Chapter 655: Chapter 653: The Old Path (13)_1 Chapter 655: Chapter 653: The Old Path (13)_1 “This isn’t the way to the police station, is it?”
A few minutes later, Fu Qian, sitting in the car driven by Chief Jones himself, asked thoughtfully.
The small town wasn’t large, and from yesterday to now, he had had enough time to etch its overall layout in his mind, especially the location of such forceful institutions.
And Fu Qian was very sure that they were not heading towards the police station.
“With one more missing person, shouldn’t we go back and organize more manpower for a carpet-style search?”
“Carpet-style search, that indeed seems like the most reasonable course of action.”
Chief Jones finally reacted, but with a cold snort.
“But my experience tells me, since we didn’t find anything earlier, even doubling the manpower will probably make no difference.”
“I prefer a less reasonable approach that might be more effective.”
“Oh? What might be a more effective approach?”
It was evident that Chief Jones was no ordinary character, and Fu Qian asked with interest.
“All violence has a motive. Start with those who have a motive, until you prove they’re all innocent.”
“You could just say the process of elimination, but indeed, many times, that is an effective method.”
Fu Qian wasn’t too surprised by this reply.
“Considering you have this suspect under control, are you ready to look for–Harold?”
Heh.
Jones snorted again, not denying it.
“Fabricating an accidental scene but actually planning to kill his wife, pardon my directness, although it’s a common plot, such an operation still requires certain execution skills.”
Fu Qian nodded.
“I’m beginning to doubt whether you really are a student.”
Jones gave Fu Qian a deep look.
“You sound more like a professional criminal consultant.”
Clearly, Jones had also heard the conversation where Fu Qian introduced himself as a consultant to Fran.
“In fact, I checked Harold’s neighbor first thing, confirming that Mrs. Harrold indeed left by car alone yesterday morning.”
“Oh? So this means?”
“Although it will make things a lot more troublesome, we must consider the possibility of hiring a hitman.”
“I agree with you. To kill, hide the body, and fabricate the scene, all without leaving traces for me to find, such an operation requires a high level of skill. It’s hard to believe an average middle-aged man with occasional emotional outbursts could do it.”
“But in any case, such an extremely professional person, to take the actions they did, must have a motive.”
“Understood, if it’s a paid job, the husband is undoubtedly the prime suspect again.”
Fu Qian nodded and indicated he understood Chief Jones’s line of thinking.
…
Before long, Jones controlled the car and stopped in front of a very ordinary yard.
From this vantage point, one could see that the garage next door was open, and it was empty inside.
Jones’s expression visibly grew tense as he got out of the car without a word.
After knocking twice and receiving no answer, he didn’t wait for Fu Qian to say anything before kicking the door open.
The inside was furnished like any ordinary house, but it looked a bit messy, and after a quick search, Jones returned to the living room with a cold face.
Bad news, there was no one in the house.
Good news, there was no dead body in the house either.
Several other areas were in total disarray, as if someone had conducted a thorough search.
“So according to the usual script, is this where the hired killer, in a rage, kills his employer because they couldn’t agree on the end payment?”
Fu Qian continued speculating along the lines of Chief Jones’s thoughts.
…
“But there’s a problem here, murderers aside, does Assassin Brother have a special hobby, insisting on taking the body with him?”
“Could it be he’s looking to bury the couple together?”
In the midst of silence, Fu Qian went on.
However, the next moment Jones seemed to remember something and abruptly turned to leave.
Fu Qian followed him out and noticed that Jones walked without stopping, straight to the neighbor’s house a few dozen meters away.
The noise from the police car had obviously already attracted the attention of the neighbors, who came out to greet them without waiting for a knock on the door.
“Did you notice when Harold left?”
Jones didn’t beat around the bush and directly asked the burly, husky man.
“Before noon.”
The neighbor’s tone was quite certain, as if he had some understanding of the couple’s tragedy.
“He came back in the morning, and I even visited Harold. After that, he stayed alone for a while, then he left in his car around noon.”
“Driving a car? Are you sure it was Harold?”
Jones was expressionless.
“I guess so, I was inside the house, his face was obscured by a hat, I could only see a bit, but judging by his build, it should be right.”
The neighbor was evidently quite cautious.
“He was wearing a hat while driving?”
Jones frowned.
“It is a bit odd, maybe it’s some kind of new trend?”
The neighbor said, as if he had just remembered something.
“Speaking of which, his wife also seemed to do the same when she went out yesterday.”
Harold’s missing wife had also worn a hat when she went out?
Jones’s gaze sharpened instantly.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
The neighbor’s tone was very certain.
“What’s wrong, has his wife been found?”
…
Upon returning from the investigation, Chief Jones’s face was so dark it looked like it might start dripping water.
“Did you stay behind with Fran to clean up yesterday?”
After searching Harold’s house again and finding nothing, Jones gestured for Fu Qian to get in the car, and after driving for a distance, he suddenly asked.
Mm-hmm.
Fu Qian made no reaction, his wrongful grievances assumed to be washed away.
After exchanging information that morning and returning home, he had plenty of opportunities to confirm this.
“It seems the situation has irreversibly gone in a dramatic direction!
The next moment he blinked.
…
“The person who drove off yesterday wasn’t Harold’s wife, but someone else, just wearing her hat and her clothes.”
Possibly provoked by Fu Qian’s words, Jones began to speak in a grave tone.
“At that time, Mrs. Harrold might have already met with disaster.”
“Eventually brought to the mountains, the car was made to look like it had been robbed, and then the body was discreetly disposed of.”
“Unfortunately, this scene was accidentally witnessed by three people going out shopping, and they faced threats.”
“That guy obviously had a lot of intimidation power, bringing them considerable terror. That’s why they seemed emotionally disturbed and refused to reveal any details.”
“Then the next day, Harold encountered the same fate as his wife.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
Fu Qian casually concurred.
“How do you explain Jessica’s accident, then?”
“Did he lack confidence in Lei and the others to keep a secret, or did he choose to trust the dead?”
Jones was starting to sound a bit unsure of himself.
But beyond that, it was hard for him to think of a more logical explanation.
“By your reasoning, it seems we should head back home and take a look.”
Fu Qian didn’t question it; he even thought for a moment and then added a reminder.
“After all, the remaining two witnesses are now at your house.”