Chapter 1332
Chen Xingyi is arrested; the locked-room murder case
Holding the microphone, Li Aiguo paused for a moment before remembering the origin of 639.
While the mushroom egg was still being manufactured, we proposed to manufacture a giant mushroom egg, starting with a theoretical design, also known as 639.
Although this code name was proposed in September 1963, it was not to commemorate that date, but rather to continue the internal sequence of the "596" numbering system.
Later, due to the accelerated development progress, the code name 639 was changed to 629, and later to Project 1100, the development project of the combat-ready giant mushroom.
At present, Project 639 is still in the initial exploratory stage on paper.
To put it bluntly, it's just a theoretical stage with a bunch of top-secret blueprints and data formulas. There's not even a physical object yet, so how could something go wrong?
"Could something be wrong at Factory 221?"
The moment the thought crossed his mind, Li Aiguo's heart skipped a beat.
If Factory 221 really messed up, then this would be a huge problem.
After hanging up the phone and handing over his work to Zong Xianfeng, he prepared to drive his large SUV straight to the weather station.
Just as I walked up to the car, I saw Chen Xueru riding a scooter with her second sister-in-law coming over in a hurry.
"Patriot! Something's happened!" Chen Xueru braced herself with her long legs as the motorcycle came to a stop, and her second sister-in-law, who was sitting in the back, shouted.
Li Aiguo was a little confused. What was going on today? Everything seemed to be happening at once.
"Second sister-in-law, don't worry, what happened?"
"Your second brother, he, he..." The second sister-in-law's eyes were red with anxiety.
Despite being a quick-witted person among her neighbors, she stammered several times, unable to utter the next half of her sentence.
Seeing this, Chen Xueru quickly took over the conversation for her: "At noon, Second Sister-in-law went to the factory to deliver lunch to Xingyi, but she waited outside the workshop for a long time and didn't see a single person."
Later, after inquiring with his colleagues, I learned that Xing Yi... had been taken away by the security department!
"Security Department?" Li Aiguo was stunned. "Didn't they ask what the matter was about?"
Like Chen Xingjia, Chen Xingyi is an honest person. He is currently a technician at the locomotive factory and would never do anything like that.
The second sister-in-law had recovered by now and grabbed Li Aiguo's arm, saying, "Aiguo! Don't you know your second brother?"
Despite being 1.7 meters tall, he's incredibly timid; he wouldn't even watch a chicken being killed. He's more cowardly than a mouse!
He could never do anything bad!
"You...you have so many connections, you absolutely must help your second brother!"
"Sister-in-law, don't worry, I'll find out what's going on and then we'll think of a solution."
Li Aiguo wasn't sure either, as he didn't know what was going on at the weather station.
Clearly, the weather station is more important.
Although the second sister-in-law was unaware of these matters, she didn't say anything more when she saw that Li Aiguo had made this decision.
Li Aiguo asked Chen Xueru to take his second sister-in-law back to the tailor shop first, and then drove his SUV to the weather station.
The atmosphere inside the weather station was normal, with no sign of tension. Li Aiguo greeted the meteorologists as he walked briskly toward Lao Mao's office.
Before they even reached the office door, Old Cat came out with a young meteorologist.
Old Cat looked up and his eyes lit up: "Patriotism, you've come at the perfect time! Did you drive? Let's go, let's go, enough talk, let's get going now!"
As the old cat spoke, he got onto Li Aiguo's large off-road vehicle.
Li Aiguo was already used to Lao Mao's way of doing things. He wouldn't tell you what you shouldn't know, and he would tell you what you should know without you even asking.
Sure enough, once they were in the car, Lao Mao told Li Aiguo to drive towards Changxindian Town.
"Are we going to town? Or to the factory?"
"Inside the factory," Old Cat nodded.
Li Aiguo was particularly familiar with the Changxindian Locomotive Factory.
The car engine roared as the large SUV sped along the street.
Old Cat rolled down the car window, lit a cigarette, and then said, "The specific situation is still unclear. We received a report from the security department of Changxindian Locomotive Factory that a worker had an accident."
Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo frowned subtly: "Changxindian Locomotive Factory... it's just a train manufacturing plant, what could it possibly have to do with the prestigious Project 639?"
Old Cat said, "Your security level is already very high, so telling you won't hurt. Although 639 is still in the theoretical design stage, the development of related components is already underway."
Because of the extremely high level of secrecy surrounding 639, only a few bigwigs in China fully understood it, and Lao Mao only knew a part of it, so he gave a vague account of the situation.
With his keen sense of smell, Li Aiguo quickly pieced together the whole story.
Project 639 is not just about manufacturing the super mushroom egg; it also includes how to transport the super mushroom egg from Factory 221 to the experimental site in the Gobi Desert after it is manufactured.
Previously, when transporting those small-yield mushroom bombs, we used special shockproof trains with six wheels on the bottom, which could barely handle the bumps.
But this is a super mushroom egg!
Therefore, transportation demands have skyrocketed, and the previously dedicated trains must undergo a complete overhaul and upgrade.
As one of the top carriage manufacturers in China, Changxindian Locomotive Factory naturally undertook the secret task of manufacturing these key shock-absorbing components.
The employee involved in the accident was named Zhang Tao, and he was a technician in the parts workshop.
The cause of death sounds a bit unbelievable; he died from drinking.
"Although it was the manufacturing of parts for a special train, it involved 639, so the security department of Changxindian Locomotive Factory immediately reported it to us after discovering the incident."
The distance from downtown Beijing to Changxindian is not far.
As they were talking, Li Aiguo had already driven to the Changxindian Locomotive Factory.
At this moment, Chen Hua, the head of the security department of Changxindian, was already waiting with several security officers.
When Li Aiguo was in charge of the locomotive improvement project in Changxindian, he had dealings with Chen Hua.
Before liberation, this person had participated in activities in Changxindian. He had a very high level of ideological awareness, but he had a bit of a fiery temper.
"Comrade Patriot, Comrade Cat! You've finally arrived! Welcome, welcome to guide our work!" As soon as Chen Hua saw the two get out of the car, he immediately walked up to them.
To his surprise, Old Cat didn't take the bait at all when he tried to get closer to him.
"Section Chief Chen, let's skip the pleasantries. I told you on the phone to seal off the crime scene immediately; did you do that?"
This is the meteorological station's consistent, efficient work style.
When local officials encounter problems with people in their own factories, they are often prone to acting on emotion and may inadvertently disrupt the scene, causing crucial clues to vanish into thin air.
Chen Hua was also aware of Lao Mao's identity, and his expression changed slightly, his temper instantly subdued.
Chen Hua straightened up abruptly and saluted: "Reporting, Comrade Cat! Our security department has strictly followed your instructions!"
Zhang Tao's body remained untouched in the room. The entire dormitory area was cordoned off and completely sealed off; not even a fly could get in, and no one was allowed to enter or leave!
Seeing that Chen Hua was getting nervous, Li Aiguo offered him a cigarette and asked, "Section Chief Chen, we're all old acquaintances, don't be so reserved. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Chen Hua took the cigarette and gave a bitter laugh: "Sigh, patriotism, to be honest, this is a damn infuriating accident."
Zhang Tao and several other technicians secretly got themselves a few bottles of liquor to celebrate their new invention.
After getting off work yesterday, a few of us got together in the office and drank until we were completely drunk.
Later, they all got so drunk that they passed out, and it took several colleagues to carry them home in the middle of the night.
This morning, when it was time to go to work, Zhang Tao didn't show up at the workshop.
Since Zhang Tao had the key to the technical department's archives, and the technical department urgently needed the documents, they sent someone to his dormitory to look for them.
When they opened the door... they found Zhang Tao lying stiffly dead on the bed, his body completely cold.
Chen Hua grew angrier and angrier, and couldn't help but curse, "These little bastards! They could kill someone by pouring horse piss down their throat! Once this is all investigated, I'm going to give those surviving guys a good beating! What kind of celebration is this? It's utter nonsense!"
Although there's no longer any responsibility for drinking together in this era, if someone dies, punishment is inevitable.
As Li Aiguo listened, a sudden thought struck him, and he remembered his second sister-in-law's anxious and impatient demeanor earlier that day.
Chen Xingyi got arrested by the security department today!
"Section Chief Chen, I have a question for you." Li Aiguo's eyes narrowed slightly. "That Chen Xingyi from the second technical team... was he also arrested by your security department?"
"Yes, it was actually to celebrate Chen Xingyi's invention. He apparently made some kind of invention and got praise from the factory, but then this happened."
"Good heavens," Li Aiguo muttered to himself.
The weather station and my second sister-in-law were both reporting the same thing in such a hurry.
"Where are Chen Xingyi and the others now?" Li Aiguo went straight to the point.
"He's in the detention room right now." Chen Hua knew about Li Aiguo's relationship with Chen Xingyi.
As he spoke, Chen Hua handed a list to Li Aiguo.
Li Aiguo took it and looked at it. Apart from Chen Xingyi, the other names were unfamiliar. He guessed that they had joined the Changxindian Locomotive Factory later.
After all, the Changxindian Locomotive Factory is no longer what it used to be.
Since taking the lead in manufacturing hydraulic dump truck carriages and even exporting them overseas to earn foreign exchange, the factory has expanded several times in size, and recruiting a large number of employees is a normal operation.
"Let's go see these people first and find out the whole story."
Li Aiguo looked at Lao Mao, who also agreed. Anyway, the crime scene was right there, and they couldn't escape it. The more information they had, the less likely they were to take a detour.
"Then bring them up one by one and interrogate them properly," Old Cat nodded.
Inside the detention room at this moment.
Chen Xingyi and three other young technicians sat cross-legged on a tattered straw mat, looking dejected and like wilted eggplants.
"The five of us only drank three bottles of Lao Fenjiu in total, how did Zhang Tao get into trouble?" A technician scratched his head in frustration.
"Yes, he was drunk, but it shouldn't have caused any serious harm."
"Sigh, in the end, it's just that we guys are unlucky! With Zhang Tao dead, our department's 'Advanced Collective' award at the end of the year is definitely off the table, and we might even get a serious disciplinary action. Our future is ruined."
Another technician looked at Chen Xingyi.
"Actually, we're all doing alright. We didn't achieve anything particularly outstanding this year."
It's a pity about Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen just received a commendation from the factory office, and the workshop director even hinted that he has a good chance of being named a "model worker" this year.
"Now look what's happened, it's all ruined, all our efforts have been in vain."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xingyi waved his hand bitterly: "Alright, stop complaining."
Zhang Tao is gone now, a living, breathing human life gone!
In any case, last night's drinking party was started because of us.
Can a model worker's worth be weighed against a human life?
The technicians all nodded silently.
To be fair, their relationship with Zhang Tao was just that of casual acquaintances, not close, confidants.
But after all, they were colleagues who saw each other all the time in the same office. They were drinking and chatting together yesterday, and now he's gone. It's hard for anyone to feel bad.
Just then, footsteps were heard outside, and a security officer pushed open the door and walked in.
“You guys, get up and come with me to the interrogation room.”
"Huh? We still need to interrogate them? When we came in this morning, didn't we already tell them everything about drinking last night?" one of the technicians said, somewhat surprised.
"Just go when I tell you to! Stop talking nonsense!" The security officer frowned and shouted sternly.
But then I thought about it again. These people were, after all, the technical backbone of the factory, and usually they were well-mannered intellectuals, not those petty thieves and drifters.
The security officer kindly lowered his voice and revealed, "Let me be clear, this time it wasn't just our security department that investigated."
The higher-ups' confidential department sent people to investigate this case.
"When we get inside, everyone better behave properly. Answer all questions directly, and don't try to be clever!"
The technicians' expressions changed. No matter what the matter, once it involves the classified department, it becomes a major issue.
This is probably not as simple as just being punished. If he gets involved with Dieter's alleged crimes, he could lose his head!
Chen Xingyi was also startled. Although he knew he hadn't done anything wrong, some things are just unpredictable.
And so, with a heavy heart, Chen Xingyi entered the interrogation room.
"Reporting to the leader, it's me."
Chen Xingyi was stunned after just one glance, and the rest of his words choked in his throat.
Sitting in front of the interrogation table was his brother-in-law, Li Aiguo, who was talking to a middle-aged man who looked like a leader.
Li Aiguo also saw Chen Xingyi and pointed to the chair: "Sit down."
Chen Xingyi took a deep breath and slowly sat down.
"Name?"
"Chen Xingyi".
"age."
After a series of routine procedures, Li Aiguo asked the group where they drank, what kind of alcohol they drank, and how much they drank.
The questions were very detailed.
As the questioning deepened, Chen Xingyi's initially panicked state of mind miraculously calmed down.
Having done nothing wrong, he had nothing to fear. So he simply spilled the beans, answering all the details he knew truthfully without hiding anything.
After listening to him, Li Aiguo asked him to sign his name on the record and then had him taken back.
"How is it?" Section Chief Chen Hua asked.
“It sounds like there’s no problem. Chen Xingyi is an honest person.” Li Aiguo wasn’t trying to excuse Chen Xingyi. Even the cunning Dieter couldn’t hide his true colors in front of Li Aiguo.
Upon hearing this, Chen Hua understood Li Aiguo's meaning and called over a security officer to give him a few instructions.
On the other side, Chen Xingyi and several technicians were also sent back to the detention room after being interrogated one by one.
The group of men were still shaken by the interrogation they had just endured.
"The young man who interrogated me was incredibly sharp; his eyes were like knives."
"Yes, it's impressive that he became the leader of the security department at such a young age."
"Sigh, what's meant to be will be. There's no use worrying about it now. Let's think about what to eat later. My stomach is growling." One of the technicians said with a wry smile, changing the subject.
The mere mention of eating in this detention cell plunged the group's recently calmed spirits back into despair.
Everyone knows that those usually locked up in the factory's security room are mostly hooligans and troublemakers who fight, harass women, and so on. The factory doesn't treat these scumbags kindly.
Here, there is only one standard meal a day.
The cornmeal porridge was so thin you could see your reflection in it, with a few pieces of burnt, blackened old cabbage stalks mixed in as a symbolic addition, and you could definitely find a layer of fine sand at the bottom of the bowl by the end.
This is how the security department operates.
Firstly, it's to let these guys who made mistakes experience what it means to "suffer" firsthand and reflect on their mistakes.
Secondly, they were also afraid that these young and strong thugs would have nothing better to do than yell and bang on doors in the detention room.
Although they had only been locked up for less than a day, the few meals they had eaten in prison had already made their stomachs churn with acid and their vision blurry.
Just then, the security officer who was delivering the food came in, carrying a wooden bucket.
They were all stunned when they saw the food in the wooden bucket.
"Rice, and stir-fried carrots?"
Although it's not a fancy meal, it's considered top-notch here.
The technicians looked at each other, puzzled as to why the security department would suddenly show such kindness and give them this special treatment.
Could it be their last meal before death? The thought sent a shiver down their spines.
Only Chen Xingyi silently picked up the lunchbox full of rice, picked up a piece of shredded carrot with his chopsticks, and put it in his mouth.
He chewed heartily while gazing thoughtfully at the sliver of light streaming in through the window.
At this moment, Li Aiguo and Lao Mao also quickly ate a bite of food and followed Chen Hua toward the crime scene.
The Changxindian Locomotive Factory is very close to Changxindian Town. Many of the factory's employees live in large courtyards in the town.
This place was originally a major transportation route to Beijing.
During the Ming Dynasty, two villages, "Changdian" and "Xindian", were formed, and later they were connected and evolved into "Changxindian".
Although the name contains the word "town," it has more than fifty alleys, many of which are named with the character "口" (kou, meaning mouth). The employee who had the accident lived in a large courtyard near the entrance of the Liuyangju (留养局).
The alley was so narrow that there was no way for the car to get in. Li Aiguo could only park the car at the entrance of the alley and follow Lao Mao into the courtyard.
Like many dilapidated courtyards, this place was messy and the ground was not clean.
As soon as he arrived at the gate, Li Aiguo saw a lot of coal slag on the ground.
"This area is low-lying and rains frequently, so residents use these mats to keep their feet from getting muddy," Chen Hua explained as he noticed Li Aiguo staring at the coal ash.
Li Aiguo nodded in agreement and followed Chen Hua into the courtyard.
By this time, a number of old women and young wives had gathered to watch the commotion, pointing and commenting on a room.
Two security officers were on duty in front of the building. When they saw the leader coming, they saluted in unison.
"Open the door," Chen Hua ordered.
"Yes!"
This time, it was Li Aiguo who opened the door, but he didn't go in immediately. Instead, he stood at the doorway and leaned in to peek into the room.
This is a suite with two rooms: an outer living room and an inner bedroom.
The living room was simply furnished, with just a square table and a few chairs, nothing else. There were no signs of a struggle inside.
Li Aiguo glanced at it, then asked without turning his head, "Since the discovery of the deceased's death, how many people have gone inside?"
"There were only two of us, one was the technician who brought the message, and the other was me. I know the rules, it's about protecting the crime scene," Chen Hua replied.
Li Aiguo nodded and then said, "Bring the flashlight first."
Old Cat was prepared and handed over a flashlight. It was an extended flashlight with six size D batteries, which could be used for lighting or as a stick.
With a "click," the door opened, and the room was instantly brightly lit.
Li Aiguo squatted down, held the flashlight close to the ground, and shone it over the area before carefully walking in little by little.
Seeing this, Chen Hua was somewhat confused.
"What is Comrade Aiguo doing?"
"Find the footprints." Old Cat narrowed his eyes. The weather station has now established a trace evidence center capable of identifying footprints and fingerprints. Although it's still in its early stages, it has already helped solve quite a few cases.
Whether you can find clear footprints inside such a house depends on a bit of luck.
However, Li Aiguo was clearly lucky. He soon found two footprints covered in coal ash on the floor inside the house.
It must have been left by someone who walked to the front door, their shoes covered in coal dust, before entering the house.
Li Aiguo carefully marked the footprints, then took a flashlight and continued walking inside, where he soon discovered two more footprints.
“This should be mine and the technician who brought the message,” Chen Hua nodded and said.
"Protect it first, and take pictures and send it back for identification after the camera arrives." Li Aiguo searched carefully again to make sure there were no other footprints before instructing the meteorologist who had come with him.
Then we went into the inner room.
Zhang Tao's body lay quietly on the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).
After taking a look, Li Aiguo did not approach directly, but stood still and looked around the room.
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong?" Section Chief Chen Hua asked, puzzled. "I've already done a preliminary check. Zhang Tao just drank too much and died from it."
As he spoke, Chen Hua pointed to the door and added, "According to the technician who brought the message, when he arrived, the door was bolted from the inside and couldn't be opened from the outside at all."
He called two other residents, and together they broke it open.
"Furthermore, these windows are all sealed shut, with latches inserted from the inside. It's impossible for someone to kill Zhang Tao and then simply disappear into thin air," Chen Hua said, pointing to the windows with absolute certainty.
The main reason he reported this matter was to follow the procedures in accordance with confidentiality regulations.
If this case had been an accident, all that would have been needed to do was punish the technician who was drinking with him, and that would have been the end of it.
But when he saw Lao Mao and Li Aiguo come over, checking footprints and taking photos, Chen Hua felt uneasy and sensed that something was wrong.
The old cat nodded as well.
This is a standard locked room. Generally speaking, it's impossible for someone to come in, kill someone, and then lock the doors and windows from the inside.
However, Li Aiguo was all too familiar with locked-room murder cases.
The real culprit is... cough cough, no, let's start over.
The truth is
Li Aiguo touched the cold heated brick bed and said, "Zhang Tao was murdered."
"Huh?!" This time, not only Chen Hua's eyes widened, but even Old Cat's expression changed.
"Patriotism, there are no outsiders here. Who killed him? It couldn't have been a ghost, could it?" Chen Hua said half-jokingly.
Li Aiguo smiled and asked instead of answering, "It's so cold outside, the kang (heated brick bed) inside is freezing and no one's burning it, yet they've unusually lit a coal stove. Isn't that strange?"
"This..." Chen Hua was speechless and couldn't say a word.
Yes, coal stoves are usually used for cooking and are placed outside.
If it's for heating, it's much more comfortable to burn a fire on a kang (heated brick bed) in this cold weather. Who would carry a coal stove into the inner room?
"The house is well-sealed. If the doors and windows are closed, the carbon monoxide produced by just a few pieces of coal would be enough to kill an adult without them even realizing it."
Li Aiguo stepped forward, picked up the fire tongs next to him, and took out three pieces of burnt-out, white coal ash from the coal stove.
"How did the murderer get in? And how did he get out?" Chen Hua felt he had found a loophole in Li Aiguo's story.
Li Aiguo pointed to the window: "It's very simple. After setting up the coal stove, the murderer jumped onto the kang (a heated brick bed), opened the window, and jumped out."
Then stand outside the window and use a thin thread or a thin blade to straighten the window latch.
By pushing the window shut from the outside, the end of the latch could easily fall into the eyelet, creating the illusion that the deceased had latched the window themselves from inside the room.
After saying that, Li Aiguo added, "If I'm not mistaken, the murderer was also wearing gloves, so there definitely won't be any fingerprints on the window latch."
The entire analysis is logical and coherent.
Chen Hua was at a loss for words. He scratched his head and said reluctantly, "These are all just your guesses. There's no real evidence at all."
Li Aiguo laughed: "Of course there is evidence. The evidence is something that should exist but doesn't."
Upon hearing this, Chen Hua was still completely bewildered, while the old cat, who had been thoughtfully observing from the side, turned its gaze to the footprints.
"footprint?"
"Yes! Logically speaking, four people brought Zhang Tao back last night, so they should have left footprints when they entered the house. But where are their footprints?"
Old Cat slapped his thigh suddenly.
Chen Hua's eyes widened at first, then he suddenly realized: "The murderer wiped it off!"
Chen Hua felt a chill run down his spine.
This murderer is really cunning; he thought of every single detail and even deliberately faked the scene.
However, he was even more amazed by Li Aiguo's keen observation and filled with admiration.
"That murderer is really cunning!"
(End of this chapter)