The discovery of Dao Liu Ye's address indeed greatly encouraged everyone, and along with the address were several photographs.
The photographs showed the exterior of a building, but several people could be clearly seen entering and exiting the building. Among them were Tong Meng and Tang Yin Ge.
"This Dao Liu Ye really is a man who loves wearing a long gown," Lü Qing Qing pointed at a photo and said. Whether it was the last time they saw Master Liu at Coral Dam or in the photos, he was always in a long gown, as if he had never changed.
"Let's go, we'll pay him a visit too." Ouyang Wen urged Hu Jia and Lü Qing Qing, eager to find Dao Liu Ye and have a face-to-face talk.
Following the address given by Tong Hua, Hu Jia and the others found Dao Liu Ye's home, but it was already empty. Seeing the dust-covered room, Ouyang Wen felt very helpless.
Everyone searched the building inside and out but found nothing unusual, yet they still felt something was not right.
"You say this Dao Liu Ye is really good at hiding? He's always one step ahead of us," Ouyang Wen said, standing on the second-floor balcony of the small building, gazing at the scenery outside.
"Yes. He probably hasn't been back since that day at Coral Dam," Lü Qing Qing said.
"No, that's not right." Hu Jia touched the furniture inside the house. "This dust is too thick. Less than a week has passed since the incident at Coral Dam, and the house shouldn't be this dirty."
Hu Jia deduced that this place had been uninhabited for at least a month.
"As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Someone like Dao Liu Ye definitely has more than one hiding place," Lü Qing Qing didn't think this was a problem.
"Yes, it will be difficult to catch him again next time," Ouyang Wen also sighed.
The group stood together on the balcony, looking at the distant Yangtze River with a sense of emotion.
Dao Liu Ye's house was located in the upper part of the city, and Wang Jia Po was precisely at the top of the slope. Standing on the balcony, one could see layers upon layers of houses extending downwards. There were small courtyards halfway up the mountain, but at the foot of the mountain, most of them had become stilted buildings.
"Huh? Isn't that Wang Jia Alley over there?" Hu Jia pointed to about ten meters below. Wang Jia Alley was a place he and Ouyang Wen often went to because Qiao Hua Li lived there.
"That's right, that's Qiao Hua Li's small courtyard," Ouyang Wen was also surprised that Dao Liu Ye and Qiao Hua Li lived so close to each other.
One was on the mountaintop, and the other was halfway up the mountain.
"You say, with such a close distance, could Qiao Hua Li and this Dao Liu Ye not know each other? Could they have had some secret dealings?" Ouyang Wen's first thought was that something was not right.
"It only looks close. If you really walk over there, you won't get there in half an hour," Lü Qing Qing looked at the distance between the two houses, a typical case of seeing the mountain but getting exhausted trying to reach it.
"Hmm, it seems so." After hearing Lü Qing Qing say that, Ouyang Wen also carefully studied the terrain. The two houses were indeed only visually close. If the two men really wanted to pass messages, they would have to shout.
But who would dare to shout?
After watching for a long time, everyone unanimously agreed that it was a coincidence. However, Hu Jia did not think so. "Have you forgotten about the bookstore and the restaurant?"
Everyone was shocked. The bookstore and the restaurant looked far apart, but in reality, there was an underground tunnel connecting them.
"You mean there's an underground tunnel between these two places?" Ouyang Wen was clearly shocked by Hu Jia's idea. This place was not like the bookstore and the restaurant which were back-to-back. This was one above and one below. Digging a tunnel would be a massive undertaking.
"Exactly, who has that capability?" Lü Qing Qing also thought it was unlikely.
Hu Jia pondered and agreed.
Perhaps he was being too suspicious.
It was best to find Tong Meng as soon as possible. Also, that case involving Tong Hua, he didn't know if it was related to Tong Meng. If it was, he could add another point to her record.
...
Everyone returned to the bureau dejectedly. As soon as they arrived, Guan Jin Song and Cai Xiao Juan came with a young man. "Chief, Li Yong has been found."
He was a young man in his early twenties, wearing sturdy-soled shoes. Guan Jin Song said that he had followed Aunt Li all the way and finally found this man.
"This Aunt Li is his father's younger sister. They are relatives," Guan Jin Song said, spitting as he spoke. "That old woman really thought we couldn't do anything to her. She dared to lie to our faces."
Hearing this, Li Yong flinched. "I didn't kill Tong Hua, I'm being framed."
Hu Jia's mouth curved. "How do you know the deceased was called Tong Hua?"
"Uh." Li Yong was stunned. "I heard about it. You arrested me to find the murderer, right? I'm not."
Hu Jia was not in a hurry and meticulously asked about the entire process of the crime. Li Yong only stated that he was working on the second floor at the time and knew nothing else.
"Alright, you were working on the second floor at the time. What did you do?" Seeing that the interrogation was yielding no results, Lü Qing Qing took a different approach.
"Ah?" Li Yong did not expect Lü Qing Qing to ask such a question. He stammered for a long time before finally saying a few words. "I just fixed some pipes and turned some valves."
Lü Qing Qing smiled. "There are so many valves in the bathroom, which one did you turn? Also, what was wrong with the bathroom? Where did you finally repair it? Which parts did you replace?"
This time, Li Yong was completely panicked. Because he knew that no matter what he said, the police would investigate. Whether the bathroom had been repaired or new parts were installed would be immediately apparent.
Seeing that Li Yong could not answer, everyone understood.
At this moment, Cai Xiao Juan produced a stack of documents. "These are rubbings of the heel prints of two pairs of shoes. One is the footprint on the windowsill, and the other is a rubbing from the bottom of your shoes. After comparison, they are identical."
Li Yong's face turned pale, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
He finally confessed his crime.
"My aunt told me to do it." Based on Li Yong's account, everyone had a general understanding of what had happened.
It turned out that Aunt Li was the one who "cut people." Under her aunt's leadership, Li Yong had joined the "cutting people" organization early on.
However, recently, the "cutting people" organization had suffered frequent setbacks. Their strongholds were raided, and they dared not collect protection fees. Dao Liu Ye ordered everyone to go into hiding, saying they would regroup after the storm passed.
Aunt Li returned home at this time.
But a week ago, Aunt Li suddenly told him that she needed to eliminate someone. For Li Yong, eliminating people was a familiar task. Without a word, he took action.
"The windowsill was indeed locked, but Tong Hua recognized me." Hearing Li Yong say this, everyone immediately understood that Tong Hua had died at the hands of an acquaintance.
Li Yong said that after entering the bathroom, he pretended to make a rope out of a bedsheet to rescue Tong Hua, but took advantage of her unpreparedness and strangled her with the bedsheet, staging the scene as a suicide.
However, he never expected that when he finally hung the body on the pipe, a knot in the rope revealed the truth.
After obtaining Li Yong's testimony, Hu Jia immediately sent people to bring Aunt Li in.
Aunt Li was a tough woman. She sat down and said, "Ask whatever you want, as long as you don't torture me."
Uh...
Everyone looked at each other. She was indeed a straightforward person!