"Over here, over here!" When he walked to the southernmost end of the pedestrian street, he already saw Song Nanshan raising his hand to greet him.
Zhang Shutong hung up the phone, freed up one hand, and also waved to Teacher Song.
The situation in front of him seemed to require no questioning.
At the south end of the pedestrian street, a silver Jinbei minivan was parked on the west side of the road, and Song Nanshan was standing in front of the car's hood.
Zhang Shutong handed him the raincoat. Teacher Song tore the plastic sheet, put it on haphazardly, and rubbed his fists together: "I looked around for a while, and it should be this one. There's no one in the car, but I'm not sure which family it belongs to."
Zhang Shutong looked back along the minivan. The parking spot was between two shops: a quick stir-fry restaurant, and a small convenience store.
"Both are possible?"
"There are only two anyway. How about your side?"
"The Nanhuyu Restaurant is closed. I went to a clothing store, but the harvest can only be said to be not much." Zhang Shutong told him about Li Yipeng and his mother.
"They're still gloating, right? I'll see if they're still laughing when we drag them out tonight." Teacher Song glared, and as he spoke, he walked towards the convenience store. "Anyway, it's just these two shops. Let's ask them one by one."
"Wait, let me take a look first." Zhang Shutong pulled him back and first turned on his phone's flashlight, standing on his tiptoes to shine it around the minivan's trunk.
"You're the clever one." Teacher Song also leaned over. He was tall, and he immediately made a new discovery: "I saw some cabbage leaves, two of them, stuck to the right hubcap. That should be the quick stir-fry restaurant..."
Zhang Shutong had to stop him again, and explained helplessly that he was not just looking at the cabbage leaves, but actually wanted to see if there was anything else in the car.
"What evidence do you mean?"
"Well, the bricks for smashing the flower pots should have been brought by them. Besides that, there's..."
Weapons.
Or rather, the murder weapon.
People in this day and age would still throw knives, daggers, telescopic batons, and other things in their cars. Zhang Shutong didn't expect to use this to convict them, but at least he could get an idea of the other party's "level of armament."
The two of them walked around to the rear window. The glass was covered with flowing water droplets, and after wiping it for a long time, it became even more blurry.
Song Nanshan simply wiped it with his sleeve. Only then could they see some goods left inside: a box of opened mineral water, a cardboard box that was probably used to hold liquor, and on top of the cardboard box were a few cylindrical objects. Zhang Shutong looked closely and saw they were hot dogs.
"Shutong, look, is that a brick..."
At this moment, Song Nanshan also made a discovery. His face was almost pressed against the glass, and he was using his hands to form a canopy over his eyes.
"It looks like it..."
The two of them searched for a while longer. Thankfully, they didn't find any knives or batons.
Song Nanshan first took a picture of the things in the car with his phone. Zhang Shutong also glanced at the phone from the side, only hearing the clicking of the camera shutter. He and Teacher Song looked at each other and had a pretty good idea.
"Let's go. Just as we discussed on the way," Teacher Song waved his big hand. "I'll do the questioning. You stand by and don't say anything. Get ready to record. Pick out any loopholes on their side."
Zhang Shutong nodded and followed. He felt that this method was really not good, but he couldn't think of a better one for now.
The two of them pushed aside the plastic door curtain and went in. It immediately became much warmer. The air was filled with the smell of cooking oil. This was a quick stir-fry restaurant. The space was not big, and there were basically no tables. The dishes were cooked at the window in front of the door for guests to take away.
Only then did Zhang Shutong notice that this and the convenience store next door should be one room, just separated into two shops.
A woman with dyed yellow hair was huddled in a reclining chair, playing Minesweeper on her side. When she heard their movement, she stood up. Before she could say anything, Teacher Song immediately said: "Your case has been exposed. Turn off your computer first!"
His eyes widened, and he had an impressive demeanor. His tone was also very convincing. With his white shirt, which was already crumpled, it was definitely enough to bluff someone.
The woman was indeed startled. After a long stunned time, she spoke: "Comrade, what is it?"
She even subconsciously changed her form of address.
"Is that minivan at the door yours?"
The woman nodded.
"I can tell you responsibly now that the surveillance cameras have captured everything that happened this afternoon."
"What surveillance? I was in the shop all afternoon..." the woman asked tentatively. "Are you from the street?"
This was the only question Song Nanshan couldn't answer. He put on his usual authoritative air and said in a deep voice: "You don't need to know which department I'm from. I'm asking you about your business. Are you sure you didn't leave the shop?"
"No..." the woman shook her head.
"Then who drove the car this afternoon?"
"The car, my partner drove it..."
"Where is your partner?"
"He just went out to go home and get something..."
"Did he just drive back?" Teacher Song sat down on a stool, tapping the table with one hand. "I told you, the surveillance cameras have captured everything. Think carefully before you answer."
The woman was about to take a cup to pour hot water from the side. Song Nanshan waved his hand to indicate she didn't need to, but he maintained his stern look, which made the woman feel guilty herself: "He didn't come back long ago..."
"What did he go to do when he drove? What time did he leave?"
"He went to get some stock. At around three o'clock, there was a batch of dried tofu..."
"Why would he go home during the busiest time?"
"Comrade, you're not unaware of the situation on our street. He came back and waited for a while, and then it started to rain. There weren't many people in the shop, so he went home to get some things."
"Just him?"
"I think so..." The woman finally couldn't help but ask, "What did he do? Did he hit someone or scratch someone's car?"
"It's much more serious than that. He didn't go to get stock!"
"That's impossible." The woman was also confused. She pointed to the foam box on the ground with her hand. "The stock is right here. It was just pulled from the dock this afternoon. How about... you have a drink of water first, Comrade. I'll make a call and ask him to come back?"
"Go ahead." Teacher Song waved his hand, crossed his legs, and spoke with an air of authority.
Then the woman hurried upstairs. As soon as her back disappeared, the authority on Song Nanshan's body quickly vanished. He quickly asked Zhang Shutong in a low voice: "So it should be her partner?"
Before Zhang Shutong could speak, the woman came downstairs again and handed him the phone. "He said he wants you to take the call..."
Song Nanshan was about to try his old trick, but the man on the other end of the phone was impatient and told him to get to the point. If there was nothing, he should say which department he was from and not use this tactic.
Teacher Song was, after all, bluffing. When he met someone like this, he was helpless. He could only hold the phone and glare in frustration.
Both of their voices got a little louder. Zhang Shutong listened for a moment and walked out of the shop.
The time didn't match up. The woman said her husband came back not long before it started to rain. But when they were taking Gu Qiumian home, they encountered that minivan in the rain.
Lying?
It didn't seem like it. It's impossible to make up a lie so quickly, and the other party didn't know the clue about "the rain."
So, instead of lying, a more troubling guess emerged in Zhang Shutong's mind.
He quickly walked to the minivan and squatted down. At this time, Song Nanshan also came out, still on the phone: "Then I'm curious. What about the hot dogs in your car? You eat them as snacks, fine. What about the brick? Both things match up, what do you have to say? What? Used to press down vegetables?"
Teacher Song was amused out of anger: "I can see you're not giving up until you see the coffin. Then I'll call the police, and we can talk face to face..."
As he was saying this, Zhang Shutong suddenly tugged on his raincoat.
Teacher Song covered the mouthpiece and mouthed, "What, there's a loophole?"
It was more than just a loophole.
Zhang Shutong sighed and said in a low voice: "We found the wrong car."
Teacher Song was stunned and forgot that he hadn't hung up the phone. "What's the situation?"
"The wheels are dry." Zhang Shutong shone his phone light on them. "Look, except for the parts that touched the ground, the rest are dry. It's impossible for it to have come back from the rain, but when we encountered the minivan..."
Teacher Song understood when he heard this. His face was a little pale: "So we found the wrong car from the start?"
"Yes, the minivan we saw at the time was not this one."
"Wait for me for a while."
Zhang Shutong watched as Teacher Song hurried into the shop, handed the phone to the woman, and then fumbled in his pants pocket for a long time. Finally, he pulled out a wrinkled red bill: "...Buy something for the kid to eat..."
The woman was still bewildered. Teacher Song apologized again and walked out with a sullen face: "But I've already looked at all the cars on the street. There's only this one minivan. Maybe we were wrong from the beginning. The other party didn't drive towards the commercial street at all."
As he spoke, he lit a cigarette in frustration: "But this is a problem now. Do we have to go door to door?"
Zhang Shutong was about to say something, but Song Nanshan was already pulling him towards the car: "Alright, I see that tonight is just not meant for us to find anything. Let's not look foolishly anymore. Shutong, I'll take you home first. If it really doesn't work, we'll come again tomorrow morning..."
Zhang Shutong followed him all the way without saying a word. Teacher Song chattered on: "Don't forget what you promised me. Since we can't find them, obediently take Qiumian to your place. You said it yourself, so don't go back on your word..."
Zhang Shutong neither nodded nor shook his head. The two of them quickly got into the car. Teacher Song twisted the water off his body hard: "Are you still reasoning? Don't think about it anymore. Can you still reason where that minivan went?"
Then he looked at Zhang Shutong again: "I'll go find a place to buy a pack of tissues. You wait."
He was about to hurry away. But Zhang Shutong suddenly spoke: "I just thought of a question. Why did we see that minivan."
Teacher Song didn't care at all and replied casually: "Why else? Unless it was a hallucination."
"Then let's rephrase the question. Why did that minivan let us see it?"
"What do you mean, let us see it? You're asking a weird question. I told you not to think about it anymore. You're being stubborn, aren't you?" Song Nanshan knew he had to show some authority as a teacher. Just as he was about to glare, Zhang Shutong met his gaze: "Since they were trying to avoid people's eyes and smashed the flower pots, there's no reason why they would let us see their car. Isn't that walking into a trap?"
"What do you mean?" Song Nanshan was suddenly stunned, as if something huge had exploded in his mind, and he still couldn't figure it out.
"It means that since they understood the time Gu Qiumian had dinner, there's no reason why they wouldn't understand the time Gu Qiumian got out of school. And at this time, we just happened to encounter them."
"So?" Song Nanshan suddenly felt a little flustered.
"So, if it was just for poisoning the dog, why not wait until the middle of the night to do it, and instead specifically choose a time when they might be discovered?"
"Then there are two possibilities. One is that it was a genuine mistake, and those people are just stupid. But there's another kind, which is a deliberate diversion. To make people think they've really left, but in reality, they haven't."
Zhang Shutong closed his eyes and then opened them, recalling the road they had taken on their way here: "There's a fork in the mountain road to Gu Qiumian's house, right? What if they didn't drive away, but instead deliberately parked in the fork and waited? Waited for us to come out of Gu Qiumian's house, and then they would go back?"
"No, what's the point of that? Why would they..." Teacher Song was speechless.
"Because of Li Yipeng's mom," Zhang Shutong said thoughtfully.
"What about her?"
"What if I told you they didn't plan to act tonight?" Zhang Shutong asked again.
Only he himself knew that this was actually the case. Maybe in the original timeline, Gu Qiumian was safe tonight. But Li's mother's actions on the commercial street in the afternoon became the butterfly that flapped its wings and stirred up this murder case.
So Zhang Shutong continued to analyze: "The harsh words that woman said in the office, like 'just you wait' and 'bigger things are yet to come,' I only learned that she said all these things on the commercial street in the afternoon when I went to the clothing store. She herself is not important. The people who heard her are important. Or rather, the speaker didn't mean anything, but the listeners took it to heart.
"So let's make the worst assumption. Maybe the people in the minivan didn't intend to act tonight, but they were worried that the woman's words would leak to Gu Jianhong, so they moved their plan forward. But they also couldn't be sure of our, or rather, the Gu family's attitude. Were they taking it seriously or not? But whether they took it seriously or not didn't really matter, so they made two preparations.
"If they didn't take it seriously, that's great. They can go and act now, and no one will notice."
"But what if they took it seriously?" Teacher Song seemed to have thought of a terrible scenario.
"That can explain why we saw that minivan."
"Is that what you mean by a diversion?" Song Nanshan suddenly squeezed into the car door and then started the ignition with the key. The small Focus car trembled.
Zhang Shutong continued: "Exactly. They deliberately drove and met us. We went up the mountain, and they went down the mountain, creating the illusion that they had already left. This way, everyone's focus will be on where this car went. They'll look for it on the commercial street, they'll look for it in more places, but they'll be the only ones who will miss the Gu Qiumian family's villa."
"So you're saying they went back?"