The Disowned Young Lady Married a Homicide Detective - Chapter 23

“I really didn’t do anything. I just took the money and did a favor. This person’s death has nothing to do with me. After I took the painting, I transferred the copyright to the Lin Group. The 500,000 yuan I received was a bonus. Everything I said is true!”

Xiao Zhang slammed his fist on the table in anger, “You’re the only one who gets the 500,000 yuan prize?”

Yang Tao nodded like a chick pecking at rice, “Yes, President Lin promised me that as long as the matter is completed, the money will be directly transferred to my card.”

“Oh, right.” Yang Tao tried to take his phone out of his pocket, but his hands were handcuffed and he couldn’t move at all.

“Officer, I have a recording of my conversation with General Manager Lin on my phone. You’ll understand once you listen to it.”

Xiao Zhang asked a police officer to come forward and search Yang Tao. Then, he took two cell phones from Yang Tao’s pocket.

“Did you use two phones at work before?”

Yang Tao’s expression froze. “Yes…yes, is it not allowed?”

“You’re lying!” Xiao Zhang glared at him. “You’d better tell me the truth, what’s the deal with the other cell phone!”

The two cell phones on the table, one with a chipped paint case, and the other with a transparent case and no yellowing at the edges, indicate that the phone is new, or that Yang Tao rarely uses it.

Yang Tao was on the verge of tears. “This was bought for me by President Lin. He said that if you’re going to put on a show, you have to go all the way and not let anyone find out anything. He also bought me a lot of equipment, including the equipment for the live broadcast.”

The police officer approached Yang Tao and helped him unlock his phone to retrieve the recorded memo.

Upon closer inspection, there were quite a few recordings, each with its own annotations.

There is a voice chat feature exclusively for Shi Li.

There is also information about a collaboration with Lin Zedong.

“You’re quite cautious, using the new phone your boss bought you to record messages. Aren’t you worried he’s installed a tracking system on your phone?” Xiao Zhang clicked on the first message, a private voice chat with Shi Li.

Then that sweet, cloying voice suddenly came out, and the female voice was imitated perfectly.

And it even had a slight accent, exactly the same as the voice of the goddess in Shi Li’s chat notes.

“No, no, he took me to the mall with this phone, and he bought me a lot of clothes there too.” Speaking of clothes, Yang Tao blushed and lowered his head.

Xiao Zhang got goosebumps while watching it.

Next, I clicked on the next recording, and Lin Zedong’s voice came through, mentioning Shi Li as well.

Xiao Zhang’s expression hardened. “Why does it have to be Shi Li’s painting? Can’t we just imitate his style?”

The Lin Group is so large, is it really necessary to go to such great lengths for an illustration style?

They even spent 500,000 yuan.

“President Lin has obsessive-compulsive disorder; he has a few quirks in this area,” Yang Tao said cautiously, his expression indescribable. “Once he sets his sights on something, he has to get it. And he has a sharp eye. I saw this new product sell out immediately upon its release. The female protagonist in the illustration is from a bestselling comic IP. I’ve read it; it’s a free serial and very popular. It’s like bringing the world of anime into reality. As for the products being sold, many of them are actually bought by Shi Li’s fans.”

Xiao Zhang raised an eyebrow, “How did you know that?”

Yang Tao: “That’s what my former colleague said. And after I got to know Shi Li, I found out that the female protagonist in his painting was actually his next-door neighbor. He must have a crush on his neighbor. I think President Lin is the same way; he probably likes this woman.”

Xiao Zhang was speechless for a moment. After so many years of interrogation, he had finally encountered a chatterbox.

Without needing to ask any further questions, Yang Tao told everything.

“Officer, I’ll be honest. You can take the recording if you want. Anyway, I don’t work for the Lin Group anymore, so I don’t have to deal with that CEO Lin’s attitude. But… could you let me go sooner?” He pleaded with his face.

Xiao Zhang’s lips twitched. “So, Lin Zedong asked you to gain Shi Li’s trust, and you used AI synthesis technology to impersonate the female protagonist in his comic to get close to Shi Li. What did you do when you got the painting and the copyright transfer agreement?”

Yang Tao’s eyes widened. “Once the money is in my account, I’ll switch to live streaming. I’ve discovered that these otaku guys love wearing uniforms, all kinds of uniforms. Making money from them is much better than being a designer.”

He was, after all, a newcomer to the workplace, and since he was a frequent internet surfer, he was prepared to record the conversation when the CEO called him into his office.

The reason for this is to prevent the boss from denying it later, in which case his 500,000 yuan would be wasted.

The money came from a legitimate source, so Yang Tao cannot be convicted of anything.

However, Yang Tao’s subsequent live streams infringed on Sang Ning’s portrait rights.

Most importantly, Yang Tao and Shi Li never met in person during their interactions.

In other words, Yang Tao had never been to Ping An Apartment.

Even after the final interrogation ended, Yang Tao was still crying.

Xiao Zhang immediately came out of the interrogation room and sent the recording to Gu Yezhou’s mobile phone.

He rolled his eyes. “I really suspect this guy was born the wrong gender. How can he cry more than a woman?”

“Otherwise, how can you be a female anchor?” the interrogator muttered, clearly annoyed as well.

On the other side, the technical squadron.

Old Chen and several police officers arrived early in the morning without even having breakfast. They quickly inspected the easels, paints, and other miscellaneous items that Gu Yezhou and his group had brought back from the third floor of Ping An Apartment last night.

“Master, there is a fingerprint on the easel that does not belong to Shi Li.”

I thought I would get nothing, but these things were moved from the second floor and thrown to the third floor.

The murderer was most likely wearing gloves when carrying the items, so most of the traces left on the items belonged to the deceased.

“Let’s compare it with the database and see whose it is.” Old Chen’s eyes were full of excitement.

Shi Li is a homebody and doesn’t have many people around him. If someone else’s fingerprints are found on the easel, it means that person is very familiar with Shi Li.

Or perhaps the murderer accidentally left it behind while moving the items!

“No way… how come there are smelly socks? This murderer is too good at moving things. It’s a shame he’s not a moving company employee.”

As a technician who was comparing fingerprints sat down, the chair’s wheels accidentally snagged a row of threads.

Looking down, I saw that it was a pair of black socks.

Old Chen stared straight ahead at the socks on the ground for a while before bending down to pick them up.

He looked at the thread end, examining it from left to right, then placed it on the machine next to him to begin testing. Next, he found another thread that Sang Ning had asked him to test.

His eyes lit up. “I didn’t expect this thread to be from these socks.”

The technician gestured with his chin, “That victim was really pitiful; he even had a smelly sock stuffed into his mouth before he died.”

Old Chen: “…”

After comparing the fingerprints with the database, the technician still couldn’t find a result. He said in a deep voice, “Master, could this fingerprint belong to Li Xiaoqiang?”

“Go and compare them.” Old Chen paused. “Compare the fingerprints of everyone around Li Xiaoqiang, including Lin Zehui who came last night, and also Lin Zedong. Businessmen’s fingerprints should be easy to find; we don’t need to go looking for them ourselves.”

“No need, Li Xiaoqiang could just throw an ashtray at Shi Li, and this pile of stuff was found in the building he rented. Obviously, he’s the murderer. And these fingerprints might even be his…” The technician felt his analysis made sense.

“Just go when I tell you to, why are you making so many demands?” Old Chen glared at him.

If the real culprit is indeed Li Xiaoqiang, why doesn’t Li Xiaoqiang simply confess everything?

Instead, he only mentioned the ashtray; his interrogation statement did not mention that he had moved any of the deceased’s belongings.

Old Chen’s guess was that since the murderer was moving all the victim’s belongings out of the house, there must have been bloodstains left on those things.

Or perhaps the murderer touched something, didn’t have time to clean it up, and couldn’t remember where they touched, so they had to move everything.