Chapter 1115 - 571: Investigating Zhujiang City (2)

"That fire back then—was it really an accident, or man-made? Now we can completely re-examine it."

Thirty minutes later, Qin Feng rushed back to the Criminal Investigation Team with that claim form in hand.

When they saw the already yellowed claim form, everyone was extremely excited.

Jiang An said, "If Zhang Xiang really caused that fire back then just for the insurance payout, then it wasn’t merely an accident, it should even be classed as deliberate arson."

At these words, Chen Guan and Qin Feng both frowned.

Arson is a serious felony as well.

At this moment, Deputy Director Chen Guan’s face showed a trace of shame. "It’s just a pity that our Scene Investigation back then wasn’t meticulous enough. We didn’t pay much attention to the source of ignition at the Crime Scene."

"If we had conducted an in-depth study of the burned scene back then, perhaps we could have discovered that it wasn’t an accidental fire at all, but arson."

At this, Director Hou patted him on the shoulder and consoled him, "You can’t really be blamed. After all, it was fifteen years ago—likely due to limitations in testing conditions and technical standards at the time, we simply weren’t at that level."

"But that doesn’t stop us from uncovering the truth now."

Then Chen Guan sighed and said, "So can we head to the interrogation room and start the questioning right away?"

Once this question was thrown out, Qin Feng’s expression showed he was itching to give it a try.

But Jiang An and Director Hou were not so optimistic. The two of them fell silent, exchanged a glance.

After a long moment, Jiang An said, "Mr. Chen, although we’ve now found his motive for setting the fire back then and even for staging a fake crime scene, it’s still only our inference."

"Besides, as for this policy, even though we in public security didn’t have it back then, it doesn’t seem enough by itself to overturn the legal characterization of the entire case."

"After all, looking at it again now, the body buried in the coffin is Li Ailing; as for where that original set of remains ended up, we still have no idea."

"Although from the old Scene Investigation photos we can intuitively feel that the skeleton doesn’t fully match the images, to elevate that to evidentiary level, we’re still a bit short."

Jiang An put it very tactfully, but everyone understood clearly.

If they acted now, it would likely be just like last night’s interrogation, yielding no good results.

It could even end up "alerting the snake in the grass," giving the other side mental preparation.

After listening, Qin Feng blurted out anxiously, "Then what should we do? We’ve already found this key piece of evidence; we have to at least give it a shot."

Chen Guan also felt eager to move. After all, this incident fell within the jurisdiction of the Guangling City Public Security Bureau; you could say it was a failure on Guangling’s Criminal Investigation Team.

Everyone could understand what was on the two men’s minds. Knowing shame and then being courageous—everyone wanted to redeem themselves.

At this moment, Director Hou spoke. "Right now we must keep our composure and see what other evidence we can locate, so as to provide more support for the next round of interrogation."

As soon as he finished, Jiang An spoke up. "Director Hou, I have an idea; I’m not sure if I should bring it up."

"Go ahead."

"This policy is for 300,000. Back then, that was a huge sum."

"Yet Zhang Xiang never left here; he still lives a very impoverished life. So where did that 300,000 go?"

"If his wife, Li Ailing, was still alive back then, then where exactly has she been living?"

"Is it possible that Li Ailing’s living expenses all came from this 300,000?"

Hearing this, Director Hou nodded. "Yes, that’s indeed a line we can pursue."

"Where Li Ailing died and why she died are still key points we need to focus on in our next phase of investigation."

At these words, Chen Guan suddenly spoke. "Exactly! This question is critical."

"Here’s what we’ll do: we’ll assign another team to pull records from all major banks and see exactly how much is in all bank cards under Zhang Xiang’s name."

"If he has records of transferring money out on those cards, or any extra expenditures, at least we’ll be able to find some important leads."

Hearing this, Qin Feng smiled. "The banking systems from 15 years ago have probably been replaced many times; we might not get anything."

"And housing records of different provinces aren’t networked nationwide. If we start checking, it may still be a bit tricky."

At this, Chen Guan’s gaze hardened. "We’ll take it step by step. First, look at the bank transactions."

"If the transactions turn up nothing, then we can only follow the housing trail."

"Three hundred thousand was a huge amount back then—you could buy several apartments with it."

"In any case, we have to prepare for the worst and put in the most solid effort on this case."

Hearing this, Qin Feng nodded. "Understood. All right, Mr. Chen, I’ll immediately lead a team out again to pull all citywide bank data. Let’s hope we can get a good result."

Compared with insurance companies, there were far fewer banks.

Two hours later, Qin Feng obtained the last ten years of transaction history for Zhang Xiang’s bank cards at five banks.

Why only the last ten years? Because the older systems had all been replaced.

After returning to the conference room, he put the transaction printouts on the table, and everyone began going through them.

At this moment, Jiang An was holding a transaction list from Dragon Country Commercial Bank.

This bank had been around the longest; it was a major commercial bank.

He went through it slowly from front to back. An hour later, he looked up and said, "Everyone, look—there’s an account here that’s a bit odd."

"In each of the years before year nine, at the start of the year there’s a credit of several tens of thousands entering this account."

"And the source is a housing rental company in Zhujiang City."

Hearing this, several people spoke up. "Does that mean their property is in Zhujiang City?"

"What’s the company called?"

"It’s called Zhujiang Jiajia Housing Rental Company."

Then Jiang An said, "From what we can see, his total bank deposits aren’t very large."

"So where did that 300,000 from back then go? For large expenditures, it basically has to be either a car or a house."

Qin Feng said, "I remember I’ve dealt with Zhang Xiang many times; he doesn’t have a car."

"No car, then it’s likely a house."

"And in all these bank transactions, only this rental company from Zhuhai paid in several tens of thousands, and that amount fits typical rental income for a property."

Hearing this, hope once again appeared on Chen Guan’s face. He said, "Seen this way, there really is something off."

"We’ll drive to Zhuhai, investigate the local rental company, and see whether the property is under Zhang Xiang’s name."

"All right, there’s no time to lose. We set off immediately."

When he finished, Jiang An followed up, "Mr. Chen, Captain Qin and I will go together."

Hearing this, Chen Guan was a bit surprised. "Mr. Jiang, the trip will be tiring. It might be hard on you."

"It’s fine. That’s what police work is like." Jiang An smiled. "I often travel on assignment in Jiangcheng as well."

Director Hou suggested, "It’s just a housing rental inquiry; the two of them can handle it on their own."

At this, Jiang An said again, "Director Hou, I’ve been thinking about one question."

"Oh? What question?"

"Why did Li Ailing die, and where did she die?"

"If Li Ailing had been living out of town all this time, might her death have occurred out of town as well?"

At these words, everyone looked at one another.

Director Hou immediately understood what Jiang An meant and asked, "You’re thinking of locating the primary death scene?"

Jiang An nodded. "Yes. We can’t rule out that the place where Li Ailing died is exactly where she used to live."