Mystery Hunter

Wang Chao’s gaze hardened as he turned to Jiang He, then to the bustling police below. The sight of the tiny figures scurrying about like ants under the harsh street lights on the 12th floor filled him with a mix of emotions.

“It’s painfully obvious, can’t you see it?” he said, his voice laced with frustration as he leaned against the railing.

Jiang He looked at him, clueless and straightforward as ever.

Wang Chao pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one up, and handed another to Jiang He. But Jiang He waved it away with a dismissive gesture, spouting some irrelevant statistics about the dangers of smoking.

“The longest-living person in China has smoked his entire life, and he’s still kicking,” Wang Chao retorted with a smirk. “But that’s not the point. Life is unpredictable, you never know what might happen. So why work so damn hard?”

Jiang He still looked puzzled, so Wang Chao blew a smoke ring into the air and continued.

“Li Weiyi, the poor soul who took his own life, had lost everything. His wife, his kids, his money – everything. What’s the point of living when you’re all alone and broke?”

Jiang He looked at him with disbelief.

“Would you want to end it all if you were in his shoes?” Wang Chao asked, his voice now filled with anger and sadness.

With a deep frown etched on his face, Wang Chao scrutinized the marks on the floor once again, crushing the cigarette butts on the railing.

After leaving the Public Security Bureau, Li Weiyi walked all the way down Nylon Road to this place, he said, his voice tinged with a hint of desperation. “He must have scouted out several apartment buildings along the way, but none of them were accessible. It wasn’t until he stumbled upon this one that he climbed all the way to the 12th floor and jumped off.”

The cold, hard truth hit him like a ton of bricks – Li Weiyi had been alone in his final moments, with no one to help him or offer any kind of support.

“All the surveillance footage confirms it,” Wang Chao added, his voice trembling with emotion. “He was all by himself.”

Jiang He and Wang Chao watched the surveillance video repeatedly, reviewing the footage and retrieving nearby recordings. The video clearly showed that Li Weiyi did not communicate with anyone after leaving the Public Security Bureau. He had traveled all the way to the community and then committed suicide by jumping off a building. However, during his journey, he received a phone call that lasted forty-two seconds.

“Where is the business card?” Jiang He turned to Wang Chao, his colleague.

“The call has just been disconnected. It’s from a non-native number, possibly a woman between the ages of forty and fifty. She claims to have not made any calls during that time period,” Wang Chao explained, pointing to the mobile phone on the table. “Our investigation shows that the signal came from Longcheng City and may have been subject to signal interference.”

“But there’s a number that has been called many times in the past few days. Hundreds of calls have been made. After our investigation, we found out it’s from his company, and we’ve informed them about Li Weiyi’s basic situation,” a technician chimed in.

Jiang He nodded thoughtfully. “If the call lasted for 42 seconds, it’s possible that they exchanged eight to ten sentences. Can you find out what the conversation was about?”

The technician shook his head. “It’s unlikely, even the most powerful person on the planet couldn’t do it without prior eavesdropping and monitoring.”

“The autopsy results have arrived,” a voice interrupted them.

Xu Yiman, a medical examiner, announced that the deceased had no scars on his body other than high-fall injuries. “The scars on Li Weiyi’s body appeared all at once. As a result, it can be determined that the cause of death was a fall from a great height. The cause of death was determined to be visceral failure, and the time of death was 9:30. I’m not sure if he jumped down on his own or if someone else pushed him down.”

“Suicide,” Jiang He confirmed, but Wang Chao was still uncertain. “There’s no doubt this time, Jiang He?”

However, no one answered, leaving the room in silence.

“Jiang He?”

“Where is Jiang He?” demanded Wang Chao, his voice rising in frustration.

Despite the many eyes in the hall, there was no sign of Jiang He. Wang Chao turned to the present criminal police and asked urgently, “What happened to Jiang He?”

No one had an answer.

“How could nobody have seen him leave?” Wang Chao demanded, interrogating everyone in the room. But no one responded, leaving him with no clue as to Jiang He’s whereabouts.

The importance of people’s attention was not lost on anyone present. Jiang He had already slipped away while everyone was focused on Xu Yiman’s autopsy report. He left without looking back, disappearing down a dark path outside the Public Security Bureau.

As he walked, Jiang He inserted a SIM card into his phone, ready to make a call.

Meanwhile, back at the Bureau, Wang Chao and the technical staff were frantically searching for any trace of Jiang He. But their efforts were in vain, and tensions were running high.

“The SIM card is missing!” one of the technicians suddenly exclaimed, causing Wang Chao to swear under his breath. It turned out to be Li Weiyi’s mobile phone card, adding to the confusion.

Wang Chao attempted to contact Jiang He but received no response.

A few seconds later, he received a call from a man named Manager Zhang, who identified himself as being from the marketing department of Shihai Rubber Factory.

“Are you a cop?” Manager Zhang asked.

Jiang He confirmed his profession, and the manager explained that Li Weiyi was under his charge. After some consideration, they had decided to offer Li Weiyi’s family 30,000 RMB as a reward for his hard work, given their understanding of the family’s financial struggles. However, they had been unable to contact Li Weiyi’s wife.

Jiang He listened carefully, sensing that there was more to the story.

“Wait a minute,” he interjected. “You mentioned that Li Weiyi repaid the company’s money. Can you tell me more about that?”

“It happened almost three months ago,” Manager Zhang said with a sigh. “Li Weiyi made some serious mistakes at work and caused the company to lose 130,000 RMB. According to the rules, he had to pay back the money himself. He did, eventually. I know he had a mortgage and an elderly parent to take care of. But work is work, and we couldn’t do anything about it.”

Jiang He listened with a frown. He had overheard Li Weiyi’s confession before he died, and Li Weiyi had never mentioned that he had repaid the 130,000 RMB.

“Wait a minute,” Jiang He interrupted, stepping forward. “Are you sure it was Li Weiyi who returned the money?”

“Yes, of course.” Manager Zhang nodded.

“Really?” Jiang He asked again.

“Yes, really.” Manager Zhang repeated.

“Are you positive?” Jiang He pressed.

Manager Zhang hesitated for a moment, then said, “Well, actually, it was his wife who sent the money. He Huijuan. But since she was his wife, it must have been what he meant.”

Jiang He raised his eyebrows. “His wife? He Huijuan?”

“Yes, that’s right.” “By the way, if you can contact him, please tell him to come and get the money back,” Manager Zhang confirmed. “We’re very sorry about He Huijuan’s death. Do you know how she died?”

Jiang He shook his head. Manager Zhang was unaware that Li Weiyi had died. People often say things without taking responsibility for them.

He also realised why He Huijuan had withdrawn all the money she had received from others and her own savings. She had used it to compensate for Li Weiyi’s losses.

But what he didn’t understand was why He Huijuan hadn’t told Li Weiyi that she had paid back the money for him.

Jiang He estimated that there was a 60% chance that He Huijuan had kept her affair secret from Li Weiyi and didn’t want to reveal it by telling him the truth.

Li Weiyi had a crushing debt of 130,000 RMB hanging over his head for nearly three agonizing months. It felt like an insurmountable burden that he couldn’t shake off. Then, the reunion of He Huijuan and Feng Bin happened, and everything changed. Two large sums of money were deposited into He Huijuan’s account, totaling 80,000 RMB. With her own savings added to the mix, it added up to exactly 130,000 RMB.

Jiang He’s mind was reeling as he received a message from his brain. The chances of everything being a coincidence were only about 10%, and his gut told him that something wasn’t right. He needed to investigate further to determine if there was a more sinister motive behind the sudden turn of events.

“Hello? Officer, are you still there?” Manager Zhang’s voice broke through Jiang He’s thoughts, snapping him back to reality.

Jiang He answered quickly, his mind still racing with questions. “No, unfortunately, the family is no longer with us.”

He hung up the phone, leaving Manager Zhang in shock. He had never heard such a direct and cold response from a police officer before, and it left him feeling uneasy.

[T/L: Mr. Editor is still busy, this chapter is unedited.]