“The agency must have the contract…” Miao Ying shook her head and said, “We must send someone over there to get it!”
“I’ve already sent someone!” Wu Xiumin said as she came over with her phone in her hand and made an okay hand gesture to Miao Ying.
“Alright. Give me the related materials, then. Let’s find out if the other victims have anything to do with this agency,” Zhao Yu said to Miao Ying.
“Good…” Miao Ying said as she immediately handed several files to Zhao Yu, who then began to read them carefully.
It was just before midnight, so Zhao Yu could not open a new hexagram yet. But, he had figured something out within the past day.
It seemed that yesterday’s Kan hexagram probably referred to Cui Lizhu. After all, it was quite unexpected that she would find the key clue from a neglected detail!
“Look at this…” Miao Ying said as she pointed to a document. “Zhan Jiankang, the first victim, has been to see a few houses last year, but according to his colleagues, he could not afford to buy a house at all! And Sun Peibin, the electrocuted victim, seemed to have no contacts whatsoever within the real estate industry!”
Zhao Yu shook his head. “But… Since he died in such a rough house at the Xianghe Home neighborhood, maybe it still has something to do with the real estate agencies!”
“I can’t find any record of Pei Zhi having any contact with such agencies.” Miao Ying shook her head. “According to his financial situation, he could not afford to buy a house!”
Zhao Yu then turned to Zeng Ke and said, “Maybe our information is not as comprehensive as we first thought! Zeng Ke, how is your investigation into the agencies going?”
“Well… Employee records at real estate agencies are highly classified,” Zeng Ke said. “I logged into their system, but was only able to find an employee list, which had their names, but no photos!”
“Well, send me the list, so I can have a look at it!” Soon, the employee list was sent to Zhao Yu’s mobile phone. He and Miao Ying then worked together to try to spot any suspicious names.
At this time, Cui Lizhu entered the office and immediately asked Zhao Yu, “Boss, how’s everything going? Have you found any suspects yet? Is the real estate agency involved?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Zhao Yu said, while waving her over. “Come here and have a look at this list of employees. See if you think that it could be any of them.”
Zeng Ke then asked, “In the meantime, should I look into the detailed background of these employees, one by one?”
“Yes, and while you are at it, try to find out if they have anything to do with Han Kuan,” Zhao Yu said, while nodding his head.
They had just gotten started, when Zhao Yu’s phone suddenly rang. He saw that it was Ran Tao calling.
When Zhao Yu answered the phone, Ran Tao said, “Boss, the manager at the agency is right here next to me! He said that three employees had access to the keys of the Xianghe Home: Yang Bo, Zhao Ruilan, and Liu Xiaochen. In fact, Liu Xiaochen was the one who found the corpse!”
“I don’t think the murderer would be the one who found the corpse. After all, what murderer would go back to the scene in person? Ran Tao, are the other two people men or women?” Miao Ying asked.
“Um… They’re both women!” Ran Tao answered.
“What? They’re both female?” Miao Ying asked for confirmation, while she looked at Zhao Yu, both of them showing doubts in their eyes. This was because, according to their analysis, the murderer should be a man!
“Wait a minute…” Zhao Yu suddenly thought of something and said to Ran Tao, “I want to speak to the manager.”
“Okay. One second… Now, I’ve turned on the speaker!” Ran Tao said.
Zhao Yu then asked urgently, “Manager, about a year ago, a female client named Hao Lili signed a contract with your agency to buy a house. But, after you signed the contract, she did not end up buying the property. Instead, she bought a house from another seller. Do you remember who the salesman was on that account?”
The manager answered him hesitantly, “Um… Well… I’d have to go back and check for you! Although our company is not big, each employee is independent and responsible for keeping track of his own daily work and clientele. As such, it could be that the salesperson who signed the contract doesn’t even remember this account himself!”
Hearing this, as Zhao Yu had placed his own phone on speaker as well, Miao Ying said, “Well, please go back to the company right now and check on that contract. We must know that person’s identity is as soon as possible.”
“Okay…” Although the manager didn’t know what was going on, he agreed to do so obediently.
Zhao Yu suddenly thought of something else and said, “Wait a minute! Manager, think about it carefully… Did a tricycle driver used to work for your company?”
“Tricycles?” The manager was clearly confused by the seemingly random question.
Zhao Yu said, “Yes. I am specifically referring to passenger tricycles. Most of them are electric! There are a lot of them in the Golden City.”
Finally understanding his meaning, the manager replied. “Well, we have over 100 staff members, so how can I possibly know if one used to work as a tricycle driver?”
After a while, the manager suddenly remembered something, so he hastily added, “Um… Wait… Wait a minute… I do recall that Xie once worked as a tricycle driver! I heard from someone that Xie’s parents were ill, so he had worked as a salesman during the day and drove a tricycle at night to earn extra income to help out with bills. He had a very hard time!”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu and Miao Ying looked at each other as if they had just uncovered an important clue.
The manager then said, “But… Xie is no longer working with us! It seems that the big boss fired him because of his poor performance!”
Zhao Yu asked hastily, “He was fired? When was that exactly?”
“Must have been about half a year ago, when I was promoted a manager. At that time, he was no longer with our company!” The manager thought back and said.
“Then… How old is he now? What’s his full name, and what does he look like?” Miao Ying asked eagerly. “Would it have been possible for him to get the keys to the Xianghe Home?”
The manager answered her, “Well, he is quite young. He looks rather ordinary, as he has a medium height and regular figure. He is just an average person. Also, I really can’t remember his full name! But… I do remember that the young man was really to a good salesperson, as he always looked gloomy, In fact, I never once saw him laugh.”
“Ah!” After hearing the manager’s words, the others couldn’t help but exclaim in unison. This was because the manager’s description of Xie was almost exactly the same as the psychological profile that Wu Xiumin had described of the murderer before.
Hence, they all had to wonder… Could this man be the murderer of the serial killer case?
“He shouldn’t have had the keys to Xianghe Home…” the manager said.
Then, after thinking about it more carefully, he said, “Don’t hang up! I’m calling Zhang, who is in our Personnel Department, now. He should know more about this! Wait just a minute…” As he spoke, the manager called Zhang using his landline phone.
After a brief introduction of the current case, the manager went straight to asking Zhang if he knew about Xie’s situation. “Of course I know!” Zhang answered. “His name is Xie Tongguo! That kid’s stubborn! Boss asked him to leave six months ago because he performed so badly at work! In fact, I gave the 1,000 yuan severance payment to him personally.”
After Zeng Ke heard the name, he immediately started searching information online.
“Zhang, did Xie have a tricycle?” the manager then asked.
Zhang answered, “Yes! He didn’t make enough money selling houses, so he drove a passenger tricycle at night so that he could afford to keep food on table. That kid is honest, but he is sure not a salesperson!”
The manager then asked, “Was it possible for him to get the keys to the Xianghe Home…”
The manager didn’t finish before Zeng Ke suddenly stood up and said to the others, “I… I don’t think we need to ask any more questions. Xie Tongguo is the main suspect in my opinion, now!”
The others present were confused, so they all rushed over to Zeng Ke’s computer. When they got there, they saw that Zeng Ke was pointing to the address of Xie Tong’s home.
“No. 302, Unit 1, Building 2, Kangle Park District…” Miao Ying read aloud. She immediately saw the problem at a glance, then asked in shock, “Isn’t this where Han Kuan’s parents live? And… It’s the same building… And the same unit! Oh my God! They are neighbors!”
