Search!
We must find the person!
Everyone split up and act.
It is now almost certain that Xiang Xia is related to the theft of the silver dollars, whether she is the thief or not, the person must be found first.
...
Regarding Chongqing, Lü Qingqing was troubled.
She had never seen such a place with high mountains and steep roads.
Lü Qingqing's hometown was in Jiangjin, a place surrounded by the Yangtze River in a "U" shape. There were many mountains here, but at least there was a flat area.
But Chongqing is not like that. You think you are looking at the scenery at the foot of the mountain, and after walking a few steps, you find yourself halfway up the mountain.
Lü Qingqing was speechless about such a changeable place. This also directly led to her not being able to distinguish east from west even after being in the city for a month.
Oh, it seems like Chongqing doesn't have east or west to begin with.
Xiang Xia's home is in Shangqing Temple.
Although Shangqing Temple is very famous in Chongqing now, in 1928, it was still relatively remote. At that time, there was no road from Shangqing Temple to Tongyuan Gate.
"Why don't I go instead?" This bumpy journey, the road is not easy to walk, Hu Jia suggested that he go to Shangqing Temple.
"Forget it, it's more convenient for a girl to go." Lü Qingqing politely declined Hu Jia's goodwill.
"Oh, that's true!" Hu Jia stopped arguing.
"Mmm..." Li Yang stepped on Hu Jia's foot as he passed by.
Where is your emotional intelligence?
Li Yang wanted to curse!
The pain in his instep finally awakened Hu Jia's lingering consciousness, "Qing, wait a moment. Let's go together."
"Oh, so long-winded!"
"But..."
"Scram!"
Looking at Lü Qingqing's rapidly disappearing back, Hu Jia looked at Li Yang incredulously: "Does she often tell me to 'scram'?"
"Scram!"
...
Xiang Xia's place was not too good, but not bad either. According to Mei Ju, the girl she shared the rental with, the rent was 10 yuan a month.
10 yuan? That was enough for a poor family to eat and drink for half a month.
Is Xiang Xia not short of money, or is she putting on a brave face?
"I heard her family has hundreds of acres of farmland and is quite famous locally," Mei Ju said. Xiang Xia just didn't want to be stuck in the countryside and came to the big city to see the world.
In this case, Xiang Xia is not a person lacking money, but of course, not rich either.
Entering Xiang Xia's room, her usual rouge and powder were neatly arranged, a floral shawl was casually draped over the chair, the wardrobe door was half-ajar, and the dresses hanging inside were both new and old.
"Has anyone entered her room?" Lü Qingqing asked Mei Ju.
"No! Normally it's just the two of us. The policeman who came to see her that day didn't go in either," Mei Ju replied. This means that the room is as Xiang Xia left it. Lü Qingqing had an idea. It seemed that Xiang Xia did not leave according to plan. She didn't even pack her belongings.
The surface of the house was clear at a glance. Lü Qingqing turned her gaze to the only drawer in the room that could be locked.
Mei Ju was very smart. Seeing Lü Qingqing sizing up the drawer, she directly said, "I don't have the key."
Lü Qingqing nodded, "Get me a hammer."
...
After being cursed "scram" by Lü Qingqing and then receiving another "scram" from Li Yang, Hu Jia wondered if he had lost his authority as captain.
It's fine for Lü Qingqing to scold me, but that brat Li Yang is also getting carried away. I'll deal with him after I'm done with this.
Hu Jia didn't mind Li Yang's joke. In his heart, this person was always his brother. The reason he was frowning now was because of Old Wang's confession.
Old Wang said that since the cinema started screening in the afternoon, the staff's working hours were one o'clock in the afternoon. He remembered that Xiang Xia was wearing a floral cloth dress, and they even greeted each other when she entered the courtyard.
But he really didn't see Xiang Xia leave.
"Could it be that you didn't see her when she left?" Hu Jia asked.
"Even tigers need to doze off sometimes, it's not impossible. But I think the possibility is not high. After all, there are few women in the courtyard. If a girl in a floral dress comes and goes, I wouldn't miss it." Although Old Wang's words were not absolute, the meaning was clear: it was unlikely.
Then Hu Jia went to question the guard at the front gate, and the other party answered even more directly: "Impossible, employees don't enter or exit from here, because the cinema doors are closed after the audience leaves, and Xiang Xia hasn't finished her shift by then."
Li Yang searched every corner of the cinema and found no sign of Xiang Xia.
Zhan Ruoxuan almost dismantled the cinema, but still couldn't find the missing silver dollars.
The wheelbarrow was found by Luo Wenwu, in an alley about 200 meters away from the back door of the cinema.
...
Cinema conference room.
In front of everyone was a bowl of Chongqing noodles, which was their dinner.
"It can now be confirmed that Xiang Xia and the silver dollars have both disappeared, and it was that wheelbarrow that took the silver dollars away."
Hu Jia said, now the problem arises.
When did the wheelbarrow disappear from everyone's sight?
When were the silver dollars actually lost?
What was the time of the incident?
Afternoon or evening?
Also, were the silver dollars taken out by Xiang Xia, or did someone else take them out?
If it was the former, it's impossible for a girl to push more than 500 kilograms of silver dollars out, because she can't push it. If transported in batches, it would take at least ten round trips. This would be too risky and easily discovered.
If it was the latter, then this person must be a man. Even if he transported the silver dollars in five batches, on a construction site full of miscellaneous workers, as long as he wore a straw hat, he could easily deceive Old Wang.
After all, Old Wang couldn't recognize all the workers.
Then, if it was the latter, was Xiang Xia an accomplice or a victim?
"I tend to believe Xiang Xia is the victim," Lü Qingqing said. In Xiang Xia's cabinet were a pair of earrings and over 100 yuan in cash. If she were greedy, why wouldn't she take these things with her? Coupled with the tidiness of Xiang Xia's room, it was enough to prove that Xiang Xia had no premeditation.
There was another point, if Xiang Xia was an accomplice, why didn't she show herself? She could have chatted with Old Wang to better cover for her accomplice. Even if she didn't chat with Old Wang and walked out of the courtyard generously, no one would say anything. Why would she take a detour?
"Therefore, I conclude that Xiang Xia is not only not an accomplice, but she has also lost her ability to act and, like the silver dollars, was hidden inside the wheelbarrow."
Hu Jia expressed his deep approval of Lü Qingqing's analysis.
Since the lock on the accounting room door was intact and there were no signs of struggle at the scene, this was very likely a case of someone known to the victim.
Hu Jia identified Zhang Hao, the cinema manager, as the primary suspect.
First, he knew there was money in the accounting room.
Second, he met the condition of being an acquaintance.
Finally, Yue Hongling said that someone was pursuing Xiang Xia, and this person was likely him.
However, Zhang Hao's suspicion was quickly ruled out.
He was indeed pursuing Xiang Xia, but after being rejected, he quickly shifted his target and had already set his sights on another woman in the cinema.
Moreover, from the moment the silver dollars were stored in the safe, he had been negotiating with Yue Hongling about renovation issues and material suppliers all afternoon. After that, he went to Huixian Bridge for dinner, and that night he went to the material supplier's office to sign the contract. By the time he came out of the other party's office, it was almost 10 o'clock.
It was clear that Zhang Hao had no time to commit the crime. Xiang Xia finished work at 9 o'clock. Even if Zhang Hao rushed back to the cinema at 10 o'clock to commit the crime, he would not encounter Xiang Xia, and therefore could not explain why Xiang Xia was harmed.
And all of this was confirmed by Yue Hongling, and the case immediately fell into a deadlock.
...
As the sun began to set, the cinema welcomed the audience for the evening shows.
At this time, on the construction site, the foreman was distributing the day's wages to each porter.
"You get paid daily?" Luo Wenwu had just finished taking statements from everyone and found no abnormalities.
"Yes! They are all miscellaneous workers, just doing heavy labor, moving bricks and soil. They might come today but not tomorrow. So the wages are paid daily." The foreman was very grateful to Luo Wenwu, after all, he was the one who found the wheelbarrow.
"Don't they come every day?" A thought flashed through Luo Wenwu's mind.
"Certainly not. There are so many laborers like this on the streets. Whoever comes first gets the job. It's like the dockworkers."
Hearing this, Luo Wenwu immediately thought of a problem. Doesn't that mean that these porters don't know each other well, and if someone sneaked in, no one would notice?
Indeed, Luo Wenwu immediately called everyone to recall how many people they saw yesterday but did not see today.
Finally, a statistical data was obtained: 3 people.
"How many porters did you hire in total yesterday?"
"25 people."
Luo Wenwu counted. A total of 23 people worked for two consecutive days. If the 3 people who didn't come today were added, then there were 26 people who were moving soil in the backyard yesterday.
One person too many!