Case 026: The Intricate Case

Han Bin pondered for a while. “Captain Zeng, what if we can't find Sun Qifeng?”

“Sun Qifeng left his car behind. He can't have run far,” Zeng Ping replied.

“What if he’s dead?” Han Bin asked.

“Dead?” Zeng Ping was a bit surprised.

“How could that be?” Li Hui exclaimed.

“I’m just saying, what if,” Han Bin clarified.

“You mean Sun Qifeng’s accomplice might have killed him?” Zeng Ping said.

“Think about it from another perspective. If you were one of Sun Qifeng’s accomplices, and Sun Qifeng has already been exposed, but no one knows about you, what would you do?” Han Bin asked.

A troubled crease appeared on Zeng Ping’s forehead as he muttered, “Kill Sun Qifeng, and it’s over.”

“And you get to keep all the stolen money for yourself,” Li Hui added.

“I think Sun Qifeng’s accomplice planned from the start to make Sun Qifeng the scapegoat. All the clues point to him. As long as Sun Qifeng is killed, no matter how hard the police search, they won’t find him,” Han Bin said.

“If Sun Qifeng can't be found, the case becomes a cold one. No one would ever suspect his accomplice,” Zeng Ping said.

“Of course, it’s just my speculation,” Han Bin added.

“To confirm this, we still need to find Sun Qifeng,” Li Hui said.

“But the direction of our search changes. Now, all the police are looking for a living Sun Qifeng. We need to look for a dead one,” Han Bin said.

“Even if it’s only a guess, we can’t overlook any clues. Besides, the search team doesn’t need both of you. Tian Li and I will stay here; if we catch the suspect, the second squad gets credit too. The two of you follow Han Bin’s theory and investigate,” Zeng Ping instructed.

“What about Captain Zheng?”

“I’ll talk to Captain Zheng. He’ll agree,” Zeng Ping said.

“Understood.”

...

With Zeng Ping’s approval, Han Bin and Li Hui left the search team and started investigating on their own.

“Bin, where should we start?” Li Hui asked.

“The search team is looking for a living person. We’ll look for a dead one,” Han Bin replied.

“When do you think Sun Qifeng was most likely killed?” Li Hui asked.

“The night before last, after ten o’clock, the surveillance at the entrance of Huilongguan Community clearly showed the driver was Sun Qifeng. That means he was indeed involved in the case and was alive at that time,” Han Bin said.

“Sun Qifeng and his accomplice committed the crime the night before last. They could’ve escaped immediately but waited a day and didn’t run until the following night. That’s rather intriguing,” Li Hui observed.

“That’s not hard to explain. They were watching to see if the police would discover the clue about the van. If the police hadn’t found it, it would’ve been hard to trace Sun Qifeng, so there’d be no need to run, and Sun Qifeng might not have died,” Han Bin explained.

“It seems Sun Qifeng’s accomplice still had some loyalty,” Li Hui said.

“Not necessarily. If the police didn’t track down the van, and Sun Qifeng was killed, dealing with the van would be troublesome. If it’s handled poorly and the police discover it, it’s just creating more problems for themselves,” Han Bin replied.

“So, following this logic, Sun Qifeng was probably killed after we put out the warrant,” Li Hui said.

“Let’s go to the traffic monitoring center and see if there are images of the driver from last night,” Han Bin suggested.

“Right, I almost forgot about that!” Li Hui laughed.

...

Traffic Monitoring Center.

Zhao Ming had been stationed there, checking the road surveillance around Hengding Road and Dazhang Village, looking for suspicious vehicles and any trace of Sun Qifeng.

A muffled creak sounded as Han Bin and Li Hui pushed the door open and entered.

“Bin, what brings you here?” Zhao Ming asked in surprise.

“Are we not welcome?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be out on Hengding Road searching for suspects?” Zhao Ming said.

“There’s plenty of manpower there. We’re here to investigate other clues,” Han Bin replied.

“What clues?”

“Pull up the surveillance footage of the van from last night. We want to review it from beginning to end,” Han Bin said.

“Did you find any new clues?”

“We suspect Sun Qifeng had an accomplice, and last night’s driver was likely that person,” Han Bin said.

“I understand.” Zhao Ming, who had spent a lot of time in the monitoring room, quickly became proficient at operating the system and soon pulled up the footage of the suspect’s van.

He found several cameras close enough to capture the situation in the driver’s seat, but none showed the rear seats.

“The driver is wearing a baseball cap, and the sun visor is down. The images are a bit blurry, so there’s no way to see his face clearly,” Zhao Ming said.

“That baseball cap looks like it was placed on the front passenger seat,” Li Hui observed.

“Keep playing the footage,” Han Bin said.

The three of them watched the video, but still couldn’t make out the driver’s appearance.

“Damn!” Li Hui was frustrated. He’d thought this would be a clue, but the suspect had taken precautions.

Han Bin didn’t get discouraged and reviewed all the footage again.

Then he watched it a third time.

Afterward, Han Bin stroked his chin, lost in thought.

“Li Hui, from the intersection of Qiming Road and Kaiping Street to the junction of Hengding Road and Dazhang Village, how long did it take us?” Han Bin asked.

“About an hour, why?” Li Hui asked, puzzled.

“The suspect’s vehicle took an hour and a half to cover the same distance,” Han Bin said.

“Driving that slowly, could it be an inexperienced driver unfamiliar with the car?” Zhao Ming wondered.

“It’s very likely the owner wasn’t driving. Sun Qifeng may have already been subdued,” Li Hui speculated.

“That’s what I thought when I watched the footage the second time, but on the third viewing, I noticed something else,” Han Bin said.

“What did you find?”

“Between the intersection of Qiming Road and Kaiping Street and the junction of Hengding Road and Dazhang Village, there are about ten cameras. The distances between them are roughly the same, so the intervals between the footage should also be similar,” Han Bin explained, pointing to the videos. “And, for the most part, that’s true: most of the intervals are five, six, or seven minutes. Except for one camera, which has a gap of forty minutes.”

“That’s more than enough time to kill someone and bury the body,” Li Hui said.

“You suspect Sun Qifeng was murdered!” Zhao Ming exclaimed.

“If he was killed, we’ll know for sure when we check the site,” Han Bin said.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s hurry,” Li Hui urged.

Dozens of officers were searching the forest for Sun Qifeng. Every minute wasted was police resources squandered.

“Wait for me, I’m coming too!” Zhao Ming shouted as he ran out after them. He didn’t want to be stuck in the monitoring room any longer.