flstandardbreds Chapter 1123 Chen Mei's Interpersonal Relationship Investigation
Chapter 1123 Chen Mei's Interpersonal Relationship Investigation
On the phone, Chen Lan's voice trembled with tears: "My sister is so foolish," her sobs came through the receiver. "Zhao Gang lost 20,000 yuan gambling the first time, she should have divorced him, but she always said she'd endure it for the sake of face. Last month I sent her 5,000 yuan, telling her to keep it for herself and not give it to Zhao Gang, but she turned around and used it to pay off Zhao Gang's gambling debts. I was so angry that I had a fight with her, and we haven't been in contact since." Chen Lan said that Chen Mei had mentioned Zhang Lei to her, saying that the man was in the building materials business and had money. "My sister said it would be great if she could borrow some money from him. At the time, I advised her not to get any funny ideas, but I never expected..."
These fragmented pieces of information gradually pieced together in Xiao Zhou's notebook like puzzle pieces: Chen Mei's life was already shattered under the pressure of Zhao Gang's gambling debts, her relationship with Zhao Gang was extremely tense, yet she couldn't escape it for various reasons. Her interactions with Zhang Lei, her unusual behavior of buying rat poison, and the descriptions of her despair and forbearance by those around her all provided richer background support for her subsequent motives. As Xiao Zhou closed the notebook, the convenience store's freezer was still humming, as if telling the story of the family's hidden crisis and the impending storm.
Afterwards, Xiao Zhou retrieved Chen Mei's bank statements. At 3:27 AM on July 4th, an anonymous remittance of 20,000 yuan was deposited into her account. "Where did this money come from?" He slapped the bank statement in front of Chen Mei, and the woman's eyes instantly panicked, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes. "It's... it's a loan from my cousin," her voice trailed off, "He works in another city, and knowing I'm having a hard time, he helped me out a little." But Xiao Zhou discovered that Chen Mei's cousin had been imprisoned for fraud six months prior, making it impossible for him to have made the remittance.
Chen Mei's red electric scooter was parked in the bike shed downstairs. In the storage compartment under the seat, the technician found a rusty wrench. "It's 8 centimeters in diameter and has a serrated pattern," Xiao Zhou said, picking up the wrench with sterile gloves. The dark red stains on the edge were particularly glaring in the sunlight. "Raman spectroscopy analysis shows residual hemoglobin, which matches Zhang Lei's blood type." The handle of the wrench was wrapped with a ring of blue tape, the fiber composition of which perfectly matched the carpet in Zhang Lei's living room.
When visiting Chen Mei's neighbors, Mr. Wang, who lives on the fourth floor, was sitting on a small stool sunbathing. "Around 11 p.m. on July 3, I heard some noise downstairs," he said, pointing to Chen Mei's balcony. "I saw Chen Mei and a man carrying a large cabinet downstairs. The man was limping, as if he had difficulty walking." Mr. Wang added that the man was wearing a black jacket and a baseball cap. "The two of them put the cabinet into the trunk of a white truck. The license plate was covered in mud, so the number was illegible."
Xiao Zhou immediately retrieved the surveillance footage from the surrounding area. At 11:15 PM on July 3rd, Chen Mei's red electric scooter left the community and appeared near the convenience store at the entrance of Zhang Lei's community at 11:20 PM, coinciding with the last time Zhang Lei's phone was located via cell tower. At 11:45 PM, the scooter returned carrying a black cloth bag. The bag was irregularly shaped, resembling a long, thin object. "The size of this bag is just right to hold that serrated wrench," Xiao Zhou noted, zooming in on the surveillance screenshot. The checkered pattern on the bag matched the cushions on Chen Mei's sofa.
In Chen Mei's call log, a frequently contacted number caught Xiao Zhou's attention. The owner of the number was Zhao Gang, her husband. They had a call on July 3rd at 9:08 PM, lasting 2 minutes and 17 seconds. "Zhao Gang's registered residence is in the suburbs," Xiao Zhou checked the household registration system. "He has a prior theft conviction; he was sentenced to one year in prison for theft in 2018 and hasn't had a proper job since his release." More importantly, Zhao Gang has a disability in his right lower leg, and he walks with a limp, perfectly matching the description given by Grandpa Wang.
When they found Zhao Gang, he was carrying bricks at the construction site, his gray vest soaked with sweat, revealing the tattoos on his arms. "I was working overtime at the construction site on the night of July 3rd," he said, his eyes darting around, avoiding Xiao Zhou's gaze. "You can ask the foreman if you don't believe me." But the foreman's testimony was completely different: "Zhao Gang asked for leave on July 3rd, saying he was going to the hospital for a checkup, and I even granted him two days off." Xiao Zhou noticed that Zhao Gang's shoes were size 42, and the serrated pattern on the soles closely matched the shoe prints found in Zhang Lei's living room.
When Xiao Zhou found Zhao Gang, he was carrying bricks at a demolition site on the outskirts of the city. His wheelbarrow bounced across the uneven ground, each bump revealing a glimpse of the tattoo on his right shoulder—a blue dragon tail coiled around a skull, glistening with sweat. As Xiao Zhou approached, Zhao Gang was stacking bricks in a designated area. His gray vest was already soaked with sweat, clinging to his back like a wet rag, and there was a dark red stain on the collar, irregularly shaped, like dried blood.
"Officer, did you need something?" Zhao Gang's voice was deliberately calm. He wiped his hand, which had just put down the bricks, repeatedly on his trouser leg, but the grime between his fingers became more and more obvious with each wipe. Xiao Zhou noticed that the knuckle of his right index finger was badly swollen, and some silvery-white debris was embedded in his fingernail. "How did you get this injury?" he suddenly asked. Zhao Gang's movements clearly paused for a moment, then he scratched the back of his head and laughed, "I bumped into it while carrying bricks. It's a minor injury, nothing serious."
When asked about his whereabouts on July 3rd, Zhao Gang's gaze drifted to the distant tower crane, its boom slowly moving through the clouds. "I was working overtime at the construction site that day, from seven in the morning to ten at night," he counted on his fingers, "I only ate a steamed bun for lunch, the foreman can vouch for that." Xiao Zhou took out his notebook, the pen pausing on the word "overtime": "What specific work did you do? Who were you with?" Zhao Gang's Adam's apple bobbed violently, "Just... just carrying bricks and mixing cement, with Lao Li and the others, you can ask them if you don't believe me."
When they found Old Li, he was squatting in the shade, munching on a popsicle, the plastic wrapper crumpled in his hand. "Zhao Gang? He didn't even come on July 3rd," Old Li spat out the popsicle stick, the tip drawing a crooked line on the ground. "He asked me for money the night before, saying he needed to go to the hospital to get his leg checked out, but I didn't lend it to him. His right leg is an old problem; he got slashed in a fight three years ago, and it hurts terribly on rainy days, but it shouldn't warrant taking two days off." Old Li suddenly lowered his voice, "I heard he owes Brother Leopard gambling debts; maybe he took the day off to hide from his creditors."
The foreman's office was in a prefabricated house. The attendance sheet on the wall was filled with leave records marked in red pen. After Zhao Gang's name, there was a conspicuous circle in the box for July 3rd and 4th. "He did look unwell when he asked for leave," the foreman said, flipping through the approval forms and tapping his pen on Zhao Gang's signature.