181: Twelve suspects, who is the murderer?

“You’re a Police officer?”

Li Hao’s eyes widened abruptly as he listened to Liu Wenzhong, looking at Gao Ze, then at his sister Lili.

From what he understood, his sister’s friends were all wealthy and influential people from Donghai City; there were rarely any Police officers among them. So why would someone of Gao Ze’s status make his sister feel favorably towards him?

Could his position be very high?

Gao Ze ignored Li Hao and looked at Liu Wenzhong, asking:

“Team Leader Liu, why did you bring people here?”

Although Liu Wenzhong was ten years older than Gao Ze, they had dealt with each other extensively and were friends, so there was no need for formalities when they met him.

“It’s all because of him!”

Liu Wenzhong pointed at Li Hao and said, “He told me he was being targeted by the killer. I dispatched two Huangpu District Criminal Police to stake out his house, and he even had people following him when he went out. Who knew this guy would just disappear on me?”

“If our Police hadn’t installed a tracker on his phone, we might not have been able to find them!”

“You installed a tracker on my phone?”

Li Hao’s eyes widened at the words, and he angrily said, “Without my permission, you’ve invaded my privacy!”

“Do you want to live, or do you want to die?”

Liu Wenzhong gave Li Hao a cold glance and retorted, “You’re being targeted by a killer, and you still care about privacy?

Besides, how do we Police know if you’re hiding anything from us?”

“Based on our investigation of you, you usually flaunt your wealth, act ostentatiously, and throw money around. Someone like you isn’t a good person!”

Li Hao’s face turned ashen, and he was so enraged he wanted to explode, but then a sharp, stinging pain suddenly flared on his face, and a vivid red mark quickly appeared.

It turned out Lili had slapped him, and she said coldly:

“If you still want to live, then speak less, otherwise don’t blame me for not caring about our relationship.”

“Team Leader Liu, I want to apologize to you. I haven’t managed my brother well, and I’ve troubled you all.”

Lili bowed deeply to Liu Wenzhong, the glistening tears in her eyes held back with great effort. Every family has its own difficulties; if it weren’t for her mother, she would have stopped caring about this brother long ago.

“Cutting ties with one’s original family is not easy; you have to be prepared to lose a layer of skin. I’ll help you ask about the situation.”

Handing a tissue to Lili, Gao Ze walked over to Liu Wenzhong to inquire about the situation, and the two sat at an outdoor table of a milk tea shop to chat in detail.

“Li Hao told me that his friend Zhu Zhirong was killed two days ago at a bar called Chun He Jing Ming Bar in Huangpu District. Is there such a case?”

“Yes, there is!”

Liu Wenzhong nodded and said, “Around 8:30 PM two days ago, our Huangpu District Criminal Investigation Brigade received a report from the bar owner, bartender, and several customers and security guards that a male had died.”

“After we arrived at the bar, a preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased male was named Zhu Zhirong, 26 years old, from a local middle-class family in Donghai City. His parents are management at a building materials company.

That day, he invited his friend Li Hao to Spring and Scenery Bar for drinks.

At 6:05 PM, the two entered the bar. Around 8:00 PM, according to Li Hao, Zhu Zhirong fell into a coma. Many people thought he was just drunk and didn’t take it seriously until about 20 minutes later, when they discovered Zhu Zhirong had no breath, and then they called the Police.”

“Comatose, and then no breath?”

Gao Ze’s gaze sharpened, and he asked, “Has the forensic doctor performed an autopsy on Zhu Zhirong’s body? What caused his death?”

“We and the forensic doctor conducted an autopsy and pathological examination on Zhu Zhirong’s body and found ricin in his system!”

“Ricin?”

Gao Ze’s eyes widened instantly. The reputation of this toxin was not at all smaller than that of cyanide.

Although its toxicity is weaker than cyanide and does not cause death within seconds, the toxin is highly covert and is often used as a poisonous weapon by international intelligence agents and terrorists for sabotage and assassination.

“Yes, it’s that kind of toxin that requires refinement and synthesis!”

Gao Ze continued to ask, “Were there any other findings from the autopsy?”

“There’s one more thing: the forensic doctor found a subtle injection needle mark on the deceased Zhu Zhirong’s upper back shoulder. Besides that, there were no other injuries or findings!”

“Subtle injection needle mark?”

Gao Ze frowned slightly and asked, “Was the ricin injected into Zhu Zhirong’s body by the killer through a needle mark?”

“I heard Li Hao tell me that you found a highly toxic cocktail at Spring and Scenery Bar, and he said you initially determined Zhu Zhirong died from drinking the cocktail.”

“The ricin was not injected into the deceased Zhu Zhirong’s body through a needle mark!”

“The forensic doctor extracted muscle tissue components near the deceased Zhu Zhirong’s needle mark and found a kind of proteinase-promoting substance, which, after toxicological testing, was found to have no toxic effect on the human body.”

“We extracted ricin from the deceased Zhu Zhirong’s stomach, proving that he indeed ingested ricin through consumption. As for what Li Hao said, it was not wrong.”

Liu Wenzhong looked at Gao Ze and said, “We did find alcoholic beverages containing ricin at Spring and Scenery Bar, and they were found in the bar owner Fan Wenhao’s private collection.”

“Additionally, we interviewed the bar’s bartenders, resident singers, and regular customers, among others.

They all said they saw the deceased Zhu Zhirong and the bar owner Fan Wenhao arguing in the restroom!”

“Arguing?”

Gao Ze asked, “What were they arguing about?”

“We questioned the bar owner Fan Wenhao, and according to him, they were arguing about a bar VIP membership issue.

Spring and Scenery Bar has VIP customer privileges; as long as one recharges over 200,000 yuan at once, or accumulates consumption over 300,000 yuan, one can become a bar VIP member and gain many benefits.”

“However, the deceased Zhu Zhirong had not recharged 200,000 yuan, having only spent a little over 100,000 yuan, but he wanted to become a bar VIP customer. The bar owner refused, not wanting to set a precedent, which led to the dispute!”

Liu Wenzhong said, “We investigated Spring and Scenery Bar, and their bar indeed has this rule. The deceased Zhu Zhirong and Fan Wenhao also discussed this on WeChat.”

“Have you investigated the bar owner Fan Wenhao?”

“How could we not investigate?”

“We found that his private collection contained ricin; he is the biggest suspect.”

Liu Wenzhong said, “However, besides finding that he and the deceased Zhu Zhirong had a dispute over the bar VIP customer issue, we found no motive for the bar owner Fan Wenhao to kill Zhu Zhirong.”

“Zhu Zhirong was a customer who spent a lot at his bar, and they usually had no other contact.”

“Then what was the bar owner Fan Wenhao’s explanation for the ricin in his private collection? Does he have an alibi?”

“Regarding the ricin, we asked Fan Wenhao, and his answer was that the killer intended to kill him too, but unfortunately did not succeed.”

Liu Wenzhong said, “As for an alibi, we cannot confirm that point!”

“Because according to the forensic doctor, death can occur anywhere from one or two minutes to an hour after ingesting ricin, so we cannot determine exactly when the deceased Zhu Zhirong drank the ricin-containing alcohol.”

“But we retrieved the surveillance footage from outside the private room and found that the bar owner Fan Wenhao, at 7:40 PM, carried his own red wine to Zhu Zhirong’s private room to toast him, saying he appreciated his patronage of the bar’s business.

After drinking and staying for two or three minutes, Fan Wenhao then went to other private rooms to toast.”

Gao Ze quickly began to ponder upon hearing this.

It must be said that the bar owner Fan Wenhao was indeed suspicious, but he didn’t quite seem like the killer.

“Besides the bar owner Fan Wenhao, does your Criminal Police Brigade have any other suspects?”

After more than two days, the Huangpu District Criminal Police Brigade couldn’t possibly only suspect the bar owner Fan Wenhao.

“Of course we do!”

“Our Criminal Police Brigade has a total of twelve suspects, including the deceased Zhu Zhirong’s friend Li Hao, the two bartenders who entered the bar, the bar’s resident singer, as well as the hostesses and other customers.”

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