The next day, Team B held a full staff meeting.
Xu Shaowei, still a uniformed officer, hadn’t been transferred in yet, so he was only called in to assist during visits and did not participate in the formal meeting.
Fang Zhenyue walked up to the whiteboard, glanced at the notes he had made the night before, and turned to face everyone. Suddenly, he noticed Yi Jiayi sitting beside the whiteboard with a thick stack of A4 papers on her lap.
She must have stayed up late last night?
Looking at Officer Yi’s face, which seemed lively rather than sleep-deprived, he thought to himself that young people really do recover quickly.
“Let’s summarize the existing clues,” Fang Zhenyue clapped his hands, gesturing to the marks he had made on the whiteboard for everyone to organize and supplement.
“The victim, Zhao Dongsheng, 46, is in the real estate business. He owns a community in Tsim Sha Tsui and a piece of land in Tseung Kwan O, and he is currently looking to expand into the Clear Water Bay Peninsula. His business is booming. According to his wife, Mrs. Cheng, Mr. Zhao had no special habits; he typically went to work and socialized, and at home, he would read in his study or play golf with her. He did not associate with any unsavory characters and seemed like a very ordinary real estate merchant.”
“The last person to see Mr. Zhao was the security guard at his company, who saw Mr. Zhao drive away from the company alone around 16:00 on the 22nd.”
“After that, according to the testimonies of two maids, although they did not see Mr. Zhao himself, the items moved inside the villa indicate that Mr. Zhao must have returned to the villa between 16:30 and 19:00 that evening,” said Liu Jiaming.
“There were no signs of forced entry or climbing over walls at the villa, and from the car tracks in the garage, it can be almost certain that it was Mr. Zhao himself who drove back to the villa during that period. The items moved inside the villa were most likely moved by Mr. Zhao himself.” After Liu Jiaming finished speaking, Yi Jiayi meticulously added:
“The Forensic Science Division of the Central Police Station detected some fresh fingerprints and other traces of blood in areas of the house the maids hadn’t wiped yesterday. These were confirmed through testing to match Mr. Zhao’s blood type, making it almost certain that Mr. Zhao was attacked after returning home.”
“The DNA results will take some more time. The Forensic Science Division will notify us as soon as they receive the lab report.”
Liu Jiaming nodded vigorously, inspired by Yi Jiayi’s encouragement. He sat up straight and, with renewed focus, shared more details with the team that he hadn’t thought of earlier:
“Several knives found at Mr. Zhao’s home, which resemble the cuts in the blood-stained suit, have been taken as evidence by colleagues from the Forensic Science Division of the Central Police Station. However, these knives had been used and cleaned several times by the maids, so it is uncertain whether blood traces can still be detected. But initially, they will be examined to see if any match the cuts on the suit. We have not yet received a report from the forensic team on this matter, but I will follow up with a phone call later.”
“Alright,” Fang Zhenyue nodded, acknowledging Liu Jiaming’s contribution.
Upon receiving positive feedback from Brother Yue, Liu Jiaming immediately turned his head to look at Jiayi. Only after Jiayi smiled back at him did he contentedly turn his gaze back to the whiteboard with a smile.
Fang Zhenyue keenly noticed Liu Jiaming’s subtle movements and was almost certain that Liu had been completely won over by Jiayi.
Jiaming’s series of reactions had said it all; a person only looks for feedback from someone they care deeply about right after being praised.
“Mrs. Zhao’s name is Chen Tingting, 36 years old, a painter who has held small exhibitions in small galleries. Her paintings sell fairly well, and she has her own fans and market. She doesn’t have any particular hobbies apart from going out to sketch, shopping, and drinking tea. She has some friends and classmates, and her social circle has expanded through her husband to include wealthy women, but she isn’t very social, so she usually stays at home.”
Seeing Fang Zhenyue point with his marker to Mrs. Zhao’s name recorded on the whiteboard, Jiayi quickly reported:
“According to the timeline mentioned by the maid and the forensic science and medical examiner’s estimation of when the victim was attacked and taken from the mountaintop, Mrs. Zhao was sketching in Stanley. We have already made phone inquiries; the hotel’s check-in records for Mrs. Zhao, meal payment receipts, and other documents were faxed to the police station. They included photos taken by hotel staff of Mrs. Zhao at the hotel, confirming her presence and that she dined there, with complete receipts and no issues with the credit card transactions.”
“These documents can temporarily serve as an ‘alibi witness’ for Mrs. Zhao, proving that she was indeed at the Stanley Hotel at the time of the incident.”
“This can prove she wasn’t the perpetrator herself.” Fang Zhenyue nodded and made a note next to Mrs. Zhao’s name.
Hearing Brother Yue’s words, Jiayi quickly thought and responded, “Are you suggesting she might have hired someone to commit the murder?”
“We’re not completely ruling out her innocence for now; we’ll continue to explore other possibilities and make judgments later,” Fang Zhenyue explained patiently.
Jiayi nodded in realization and made some notes in her notebook.
“We’ve visited all the luxury stores selling that suit yesterday and confirmed it’s a new model from this autumn, only available since last month in Xiangjiang. So far, 14 suits have been sold, but neither Mr. Zhao himself nor Mrs. Zhao, Chen Tingting were among the buyers. We have collected information on these 14 individuals and today we’ll follow up on the whereabouts of the 14 suits to find out who gifted the white suit to Mr. Zhao.” Sanfu held a stack of information with addresses, phone numbers, and other details of these 14 people.
“Alright, you and Gary go then, leave now,” Fang Zhenyue nodded.
Sanfu and Gary immediately stood up to take the order and left the office.
Then, Fang Zhenyue drew two circles on the whiteboard, labeling them 1 and 2, and started explaining:
“Based on Mrs. Zhao’s description of Mr. Zhao, we will visit two directions. The first is Mr. Zhao’s circle of personal relationships—whether he has other lovers, whether he is unusually close with some people, or even whether he has other houses for keeping a mistress, and so on. Uncle Jiu, you take Jiaming to Mr. Zhao’s company, to inquire with his closest subordinates, the driver who knows Mr. Zhao’s whereabouts best, and his assistant.”
“After that, you might also want to ask the two maids at the Zhao’s. If Mr. Zhao has an affair that Mrs. Zhao doesn’t know about, perhaps the maids have noticed something.”
As soon as Fang Zhenyue finished his first sentence, Yi Jiayi’s eyes curved up.
Here it comes!
The directions of reasoning and the tasks given by Brother Yue almost perfectly matched her guesses from last night!
As Fang Zhenyue continued, Yi Jiayi even silently moved her lips, occasionally mimicking Fang Zhenyue’s exact words.
After he gave the instructions to Uncle Jiu and Liu Jiaming, she turned her head to look at the two receiving the orders.
As expected, Liu Jiaming immediately stood up, saluted, and loudly said, “Yes, sir!” While Uncle Jiu lazily stood up and said, “No problem, Brother Yue,” just as Yi Jiayi had guessed. He even touched his ear where he usually held a cigarette, but unfortunately, he didn’t bring one today, his fingers clutching at empty air.
Yi Jiayi couldn’t help but purse her lips in a smile, watching Uncle Jiu and Liu Jiaming leave for work, her smile still lingering on her face.
“What are you laughing at?” Fang Zhenyue tapped on the whiteboard, reminding the distracted and secretly smiling female student to focus.
“Nothing, sir,” Yi Jiayi quickly diverted her gaze, composing herself back to a serious and strict demeanor.
“Do you know what you need to do next?” Fang Zhenyue asked.
“…” Yi Jiayi’s eyes darted around, then glanced at the number ‘2’ circled on the whiteboard, pondered her guesses from last night, and smiled again.
She met Fang Zhenyue’s gaze and spoke clearly, “Yes, sir.”
“Let’s hear it,” Fang Zhenyue nodded.
“Brother Yue’s second point should be to start with Mr. Zhao’s competitors. Investigate Mr. Zhao’s financial situation and whether there are any competitors for the projects his company is currently working on. Based on this, look for anyone who might have a motive to kill Mr. Zhao.”
Yi Jiayi turned her head to look around; the office was now empty except for herself, so she raised an eyebrow and asked Fang Zhenyue:
“Brother Yue, are you taking me to investigate, or you and Xu Shaowei, or am I taking Xu Shaowei?”
Fang Zhenyue met her earnest, puzzled eyes and finally couldn’t help but smile.
How did she guess everything correctly, and answer so confidently?
She didn’t even ask if she might have guessed wrong but went straight to asking how he planned to deploy the task execution?
She’s definitely the smartest, tsk, this girl…
“You take Xu Shaowei with you. Just call the Central District Police Station, mention Xu Shaowei’s badge number, and get him to come over to help,” Fang Zhenyue capped his marker, tossed it into the tray below the whiteboard, and gestured with his chin towards her, “Go ahead.”
“Yes, sir!” Yi Jiayi snapped her feet together, standing at attention in a perfect military posture, gave a very standard salute, then smiled sweetly at Fang Zhenyue before turning to make the call.
It’s great, her own assumptions matched with Brother Yue’s logic and arrangements, which is the best assessment of her abilities.
She might be a not-so-bad detective, eh? Brother Yue must really appreciate her intelligence, and he must like her as his student?!
Filled with a sense of accomplishment, Yi Jiayi dialed the Central District Police Station. While negotiating with the person on the other end, she restrained her smile, straightened her face, and lowered her voice to convey seriousness and solemnity.
In a second, from a happy policewoman, she transformed into a formidable detective.
After hanging up the phone, she relaxed again, turning to see Fang Zhenyue still watching her, she then said:
“Brother Yue, I’ll give the forensic department at the Central District Police Station a call to follow up on the lab progress.”
“OK.” Fang Zhenyue watched her as she turned back to the desk phone, focused on dialing, stretched his arms, twisted his neck, and glanced at the time.
Today, he can confidently go take the internal promotion exam, without worrying about the kids in Team B.
He turned and strode away, occasionally the wind carried fragments of Yi Jiayi’s phone conversation to his ears, until he turned and walked out of the corridor and up the stairs, finally losing the sound of the young policewoman’s voice.
Remembering Yi Jiayi’s vitality and zest for life, he too looked up, broadened his shoulders, lifted his head, and walked upwards full of morale, heading towards the examination site.