"Mr. Qiao Xiang is running around outside. It's almost time to come back..."
Looking at my watch, it's almost half past five. Fluorescent lights are already on on the ceiling of the office, which uses screens as partitions.
Tian Cundayi added: "I want to meet Mr. Qiao Xiang's direct boss."
"can I help you?"
"Nothing, just to get to know Mr. Qiao Xiang better." Tian Chunda found another excuse to lie.
The man who came out with the young man was a thin man about forty-five years old with a bald forehead.
"I am Tang De, the sales section chief. I heard that you are here for Mr. Qiao Xiang's marriage. Please go this way."
He opened the heavy door next to him and asked Tian Chunda to come in. The young man cleverly turned on the switch on the wall with his hand, and four lights illuminated the room.
"I'm sorry the reception room is dirty..." Qiao Xiang's boss said with a smile to the detective. His smile looks nice and cheerful.
"He usually comes back before five o'clock, but today he went a little far away, so he hasn't come back yet. He has been in the sales department for three years, so he is considered an old employee."
He believed Tian Chunda's words, so he seemed intent on helping and putting in good words.
Only then did Tian Chunda take out his police ID, tell him the real purpose of his visit, and seek help from the section chief. The sales section chief's scrawny face showed an expression between shock and uneasiness, and he silently stared at the detective's face.
"After all, this is a murder case. The person who was killed was Qiao Xiang's ex-fiancée, and the deceased had abandoned Mr. Qiao Xiang, so it is possible for Qiao Xiang to hold a grudge. Therefore, our police want to know about him first. Action. However, if Qiao Xiang has nothing to do with this incident, it would not be good for him if people spread some strange rumors, so I hope you can keep the words I say now in your heart. Just now I made an excuse and said I wanted to talk about marriage, and I only said it with this in mind, so I’m sorry.”
"I understand. I will also act cautiously, please don't worry. But it's hard for me to believe that Qiao Xiang would cause such a thing. When did it happen?"
Section Chief Tang De looked full of doubts about the detective's words.
"The night of the 8th."
"It happened three weeks ago. But if I don't talk about the day, it would be difficult for me to know his whereabouts at night. In principle, the company gets off work at five o'clock. I don't know what he did to kill time after he got home. clear."
"No, that's not the case. The case occurred on the night of the 8th. Assuming that Mr. Qiao Xiang is the prisoner, if he wants to kill someone at the crime scene in Kanazawa, at least he will not be able to go to work in the company from that morning on."
"That's true."
The section chief finally showed an understanding of what Tian Chunda said.
"Qiao Xiang often goes out for sales, so he is away during the day. But because he will definitely come back in the evening, you can tell whether he is absent or leaves early by looking at the attendance book."
So the section chief got up and walked out, and soon brought the brown account book.
"Look, he went to work that day."
He opened the page number 8 and handed it to the detective. On the day's field, the places where you go to work and get off work are clearly stamped with Qiao Xiang's seal. Not just on the 8th, he was absent for nearly a month.
However, Tian Chunda thought, even though there was a seal, it couldn't be regarded as evidence that Qiao Xiang came to work, right? Because it is possible that he first deposited the seal with his colleagues and asked them to help him stamp it.
"This kind of thing, logically speaking, does happen, but the company also uses the attendance book as a basis to check the performance status, so employees will not be allowed to manipulate it casually."
A wry smile appeared on the section chief's thin face. He said this tactfully, hoping to erase the detective's doubts. But Tian Chunda cannot easily believe unfounded negative opinions.
"It would be nice if someone remembered what happened that day, but it was already three weeks ago. He himself will be coming back soon, so if I ask Qiao Xiang directly, I might have some impression."
The section chief looked at the watch on his wrist and muttered that it was too slow. Then when he moved his eyes to the open attendance book again, his face suddenly became lively.
"Mr. Detective, Qiao Xiang really came to the company that day."
"Um?"
"Please take a look here. There is Bi Xin three spaces next to Qiao Xiang, right?"
"right."
"This man is in charge of shipping. He took almost two weeks off starting on the 9th."
Bi Xin's field has always been blank, as the section chief said. But what does this have to do with Qiao Xiang’s alibi? Tian Chunda raised his head and waited for the other party's explanation.
"That day, that is, on the 8th, a fire broke out in a nearby farmhouse around 4 p.m.. The young man who happened to be in the company at that time ran to put out the fire. In the end, only the warehouse was completely burned down, and the damage was finally controlled, but Bi Xin But he fell from the ceiling and hit a beam. He suffered bruises and burns and was hospitalized.”
"Um."
"So he has been asking for leave for nearly half a month. At the time of the fire, Qiao Xiang, who occasionally finished his sales work early and returned to the company, also went to help put out the fire. So the fact that he was not in Kanazawa is very clear. You can go to this matter Just ask your colleague Bi Xin, and he was praised and rewarded by the fire chief, so I think you can be convinced about Qiao Xiang if you go to the fire brigade and ask."
"That's right. Thank you for telling me this valuable news."
Tian Chunda answered this while holding back his disappointment. A person in the position of a section chief would not lie about something that would be known through investigation. Then this is the fact.
Among the two suspects, Qiao Xiang and Ke Runze, if Qiao Xiang's alibi is established in this way, then the real criminal is Ke Runze. Ke Runze claimed that she was working at night in the puppet production room. However, Tian Chunda believes that since Qiao Xiang is innocent, Ke Runze's alibi must be thoroughly re-investigated. Those who made the dolls together probably sympathized with Ke Runze and therefore stood on the same side as her.
Tian Chunda first went to the hospital to visit Bi Xin, then visited the fire brigade in the town to investigate Qiao Xiang's alibi, and then returned to Nanguang to visit Ke Runze again.
That night, after Tian Chunda got off the bus at Nanguang Station, he called Lanzhuang. It was already past eight o'clock at this time, and he hoped to sort things out tonight if possible.
Ke Runze, who came to answer the phone, seemed a little angry at Tian Chunda's endless pursuit. Soon she softened her tone and seemed to understand the detective's position, so she agreed to meet at the coffee shop in front of the station in thirty minutes.
Tian Chunda arrived at the coffee shop more than five minutes earlier than the agreed time. It's almost nine o'clock. I don't know if it's because the neighborhood is mostly residential areas for office workers, so once nine o'clock comes, there are no customers in the cafe.
As soon as Ke Runze opened the door, he saw Officer Tian Chunta sitting in the middle seat.
As soon as she ordered coffee, she sat upright again and looked at Tian Chunda coldly.
"Don't you believe what I said?"
Her tone seemed quite resentful. Tian Chunda, who was stared at by the beautiful woman, quickly shook his head.
"This is also necessary for work. Moreover, a human life is at stake. I hope you will consider this and try your best to assist in the investigation."
"I know that." Ke Runze replied.
She added: "But it's a pity that you don't believe me."
"I also really want to believe you, but I just hope there is a third party's testimony. Only you and your friends can tell you, and the credibility of this murder case is very low. So, you were there on the night of the 8th If someone other than the production partners sees what happened in the puppet production room, the problem will be solved immediately. Can you remember anyone?"
If this woman were a prisoner, she would not be able to answer even if she were asked to think about it. Tian Chunda thought this way and stared at the other party with the eyes of a calm observer.
"What a coincidence, there's no one there."
"For example, the guy who delivered dinner once looked at your face..."
"This kind of thing has never happened. Although everyone ordered the lunch box together, other people are responsible for contacting the fast food restaurant..."
She shook her head slightly. Her hair was wrapped in a red scarf, and the raindrops on the cloth sparkled when illuminated by the ceiling lights.
