Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“I don’t know. Tao Xiang never told me,” a haggard old man with gray hair told Zhao Yu over a video call in the Special Investigation Group’s office. The old man was Li Fei, the murderer in the Headless Female Corpses Case. He was the other key owner that Zhao Yu had mentioned before.
Li Fei was a senior student of Tao Xiang’s teachings. He was familiar with Tao Xiang. Most importantly, Li Fei participated in Tao Xiang’s theft of the Tamil Star, which happened to be an important turning point in Tao Xiang’s life. So, Zhao Yu thought that Li Fei might know something. “Li Fei, how do you think… when you stole Tamil Star with him, did Tao Xiang tell you anything? Do you think he has an accomplice?” Zhao Yu asked.
Li Fei thought and said, “I’m not sure. Tao Xiang has always been a maverick. I told you that stealing the Tamil Star was because he wanted to do me a favor. In fact, he was totally capable of doing it on his own.”
“But…” Zhao Yu reminded him again, “what about his previous cases? Have you never thought about it? I can’t believe that Tao Xiang acted alone in all of his previous cases. It’s incredible. Where did he get the information? How did he get rid of his stolen goods? If he didn’t have an accomplice, how could he have done it all alone?”
“Well, you can ask Flying Squirrel Gao later,” Li Fei said. “He knows how to sell stolen goods. As I remember it, Tao Xiang was not eager to sell stolen goods after his robberies. As for his accomplice, I really don’t know. I feel that even if he had an accomplice, it doesn’t have to be a close relationship. No one was capable of becoming friends with Tao Xiang. He was too cautious and careful; he wouldn’t have had any friends at all.”
“Are you contradicting yourself?” Zhao Yu asked seriously. “If he had no friends, how could he have wanted to help you?”
“I’m different from others, it’s like a kind of kinship.” Li Fei waved his hands, saying, “Take the gem theft for example. I didn’t know what his plan was until the end. If it wasn’t for those foreigners who wanted to kill, I didn’t know that they were conniving. ”
Zhao Yu smacked his lips. He felt like he was wasting his time. Everything he had tried to ask just now was in vain. Even Tao Xiang’s daughter had no idea who the possible accomplice was, let alone Li Fei.
Li Fei said haggardly, “Officer, I want to know when I will receive my punishment? I beg you. Can you hurry up? I really can’t stand it. Tao Xiang has become injured. I don’t have any family anymore. It’s better to die and atone for my crime than to suffer any longer in this lonely world.”
Zhao Yu thought about what Li Fei had said carefully. It seemed that Li Fei didn’t know that Tao Xiang had passed away. If Li Fei knew, he would want to end his life. Thinking about what would happen, Zhao Yu quickly changed the subject of the conversation. “Li Fei, we found some things left by Tao Xiang. We suspected that they have something to do with a great treasure. Tao Xiang can’t remember anything now. How about this? As long as you can help us find the treasure, we can help you realize your wish.”
Li Fei frowned and said doubtfully, “Officer, didn’t you confiscate all Tao Xiang’s treasures? All my things are were with those. Of course, some have been sold.”
“No,” Zhao Yu said. “I’m talking about another treasure, one that Tao Xiang has been trying to find all his life. It’s about gold. Did Tao Xiang ever mention to you that he was looking for something like this?”
“This…” Li Fei grabbed his gray and messy hair and tried to remember. “Gold? Tao Xiang… Tao Xiang told me at that time… No. I told him. I told him that the gem was from the exhibition, and it was an international exhibition. Its owner was a foreigner. If it is found lost, the police will try their best to catch the thief, which will put him in great danger. I advised him to reconsider it.” Li Fei thought and said, “But Tao Xiang said that he wanted to stop. This might be the last time he stole something. Because the price offered was very high, he agreed.”
“Last time?” Zhao Yu frowned.
“Yes. Yes… ” Li Fei fell into a nervous state and said, “he said that his daughter has grown up, and he doesn’t want his daughter to be a thief like him. And… What else did he say? I think his daughter wasn’t the only reason he wanted to stop stealing.”
“Because of the treasure? Was he going to look for the treasure after he had earned enough?” Li Beini guessed, sounding shocked.
“But… We still don’t know if Tao Xiang had any accomplices.” Liu Zhanbing whispered.
Zhao Yu turned to Li Beini and said, “Beini, give Li Fei the notes left by Tao Xiang. Let him help us analyze Tao Xiang’s thoughts and see what we can get.”
“Okay.” Li Beini did as Zhao Yu told her.
Zhao Yu then said, “Liu Zhanbing, Li Fei mentioned Flying Squirrel Gao just now. Contact the Bailing police to see if they can find the man. He is also a student of Tao Xiang’s teacher. Let’s see what he knows.”
“Yes.” Liu Zhanbing replied.
While Zhao Yu had investigated the Headless Female Corpses Case in Bailing, Liu Zhanbing had learned of the case from Wu Fangfang and knew about Flying Squirrel Gao, so he was the right person to take this task. After that, Zhao Yu turned back. He was thinking about Tao Xiang’s accomplice when he suddenly saw the office door open. Cui Lizhu was standing there, staring at him with a blank expression.
“Hey? Cui?” Zhao Yu asked, slightly surprised. Unexpectedly, Cui Lizhu turned and ran away. She looked sad. “Cui.” Zhao Yu frowned and ran after her. He was stopped as he suddenly ran into Wu Xiumin at the door carrying a suitcase.
“Team leader?” Wu Xiumin turned around and said, “I just saw Cui. She was crying.”
“Well…” Zhao Yu looked around and saw that Cui Lizhu had already entered the duty room where she had been told to rest. “I don’t know. We are talking to Li Fei. Maybe she’s recalling some sad memories.”
“Oh? Li Fei?” Wu Xiumin frowned. “Why are you talking to him?”
“It’s a long story.” Zhao Yu waved his hand then said, “It’s good to see you here. Come on, let me introduce you…” Zhao Yu invited Wu Xiumin into the office and to introduce her to everyone. However, when he entered the room, he found that all the others were staring at the big screen with serious faces.
Zhao Yu saw that Li Fei was drawing something. “Hey. What is he doing?” he asked.
Li Beini frowned and said, “I haven’t given him the notes yet. He said that he thought of someone, then began to draw.”
“Who?” Zhao Yu frowned.
“Tao Xiang… He had talked to this man in secret.” Li Fei drew carefully and spoke without raising his head. “I saw them when I got up in the middle of the night and went to the toilet. This man could be his accomplice.”
“Why didn’t you tell us this earlier?” Zhao Yu asked.
However, Li Fei was lost in his drawing, totally ignoring Zhao Yu’s question.
