Lü Qingqing did not believe Tong Hua committed suicide.
Hu Jia did not believe Tong Hua committed suicide.
Bai Nian also did not believe Tong Hua committed suicide.
But aside from Lü Qingqing's group, everyone else believed Tong Hua committed suicide.
Every time they saw Hu Jia running around investigating Tong Hua's case, people would constantly pour cold water on him. But what surprised everyone was that Qiao Huali also supported Hu Jia's continued investigation into Tong Hua's case.
"I said it before, you are my real family. You can do whatever you want, as long as I don't sign off on closing the case, this case cannot be closed." Qiao Huali's support for Hu Jia was immense.
Everyone was a bit confused. Why wasn't Qiao Huali opposing Hu Jia this time? Did he also genuinely want to clear his name?
However, Hu Jia did not have the time to ponder people's intentions. He continued to search for clues related to Tong Hua's case.
One day, he was once again reviewing the crime scene files and materials.
After all, he was a person who had lost his memory. To examine past cases, he could only search for clues from photographs and archival materials.
Huh?
Hu Jia's hand holding the photo paused. He carefully examined the photo in front of him. It wasn't right. He then got a magnifying glass and looking closer, he indeed discovered something unusual.
Generally, when the police photograph a crime scene, they photograph everything. This includes the body and any items left at the scene.
For example, the bedsheet Tong Hua used to hang himself was also photographed up close. However, this close-up photo was taken after the bedsheet was removed, and nothing unusual could be seen.
But the photo Hu Jia was currently looking at was of the interior environment. Tong Hua's body had already been removed, but the bedsheet was still hanging on the water pipe.
And it was precisely this photo that allowed Hu Jia to discover the difference.
The photo showed that Tong Hua had used the curtain to commit suicide by tying it to a pole on the ceiling of the bathroom.
The curtain cloth was cut into a long strip and a "rope knot" was tied.
This rope knot was very special. An ordinary person wouldn't tie it; only a sailor could tie this particular rope knot.
This was a bit strange.
From adulthood, Tong Hua had entered the training institute and stayed there until recently when he was transferred to the police station.
How could he tie such a special rope knot?
Alright, let's assume he could tie it.
When a person commits suicide, they usually tie a simple knot. This type of knot is complicated to tie and does not align with the mindset of someone committing suicide.
Unless, he tied this knot frequently, making it a habit.
However, Hu Jia had checked Tong Hua's office and home, and he had never seen a similar rope knot anywhere there was a knot.
This meant that Tong Hua did not habitually tie this kind of rope knot.
Therefore, this was illogical.
To clarify this situation, Hu Jia specifically found several people who were familiar with Tong Hua.
Whether it was his colleagues from the training institute or the staff of the Municipal Police Department's Judicial Section, they all said they had never heard Tong Hua talk about anything related to ships.
After learning this, Hu Jia returned to the crime scene and went to the bathroom window. The window was closed. With a slight push, he opened it.
And this time, he made a major discovery.
He found a faint shoeprint outside the window. This shoeprint was only the rear half of the heel. Due to its small size, it had not attracted anyone's attention.
This changed everything.
Everyone had always assumed that the bathroom window could not be opened. Even if it could be opened, a person showering would lock the window latch. The reason was simple: who would open the window while showering?
But Hu Jia now realized that this window not only could be opened, but it could also be used to climb in and out.
In other words, the bathroom was not a locked room. If Tong Hua was murdered, the murderer, after killing him and creating a perfect "suicide" scene, could have entirely jumped out of the window and escaped.
This was the corner of the building, and it wasn't a thoroughfare outside. The murderer could have completely disappeared without a trace.
Therefore, whether Tong Hua locked the window while showering was a crucial point.
Unfortunately, this question could no longer be answered.
After all, too much time had passed since the incident. Anyone could have altered the state of this window at the time.
However, this was still a breakthrough.
Hu Jia decided to assume that Tong Hua had not closed the window at the time, thereby hypothesizing that it was a murder case.
"I seriously suspect Tong Meng. She was at the scene on the day of the incident. She also did not leave the Supervision Bureau at the time of the incident. But after the incident, she mysteriously disappeared." Hu Jia said that he had visited Tong Meng's house multiple times in the past two days to look for her, but that woman acted as if she had never returned, and was nowhere to be found.
Just as Hu Jia was troubled by this, an old colleague of Tong Hua's from the training institute found Hu Jia.
This person had always had a good relationship with Tong Hua. He said that Tong Hua had once mentioned to him after drinking that someone named Yuan Huayi often caused him trouble.
Yuan Huayi?
Hu Jia was not familiar with this name.
But if Tong Meng were here, she would be very surprised. Yuan Huayi, someone who had once given her a lot of headaches and then disappeared without a trace, someone she had almost forgotten.
How many friends still remember that Lian Xianhai had three subordinates back then? One was Chen Xi, who was shot dead on the spot for kidnapping Lü Qingqing.
The other two were the Yuan brothers. Tong Meng originally wanted to use the police to get rid of them, but those two brothers were very cunning. They didn't show up on the day they kidnapped Lü Qingqing, so they escaped.
"Do you know where he lives?" Hu Jia asked.
"No, I only heard Tong Hua mention it occasionally," the person replied.
Hu Jia thought for a moment and decided to investigate Yuan Huayi first.
Hu Jia thought that since Yuan Huayi was following Tong Hua, it was likely for money or something related to it, not for the person himself. It was unlikely to be for the person, as Tong Hua wasn't some weak pretty boy, so it was most likely for money.
With this thought in mind, Hu Jia went to the post office and bank to check Tong Hua's recent financial transaction records. He discovered that in the past four months, Tong Hua had remitted money to an address five times.
Following that address, Hu Jia went there.
It was a restaurant, where Yuan Huayi was working. And according to the restaurant owner, Yuan Huayi used to be a sailor.
This immediately got Hu Jia excited.
A sailor?
Wouldn't that mean he knew how to tie sailor's knots?
Soon, Hu Jia waited for Yuan Huayi. But to his surprise, Yuan Huayi only showed a slight pause upon seeing Hu Jia and did not appear very surprised.
"You know me?" Hu Jia saw a sense of familiarity in the other person's eyes.
"Detective Hu, how could I not know you? What, are you here to help Tong Hua deal with me?" Yuan Huayi chuckled.
"Deal with me?" Hu Jia felt something was wrong when he heard Yuan Huayi's words. "I am here because of Tong Hua, but not to deal with you. I am here to see if you dealt with him."
Yuan Huayi frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Tong Hua is dead, didn't you know?" Hu Jia asked.
"What? Dead?" Yuan Huayi stood up excitedly, then remembered Hu Jia's words and his heart sank. "Captain Hu, you don't suspect me, do you?"
Hu Jia tapped the table with his finger. "What do you think?"