?"

"It was at a barbecue restaurant not far across the road from his residential area. It was close to one o'clock when it ended. I was also a bit confused from drinking at that time. I had already called a car and said I would take him home on the way. Old Ma said no need and insisted that I go first. Based on my understanding of Old Ma, he shouldn't have been completely drunk at that time, so I didn't insist anymore and went first. Sigh! A moment of hesitation."

"You said the barbecue restaurant was not far from the residential area where he lived. How long does it take to walk?"

"About fifteen minutes."

"He had an accident at 2 o'clock in the morning. That was when he just arrived at the road downstairs in the residential area." Qi Fei carefully smoothed out the timeline.

Fan Xin didn't seem surprised: "Old Ma is good at everything, but he loves to drink. Even if no one drinks with him, he can get himself drunk. I guess after I left, he found a place to drink again, otherwise he wouldn't have been this drunk. Sigh! This guy!" As he spoke, he was heartbroken, "Such a smart person, he actually ended up planting himself on the matter of drinking!"

A trace of suspicion flashed in Qi Fei's eyes: "You said you were confused from drinking, but you still remember the time of departure so clearly?"

Fan Xin took out his phone and opened the ride-hailing software: "I remembered this after looking at this."

Qi Fei looked and sure enough, at 12:50, he booked a ride-hailing car departing from the barbecue restaurant. The itinerary showed that he arrived home at 2 o'clock, which means that when Ma Ziqiang had an accident, he was already an hour's drive away from the crime scene.

"Did you travel an hour to find Ma Ziqiang for a drink?"

"You don't understand Old Ma's appeal among our friends. He asked to drink, so of course I had to come... I just didn't expect..." Fan Xin said, his eyes reddening, "I have known him for decades. I didn't expect last night to be a farewell. It's a pity he didn't even see his son get married..."

It was late at night. The designer opened his laptop. Today was the deadline for another project. It seemed he would have to stay up until dawn again. He made a cup of instant coffee and stood by the window, watching the lights in the building opposite go out one by one, and finally only the lamp directly opposite remained.

I don't know why he was a bit nervous, just like the nervousness of being afraid of being stood up when dating someone. Even the coffee in his hand was forgotten to be drunk.

For him and this window, this time was not late.

However, before the clock passed 11 o'clock, that lamp went out.

He sighed softly. This small romance had come to an end after all. Disappointed, he returned to the workbench. The sound of the mouse and keyboard sounded in the quiet night. When he turned his back to the window, the lamp lit up unexpectedly, and a black shadow appeared at the window...