Based on the clues provided by Li Min, the police quickly located Zhanhong Pharmaceuticals, the pharmaceutical company developing autism medication.
However, Zhanhong Pharmaceuticals turned out to be a shell company. The legal representative wasn't a mainland resident, and the research staff developing the drug had already fled overseas. The entire company had become an empty shell, with even the laboratory stripped bare.
They had signed a drug trial contract with Star Home, which was properly formulated, and they had paid substantial fees for the trials. The parents of other autistic children participating in the trials had also signed contracts with the company, receiving generous trial fees and free autism intervention therapy. As a result, they had no intention of suing the company.
One child's mother said, "Even if there's just a tiny hope of a cure, we're willing to try! They didn't force us; we volunteered for the trials! We would have done it even without payment, let alone with the substantial amount they gave us, allowing our children to receive free intervention therapy. They're not committing a crime; they're doing charity work."
"Aren't you worried about side effects?" Zhang asked.
"He's already in such a terrible state, how could it get any worse? None of you have an autistic child, so you can't understand how we feel. Officer, please stop investigating. If that company really develops a drug to treat autism, I'd trade my life for it."
Fang Rui had originally planned to visit Teacher Jiang in the hospital to see if he could get any clues from her, but bad news came from the hospital. Due to a lung infection, her condition had worsened, and she had passed away the night before.
Her son and daughter had cremated her body early that morning and quickly divided her estate.
All leads regarding the drug had been cut off.
The murder cases at Star Home and the Lin family villa were officially closed.
"There's still one thing unresolved," Fang Rui said.
"What's that?"
"The money Director Zhang received has disappeared. But we haven't found it."
"Could it be buried in the lawn?" Zhang speculated. "Should we go dig at the orphanage?"
Since the murder, Star Home had been in a state of unrest, and Old Liu, the security guard, had become busier. After the murderer was caught, the orphanage got a new director, and Old Liu finally got a day off.
He deliberately changed into shabby clothes, carried a worn-out cloth bag, and limped to a poorly decorated gold shop.
He felt the pig in his bag, then looked around cautiously. Seeing no one paying attention to him, he slipped into the gold shop.
"Boss, do you buy gold? Pure gold," Old Liu asked in a low voice, leaning in.
The shop owner looked Old Liu up and down and said, "Yes, how much do you have?"
Old Liu made a gesture for seven.
"Seven grams?"
"Seven hundred grams."
The owner grinned, thinking this man must be bluffing. How could someone with 700 grams of gold dress so shabbily?
Seeing his disbelief, Old Liu took out a pink pig from his bag. "Test it yourself, see if it's pure gold. This is my family heirloom. I have another one at home. If the price is right, I'll sell that one to you too."
Upon seeing the pig, the owner's expression changed. He said, "I believe you. I'll test the purity of the gold right now. Please have a seat. Xiao Ye, what are you staring at? Serve tea to this gentleman."
Old Liu was quite pleased with himself. He had calculated that 700 grams of gold could be exchanged for over 300,000 yuan. He was about to become a rich man.
After Old Liu finished his fourth cup of tea, he finally realized something was wrong. Why did it take so long to verify the purity of the gold?
"Boss, I'm in a hurry. I won't exchange it now. Please return the gold pig to me."
"Don't rush, sir. We'll have the price estimated soon. Please wait a bit longer."
Old Liu sensed something was amiss. He decided to leave without the pig, but as he turned around, he saw Fang Rui and Zhang staring at him.
"Uncle Liu, long time no see," Zhang said with a mischievous grin.
"Officer Fang, Officer Zhang, are you here to buy something too?"
Zhang replied, "We're not buying anything. We're here to arrest someone."
Old Liu broke out in a cold sweat, nervously wiping his brow. "Arrest who?"
"You, of course!" Zhang took out handcuffs and cuffed Old Liu.
"I... What crime did I commit? I didn't kill Director Zhang. Why are you arresting me?" Old Liu let out a pig-like squeal, shouting at passersby, "Help! The police are beating me! The police are arresting me illegally! I haven't broken any laws. Why are you arresting me?"
The shop owner handed the pig over to Fang Rui. "Captain Fang, your guess was spot on. Someone really did come to sell the gold pig."
"Thank you for your help, sir."
"It's nothing. Fighting crime is everyone's responsibility."
Old Liu saw Fang Rui holding the gold pig and immediately turned ashen.
"How... how did you know this pig was made of gold? How did you know I stole it?" Old Liu began to stammer.
"I guessed. When you deliberately exposed Chen Xinran, I felt something was off about you, but I had no evidence, so I could only wait and see. I had informed every gold shop that if anyone came to sell a gold pig or part of one, they should tell me," Fang Rui explained.
Old Liu's face turned ashen. He had thought the case was closed and this matter was over. No one would know that two pigs were missing, let alone that those two pigs contained gold. But he never expected the police had been watching him all along.
Back at the station, Old Liu confessed to the course of events and admitted to the theft.
"I occasionally helped Director Zhang clean. One day, I picked up one of the pigs to dust it off and found the weight was off. This small pig was very heavy! So I scraped off the paint on the surface and found it was gold underneath. Plus, Chen Xinran said Director Zhang had received several hundred thousand in bribes, but none of us had ever seen that money. I suddenly realized where the money was.
The night Director Zhang died, after Chen Xinran left, I snuck in and stole the two pigs. Even if Director Zhang reported it, they would only arrest Chen Xinran. And it just so happened that Director Zhang died, so no one would know the truth."
Zhang was furious after hearing this. "Director Zhang was so good to you, and this is how you repay her?"
"Good to me? Paying me just over a thousand yuan a month, treating me like a beggar! She's a great philanthropist, why should she expect us to be selfless like her? Besides, she was just pretending to be charitable, making money from charity."
Zhang fell silent. He couldn't understand how the staff at Star Home, a charitable organization, could have such dark hearts.
"If I had known, I would have melted the gold and sold it bit by bit over time. I'd sell it out of town!" Old Liu cursed. "I never thought I'd be on edge for half a month and end up with nothing. What rotten luck!"
The Star Home case was officially closed.
Star Home soon had a new director, but the children still missed the director mom who had gone to a faraway place.
Stars twinkled in the night sky as a group of children crouched at the entrance of the orphanage.
"Guoguo, will Director Mom come back?"
"No, Director Mom has gone to live her own life. Woof, we need to take care of ourselves, woof, and not, make Director Mom worry," Guoguo, who knew the truth, choked out.
"Guoguo, you're lying."
"Director Mom loves us so much, she couldn't possibly not come back."
"Director Mom will come back tonight. I'm not going to sleep; I'll wait for her to return."
"I won't sleep either."
"Me neither."
"Let's all wait for Director Mom to come back together."
"Director Mom, please come back soon. We all miss you so much," someone shouted at the starry sky.
The stars twinkled, as if responding to the children.
