Chapter 72

So far, Chen Pu and Li Qingyao have found three suspicious points in the process of reviewing Xiang Siling's alibi:

First, if the eight unplanned cameras captured Xiang Siling, it would prove that she had been to the villa that night and had avoided road surveillance by swimming across the lake.

Second, the night bus driver Zhang Chaohua behaves abnormally. Does he have some secret connection with Xiang Siling?
The third is how long did it take Zhang Chaohua to drive the remaining bus routes. If the time was significantly less than the previous section, it would indicate that he deliberately extended the time taken to drive from Yingzhu Mountain to Mingya Lake, thereby confusing Chen Pu and the others and indirectly forging an alibi for Xiang Siling.

At present, the in-depth investigation results from the three aspects have not yet been fed back from the rear.

In the dark night, the vast Mingya Lake is like a dormant giant beast, its outline hidden behind the large forest in front.

Chen Pu asked Li Qingyao: "Can you still hold on? There is only a small section left to finish the circle. I will let you go back to sleep as soon as you finish it."

Li Qingyao raised his chin: "You go ahead."

Chen Pu smiled slightly. He actually guessed that she would not complain of being tired. After getting to know her for a long time, he understood her better. Li Qingyao usually bossed him around - only to him - but when she really investigated a case, she was very worry-free, hardworking, and not the least bit squeamish.

Chen Pu looked down at the map and said, "Run in a straight line."

"Okay." Li Qingyao understood immediately. From the place where they got off the car to the farthest of the eight surveillance cameras by the lake, if Xiang Siling really came that night, they would have to run.

The two of them ran, one in front and one behind.

Passing through the dense forest and bypassing puddles, Chen Pu noticed that there was no surveillance camera on this route. It took them exactly half an hour to climb over a low wall and run along the lake to the farthest surveillance camera point, which was directly opposite the lakeside greenway.

After Chen Pu stood there for a few minutes, Li Qingyao arrived, panting, with her hands on her hips, and bent down. Chen Pu pulled her up and held her arm tightly. His breathing was only a little hurried, and was very steady.

"Am I much stronger than you?" he said.

Li Qingyao: "Otherwise, why would you have grown all that muscle in vain?"

He smiled again, and when he saw her breathing become steady, he let go of her arm and looked into the distance. The outline of the villa on the mountain was faintly visible in the night.

Li Qingyao: "Calculate the time?"

"Let the academic master count."

Li Qingyao said: "Assume that Xiang Siling rode down the mountain at 9:35-40 that night, and arrived at the minibus station 45 minutes later, which means she took the 10:1 bus. If she drove at a normal speed, she would arrive at Huanhu East Station in 12 hours, which is 12 o'clock. At 1.5:2, she would be where we are standing now. She went into the water somewhere on the greenway, and the walking and swimming time was assumed to be 2-2 hours, so she arrived at the villa between and :."

Chen Pu: "The man in the flowered shirt arrived at the villa at 2:11 and left at 2:40."

Li Qingyao looked into his eyes: "They just overlap."

Chen Pu: "You continue."

"Assuming it took 30 minutes to kill someone, Xiang Siling left the villa at around 2:40. She returned along the same route and arrived at Huanhu East Station, just in time to catch the return bus of driver Zhang Chaohua at 5 o'clock. She arrived at the town's minibus station at 6:45. It takes longer to ride up the mountain than down the mountain, assuming 1-7 hour. So she returned to the room just before :."

After Li Qingyao finished speaking, he took a slow breath.

It was perfect, the whole route.

Chen Pu sneered: "As long as any of the eight surveillance cameras on my master's side captures Xiang Siling, our entire reasoning process will be established - she is the mastermind of the whole case."

Li Qingyao was in a rare state of excitement. Two days ago, the entire criminal police team was focused on the man in the flowered shirt. Xiang Siling seemed to have no motive or conditions to commit the crime, and her alibi was very good, so no one considered her a suspect.

It was Chen Pu who took her back and set a perfect scope of investigation - investigating three external competitors and Qian Chengfeng. From the details of their conversation, he keenly deduced that Xiang Siling and Luo Hongmin had an improper relationship.

The process of retracing Xiang Siling's whereabouts throughout the night was hard, but fruitful. Without this trip in person, it would be impossible to find so many suspicious points. Li Qingyao dared to bet that when he found the last family member, Li Meiling, he would definitely have unexpected gains.

She had a feeling they were very close to the truth.

And this step was taken by her and Chen Pu, shoulder to shoulder and back to back.

Chen Pu was still standing by the lake with his hands in his pockets, probably because he finally saw the dawn. He looked tired but relaxed, and his tall and thin figure was like a chilly tree.

Li Qingyao looked at him from behind for a while, suddenly said "Hey", and sat down on the ground.

Chen Pu turned around and saw the person who was usually as delicate and elegant as a rose, sitting on the ground in a very ungraceful manner, with her hands on the ground, and her whole body exuding laziness. Chen Pu was also amused when he saw her and sat down next to her.

Neither of them spoke. The night was shrouded in silence, and the wind blew gently. Under the moonlight, the lake was rippling with dark water, and occasionally a fish would jump up with a "splash". Both of them were equally relaxed, lazy, and silent.

Until Chen Pu's phone rang, he picked up: "Lao Li."

Lao Li from the traffic police team informed the police of the situation: Zhang Chaohua only took half an hour to cover the last third of the journey. Both the man and his car had been detained by the traffic police team.

Chen Pu thanked the other party and contacted Fang Kai to bring Zhang Chaohua back.

"Let's go." He patted his butt and stood up, "Go out this way and take a taxi on the roadside."

Li Qingyao asked: "Going back to the team?"

Chen Pu turned around and smiled at her. The street lights in the distance shone from behind, making the smile bright and peaceful. "You have been working with me until midnight. Aren't you tired? Go home and sleep, and report to the team tomorrow morning."

"That Zhang Chaohua..."

Chen Pu said gently, "There are not only two of us in the criminal police team. Do you really think you are a donkey? Didn't I just borrow Fang Kai back from my master? This driver has an average psychological quality. Fang Kai took him down easily. Let's wait and see the results of the interrogation tomorrow morning."

-

When Li Qingyao got home, it was already 2: in the morning. She wanted to lie on the sofa for a while before taking a shower. But she stayed there until dawn and slept very soundly.

Last night they rode bikes, took smelly buses, and even went through the jungle. When Li Qingyao woke up in the morning, her face turned green. She took off all her clothes with great disgust, and threw the sofa covers and blankets that she had stained into the washing machine, added disinfectant, and washed them vigorously.

After she finished her shower, she looked at the time and it was already 8:10, but they stayed up so late yesterday, so it was okay to go later today. There was a text message from Chen Pu on her phone minutes ago: [Are you awake? ]

She smiled slightly: [Let’s eat noodles today. ]

He quickly replied: [Okay, I'll wait downstairs.]

Li Qingyao closed the door and ran downstairs with brisk steps. At a glance, she saw Chen Pu standing under a big tree in the bright summer sunshine, looking at her with dark eyes and a calm face. This man has always been cold, arrogant and solemn in front of outsiders.

Li Qingyao didn't know why, but he couldn't stop and ran towards him quickly.

Chen Pu was obviously stunned.

Li Qingyao did not notice that Chen Pu's hands hanging by his sides moved slightly.

She ran to him and found that she was still feeling the strange urge and wanted to jump on his back. However, Li Qingyao would never allow himself to do such a cheap thing. Her face was slightly red from running after taking a shower, but her expression was calm: "Let's go, I'm hungry."

Li Qingyao turned around and walked in front with clear steps, and Chen Pu followed behind with long legs. As they walked, Chen Pu lowered his head and smiled.

I have to say, when I wrote about Chen Pu's words about drawing a circle, I couldn't help but think of the simple, foolish and pure-love boy Zhang Jingchan back then, and then the old Mexican laughed knowingly.