Upon hearing Hu Jia's words, everyone also wanted to take a look. Dao Liuye's house seemed to have many wardrobes, and the wardrobes were filled with clothes and shoes.
But you would find that many clothes and shoes were outdated. It was as if the styles were from five or six years ago.
The leader of an organization, and even the leader of an evil organization, why would he wear outdated clothes?
That indicates one thing: he never wore these clothes, they were just hung in the wardrobe to deceive people, making them think someone lived here.
"So you mean Dao Liuye doesn't live there?" Ouyang Wen asked.
"No, he lives there," Hu Jia said.
What did he mean? This time everyone was confused by him.
"To be precise, his real residence is only 10 meters away from that small courtyard."
As soon as Hu Jia finished speaking, Lü Qingqing reacted, "You mean Qiao Huali is Dao Liuye?"
In other words, there really was a secret tunnel between Qiao Huali and Dao Liuye's house.
This also explained why they had all been watching Qiao Huali but had never discovered any unusual behavior from him.
That was because he had long since gone through the tunnel to Dao Liuye's house above.
"Didn't Tong Hua suspect these two were mysterious? Dao Liuye always wore a mask and his voice was altered. Also, the shoes in his shoe cabinet were strange. I was wondering why he had height-increasing insoles. Now it seems he was creating a height difference for everyone."
"And Tong Meng, do you remember Tong Hua's last words? He said Tong Meng was Dao Liuye's woman and also had a close relationship with Qiao Huali. If Dao Liuye and Qiao Huali were the same person, then Tong Meng's actions would make sense."
There was a lot of discussion. Before, everyone just hadn't thought in this direction, but now, considering it, they found that everything matched.
"Xiao Jia, this news is quite shocking. Have you thought about it? Moving against a deputy director is not something we can do privately or just talk about." Ouyang Wen was more cautious.
"I'm not 100% sure, but I think there's a 90% chance it's like this." Hu Jia took out a contract. "This is the contract signed between Aunt Li and the Supervisory Commission. I inquired today, and it was Qiao Huali who introduced Aunt Li to the Supervisory Commission for the job."
So, everyone's expression changed. What were they waiting for?
Find evidence.
...
Although Hu Jia had a lot of clear evidence pointing in a certain direction, that evidence all pointed to Dao Liuye. Now, to prove that Dao Liuye was Qiao Huali, a solid piece of evidence placed in the open was still needed.
Returning to Dao Liuye's house again, everyone had only one goal: to find that secret tunnel.
They had searched this house countless times before. Although they hadn't been looking for a secret tunnel, they had searched all the places that should be searched. They had never found anything unusual.
"Think back carefully, how long was it from when you heard the noise to when you rushed into the room?" Hu Jia asked Guan Jinsong.
"Only four or five seconds," Guan Jinsong said. He was in the small courtyard at the time. As soon as he heard the noise, he ran towards the room. But when he entered, the person had already disappeared.
"In four or five seconds, the telephone cord was still swaying when you entered. That proves that the person hiding in the room did not leave in time." Hu Jia looked at the telephone on the wall, then quickly shifted his gaze to the kitchen behind it.
In four or five seconds, even if the person wanted to hide, they could only go to the nearest place. And the kitchen was the closest to the telephone.
"We've searched so many times, but we've never carefully examined the kitchen, have we?" Hu Jia muttered to himself. When searching rooms, people usually focus their attention on the living room, bedroom, and some hidden rooms. The kitchen, however, is often an overlooked place.
Hu Jia turned and walked towards the kitchen.
It was about seven or eight square meters, not large, and could be seen at a glance. On the surface, besides a few kitchen cabinets, there was no other place for a person to hide.
Finally, Hu Jia's gaze fell on the stove.
He walked over slowly and examined the stove carefully. Everyone was confused. Luo Wenwu even asked him what he was looking at.
At that moment, Hu Jia lifted the iron pot from the stove and peeked underneath. The fire pit under the pot was actually a wooden board.
Everyone was overjoyed. Who would put a wooden board under a stove? It seemed the truth was right before their eyes.
Hu Jia lifted the wooden board. It made a slight sound, and Guan Jinsong's expression changed. "That's right, it was this wooden board I heard at the time."
Indeed, after lifting the wooden board, a secret tunnel appeared before everyone's eyes.
"This location is truly hidden. Who would have thought the entrance to the tunnel would be under the stove?" Ouyang Wen stepped forward and examined the tunnel entrance, sighing with emotion.
"Yes, no wonder I didn't notice it at the time." Guan Jinsong wasn't making excuses for himself but genuinely admired the designer.
This tunnel entrance also had a platform. As long as you stood on the platform, held the iron pot above your head with your hands, and squatted down, the iron pot could cover the fire pit again.
A single person could restore the disguise. Amazing.
"I'll go first, you cover the rear!" Hu Jia said, and then he jumped down first.
The tunnel was a muddy path with a gentle slope at first. After walking about five or six meters, the tunnel's inclination increased sharply. However, it was still relatively easy to walk.
Soon, everyone arrived at another end of the tunnel. There was also a wooden board here.
Hu Jia tried to push it, and the board opened a small gap easily.
At this moment, Qiao Huali, who was sitting on the sofa, heard a ringing sound from inside the house.
His expression changed, and he immediately sat up straight, listening carefully. It was indeed a bell.
He quickly drew his gun from his waist and aimed it at the door of the guest room.
The guest room was dark. Looking from the living room, the guest room door was pitch black, and the space inside seemed unexpectedly vast.
The bell was still ringing. Qiao Huali thought for a moment, put away his gun, grabbed the clothes on the sofa, put them on, and walked out.
"Deputy Director Qiao." As soon as he opened the door, Li Yang, Gao Liang, and others were standing outside.
Seeing the group waiting at the door, Qiao Huali secretly rejoiced. Fortunately, he hadn't fired his gun just now, otherwise, he would have been in serious trouble.
Qiao Huali smiled at Li Yang and the others. It was useless to say anything now. He quietly opened the door, turned around indifferently, and went back into the house.
Li Yang and the others followed. Just as they entered the living room of the house, several people walked out of the guest room. It was Hu Jia and the others.
"It really is you?" In fact, from the moment Hu Jia opened the wooden board at the end of the tunnel, he had already confirmed the answer. It was just that he hadn't seen Qiao Huali in person, so he still held a sliver of hope.
"What is it me?" Qiao Huali pretended not to understand. "Oh, when did you get in? How did you get in?"
Lü Qingqing looked at Qiao Huali pretending to be ignorant while knowing everything and said impolitely, "Your storage room cabinet is connected to a secret tunnel. Don't tell me you don't know."
Qiao Huali was shocked: "Really? I really didn't know."
Ugh!
That expression, that tone, was really infuriating.
It was as if he couldn't even bother to pretend, but he just wouldn't admit it.
"Qiao Huali, you are currently suspected of colluding with the 'Dao Ren,' involved in multiple murder cases, and suspected of leaking state secrets. Please accompany us back to the police station to assist in the investigation." Ouyang Wen gave Gao Liang a look, and Gao Liang stepped forward to read the official order regarding Qiao Huali.
Qiao Huali put on his clothes. "Alas, let's go."
Qiao Huali did not argue or resist at all. On the contrary, he was very cooperative, which was completely different from what everyone had anticipated.
However, as Qiao Huali strode out of the courtyard, Hu Jia had a premonition that things would not go so smoothly.