Gu Nianzhi returned to her own desk but didn’t turn on the computer. This was because the central control room was already in use, and they would not be able to do their work by entering the system.
Gu Nianzhi felt bored already, so she took out her phone to play with. The moment she unlocked her phone, she remembered something. Weibo! She had seen that condominium’s name and location on Weibo before! Gu Nianzhi opened Weibo on her phone and searched for that condominium, and a series of news reports about that place popped up.
The hottest one trending was the case that had happened just a little while ago. Seeing that the victim was “Lu Dayong” and that the Weibo account the police had tagged, “The Garden of Churchill” belonged to him, Gu Nianzhi gasped.
She had known him for what seemed like a good amount of time already… It was the online author who lived in that condominium! She looked at the day the online author had committed suicide, and it was the exact same day and time that the data had shown Hong Kangquan going to that condominium!
Wasn’t that too coincidental?
Linking up the relationship between Hong Kangquan and Cai Songyin, and the deal about the “short novel” between Cai Songyin and this online author had made it possible for Gu Nianzhi to interrupt the episode. If she hadn’t, Huo Shaoheng might have been affected so badly by the rumors, he might even have had to leave the army.
Gu Nianzhi intuitively felt that there was a connection between these two incidents and that they were not purely coincidences. She went to read the news about the online author’s death again, including the notice that the police force had put up.
It was clear that upon investigation, the police did not believe that the online author had committed suicide, either. However, they had no other evidence to guide them in any other direction, so they had publicized the case, perhaps in the hopes of finding more clues.
Gu Nianzhi went to Huo Shaoheng’s side with her phone and whispered, “Huo Shao, what is the accuracy of the clues that can be calculated by the data?”
Huo Shaoheng turned to look at Gu Nianzhi. “What’s wrong? You noticed something amiss?”
Gu Nianzhi dragged a chair over and sat beside Huo Shaoheng. With her brows furrowed, she said, “It’s just my guess. That was why I asked if you would be able to find more clues.”
“For example?” Huo Shaoheng looked at the data that had been analyzed in his computer. “There are too many clues. I don’t know which ones you’re referring to.”
Gu Nianzhi massaged her temples. “Oh? Can you see what time he went to the condominium that night, which floor he went to, and how long he had stayed in the apartment?”
Huo Shaoheng smiled. “Of course that’s all here. A directional chip specially records the daily commutes of the people in the Secret Service. Things like where he went and how long he stayed there are all within the content of the security data.”
Gu Nianzhi was suddenly elated. “Then can you help me check? Which floor did he go to in that condominium, how long did he spend there, and what time did he leave?”
That was nothing difficult. Since they had managed to solve it, all they had to do was to zoom in on the details before they were able to see what was going on. Five minutes later, Huo Shaoheng had managed to find the things that Gu Nianzhi had requested.
Gu Nianzhi moved over and looked at the data with him. “So he went to the 15th floor of that building. Oh? You can even get the unit number? Was that analyzed as well?”
Huo Shaoheng began explaining to her patiently. “They had used the location he was standing at and then matched it with the floor plan of the 15th floor of that condominium.”
“Amazing!” Gu Nianzhi gave Huo Shaoheng a thumbs up. After that, she looked closely at the hidden data that Huo Shaoheng had gotten for her. The more she looked, the more afraid she felt.
“Look here, Huo Shao. He stayed in the apartment for about 15 minutes. Comparing the time that he left and the time of the fire, it’s almost a match.” Gu Nianzhi showed Huo Shaoheng the case about the online author.
“That would be correct, then. I suspected that Hong Kangquan was related to this online author’s death.” Huo Shaoheng had an amazing memory as well. He only needed a glance at the name of that online author, “The Garden of Churchill,” and he had linked everything together. “Isn’t this the online author that you had taught a lesson to previously? I remember you saying that he had committed suicide.”
“Yes. I said that he had ‘committed suicide.’” Gu Nianzhi emphasized the air quotes around “committed suicide” and then took out her phone again. “I intend to tag the police to inform them.”
“What do you want to inform them of?” Huo Shaoheng took her phone away. “Do not alert the enemy unnecessarily.”
“But…” Gu Nianzhi didn’t understand. “There’s a possibility that he might be the murderer! Although I don’t like the online author either, he did not deserve to die.”
“I know,” Huo Shaoheng said as he took a piece of chocolate from his desk. He observed that Gu Nianzhi’s face had turned pale again, so he stuffed the chocolate into Gu Nianzhi’s mouth and continued, “But what do you want to put across by tagging the police force? You really wish for them to solve the case using Weibo?”
Gu Nianzhi was speechless at that remark.
“I will get the people there to contact the police force and provide us with the information and footage that they’ve gotten,” Huo Shaoheng said as he made a call using the landline and sent some instructions over.
Usually, the Special Forces did not interfere with things that were going on in the country. However, this time around, it was related to arresting Hong Kangquan. Therefore, Huo Shaoheng had more than enough reasons to cross paths with the police force.
Of course, when they went to request the information, they did not reveal the fact that it was related to Hong Kangquan. They merely said that it was related to the case that the Special Forces had been handling at that time.
The police station in charge of looking after that area was just a small branch. The moment they received a call from higher management, they agreed to release the information and footage to them. They organized the relevant information that had been requested and sent it over in no time.
In less than two hours, Gu Nianzhi had gotten her hands on all the information that was related to the case. She looked it over piece by piece and examined it thoroughly before watching the security footage.
When a tall man wearing a cap appeared in the footage, Gu Nianzhi quickly called out to Huo Shaoheng to get him to take a look. “Huo Shao, look. Who is that?”
Huo Shaoheng looked closely before mumbling, “It doesn’t look like Hong Kangquan.”
“But the time that he appeared is almost identical to the time that you analyzed!” Gu Nianzhi pointed at the time on the security footage. “Look! It’s so accurate, even to the second!”
“Why are you so anxious? I merely said that he didn’t look like Hong Kangquan. I didn’t say that he wasn’t Hong Kangquan.” Huo Shaoheng looked at Gu Nianzhi, feeling amused. He patted her on the arm and said, “I’m sure he would’ve disguised himself completely.”
Gu Nianzhi was again speechless. “You knew about that as well?” Gu Nianzhi’s eyes widened. “He knew that, too?”
“It’s not hard to figure out. In our line of work, that skill set is mandatory.” Huo Shaoheng explained to Gu Nianzhi patiently, “Before Hong Kangquan left the army, he was doing my job. Although the Special Forces was not officially set up at that time, it was a department under some other department in the army.”
Gu Nianzhi felt confused again. “But if he was completely disguised, how can we prove that the person in the security footage is Hong Kangquan?”
