Chapter 255: Chapter 231: Guilty Conscience (3)

"Of course, it’s also possible he bought it with cash. In any case, investigate as thoroughly as possible. I think this is a major breakthrough."

"If we ultimately can’t find any evidence in Han Xiaolong’s case, then perhaps we can use Yang Maocai to convict Zhou Hui."

A fatal hit-and-run is considered a traffic offense, carrying a sentence of seven years or more.

However, if it was a premeditated plan to kill someone with a car, that’s a completely different situation. That’s intentional homicide, which carries the death penalty.

So, Liu Jie’s idea was that if they couldn’t find evidence in the Han Xiaolong case to convict Zhou Hui, they could rely on Yang Maocai to get a conviction.

As long as it’s the death penalty, the outcome is essentially the same.

The investigation continued.

Just as Liu Jie said, the more moves Zhou Hui made, the more tells he would reveal, giving them more avenues to investigate.

Another discovery was made that day.

It was the surveillance footage.

The village surveillance footage showed that after Zhou Hui visited Yang Maocai’s home yesterday, Huang Qingmei appeared nearby this afternoon.

She didn’t go directly to Yang Maocai’s home, but instead loitered near his house for a while before chatting with some neighbors.

It looked as if she was digging for information about Yang Maocai’s family.

And right after, a check of call logs revealed that Huang Qingmei called Zhou Hui after she got home.

This behavior all but confirmed Liu Jie’s theory that Zhou Hui was probing them.

If they had searched Yang Maocai’s home yesterday, they would have truly fallen into Zhou Hui’s trap.

"The guy’s panicking."

This was Liu Jie’s assessment.

He rubbed his face and continued, "This is a murder case. He killed someone, but the police never figured it out. Now, he must be worried that we’ll reopen the investigation."

"I bet right now he’s racking his brain, trying to figure out what he did wrong, worrying if he left any evidence behind. Then he’ll try to find some way to cover his tracks."

"You know what it’s like?"

Liu Jie thought for a moment, then offered an analogy: "It’s like you unexpectedly find a huge sum of money. You’re on edge, afraid the owner will show up at your door, and worried you haven’t hidden it well enough."

"You go back to the spot where you found it to see if the owner is there, or if the police are looking for it."

"You might have hidden it perfectly, but the moment you get wind that someone’s looking, you can’t resist checking on its hiding spot. You might even dig it up and move it to what you think is a more secure location."

"It’s a psychological urge he just can’t control. So, I believe that if we just keep a close eye on him, he’ll lead us right to all the evidence he’s tried so hard to conceal."

Shen Xin nodded enthusiastically and gave Liu Jie a thumbs-up.

"Liu Zhi, you’re on another level. Truly masterful planning."

’That kind of iron-butt patience, sitting tight and waiting for the catch—he’s definitely a master angler.’

Although Liu Jie suspected Shen Xin was just flattering him, he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from turning up.

"Shen Xin, seriously, if you’re willing, come to Pingyu. I’ll pull whatever strings I can, put my reputation on the line, and find a way to get you transferred. You’ll work under me, starting in the Criminal Investigation Detachment, and I guarantee you’ll get ahead fast."

Liu Jie extended the invitation once again.

He didn’t just value Shen Xin’s Druid-like talent; he also prized his sharp intuition during investigations.

He truly believed Shen Xin was a natural for criminal investigation.

Nearby, Ding Yuwei instantly grew tense. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Having known Shen Xin for so long, she knew how ambitious he was.

And she was well aware that a different platform could mean a completely different career trajectory.

At the branch office, even if Shen Xin constantly earned commendations, he’d still have to slowly pay his dues to gain seniority.

But even when it came to paying dues, doing it on a different platform would yield completely different results.

Shen Xin quickly replied, "Liu Zhi, you think far too highly of me. I’m just a bit clever, that’s all. If I really went to Pingyu and failed to produce results, wouldn’t that bring shame to you?"

"However," he added, "if you really think this kid’s alright, feel I’ve been a help, and want to thank me, you could always give my superior a call. You know, give him a little nudge."

Liu Jie was at a loss, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He just nodded and agreed.

The investigation was still ongoing.

The focus remained on peripheral investigation.

Reports kept coming in.

First, they couldn’t find the van anywhere near Zhou Hui.

That meant Zhou Hui must have bought the vehicle.

A beat-up old van like that, one that’s changed hands countless times, could have been bought casually from any roadside auto shop.

Tracking it down would require mobilizing a large number of officers for a massive canvassing effort, and even then, there was no guarantee.

Besides, four years had already passed, making the search even more difficult.

However, the financial investigation turned up some leads.

The incident occurred in July. In early September, Zhou Hui’s father-in-law withdrew money and helped him pay off his gambling debts.

From then until the end of the year, Zhou Hui kept a low profile, focusing on running his water heater shop in town.

The owner of the neighboring shop in town confirmed this, saying that Zhou Hui opened for business on time every single day during that period.

Then, as autumn and winter arrived, his water heater business entered its peak season.

It was a cold winter that year. His neighbor said that people were coming to him for water heater installations almost daily.

His shop’s business should have been doing well.

But after the New Year, around May 2013, he suddenly closed the shop.

The story he told everyone was that he hadn’t made any money and was actually losing it.

That was a bit strange.

A check of his bank records then revealed that during this time, starting in October, he began making irregular cash withdrawals.

By the following year, all told, he had withdrawn nearly 100,000 in large increments.

In other words, he had likely withdrawn all the money he earned during the peak season for his water heater business.

What it was used for was unknown. It couldn’t be traced, and there was no way to find out.