ebookland Chapter 161 The Newspaper's Mysteries (2)
Chapter 161 The Newspaper's Mysteries (2)
The newcomer was dignified and upright, but there was a childlike quality in his eyes, making him seem somewhat unserious.
"Director Guo." He took the initiative to extend his hand in greeting.
Guo Zixing also extended his hand, "Commander Jiang."
Only Qingru looked stunned. "You two know each other?"
Guo Zixing asked in surprise, "You know him?"
Qingru quickly denied it, "No, I don't know him. It's just strange that I don't think I've ever heard you mention this friend before."
Commander Jiang chuckled and punched Guo Zixing, "He wouldn't mention me to you, would he?"
Guo Zixing coldly brushed his hand away, "If you have something to say, say it. Don't resort to violence."
Commander Jiang nodded and introduced himself to Qingru, "Jiang Shen, the Shen of 'cautious'."
"Hello, Lü Qingru." Qingru was a little embarrassed. Last time, Jiang Shen told her not to say that she had met him, but judging from his appearance, he obviously knew Guo Zixing but did not get along with him.
This is difficult, really difficult.
The two were competing, and Jiang Shen stepped into the office first.
"Wow, that's pretty gruesome." Jiang Shen walked in with his hands on his hips, carefully avoiding the corpses with his long legs.
Guo Zixing knew that this matter was of great importance, so he stopped putting on airs and said sincerely, "We just took a look and found some questions, but we can't figure them out. Why don't you take another look and we can compare them together?"
“Okay.” Jiang Shen agreed readily, even taking off his cloak and tossing it to Qingru before jumping in, feeling refreshed.
Guo Zixing looked at Jiang Shen with displeasure, snatched his cloak, and threw it on the ground.
Qingru patted her empty hand; it wasn't her who threw it.
Fifteen minutes later, Jiang Shen returned.
Their expressions were equally solemn, just like those of Qingru and Guo Zixing.
"Tell me, what did you discover?"
"He died at the wrong time."
"Appreciate further details."
Jiang Shen said, "The people in front of the desks should all be newspaper staff. The cause of death is most likely poisoning, but judging from the degree of stiffness, they should have been dead for more than twelve hours."
It's 10 a.m. now, which means they should still be breathing at 10 p.m. last night.
"and then?"
Then Jiang Shen laughed, "How did Young Master Guo spend ten o'clock last night?"
Guo Zixing blushed, glanced at Qingru beside him, and said with a forced smile, "Sleep at home."
"Yes, that's right. So, what time did you meet Miss Zheng?"
"Around six or seven o'clock, it was time to wrap up."
"That means the photo was taken at six or seven o'clock. Let's assume it was taken at seven o'clock. Then, it would take more than half an hour to get back to the newspaper office from Kim Anna. Let's say it takes half an hour, which means getting back to the newspaper office at seven-thirty."
I returned to the newspaper office at 7:30 to develop the photos, which takes about an hour, meaning it was already 8:30.
Let's assume the draft is written while the photos are being developed. Then, after reviewing and proofreading, can it be finished before 10 AM when the final draft is ready?
Guo Zixing and Qingru pondered deeply. Even if they didn't understand the industry, they could still make a rough estimate. From 8:30 to 10:00, was an hour and a half enough? Maybe one article would be enough, but what about the others? A newspaper couldn't possibly have only one news story.
Qingru picked up the blood-stained newspaper and looked at it. "Some of the news isn't new. We already knew about this celebrity's upcoming visit a couple of days ago."
Jiang Shen nodded. "Alright then. Assuming the other articles were written in advance, an hour and a half is enough to produce a very fresh news story. But what about printing? It's already ten o'clock. The employees still at the newspaper office should have been poisoned and died by now. Did these dead people get up and print it themselves?"
Qingru got goosebumps all over and felt a chill run down her spine. "Didn't you see the others who were shot? Maybe they weren't killed in the same batch."
"Oh~" Jiang Shen deliberately dragged out the last syllable, "So, these one, two, three, and four people were all deliberately left behind to finish printing the newspaper before being killed, right?"
Qingru turned her head away, somewhat unaccustomed to his aggressive manner, "This is just reasoning."
Guo Zixing stepped forward and shielded Qingru behind him, saying, "We just went to the printing room and saw that the printing press simply can't handle such a large workload."
Moreover, in a room full of dead people, how could a normal person possibly work their job with their life on the line when they see their colleague die in front of them? Even if they were forced to, they would inevitably make mistakes.
Therefore, I believe that these people did not die here at all, but were transported here after they died. That's why no one in the surrounding area claimed to have heard gunshots.
Jiang Shen agreed, "You're right."
His nonchalant attitude frustrated Guo Zixing. Since Commander Guo could provide support, why did he have to send him?
"Let's go to the printing factory in the suburbs. Only the printing factory can work overnight to produce 500 copies of the newspaper."
"Okay, you decide."
"It's always like this," Guo Zixing frowned, his eyes full of disdain.
Qingru felt a little uneasy. Just now, Jiang Shen had secretly given her a wink behind Guo Zixing's back. Although she didn't understand what Jiang Shen meant, Qingru still felt very guilty.
It was as if she had done something to wrong Guo Zixing, even though the two of them didn't have any real relationship at the moment.
The three of them went downstairs. Guo Zixing looked at the spectacle on the street and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
"Do you really need to bring a hundred people to investigate a case?"
“That’s not right,” Jiang Shen said. “I’m doing this for your safety. Don’t you know the tragic state of the Zheng family?”
Guo Zixing looked cautiously at Jiang Shen, "The Zheng family? What exactly happened?"
Jiang Shen pursed his lips and shrugged, "I also drank too much yesterday and went home early. I didn't encounter any danger, and I don't know what happened afterward. It's really a blessing from God."
Guo Zixing then looked at Qingru.
Qingru could only say selectively, "It's always good to bring more people."
Guo Zixing didn't hesitate any longer and jumped into the car first.
Now that he has guards, Guo Zixing doesn't need to drive himself anymore.
Jiang Shen left ten men to guard the newspaper office, and then found a "road-traffic expert" to drive him.
The printing plant wasn't far from the newspaper office; it was less than ten minutes away.
This printing factory is the only one in Sifang City that is relatively large in scale. In addition to publishing houses' publications, it also undertakes printing for other newspapers.
Seeing such a large entourage at the door, the printing factory's big boss personally rolled out to greet them.
"Oh my, what brings you two here? Please come in, please come in."
The printing factory owner was named Chen Liu, nicknamed Liu Zi. He could occasionally be seen at gatherings of powerful and influential people.
Guo Zixing asked, "Did you print this for the Yuxin Newspaper last night?"
As Mr. Chen wiped his sweat, he said, "Yes, yes, oh dear, you don't know, they needed the manuscript urgently last night, so I opened the factory gates overnight and woke up the workers to rush the work."
"Where are the workers?" Guo Zixing suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Going to deliver newspapers. I finished working on it before dawn and have to deliver it before five o'clock, otherwise it will delay newspaper sales."
Guo Zixing and the other two exchanged glances, their eyes filled with deep thought.
"Let's go take a look at the workshop."