He was twenty-six years old, but looked no different from twenty.
When Ai Qiran arrived at the police station, we didn't put him in the interrogation room, but in the interview room.
I faced him alone, sat down, and said, "Mr. Ai? Hello! Have you been to Taifu Village recently to promote a brand of cigarettes?"
"You're looking for me because of this?" Ai Qiran replied, as if a sudden realization had dawned on him.
"You could say that. You should know that something happened to a family in the village, right?"
"I don't know. After I returned to the company, I didn't go there anymore!" Ai Qiran's tone was normal as he answered, not like he was faking it.
"You really don't know? If it were a small matter, we wouldn't have asked you back."
I looked at Ai Qiran with a probing and interrogative gaze, but he shook his head and waved his hand, "Why would I go there? It's such a remote place. I didn't want to go there to sell anything in the first place. After all, in a place like that, they probably wouldn't buy anything. It's strange, though, that one woman bought a pack. That woman looked quite sturdy."
"You still remember her?"
"Of course. I asked many people, and only she spoke a few words with me. The others treated me like a plague, not even opening their doors."
People in the village generally disliked outsiders, and since he was a salesman, it was normal for them not to open their doors.
"So you only sold a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes to Wu Qingxia?"
"Wu Qingxia? Who is that? Could it be that farmer?"
I took out her photo and showed it to Ai Qiran. He immediately recognized her and said, "Yes, it was this woman who bought my things. Although it was just one pack, our manager said as long as it could be sold here, it was fine."
"Did he not specify who you should sell it to?"
"No, why would selling goods require specification? As long as the money is collected, right? Officer, why are your questions so strange?"
For a moment, I was stumped by Ai Qiran's question. He was actually right. For salespeople, the most important thing is sales volume; they don't care who buys it.
The reason I asked this was that I found the matter very strange. If the manager had a problem and deliberately wanted to sell those cigarettes to Wu Qingxia, how could he know that Wu Qingxia would buy them?
Could it be that he had already discussed it with Wu Qingxia, and the whole process was an act? But what use would that be to Wu Qingxia? She was already dead?
As I pondered, Ai Qiran curiously asked, "Officer, what happened to that woman?"
"She's dead! If I told you that she died because of the pack of cigarettes you sold her, what would you say?"
"Ah! What? How could that be? I swear I didn't do anything to the cigarettes. I had no idea!" The other party raised three fingers to swear, looking quite normal and not at all like he was faking it.
"Then how many cigarettes did you take out with you at that time?"
"Just one carton. I originally wanted to sell her a carton, but she only wanted one pack, so I had no choice but to comply. However, I found it a bit strange that the manager insisted I sell them here. Is this place useful?"
Ai Qiran was right, but I felt it was too obvious. According to the manager's actions now, once we found Ai Qiran, we would definitely investigate him. I didn't think he was such a foolish person.
I then asked about the whereabouts of that carton of cigarettes. Ai Qiran said, "Someone must have smoked them long ago. I didn't smoke any of them anyway. Our company people took them later!"
"No way? We found hallucinogens there in our analysis?"
"Ah, really? No wonder I found everyone in the company acting strange lately, always making odd movements and talking to themselves during work hours."
"How long has this situation lasted?"
"About a day. Then the next day everyone was back to normal."
"How has the manager been lately?"
"He's the same as always. But I heard he took leave yesterday and went home."
Hearing this, I immediately frowned.
Gao Mingqiang and Liu Yuning, upon my instructions, were already tracking the manager's whereabouts. From Ai Qiran, we obtained information about this manager.
Nian Qiwei, 32 years old, male, sales manager of Guangming Tobacco Co., Ltd. We couldn't find him, so we decided to go to the company first to inquire.
We arrived at the tobacco company, and Liu Yuning and I went upstairs. With the help of a secretary, we found the HR manager. This woman seemed polite. When she knew we were looking for Manager Nian, she said, "Manager Nian took leave yesterday and went home!"
"Did he say why?" I asked.
"It seems his wife was sick!"
"Is that so? How long has he been working here?"
"Less than half a year. Manager Nian doesn't have good interpersonal relationships. I heard he's very harsh on his subordinates, but his business skills are excellent. The boss doesn't care about these things anyway. As long as he makes money for the company, he'll like such employees, even if his subordinates are abused."
"I understand. Did he say how long he would be on leave?" Gao Mingqiang, who was with us, interjected.
"No, he's a very responsible person. He always returns quickly after taking leave."
Probably so usually, but this time it might be different, I thought to myself.
We had just started investigating him, and he coincidentally took leave. How could this be described as anything other than intentional?
We asked the female manager to lead the way to Nian Qiwei's office. On his desk, I collected a few strands of hair and found that the follicles seemed to have fallen off not long ago. I also took the teacup he had used, and several of his documents, which would be used to confirm his handwriting.
His office was very neat and tidy, wiped clean everywhere. There were two bottles of lavender on his desk. People like him usually live very organized lives and are quite idle.
I also noticed that he liked to cross his legs when sitting.
There were many scuff marks on the footrest of his desk, indicating his shoes repeatedly rubbing against it. Additionally, there were marks on the laptop area from his elbows pressing down for extended periods. These all suggested that Nian Qiwei rarely went out.
But how could a sales manager always stay in the office? I asked the female manager beside me about Nian Qiwei's work situation. She said that Nian Qiwei often managed to get clients to come to the company. We all thought he was very capable. He could sign many orders without having to move much. This was why the boss liked him.
"Is your boss a woman?"
"Yes. Officer He, how did you know?"
"She probably likes lavender very much, and your boss and Manager Nian are having an affair!" I didn't answer the female manager's question, but instead made a bold statement!