"How do you know that?" Fang Rui asked.
"My sister is now a lecturer in the Psychology Department at Jiangzhou University. The department head told my sister that the school needed a teacher for psychotherapy, so my sister took on a part-time job there. She's working hard to earn money to support me," Mu Mian explained. "A while ago, my sister took me to visit that school, and I secretly went to see their laboratory. Their lab is so shabby, they're really poor."
After lunch, Fang Rui and Mu Mian drove to Jiangzhou University again.
With Shen Xiyin's help, they quickly learned about the whereabouts of those two pieces of equipment. A couple of years ago, the department replaced a batch of psychological experiment equipment, and those two old devices were sold as scrap.
Fang Rui then asked the lab manager about the conductive paste, "Since you've replaced the equipment, why is your lab still using the previous brand of conductive paste?"
"Well... this one works well. The quality of domestic conductive paste is not good, its ability to reduce resistance is weak, and it can easily lead to invalid experimental data."
Seeing the manager's embarrassed expression, Fang Rui suspected there might be something fishy going on. Could it be that they were taking kickbacks from medical companies, so they kept purchasing expensive imported products?
"Who's in charge of purchasing equipment for your lab? We'd like to ask them some questions."
"Director Zhou is responsible for procurement."
"His surname is Zhou?" Fang Rui suddenly remembered the suspect Zhou Junwei he had investigated earlier. He asked, "Does this Director Zhou have a son named Zhou Junwei?"
"Yes, he does. His son is also a lecturer at our school. If it weren't for old Zhou's connections, how could his son get a teaching job at our school?" The manager revealed a contemptuous expression. Although he himself was also there due to connections, he just couldn't stand Director Zhou's useless son.
"Could you please take us to see Director Zhou? I have some questions for him."
Director Zhou was in his fifties, wore glasses, and looked refined, but when he saw Fang Rui and the others, his expression was a bit impatient. "If you have any questions, ask quickly. I'm very busy!"
"You purchased two NeurOne EEG devices ten years ago. Where are those two devices now?"
"Sold. Those two devices were already scrapped, so we sold them as waste," Director Zhou replied impatiently.
"Which recycling station did you sell them to?"
"How would I remember that? Even if I told you, you might not be able to find that recycling station."
"How do you know we can't find it? Please tell us which recycling station you sold them to. The owner would surely remember purchasing such large equipment."
Director Zhou had already lost his patience. He said to the manager, "Can't you handle these trivial matters without bothering me? Deal with them, I'm leaving."
"Director Zhou, I think it's better if you tell me the truth. Otherwise, if we continue investigating, who knows what else we might uncover. Like the matter of you taking kickbacks," Fang Rui called out to stop him.
Director Zhou's face instantly turned pale. He asked the manager to leave first, then said to Fang Rui, "Those two devices were sold off by me. My son helped me sell them, for several thousand yuan. As for who the buyer was, I'm not sure."
"Zhou Junwei helped you sell them?"
"Yes. Do you know my son?"
"Did he volunteer to help you sell them?"
"Yes, he said his classmate's school wanted to buy them. So I let him take the equipment away."
"Alright. Thank you for your cooperation." Fang Rui felt that Zhou Junwei was likely the culprit. But strangely, he had an alibi.
Just as they were leaving the Psychology Department office, Fang Rui saw Zhou Junwei staring intently at him and Mu Mian from the stairs not far away.
Noticing Fang Rui looking at him, Zhou Junwei smiled at them, then went upstairs and left.
Zhou Junwei's smile made Fang Rui feel very uncomfortable. It seemed to be mocking, yet also challenging, his eyes seemed to say: You can't catch me.
Fang Rui investigated Zhou Junwei's background further. He was a local from Jiangzhou City. In high school, he had sexually harassed male classmates and was persuaded to leave the school. He was then sent to study in Linzhou for high school and later attended university there as well.
He originally studied medicine in university, but changed his major to computer science in the second semester of his freshman year.
Fang Rui assigned the experienced Old Zhang to keep a 24-hour watch on him. Although there was no evidence yet to prove he was the killer, keeping a close eye on him could prevent him from committing another crime.
Back at the police station, Fang Rui received a text message from Captain Li:
"Fang Rui, save me! Why is this old geezer Sun Guangtian so difficult to deal with? It's been three days, I haven't been home for three whole days, my wife even suspects I'm having an affair. Find an excuse to get me out of this special task force, please."
Fang Rui poured himself a glass of water, but before he could drink it, Zhang rushed over, "Boss, Captain Sun and his team have caught the killer!"
"Who's the suspect?" Fang Rui asked calmly, taking a sip of water. "Do they have evidence?"
"The suspect is a sanitation worker in his fifties. Captain Sun reviewed a large amount of surveillance footage and finally discovered a vehicle suspected of transporting the victim's body, which led them to identify the suspect."
Fang Rui quickly got the details of their investigation from Song Haiyang. It was pretty much as Zhang had described.
Captain Sun discovered through surveillance that the sanitation workers at the entrance of Jiangzhou University cleaned at fixed times: once a day, between 8 PM and 10 PM.
There were surveillance cameras at the university entrance and at an intersection 2000 meters away from the school gate, but the area between these two cameras was a blind spot, and the entrance to that grove happened to be within this blind spot.
On the evening of the 28th, an electric tricycle garbage truck appeared in the intersection camera at 6:11 PM, but it didn't appear at the school gate until 8:43 PM. Then the sanitation worker got off to clean.
Captain Sun keenly noticed that in the intersection camera footage, there were no dead leaves or light purple fruits stuck to the wheels of the vehicle, but in the school gate camera footage, these things were stuck to the wheels—proving that the vehicle had been to that Chinese pistache grove during the time it was out of sight.
The truck bed of the garbage vehicle was fully enclosed, so it wasn't possible to see if anything was hidden inside.
Captain Sun identified the suspect through that vehicle.
Fang Rui thought Captain Sun's analysis made sense, but how could a sanitation worker come up with such a complex method of murder?
"Haiyang, can I join you in interrogating the suspect?" Fang Rui asked.
"Well... I can't make that decision. It's up to Captain Sun."
Fang Rui brought a bag of bubble tea and late-night snacks to the special task force's office.
The team members had dark circles under their eyes and messy hair, probably from not resting for many days. Sun Guangtian's dark circles were even more severe; Fang Rui suspected he hadn't closed his eyes for days.
When Captain Li saw Fang Rui arrive, he instantly saw him as a savior. His eyes silently complained about Sun Guangtian's torment.
Captain Li thought Fang Rui was smart for having argued with Sun Guangtian early on and escaping his clutches. Unlike him, who was now firmly in Sun's grasp, being twisted and turned at will.
Fang Rui distributed the food to everyone. They all put down their work, and the atmosphere became more relaxed.
Sun Guangtian gave Fang Rui a cool glance. This kid sure knows how to win people over.
Fang Rui handed Sun Guangtian a cup of bubble tea, "Captain Sun, you should take care of your health too. It's not good to stay up late so often."
"I don't drink this stuff! Are you implying I'm old, kid?"
"Even young people can't handle this kind of all-nighter."
The young officers in the office nodded frantically. Captain Li was even more moved to tears, thinking Fang Rui was truly his good brother, daring to confront Sun Guangtian just to bail him out.
Sun Guangtian pulled out a half-empty pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He took one out and offered another to Fang Rui, "Have one, it'll help you stay alert."
"Sorry, I don't smoke."
"That's a good habit. Smoking should be kept to a minimum." Sun Guangtian put the cigarettes back in his pocket. "So, what do you want from me?"
"Captain Sun, can I join you in interrogating the suspect?"
Sun Guangtian smiled at Fang Rui, "Don't tell me you've hit a dead end in your investigation and you're here looking for inspiration?"
"I suspect that this suspect isn't the real killer," Fang Rui said.
Sun Guangtian exhaled a smoke ring and said, "Alright, you can come with me to interrogate him."
