161: Showdown and questioning Zhou Xiaodong

At this moment, there was no longer any suspense.

They left Zhou Xiaodong’s villa, and five minutes later, the kidnappers received a message and fled Tiancheng residential district with the person, leading to only one conclusion.

There was an inside person who tipped off the kidnappers!

The inside person appeared among Han Jingmei, Zhou Xiaodong, and the detectives at the time, as only they knew the location of Tiancheng residential district.

It could be said that this inside person was helping the kidnappers—no, it should be said that he was the culprit who planned the kidnapping of Zhou Xinchen.

Gao Ze also knew who the inside person was.

It was Zhou Xiaodong, the wealthy businessman with billions in assets, and the father of the child Zhou Xinchen.

He was the true mastermind behind the entire kidnapping case.

The other male kidnappers, as well as the woman in the red dress who was very familiar with Zhou Xinchen, were all Zhou Xiaodong’s pawns.

As for Han Jingmei, she had no motive to kidnap her own son, Zhou Xinchen; her care for Zhou Xinchen was genuine. Only Zhou Xiaodong, many times, stood by and even encouraged him to press Han Jingmei for answers.

“Lili, are you busy right now?”

After knowing that Zhou Xiaodong was the culprit in the kidnapping case, Gao Ze did not rush to Zhou Xiaodong’s villa to make an arrest. Instead, he called Lili: “I want to ask you about Zhou Xiaodong.”

Logically speaking, to inquire about wealthy businessman Zhou Xiaodong's personal or company situation, asking Jiang Qianyu, who also worked at Jiahua Group, would be more appropriate.

However, Gao Ze had witnessed Lili obtaining Jiang Ruiming’s tax evasion evidence without making a fuss.

He felt that Lili might know Zhou Xiaodong better.

“Mr. Gao, you certainly pick your timing. Didn’t you hear I’m taking a bath?”

Lili wore a pink shower cap, half of her body reclined in the white porcelain bathtub, her plumpness obscured by foam. She extended a fair, plump hand, gently stirring the water to create a graceful sound, and the faint yellow light of the aromatherapy candle in the bathroom also flickered.

“Luckily, you didn’t video call me, otherwise I really would have answered!”

Hearing the long silence on the other end of the phone, Lili’s lips curved into a smile, and she said:

“Mr. Gao, you really asked the right person. While secretly following Jiang Ruiming during his tenure, I learned a lot about Zhou Xiaodong, and even shareholders like Jiang Wenmin and Li Guobang.”

“Although I can’t grasp their weaknesses like you can, I know their personalities, preferences, families, and companies!”

“I only need information on Zhou Xiaodong!”

Gao Ze quickly asked, “In Zhou Xiaodong’s company, who does Zhou Xiaodong trust the most? Who is his confidant?”

“The most trusted confidant of Zhou Xiaodong should be Xu Ning霜, the marketing manager of his company. She has been with Zhou Xiaodong for fifteen years, and it is said that Xu Ning霜 is often invited to Zhou Xiaodong’s family dinners.”

Lili asked, puzzled, “Why are you asking about this?”

“It’s still about Zhou Xiaodong’s child, Zhou Xinchen’s kidnapping case!” Gao Ze’s heart tightened. Xu Ning霜 was often invited to Zhou Xiaodong’s family dinners. Could she be the woman in the red dress who kidnapped the child Zhou Xinchen?

“Do you know Xu Ning霜’s information?”

Zhou Xiaodong’s motive for the crime and how he planned it, Gao Ze could roughly guess, but the key issue now was not Zhou Xiaodong.

It was Xu Ning霜.

Because Gao Ze felt that although this woman in the red dress was a pawn in Zhou Xiaodong’s planned case, she might have rebelled.

From the blood-stained tissues in the unfinished house in Tiancheng residential district, and the bloody wire, it was enough to prove that the woman in the red dress had harmed the kidnapped child Zhou Xinchen.

As Zhou Xinchen’s father, Zhou Xiaodong was unlikely to have allowed the woman in the red dress to harm his son; it was very likely her own independent action, meaning she had already broken free from Zhou Xiaodong’s control.

Lili shook her head and said, “As for Xu Ning霜, I don’t know!”

“Alright then, enjoy your bath!”

“Mr. Gao, are you sure you don’t want to make a video call?”

Lili’s rosy lips curved into a bright and alluring smile: “I’m still in the bathroom right now. If you make a video call, you’ll see a truly beautiful sight!”

“Is it as beautiful as Qing Yan?”

Lili was immediately speechless, gritting her teeth and saying:

“Even if a single view is absolutely beautiful, one will eventually tire of it. Other views, with a pair of eyes that appreciate beauty, can naturally reveal exquisite scenery!”

Lili was eloquent, her small mouth flexible and versatile.

Gao Ze ended the call directly and headed to Zhou Xiaodong’s Suhe Huating residential district with the Tiancheng residential district surveillance footage.

“Officer Gao, you’re here!”

Wei Haoran saw Gao Ze return and handed him his phone, the screen showing a video.

In the video footage, the child Zhou Xinchen was tied up in a room lit by warm yellow light. The room was empty, with no windows or any reference points.

Furthermore, unlike the previous kidnapping video, this time the child Zhou Xinchen had some injuries on his body, especially his face, which was swollen and red. The child Zhou Xinchen in the video did not shout or cry for help, but rather hung his head as if he had fallen asleep.

“This is the video the kidnappers sent to Ms. Han Jingmei this time, and it should also be a warning from the kidnappers to us, the Police!”

“I understand!”

Gao Ze nodded, without mentioning the Tiancheng residential district surveillance video, and asked, “Captain Wei, have we made any breakthroughs on the kidnapper’s license plate we found this afternoon?”

“Not yet!”

Wei Haoran shook his head and sighed, “Our Police Officer checked the license plate at the traffic bureau and found that black SUV with license plate [Hai A8534].

However, the vehicle is registered to a young man named Sun Yue. We couldn’t reach him by phone and are currently going to his registered address to find his family.”

“But I think it’s probably useless. Even if we find this person, he might just be one of the kidnappers, not the woman in the red dress who kidnapped the child.”

“That makes sense, Wei Team Leader, what do you plan to do?”

“How could I come up with a good solution? Besides paying the ransom as the kidnappers demanded, I think only Officer Gao can break the current deadlock.” Wei Haoran showed a wry smile.

Gao Ze said, “I certainly can!”

“Really?” Wei Haoran’s pupils instantly lit up.

Gao Ze smiled, scanning the living room. He didn’t see Zhou Xiaodong or Han Jingmei, and asked, “Mr. Zhou Xiaodong, Ms. Han Jingmei, where are they?”

“Ms. Han Jingmei couldn’t handle it after seeing the video sent by the kidnappers and is resting in her room. Mr. Zhou Xiaodong is also very distressed and is currently smoking in the villa’s backyard!”

“Officer Gao, how do you plan to resolve this kidnapping case?”

Wei Haoran couldn’t suppress his curiosity and looked at Gao Ze. The other detectives in the living room, who were debugging signal equipment, also looked up.

“.......”

Gao Ze didn’t say anything, heading straight to the backyard. He immediately saw Zhou Xiaodong sitting on a long bench on the lawn in the backyard.

He was still the elegant and handsome middle-aged man, but his face showed a few more signs of fatigue, and he was constantly smoking cigarettes.

“Officer Gao!” Seeing Gao Ze approach, Zhou Xiaodong immediately put out his cigarette and rose from the long bench to greet him: “You’ve worked hard on my son Zhou Xinchen’s kidnapping case.”

“It’s what I should do. I have some questions I want to ask you!”

Gao Ze waved his hand, signaling Zhou Xiaodong to sit back down, and said, “You also saw the surveillance footage of the case this afternoon. Your child and the woman in the red dress who took him were very familiar, with no resistance at all. It’s clear that an acquaintance was behind the crime.”

“This means that the woman in the red dress is very familiar with your child Zhou Xinchen, or with you and your wife Han Jingmei. Do you think there is any familiar woman around you who would kidnap your child?”

“No!”

Zhou Xiaodong shook his head and said, “My wife and I rarely have conflicts with people. None of our acquaintances have a motive to kidnap my child.”

“As for my child Xinchen’s acquaintances, I don’t know. Besides being at home, he spends a lot of time at school, and I don’t know who he interacts with.”

A hint of disappointment flashed through Gao Ze’s heart.

As he expected, Zhou Xiaodong lied, not revealing the existence of the woman in the red dress, and even diverting the investigation towards the child Zhou Xinchen’s social circle.

If it had been at the very beginning, trusting Zhou Xiaodong’s character, he might have believed him.

But now, it was impossible.

“Is that so?”

Gao Ze said faintly, “I found a clue in Tiancheng residential district.”

“Wei Team Leader and I took people from your home to Tiancheng residential district at 20:50, but when we arrived at that unfinished house, it was empty, with only empty benches and a square table left.

Afterwards, I checked the surveillance at the entrance and exit of Tiancheng residential district and found a black SUV with license plate [Hai A8534] leaving Tiancheng residential district at 20:55 that night.”

Zhou Xiaodong’s body trembled slightly, his fingertips suddenly digging into the wooden board of the long chair.

“Mr. Zhou, the [Hai A8534] license plate belongs to the kidnappers’ car. You’ve known this since this afternoon, so you should understand its significance!

This is not a probationary trap set by the kidnappers, as they claimed, but rather they received advance notification from an inside person.”

Gao Ze stared intently at Zhou Xiaodong, no longer concealing anything, and said directly:

“You are the inside person. You are the mastermind behind your son Zhou Xinchen’s kidnapping case!”

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