Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Master!” Ran Tao spoke excitedly over the phone, “I am already in Doujiazhuang. Captain Dou does not have many living relatives. I only found a few of his old neighbors. They told me that Captain Dou and his mother left home when he was very young and never returned to Doujiazhuang!”
“Oh? He left home? With his mother? Aren’t his parents both dead?” Zhao Yu asked curiously.
Ran Tao answered, “That’s what the neighbors said. Captain Dou’s mother was his father’s second wife. At that time, there was a man named Dou Youlin in the village. He had just lost his wife, and so he married Captain Dou’s mother. According to the villagers, Captain Dou was brought into the family by his mother, so he was not Dou Youlin’s biological son. Soon after that, Captain Dou changed his surname and was called Dou Haisheng, not Captain Dou.”
He then added, “It was said that Dou Youlin was poor and lazy, but little else is known about their family situation. All of the villagers I talked to knew was that, soon after Captain Dou left home with his mother, Dou Youlin died from an illness, and when he died, no one even showed up…”
Zhao Yu thought for a moment, then asked, “What’s Captain Dou’s mother’s name?”
“I don’t know. The neighbors only said that she was beautiful, but they didn’t know what her surname was!” Ran Tao said. “Team leader, I checked, and according to the timing, it seems that Captain Dou’s dead mother was not the natural mother, but that, instead, it was Dou Youlin’s first wife! So, his natural mother, who took him away from home, may still be alive!”
“Oh?” Zeng Ke hastily interrupted them. “Since it was a second marriage, perhaps Dou Youlin hadn’t registered Captain Dou’s mother at all, but only Captain Dou alone!”
“Dou Haisheng… Captain Dou…” Zhao Yu repeated the two names, then said, “These two names… Maybe there is some hidden meaning here. Captain Dou’s mother might have taken him away from home for a reason!”
“So, we have to focus our investigation on Captain Dou’s natural mother,” Zeng Ke said. “When taking into account the time, it is really possible that Liu Caiyun is Captain Dou’s natural mother!”
“Well, I’ll ask more villagers and get back to you about this soon!” Ran Tao said, then hung up the phone in a hurry.
“So…” Zeng Ke said, “Captain Dou’s natural mother is unregistered. That’s why I couldn’t find her in the system. In fact, there is a great possibility that Liu Caiyun is alive!”
“Hum!” Zhao Yu hummed softly, then said, “Zeng Ke, to know the situation of Captain Dou’s birth mother is really simple!”
Zeng Ke was surprised to hear this. “You know how to get that information?”
“Ha ha ha ha…” Zhao Yu laughed, then opened the door and went out.
Through the window, Zeng Ke could see him walking to the deck and chatting with a young policeman who was standing guard. A few minutes later, after sharing a pleasant conversation with him, Zhao Yu returned to the office with a smile.
However, as soon as the door was closed, his smile immediately disappeared from his face as he said seriously, “Zeng Ke, the young policeman is 25 years old, is unmarried, and is named Liu Yingjun. He lives in Wenmiaoshang, Quliang. He loves abalone and kelp, and he has three buckets and six dustpans.”
“Leader… What are you saying? I can’t understand you…” Zeng Ke said with an embarrassed smile.
“Ha ha…” Zhao Yu laughed wickedly, then explained, “I just wanted to show you that by simply talking to people, you can discover a lot of things!”
“Leader, please, we don’t have much time to waste,” Zeng Ke said seriously.
“Okay, okay!” Zhao Yu said in a positive tone, “He told me that Captain Dou has a mother, but no father. He also said that the old lady has a bad temper. Regarding the case of Captain Dou’s divorce, she did not play a good role within it! However, Captain Dou is a well-known filial son who has lived with his old mother till now!”
“My God! Is it that simple?” Zeng Ke asked. “So, his mother is… Liu Caiyun?”
“That’s highly possible!” Zhao Yu nodded.
“Then… Let’s ask Xiumin to investigate that!” Zeng Ke suggested.
“No!” Zhao Yu shook his head. “Now that we have found the old lady, we must not rush into anything! Let Ran Tao go. It’s safer!”
“Then… Shall we proceed as planned?” Zeng Ke sat in front of his laptop and asked, “What if Captain Dou doesn’t come back?”
“Then, I’ll ask him to come back. I’m the leader. He’ll listen to me!” Zhao Yu said with confidence.
As soon as Zhao Yu’s voice fell, Zeng Ke pointed to the tracking symbol on the laptop screen and said nervously, “It’s moving! Captain Dou has left the Quliang Police Station and gone to the dock! He may be coming to bring us lunch. He is early. Are we ready?”
Zhao Yu smacked his lips and said, “I can deal with this. But… If we want to carry on with our plan, we still lack the most critical piece of evidence!”
As Zhao Yu looked at the white board, Zeng Ke understood him immediately. Zeng Ke then said “Yes, we haven’t clearly figured out how Captain Dou knew about Qiao Ruxue’s affairs. How could he possibly have known so many secrets about the crew?”
“Yes, this is the most critical part of the case!” Zhao Yu frowned and said. “If we can’t make a clear connection, we can’t confront Captain Dou!”
“I have checked all of the information about Captain Dou. He had no interactions with the crew members or the film company at all, so it would have been impossible for him to know so many things!” Zeng Ke said.
“Hmm…” As he was looking at the white board, Zhao Yu was lost in his thoughts. He then said, “Because we think that he couldn’t possibly have known these secrets, we must firmly believe that the murderer is an internal member of the film company! But… If it’s really Captain Dou… Then the only possible reason for him to do this would be…”
Zeng Ke looked at Zhao Yu and seemed to be waiting for his conclusion. When he stared at Zhao Yu in silence for quite a while, he realized that Zhao Yu had no answer himself!
After thinking for a long time, Zhao Yu spoke to Zeng Ke, “Last time, you said that Captain Dou might have forced Cai Jinda to speak up.”
Zeng Ke nodded. “But, obviously that is not right…”
“Shh!” Zhao Yu hissed at him, then asked, “What if Cai Jinda took the initiative to tell him? Um… No…”
Zhao Yu then turned around and looked at the names of the 10 crew members on the board, as if he was trying very hard to figure something out. He then said, “Cai Jinda had the most drug residuals in his body. He was completely unconscious and couldn’t speak!”
Zhao Yu pointed to Cai Jinda’s name with a pen, then said, “Moreover, this was the first time that Cai Jinda had worked with this crew. Hence, he was not very familiar with them. So, he might not know everyone’s secrets! The only one who could possibly know everyone’s secrets was…”
