"Che Huating, is there a lease contract between you and the tenant?"

"I don't have this habit unless the tenant asks for it, and in general, I never write a lease contract."

"Okay, I don't have a problem for the time being, you can write slowly!"

Che Huating crouched on the coffee table and continued to write.

Zhao Zimeng and Ling Hu Yunfei smoked while waiting for the result - only in this case, Zhao Zimeng would smoke. He smokes not to get over the addiction, but to kill time – the wait is very torturous.

Che Huating smoked while writing, his cigarettes were very strong, and when Zhao Zimeng and Ling Huyunfei smoked half a cigarette, he had already changed to a second one.

President Che Hua is very thin, and the green tendons on his forehead and hands are blooming, especially the green tendons on his forehead, which are completely exposed, like a wriggling earthworm, which is clearly visible.

Che Huating is about the same height as Ling Hu Yunfei, also about 1.73 meters, he wears a coffee-colored cap on his head, a black and white checkered scarf around his neck, a coffee-colored jacket on his upper body, a pair of navy blue trousers underneath, and a pair of brown lace-up leather shoes on his feet.

Inside the room where the remains were found, the brick walls had been restored to their original shape, and the freshly plastered cement glowed wet under the light. The floor of the room had been swept clean, and there were some remnants of cement and lime in the corners. Five years ago, there was a murderous murder in this room.

Half an hour later, Che Huating raised his head, put on his cap, and breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

"Is it written?"

"It's written, you can take a look at it first, and then I'll slowly recall, think of something, and then make it up."

Zhao Zimeng took two pieces of paper from Che Huating's hand - Che Huating wrote two pieces of paper, there are really a lot of tenants, in the past three years, there are so many tenants, it can be seen that No. 157 is indeed not a good house.

In the three years from 1985 to 1987, there were a total of nine tenants, the longest staying for more than half a year, and the shortest staying for only three or four months.

Among them, there was a tenant who rented it twice. This person's surname is Ma and he has no name. Each time I stayed for two or three months. The two rentals were around April 1986 and June 987 – and Che Huating only remembers the approximate time.

"Che Huating, is this surnamed Ma the same person?"

"Yes, a person. The surname Ma is a foreigner, and every time he comes to live, he doesn't stay for a long time. ”

"What does he do?"

"I didn't ask, and the couple didn't say, it looked like they were coming to Jingxi City for fun — or to do business. As for what kind of business, I don't know, they seem to be very leisurely every day, there is no regular work and rest, and people are also very particular, not only dressing, but also eating and living - women love cleanliness. ”

"Is it just a husband and wife?"

"Just husband and wife. By the way, the surname Ma doesn't speak much, but he speaks in a crepe, and he knows that he is a literate person when he hears it. His wife was very beautiful and fashionably dressed - at first glance she knew that she was a rich wife. By the way, they were the only ones who signed a lease agreement with me, stayed twice, and they signed twice. I said no, but he said it had to be this way - everything was done according to the rules. ”

"Since the rental agreement is signed, there should be the surname Ma on it."

"It's a name, it's been too long, and I don't remember it at all."

"Is the lease agreement still there?"

"I didn't take it seriously, and after signing the agreement, I didn't know where to put it? Maybe it's still there. ”

"Captain Zhao, to be honest, the rent back then was not high, and my family's life didn't count on that rent, so I didn't take the rental agreement seriously at all."

"Master Che, this rental agreement is very important."

"I'll go back and look for it. But don't expect me to find it, I'm not particular about what I do, and I haven't seen that piece of paper again. ”

Che Huating said a lot about this tenant surnamed Ma, but Zhao Zimeng and Ling Hu Yunfei were not very interested, first, a person who rented No. 157 twice could not be the murderer of the deceased. Whether it is from a rational point of view or a logical analysis, after killing someone, you should avoid it. Second, the room that Ma rented twice before and after was not the same room, and the possibility of committing the crime was even less (the first time, Ma lived in the second and third rooms, and the second time, Ma only lived in the second Westinghouse. ）

In addition to the surname Ma, the situation of the other seven people is as follows (the author truthfully transcribed the content written on the note by Che Huating, and in order to ensure consistency, the author has also transcribed the situation of the tenant surnamed Ma below):

Zhang Guangnan, age: about 47 years old, from January to September 1985, rented the second entrance to the east house and the west house; Current address: No. 181, Yong'anli Lane 3 Lane, Qixingmen Street; Work unit: Qixingmen Post Office.

Gong Caiju, age: about 50 years old, housewife, August 1985 - March 1986, rented two rooms in the second room, including the entrance hall; The current address is unknown, but you can find out the situation from the middleman Tailor Li - this tenant was introduced by Tailor Li (Tailor Lee's address is Tailor Lee's Tailor Shop, No. 234 Chung Wo Street).

Ma Moumou and her wife, Ma, age: about 35 years old, from April to June 1986 (approximate time), rented the second and third rooms; Out-of-town, other circumstances unknown.

Zhao Mingtao, age: about 35 years old; From July 1986 to the end of the year, he rented the first Westinghouse; Current address: No. 197, Sanming Street, Shuizuogang; Work unit: Nanjing Wuzi School (driver).

Wang Zhongkui, age: around 50 years old; From August 1986 to March 1987, he rented the first east house; Current address, unknown, employer: Baixia District Tobacco and Liquor Company (salesperson).

Chen Hongmei, about 40 years old; From November 1986 to March 1987, he rented the second east house; Current address: unknown, work unit, warehouse (administrator) of Baixia District Material Company.

Mrs. Gao, age: about 70 years old; From November 1986 to January 1987, he rented the second Westinghouse (the second son got married, and the old lady vacated the house she lived in for her son to get married, and moved to No. 157 by herself).

Ma, from May to July 1987, rented the second Westinghouse.

Qin Dacang, 45 years old, rented a third house from July 1987 to January 1988.

In just two years, the tenant door appeared on No. 157 one after another like a marquee, such a long time span, so many tenants, the difficulty of the investigation must be very large, plus some tenants' information is incomplete, and the time given by Che Huating is uncertain, so it is inevitable that there will be some loopholes and dead ends in the investigation - Zhao Zimeng is most worried about this.

No matter how difficult it is, you have to rush forward.

"Captain Zhao, the house at No. 157 has been vacant for a lot of time, and the time I wrote is only an approximation." Che Huating added.

Zhao Zimeng focused his investigation on seven people. In addition, Mrs. Li of the tea stove and the three families of No. 158 (a courtyard south of No. 157) will also be the focus of the investigation (Director Gu focused on Mrs. Li and these three families - especially Mrs. Li, because Mrs. Li is very familiar with people in this area).

The three families are:

Su Yingqing, No. 158-1, age 49, work unit, material company (warehouse manager, in the same unit as Chen Hongmei. The place of work is the place where we mentioned earlier where death row inmates are held. Now, it has been converted into a warehouse).

Yu Dazhang, No. 158-2, age 56, no formal job, has an inconspicuous façade on Zhonghe Street, Yu Dazhang inherited his father's business, and opened a coppersmith shop there.

Tan Weishi, 158-3, age 71, housewife, widowed when she was young, with two children, both of whom are married, cook and wash clothes for their children and grandchildren every day.

Zhao Zimeng felt that in addition to providing the above information, Che Huating should also provide some more specific information: "Che Huating, please recall carefully, among the above tenants, are there any men between the ages of 55 and 58?" ”

Zhao Zimeng's question is based on the following considerations:

First of all, the murderer must be one of these tenants - and one of the tenants who has lived in that particular wing room - because only the tenant has the conditions to commit the crime, of course, the possibility of other tenants committing the crime cannot be ruled out, Che Huating said: Sometimes, some houses are unused, and it is safer for the murderer to hide the body in the wall of other rooms.

Second, the deceased may be either one of the tenants or someone with whom the tenant has some social relationship. Therefore, in order to determine the identity of the deceased and to find the murderer, it becomes especially important to know the details of the tenant.

But Che Huating's answer made everyone very disappointed: "Captain Zhao, I'm sorry, since I rented out these houses, I rarely come to No. 157, except for bringing tenants to see the house, usually, I only charge rent." ”

Che Huating took two puffs of cigarette and continued: "So, I don't know anything about how many people live in these people, and I don't need to know. I only deal with people who pay for the room, other people, I don't care, I don't need to care about them. ”

"Sometimes, I don't even need to come to 157, and some tenants will take the initiative to send money to my house."

This should be a blind spot in the investigation, and now only those who live at 157 at the same time – or at the same time – can find out what is going on with the other family, and it would be a needle in a haystack to find out the truth through them.

When Zhao Zimeng sent Che Huating out of the living room, Xiang Daimo, Xiao Luhan and Director Gu were pushing the door into the courtyard.

After sending Che Huating away, Xiang Daimo closed the courtyard door and walked into the living room. When Che Huating walked out of the courtyard gate, Zhao Zimeng specially told Che Huating: "Che Huating, you go back and look for the lease agreement, and after you find it, send it over immediately, okay?" ”