Chapter 855: Li Chuan’s Clue
He understood that what is meant to be his will be his, and what is not will never be.
He obediently extended his hands, allowing Lu Chuan to cuff him, and was directly pulled out of the car.
Meanwhile, someone notified Song Mingguang to return directly to the Shanggu Town police station.
Since the person had already been captured, there was no need to keep an eye on Chen Xiaojuan’s parents to prevent them from tipping anyone off.
In the car, Lu Chuan began the interrogation on the spot.
"I really don’t know where Li Chuan is."
Zhang Xiaohu also didn’t know where Li Chuan had gone.
"It was his idea for me and Chen Zheng to escape the scene."
"But he didn’t tell us how he planned to leave the scene."
The information Zhang Xiaohu provided wasn’t much different from what Chen Zheng provided.
But the information from both could be cross-referenced to determine if anyone was lying.
"When did you meet Li Chuan?"
"It’s been three years now."
Zhang Xiaohu had known Li Chuan longer than Chen Zheng had.
Before Chen Zheng had joined the security company, Zhang Xiaohu and Li Chuan were already paired up for escort duties and lived in the same dormitory.
"He was an easy-going guy with lots of crafty ideas."
"Moreover, he was loyal; after some time, both Chen Zheng and I listened to him. During the holidays, the three of us were on the same shift. But because of a cigarette, we were caught."
"Actually, the company was just nitpicking. The three of us had worked there the longest, and according to the rules, our wages should have increased and we should’ve received a year-end bonus."
"So they found an excuse to fire us. That way, they could hire new people at lower wages and skip the year-end bonus, saving money. We were upset and confronted them several times."
"But there was nothing we could do; they never gave us the year-end bonus."
"In desperation, we reported to the police, but they said it was a civil matter and not their concern; they could only advise us to seek labor arbitration. So we went to labor arbitration."
"But they said we violated company rules by smoking during escort duty, so they also didn’t support our claim."
"Initially, we went our separate ways to find new livelihoods, but recently Li Chuan called us about robbing a bank."
"At first, I disagreed; robbing a bank is a serious crime, and I didn’t want to end up in jail over it. But Li Chuan said Chen Zheng had an uncle working at the bank who could act as an insider for us."
"He also mentioned having connections to get fake guns and full armored anti-riot gear, so even if we robbed, we’d be fine."
In fact, the police had already gathered a lot of information about Li Chuan in recent days.
Criminal police back in Li Chuan’s hometown were also investigating but confirmed that Li Chuan hadn’t returned recently.
"Do you know if Li Chuan has any relatives in Binzhou?"
"Relatives?"
"I know he has a younger brother, but he hasn’t worked in Binzhou City. I heard he’s over in Tianzhou City, though I’ve never met him."
Zhang Xiaohu thought for a moment and then continued: "As far as I know, he shouldn’t have any relatives in Binzhou City."
"Back when we were working, it was just the three of us together every day because we were on the same shift and in the same dormitory. So I’m quite familiar with his situation."
"Does he have a girlfriend?" Lu Chuan continued probing.
"He dated someone a couple of years ago, but they broke up last year. The girl ran off with an accountant, also from our company."
"Do they still keep in touch?"
"Probably not. The breakup was unpleasant, and the girl is no longer in Binzhou City, so we haven’t seen them since. They likely have no further contact."
Sigh...
Lu Chuan let out a breath.
Even though they had arrested two people, there were still no leads on Li Chuan’s whereabouts, no information at all.
From the current interrogation, it seemed that Li Chuan had planned from the start to sever ties with them.
So after robbing the bank, he shared nothing with these two regarding his next steps.
But given that Li Chuan and Zhang Xiaohu had lived together for over three years, he couldn’t have been planning the bank heist from the beginning, so some things and information couldn’t have been hidden from Zhang Xiaohu from the start.
But in Binzhou City, without family or a girlfriend, how did he evade the police search on that day?
While the major crimes unit was busy capturing suspects, the Binzhou City Criminal Investigation Team was also actively working.
Gao Xiang’s team conducted a detailed search along Li Chuan’s escape route.
Especially the rooftops and sewers.
But no traces were left behind.
The 13 manhole covers along the way showed no signs of being opened, and there were no footprints on any rooftops.
They thoroughly checked the surrounding buildings, and everyone questioned claimed not to have seen him.
Could Li Chuan simply vanish into thin air?
"Besides family and a girlfriend, does Li Chuan have any close friends in Binzhou?"
Zhang Xiaohu frowned: "Close friends... He mainly hung out with me and Chen Zheng. We were on the same shift, so he didn’t really socialize with outsiders."
Zhang Xiaohu thought for a bit, paused, then suddenly said: "Right, before Chen Zheng joined, Li Chuan and I were in the same group. We had another partner back then."
"Li Chen had a good relationship with him, and we were together for a little over two years."
"But later, during a morning meeting, he clashed with the supervisor and got fired."
"After that, Chen Zheng joined our team and worked with us."
"In Binzhou City, aside from Chen Zheng and me, Li Chen might be considered Li Chuan’s friend."
"Oh? What is this person’s name?"
"Wang Qiang."
Wang Qiang?
Although it’s not a critical clue and Wang Qiang and Li Chuan parted ways one or two years ago...
There is minimal information on Li Chuan at present, so even this lead needs to be checked out.
Lu Chuan relayed the information back to the Binzhou City Criminal Investigation Team, and Gao Xiang’s team would arrange to investigate Wang Qiang’s situation first.
Lu Chuan then asked Zhang Xiaohu for more details about the day of the robbery.
Most of it aligned with what Chen Zheng had said.
The entire crime was masterminded by Li Chuan.
Chen Zheng and Zhang Xiaohu followed his instructions and executed the plan.
Chen Zheng’s Sixth Uncle, Chen Tianbao, acted as an insider to pass information to them.
They had long planned the bank robbery and could act at any moment.
The reason for choosing that particular day was because Chen Tianbao informed them of a large client depositing cash.
That’s why they acted.