"You mean Huang Yuan knows someone at our Education Bureau who wears glasses?" Wu Neng chuckled upon hearing this. "Impossible. The chance of anyone in our bureau having any interaction with Huang Yuan is slim enough as it is. If someone really knew her, how could they keep it from me?"
Hu Jia understood Wu Neng's feelings. He himself was the first outsider, and now to discover a fourth party lurking in the shadows.
Moreover, this fourth party was operating right under his nose, making it inconceivable for anyone to accept.
"Think carefully. Is there anyone in your bureau who has had contact with Huang Yuan? Even what you consider a normal interaction. And the key condition: wears glasses!" Hu Jia directly emphasized the crucial point.
"Damn it! That bitch, really messing around behind my back!" Wu Neng's face contorted. He had initially refused to believe he was being played by Huang Yuan, but since Hu Jia had come knocking, it seemed he was destined to wear a light green hat.
Don't ask why it's light green; the green hat is already on Yi Ran's head.
"There's someone, from the inspection team. I met Huang Yuan at an event initially, and Wang Fei from that inspection team was also there. They should have been in touch after the event. Most importantly, this person wears glasses." Wu Neng looked at Hu Jia. "If it really is that guy, help me take him down. Damn it, daring to ruin someone else's relationship."
Lu Qingqing's mouth twitched. She couldn't understand what kind of remarkable psychology Wu Neng possessed to say such a thing.
…
Turning right out of the building, Hu Jia and Lu Qingqing headed straight for the Education Bureau. However, they ran into Luo Wenwu on the way.
"You're saying the person who bought the towel was a man wearing glasses?" waves of emotion surged within Hu Jia. A man wearing glasses bought a towel, and Huang Yuan happened to have a man wearing glasses by her side.
Was it just a coincidence? No, definitely not.
The three of them barged directly into the Education Bureau, where a young man was assigned to receive them.
This person was arranged by the Education Bureau to guide Hu Jia and the other two. After all, since Wu Neng had gone to dig dirt for corruption, Hu Jia had no other acquaintances at the Education Bureau and needed a guide.
"Gan Yunfei, take us directly to find that Wang Fei," Hu Jia stated the purpose of their visit.
"Certainly, his office is on the second floor." Gan Yunfei was perceptive; he asked nothing and said nothing, heading straight for their destination.
"Boss, it's him, he's wearing glasses," Luo Wenwu whispered, pointing at a man by the door.
Hu Jia grunted and walked forward. "Wang Fei. We are from the Special Operations Team. We need to ask you about something."
…
"Huang Yuan? I remember her, but we're not familiar with each other at all." As expected, Wang Fei flatly denied any relationship with Huang Yuan.
Wang Fei stated that he hadn't seen Huang Yuan since that event, let alone given her anything.
After a round of questioning, Hu Jia didn't get any substantial information from Wang Fei. Given that their suspicions were unfounded, they had to let him go.
Of course, as a police officer, he couldn't believe everything the other party said.
Privately, the three of them investigated Wang Fei. He had a good reputation, was highly competent, upright, and intolerant of any wrongdoing.
Such an honest person truly couldn't have had an extramarital affair with Huang Yuan.
The lead had once again gone cold.
…
"Calm down. We'll discreetly investigate this Wang Fei, and simultaneously investigate others at the Education Bureau. As long as this person calls out again, we will definitely catch them," Lu Qingqing reassured Hu Jia.
"It's fine, I'm very calm." Hu Jia offered a smile.
"I'm talking about your heart. Calm your heart down." Lu Qingqing pointed to Hu Jia's chest. At this moment, Hu Jia was no longer agitated; his long-lost bulldog constitution had taken over.
Despite sitting quietly aside, his eyes closed as he pondered, appearing calm and collected on the surface, his mind was actually in turmoil.
Hu Jia's mind was filled with too many images.
From the victim's body at the crime scene, to Wu Neng's confession, the poison on the towel, the bedsheets where the couple had rolled around, the testimony of Wang Fei from the Education Bureau; they all churned in Hu Jia's mind.
Have you ever played with a jigsaw puzzle? These images were like tens of thousands of puzzle pieces flying around. But when they were placed on a flat surface, the whole picture could never be connected.
What was missing was the man who delivered the towel.
"Why would that man kill Huang Yuan in such a bizarre way? If it was just an affair, there would be no need to go this far?" Hu Jia couldn't fathom the killer's motive.
If you said it was for money, Huang Yuan wasn't short of it herself.
If you said it was for love? Huang Yuan had managed to keep an extramarital affair so well hidden, indicating that the man wasn't so desperate as to be unable to live without her.
For power? Huang Yuan had none.
For trust? Huang Yuan had never done anything to threaten others, so that also didn't make sense.
Then what else could it be?
Hu Jia's questions also reminded Lu Qingqing. Murder motives were limited to a few categories, but none of them fit. Could it be?
"Perhaps we've been thinking about this the wrong way. The target wasn't Huang Yuan at all, but Yi Ran," Lu Qingqing proposed a new idea.
Was it Yi Ran they wanted to kill?
Hu Jia jolted. That's right.
They had been stuck in a misconception all along. Did the killer give the poisoned towel to Huang Yuan just to kill her?
No.
Because he couldn't be sure that Huang Yuan would sweat and coincidentally swallow the sweat.
However, he could be certain that Yi Ran would come into contact with Huang Yuan. This meant that once Yi Ran touched Huang Yuan, who had poison on her body, he would inevitably be poisoned.
Therefore, the killer had always intended to kill Yi Ran, and Huang Yuan was just collateral.
With the target of the murder changed, the motive naturally changed as well.
It could be a crime of passion, but more likely a crime of revenge. After all, Yi Ran had been engaged in blackmail.
Then the problem became obvious.
This person had to have a grievance with Yi Ran and a private affair with Huang Yuan. There could only be one person.
It was Wu Neng!
But Wu Neng coincidentally lacked the opportunity.
Everything seemed to have returned to square one.
Damn it!
As soon as day broke, Hu Jia, Lu Qingqing, and Luo Wenwu continued their investigation at the Education Bureau. Gan Yunfei received them again.
"Captain Hu, this is our last department. There's no one else," Gan Yunfei said helplessly after they emerged from the last room in the corridor.
"Hmm," Hu Jia nodded.
He was quite frustrated. They had searched every corner of the Education Bureau, and he had observed everyone carefully, yet they couldn't find the legendary man with glasses.
Either the height difference was too great, or the age didn't match.
It was truly strange.
Just as Hu Jia and the others were about to take their leave, a young man ran after them.
"Yunfei, just in time. Take these documents back to your department, it saves me another trip. Remember, everyone needs to sign," a young man handed over a thick stack of folders.
"No problem!" Gan Yunfei took them and casually flipped through them, then returned one. "We're short one person in our department recently, so six copies are enough."
…