Chapter 638: These Gangsters are Unreliable

“And then?” Chen Shi asked.

“I told him that this job was risky and we needed some tools. I gave him some money, but he asked for a million. I thought he was crazy and gave him 400,000 instead, exactly 400,000, transferred on the spot,” Director Wei explained.

“Why 400,000? Does this number have any special meaning?”

Director Wei was silent for a moment, then said, “Geng borrowed 400,000 from me before. We both understood that ‘borrowing’ meant it was a gift. He said if I gave him 400,000, he wouldn’t send the report letter. That day, I went to his house to give him the money, but he said some very unpleasant things. He got what he wanted and still acted ungrateful. I changed my mind…”

“So you thought instead of giving him the money, you might as well use the 400,000 to hire someone to kill him?”

Director Wei nodded heavily, looking as if he had nothing to lose. “Back in the day, I knew some tough guys. But when I contacted them, I found out they either went straight or had been executed by the police. None of them were useful. Just when I was worried, my brother-in-law said he could handle it. So, I gave him the money. I told Huachao, ‘Here’s the money, but you have to keep this secret, even if the police have a gun to your head.’ Who knew he would turn out to be such a coward!”

“And then?”

“When I heard Geng was dead, I was quite happy, thinking it must have been Huachao. We haven’t been in touch since, to avoid police suspicion. Who knew you guys would check my bank account.”

After the interrogation, Lin Dongxue asked, “Is the case solved?”

“Not quite. Huachao hasn’t confessed to the murder. Director Wei thinks he did it, but this kid doesn’t have the guts.”

“If he confesses, it’s a death sentence. Of course, he wouldn’t admit it. Should we interrogate him again?”

“You can do it. I’ll go check the surveillance.”

Lin Dongxue felt they were close to solving it, but no matter how she asked, Huachao wouldn’t admit to the murder. He didn’t know any details about Geng Changle’s death. He said he planned to hire a street buddy, pay him 200,000, and have the old man killed so he could make money without taking the risk.

“What’s your buddy’s name?”

“Wang Yiming.”

Surprisingly, this person existed. When brought in for questioning, he was just as scared as Huachao. He admitted to receiving money from Huachao but denied the murder. He said he thought it over at home. There was a rumor that the second criminal police team had a tough officer who solved every case. But he still wanted the money, so he struggled internally.

Finally, Wang Yiming came up with a plan. He found a newly recruited subordinate, gave him 100,000, and told him to push the old man onto the street to get hit by a car, so he could make money without taking the risk.

“What’s your subordinate’s name?” By this point, Lin Dongxue was exhausted.

“Xi Xiaohu.”

They brought in Xi Xiaohu for questioning. He was just a kid, dressed in a very unconventional style. It was his first time in an interrogation room, and he was so scared he almost wet his pants. He admitted to taking Wang Yiming’s money, thrilled at the prospect of making 100,000, but he was also afraid of killing someone and going to prison, which would upset his parents. After much thought, Xi Xiaohu came up with a brilliant idea…

“Did you hire another hitman?” Lin Dongxue could already guess the line.

“Wow, police sister, you’re so smart! I found a guy online who claimed to be a retired Vietnamese special forces soldier. He said he had killed dozens of people. I paid him 20,000 as a deposit and promised another 30,000 after the job. I thought I could make money without taking the risk.”

“And then?”

“Damn it, I got scammed!”

Lin Dongxue thought, “Are these gangsters reliable at all?” Checking their cash flow, Huachao did receive 400,000 from Director Wei, Wang Yiming received 200,000 from Huachao, and Xi Xiaohu received 100,000 from Wang Yiming. Then, Xi Xiaohu transferred 20,000 to an online account.

The accounts matched. It seemed none of these people actually committed the crime.

Chen Shi carefully reviewed the park surveillance. Huachao wasn’t there that day, so they released the entire group.

After a morning of interrogation, Lin Dongxue was exhausted and disappointed. “The lead is gone.”

“Don’t worry. I noticed someone on the surveillance. Guess who?”

“Don’t tease me. ”

“Amateur ideas can sometimes spot things professionals miss,” Peng Siyue smiled.

“As an amateur, I dare to ask, why mix cocaine with the poison?” Chen Shi asked.

“That’s a distraction. A first-time cocaine injection can cause significant reactions in the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys, masking the pathology of the actual poison.”

“So the poison must target the heart, lungs, liver, or kidneys.”

“You amateur!” Peng Siyue rolled his eyes. “Almost all poisons target one or two of these organs. The distraction is troublesome. I once worked on a case with pufferfish poison. It took many steps to deproteinize it and identify the toxin. Without knowing the victims died from pufferfish, it would have taken much longer…” Suddenly inspired, Peng Siyue exclaimed, “Protein toxin, how did I not think of that…”

He got up to take samples for testing. Chen Shi said, “I came to take the body…” but Peng Siyue was already engrossed in his work.