Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 127

Chapter 127: Just Fire Them

Staring at the screen for half a day, Qin Luo’s eyes were so dry and itchy. She looked at the time. It was almost eleven. Liu Jia had finally replied. She had said that her phone had been out of battery in the afternoon and she had just landed and had gone home. She was a little tired and wanted to sleep. Qin Luo had been wanting to lie down after half a day of meetings. Thinking of how Liu Jia was suffering like this every day, she had sent several “hard work” messages, telling her to rest quickly.

Shen Yiyi was already asleep.
And she was sleeping in the guest room.

Qin Luo had not had time to reason with her during the meeting just now. The camera outside the door had not yet been removed. How could they sleep in two rooms? Besides, what kind of good person would sleep in separate rooms during a passionate love period?

Qin Luo turned off the lights and checked the doors and windows. Little Lu had sent them a door stopper in the afternoon. After confirming that everything was in order, she went back to her room.

The lights in the guest room had been turned off early, but Shen Yiyi was not asleep.

She had been sleeping with Qin Luo for more than a week and was used to someone hugging her from behind. That warmth made her feel as secure as if she were back in the womb. Now that she was suddenly sleeping alone, she felt a little empty behind her. But she did not want to go back on her word and could only close her eyes and count sheep.

As she was counting, there was a sound at the door.

Her glasses were on the bedside table, and her watch was also taken off. Because she had touched her watch and it was not clean, she had taken a wet wipe to wipe her hands. Qin Luo was like she had lived with her for many years, respecting her habits, even though she was pretending to be asleep.

Qin Luo lifted the blanket and lay on her side, pressing against her back, and quietly held her waist, without any other offense. Shen Yiyi closed her eyes with peace of mind and unconsciously held her hand back.

The two slept peacefully until eight in the morning when Lu Shimao called, saying that she was at the door.

“So early?”

The camera in the entryway had not yet been removed. It was not convenient for Qin Luo to talk. She stepped aside to let her in.

Lu Shimao had heard about the police report yesterday. Thinking that it was risky for the two of them to go out, she had specially bought groceries and had come to the door.

She put the big and small bags on the floor. “There are fruits and vegetables, and also meat. I bought them all myself. They’re non-toxic and harmless. It should be enough for three days.”

Qin Luo could tell at a glance that Little Lu did not usually do housework and had no experience in buying groceries.

The water spinach leaves were sprinkled with water and looked fresh, but a pinch would tell you that they were very old. Qin Luo flipped through them and saw that she had also bought a bunch of out-of-season vegetables. She didn’t know how much of a bargain this person had gotten by living with Shen Yiyi…

But it was Shen Yiyi who felt sorry. “Thank you so much for your hard work.”

“It’s fine. It was on the way.” Lu Shimao said, “I went back and studied the photos carefully. That lampshade has to be replaced regularly to prevent the heat from rising and affecting the sensor module.”

Qin Luo had her hands on her hips and was listening to her seriously. “What do you mean?”

“If he wants to continue to monitor, it means that he has to come and check the 5G card and change the lampshade frequently.” Lu Shimao asked Qin Luo, “Have you checked your own surveillance? Have you captured any suspicious people in the past period of time?”

“No.” Qin Luo had checked the surveillance when she was in Beijing, and she had had the police officer check it again at the police station yesterday. “Anyway, not in the past month.”

Lu Shimao scratched her head. “Do you have a cloud membership? Or you can call the surveillance platform to get the storage records.”

Qin Luo did have a membership, but this membership was a family sharing membership. The password was in Liu Jia’s hands. To enter the backend, she had to get the password from Liu Jia. She had been thinking of meeting with Liu Jia later today.

Qin Luo nodded. “Okay. Thanks for the reminder.”

After Lu Shimao had left, Shen Yiyi was tidying up the refrigerator. Qin Luo knew that Liu Jia woke up late, so she decided to call her after breakfast.

Shen Yiyi had made porridge. The two were chatting about Liu Jia at the dining table.

When she had discovered the surveillance, Shen Yiyi’s first suspect was Liu Jia, and the second was You Ning.

“Did Liu Jia find the housekeeper for your house?”
“Yes.”
“Then do you two use the same housekeeper?”
“We switch occasionally.” Qin Luo said, “The owners here who are families all have live-in nannies. Most of the single people entrust it to a housekeeping company. Liu Jia also found a housekeeper through the property management. She’s responsible for the cleaning and purchasing for both our houses, three times a week.”

“In the past, the housekeepers were all aunties, but ever since Liu Jia’s father got sick, they’ve been replaced by male housekeepers.” Qin Luo explained, “Someone has to help carry the patient, and I have a lot of books here, so cleaning and moving books also requires a lot of physical strength.”

“Is Liu Jia’s assistant also on the Cloud Top whitelist?”
“Yes.” Qin Luo nodded. “The assistant has to pick her up and drop her off. But the underground garages are not connected. They’re zoned.”

For example, her family’s underground garage was on the innermost side. The car had to go around to the main road on the other side of the complex to enter. One underground garage served the parking of the owners of four buildings, but most of the owners did not live here all year round. The luxury cars would be parked for several years. The underground garage was almost empty.

“Oh.” Shen Yiyi slowly swallowed her porridge.

After the two had finished eating, Qin Luo had called Liu Jia several times, but no one had answered.

Qin Luo was puzzled. Liu Jia’s schedule was very stable, a standard workaholic, from nine in the morning to twelve at night.

Maybe her flight last night was a little late, and she was tired.

But Shen Yiyi was more vigilant than Qin Luo. At this time, no one could be out of sight, especially the people around Qin Luo. If they were not the killer, then the possibility of them becoming a victim was also very high.

Shen Yiyi made a snap decision. “Let’s go to her house and find her.”

Liu Jia lived in the next building. When they had bought their houses, Qin Luo had really wanted a river view. Liu Jia had no requirements for her house. Hearing that Qin Luo liked it, she had given up the river view room without a second thought.

Although the two did not live far apart, Qin Luo rarely went to her house to visit. In comparison, Liu Jia came to her house more often, occasionally for a meal, occasionally for a bottle of wine. Therefore, Qin Luo did not know Liu Jia’s house password.

When they got to her door, they knocked a few times, but there was no response. Qin Luo finally became a little flustered.

“Could she have gone to the company?” Qin Luo took out her phone and began to call Liu Jia’s assistant, wanting to ask what time Liu Jia had landed last night.

But after calling twice, Liu Jia’s assistant did not answer either.

Qin Luo said anxiously, “Let’s go to the company. We have to see someone.”

Even if she couldn’t see Liu Jia, it would be good to see her assistant. Even if it was just to get a specific flight information, Qin Luo would be much more at ease. Shen Yiyi also agreed with Qin Luo’s idea. She also had many things she wanted to ask Liu Jia in person.

Without stopping at home, Qin Luo took her car keys and went out. Shen Yiyi sat in the car and also called Lu Shimao.

She really didn’t want to trouble Little Lu, but she was in a hurry just now and didn’t have time to investigate carefully. She thought that since Little Lu had a detection software last time, it might save a lot of investigation time.

This was a police officer’s habit. Only a careful check could make a person completely at ease.

Lu Shimao naturally did not refuse. At the same time that Shen Yiyi had arrived at Logos, she had taken her equipment and had gone outside Liu Jia’s house.

“Morning~ Director Qin~”

The front desk girl had not seen Qin Luo in a long time. Seeing her boss come to the company, she immediately reported, “The regular meeting is in conference room 1. The content meeting has already ended—”

Qin Luo interrupted her. “Is Sister Liu here?”

She said, “Sister Liu has gone on a business trip to Xiamen~”

Clearly, Liu Jia had not come to the company, but the front desk also did not know Liu Jia’s itinerary. Qin Luo did not want to waste time and strode toward the assistant’s office.

Wang Xi was sitting in her office, typing. She was a little surprised to see Qin Luo suddenly appear.

“Why are you here?”

“Where’s Little Sun?” Qin Luo looked at the empty desk next to Wang Xi. Liu Jia’s assistant had not come to work either.

Wang Xi, as a qualified assistant, could sense her boss’s anxious mood. The current anxiety value had already exceeded the red line.

“I’m not sure.” But Wang Xi was very alert. Helping her boss solve problems was her primary task. She took out her phone. “I’ll call her now.”

Qin Luo felt it was absurd. “What? The boss is not at work, and the assistant is also not at work?”

Change!!! When Liu Jia comes back, she will immediately change Logos’s flexible work schedule. You can’t just get off work whenever you’ve worked enough hours. What if there’s an emergency and you can’t find anyone!!

Wang Xi waited for a dozen or so seconds and looked at Qin Luo with her phone.

“…No one is answering…”

Qin Luo’s expression was very serious. Wang Xi did not dare to touch her brow, but she had to ask even if she didn’t dare. “…Did something happen?”

Just as Qin Luo was about to speak, Shen Yiyi stood beside her and stopped her with her arm, taking over the conversation.

“If your colleague calls you back later, you can just tell Qin Luo.” Then Shen Yiyi pointed to the door and whispered to Qin Luo, “Let’s go to your office and wait for a bit.”

“What’s wrong with the boss’s assistant not answering the phone?” Qin Luo smiled wryly. “Are they playing the disappearing act at this time?”

Shen Yiyi could hear her fear. “Let’s not be in a hurry. You can take me to your office for a look first.”

A look at the office?

Qin Luo had almost forgotten that Shen Yiyi was a forensic pathologist, a very capable business director of the identification center. She took Shen Yiyi and pushed open Liu Jia’s office.

As soon as she entered, Shen Yiyi was choked.

The room smelled strongly of smoke.

Although the office had a fresh air system, the smell in the enclosed space dissipated very slowly. Although the ashtray on the table had been cleaned by the janitor, you could tell from the lighters in the desktop storage box that Liu Jia had been smoking heavily recently.

One, two, three… seven.
A full seven lighters.

“Can I open the drawer?” Shen Yiyi asked for Qin Luo’s opinion.

Qin Luo nodded. “Go ahead.”

A few high-end pens, a business card holder, spare business cards, a stapler, an unopened silk scarf, a small bottle of perfume, and chewing gum.

Shen Yiyi took out a tissue from her pocket and placed a few pens on the table. This kind of high-end pen was not cheap. Shen Yiyi observed them. A few of them had run out of ink.

Liu Jia was very particular about her pens and would not throw them away even if they were old.

It could be seen that Liu Jia really loved this career. There were almost no overly personal items in her drawer. Even Liu Jia’s drawer did not have a pile of other people’s business cards, which was a very confident move for a manager.

Shen Yiyi opened the second drawer and looked. Her hands did not stop, and she turned the pens with a tissue.

Click—

A slight damping sound came from her hand.

Was it a recording pen?

Shen Yiyi’s gaze moved back to the pen. She opened the tissue and looked at the disguised pen. She gently pressed it.

A man’s voice sounded in the office:

“We also have to consider the impact of the advertising. Logos is continuously commercializing, and it’s necessary to rectify the radical content. Being too sharp will cut both of us. The brand is also very afraid of being implicated. It’s only a matter of time before the content department is laid off and the reading group is optimized. You have to accept it.”
“What do you mean, it’s only a matter of time?”
“It means that someone in the content department has to take the fall.”
“The content was decided by Qin Luo. Who can I find to take the fall?”
“You always have to give the brand an explanation. Otherwise, how can you continue to cooperate? And you should discuss it with Qin Luo as soon as possible, to get rid of the mess of the reading group and focus on the live stream.”
“Have you discussed it with President Shang?”
“No need to discuss it. Isn’t it common for departments to be optimized? You should handle this matter as soon as possible. Just find someone to fire and take the fall.”