Upon hearing Yu Hanjiang's question, Qi Ming paused slightly before quickly replying, "Last Tuesday, Editor-in-Chief Li from LE Fashion Magazine invited us to dinner, saying she wanted to schedule an interview for next year's magazine. Yi Yan went home early after dinner, and I left with Editor-in-Chief Li."
Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked, " What time did Lin Yiyan leave? Can anyone confirm it?"
Qi Ming thought about it carefully and said, "We had dinner and chatted with Editor-in-Chief Li until about 8:30. Suddenly, Yi Yan received a message saying that there was an emergency at home, so she left first. I chatted with Editor-in-Chief Li until after 10:00. Editor-in-Chief Li gave me a ride home on her way. She can testify to that."
Yu Hanjiang looked at Shao Qingge, and CEO Shao immediately searched for the magazine editor's name in his phone's contacts.
LE is the fashion magazine with the largest circulation in China. Only big names in the entertainment industry can appear on the cover of this magazine. It is impossible to work with LE without some fame. Shao Qingge had the contact information of the magazine's editor-in-chief in his phone, and he gave the editor-in-chief Li's phone number to Yu Hanjiang.
Yu Hanjiang immediately used Shao Qingge's phone to call and confirm the matter. The other party confirmed that he had indeed had dinner with Lin Yiyan and Qi Ming last Tuesday. Yu Hanjiang said, "Ms. Li, there is a case that requires your assistance in the investigation. Please come back to the police station to make a statement when you have time."
The female editor-in-chief hesitated for a moment, then said, "A case? I'm very busy right now. Can I go over this afternoon?"
"Okay." Yu Hanjiang hung up the phone and looked at Qi Ming: "Mr. Qi, please come with me as well."
"Yes, officer." Qi Ming looked at CEO Shao nervously and asked, " CEO Shao, how should we explain Yi Yan's matter to the public?"
"Don't say a word before the police investigation is complete, to avoid the negative impact of public opinion on the company, understand?" Shao Qingge said in a deep voice.
Qi Ming nodded immediately: "Understood."
Yu Hanjiang said to Shao Qingge, " CEO Shao, I'll head back to the Police Station first. I'll contact you if anything comes up."
Shao Qingge smiled and said, "Okay, Captain Yu, take care."
Yu Hanjiang with Manager Qi Ming returned to the police station to give a detailed statement.
Qi Ming was very cooperative during the interrogation, answering all of Yu Hanjiang's questions. As Lin Yiyan's manager, he knew a lot, and Yu Hanjiang questioned him in detail about Lin Yiyan's assets, personal relationships, and other matters.
Aside from those deranged killers who kill indiscriminately, most murder cases require finding a motive, which is nothing more than love, revenge, or money. Yu Hanjiang first asked about Lin Yiyan's financial situation, and Qi Ming said, "Yiyan owns three properties. In addition to her private villa in the Yuehu Villa District, she also owns two houses in the city, two cars, and some savings."
Yu Hanjiang asked, "Does she have any siblings?"
Qi Ming said, "She is an only child."
Yu Hanjiang asked, "Has she borrowed money from anyone, or gone into gambling debts? Has she made any investments in recent years?"
Qi Ming shook his head: "She is a very down-to-earth and hardworking person. She doesn't know anything about investment and financial management. She gives most of her earnings to her parents to manage. As far as I know, she has no financial disputes with anyone... Moreover, she has a good temper, never acts like a diva, has good relationships in the industry, and has never made enemies with anyone."
Yu Hanjiang asked, "What about your romantic history?"
Qi Ming awkwardly touched his nose: "I don't know much about this. She said it's her privacy and wouldn't tell me."
Yu Hanjiang asked him to explain his whereabouts last Tuesday in detail.
Qi Ming immediately pulled out the notice book—
On Tuesday morning at 10 a.m., he arranged an interview with Lin Yiyan for a media reporter, which was an exclusive interview about the costume drama "Red Dust" which had already finished filming; at noon, he had a farewell dinner with the director and producer of the crew and discussed the publicity schedule; in the afternoon, Lin Yiyan went back to catch up on sleep, and in the evening, he had dinner with a magazine editor.
They had originally agreed to have dinner at 6:30, and Qi Ming drove to pick up Lin Yiyan at 5:30. However, there was a traffic jam on the way back, and they didn't arrive at the restaurant until 7:30. The three of them talked about some cooperation matters. Lin Yiyan seemed to be very happy during the dinner. However, at 8:30, her phone suddenly rang. It was a WeChat notification.
Yu Hanjiang focused on the key point: "Do you know who sent the WeChat message?"
Qi Ming shook his head: "I don't know. Her expression was a bit off after she saw the WeChat message. Then she said she had an emergency at home and had to go back first. She told me to talk to the editor-in-chief about the collaboration first. She borrowed my car keys and drove my car away. I even told her to be careful not to get followed by paparazzi."
Yu Hanjiang frowned – from Qi Ming's testimony, it was clear that the WeChat message Lin Yiyan received on Tuesday was key, but her phone was missing and it was impossible to verify who sent the message.
As for whether Qi Ming's words are credible, his expression doesn't seem like he's lying, but these people in the entertainment industry are all top-notch actors, so Yu Hanjiang still needs a third party's testimony to confirm.
Editor-in-Chief Li from the magazine arrived at Police Station promptly at 2:30 p.m.
The female editor-in-chief wore a camel-colored casual wool coat, black knee-high leather boots, a beige wool sweater, short hair to her ears, and exquisite makeup, looking very capable.
Yu Hanjiang inquired in detail about the process and opportunity that led to her collaboration with Lin Yiyan.
Editor-in-Chief Li said, "Ms. Lin won two Best Actress awards this year and her popularity is soaring. I wanted to ask her to shoot a magazine cover, and her manager also wanted to cooperate with us. We hit it off immediately and arranged a time to shoot the print promotional photos. I only met her three months ago."
Yu Hanjiang asked, "What's your relationship like? What kind of person do you think she is?"
Editor-in-Chief Li said, "I don't know her very well, but I feel that she is a very approachable person. She doesn't act like a big shot and is very polite to everyone. She also has a very good temper when working with photographers. She never complains of being tired even after shooting still photos all day. Everyone in our magazine likes her very much."
Yu Hanjiang said, "You asked her to dinner on Tuesday and told her about the details of the meal."
Editor-in-Chief Li gathered his thoughts and said, "Her manager called to say there was traffic and they wouldn't arrive until 7:30, so I arrived early and waited for them in the private room at the restaurant. During the meal, she seemed to be in a good mood, and we chatted quite happily. Around 8:30, her phone rang, it sounded like someone sent a WeChat message. After reading it, she said she had something to do at home and had to leave first. I talked to her manager about many details of the cooperation until about 10:30. Since Ms. Lin had driven away, and I happened to have my own car, I gave Mr. Qi a ride home."
Yu Hanjiang asked, "Where does Mr. Qi live? What time was it delivered?"
The editor-in-chief said, "He lives in Dongfu Jiayuan, which is not far from our home. He must have arrived home around 11 p.m.
After asking the editor-in-chief, Yu Hanjiang took the notebook to the Forensic Doctor Center to find Xiao Lou.
Xiao Lou had already performed an autopsy on the deceased and examined her internal organs and blood. Seeing Yu Hanjiang return, Xiao Lou quickly went to greet her and led her to his office, asking, "How's the progress on your end? Have you identified any suspects?"
Yu Hanjiang frowned and said, "On Tuesday night, Lin Yiyan, the Manager, and the magazine editor-in-chief had dinner together. The editor-in-chief can testify that Lin Yiyan went home early at 8:30, and the Manager didn't get home until 11:00."
He opened the city map on his phone and pointed to two residential areas, saying, " The manager lives in Dongfu Jiayuan, which is 30 kilometers away from Moon Lake Villa Estate where Lin Yiyan died. He can go home and then change cars to drive to Moon Lake Villa, so he has enough time. In addition, there is his skin and hair in the deceased's fingernails, so the manager cannot be ruled out as a suspect for the time being."
He looked at Xiao Lou's notebook and asked, "What are the autopsy results?"
Xiao Lou said, "The fatal wound was to the heart. There was no damage to other organs, and no traces of toxins in the body. Based on the analysis of the wounds on the body surface and organs, the murder weapon should be a sharp long knife, with a blade width of about 5cm and a length of about 20cm."
Xiao Lou professionally opened his computer and used software to reconstruct a model of a knife.
The fictional knife reconstructed perfectly matches the length and width of the wounds on the corpse.
Yu Hanjiang rested his fist on his chin and said thoughtfully, "I have thoroughly searched the interior of the villa, and I have also sent people to search all the trash cans and lawns in the community. So far, we have not found the murder weapon. It should have been taken away by the murderer."
Xiao Lou nodded: "Yeah, this kind of knife isn't commonly found in supermarkets. Maybe it was bought online."
Yu Hanjiang paused, then asked, "What are the ingredients of the ice?"
Xiao Lou said, "It's just ordinary tap water that has condensed; there's nothing special about it."
Yu Hanjiang glanced at the ice blocks in the crime scene photos. Most of the ice was in the form of brick-sized cubes, likely homemade using square containers placed in the freezer compartment. In the dead of winter, the murderer froze Lin Yiyan's body in the bathtub with ice blocks—besides delaying the discovery of the body, did this also seem to be a way of "preserving" it?
Yu Hanjiang said, "According to the Manager's testimony, Lin Yiyan had no property disputes, no siblings, and was usually kind and amiable, rarely offending anyone. People who had met her said she had a very good temper… It is unlikely that she was killed in a revenge killing. Her death is more likely to be a relationship issue. I will start my investigation from this aspect."
He took out his phone and sent a text message to Xiao Lou: " Save Ye Qi and CEO Shao's phone numbers."
Xiao Lou was somewhat surprised. While saving the number, she asked, "You found them so quickly? What are their identities?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Xiao Yezi is a singer, and CEO Shao is the owner of an entertainment company. I saw them when I went to the company headquarters just now. Why don't you create a WeChat group and add everyone to it? It will be easier to communicate in the future."
Xiao Lou couldn't help but chuckle: "Urban setting is so convenient, we can create a WeChat group to discuss things." He added Ye Qi, Shao Qingge, and Yu Hanjiang to the WeChat group, which was named " hearts 9 Detective Team".
Yu Hanjiang: "..."
Xiao Lou is quite humorous; the name "Detective Team" is very fitting.
Upon seeing the name, Ye Qi excitedly exclaimed, "Is that Professor Xiao? How did it go?"
Xiao Lou said, "There's only one suspect, Manager, at the moment. Captain Yu is still investigating. Don't worry, Xiao Ye [pats head]."
Shao Qingge sent a thumbs up: "Thank you both for your hard work. Please feel free to contact me if you need any help."
Ye Qi said, "I searched for a lot of information about Lin Yiyan online, and they all said that she has a super good temper. Many celebrities are her fans, and they line up to send her birthday wishes and call her goddess. I can't understand who would have such a big grudge against her?"
Shao Qingge said, "The entertainment industry is a deep and murky place. Gentle, cute, and aloof are just personas created by the company. There are plenty of dirty deals behind the scenes. You can't judge a book by its cover. This Lin Yiyan is probably not as innocent as she seems."
Ye Qi sent a silly smiley face and said, "That's true. Captain Yu, keep investigating. I'll stick with that girl group for now."
Yu Hanjiang only sent a single "Mm".
Ye Qi thought to himself, Captain Yu's aloof persona isn't just on the surface, it's at its core.
Yu Hanjiang handed the USB drive from his pocket to Xiao Lou, saying, "I copied a lot of celebrity information from CEO Shao; I haven't had time to look at it yet."
"Please help me organize this. I'll go to the Traffic Police Detachment first; they should be able to find crucial clues there. We'll analyze it further when I get back."
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll take a close look at the information CEO Shao gave me."
Yu Hanjiang nodded and quickly turned to leave.
He drove his police car straight to the Binzhou City Traffic Police Brigade.
The traffic police detachment captain, a middle-aged man, clearly recognized him. Upon seeing him, he greeted him with a smile: " Captain Yu, it's an honor to have you here. Is there another case?"
Yu Hanjiang said straightforwardly, "Please check the system for the car registered under Lin Yiyan's name, and also help me retrieve the road surveillance footage from the Binjiang Road area between 7:30 pm and 11:30 pm on Tuesday."
The traffic police department was very cooperative and quickly located the vehicle registered under Lin Yiyan's name.
The captain pointed to the computer screen and said, " Lin Yiyan, she owns two cars, a sedan with license plate number Bin A-6K502 and a sports car with license plate number Bin A-1029A."
Yu Hanjiang carefully examined the license plate number and the photo of the vehicle registration certificate, and frowned slightly.
As he expected, the two cars were indeed not quite right.
It's not unusual for celebrities to own several cars, but who would buy two identical cars for no reason? And with consecutive license plate numbers? He came to the Traffic Police Detachment to check the cars because he had doubts and felt that the two cars didn't both belong to Lin Yiyan.
Bin A-6K502, one of two black sedans that appeared at Moon Lake Villa Estate early Tuesday morning, is registered to Lin Yiyan.
Judging from the photo on the vehicle registration certificate, the license plate number Bin A-1029A is a red luxury sports car. If I remember correctly, 1029 is Lin Yiyan's birthday, and the license plate number is her birthday. This is very likely a birthday gift from herself or someone else.
However, what appeared at the villa's entrance early Tuesday morning were clearly two black sedans.
Yu Hanjiang remembers clearly that the license plates were 6K502 and 6K501, consecutive numbers.
Could the consecutive numbers 502 and 501, when combined, mean... 521, which means "I love you"?
If so, the meaning conveyed by this license plate number is quite cryptic.
Upon realizing this, Yu Hanjiang immediately said, "Help me find out who owns the car with license plate number Bin A-6K501."
The Traffic Police Detachment chief quickly looked up a name in the system. He exclaimed in shock, " Cheng Yu? Isn't that the male celebrity? His license plate is consecutive with Lin Yiyan's! What a coincidence!"
Yu Hanjiang: "..."
When registering a vehicle, hundreds of license plate numbers are randomly generated for the owner to choose from. The probability of two celebrities' cars randomly getting the consecutive numbers 501 and 502 is extremely low—clearly, this consecutive number was deliberately chosen by them, with a hidden meaning, showing their thoughtfulness.
The house at Moon Lake Villa belongs to Lin Yiyan, and she has registered the license plates of two cars with the property management.
With this in mind, Yu Hanjiang called the property management of the Moon Lake Villa area and asked, "Hello, this is Binzhou City..." "Captain of Criminal Police Detachment, does your property management verify vehicle registration certificates when registering license plates in your residential complex?"
The property management staff said, "This is not a requirement, because many owners in our community own several cars. There are plenty of parking spaces in the villa area, and any car registered by the owner can come and go freely. For example, if an owner's wife has a car and his parents also have cars, when he registers at the property management center, all the license plates can be registered under his name."
Yu Hanjiang said knowingly, " Lin Yiyan's villa at No. 191, Area C, only has two cars registered, 6K501 and 6K502, right?"
The property management staff replied, "Yes."
Yu Hanjiang continued, "How long do you keep the surveillance cameras at the entrance of your community? Can you find records of these two vehicles, 6K501 and 6K502, entering and leaving the community in the past?"
The property management company said, "The surveillance footage is usually kept for a week. We will try our best to check it and notify you when we have any news."
Yu Hanjiang thanked him and hung up the phone.
The registered license plates allow free entry and exit from the residential complex. Clearly, Lin Yiyan wanted Cheng Yu's car to have free access to her villa area, which is why she registered these two license plate numbers at the property management center. Since they are consecutive numbers, the property management will assume both cars belong to her, and in such upscale communities, privacy is not compromised, so she doesn't need to worry about paparazzi finding out.
Traffic police quickly retrieved surveillance footage from the Binjiang Road area last Tuesday.
Manager Qi Ming's car appeared near Binjiang Road around 7:30. The intersection's security camera captured two people in the driver's seat—it was indeed Lin Yiyan and the Manager. Qi Ming and the other man parked their car in front of an upscale restaurant and went inside. Around 8:30, Lin Yiyan hurriedly came out alone and drove away in the manager's car.
Yu Hanjiang said, "Track these two cars."
Traffic police retrieved surveillance footage from along the route to track the vehicle.
Numerous small windows appeared on the large screen. Yu Hanjiang, with his rich experience in handling cases and sharp eyes, followed the car according to the timeline. Finally, the car drove into an underground parking garage in the city center. Yu Hanjiang patiently stared at the exit of the garage. Several hours later, around 1:30 a.m., a black sedan with license plate number 6K502 drove out of the garage.
Lin Yiyan drove her manager's car to the residential area, then changed cars and left. This is a common tactic used by celebrities to shake off paparazzi.
Yu Hanjiang instructed the traffic police to continue tracking vehicle 6K502.
Lin Yiyan's 6K502 sedan drove onto the highway and appeared at the intersection of the mountain road leading to Yuehu Villa around 2:00 AM. At the same time, another black 6K501 sedan was also spotted at the intersection. The two cars met at the intersection and flashed each other's lights.
They turned on their headlights and drove one after the other towards the villa area.
Yu Hanjiang calmly said, "Track the 6K501 car and find its route."
With the help of several officers from the Traffic Police Department, they retrieved traffic surveillance footage from all sections of the route. The numerous small windows on the large screen were dazzling to everyone…
After several hours of investigation, Yu Hanjiang finally found the source of the vehicle.
6K501, this car came out of an entertainment club in the city.
The driver's seat was captured on camera at a nearby intersection.
The man in the driver's seat was wearing sunglasses and a mask, making it impossible to see his face. Yu Hanjiang zoomed in on the photo several times and discovered that he was wearing a very distinctive ring on his hand holding the steering wheel.
Yu Hanjiang sent the photo to the WeChat group: " Xiao Lou, compare this photo with Cheng Yu's information."
Xiao Lou quickly provided the answer: "Judging from the clothes, hairstyle, and the ring on his hand, this person should be Cheng Yu."
Fortunately, Binzhou City has a comprehensive traffic monitoring system.
Yu Hanjiang uncovered a wealth of irrefutable evidence through the two license plate numbers.
The net of Heaven is vast, its meshes are wide, yet nothing escapes it.
The person who entered the villa with Lin Yiyan early Tuesday morning was none other than Cheng Yu, a popular male celebrity who is eight years younger than her!