Street Hustler and His Policewoman Wife

Chen Xiao once again arrived at the division’s criminal police team.

When Qin Fei saw him, he was quite surprised, but immediately followed by a face full of joy.

Looking at his extremely expectant smile, Chen Xiao asked with a smile:

"Why do you look like seeing me is such a big surprise?"

"Logically, you wouldn’t be looking for me at this time, and you surely wouldn’t rush me for what you asked me to handle, so you must have a new discovery about the case!"

Chen Xiao shrugged noncommittally:

"I didn’t make a discovery, just have a doubt. Your mother said you might give me an answer."

This caught Qin Fei a bit off guard.

"What’s the question? Go ahead."

"Your mother has a friend named Auntie Cai, you know her, right?"

"I know her." Qin Fei instinctively replied, but then his eyes lit up:

"Wait, Auntie Cai seems to be from Zhushan City!"

Chen Xiao nodded with a smile: "Yes, she’s from Zhushan, and she’s from Fengshan County in Zhushan City."

Qin Fei slapped his forehead: "If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about Auntie Cai!"

"Yes, I went to see your parents today, and they introduced me to Auntie Cai’s house. It’s entirely in the architectural style of Phoenix Mountain, and I even rented a room similar to the one in the Yuan Keyu case."

"But when I left that room, I was curious why such a cheap rental area had landlords installing surveillance cameras. You know, installing surveillance nowadays isn’t easy and even requires filing procedures."

Hearing this, Qin Fei understood why Chen Xiao came to him.

"Wait a moment, I’ll go fetch a file. If I remember correctly, there seemed to be an incident at Auntie Cai’s house. But it should have been handled by the local police station. I didn’t oversee it."

Chen Xiao responded, and Qin Fei went to contact the police station.

After nearly forty minutes, Qin Fei returned.

"Found out that there was an incident at Auntie Cai’s house two years ago. Originally, it was just a theft case, where a tenant’s money was stolen. But that money was life-saving money, and after it was stolen, the tenant’s mother passed away because of it."

"Since then, that tenant stayed in front of Auntie Cai’s house every day, sharpening a knife whenever he saw Auntie Cai or her family."

"This incident gave Auntie Cai’s family quite a scare, and hence they installed surveillance cameras after that."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiao asked with some confusion: "Why did the tenant blame Auntie Cai?"

"The tenant believed Auntie Cai, as the landlord of the rented house, stole the money. Moreover, landlords have spare keys, so the tenant suspected that either Auntie Cai or her family stole the money."

This made sense to Chen Xiao.

The tenant was robbed.

The landlord has a spare key.

It’s possible for the tenant to suspect the landlord of the theft.

And Auntie Cai, as a landlord, installed surveillance cameras to avoid future troubles, which is reasonable.

As for why Auntie Cai didn’t want to explain the reason of installing cameras to Chen Xiao, it’s also understandable.

After all, the tenant suspected Auntie Cai or her family of the theft, which is damaging to her reputation and worrying for renting out houses.

Seeing Chen Xiao deep in thought, Qin Fei asked:

"Are you thinking about why there was also surveillance at the crime scene?"

"Yes."

"I remember there wasn’t any record about this in the case files, meaning everyone might have overlooked it, right?" Qin Fei’s tone was quite uncertain, nor did he sound pleased.

Chen Xiao laughed: "See, even you are not confident and think it was overlooked, right?"

Qin Fei replied heavily: "Yes, I think Brother Xiuyuan wouldn’t be so careless. But since the records don’t mention it, can we deduce something?"

"Go on." Chen Xiao signaled him to continue, Qin Fei said:

"Just because the records don’t mention it doesn’t mean the task force didn’t know the reason. The reason could be simple, like landlords installing surveillance cameras due to past incidents. But another possibility exists: the reason for installing cameras is still uncertain, that’s why it’s not recorded."

"I lean towards the latter." Chen Xiao responded directly.

Qin Fei nodded: "I also believe it’s the latter. Brother Xiuyuan is very cautious and detailed, so if there was an answer about the surveillance, his files would definitely record it thoroughly."

"So going to Zhushan City tomorrow isn’t a waste of time."

Qin Fei frowned: "But the task force members are probably investigating this too. We could just hold a meeting and exchange information."

Chen Xiao shook his head with a smile: "Do you know the entire list of the task force personnel?"

Qin Fei was surprised, but replied: "Brother Xiuyuan leads, assisted by two detectives from other cities for his investigation work. As for evidence collection and forensics, they are all top experts from the province."

"Do you think they cooperate seamlessly?"

Qin Fei suddenly fixed his gaze: "I get your point now, you’re saying some might discover something but not mention it. On the other hand, Brother Xiuyuan, as the group leader, might also not disclose his findings."

"Yes, it’s possible, but it depends on each member’s character in the task force."

Qin Fei rubbed his forehead, smiled bitterly: "This is indeed quite a headache. But thinking about it, it makes sense since achieving success in such a major case is a significant merit. Everyone wants to progress and rise through great achievements, thus having various motives."

Chen Xiao said nothing more.

After reviewing the case files multiple times, he increasingly felt Lin Xi’s words made sense.

Qin Fei isn’t a novice at work either and understands some things clearly.

Wherever there are people, there are tensions. A may not want to compete, but B, C, and D might want to.

Thinking of this, Qin Fei instead calmed down and said lightly:

"What about us? What attitude do you think we should take?"

"Do you think you can digest this merit and handle it?"

Qin Fei smiled lightly: "I probably can."

"That’s good, after we go, we’ll do our own work. Whoever to guard against, we keep it in mind."

Qin Fei extended his hand: "Let’s shake on it. This should be the time I need your help the most."

Chen Xiao smiled, then Qin Fei brought good news:

"I’ve mentioned your matter. They will contact people to discuss cooperation with your side."

"That’s good."

Chen Xiao replied with a smile, and Qin Fei patted his shoulder:

"You don’t need to rush things too much. At least everyone thinks our visit is just a formality. So, we can improvise as needed."

Chen Xiao just nodded and then said:

"Which interrogation room is Huang Hao in? I’m going to see him, want to see how he would pull off a perfect murder given an airtight room!"