Half an hour later, Han Bin met up with Zeng Ping and gave him a simple report of the situation.
After hearing that, Zeng Ping also felt that Meng Chengyong was rather suspicious.
However, Meng Chengyong already knew about the police investigation. If he were to leave right after the investigation was completed, he might raise the other party's suspicions.
Moreover, anyone could install an apple ornament, so there was the possibility of it being a coincidence. With just an apple ornament and no other evidence, there was no way to arrest him directly.
Village Chief Chen had already helped to find out which villagers had vans. After coming up with a detailed list, Zeng Ping was prepared to go from house to house to see if there were any other vans in the village with apple ornaments.
Of course, they could not ignore the investigation of Meng Chengyong.
Zeng Ping sent the information of Meng Chengyong and his two friends who had testified for him to Tian Li and Zhao Ming, asking them to investigate the three's detailed information and communication records.
In the morning, Han Bin and the other two visited all the van owners in Great Xi Village. There were quite a number of people who installed accessories and ornaments on their cars, but Meng Chengyong was the only one with an apple ornament.
Meng Chengyong became even more suspicious.
…
In the afternoon, Han Bin and the others returned to the police station.
Han Bin heaved a sigh of relief as he sat on the chair. He had been investigating suspicious vehicles in the morning and had walked through the entire Great Xi Village. His legs were a little sore.
"After walking for the entire morning, other than Meng Chengyong, we didn't find any problems with the other vehicles. If we had known earlier, we would have come back directly." Li Hui stretched.
Han Bin smiled. "There's no problem. It's a clue in itself."
"There's no perfect geomancy in criminal investigations, and we're not Sherlock Holmes. Since there's no problem with the other vehicles, we'll focus our investigation on Meng Chengyong," Zeng Ping said as he pointed to Tian Li.
"How's the investigation going?"
"Meng Chengyong, Yao Chuang, and Sun Jixiang are very close, especially between September 3rd and September 8th. They called each other every day." Tian Li took out a document and placed it on the projector. It was the detailed information of Meng Chengyong and the other two. At the same time, she gave a brief introduction.
"Yao Chuang is from Liuji Village, which is not far from Great Western Village. He has a criminal record of theft."
"Sun Jixiang used to work in a communications company and now lives in downtown Qingdao."
"The situation of these three people is completely consistent with our inference of suspects."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's just arrest them and interrogate them separately. As long as one of them can't handle it, the case will be solved," Li Hui said.
"The problem is that we don't have any evidence. If the three of them colluded in advance and survived the 24 hours, it will be difficult to catch them again," Han Bin analyzed.
"It would be great if we could find the stolen goods. When the stolen goods are found, they can't argue anymore," Tian Li said.
"I think we can investigate from two aspects. First, we can visit the recycling stations nearby to see if they have received the stolen goods. Second, if the three of them couldn't dispose of the stolen goods in time, then the stolen goods might be hidden in one of their houses," Han Bin said.
Li Hui continued, "We went to Meng Chengyong's house and didn't find any batteries. Although Sun Jixiang used to work in a communications company, he lives in downtown Qingdao, so it's not convenient for him to store batteries. If the batteries are really hidden in one of their houses, it's very likely that it's Yao Chuang."
"This conjecture is in line with the three of them. Meng Chengyong has the tools, Sun Jixiang has the communications technology, and Yao Chuang has the experience of stealing and is also responsible for disposing of the stolen goods," Tian Li agreed.
"Why don't we search Yao Chuang's house?" Zhao Ming suggested.
"This is just our conjecture. We can't prove that they are related to this case just based on a similar apple ornament. It'll be very difficult to apply for a search warrant," Zeng Ping said with a frown.
Han Bin thought for a moment and said with a smile, "I have an idea, but it'll cost us some money."
…
Liuji Village.
"Time to collect the trash!"
A man in his twenties rode an old tricycle with some cardboard boxes on it. He wandered from house to house in the village.
This man was none other than Han Bin's informant, Chen San 'er.
There were some things that the police couldn't do, but informants could.
Han Bin briefly explained the situation of the base station theft to Chen San. At first, Chen San didn't have a clue and was worried that he wouldn't be able to help. Later, after Han Bin's reminder, he went to Liuji Town to ask for information.
Chen San wasn't a stranger to stealing things. He had done it many times before, so he thought he had some experience.
Chen San rode the old tricycle to Yao Chuang's house. Yao Chuang's house wasn't small, and there were two big red iron gates at the entrance. Chen San parked the tricycle and walked to the iron gate to listen for any movement.
There was no sound.
Chen San pushed the iron gate, but it wasn't locked. It was only ajar.
In a village with good security, as long as there were people in the house during the day, the gate was usually not locked.
Chen San pushed the door open and tiptoed into the doorway. He looked around the yard, but there was no one in sight. The north room seemed to be a residence, the south room seemed to be a kitchen, and the east room seemed to be a bit older, probably used to store things.
The east room's door was locked, and the window was an old-fashioned window frame. Chen San looked inside and found a lot of things piled up in the east room. There was a granary, an old bed, a cabinet, and some batteries in the corner.
Thud thud thud … At that moment, there was the sound of footsteps.
Chen San wanted to run, but it was too late.
Fortunately, he was quick-witted. As he retreated, he shouted, "Time to collect the trash."
The north room's curtain opened, and a man walked out with a stool. He shouted, "Hey, who are you? Why did you come to my house?"
"I'm a trash collector. Do you have anything you want to sell?" Chen San forced a smile.
"F * ck, who are you trying to fool? Why did you come to someone's house without a sound? Is this how you collect trash?" The man threw the stool to the side and said with an unfriendly expression.
"I'm really a trash collector. The trash truck is parked outside. I saw that your house was open, so I wanted to see if there was any trash to sell," Chen San hurriedly explained.
"You're still lying. You look so young, even younger than me. How can you be a trash collector?" The man strode over and said aggressively.
"I'm really a trash collector."
Chen San was a little nervous. He was worried that his identity had been seen through.
"Sneaking into someone's house. If there's someone there, you're a trash collector. If there's no one there, you take things away. Don't think I don't know about your lousy tricks," the man scolded.
"Big Brother, you've really misunderstood me," Chen San said as he ran out.
The battery had been found, and his mission was completed.
The man chased him to the door and pointed at Chen San's back as he scolded, "Get lost, you stinky bastard. If I see you again, I'll beat you to death."
Chen San pushed the tricycle and ran. He scolded in his heart, "Bah, you dare to scold me? Just you wait. You'll be out of luck. Wash your ass and wait to go to jail."
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