Chapter 159: The Fork in the Road

The mops from the 28th floor of Wanghe Building were all confiscated.

For extra caution, the mops in the restrooms and storage rooms on the 27th and 29th floors were also collected.

For the utmost precaution, the mops on the first and second floors—including the two kept in the security office—were gathered as well.

In murder investigations, weapons are treated with great importance; they are an indispensable part of the evidence chain.

Any weapon that can be obtained, the investigative authorities will do their best to secure.

Soon, the mop from the restroom on the 28th floor, closest to the fall site, naturally stood out among the half-truck of mops.

For a long time to come, it will be properly preserved; if lucky, it may survive for decades.

Meanwhile, the discovery of new evidence pushed the case forward significantly.

The special task force was officially established.

The task force submitted the formal application for case filing.

This report must be reviewed by the Legal Affairs Division and signed off by the deputy director before the case can be officially opened—ideally, only after sufficient leads are gathered.

At this moment, Huang Qiangmin felt a slight easing of tension.

No matter who had driven the case this far, he at least deserved praise for his ability to recognize talent. If another clear-headed person came along, they'd say Comrade Huang Qiangmin had foresight.

The colleagues of the victim from the travel company, originally only briefly questioned, were now re-examined one by one, like passing through checkpoints.

Whether the victim climbed onto the glass due to money, grievance, threats, or other possible reasons, it could only have occurred in one of two environments.

Either his living environment or his work environment.

The task force had sufficient manpower; one team had already boarded an unairconditioned Skoda and headed to the victim's hometown for investigation.

The rest were deployed to interrogate the travel company employees.

The junior staff of this county-level travel company branch had never seen such a scene; they quickly broke down, sobbing and crying as they confessed their life stories.

Liu Wenkai, the captain of the Second Detachment handling the interrogations, emerged with a foggy head.

"How's it going over there?" Wei Zhenguo asked casually as he stepped out of the adjacent interrogation room.

"Toad chasing frogs—ugly but flashy," Liu Wenkai shook his head. "But nothing major. How about you?"

Wei Zhenguo paused, then said: "Peacock mating with a wild chicken—flashy but ugly."

Liu Wenkai hadn't expected Wei Zhenguo had just been composing a proverbial riddle.

Liu Wenkai sighed, then suddenly realized: "You're pretty relaxed—did you get something?"

"Yes. Half an hour before the incident, the victim withdrew 3, 00 yuan in cash. It was an unauthorized transaction, so during the last interview, finance didn't dare mention it in front of others," Wei Zhenguo said, then joined Liu Wenkai in the small conference room to report to Huang Qiangmin.

Upon hearing the report, Huang Qiangmin immediately asked: "Was the money found at the scene?"

"No. The victim had no cash on him, and none was found at the fall site."

Huang Qiangmin said: "Then the money was likely given to the killer. And if the victim withdrew it himself, that suggests a financial relationship between him and the killer…"

"Loan shark!"

"Debt collection!"

Once money was considered, combined with the threat factor, the term "violent debt collection" immediately came into view.

In fact, the victim's family debt and his personal online loans had always been under observation, but never treated as the primary focus.

The reason was simple: not worth it.

Police officers have a deeper understanding of online lending and loan shark situations.

Violent debt collection does exist and occurs frequently, but the victim's online loans totaled only a few ten thousand yuan, mostly interest and late fees. While this burden suffocated him, it never reached the threshold for violent collection.

Especially since, despite owing money, the victim kept borrowing from different platforms to pay off old debts with new ones—merely enduring phone harassment, never anything approaching violence.

As for his family's debt, though substantial—over 300, 00 yuan—it was used for his brother's wedding, house construction, and bride price, mostly borrowed from relatives, and likewise never reached the level of violent collection.

But now, it must be considered.

Huang Qiangmin thought for a moment and ordered: "Find out exactly which websites or platforms the victim borrowed from. Compile a table and check if any small platforms had debts intentionally left unpaid or forgotten."

Some tiny lending institutions use exorbitant late fees, default penalties, and upfront interest deductions to generate massive debts in a short time.

If given more time, such practices could accumulate sums large enough to trigger violent collection.

Also, some borrowers, after long-term borrowing, gradually discovered "loopholes" in small lending apps—often deliberately defaulting, waiting for the app to collapse, hoping the debt vanishes with the company.

Huang Qiangmin believed the latter possibility was more likely.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have escalated to murder.

Jiang Yuan, along with several other technicians, examined the victim's phone and helped check his credit report and bank statements.

The victim's phone had only three common online lending apps—high interest, but still within the bounds of shameless but concealed behavior.

His credit report was naturally ruined, but the bank transaction histories on his phone showed no unusual income sources.

Checking bank statements was primarily aimed at uncovering online lending apps.

There are too many online lending apps now; some report to credit systems, most do not.

If the apps on the victim's phone had been deleted, the most direct solution was to trace the bank statements.

After all, online lending apps always disburse loans to a specific bank card.

But finding more banks was not easy.

Feasible, but difficult.

Especially with small banks, officers often had to visit branch offices or designated locations to query records.

Some even more demanding small banks required visits to the original account-opening branch or the handling branch to retrieve any information.

From the four major banks to common commercial banks, to local and provincial city commercial banks, the number was enormous.

Huang Qiangmin sent another team out for a full day, yet still obtained nothing useful.

"We've traced back two or three years already. Those small apps that send collectors can't survive that long," Liu Wenkai said, his beard unkempt.

He hadn't shaved in days; his thick beard made his voice boom like a powerful male baboon.

A gorilla would need Wu Junhao's level.

"If he didn't borrow money, then violent collection doesn't exist," Wei Zhenguo spread his hands.

Huang Qiangmin frowned. This was currently the most promising lead—if it vanished, all clues would be lost, and they'd have to start over.

Liu Wenkai cleared his throat and said: "I have an idea—could it be that one of those small apps, one the victim once borrowed from, sold the debt to another company after going bankrupt?"

Huang Qiangmin had already considered this possibility, merely grunted, and asked: "How do we check?"

This lead wasn't uninvestigable. If handed to Economic Crime Investigation, they could get results in one or two months—possibly even one or two weeks if lucky.

But for a murder case, one or two weeks was already too long; the probability of solving it would drop drastically.

Liu Wenkai couldn't handle Economic Crime Investigation either. He frowned, then gritted his teeth: "What about Technical Investigation?"

The Technical Investigation Unit was treated like royalty within the police system. For ordinary cases, everyone avoided requesting them.

Not only were the procedures overly complex, but confidentiality requirements were extremely strict.

And despite its name—"Technical Investigation Unit"—its actual focus was primarily on radio and telecommunications technology. For this case, perhaps they could list all mobile numbers present at the scene…

Huang Qiangmin said nothing.

If no other leads emerged, this could be a viable option.

"What if we follow the money?" Jiang Yuan had spent days helping investigate the phone apps and had given it serious thought.

Huang Qiangmin turned to his favored officer and asked: "How?"

"That 3, 00 yuan in cash was likely taken by the killer," Jiang Yuan said quietly. "If he's a violent debt collector, carrying cash back would be inconvenient. Could he have deposited it—or spent it on something like a hotel room?"

"Or used it for prostitution," Liu Wenkai quickly jumped in. Seeing everyone's attention on him, he added hastily: "I'm just voicing others' guesses—after all, big data now catches prostitution…"

"Then check banks and ATM surveillance for deposits," Huang Qiangmin decided swiftly. "Also retrieve hotel surveillance. Liu Wenkai, find the prostitutes."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Having a lead was better than none.

And this was likely the last chance to follow recent leads. After two or three days, if nothing turned up, the case's probability of becoming cold would be extremely high.

At that point, solving it would become exceedingly difficult.

This was Jiang Yuan's first time fully following a case from start to finish. He felt immense pressure, but he had done everything possible—regardless of the outcome, at least he could face his conscience.