Chapter 604 - Solving the case backwards
The rain slowly calmed down a little. Hanzhou City wasn't massive; it's small yet exquisite. The ground was clean, so the environment wasn't too bad at the street food stall. Despite the hazy drizzle pouring down, there was also a warm current flowing around. On the roadside nearby, scooters were zipping past with their riders donned in colorful rainbows. Under the shine of the hazy, dim lights, they were akin to a merry-go-round in the amusement park, giving an artistic mood to the atmosphere.
However, Su Tao, Jiang Qinghan, and Zhang Zhen couldn't be bothered to admire the scenery since they were discussing the murder case.
"According to my judgment on He Yu, not only did he consume alcohol, but he must have taken drugs as well. Furthermore, his skin showed some sensitive rashes, which meant he must have recently traveled from the dry north to the moist south, so he must have stayed for roughly a month in Nanyue Province." Su Tao patiently analysed and continued, "Nanyue Province has a trend of consuming medicinal cuisines, such as abrus cantoniensis, angelica sinensis, milk vetch root, and dwarf lilyturf, which can prove my analysis."
"But how is it related to the case?" Zhang Zhen asked in perplexion.
Waving his hand with a smile, Su Tao answered, "According to my analysis, he must have been in connection with a charity organisation in Nanyue Province. Otherwise, he wouldn't call me and claim that he can resolve Qihuang Charity Funds' current straits."
"Your analysis makes some sense, but there are tons of charity organisations in Nanyue Province. Just your analysis isn't sufficient." Jiang Qinghan nodded.
"For them to slander us, it must mean that our event will definitely affect their benefits. The Qihuang Charity Funds recruited quite a bit of enterprise, so we just have to comb through them and see who has donated to us before. With that, we will be able to deduce the mastermind." Su Tao replied.
Slapping his thigh, Zhang Zhen smiled. "Now that you put it this way, it sounds logical."
Meanwhile, Su Tao inwardly sighed. If there's a cause, there will be an effect. The mastermind must be someone experienced, but before he could gather more evidence, he couldn't go into guesses.
"Investigate He Yu's identity again. He's a cautious person, so he might have used a false identity. Investigate who he met while he was in Nanyue Province and if any of them are related to a charity organisation. We'll focus our investigation in that direction." Jiang Qinghan instructed.
Jiang Qinghan instantly figured it all out from Su Tao's words. She soon found some clues from his analysis.
Firstly, to find the charity organisation that He Yu had come in contact with in the Nanyue Province. Secondly, make a comparison with the enterprises invited to the Qihuang Charity Funds auction. And with that, they would be able to scale down the scope.
With a direction found, Zhang Zhen felt as if he had found a light source and asked, "Aside from these, what else did you manage to deduce?"
"The person that committed the murder is a woman, and she must be a gorgeous one." Su Tao proclaimed with confidence.
"Why?" Hearing his words, even Jiang Qinghan was baffled. After all, there's a higher trend of men committing murder than women.
"Firstly, when He Yu died, that part of his body was under excitement." Su Tao vaguely said and took a glance at Jiang Qinghan, which he saw her frowning and continued, "Secondly, due to the fact that I entered pretty early, I caught onto a perfume scent. Thirdly, judging from the angle that He Yu was stabbed with the dagger, there's a high possibility of the murderer being a woman. To stab into the heart without using much wrist strength, it also proves that the murderer is trained. Lastly, judging from the bloodstains from the crime scene, I noticed that there's a peculiar mark that should be left by heels. As for that, you guys can study it when you go back."
Su Tao's observation was meticulous, which Jiang Qinghan and Zhang Zhen exchanged a glance since they overlooked this point. However, they weren't strangers to Su Tao's formidable deduction capability.
After all, this was not the first time that Su Tao had displayed his skills before them, revealing his Sherlock Holmes detective ability.
Not long after, Zhang Zhen's phone vibrated so he tapped onto a video. Taking a glance at it, he sighed, "We managed to retrieve footage from the road camera outside the hotel, and this black vehicle is very suspicious. This woman left not long after He Yu's death, and she even wore a facial mask, sunglasses, and scarf. Furthermore, she even purposely bent her waist, which means that she must have padding in her clothes to cause others to misjudge her height and frame. There's a high chance of her being the murderer, but this vehicle disappeared without a trace ten-odd kilometers away from the hotel. Judging from her methods and experience, she's very professional."
At the same time, it also proved that Su Tao's analysis was right, giving Zhang Zhen even more confidence to investigate this case. What they had to do right now was find that vehicle before finding that suspicious woman.
With just one meal, they already had a direction to investigate. But naturally, there were still many questions to be answered.
Why was He Yu looking for Su Tao?
Since the mastermind could send a female assassin and even created such a huge controversy, which power was behind this matter?
At this instance, even Su Tao felt a little helpless. If he wanted the issue to be resolved, he would need Jiang Qinghan's help. After all, the Qihuang Charity Funds' crisis might be resolved if they managed to find the culprit.
After their meal, Jiang Qinghan dropped Su Tao off at the Three Flavour Hall before she met up with Zhang Zhen, burning the midnight oil to investigate this case with the entire team.
This was mainly because this incident has caught the attention of the city's leaders, in which the city's Public Security Bureau gave an order that this case must be resolved within three days.
At the same time, the other party was evidently well-prepared. The next day, news of Su Tao appeared, which titled, "The man behind the Qihuang Charity Funds, Su Tao, appeared in a murder case last night!"
The news even went into detail when Su Tao showed up at the hotel and even released the photo of the victim, which had been edited. At the same time, the article also hinted at Su Tao being the murderer.
Instantly, the Qihuang Charity Funds was now placed in an awkward situation. Not only did it involve the dark secrets of the funds, but the person behind it was also involved in a murder case. Under this situation, no one would dare to partake in their auction event, and they could only blame it on the other party being too vicious with loop after loop in their schemes.
The next morning, Su Tao also came to the Qihuang Charity Funds and saw Qin Meimei.
Qin Meimei wore an exhausted expression since she hadn't been sleeping for a night, especially after she received the latest news, which she immediately rushed back to the company for public relations in the morning.
However, she was still as gorgeous as before, with her hair tied up and permeating a unique charm in her dress that was decorated with complicated flowery patterns. Even if her brows were tightly locked together, she still gave off a seduction as if she's an actress.
At this moment, Su Tao felt a little apologetic since that news was related to him. Hence, he helplessly explained the entire matter to Qin Meimei.
With a cold light flashing across her eyes, Qin Meimei replied, "This is a method commonly used by Li Yede!"
"Li Yede?" Su Tao was slightly shocked.
"That's right! Twisting the black and white!" Qin Meimei said as she further explained, "He once used this method on a partner who went into business with him. In the end, that partner jumped off the building under immense pressure. I never expected that he would use it against you."
"But we're in the charity industry, while he's in real estate. I don't think our businesses would clash." Su Tao furrowed his brows in perplexion. He initially guessed that someone in the same industry must be behind this matter.
"Li Yede also has a charity organisation under his name. Although that charity organisation appears to be doing charity on the surface, it's actually just an organisation for money laundering. Many of the enterprises I've invited are customers of that charity organisation, so that means that we've snatched a huge portion of resources from him." Qin Meimei revealed.
A charity organisation for money laundering, this was the unspoken rule in the industry since many people resorted to this channel, legalising the unlawfully obtained money and avoiding tax.
Just recently, there was a scandal regarding many charity organisations that lead to a haze in China's charity industry. The reason why Su Tao founded the Qihuang Charity Funds was because he wanted to clean up this dark and sinister industry. However, he never expected that he would encounter an obstruction before he even made it far.
This was also the current straits of charity organisations. To achieve their motive, they would even go as far as slandering others without any bottom line.
Su Tao sighed. It wasn't too different from the analysis that he gave Zhang Zhen. And it was also reasonable if this matter was related to Li Yede. After all, the other party was very experienced.
"We are less than fifteen days from the auction event. If this matter drags on, we will have to push back our activity, and this will also affect us negatively." Qin Meimei's eyes flickered with resolution before she asked, "We must deal with this openly. I will hold a press conference in the afternoon. Will you be able to attend?"
"Sure!" Su Tao bitterly smiled and continued, "But this is a commonly used tactic, and the other party must have guessed it. So they will definitely send someone over to cause problems for us. If that's the case, the entire press conference will go into a mess, and we will fall deeper into their trap."
Upon hearing those words, Qin Meimei was stunned. She was only thinking about dealing with the controversy, but she never thought more in-depth into the matter. According to Li Yede's character, he would definitely send someone to cause problems during the press conference.
"Then, what are we going to do? Are we going to be sitting ducks?" Qin Meimei raised her tone. She wasn't angry with Su Tao, she was mad at herself. Initially, she wanted to snatch all of Li Yede's resources, but she never expected that Li Yede would plot a scheme against her.
Su Tao knew that Qin Meimei was somewhat guilty since she had treated the Qihuang Charity Funds as a tool for revenge against Li Yede in her planning that led to this awkward situation. At this moment, Qin Meimei wanted to resolve this problem more than anyone else.
"Give Li Yede a call and sound him out before we plan our next step!" Su Tao gently sighed.
"I'm going to call himl?" Qin Meimei started to hesitate.
"Not you, me!" Su Tao smiled and continued, "It's not appropriate for you and Li Yede to meet, not to mention that this is a matter between him and me, so you don't have to participate in it."
Instantly, Qin Meimei was a little speechless and she felt her nose going a little sour. After all, Su Tao was pretty manly at this moment.
Jabbing his finger on Qin Meimei's forehead, Su Tao sourly smiled. "What are you waiting for? Give me his number!"