After obtaining the useful clues, Luo Fei hurriedly thanked them and led everyone out of the police station.
"Leader, do you think it’s possible that the Zhou Guohua family left for another place immediately after the child died because they felt guilty and ashamed towards their younger brother’s family?"
Zhang Wei speculated with a curious expression.
"There’s indeed that possibility." Luo Fei nodded gravely, opened the car door, and got in.
Everyone got in the car, and He Xin, who was responsible for driving, asked, "Leader, where are we heading next?"
"Let’s first go to Zhou Guo’an’s house to understand the situation."
Arriving at Zhou Guo’an’s house, it was roughly around nine in the evening.
At this time, Zhou Guo’an had already turned off the lights and was resting, but he hadn’t fallen asleep.
Hearing some noises outside, he quickly got up to open the door.
Seeing Luo Fei and the others outside, he was a bit surprised, "Officers, is there something you need at this hour?"
"Uncle Zhou, we’d like to understand a situation with you, are you close to your elder brother Zhou Guohua’s family?"
To save time, Luo Fei asked directly.
Zhou Guo’an was obviously taken aback by this question, then quickly replied, "Yes, very close, we are biological brothers, so of course we are close."
"After Zhou Kaieri went missing, did they come to help look for him or visit your home?"
"No, their grandson was also sick at the time, the child had a heart condition since young, and needed surgery in the city hospital, so their whole family was in the hospital taking care of him."
"They had no time to return, and I didn’t want them to worry, so I didn’t inform them of this... They only found out after returning from the hospital."
"After they found out, did they come to visit you?"
"They did. My nephew and his wife came to visit us the same night they learned about Ruirui, bringing a lot of things and offering us a lot of comfort..."
"What about your elder brother and sister-in-law? Did they come?"
"No, Yucheng needed rest for his heart condition, they couldn’t leave."
Zhou Yucheng was indeed Zhou Guohua’s grandson who passed away due to the heart ailment.
In fact, hearing this, Luo Fei could already be certain that Zhou Guohua was guilty and avoiding his own younger brother.
Otherwise, under normal circumstances, two closely related brothers would rush to visit each other upon hearing of trouble in the other’s family.
Moreover, the two families weren’t far apart, a walk would take at most ten or twenty minutes, so even with taking care of his grandson, they could have found the time.
"Uncle Zhou, what about after that? Did you ever meet your elder brother, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law?"
"No... During that time my wife and I were very sad, staying home all day, and they needed to take care of their child, so we didn’t meet."
"Until the morning of September third, I heard from Da Ming that Yucheng had suddenly fallen ill the night before and was rushed to the city for emergency treatment."
"I planned to go see him, but before I reached the town, I received a call from Da Ming, saying my wife drank pesticide... After the child had an incident, I noticed she wasn’t herself, always saying she wanted to go down to accompany the child."
"During that time, I watched her every day, fearing she’d do something stupid. I thought enough time had passed and she must have let go, but it was all my fault..."
As Zhou Guo’an spoke, he suddenly began to hit his head in regret.
"You can’t blame yourself entirely, Uncle Zhou, the dead cannot come back, so don’t be too hard on yourself."
Luo Fei quickly stopped his actions and comforted him for a bit.
Once Zhou Guo’an gradually calmed down, he continued asking about what happened after.
"Later, I rushed back and, with Da Ming, took his mother to the county hospital, but after half a day of rescuing, she couldn’t be saved, and I didn’t have the heart to focus on anything else."
"After we finished my wife’s funeral, I then heard that Zhou Yucheng also didn’t make it, passing away the same night my wife did."
"Hearing the news, I wanted to go to my brother’s house to check on them, but found no one was home. I called and found out they were too heartbroken and simply went to work out of town with their son and daughter-in-law, also to relieve their minds."
"After that, they would only come back once a year during the New Year, and every time they’d finish visiting graves and burning incense and leave, I never bumped into them."
"So you mean, since Zhou Kaieri’s incident, you haven’t met your elder brother again?"
"Yes, that’s right." Thɪs chapter is updated by novel⁂fire.net
"Do you often contact each other by phone?"
"Initially, I called them a few times, but my elder brother rarely answered, and when he did, he would hang up after a couple of words. My nephew said it was because Yucheng’s situation hit him too hard, so gradually, I called less and less."
"Only occasionally I’d call my nephew, to ask about their current situation."
"Before and after the incident, did your nephew’s attitude towards you change?"
"Officers, why are you asking these questions? Are you suspecting my nephew is involved in Ruirui’s death, that’s impossible..."
"Uncle Zhou, please calm down, we’re not suspecting him. This is just standard investigative procedure, where everyone who had contact with your family, near or far, needs to be thoroughly investigated."
Without concrete evidence, Luo Fei certainly wouldn’t voice his suspicions.
And even if he did, Zhou Guo’an definitely wouldn’t believe it.
After all, who would think that closely related brothers would do something so cruel and ruthless to their own grandson?
Zhou Guo’an, not being very educated, was soon appeased by his words.
"My nephew still treats me the same as before, without any change. And last year during New Year, he even came to visit me specifically, insisting on leaving me twenty thousand yuan to buy supplements for my health before leaving."