It was obvious that the extra person was the killer.
He mixed in with the porters and used a cart to move the silver dollars and Xiang Xia out of the cinema, then abandoned the cart.
This way, the time of the crime was determined.
The silver dollars were lost on Friday afternoon.
Since the time the silver dollars were lost had been determined, everyone who was at the cinema during that period was a suspect.
Moreover, this person had to be an acquaintance of Xiang Xia.
…
The next morning, Hu Jia summoned everyone. After a night of work, all the cinema staff had been questioned individually.
"Xiang Xia has no relatives or romantic partners in Chongqing."
"All employees have alibis."
"They also haven't seen any strangers entering or leaving the office area."
"The cart has been handed over to the forensics team for examination, and no bloodstains or other abnormalities were found."
"The place where the cart was found was quite secluded. According to people living nearby, they heard noises, but didn't come out to check. It was around 5:30 PM, which was dinner time."
Everyone was consolidating the information from the night, but the further they went, the colder their hearts became.
When you search through all possibilities and find them all impossible, you can basically declare that you are in trouble.
Hu Jia's fingertips lightly tapped the desk. He hadn't expected a simple theft case to be so complicated.
Lu Qingqing was even more worried about Xiang Xia. A girl had been kidnapped for two days, and she didn't know if she was still alive.
Silence, a long moment of silence.
Lu Qingqing had to re-sort the entire process of the case.
From receiving the report to searching for Xiang Xia, then finding the cart and determining the time of the crime, everything seemed fine. From determining the suspect was male to checking all the cinema employees, it also seemed correct.
So, where exactly did the problem lie?
Lu Qingqing began to recall everyone she had met in the past two days, and gradually, a figure appeared in her mind.
"Did we overlook someone?" Lu Qingqing thought of a person who had never attracted the police's attention from beginning to end.
Yue Hongling!
"Her?" Li Yang was the first to express his confusion. "Wasn't she entertaining someone at the time of the incident?"
"What if this alibi is false?" Lu Qingqing said, Yue Hongling reminded them that Zhang Hao was a suspect, but she also said she was entertaining him. Since she knew the other party wasn't present at the time of the incident, why would she bother?
"Is there a possibility that she intentionally misled us to suspect Zhang Hao, and then came forward to testify that Zhang Hao had no opportunity to commit the crime, thus naturally ruling him out as a suspect?"
"What's her purpose in doing this? It's meaningless." Luo Wenwu also raised his objection.
"No! If she and Zhang Hao were accomplices, then the significance would be huge." Hu Jia suddenly understood Lu Qingqing's meaning. Yue Hongling first set herself and Zhang Hao up as adversaries, so when she provided an alibi, the police would subconsciously believe Yue Hongling's words.
After all, who would provide an alibi for their opponent? Unless she was telling the truth.
Once the police believed this scenario, Zhang Hao's suspicion would be cleared, and they would also believe that Yue Hongling was entertaining someone at the time.
A typical reverse logic.
Not only did she provide an alibi for her teammate, but she also cleared herself as a suspect.
"No, no." Li Yang shook his head repeatedly. That extra porter was a man. If it were Zhang Hao, the construction site manager would definitely recognize him, and old man Wang outside would also notice.
"What if a third person was involved in this?" Lu Qingqing retorted. Only Xiang Xia, Zhang Hao, and Yue Hongling knew about the money in the accounting office. To take that money, Zhang and Yue couldn't have done it themselves. So, they would likely find someone else to help.
This would explain why Lu Qingqing wasn't wary of that person. Because that person was brought by Zhang and Yue.
"Damn it, it's like a sparrow pecking a cow's backside – a sparrow eating cow dung!" Luo Wenwu was genuinely impressed.
…
The people in the office dispersed.
Lu Qingqing lay on the sofa, preparing to rest for a while.
"Hey, we came to watch a movie, but ended up taking on a case," Yu Yue grumbled. Everyone else was out on cases, and she was the only one in the office, so bored.
Perhaps due to being idle for two days, Yu Yue had a lot to say, but she found that for every ten sentences she spoke, Lu Qingqing only replied with one. "What are you doing? What are you secretly watching?"
"Tell me, what trick should I play today to steal Hu Jia's memo?" Lu Qingqing leaned in mysteriously. "Tomorrow is Monday, I can't let these seven days go to waste."
Yu Yue was stunned. She didn't expect Lu Qingqing to still be thinking about the memo. "Are you stupid? What's the point of stealing the memo today? If you steal it, won't he still remember you tomorrow?"
Huh?
"Why?"
"Didn't he take on a case yesterday? The appearance of the case will disrupt his amnesia cycle," Yu Yue said impatiently.
Ah…
Lu Qingqing then remembered that Yu Yue had told her about Hu Jia's amnesia.
If everything were normal, Hu Jia would lose his memory on Monday as scheduled.
But if there were no cases from Monday to Friday, and a case suddenly appeared on Saturday, then this seven-day cycle would be recalculated from Saturday.
"So I still have to wait another six days?" Lu Qingqing sighed.
"If you don't want to wait, you can go tonight," Yu Yue said with a smile.
"Get lost! You call yourself a good sister, going there today would be asking for my death!" Lu Qingqing rolled her eyes. Hu Jia, who was in the midst of an investigation, was sensitive and sharp-minded, as if his senses were all extraordinary.
To make a move now would be like an old man with a birthday star hanging himself – asking for death!
Just as the two sisters were laughing and joking, Li Yang's roar came from downstairs: "Little Yue, your little hunk is back."
It had been a long time since she had heard this introduction.
She missed it dearly.
Li Yang saw Lu Qingqing as soon as he came upstairs. He wasn't embarrassed at all about his bold declaration just now.
"Why are you back? Can't bear to leave your little Yue?" Lu Qingqing teased him as soon as she spoke.
"I forgot to bring my tools, I need to go find Zhu Xinkai later," Li Yang said, holding up his police ID.
Find Zhu Xinkai?
To find out if Yue Hongling was lying, the best witness would be to find the material supplier, Zhu Xinkai.
Lu Qingqing volunteered and knocked on his office door.
"You're saying that both of them were present throughout the entire process?"
"Yes, we signed the contract that day."
The man in front of her didn't seem in good spirits. His voice was low, and he seemed very thirsty. In the less than an hour Lu Qingqing spent there, he refilled his teacup three times and even went to the restroom.
Seeing Zhu Xinkai's discomfort, Lu Qingqing didn't plan to stay long.
After all, she had gotten the answer she wanted.
Just as she was about to get up and leave, a young man came in with a bowl of Chinese medicine.
"Sir, your medicine is ready."
Zhu Xinkai took it and drank it down in one gulp.
"Boss Zhu, are you feeling unwell somewhere? Your complexion doesn't look too good," Since she saw him drinking medicine, she had to show some concern.
"Don't mention it. It must be the poor water quality at the cinema. After drinking it, we keep running to the restroom." Zhu Xinkai wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "I apologize for being so impolite and making Officer Lu laugh."
Lu Qingqing repeatedly said she wouldn't dare, offered a few polite words wishing him a speedy recovery, and then left.
Walking on the street, Lu Qingqing felt a bit dejected.
Had she really thought too much, and Zhu Hongling wasn't lying?
Just as Lu Qingqing was full of doubts, a man approached her: "Miss, would you like a sedan chair ride?"