Ma Xiaochao finally helped Liu Mengwei retrieve the list of villagers in Xibao Village. Among these lists, a name they were familiar with unexpectedly appeared: Qin Nanzhu.
Qin Nanzhu has been dependent on her grandma since she was a child, but when she was ten years old, her grandma also passed away. From then on, she struggled to live alone by relying on various subsidies and donations. Finally, she finally succeeded in her studies and successfully entered the experimental middle school and became a teacher.
Ma Xiaochao is also a meticulous and thoughtful person, so Ling Feng gets along well with him. After learning that several people directly related to Jasmine's case were all dead, even the most obtuse person could faintly sense the strangeness hidden in it. So, he investigated the original victim of the case, Li Youlin. It would have been better not to investigate, but when an investigation was carried out, two more deceased persons were found, none other than Li Youlin's parents. They died together of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by burning charcoal in December 2000.
It seemed to be another accident. All the people directly or indirectly related to Jasmine's case died due to accidents, and no one was left.
Wen Qiao picked up Chen Weidong's file and said, "You can check this person again."
Liu Mengwei also took a look at the file: "This person was not married, had no children, and had no other living immediate relatives. Does anyone remember his death? Why not check this person named Zhao Qiang first? He was electrocuted and died at home. , who was living with his mother at the time, and his mother is still alive, maybe she still remembers what happened that day.”
"If these cases are all fake accidents, then the perpetrators must have been very careful and did not reveal any obvious flaws, otherwise they would have been exposed at the time. Since no one has discovered it in the past ten years, it is impossible to find anything new if we investigate now. harvest."
"Then what's so special about this Chen Weidong?" Ma Xiaochao asked.
"The deaths in several other cases were caused by the deceased's own fault, at least on the surface. But Chen Weidong was different. He died of poisoning after eating pufferfish. Everyone knows that pufferfish is highly poisonous , so no one would buy it and cook it themselves, they would all have it cooked by professional chefs. Therefore, there is a second person directly related to this case, and it has become the only well-documented case now." Wen Qiao explained.
…
They quickly found the chef who cooked puffer fish for Chen Weidong, Qian Hong, 55 years old, and now works as a security guard in a private company.
When asked about this case that happened 15 years ago, the dark and thin old man suddenly became energetic. It was as if he had been wronged for half his life and finally got a chance to appeal, and he began to pour out his bitterness to Wen Qiao and Liu Mengwei.
"At that time, I had been cooking puffer fish for ten years, and I had never eaten anyone to death. Until now, I still don't believe that the person died after eating the fish I cooked!" Qian Hong said loudly. As if he wanted everyone in the world to hear his cry.
"I still remember it clearly! I made 6 fish that morning and 8 in the afternoon. Each one was processed according to the old method. I could do it with my eyes closed. At that time, the shop dared to make puffer fish There weren't as many as now, and there weren't that many people who were capable of being fugu cooks. The restaurant I worked at back then wasn't that small either. The only thing that mattered was the qualifications here. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been people who came from other cities. Come to us and try something new." Qian Hong talked about the glorious history of that year, and he was very happy. They were too embarrassed to interrupt him and could only listen quietly.
"It was the puffer fish season at that time, so the daily demand was huge. I usually process five or six fish at one time, soak them together, and clean them. Sometimes, more than one fish is cooked in one pot. I don’t believe that they are all the same fish, and no one else had any trouble eating it, but that person ate it to death?”
"Are you sure everyone else is okay?" Liu Mengwei asked.
"Of course! If something happened to someone else, wouldn't they just take it for granted and not come to me?"
"Did the police come to investigate this matter later?"
Qian Hong snorted: "People were killed, and of course the police came. Anyway, they kept asking me questions, and told them things that I had told them three or five times. "
Speaking of this, Qian Hong showed disdain: "I work in the kitchen, just cooking, and don't interact with the guests at all. I have no idea who comes to eat, or which dish I cook is for which person." What's more, the person who least wants anything to happen to me is me. If something like this happens, I won't even be able to work as a cook!"
"Since you firmly believe that the pufferfish you cooked is fine, how do you think that person died?"
Hearing Liu Mengwei's question, Qian Hong sighed helplessly: "The police tested it at the time and found that the man was poisoned by puffer fish. He happened to eat the puffer fish I cooked that day. Even if I have every confidence in myself, , but this has already happened, no one will believe me even if I tell the truth, I can only admit that I am unlucky."
"Is it possible that the person who delivered the food did something?" Liu Mengwei asked.
"How do I know this? Anyway, this incident was quite a big deal at the time. The hotel was closed for a few days. The police investigated everything inside and out. No one in our place knew that person at all. So, In the end, this responsibility can only fall on me."
Wen Qiao suddenly asked: "The dishes in your restaurant can be taken away, right?"
"Yes." Qian Hong replied: "Especially pufferfish. Some people treat guests to dinner elsewhere. If they want to eat pufferfish, they will come to our store to package it."
Wen and Liu looked at each other. Chen Weidong died of poisoning while eating puffer fish at his own home. This meant that someone must have taken a portion of the prepared fish from the restaurant and delivered it to Chen Weidong's home.
But Chen Weidong was just a jobless vagrant and a scoundrel. How could he have the money to afford such a meal, which was considered a luxury at the time?
"Did the police find any other suspicious persons at that time?"
"It would be great if I could find it!" Qian Hong sighed heavily: "That way I wouldn't have to pay such a large sum of money!"
"So, this case was finally closed accidentally?"
"Otherwise, what else could I do? I remember that man had an old father who was very ill. He was sitting in the living room of my house, crying and asking me to give him back his son. That look would have scared me to death. I feel like that. He's about to pout in a second, but he's actually just asking for money." Qian Hong said scornfully.
"I feel like the police wanted to investigate again, but they couldn't find any clues, so they had to postpone it. But their family couldn't wait any longer and wanted to settle the matter as soon as possible. Anyway, the hotel and I couldn't run away. For them, as long as someone is responsible for this matter, it doesn’t matter who the responsible person is!”
"How much did you lose at that time?" Wen Qiao asked.
Upon hearing this question, Qian Hong's eyes dodge for a moment, but he couldn't escape the burning gazes of the two of them.
"fifty thousand."
"This was not a small amount of money at that time!" Liu Mengwei said: "How much was your annual salary at that time?"
After all, Qian Hong is an honest working man who is not good at lying, let alone lying in front of the police.
"More than 10,000... less than 20,000."
"Then you can come up with so much money at once?" Liu Mengwei continued to dig out the loopholes in his words: "Your salary should only be enough for daily expenses, and you shouldn't be able to save so much money, right? Even if you had so much money at the time Savings, are you willing to spend all your money to pay for such an unjust case?"
"Then... what else can be done?" At this point, Qian Hong was obviously starting to lose confidence.
"Where did your money come from?"
"Borrowed...borrowed part of it."
"Who borrowed it? How much did you borrow? Tell me the name of the borrower, and I will go find them to verify." Liu Mengwei made a gesture and took out a pen and paper to record it.
Qian Hong rubbed his hands and his breathing gradually became faster: "Officer, can I ask a question first?"
"Is it... that the person who poisoned my fish was found?" Qian Hong looked at the two of them with a low eyebrow.
Wen Qiao's eyes flashed. His face was already intimidating enough when it was expressionless, but now it was even more like he was torturing his heart.
"You really know that someone deliberately poisoned your food!"
"No! I don't know!" Qian Hong denied continuously, his face turning red: "This matter has nothing to do with me at all. I have no intention of poisoning anyone, and I am also being used by others!"
"So you still know that someone is going to poison and kill people." Wen Qiao continued to press him.
"Oops! I didn't figure it out until later! What reason did I have to do this? Someone else ate the puffer fish I cooked and died. Are you asking for trouble? Are you ruining your own sign? Isn't there something wrong with my brain?" Qian Hong said anxiously I almost had to jump up and down.
"Since you already know that someone poisoned the food you cooked, why are you still willing to compensate the family of the deceased?" Another aggressive question.
Qian Hong was stunned for several minutes, and his fingers were about to be scratched by him. Finally, he slowly said: "I have been holding this matter in my heart for more than ten years. Now that you have found me again today, I will Let me tell you."
It turned out that after Chen Weidong's family made trouble with Qian Hong several times, Qian Hong knew that he could not escape anyway, and he couldn't bear the trouble, so he could only sit down and discuss a compensation plan with them. In the end, they negotiated an agreement, and the hotel and Qian Hong each paid 50,000 yuan to the victim's family, and the incident was settled.
Just when Qian Hong was worried about this matter, he received a notice from the post office, asking him to bring his ID card to pick up a registered letter. It was this registered letter that solved his urgent need.
"Inside is an insurance contract and bankbook." At this point, Qian Hong sighed slightly.
"Not to mention buying insurance. At that time, I didn't even know what insurance was, so how could someone send me compensation? So, I understood at that time that this money was sent by the person who framed me. For me."
"Then you accepted it? Didn't you consider telling the police about it and catching the culprit?" Liu Mengwei asked.
Seeing that Qian Hong was hesitant again, Wen Qiao gave him reassurance: "We came to you this time just for a private inquiry and will not record any files. As for the money you received, it has nothing to do with us. Even if it was really sent to you by the murderer, there is no law that stipulates that the murderer cannot give money to others. Just tell us everything you know."
"Let's not talk about whether we can find that person. Even if we find him, what will happen?" Qian Hong looked helpless: "It has happened. Everyone knows that the puffer fish I made killed people. Even if the police catch the poisoner, The court has also cleared me, so how many people will be willing to take this risk and believe me?"
"I can't be a chef anyway, so I might as well accept this money and make plans for the future as soon as possible." Qian Hong's consideration was very realistic, but there was no way to say that his choice was wrong. It seems that the poisoner had a good grasp of his mentality and dared to do this. .
Could it be that the clues we finally obtained are about to be broken again?
Suddenly, Qian Hong seemed to have thought of something and said to them: "By the way, I still keep that insurance policy. Do you want to take a look?"
