CH 36

Gu Xizhou hung up. Gu Ji Ji had already reacted, circling the pillow in the photo. The red circle made the flowery pillow at the back of the taxi look extremely conspicuous.

“A taxi driver generally wouldn’t put pillows in a car. That can be considered the most eye-catching feature of the car.” Gu Xizhou said.

“…”

Gu Ji Ji didn’t speak, but he appeared to agree with Gu Xizhou’s words, and circled around the pillow one more time. 

“Ji Ji, you’re a little incompetent ah,” Gu Xizhou said casually as he leaned back on the sofa.

Gu Ji Ji: “…”

After watching some TV for a while, Gu Xizhou went to take a shower in the bathroom. After about three hours, he heard his phone start to ring. He picked up the phone, and then his eyes curved, and he smiled: “Got it.”

Gu Ji Ji: “A clue?”

Gu Xizhou nodded while wiping his hair: “There are similar vehicles seen in the surveillance, and the traffic police are setting up a checkpoint to check them. When the vehicle arrives, the police will catch them.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Ji Ji’s actions paused in mid-air, and he went into the room to take out the police uniform and put it on the sofa.

Gu Xizhou: “Are you insane?”

He had just finished speaking when he saw Gu Ji Ji throwing his car key in front of him as well. “…”

As soon as he left the house, Gu Xizhou immediately notified his team to get ready for the driver who was about to be brought in at the bureau. Along the way, he picked Fang Zhi up. 

Fang Zhi: “Gu Ge, how come something was discovered so quickly?”

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Then, he said: “Actually, Gu Ge, you could have just called us to go, you didn’t have to come…”

Gu Xizhou: “…” I didn’t want to come, but… haha.

Seeing Gu Xizhou stay silent, Fang Zhi immediately changed the topic and said: “I asked them to investigate the identity of the driver and see why he would want to hit someone.”

Gu Xizhou made an affirmative noise. 

At 11 o’clock, in the middle of the night, Gu Xizhou parked the car at the police station door and exited his car. Several other colleagues who lived closer had already reached and begun the interrogation. When Gu Xizhou arrived at the scene, they briefed him on the situation.

“According to Leader Gu’s request, the traffic police immediately re-examined the tapes and found that the owner of the vehicle is someone who drives a fake taxi, male, named Lu Jian, and is a native of Ningqing. He lived in a community block that underwent some resettlement, and he started to rely on driving to earn a living after he lost the land that he previously owned. His number plate has already been replaced with another fake number plate.”

“However, he has no relation to the deceased’s family.”

In the interrogation room, a police officer was asking for the details of the crime.

Sitting inside the interrogation room, sweat dripped down Lu Jian’s forehead and he clasped his hands together. “Comrade Police, I’m just in charge of driving a fake taxi, I know I’m in the wrong, but that offence doesn’t require such a drastic interrogation, right?”

“En,” the police officer in the interrogation room said coldly. “Do you know why we called you here?”

“Isn’t it just because I was driving a fake taxi? I didn’t do anything, if you want to fine me, then just fine me. There isn’t a need for any of this, right?”

“Let’s get to the point. Why did you kill him?”

After he heard this, Lu Jian immediately became frightened. “Kill? Kill who? I haven’t killed anyone! What are you talking about?!”

Hearing this, the people outside shook their heads in unison. “Sure enough, he won’t admit it.”

“Come and see this tape, and tell us if it’s your car!” The interrogating police officer directly showed the screen to Lu Jian. 

Gu Xizhou took a closer look at the man. The man was about forty-five or six years old, and he was overweight, about one meter, seven or five meters tall, which was different from the physical characteristics of the driver that they had established. Gu Xizhou and Fang Zhi looked at each other, and Gu Xizhou whispered: “The car wasn’t driven by him.”

After he called out the police officer inside the room, he brought Fang Zhi and the accompanying material into the interrogation room. 

“I really didn’t kill anyone!” Lu Jian was frantic, his face was red and he was worried. He was afraid of being convicted for no reason. Although the car was his, he really didn’t kill him.

Gu Xizhou motioned for him to quieten down. “Drink some water and sit down. We’ll talk slowly. We won’t accuse an innocent person, but we also won’t let a guilty person off.”

“…” Lu Jian felt that the police officer staring at him had some sort of immense pressure, entirely different from the small policeman from before, and immediately retracted his temper.

“You know why we brought you in. On the eighth of this month, in the early morning, where were you? Is there anyone who can confirm where the car was?”

“The eighth… That day, I was sleeping at my house, and… my car was broken that day!” Without waiting for Gu Xizhou’s follow up question, Lu Jian continued to explain: “My wife can be my witness, the car engine was broken at the time, and I sent it for repair!”

At this time, Lu Jian seemed to calm down, and he carefully organised his words. “Because the car was broken, I sent it to a small auto repair shop for repair, and it wasn’t left at home! Yes, someone at the repair shop must have taken my car, yes… The car plate, I thought it was strange at the time why the car plate had changed, but because the car was correct, I didn’t think anything of it!”

Lu Jian reported the location of the repair shop, and Gu Xizhou immediately rushed over. The location of the garage was very remote. To enter, he had to go through a narrow alleyway, right next to the railroad tracks.

The people inside saw that the police had come, and visibly panicked. Gu Xizhou showed them his badge, and said: “Police, get everyone over here.”

He spoke in a cold voice.

About ten minutes later, the boss arrived. He wore a pair of bleached jeans, a shirt with short black sleeves, and his hair resembled a bird’s nest. He had apparently heard the police had arrived and rushed in immediately.

The boss seemed to have written a script a long time ago. Seeing the investigation in the factory, he immediately said some pitiful words: “Hello Comrade Police, what happened to our factory?”

Gu Xizhou glanced at him. “Don’t pretend to joke around. Don’t think that the matter involving fake cars can be brushed off lightly. Whether there is a problem here, the truth will be uncovered after the investigation. Now, we have to ask you some questions. The car plate XXXXX for the fake car, the one that Lu Jian owns, why did you suddenly change the car plate?”

“Ah?” The boss froze. “I don’t know about this. Do you know? The police are asking you!”

A few car repair workers looked around at each other, staring between themselves, before a tall and dark-skinned man finally spoke. “I remember that the number plate was perfectly normal when the car came in for repair, but when we were coating it with a fresh paint coat, Old Wang… I think Old Wang sprayed some paint on it.”

“A few numbers weren’t visible anymore, so we decided to directly change the number plate.”

“Old Wang?” Gu Xizhou said. “Where is he now?”

“He resigned and went home,” the boss said, taking over. “A few days ago, he said his parents in his hometown were in poor health, and he left.”

Gu Xizhou glanced at him. “Do you have his ID and his photo?”

“Yes! I will immediately hand it over!” The boss quickly went to the next room to search for a moment. Gu Xizhou looked at the man in the photo–55 years old, lean, a face full of wrinkles. His skin was as dark as coal, and his years of life had engraved countless traces on his face.

“It shouldn’t be Old Wang ba? His life is already so pitiful…”

Gu Xizhou looked at the speaking boss with surprise and asked: “What do you mean?”

“A few years ago, his son died of kidney failure.”