Chapter 667 - 554: Deserves an Answer

Chapter 667: Chapter 554: Deserves an Answer

It was snowing, and the risk was too great.

The consensus from Wu Kaiwei and Cai Yaohai was to send the main team into the mountains at first light.

They would also quickly verify the matter of the journalists, as well as whether Wang Shulin and the other man had been away from home during the days they were supposedly stranded.

At the same time, Wu Kaiwei delivered some good news.

Just today, there had been a development on Yang Guofa from the United States.

After extensive searching and inquiries, they could basically confirm that Yang Guofa had successfully crossed the border illegally and made it to the United States.

His first stop was Los Angeles.

Someone at a local association for people from Min’an had recognized Yang Guofa.

Moreover, this person said his name wasn’t Yang Guofa, but Qian Jincai.

Evidently, Yang Guofa had changed his name after successfully crossing the border.

According to the informant, Yang Guofa later went to the East Coast, presumably to make a life for himself in New York.

They were now trying to locate him through the local hometown association in New York.

There might be news soon.

This was great news.

Finding Yang Guofa should clear up many questions.

The night was a difficult one.

They had only brought three simple tents, planning to spend their nights at rest stops along the way.

Now, to preserve the scene, they couldn’t stay in the wooden cabin.

The same went for the small woodshed.

Fourteen people had to squeeze into the tents.

And then there was Walnut.

Although he wasn’t afraid of the cold, someone had to watch him and make sure he got enough rest.

And besides Shen Xin, no one dared to share a tent with Walnut.

In the end, Shen Xin took one tent for himself.

Chang Zhigang and a few others didn’t rest, working through the night.

The remaining people, including Chen Jia Kang, crammed into the other two tents.

As the cold wind howled, Shen Xin held the furry Walnut. It was warm, but his mind was racing, and he couldn’t sleep at all.

In the middle of the night, Walnut seemed to have a nightmare and nearly took a bite out of Shen Xin.

This made Shen Xin too scared to sleep, so he had to go outside and brave the cold wind with the others.

Fortunately, the snow stopped after daybreak.

The main team had already entered the mountains, but it would take them until at least tomorrow to get here.

In the afternoon, Wu Kaiwei’s side had confirmed the identities of the two journalists.

The female journalist was named Li Suhua; she was 28 years old in 2008.

The photographer was Lu Weihong, who was exactly 30 that year.

Shen Xin followed Chang Zhigang to an open high point nearly five hundred meters from the cabin to make a satellite phone call.

The sky had cleared, and the signal was good.

The call was from Wu Kaiwei. His voice was high-pitched and more excited than ever before: "There’s a major development. On the night of March 20th, 2009, Li Suhua committed suicide by jumping from her rented apartment at the Four Seas Apartments in Anjing."

This statement startled Shen Xin and the others present.

Shen Xin’s first thought was that Li Suhua was also a victim. ’It wasn’t a suicide; it was staged to look like one.’

Chang Zhigang voiced this very question anxiously.

Wu Kaiwei said, "The Anjing police investigated. The jump happened a little after 11 PM. They checked the surveillance footage, and during that time frame, only Li Suhua went up to the roof."

"They also examined the scene. Around the time of the jump, Li Suhua sent a message to her parents, who were far away in Ludong, saying she was sorry and would repay their kindness in the next life."

"Furthermore, her colleagues and friends also reported that Li Suhua’s mental state had been off since February."

"So, it can basically be concluded that Li Suhua committed suicide. And the Anjing police found the reason why."

"She was pregnant."

Wu Kaiwei dropped another bombshell.

Yang Zeran couldn’t help but cut in, "Wait, being pregnant is a good thing, why would she jump? Was she pregnant out of wedlock? Was she married? Did she have a boyfriend?"

Wu Kaiwei said, "First, Li Suhua wasn’t married, but she had a boyfriend—Lu Weihong. They were a couple."

"Initially, the Anjing police listed Lu Weihong as a suspect, but their investigation confirmed his alibi."

"At the same time, they found that on February 13th, 2009, Li Suhua had gone to the hospital for a check-up and discovered she was pregnant."

"Lu Weihong insisted it was their child, and they were even preparing to get married. He never imagined Li Suhua would commit suicide by jumping."

"So, the final conclusion from the Anjing police was that it was prenatal depression, an unfortunate accident."

Shen Xin crossed his arms.

’If I remember correctly,’ he thought, ’prenatal depression isn’t uncommon, but doesn’t it usually occur during the second or third trimester?’

’It’s caused by changes in hormone levels.’

’Li Suhua had just gotten pregnant. It couldn’t be that, could it?’

’Unless...’

"Holy shit!"

Shen Xin’s sudden outburst startled the people around him.

He was about to speak when he noticed Chang Zhigang was also frowning in thought. Shen Xin changed his tune. "Chang Zhi, did you think of it too?"

Chang Zhigang didn’t answer, rubbing the stubble on his chin. He asked, "The timing of Li Suhua’s pregnancy is noteworthy. President Wu, how many weeks pregnant was she when she had the check-up?"

As Wu Kaiwei spoke about this, it was clear he had his own thoughts on the matter.

He said, "That’s exactly what I was about to say. At the check-up on February 13th, the results showed she was ten weeks pregnant."

"A simple calculation suggests conception occurred sometime between December 10th and 15th."

"And the ranger station’s records show that their group of four set out on December 3rd and didn’t return to the station until the 15th."

"It’s a two-day journey from the station to where you are. Subtracting a day for travel at the beginning and end means they were trapped in that cabin for a full ten days."

"Therefore, Li Suhua became pregnant while trapped on the mountain."

He didn’t say any more.

But everyone present understood what he was implying.

Yang Zeran scratched his head fiercely and sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes bulging like a goldfish’s.

Shen Xin’s scalp tingled.

It came down to one thing.

They were trapped on a mountain with two cabins, one large and one small. The small one was for firewood and was too tiny for anyone to live in.

The main cabin had only one bed, which certainly couldn’t fit four people. They would have had to sleep on the floor or in tents.

Trapped for ten days under one roof... in that situation, surely Li Suhua and Lu Weihong, even as a couple, wouldn’t have gotten in the mood to be intimate.

The circumstances were hardly ideal.

And connecting that to the fact Li Suhua later committed suicide after getting pregnant—what happened back then?

And it wasn’t just those four. There were also Wang Shulin and Wang Erpeng.

Five men, one woman.

Shen Xin also drew a sharp breath and quickly asked, "President Wu, this Lu Weihong... what happened to him afterward?"

Having said so much, Wu Kaiwei didn’t intend to keep them in suspense. He said, "Shen Xin, Zhigang, although we’ve only just begun our investigation and many details are still unclear..."

"I have a strong gut feeling that we may have found our suspect. It’s this Lu Weihong."

Even now, it was still unclear what had happened all those years ago.

But if it was the scenario Wu Kaiwei was imagining, then the person with the strongest motive was Lu Weihong.

Everyone else was dead, except for Yang Guofa, who had survived and crossed the ocean.

Not to mention, Wu Kaiwei couldn’t think of any motive Yang Guofa might have to commit the crime.

There was one crucial point.

During the second case, Yang Guofa had a solid alibi.

That left only Lu Weihong.

He had a motive. He and Li Suhua were a couple, on the verge of getting married, and yet she jumped to her death while pregnant.

At the same time, there had always been a major question surrounding this case.

The suspect had a clear objective and a strong motive.

Yet, despite extensive investigations into the victims’ circles and even the local area, they could never identify a suspect.

This gave it the characteristics of an indiscriminate, random killing.

Shen Xin had speculated that the perpetrator was from out of province, and Wu Kaiwei had naturally considered this possibility as well.

Now, Lu Weihong had come into focus, and his situation fit both points.

He might have a strong motive.

And, he was from out of province with no strong ties to the crime scene’s location. He could arrive quietly, commit the crime, and leave immediately afterward.

Therefore, even though the specific details weren’t clear yet, Wu Kaiwei’s intuition screamed that it was Lu Weihong.

There was no one else.

And they had only found Lu Weihong by peeling back the layers of this case like an onion, right down to its core.

The surroundings fell deathly silent, without a sound.

Only Walnut could be heard beside them, MUNCHING away on a bamboo stalk.

Shen Xin lowered his head, silently processing the shock.

Chang Zhigang, on the other hand, was completely stunned.

When the case first broke, he was the deputy captain of the municipal criminal investigation division and had personally handled it.

He had watched with his own eyes as the investigation grew more and more hopeless, turning into a cold case that lasted nine years.

Just like Xu Jinguang, who had never let go of the case, Chang Zhigang’s feelings about it were incredibly complex.

In nine years, so much had changed. As he had said before, some people involved had already retired.

Sometimes, Chang Zhigang would even doubt himself, fearing the case would just fade away, the answers never to be found.

Now, the answer was within reach. ℯℯ𝑙.

He clenched his fists, wanting to shout and release all the frustration that had been building up for years.

But he couldn’t get the sound out.

He wanted to stay calm, to tell himself not to celebrate prematurely—they hadn’t confirmed Lu Weihong was the killer yet.

But he couldn’t calm down.

On the phone, Wu Kaiwei must have sensed the weight of the silence. His voice was firm and powerful as he said, "Zhigang, don’t overthink it. We never gave up, so we deserve this answer."

Chang Zhigang said nothing, but he took a deep breath, his gaze becoming resolute.

That’s right. Everyone deserved an answer.