Chapter 4: The Clue

“What are you thinking about? Just trying to disgust them a little.”

Tang Jianing couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Zhou Lu as she quickened her pace and stepped out of the room.

Although she knew she shouldn’t be causing any conflict with the police, as the heiress of the Tang Group, she certainly wouldn’t let herself suffer any injustice!

“So what’s next?”

“First, let’s go to the company.”

Although the evidence found at the scene seemed to implicate Wang Ming, Tang Jianing felt there were still too many doubts. After all, these people all worked at her family’s group, so investigating within the company would be more convenient.

Even though it was already past ten at night, there were still many people working inside the group’s office building. With so many subsidiaries under one group, there were bound to be people working late to handle various matters.

Thanks to financial backing from an international criminal organization, Tang Liqian was generous with overtime pay.

As a result, the turnover rate at the Tang Group was extremely low.

Even though the incident happened seven years ago, it wouldn’t be difficult to find those old employees who knew the situation.

When the car stopped at the entrance of the group’s building, voices quickly emerged.

“Miss!”

“Miss!”

“Go bother someone else!”

Tang Jianing merely nodded at the greetings from the employees and then waved them away.

Sitting down in her own office, she rubbed her brow and looked at Zhou Lu.

“Find out who among the people had a close relationship with Wang Ming seven years ago. Have them come to my office.”

“Yes, Miss!”

Zhou Lu wasn’t surprised by her request and quickly left with some files.

Within a quarter of an hour, a group of people was already standing at the door of the office.

Tang Jianing glanced at the list Zhou Lu handed her, then casually placed it aside.

“Start from the beginning, one by one.”

Although the provincial department had just launched the investigation and likely had more evidence than her, she had the advantage of investigating internally within the group.

Comparing the list, the first old employee soon sat before Tang Jianing.

“Miss!”

Seeing the man in front of her, Tang Jianing recalled the information about him in her mind.

Lu Yongsheng had joined the Tang Group ten years ago, starting as a salesperson and now serving as a project manager.

“Tell me your opinion about Wang Ming.”

After thinking carefully for a moment, Lu Yongsheng began to respond.

“I worked with Wang Ming for almost three years. Although he was smooth-talking, he really wasn’t capable and had a pretty timid personality.”

Anyone who reached the position of project manager had to have at least decent ability and good judgment about people.

“Do you know he once dated a girl surnamed Chi?”

“Yes, that girl was very strong-willed. We even said the two of them were a good match. But later…”

Lu Yongsheng glanced subtly at Tang Jianing. Seeing no expression on the young lady’s face, he continued.

“Later, that girl passed away. After that, none of us familiar with the situation ever mentioned it.”

“All right, that’s all from me. Don’t work too late, and take care of yourselves.”

“Thank you for your concern, Miss!”

Having worked in the same company for so many years, there were plenty of people familiar with each other.

One by one, she questioned them. After two full hours, Tang Jianing finally obtained the information she needed.

Wang Ming and Chi Ziqi had a very good relationship back then, working in the same company and knowing each other for many years.

Several close friends had even heard them discussing saving money together over the years to buy a house, planning to propose marriage.

From this, it was clear that no matter how emotional Wang Ming might have been, he would never have resorted to murder.

Zhou Lu looked at the thoughtful Tang Jianing and hesitated before quietly asking.

“Miss, should we use some connections to get the chairman out first?”

Although the Tang Group wasn’t a world-class enterprise, it still controlled many livelihoods.

Detaining someone without prior notice was a reasonable cause for complaint anywhere.

And since the special investigation team was acting so arbitrarily, the city authorities surely wouldn’t tolerate it indefinitely.

“Absolutely not. With this opportunity, I think we can still negotiate the price of that piece of land.”

Although Tang Jianing didn’t want her father to suffer in detention, she knew he had nothing to do with this case.

By leveraging this injustice, once the case was fully resolved, they could use it to press down the price.

After all, being in his forties was still a time to take risks; a little hardship shouldn’t be a big deal.

“If the chairman knew how filial you were, Miss, he would be so happy.”

Tang Jianing’s strategy was sound—exchanging a small grievance for substantial benefits would definitely help the company’s development.

But the chairman was a complete daddy’s boy.

Zhou Lu couldn’t even imagine how many drinks the chairman would buy if he heard this.

“First, focus on the investigation!”

Tang Jianing glanced at Zhou Lu, then after a moment’s thought, pulled out a file from the dossier.

Previously, he had focused his attention on Wang Ming and the suspects listed by the police, overlooking some other details.

Judging from the knife wounds on the body and the deliberately tampered crime scene, the most likely explanation was a crime of passion.

Since Wang Ming had been ruled out as a suspect, Tang Jianing turned her gaze beyond the listed suspects.

“Did Chi Ziqi’s parents cause any trouble?”

“No. It seems after Chi Ziqi’s case stalled, her parents moved away with their son.”

Upon hearing this, Tang Jianing’s eyes lit up.

After pondering for a moment, she pulled out the file on Chi Ziqi’s parents.

They were a rural family, and the parents had only completed middle school education.

From the investigation records, they exhibited many of the typical faults of their generation, the most notable being a strong preference for sons over daughters.

The traces of a crime of passion, the deliberately damaged crime scene, and the parents’ son-preference—all these clues piled up, leading Tang Jianing quickly toward a plausible conclusion.

“How many people are in the security department?”

“About thirty brothers.”

Zhou Lu, being her father’s right-hand man, was thoroughly familiar with the company’s situation.

The security department wasn’t just any casual security firm.

Most of them were her father’s old comrades who had retired back to the country for various reasons.

“Take twenty men and head straight to find Chi Ziqi’s parents.”

The evidence was something the police needed; she didn’t.