CH 15.2

She opened the file, only to see a website address she did not recognize, followed by a series of complex codes comprising alphabets, numerals, and Chinese pinyin letters.  

“It’s an overseas website. I’ve got to use a VPN.” It was troublesome, but Tang Tian finally accessed the website. To her surprise, it was an overseas cloud storage platform. After she keyed in the passcode, multiple videos appeared on the screen, each labelled with a series of numbers indicating a time and date. Tang Tian swiftly browsed through them, searching for the ones taken on the same day of Chen Xu’s death. Finally, she clicked on one, and a different tab popped up. The video was dark and grainy, but it seemed to show the interior of a car. 

Realisation dawned on Tang Tian. Chen Xu had a dash cam that recorded the inside of his vehicle! People usually purchase dash cams that record what goes on outside the car, instead of one that records both the inside and outside. Chen Xu must have suspected something and switched to this type instead.

The video had been recorded at 2356 hours on the 1st of June, and Tang Tian watched it carefully. From what she could tell, Chen Xu’s car seemed to be parked in a dark, underground car park, surrounded by other cars. After a while, one of the rear doors opened. Someone helped a man wearing a tailored suit get into the car, who seemed to be either drunk or unconscious. Tang Tian recognised him as none other than Chen Xu. 

The other man, on the other hand, wore a face mask and a cap. Owing to the dim lighting in the car park, the dash cam’s visibility was significantly reduced, and Tang Tian could not see the man’s appearance at all. 

Chen Xu had his eyes closed the entire time, completely at the mercy of the other man, who deliberately placed Chen Xu across the back seat so that he was lying down. 

Then the man closed the car door, walked over to the driver’s side and got in. Tang Tian noticed that he wore a pair of black gloves. Considering that he also wore a mask and cap which shrouded his appearance from view, Tang Tian knew this was clearly pre-meditated. 

The man revved the car engine and soon pulled out of the car park. 

The next video showed the car driving on a winding road. The man suddenly pulled the brakes and stopped the car without turning off the car engine. Then, he dragged Chen Xu out and put him in the driver’s seat. The man hovered over Chen Xu with his head lowered, adjusting Chen Xu’s posture, finally placing his right foot onto the accelerator. 

Suddenly, the masked man jerked his head up, as if he realised something. He turned to look directly at the dash cam and cursed under his breath. The last thing Tang Tian saw before the footage went completely black was a gloved hand reaching toward the camera and covering the lens. Tang Tian performed a thorough search in the folder, but was not able to find any footage after that time. 

“That person must’ve removed the SD card. But what he didn’t know was that this specific dash cam could upload footage to his cloud storage account in real-time!” Tang Tian felt instantly more hopeful. She downloaded a copy of the videos to her own mobile phone and uploaded another copy to her own cloud storage account, just in case. 

Then, Tang Tian went to find Chen Yunzhi, intending to show him the evidence stored in her phone. After watching the videos, each of the Chen family members reacted differently. 

Tang Tian, however, smiled. “Boss Chen, I hope you recall your earlier promise to me, that if I could find Chen Xu’s body, you would investigate his death.” In a nonchalant tone, she explained, “This man came well prepared. Now, I personally do not think Chen Xu was the kind of person who would easily make enemies, so this does not seem like a murder resulting from a feud. We could investigate the people he was last seen with, as they are likely the ones who caused him to lower his guard and consume too much alcohol or some sort of drug without realising it.”

Chen Yunzhi immediately slammed his hand onto the table and hollered, “I will not let this person get away with what he has done! What kind of vendetta did he have against my son? Why did he have to murder him?” Chen Yunzhi’s voice broke at the end, his stern countenance falling apart as tears welled up in his eyes. 

“Now that I have evidence, I’m sure you desperately wish to seek justice for your beloved son. Indeed, perhaps it could even be someone very close to him.” said Tang Tian. She grinned at Chen Peng and added, “Why don’t we call the police? Let them handle the investigation, so you all don’t get caught up in unfavourable rumours.”  

Chen Peng gritted his teeth, trying to rein in his temper, whereas his mother shot daggers at Tang Tian. Chen Yunzhi’s face darkened as he observed each of their expressions. He closed his eyes, unwilling to look at them any longer and gestured for them to leave, except for Tang Tian.

“Xiao Tang, I genuinely thank you for finding Chen Xu’s body and the evidence that shows he was, in fact, murdered,” he began. “But, as an entrepreneur, my reputation is everything. I can’t simply contact the police about this matter as it might negatively impact my company’s business if word got out. Instead, I will hire a private investigator and will properly inform you of the results,” Chen Yunzhi earnestly assured Tang Tian.

Tang Tian shook her head, giving him a half-smile. “Who am I to ask for such assurance? The one who wants to find out the truth is Chen Xu. I am merely curious about whether he would be satisfied with the outcome of your investigations.”

Chen Yunzhi peered at Tang Tian with a stony expression and he responded in a stern tone, “That is not something you should worry about. Today has been a tiring day for everyone; you should go rest.”

Tang Tian obliged and left, ambling along the path and strolling past the courtyards in the estate. On her way back, she met Butler Chen. His gaunt figure was hunched over a paper lantern in his hands, and his murky, grey eyes met hers. Suddenly, he lowered his head and bowed deeply to her. His body was so bent over that he had to steady himself by placing a hand on the pillar next to him. 

Tang Tian hastily turned aside defensively. “What are you doing, Old Chen?”

The old man slowly lifted his head. “I was standing by the door earlier,” he said in his hoarse, raspy voice.

Tang Tian instantly understood what he meant. “So you heard everything.” 

The old man continued, “When you first came here, I doubted you. I thought you were a swindler. But now… no matter what happens from now on, you have my deepest gratitude, for seeking justice on behalf of the Young Master.” 

“You’re welcome.” Tang Tian gave him a small smile. “I didn’t just do it for him.”

She needed to extend her lifespan after all. 

“You mentioned earlier that, in the Young Master’s diary… he wrote about Chen Bao…” said the old man.

“Yes.” Tang Tian nodded. “Do you want to personally take a look at it? There was something I found strange in his notebook, about Chen Bao.” She purposely mentioned his name. 

The old man fell silent for a moment. His expression was unreadable under the dim candlelight of the lantern. Finally, he said, “Alright.”