Chapter 722: Too Many People, Too Many Eyes – A Direct Encounter!

Chen Xiao was focused solely on reviewing the alibi provided by Ye Jun.

The alibi could be considered as two separate accounts.

The first account was for the day when Professor Yuan Keyu had the incident, stating his whereabouts. Were there other people to vouch for him at that location?

The second account: the night Officer Dou Zhihai died, where was he? Were there others who could confirm his presence at the location?

Both alibis had ample human evidence.

Or rather, both alibis could practically be treated as the same one.

Because the answer was the same.

Ye Jun was at school.

The ones vouching for him were teachers and dorm roommates.

During the incident involving Yuan Keyu, Ye Jun had consulted teachers on some study topics.

The teacher remembered clearly spending nearly two hours with Ye Jun that day.

After those two hours, Ye Jun returned to the dormitory, chatted with fellow students briefly, and then the entire dorm went to sleep.

Before falling asleep, Yuan Keyu had already been murdered.

This was enough to prove that Ye Jun was not the knife that killed Yuan Keyu.

Then there was the case of Dou Zhihai’s murder.

Based on the inferred time of death, from Dou Zhihai’s disappearance to the moment of death, Ye Jun was also with his teachers.

Because at that time, the school was organizing an event, and Ye Jun, as a class monitor, was discussing event details with the teachers.

After the meeting, Ye Jun similarly went back to the dorm for rest.

Before falling asleep, all of Ye Jun’s actions occurred under the teachers’ watchful eyes.

So he had no time to carry out a plan to murder an officer.

But after a bit of contemplation, Chen Xiao detected the issue.

On the night Dou Zhihai was murdered, Ye Jun arrived at the dorm shortly before ten o’clock at night.

Yet he left the meeting at around nine forty-something in the evening.

Chen Xiao was puzzled not by the roughly ten-minute duration to reach the dorm but by the fact that no one could confirm that Dou Zhihai was in danger before ten at night.

This was because Dou Zhihai’s exact time of death should be calculated from the early hours of that day.

Therefore, although Ye Jun provided an alibi for the Dou Zhihai case, his alibi couldn’t really serve as proof.

During Dou Zhihai’s time of death, there was nobody who could confirm that Ye Jun was not involved in the case.

Chen Xiao believed that both Cao Xiuyuan and Sun Zhou must have thought of this issue as well and perceived the ineffectiveness of this alibi.

Yet, the two acknowledged the alibi.

There was only one reason for this, Ye Jun was in a passive position regarding this incident.

The time of Dou Zhihai’s death occurred during a period when most people were in deep sleep, with a very low chance of waking up.

That was between two o’clock in the morning and just before daybreak!

So during this period, if someone could step forward to vouch for Ye Jun, it would appear rather odd.

For instance, Ye Jun’s teacher.

If he saw Ye Jun sleeping between two in the morning and five or six, it would be unquestionably suspicious.

Because he also needs to rest, and it would be impossible for him to spend the long hours of the latter night just watching Ye Jun sleep soundly.

It was just that Chen Xiao’s thoughts took a sharp turn at this point.

"The school Ye Jun attended was merely a vocational college. Even though one doesn’t want to view such schools in a special light, in reality, vocational colleges are far less stringent in discipline and supervision of students compared to other schools."

"Similarly, the students enrolled in vocational colleges are mostly the ones who were eliminated by the gaokao due to relatively poor grades."

"And among these students, some aren’t incapable of studying but simply don’t focus on their studies at all."

"They enjoy skipping classes, surfing the internet, and befriending those street buddies who resemble gangsters."

"So that night, did everyone in Ye Jun’s dorm genuinely lay obediently in bed, sleeping peacefully?"

This question surfaced in Chen Xiao’s mind, prompting him to instinctively look up at Cao Xiuyuan and Sun Zhou.

However, the two were still chatting with Zeng Lingqiu.

Presumably, the topic was about whether the family and colleagues of Yuan Keyu were aware of Zhushan City’s peculiarity and why they didn’t bring it up at the time if they knew.

Chen Xiao rose and sat straight next to Qin Fei.

Zeng Lingqiu noticed his arrival but merely glanced before withdrawing her gaze.

Cao Xiuyuan didn’t know that Chen Xiao had met Zeng before, so he proactively introduced:

"Ms. Zeng, let me introduce you; this is Chen Xiao, the criminal investigation advisor hired by our task force. He is a very, very skilled private detective!"

"We’ve already met just now."

Cao Xiuyuan’s sudden introduction and his earnest demeanor left a trace of amazement in Zeng Lingqiu’s tone.

Chen Xiao had no time to care about her impression of him, and said to Cao Xiuyuan, Sun Zhou, and Qin Fei:

"I’ve got some new questions, let’s talk outside."

"Why talk outside? Isn’t it appropriate to talk in front of us?" Zeng Lingqiu instinctively asked unhappily.

Chen Xiao glanced at her, only replying: "It’s related to the case, and there are too many factors involved in the investigation. We will seek information from you, but the information we gather doesn’t allow us to fully trust and disclose it to you all."

Chen Xiao didn’t have a particularly good impression of Zeng Lingqiu, nor a bad one...

But Zeng Lingqiu’s expression turned unpleasant at the lack of trust from Chen Xiao, and she immediately wanted to demand an explanation from Cao Xiuyuan.

However, just as Zeng Lingqiu was about to speak, Cao Xiuyuan, skilled at perceiving subtle traces, briskly said to her:

"Please remain calm, Ms. Zeng. Advisor Chen’s words are unanimously acknowledged by our task force. Regarding Professor Yuan’s case, we will inform you when we believe it’s appropriate to do so."

"As for other times, if we haven’t mentioned it, we ask that Ms. Zeng understand our work."

The words Zeng Lingqiu intended to say were forcefully repressed by Cao Xiuyuan.

Her eyes showed even more amazement as she asked: "Where is this Advisor Chen from? Why does he carry such weight in your task force?"

"Chen Xiao, Advisor Chen from Dongzhou. Ms. Zeng, if you have the time, you can search online for news about him."

Cao Xiuyuan said, then immediately made a gesture inviting Chen Xiao.

Guo Zhengchang then stated confidently: "Chen Xiao, you go about your work, it’s indeed important to be cautious when speaking in crowded places."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiao couldn’t help but smile knowingly.

Clearly, Guo Zhengchang too had discerned Zeng Lingqiu’s dismissive attitude from these words.

Soon, the four of Chen Xiao left the conference room ahead.

Just as they stepped out, the last group of people happened to walk into the police station.

Then, under Cao Xiuyuan’s prior arrangement, Ye Jun following Ye Changhuai bumped right into Gao Yao, who was brought back by Liu Dayou!