Perfect Crime Chapter 3

His account made it sound like Zhao had simply gone to start a new life elsewhere, but Kou wasn’t convinced.

Two daughters, and not a single visit in over a decade? That didn’t fit the man’s character.

The detectives suspected the worst: Zhao hadn’t left alive.

After the interview, Li asked Kou, “Now that we have Ye Minhui’s name, should we go speak to him?”

Kou shook his head. “Not yet. We shouldn’t tip anyone off. Let’s report back to Director Zhou first.”

Back at the Bureau, Zhou listened and ordered that they continue tracking Zhao’s movements.

With his full name confirmed, the cyber division quickly checked his data records.

There had been no activity after his last visit home in 2009.

No travel logs, no employment records, no pandemic health code usage, not a single trace.

It was as if Zhao had vanished from the earth.
That raised another question: Why hadn’t anyone filed a missing-person report?

Lihua’s silence could be explained if she were responsible for his death, but what about Zhao’s family?

The detectives dug into the household registry and found Zhao’s eldest brother, Zhao Guoliang.

When they reached him, the reason became clear.

Their large family had been scattered after their parents died young, each sibling adopted by different villagers. They barely interacted growing up, and only as adults did Zhao reconnect with his brother.

“I last saw him during the Lunar New Year of 2009,” Guoliang recalled. “He came on the third day, bought gifts for the children, ate lunch, and left.”

“You never looked for him after that?” Li asked.

“Well, I went to his house once. His wife was angry, said he’d abandoned them, and that he’d never come back. She was fierce, so I didn’t question her. They argued constantly. I thought maybe it was true.”

Li realized something important: the only source for the supposed ‘leaving’ was Lihua herself. None of the villagers had seen Zhao depart.

That made her statement suspicious and strengthened the possibility that Zhao had been murdered.

Now Lihua’s name moved to the top of the suspect list.

And Ye Minhui’s role became equally critical.

Soon, investigators located Lihua in another county under Guangde City jurisdiction. Zhou ordered Kou to bring her in for questioning, while Li moved to intercept Minhui.

When Li ran Minhui’s records, he uncovered a surprising fact: Hou Wenguo had remarried, and his second wife was the sister of Minhui’s wife.

Hou and Minhui were family by marriage.

Hou had never mentioned this connection. Had they already tipped him off during their earlier questions?

Li raced to inform Zhou, who ordered immediate detention of Minhui.

Minhui was home when Li arrived and came willingly to the Bureau.

In questioning, Minhui admitted his affair with Lihua without hesitation.

“She and her husband had no love left. He was always away. She was struggling.”

“How far did your relationship go?” Li asked.

“We were just shy of getting a marriage certificate,” Minhui said plainly.

“But you were both still married,” Li pressed.

“Yes. I hadn’t divorced because my wife’s health was poor. That certificate didn’t matter to us. Zhao might as well have not existed. I wanted to care for Lihua, and she wanted to be with me.”

“Weren’t you afraid Zhao might come back?”

“He wasn’t coming back,” Minhui said quickly.

“How do you know?”

Minhui’s eyes flickered. “That’s what Lihua told me. She said he had abandoned her and the girls.”

Li sensed he was lying or hiding something.

“Minhui, Zhao’s disappearance has long been rumored to be connected to you. Are you telling me you know nothing?”

“I,,,,, I couldn’t possibly…..” Minhui looked away.

Then, oddly, he suggested, “Why don’t you ask Hou Wenguo? He was their neighbor. He knows more.”

Mentioning Hou now was suspicious. They were kin by marriage, yet perhaps circling each other in blame.

Li recalled Hou’s uneasy expression during their first talk. There was definitely more to his story.