The woman in black was stunned for a moment.
"What did you say?" she asked tentatively.
"It's nothing. Please continue."
Lu Siya extended her long and thin finger and tapped the table. She changed the direction of the conversation and asked, "Has Mr. Jin said anything … related to money recently? Like a big order from the company?"
"No."
The woman in black shook her head. "Old Jin is old, and he can't understand the newest spirit energy magnetic fields. He often complains that the runic symbols are like a lot of earthworms crawling about, and he can't understand them. He's already marginalized in the company. Even if the company gets a big order, what does it have to do with him?
"But now that you asked, I remember that he did mention money before. One night, he came back drunk, but he was very excited and happy. The moment he got into bed, he asked for money.
"I was angry that he was a gambling addict, so I kicked him off the bed. Then, we started arguing.
"After arguing for a long time, he flew into a rage out of humiliation. He said that in another month or two, he would pay off all his gambling debts and even get rich. He told me not to kneel down and beg him.
"But once he said that, he looked really upset. No matter how much I asked him, he refused to tell me how he was going to pay off his gambling debts."
"Is that so?"
Lu Siya's eyes sparkled. "I remember that Mr. Jin has a lot of gambling debts outside, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't have mortgaged his house. What does he have to do within a month or two to pay off all his gambling debts and even make a small fortune? Could it be that he's going to hunt Hell Beasts in the wild? "
"Him? Forget it! "
The woman in black snorted. "He's a support-class superhuman. When he was young, he didn't train properly. Many of his spirit meridians were messed up by him, and his bones were damaged by heavy construction machines. When he got older, he couldn't do it anymore. There's no way he would dare to hunt monsters in the wild.
"Besides, the houses in Blessed Paradise aren't cheap. He can't get them back just by hunting monsters once or twice!"
"Hmm …"
Lu Siya thought about it and asked a few more casual questions. In the end, she said, "Ms. Zhou, aside from what we asked just now, do you think that Mr. Jin has been acting strangely lately?"
The woman in black thought for a long time and was about to shake her head.
Lu Siya brought out another thick envelope from her bosom, but she did not place it on the table. Instead, she pressed it against her chest and watched her patiently.
The woman in black swallowed and thought for a moment. Then she said, "Old Jin has been acting weird recently. Half a month ago, he was smelly for a couple of days when he came home. It was not the stink of hard work, but the pungent stink. I asked him what he was doing, but he just took a shower without saying a word. Does that count?"
"There are many kinds of smells."
"The stench of corpses, excrement, monsters, burning things, and rotting trash. Think about it. What kind of stench does Mr. Jin's stench resemble?" Lu Siya asked.
The woman in black thought for a moment and confirmed, "It smells like garbage. I remember complaining that he rolled around in a garbage dump before returning home."
Lu Siya nodded and asked, "Then, which came first, the strange stench of garbage coming from Mr. Jin or the biochemical pet he bought despite his allergies?"
"The stench came first," the woman in black said.
The black-clothed woman said, "Two or three days later, he brought that beast home."
Meng Chao added a few more questions.
The woman in black stared at the envelope Lu Siya pressed against her chest and answered them one by one.
But her knowledge was limited, so she told them everything just now. Soon, she started repeating her answers in a jumbled manner.
"Thank you, Ms. Zhou."
Lu Siya finally pushed the second thick envelope over slowly. "The dead can't come back to life. You have to be strong."
"Thank you. I will."
The black-clothed woman beamed as she took the envelope and began to count it happily.
With the help of money, she had already rushed out of the gloom of her gambling addict boyfriend's death.
"I know what to do."
Once she finished counting the thick stack of cash, she smiled obsequiously at Lu Siya and Meng Chao. "I won't tell anyone what I told you just now."
"Please don't."
Lu Siya smiled. "First, if the other investigators really want to know something, you won't be able to hide it. If you try to hide it, it'll only make it easier for them to find the answer.
"Second, we're good citizens who abide by the law. We won't let you hide the truth and stop the progress of the case.
"Third, listen up. If someone investigates you and asks you anything, you can tell them the truth, but if you don't take the initiative to tell them that we came to you, ten days later, I will send you another envelope of the same thickness, understand?"
"Got it! Got it!"
The woman in black thanked them profusely. She stuffed the two envelopes back into her pocket and left like a thief.
Meng Chao and Lu Siya closed their eyes and thought about it for five minutes.
Then, they opened their eyes almost at the same time and saw the sparkle in each other's eyes.
"When Ms. Zhou answered the questions just now, her breathing, heartbeat, and the microexpressions on her face were all normal. I don't think she's lying," Lu Siya said.
"Let's say that she's telling the truth. What do you think? Why did the third victim buy a large dog-type pet called a Contest Tiger half a month ago?"
"Didn't you say it just now?"
Meng Chao's eyes burned intensely. "To blend into the circle of neighbors who keep Contest Tigers."
"Then, why did he blend into the circle of Contest Tiger breeders, especially when he owes a lot of gambling debts and is in a terrible situation?"
Lu Siya asked. "Also, he told his live-in girlfriend that he would keep the biochemical pet for at most one or two months before he gave it away or sold it. He also said that after one or two months, he would pay off all his gambling debts and even get a small sum of money. These two things seem to be connected."
"I think that our thoughts are about the same," Meng Chao said.
"If there wasn't a third victim, then based on the first two cases of biochemical pets killing each other, it would seem like someone intentionally poisoned them.
"Even though it's hard for normal harvesters or coroners to discover mutated rabies by injecting it into the deepest part of the biochemical pet's ear canal, it's not easy to execute.
"The virus was clearly not injected by the pet's master, and outsiders usually don't have the chance to come into contact with pets. Even if their masters aren't around, if they get too close to them, the pets will be wary, and it's impossible for them to be controlled by others.
"You have to understand that the incubation period for mutated rabies isn't long. At most, it's three to five days. During this period of time, getting close to two biochemical pets, thinking of a way to numb or hypnotize them, then using a special tool to inject the virus into their ear canal without being discovered by their masters … I don't think anyone else can do it aside from the security guards or residents of Blessed Paradise.
"No, not even the normal security guards or residents can do it. Only those who keep Contest Tigers have a chance to do it. Everyone walks their dogs together, gathers together, and gets familiar with each other."
Admiration shone in Lu Siya's eyes again. "Are you hinting that the third victim, Jin Yongqiang, was the one who injected the virus into the first two biochemical pets?"
"I don't know, but he does have a motive," Meng Chao said.
"Spirit Creations Creatures and Heavenly Works Machines are fighting for the huge deal for Subway No.20. The company that gets the deal will decide the construction of the new development area for the northern frontlines in the future. They will get more deals and gain an astronomical amount of profit.
"If the news that the pets modified by Spirit Creations Creatures went out of control and killed people at this time, it will definitely affect the ownership of the deal.
"Based on the principle that whoever benefits from the deal is the suspect, since Heavenly Works Machines obtained benefits from the pets going out of control and killing people, they naturally have the greatest motive and suspicion!"
Lu Siya nodded slowly and said, "Let's say that there's no problem with your train of thought, but why did you do this in Blessed Paradise?
"You chose a downtown area with a lot of people or a normal residential area with more residents and a noisier environment. It's easier for a scandal to happen there. You have to understand, if a mysterious person hadn't exposed this online last night, this matter would have been suppressed."
"In the beginning, I couldn't figure it out either, but when I thought about it carefully, I realized that the suspect could only choose places like Blessed Paradise.
"Yes, if he chose a downtown area or a normal residential area like Blessed Heavenly Garden, it would be easier for a major scandal to happen there, but there's a problem. How could he do it?
"Contest Tigers are large dogs with a certain degree of fighting strength. After they are injected with genes from many carnivorous monsters, they can even switch to their fighting form. That's why the management is very strict. You have to register when you buy and keep them. Even if they die or are lost, you have to report it to the related departments.
"In other words, the suspect couldn't just buy a Contest Tiger and inject it with mutated rabies before tossing it into a downtown area to wait for it to go berserk. If he did that, it would be no different from surrendering himself to the police.
"Of course, it's impossible for him to wait for a passerby to walk past with a Contest Tiger and look for a chance to stab the pet's ears with a needle.
"As for Blessed Heavenly Garden, it's an old residential area with a lot of residents. Everyone has lived there for decades, and they know each other very well. Even if they run into an emergency when they walk their dogs, they might not hand their pets over to a newcomer who has just joined the circle. Even if they did, they would be surrounded by neighbors, and there would be a lot of people around. It would be difficult for them to find a chance to take action.
"Only newly built high-end residential areas like Blessed Paradise have relatively few residents, and the environment of the residential areas is good. There are all sorts of man-made bamboo forests, fake mountains, ponds, and winding paths that lead to secluded pavilions.
"Second, most of the residents here have a certain status in society, and the security measures are tight. They trust each other, so they aren't very wary of each other.
"Let's say that the third victim is the suspect of the first two 'accidents'. He was originally a resident here, and he bought the house himself. He's part of the middle management of Heavenly Works Machines, and he's a respected elite. Aside from a handful of close neighbors, it's difficult for the neighbors in the other buildings to know that he owes a lot of gambling debts, so they won't suspect him.
"And he is familiar with the terrain of the residential area, so it's only natural that he knows the blind spots of the surveillance cameras.
"Because of that, as long as he finds an excuse to send the owners of the two biochemical pets away, he will be able to take action at ease."
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
