Hey! The Criminal Assistance System Can Even Be Used Like This? 50

Xu Zhizhi knew the moment she saw Qin Su that he wasn’t up to any good. The male portrait she’d sent him last night hadn’t even been used to find the person yet, and now he was here asking for her assistance! He just opened his mouth and asked her to help him!

“Oh, I remembered, I have something to do…” Xu Zhizhi turned to leave, not intending to listen to him at all. If she moved fast enough, he wouldn’t be able to react! She hadn’t been paid last time, and she wasn’t going to work for free again this time! A fool and his money are soon parted!

Qin Su knew Xu Zhizhi well, so he anticipated her actions. He strode in front of her in a single step, like an insurmountable wall. Blocking her path, he got straight to the point: “Someone wants to find out some clues, and they’re willing to pay.”

Xu Zhizhi glanced at him, her eyes conveying, “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” She spun around, glanced at the other people in the room, then walked over, dragged a chair, and sat down, smiling. “We’re all friends here; helping each other out is only natural.”

The room fell silent. Xu Zhizhi’s maneuver surprised everyone except Qin Su. How could she change her face so smoothly? Was she putting on an act for them?

Even Lin Yu hadn’t expected such a smooth performance. It reminded her of Xu Zhizhi’s acting skills. She pondered for a moment: Was it really because Xu Zhizhi was hardworking, or was she simply motivated by money? Not the hardworking type, but the groveling, fawning, and self-deprecating type for money.

Fortunately, the few people present were easygoing. They just smiled and let it pass.

After Xu Zhizhi settled, a man in his forties with a square face extended his hand. “Hello, Comrade Xu Zhizhi. I’m a criminal investigator from the city bureau investigating a case. I’ve heard about you from Qin Su. You do a great job! And I’ve seen you play a murderer – it was very realistic!”

He tried his best to keep his smile gentle, thinking that praising an actor’s performance should be harmless.

Xu Zhizhi’s eyes widened. This was a threat, right? This had to be a threat! She glanced over her shoulder and glared at Qin Su.

Qin Su was puzzled. Wasn’t it good that someone was praising her?

“Hello, Ms. Xu Zhizhi, my name is Fu Xue Lin. I need your help with something,” a younger man in his thirties, wearing a thin sweater and exuding a refined air, extended his hand in introduction.

Xu Zhizhi shook hands with both men, then said directly, “Let’s cut the crap. Tell me what you want.”

Qin Su sat silently. He had only come to enlist Xu Zhizhi’s help; he didn’t have a specific task.

The detective nodded slightly, looked at Qian Qian, waited for him to leave discreetly and close the door before speaking slowly. “Comrade Xu, you sent Qin Su a sketch of a man yesterday. We used it for comparison; it’s a local food delivery worker. We found him, and he said he was stopped by someone while delivering an order nearby and given a threatening letter for you.”

“Any other clues?” Xu Zhizhi eagerly asked, wanting to know if they had found anything more.

The detective gestured for Xu Zhizhi to be patient, then continued, “We checked all the security cameras nearby, but didn’t find anyone interacting with the delivery person.”

Everyone looked at the detective, who remained unfazed and added, “So we changed our approach. We reviewed the security footage from before the delivery worker arrived and found that the person was lying in wait. That’s how we found out who it was.”

Lin Yu was most curious. She wanted to know who Xu Zhizhi had offended in the mere ten days she’d been here!

Qin Su found a seat, his expression devoid of curiosity, clearly already knowing the truth.

“So, who is it?” Xu Zhizhi asked curiously.

The detective smiled knowingly at Xu Zhizhi, his eyes full of meaning. “My gut feeling tells me you can guess.”

Xu Zhizhi’s lips moved, her eyelids drooping as she thought. The fact that the detective said she could guess meant it was someone she had a feud with.

Lin Yu was anxious. Why was the police letting Zhizhi guess? What did Zhizhi know? Why was he giving a riddle at such a crucial moment!

“The family who rented the house to the film crew!” Xu Zhizhi’s eyes widened as she realized the scope, then tapped the dressing table with her index finger, a look of sudden realization on her face. “Their son-in-law! He’s the most suspicious person here!”

A gleam flashed in the detective’s eyes. Xu Zhizhi’s perceptiveness was incredible! The key was that Xu Zhizhi was a star, especially for playing a serial killer. Many people were already projecting themselves into her role, and some might try to find out her whereabouts to make statements or threats. There’s no shortage of people with poor judgment who would resort to threats. For example, actors who portray domestic abusers are often pointed at and talked about in the street. Years ago, actors who played villains were even thrown rotten vegetables at or verbally abused in person. These were all real incidents. So it’s hard to pinpoint the identity of the threat, but Xu Zhizhi managed to see through the threat letter. She accurately realized that the threatening letter only appeared after she spread rumors about the house being haunted.

Lin Yu stood with her mouth agape. “But we haven’t offended him! We were all polite during our brief interactions.”

“You can’t judge a book by its cover…” the young man who had been acting invisible suddenly sighed.

Xu Zhizhi felt guilty about Lin Yu’s statement that they hadn’t offended him. She patted Lin Yu’s head, then looked at her seriously, cleared her throat, and explained, “He played a recording in the house we just moved into. His goal was to scare us away.”

“But I didn’t let him off the hook, I spread rumors about the house being haunted. That angered him, and he sent me a threatening letter as revenge.”

“He’s been watching me, wanting me to behave, or to put it another way, he’s been targeting us since we moved in.”

“That guy is so evil! He looks so decent, but he’s actually rotten to the core!” Lin Yu’s eyes were red with anger, as she’d been scared by the recording and the threatening letter.

Xu Zhizhi patted her head. The incident stemmed from the rumors of the haunting. Perhaps the culprit was guilty and panicked, leading to the threatening letter. Xu Zhizhi found it somewhat absurd. It was easy to suspect him, as he was the most likely suspect. Wouldn’t he feel guilty if he got caught?

This also puzzled Xu Zhizhi. There was no definitive proof it was him at that time. Was it overconfidence? Was he so confident that he wouldn’t be caught? Or was he simply arrogant, thinking that as a public figure, Xu Zhizhi couldn’t expose him? Because the rumors spread on a public platform said that the film crew’s house was haunted, everyone would immediately suspect that Xu Zhizhi and Lin Yu were just imagining things. Most importantly, there was no evidence; empty words would not convince anyone.

Xu Zhizhi felt she had found the truth. The haunting rumors faded away, and the threatening letter remained a silent grievance, as the words in the letter hadn’t caused her any physical harm. She couldn’t directly send him to jail; a few days in detention wouldn’t do much to harm him. Her goal in spreading the haunting rumors was simply to vent her anger. Unexpectedly, it actually drew him out. And it seems it brought something else to light.

But then again, Xu Zhizhi looked at the three of them, arms crossed. “These aren’t major issues; they could have been dealt with over the phone. Do you have anything else to tell me?”

“Yes, the focus isn’t on you. But based on what happened to you, and Zhang Yumming’s reaction, we suspect the disappearance of the missing woman, Fu Qinghua, is related to her husband, Zhang Yumming. Or rather, Fu Qinghua is already dead, and Zhang Yumming is the prime suspect.” Qin Su stood up slowly.

Xu Zhizhi understood. Zhang Yumming, the husband, was most likely the murderer. Fu Qinghua was probably dead, and they were investigating this newly surfaced case.

“So, what can I do?” Xu Zhizhi didn’t think she could help; she looked helpless, shaking her head. “I can’t help.”

Qin Su’s expression was serious. “I think you can. If you were Zhang Yumming, how would you dispose of the body?”

They had assumed that Zhang Yumming was in a hurry to get Xu Zhizhi out of the house, that the body or evidence might be at the Fu family home. But they had examined the house and found nothing unusual. Just like two years ago, the Fu family house hadn’t been renovated, the furnishings were still the same, and there were no hidden bodies in the walls or elsewhere. They also sent people to investigate other locations, but found no clues. Furthermore, the evidence indicated Zhang Yumming was not at the scene two years ago. The investigation reached a standstill. With a sense of desperation, they decided to question Xu Zhizhi, hoping this unique talent could provide some clues.

Xu Zhizhi fell silent, then looked at Fu Xue Lin, who had introduced himself earlier. This man shared a surname with the missing woman. Intrigued, Xu Zhizhi asked, “You are…?”

“I’m her cousin. My uncle and aunt asked me to come. They want you to help us!” Fu Xue Lin’s eyes were teary, and he spoke excitedly, then remembering Xu Zhizhi’s temperament, he added, “For every clue! We’re willing to pay, 100,000… no! 200,000!”

It was evident that he and Fu Qinghua were close, as he used “we” instead of “my uncle and aunt.”

“But I don’t have any good ideas!” Xu Zhizhi spread her hands helplessly. The police had investigated the case countless times; how could she, an ordinary person, possibly discover anything they missed!

Qin Su and the detective exchanged glances. Qin Su produced the case file. “We’ve applied for you to review the file. Take a look, and think about it. I think you might have a way.”

Xu Zhizhi was quite curious; she took the file and began to read.

Lin Yu had already moved to the side; she didn’t intend to get involved.

Fu Xue Lin was deflated by Xu Zhizhi’s lack of immediate solutions, sitting anxiously to the side with a bad feeling in his gut. He felt that time was running out, and something bad might happen.

The file opened to reveal a picture of a young woman with a gentle, scholarly demeanor. It included her age, occupation, life experiences – everything in detail. Xu Zhizhi continued after reading the first page, which described the woman’s severe persecution mania, making her essentially unable to live independently, with extremely low mental stability. She had been ill for six months, cared for by Zhang Yumming, because her mother also had to care for her father, who had mobility problems. Fu Qinghua had disappeared two years ago after leaving the house without closing the door. There were screenshots of the video, obviously preserved by the police as evidence. Xu Zhizhi stared intently at the screenshots, remembering the woman’s picture on the front page. Because the quality of the security camera footage from the old apartment complex was too blurry, Xu Zhizhi could only barely make out that their outlines were similar. The following pages detailed the room investigation, interviews, and a plethora of phone and computer chat logs, as well as browser history. Generally, when a spouse goes missing or dies, the other spouse is the first suspect.

Xu Zhizhi flipped through the pages; besides some meaningless conversations, there were no significant clues. She returned to the security camera screenshots, the image of the woman fresh in her mind.

“I really don’t have any clues,” Xu Zhizhi closed the file and shook her head at the three people.

The three of them couldn’t hide their disappointment, but they also felt it was normal. Perhaps this case would really remain unsolved.

Xu Zhizhi sat down at the dressing table, her hands on the surface.

Fu Xue Lin slumped, his eyes filled with tears, dejectedly wiping his face. “I know in my heart that my sister’s disappearance is related to Zhang Yumming. That man is two-faced; he’s clearly not a good person!”

“It’s just that my uncle and aunt are so pitiful; they’ve lost their only child in their old age, how will they cope?”

Thinking about this, Fu Xue Lin felt very resentful, because his sister had been such a good person!

Xu Zhizhi watched, and then suddenly said, “Was your sister, Fu Qinghua, mentally ill before marriage, or did she become mentally ill after marriage?”

“Of course not! My sister was perfectly normal before marriage. It was only after marriage that we noticed something was wrong…” Fu Xue Lin suddenly looked up at Xu Zhizhi, his voice a horrified whisper.

Xu Zhizhi thought for a moment. “We could start with your sister’s medical records; see if we can find anything there.”

The detective and Qin Su exchanged glances. This should be a lead they could follow. However, they shouldn’t expect too much, as medical records sometimes don’t reveal anything.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Qin Su, being closest, looked through the peephole before opening it to a white-haired old woman. Behind her was an elderly man with mobility issues, slowly walking with a cane. Both had white hair, dressed in a Zhongshan suit and warm casual clothes. Their faces were etched with deep lines, but their eyes were bright and focused on Xu Zhizhi.

After the door closed, the old woman’s eyes immediately reddened. “Any clues?”

The atmosphere in the room immediately turned heavy.

“We’re still discussing, looking for clues,” Fu Xue Lin stammered.

The old woman was silent, lowering her head and muttering, “Don’t comfort me. There are no clues, right? And we can’t find my daughter’s body. Neither dead nor alive.”

“We’ve come to terms with it these past two days; Qinghua is certainly gone. But we don’t want the murderer to get away with it. We want the person who hurt her to be brought to justice,” the old man sat down with Fu Xue Lin’s help, holding his wife’s hand, his eyes weary, his voice filled with grief.

After the couple finished speaking, the old woman said, “But we also know that we couldn’t solve this two years ago; how can we possibly solve it now? We can only leave it to fate.”

The old woman looked at her husband, her eyes filled with helpless resignation to reality.

“So, officer, and Xue Lin, please go back! We old people will deal with this ourselves. We’ll learn to accept reality!” the old man sighed heavily, his expression hopeless and resigned.

Fu Xue Lin looked sad, his head lowered, unable to speak.

The detective and Qin Su were also speechless, as there was truly no breakthrough.

Xu Zhizhi’s gaze fell on the elderly couple, listening to their contradictory words. Their words were too contradictory; one moment they wanted justice, the next they were resigned to fate. Their emotional shift was too rapid, and they even asked everyone to leave and stop investigating. This was unusual. Xu Zhizhi’s eyes fell on their strange, calm exchange of glances. That look… she seemed to have seen it somewhere before.

Xu Zhizhi’s mind raced, her hands unconsciously making fidgeting motions. That look, what was it?

Xu Zhizhi searched her memory, then her eyes widened. She recalled the tense confrontation between Lu Lan and Yun Xiao. The look they exchanged when they ultimately chose to stand together, judging the culprit in a different way, was identical to the look the old couple were sharing now.

Xu Zhizhi was shocked, her hands clenching tightly. To say nothing of how low the probability was that the two old people successfully killed the culprit, what about after the murder? Surrendering themselves? Sacrificing their lives for such a scumbag? Or… not?

The old couple were very old; it was highly likely that they had killed Zhang Yumming and then decided to commit suicide.

Xu Zhizhi pursed her lips, her heart uneasy. Her hands tightened unconsciously, and she felt a slight pain in her palm, opening her hand to see the mark left by the eyebrow pencil. She stared at the faint mark, then thought of a solution.

In the silent, despairing atmosphere, she raised her hand and said in a clear, resonant voice, “I have a way to find evidence!”

Her voice pierced the gloom in everyone’s hearts, and they all turned to look at her.

“What method?” Qin Su looked at Xu Zhizhi, somewhat surprised. He was curious to see how magical Xu Zhizhi would be.

Xu Zhizhi looked at the elderly couple. “Do you have any videos or high-resolution photos of Fu Qinghua? Any distinguishing features…”

Xu Zhizhi rattled off a series of questions, prompting the couple to retrieve videos and photos while recounting her features, personality, especially her behavior and habits before the persecution mania.

Lin Yu, as a capable assistant, immediately guessed what Xu Zhizhi was planning from her actions. She turned on her phone’s recording function, then sat down, taking out a notebook to start writing down key points. It was as if the two had already rehearsed; now they were performing for real.

The elderly couple were shocked into silence, each speaking in turn. From time to time, Fu Xue Lin would add a few words about his sister’s secrets and thoughts.

Except for Lin Yu and Xu Zhizhi, no one knew what Xu Zhizhi was planning, as her shift was too sudden and baffling. No one understood what she was trying to achieve with these questions. It also made them curious: could these things lead to clues about Zhang Yumming’s crime? It sounded far-fetched.

Xu Zhizhi listened while looking at the videos and high-resolution photos of Fu Qinghua. As she watched, she drew the woman’s facial features, outline, hairline, and hair type. Her purpose was simple: she had devised another path to finding clues. She would impersonate Fu Qinghua and confront the person responsible for her death. Even the calmest person would slip up. Whether it’s extracting information or waiting for the suspect to see the body to confirm Fu Qinghua’s death, this would be extremely useful. No matter how strong their mental fortitude, they wouldn’t be able to remain unaffected, as it would be incredibly shocking and terrifying. The reason for needing so much image data was to make her disguise more convincing. Chen Han didn’t need to know Xu Zhizhi; she had met her before, so a single photo was enough to achieve a strong resemblance.

Finally, Xu Zhizhi closed the file, held up her phone, and placed it next to the dressing mirror to begin applying makeup.

Everyone was awestruck by Xu Zhizhi’s confident aura, full of questions for her. Even if they were confused or felt that her actions were nonsensical, the elderly couple confirmed Fu Xue Lin had no objections and exchanged glances, deciding to wait. Fu Xue Lin remained silent, watching the detective’s expressionless face. The detective looked to Qin Su, sensing he knew more about Xu Zhizhi’s background.

Qin Su looked at Xu Zhizhi, full of curiosity. His intuition told him that Xu Zhizhi was doing something big.

Twenty minutes passed, and Xu Zhizhi’s face gradually underwent amazing changes.

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