“What?” In the office, Zhao Yu roared. “A safe… Again?”
Wu Xiumin replied, “Yes, Zhang Jingru rented a safe at the Evergreen Development Bank in Longjiang City. The date was October 21! She paid for only one month, and as the bank allowed one month for late payment, she received the payment reminder last month!”
Zhao Yu frowned as he said, “October 21 was the week before Zhang Jingru was killed! Did she keep anything important in the safe?”
“Longjiang is the nearest prefecture-level city to the Golden City!” Zeng Ke analyzed aloud. “No bank in the entire Golden City rents out safes, so that explains why Zhang Jingru chose to go to Longjiang!”
Wu Xiumin then said, “According to our records, Zhang Jingru was absent from work on October 21. I’ll ask her company the reason why.”
“Wait a minute!” Zhao Yu said. “Wu, ask the Longjiang police to find out what was in the safe first! We need to know what Zhang Jingru put in the safe as soon as possible.”
“Okay.” Wu Xiumin immediately called the Longjiang local police.
Zhao Yu looked at the letter as he said doubtfully, “Zhang Jingru had been to Longjiang before she died, but… What about Han Guang? Zeng Ke, you check Han Kuan’s activity in our records.”
“Okay…” Zeng Ke quickly searched his computer and found the answer. “Team leader, Han Kuan’s confession mentions that, before his wife’s death, he and Zhang Jingru went to Longjiang to visit a friend!”
Zhao Yu then asked, while trying to piece all of the information together, “A bank safe… And a friend? What does this all mean?”
“I’m going to ask Han Kuan about that!” Realizing that it was a matter of great importance, Zeng Ke quickly put down his work and got ready to go.
However, Zhao Yu waved his hand to stop him and said, “Never mind. I’ll go have a talk with him myself. You guys focus on handling the safe situation.”
After that, Zhao Yu went directly to the place where Han Kuan was being held. The normal police station was not like this detention center, as this place was where the prisoners were detained, and it was shabby, having just cells alone within it.
Zhao Yu walked fast and soon arrived at Han Kuan’s cell. He immediately asked, “Han Kuan, tell me what happened to you and your wife in Longjiang? Why did you go there?”
In order to keep everyone back at the office in the loop, Zhao Yu called Zeng Ke and kept the phone on speaker as he questioned Han Kuan. In this way, Zeng Ke could have the latest news as Zhao Yu himself was receiving it.
“Longjiang?” Han Kuan was confused by Zhao Yu’s question.
He tried to recall for a moment, then asked, “Which time do you mean exactly? We used to go to Longjiang all the time, as several publishing houses are in Longjiang…”
“I am specifically wanting to know about October 21. It was a week before your wife was killed!” Zhao Yu reminded him.
“Oh… I’ve already told the police about this many times!” Han Kuan said. “We drove there to visit an old colleague of my wife’s, who had just been promoted at work. The name was Huo Weifang. However, when we got there, we were told that Huo Yufang was away on a business trip. So, we just spent half a day enjoying Longjiang, then drove back in the afternoon!”
“So… What about the bank?” Zhao Yu asked. “What were you doing at the bank?”
“The bank? Oh… Yes!” Han Kuan thought for a moment, then remembered. “You know, we couldn’t come empty-handed when we went to visit someone, so we had brought a gift with us. When we discovered that Huo Weifang was not at home, my wife called her and asked where we should leave the gift. Unexpectedly, Huo Weifang asked us to drop it by her bank and place it in her safe. She even gave us the password!”
“What kind of gift did you buy for her?” Zhao Yu asked.
Han Kuan answered him without hesitation, “A designer bag. My wife said that she was really into fashion, so we bought her a very expensive bag. We also placed a set of our golden card collection in the bag. After all, my wife was hoping for a promotion, so…”
“So… You really went all the way to Longjiang just to give this woman a gift?” Zhao Yu asked.
Han Kuan nodded and said, “Yes! Who would have thought she would be so cautious! Can you imagine that she actually uses a bank safe for gifts? I was joking with my wife that I should write this into my next novel somehow!”
“Team leader…” At this time, Zeng Ke’s voice suddenly came from the mobile phone speaker. When Zhao Yu heard it, he immediately turned off the speaker so that he could hear what he had to say privately.
Once he knew that he was off speaker phone mode, Zeng Ke said eagerly, “Han Kuan is lying! I have checked the records, and there was no such a person named Huo Weifang listed as a client in any of Longjiang’s banks. Although Zhang Jingru once had a colleague named Huo Weifang, that person is still listed as living in the Golden City, she is just not in the same department as Zhang Jingru anymore!
After hearing this, Zhao Yu looked up and asked Han Kuan, “Han Kuan, are you familiar with Huo Weifang? Have you actually met her yet?”
“No. Why? What’s wrong?” Han Kuan was confused. “I heard all of this information from my wife. I’ve never even seen her!”
Zhao Yu then asked, “Were you the one who bought the bag?”
“No. My wife bought it. It was a white bad. Um… I can’t remember the specific brand…” Han Kuan answered.
Zhao Yu thought for a moment, then asked eagerly, “Did you both go and put that bag in the bank together?”
“Oh… No…” Han Kuan said. “I wanted to go with my wife, but she said that if we went together, it would attract too much attention.”
“How long was she in the bank?” Zhao Yu asked.
“Um… Quite a long time!” Han Kuan said. “I waited for her in the car and listened to a long talk show. I would guess that she was in the bank for at least 20 minutes!”
After getting these answers, Zhao Yu did not speak, but left quickly as he said to Zeng Ke over the phone, “Zeng Ke, the bank safe was actually rented by Zhang Jingru. This means that Han Kuan might not be lying after all!”
“Does that mean… Is Zhang Jingru the one who is lying? But… Why?” Zeng Ke was puzzled.
“If everything about Huo Weifang was a lie, then Zhang Jingru must have put something important in that safe!” Zhao Yu said. He then asked, “What’s going on with you… In Longjiang?”
Zeng Ke reported, “I have notified the local police. Within half an hour, they have promised that they will open the safe and see what’s inside it! God, I can’t imagine what’s in that safe! Leader…”
Zeng Ke had not yet finished his sentence, when Wu Xiumin suddenly grabbed the phone away from him and said with excitement, “Come here! Leader Miao just told us that Xie Tongguo has been arrested!”
