After the video ended, Li Deming awkwardly rubbed his hands together, "Officer, this is just how our industry works. It's part of our business ecosystem."
"..."
Fang Rui copied the video and asked, "Isn't a 10% commission a bit high?"
Fang Rui had classmates in the Economic Crime Investigation Department who often complained to him about various bizarre forms of bribery. Kickbacks were an open secret in every industry - if you wanted to get orders, you had to provide benefits to the client's sales representatives. However, in traditional industries with low profit margins, kickbacks rarely reached 10%.
"We have no choice - business is tough these days. Out of this 10% commission, 8% goes to his superior, and only 2% goes to him. The construction materials industry is too competitive. If I don't do this, I can't get any orders at all."
"How do you know how their commission is distributed?"
"I got him drunk and sweet-talked him into telling me. He also mentioned that he's had enough of Wang Yonghua, and that he'll step over him to get ahead sooner or later."
Fang Rui exchanged glances with Zhang - could this be Chen Yuankun's motive for murder?
Zhang said, "To make money, you must be cutting costs drastically. How can you guarantee the quality of products made this way?"
"Well... being cheap doesn't necessarily mean poor quality. We conduct quality inspections on every batch to ensure there are no problems. Accidents in the construction industry are no small matter - we wouldn't dare to be careless."
"Why don't you negotiate directly with Manager Wang? Then you'd only need to pay 8% commission."
Li Deming sighed, "You don't understand - without Manager Chen mediating, I couldn't get any orders even if I offered higher commission."
"Is Chen Yuankun very capable at his job?"
"Although Manager Chen is young, he's very capable and well-versed in handling relationships. Working with him is very smooth."
After leaving the factory, Fang Rui analyzed, "Chen Yuankun was promoted six months ago, likely because he could help Wang Yonghua make money. Could his motive for murder be an unfair split of the profits?"
Zhang thought this was very possible, "I have Zhang Xiaoling's contact information, I'll ask her about it."
From Zhang Xiaoling, they learned that Jianhua Construction Company had experienced a building collapse incident six months ago. During the investigation, company executives took the opportunity to conduct an anti-corruption campaign. The heads of both the project and business departments were found to have problems, but the procurement department's accounts were clean, so Wang Yonghua emerged unscathed from this storm.
It was from that time that Chen Yuankun began to receive Wang Yonghua's favor.
Back at the station, Fang Rui handed the video to the technical department for analysis.
After the results came out, Fang Rui called a case analysis meeting.
Li from the technical department said, "The meeting video is authentic, not artificially synthesized. We can also rule out the possibility of Chen Yuankun faking the video background, because he moves around frequently, and any background manipulation would be easily detected."
"If he was in a meeting then, how could he appear at the parking lot to commit murder? The person in the mall must have been Ding Zhuangzhuang. How else could he be in a meeting and killing someone at the same time?" Zhang analyzed.
"When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer," Mu Mian said. "Could Chen Yuankun and Ding Zhuangzhuang be working together? One killing, while the other attended the meeting?"
"But Chen Yuankun has lighter skin, and Ding Zhuangzhuang is darker. And if they were working together, why would Chen Yuankun frame Ding Zhuangzhuang?" someone objected.
"Could it be that Chen Yuankun deceived Ding Zhuangzhuang? They appeared to be working together, but Chen Yuankun secretly left Ding Zhuangzhuang's DNA at the scene to frame him?" Chen Xue speculated.
Fang Rui played the video again, letting everyone review the meeting content.
"Chen Yuankun's expression seems off. When Li Deming mentioned kickbacks, he hesitated as if he didn't know about it. And when verifying the contract, Chen Yuankun had to check the contract to respond to Li Deming's points. If he had drafted the contract himself, why wouldn't he know its contents?"
"The lighting is very bright, making everyone's skin appear lighter."
"It's quite disrespectful that he's wearing something on his head while meeting with partners. Could it be to hide his hair? He might actually be Ding Zhuangzhuang in disguise!"
After repeated viewings, everyone noticed many inconsistencies.
"Looking at it this way, Chen Yuankun was the killer. He had Ding Zhuangzhuang impersonate him while he committed the murder, and left Ding Zhuangzhuang's DNA samples at the scene," Zhang analyzed.
Mu Mian said, "These are just our speculations. How can we prove all this?"
Everyone fell silent. They could now be fairly certain that Chen Yuankun was likely the killer, but they had no evidence to prove it.
Li continued reporting on the surveillance results: "There are few cameras near Ding Zhuangzhuang's home; there are also few cameras near Chen Yuankun's home. He lives in a newly built complex with inadequate infrastructure and no internal surveillance. There are multiple ways to enter the complex, so we couldn't find any useful leads from the surveillance footage."
Zhang said, "Chen Yuankun moved four months ago. He used to live near his company, closer to downtown where there are many cameras. Could he have moved specifically to avoid surveillance?"
After the meeting, Fang Rui discovered that a large sum of money had been refunded to his phone from the hospital. While he was wondering about this, Li Meijia showed up unannounced.
"Officer Fang, can I apply to take care of Ding Zhuangzhuang at the hospital?" Li Meijia requested. "The police at the hospital said I need your permission to visit him."
"Ms. Li, we have some questions for you."
Fang Rui took Li Meijia to the interrogation room. He placed printed chat records in front of her and asked, "Did you ever hint to Ding Zhuangzhuang that you wanted Wang Yonghua dead?"
"Yes! But that was my thinking a month ago, I was just venting my emotions. Do you suspect I instructed Ding Zhuangzhuang to kill him?"
Seeing that Fang Rui didn't believe her, Li Meijia continued, "Officer Fang, you can ask Wang Yonghua's lawyer. A month ago, I signed a marital property agreement where Wang Yonghua agreed to give me 20% of his assets and 55% to our two children. I got custody of the children. With so much property coming to me, why would I want to have him killed?"
Fang Rui and his team questioned Wang Yonghua's lawyer, who confirmed that Wang Yonghua and Li Meijia had indeed signed a marital property agreement with the distribution exactly as Li Meijia described.
After Wang Yonghua's death, Li Meijia only planned to take 75% of his assets, intending to distribute the remaining 25% among Wang Yonghua's mistresses. So she had no reason to kill Wang Yonghua.
Although Wang Yonghua was unfaithful in relationships, he was good to his children, which was why he agreed to sign that marital property agreement.
"Did Ding Zhuangzhuang ever tell you about his past?"
"He rarely mentioned it. He had a difficult childhood - his foster mother was a mentally ill woman who often beat him. Later he wandered around and was bullied by others."
"Did he mention where his hometown was?"
"I think it was in Dongcheng in the north. After learning his parents might be in Jiangzhou City, he wandered here. But he said he never found his parents. He was planning to leave this place, but he said meeting me made him want to stay." Li Meijia said.
Li Meijia had lost both parents at a young age and was passed around between relatives, enduring their cold treatment. Her life only improved after marrying Wang Yonghua. Initially, she was only attracted to Ding Zhuangzhuang's appearance, but after learning about his tragic past, she empathized with him and gradually fell in love.
Fang Rui sent Ding Zhuangzhuang's photo to the police in Dongcheng, asking if they recognized him.
They quickly replied with information.
"His name isn't Ding Zhuangzhuang, it's Ding Wei. And even Ding Wei might be an alias. He was once a suspect in a fraud case."
