Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

What on earth was going on here? A frame-up after a murder, or an accident? Yang Ce could not figure it out. Who would do such a thing? Zhang Bin should have no enemies in Macau. The only one who could be counted an enemy was Liu Jihao—but Liu Jihao had fallen to his own death hours ago. How could he possibly be playing at framing anyone now?

The only reasonably plausible scenario was this: someone bore a grudge against the guy who needed a beating, and Zhang Bin just happened to have quarreled with him. That person seized the opportunity, cleverly killed the guy who needed a beating, and then pinned the blame on Zhang Bin.

Of course, all of this was Yang Juehuan's speculation; everything else could only be analyzed as events unfolded.

"How did you end up on top of this guy?" Yang Ce asked Zhang Bin calmly.

"I didn't fall on him—someone behind me pushed me, that's how I ended up on top of him." Zhang Bin spoke with an air of grievance. "Otherwise I was already about to leave. How could I have fallen on top of him?"

Hearing this, Yang Yu nodded. He too had vaguely seen a man passing by earlier, who seemed to have given Zhang Bin a shove—only he had not paid much attention at the time and had not seen clearly. Now, thinking back, it did seem to have been that way.

As for whether that man had been the one to drive the knife in, that was hard to say. Yang Mo felt a twinge of regret that he had not focused his attention there—but what good was regret now? Matters had already come to this.

Who had called the police, no one knew, but before long officers arrived at the scene, photographed the body, and took the suspect Zhang Bin into custody.

According to the testimony of most of the people at the scene, Zhang Bin had indeed quarreled with the guy who needed a beating, and afterward had fallen on top of him—and it was at that moment that the knife had been planted in the man's body.

Though Zhang Bin vehemently denied having killed anyone, the circumstances at the scene and the testimony were extremely unfavorable to him. Zhang Bin was taken to the local police station under the name of "assisting with the investigation."

Yang Minlan was skilled at killing, but when it came to investigation and deduction he was a complete layman. Scenes like this he had only ever seen in cartoons like Detective Conan—and now it was happening in real life, right before his eyes. Yang Ce felt his mind was not quite up to the task; after all, solving cases was not his strong suit.

Yang Ce was formidable—killing a few people in an instant was no problem for him—yet when it came to Zhang Bin being taken to the police station, he was utterly at a loss.

"You're a friend of Zhang Bin's?" Zhang Bin and the body had already been taken away; the remaining officers were conducting routine inquiries. When they learned that Yang Ce and Zhang Bin had come together, they began questioning Yang Ce.

"Yes, I'm Zhang Bin's friend." Yang Ce nodded cooperatively. Yang Shuyu knew that if he did not cooperate, it would only make the police more suspicious. Right now the evidence was merely unfavorable to Zhang Bin; they had not reached any conclusion. He believed that if he explained properly, there should be no problem.

"Your profession? From your accent, you're not a local. What are you doing here?" The officer was only making casual inquiries, not conducting a formal interrogation, so his manner was rather relaxed.

"We're both university students from the mainland. We came here to see Shu Ya's concert." Yang Yanzhou said, "We're not locals—we're both from Songjiang."

"Oh, I see." The officer provisionally believed Yang Juehuan's words, since such information could be verified at a glance—there was no point in Yang Ce lying to him. "Did Zhang Bin know the victim, Hadano Masao, before this?"

Hadano Masao? This guy's name was rather distinctive. Quite a creative name, that.

"Of course we don't know him. We only saw that Hadano fellow once, this morning in the restaurant." Yang Yanzhou then recounted everything that had happened that morning, in full detail, to the officer.

The officer nodded. From the look of things now, the two should have had no prior connection. If it was confirmed that Zhang Bin was the killer, then it would have to have been a crime of impulse.

"Officer, my friend couldn't possibly have killed anyone." Though Yang Shuyu knew his explanation could not possibly influence the police, he still could not help saying it.

"We will investigate thoroughly," the officer said.

After the police left, Yang Ce did feel somewhat at a loss. Surely he could not go to the police station and snatch the man away? Never mind whether such a thing was even possible—even if it succeeded, he and Zhang Bin would become wanted fugitives from then on, unable to stay anywhere in the country, at the very least. That was not an outcome Yang Ce wished to see.

Yang Ce did not immediately tell Wang Mei about Zhang Bin's situation. It was only after the police had gone, when Wang Mei came up to their room to look for them, that Yang Ce told her the truth.

"What?" Wang Mei was startled. "Zhang Bin couldn't possibly have gone and killed anyone!"

"I think so too. But what the police believe in is not us—it's the evidence." Yang Mo said helplessly, "Still, I expect nothing will come of it. There's no need for us to panic; we just wait for the results of the investigation."

Wang Mei had never had much of a mind of her own, and now she simply listened to whatever Yang Yanzhou said.

What Yang Ce suspected now was the fellow who had bumped into Zhang Bin from behind—he was the most likely suspect. And at that moment Yang Ce had unfortunately not been paying attention. The killer was very likely that man.

Yang Mo slapped his own head in some annoyance. He had not the slightest impression of what the man looked like. Even if he wanted to investigate, he had no place to start.

"Wait!" Yang Ce was suddenly startled and rose to his feet. In the hotel corridors, surveillance cameras were installed at regular intervals. If he could pull up the surveillance footage, would he not be able to see what the man looked like? He might even be able to see the man committing the crime.

At this thought Yang Ce grew excited at once. He instructed Wang Mei to wait calmly, then hurried out of the room. He grabbed a passing attendant and asked where the surveillance room was, then ran off in that direction.

The surveillance room was a department under the hotel's security division. Yang Ce first came to the security office next to the surveillance room and knocked on the door. From inside came a voice: "Come in."

Yang Ce pushed the door open and entered the security office. There were three people inside. One of them held a walkie-talkie and was directing something; the other two sat at their stations, one reading a newspaper, the other browsing the news on a computer.

"Hello, I'm a guest staying at this hotel—" Yang Ce had barely gotten half the sentence out when one of the security guards recognized him.

"I know you. Saw you earlier—you're a friend of Zhang Bin's, right?" This guard had also rushed to the scene earlier; there had simply been too many people around for Yang Ce to notice him. But Yang Jiyan, standing there beside Zhang Bin, had been spotted at once.

"That's right. Since you know, I'll get straight to the point." Yang Yuting nodded and said, "I'd like to look at the hotel's surveillance footage—the footage from where the incident happened."

"The footage? No way, I'm afraid. The police took it away just now." The guard shrugged. "Our hands are tied."

Yang Ce let out an "Ah!" and slapped his thigh hard. Of course—anything he could think of, the police could think of too. If the footage really showed what he suspected, that the man who had knocked into Zhang Bin was behind this, then the police would surely clear Zhang Bin's name.

To be continued.

856. The Truth of the Plot