Chapter 533: The Death Of Li Xiang

Translator: Azza

Editor: Conspiracing

Chen Shi said, "Can we come in?"

Zhang Rui stepped aside from the door. "It's messy. I hope you don't mind."

The room wasn’t big. The most conspicuous part of the house was a worktable, on which some small parts and scraps were placed. The cabinet next to it had tank models and simulation guns, some of which were welded out with iron plates.

Noting his gaze, Zhang Rui explained, "I usually like to play with little things like this."

"Have you ever made a real gun?"

"Real gun?" Zhang Rui leaned on the table and lit a cigarette. His two thick eyebrows were scrunched together. "The principle of a real gun is very simple, but the bullets are more difficult to make than the gun, so the average person builds a gun that uses steel bullets. It’s called Dujuezi. Of course, only ruffians would make those. I’m a law-abiding citizen, so it’s impossible for me to make a real gun. What did you come here to find me for?"

"What is your relationship with Li Xiang?"

"Gay friends!" Zhang Rui paused. "Literally."

"So a same-sex couple."

"That doesn’t break the law, right officer?" Zhang Rui laughed happily. Since the two of them came in, he had been staring at Chen Shi without looking at Lin Dongxue, which gave Lin Dongxue a feeling of being treated differently.

"It’s just an ordinary affair, so it can only be said to be immoral.”

“When we met, I didn't know that he was married. He removed his wedding ring every time he went to the bar. He waited until we’d had sex before he told me he was married. His marriage was a complete mess and he was living separately from his wife. I advised him to get a divorce, but he really wanted to keep his face, so he just dragged it out."

"Do you know that Lin Hui has a huge sum of money on her?" Chen Shi observed his expression.

"I don't. What huge sum of money?" Zhang Rui scratched his nose, clearly reacting nervously.

"Do you have a gray windbreaker?”

Zhang Rui suddenly got nervous. "Yes... But, it's impossible to wear a windbreaker in this season. Wouldn’t I be taken for a madman if I wore it around the streets?”

Lin Dongxue's cell phone rang. She went outside to take it. Xu Xiaodong told her a shocking piece of news: Li Xiang died.

Lin Dongxue called Chen Shi outside. "Li Xiang was killed near the housing district. The forensic pathologist said the time of death was last night, and then..." She glanced into the room. "The cause of death was a gunshot wound!"

"Surely it wouldn’t be so coincidental!" Chen Shi was also very surprised.

Back in the house, the two's expressions obviously changed. Chen Shi asked, "There’s another question. Where were you last night?"

"At home."

"Who can prove it?"

"No one can prove it. What's wrong? You’re suddenly so serious..." Zhang Rui tried to smile.

"What were you doing at home?"

"Watching a movie!"

"Online?"

"Correct!"

"Let me see the browsing history."

Zhang Rui turned on the computer helplessly and showed him the history. He had been watching a series, and he watched it from 7:00PM till 10:00PM. However, Chen Shi wasn’t convinced with this since it could be forged simply by playing it on the computer.”

To test his reaction, Chen Shi threw down a bombshell. "Li Xiang is dead."

"What?!" Zhang Rui was shocked. "Who did it?"

"Why didn't you go to work today?"

"Are you suspecting me?" Zhang Rui's reaction seemed very real, which made Chen Shi a little uncertain. "I’m working in a flexible working system. I’ve got very little work over these last few days, so I decided to stay at home. This is very normal. You can ask around."

"You should still come with us!"

"Are you guys crazy? Li Xiang is dead and you’re suspecting me? Why would I kill him? If it was Lin...”

"What?!"

Zhang Rui stopped talking. "I see. It's the slut who’s framing me. Where is she now? Was she the one who reported the case?”

"Come with us!"

In the face of Chen Shi's tough attitude, Zhang Rui could only obey. After taking him away, Chen Shi searched his apartment and took a few photos.

At 10:00 in the morning, Zhang Rui was taken to the bureau. He was shouting in the interrogation room, "I didn't kill anyone! You caught the wrong person!"

Chen Shi was looking at the autopsy report outside. The bullet had been dug out. It was a steel bullet. Although it wasn’t compared, it was very similar to the one found in the Luyi housing community. It may have been shot from the same homemade pistol.

The last person Li Xiang contacted on his mobile phone was Zhang Rui. Based on the time, Li Xiang was killed on the way back after accompanying Chen Shi out.

Lin Dongxue said, "Why would Zhang Rui kill him?"

"If we have to talk about motivation, I think it should be for money. Zhang Rui may think that Li Xiang has already gotten the money, or it would be to seal his lips." The incident happened suddenly and Chen Shi was also a little confused.

"When we were downstairs, I noticed that Zhang Rui's car is really similar to yours." Lin Dongxue said, "I may know how Lin Hui disappeared. Lin Hui should have met Zhang Rui that night. He hurt her, and then she saw your car on the motorway. Thinking that Zhang Rui was chasing after her, she abandoned the car in a hurry to escape. "

"I think so too."

"From this, I actually have a new speculation. Zhang Rui had already killed Lin Hui, but the money wasn’t recovered. In order not to be suspected, he killed Li Xiang."

"It still feels a little too sudden."

"People will do extreme things at the critical moment."

"Let’s go and meet him!"

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue went to the interrogation room. Zhang Rui had shouted so much that he was about to go mute. He knocked on the interrogation chair. "I really didn't kill anyone!"

"Let's put aside the matter of whether you killed anyone or not. I have other questions to ask. You'd better be honest." Chen Shi warned.

"I didn't kill anyone..." Zhang Rui whispered.

"Do you know anything about the 10 million yuan?"

"Know... I know." He said dejectedly.

"How did you find out?"

"Li Xiang told me that he sold the house behind his wife’s back. After Lin Hui found out, she went to find someone to change the lock. It should have been then that she discovered it. The woman took it quietly after she found it and didn’t go home after that. The person who lost the money found Li Xiang and tried to sound out the situation without asking about it directly. Li Xiang later found out that the man was a corrupt and greedy official. He guessed that he might’ve lost a lot of money..."

"Then?"

Zhang Rui's lips quivered. "We planned to take the money!"

"What guts."

"Because the money was taken by Lin Hui, the other party was also looking for Lin Hui. If we took it from her, the person who lost the money would only target her. But... But the plan was to keep it confidential and not let Lin Hui nor the other party know. That way, Lin Hui would think that the money was taken away by the other party, while the other party would think the money was still in her hands. We would gain 10 million easily and not have to worry about anything for the rest of our lives.”

"For example, by making Lin Hui go 'missing'?"

Zhang Rui weighed the pros and cons in his heart. "Yes, we were planning to make Lin Hui die. Li Xiang couldn’t do it. This was up to me because outsiders didn’t know our relationship. Li Xiang promised to halve the money with me before running away to spend our days together. But we were only planning it and didn’t implement it. I swear it was never implemented. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here right now!"

"So, how far did the plan progress to?"