Gong Jingfan and Wang Bing were waiting at a red light on the road. They had just come back from an investigation.
The drivers stuck in the traffic impatiently honked their horns. The beeping sound gave Gong Jingfan a splitting headache, and he couldn't help but hold his head.
"I'm so sick of this sound!" Gong Jingfan sighed.
"Is your old headache acting up again? How about I drive?" Wang Bing said.
"No, I'm fine."
Wang Bing took out his phone, glanced at it, and patted Gong Jingfan. "Lao Gong, Gao Weiguang has logged into that forum."
"Wang Bing developed a software to monitor Gao Weiguang in real - time. This kind of software is typically used to catch unfaithful husbands."
"How so?"
"I'm looking at his history records... Well, all the records are deleted... Wait, there's a message he forgot to delete in his outbox, 'The key is in the flower pot at the door!'"
"When was it?"
"March 9th, Monday."
Gong Jingfan immediately reacted, "The day his wife was killed!? Who was he saying 'The key is in the flower pot' to? His wife? Impossible. His wife was at home the whole day. I get it. He was notifying the murderer!"
"So it's a case of hiring a hitman!? " Wang Bing glanced at his phone and suddenly cursed, "Damn it!"
"What's wrong?"
"This message has been deleted. He's deleting the messages he sent. Shit, I didn't save it."
"Even if you saved it, it can't be used as evidence. You found it through illegal means."
"Alas, but since it's a case of hiring a hitman, we can conduct a thorough check on his accounts."
"Maybe he hasn't paid yet."
"Who would kill someone for free? Is it like a charity act?"
"I mean he'll pay after the fact, when everything has calmed down."
"Aren't the killers afraid he'll go back on his word?"
"They've got something on him. It's like a kind of collateral..." Gong Jingfan tapped on the steering wheel, thinking, "So it seems that Gao Weiguang and Li Li hired the same person. Then what about Xu Jin? Is it possible that she hired someone to kill Wei Xiang? Maybe the same killer took on several commissions and made it look like a series of murders!"
"Didn't we meet Xu Jin yesterday? She has a stable job and is a mother. Do you think she'd take such a big risk to kill her ex - husband to help her child get the inheritance?"
"Xu Jin did mention that Wei Xiang had a mistress..." Gong Jingfan took out his phone and dialed a number, "Xiao Wang, help me check Wei Xiang's marital status... You work at the Civil Affairs Bureau. What's so hard to check? We're investigating a murder case here... Is that so? I got it!"
After hanging up the phone, Gong Jingfan's eyes lit up. Wang Bing urgently asked what was going on. Gong Jingfan replied, "Wei Xiang married another woman this year, but they didn't have a big wedding. That means there's another beneficiary lurking in the shadows after his death!"
"Who?"
"Fan Yi."
"Isn't she his former mistress?"
"Check her address! No, check Wei Xiang's properties!"
Wang Bing immediately called the police station and found out that Wei Xiang had a house in Anhui Community. Just then, the traffic light turned green. Gong Jingfan turned the steering wheel. Wang Bing asked where they were going. Gong Jingfan replied, "To find Fan Yi. We have to make every second count now!"
Meanwhile, in the duplex apartment that Wei Xiang bought for Fan Yi, Di Zhen covered his injured leg and frowned at the man in front of him.
This man with a center - parted hairstyle, triangular eyes, and thin lips had a contemptuous look in his eyes and an evil aura around him. This was the menacing aura of a murderer.
Guo Pu waved the pen in his hand, "This pen was Boss Wei's prized possession, but he didn't have the chance to use it on the day I killed him!"
I'm dying to know what it's like to kill someone with it!"
"I don't think it can do the job," Di Zhen said. "Compared to a real gun, the power of the bullet is too weak. It can't even penetrate my muscles."
Guo Pu pointed the pen at his head. "Really? It's more than enough to blow your brains out. Who the hell are you? Were you the one following me last night?"
Di Zhen thought for a moment. Being at a disadvantage, he couldn't act rashly. He said, "My name is Qiu Yun. I'm Qiu Qiang's son."
"Qiu Qiang's son, the 'Smiling Face Killer'?"
"Yes. Now you can understand how I felt when I learned that the 'Smiling Face Killer' was here. I really wanted to meet him."
"Oh, I get it!" Guo Pu grinned, showing his yellow teeth. "You thought I was your dad, and you thought he was still alive!"
"What... what do you mean by 'he's still alive'?"
"That idiot has been executed, you moron. I'm just imitating him!"
"What did you say!?" Di Zhen put on a shocked expression. He had to act the part to lower the other party's guard. "When did he die?"
"Over a decade ago. Didn't you know? How could you not know? You're trying to bluff me!" Guo Pu's expression turned menacing again.
"I really didn't know. I really didn't know! Dad!" Di Zhen knelt on the ground, covering his face, and said in a sobbing voice, "They always said he was alive and that one day I'd get to see him. Did the policemen kill him? I'll avenge him!"
Hearing this, Fan Yi, who had thought Di Zhen was there to help, took a step back in fear. The situation among the three had subtly changed.
Guo Pu sneered at Fan Yi. "Now everyone in the building is asleep. Even if you scream your lungs out, no one will come to save you. I'll slowly... slowly... torture you to death, bitch!"
Fan Yi turned pale with fear and kept backing away. She didn't even notice when her foot stepped on a piece of broken glass and started bleeding. She covered her mouth with both hands. "It was all Boss Wei's plan. I never did anything wrong to you!"
"Fuck your mother! You're talking nonsense. If you hadn't betrayed me, how could you afford such a big house and a nice car? You must have spread your cunt for Wei Xiang!" Guo Pu's hands trembled with anger.
"I had no choice. I'm just a woman with no power to resist. I had to give in to him!" Fan Yi continued to back away, thinking that maybe jumping out of the window would be a better option than being tortured to death by this madman.
"Brother, why do you want to kill her?" Di Zhen looked up with teary eyes. "This woman looks so slutty. What did she do?"
"She's just a fucking whore!" Guo Pu actually started to talk. As a lonely murderer, he kept everything to himself, and the urge to confide was his weakness. "You should know that no capitalist has clean hands. Wei Xiang has done plenty of illegal things to get where he is today. I did some dirty work for him to help him climb to his position. But then my woman secretly got in his bed. These two adulterers started to dislike me and wanted to get rid of me. But I'm back from the dead to take their lives!"
"So were the other two who died also their accomplices?"
Di Zhen asked with a curious look on his face.
"No, those two were just a smokescreen. I found two cowards on a local forum discussing exchange killing. But neither of them had the guts to do it. They talked back and forth, getting really excited, but kept procrastinating. I told them I'd help them, and each of them just had to pay me 100,000 later. Look, now the policemen think it's a serial killing case, but it's not. The only ones I want to kill are Wei Xiang and this bitch!"
"Damn, you're so smart!" Di Zhen complimented. "Can you take me as your little brother?"
Fan Yi trembled with fear. She thought it was all over. These two were in cahoots. Maybe she should just jump off the building!