The police still hadn't found Ye Tongsheng's phone, and his social media account records were still being retrieved. The weight of this evidence was quite significant. Yuan Hang immediately instructed a team member beside him, "Take a picture for evidence." He then turned to Gao Qihui and asked, "Send me a copy of the photos too. Can I add you on WeChat?"

Gao Qihui hastily agreed, and Yuan Hang took the phone to operate it himself. Since Gao Qihui had gone directly from the chat history to Ye Tongsheng's profile picture, and then opened his Moments from the personal page, when he exited Moments, the chat window between the two was laid bare right before Yuan Hang's eyes.

He glanced over it quickly. Ye Tongsheng was quite respectful to the company's management. Their most recent message was from the afternoon of September 25th, sending a file to discuss work—nothing abnormal. Yuan Hang used his own phone to add Gao Qihui on WeChat, forwarded the image from Ye Tongsheng's Moments to himself, and handed the phone back to Gao Qihui. "The 25th was the Mid-Autumn Festival, a holiday. You were still discussing work that day?"

Gao Qihui replied cautiously, "To maintain the normal operation of the system, engineers are always on standby."

"What kind of person was Ye Tongsheng? How were his relationships with colleagues at the company? Were there any colleagues he was particularly close to?"

"He joined the company four or five years ago. A Z University graduate, he used to work at a major tech company before joining us. Mmm, he was very capable. The Information Security Department is relatively more independent than other departments, but he usually got along well with his superiors and colleagues. I never heard of any conflicts."

"In my impression, he was a bit of an introvert. At his age, he wasn't married and had no children, but he didn't have a withdrawn or difficult personality. He got along with everyone and didn't offend people. As for someone he was particularly close to... I'm really not sure about that."

The Legal Director, He Chuan, interjected, "Wasn't his relationship with Xiao Shen pretty good? I heard he brought back a gift for him after returning from the United Kingdom last time."

Yuan Hang: "Who?"

"Shen Zhengning, an engineer from the R&D Department." Gao Qihui said immediately. "If you need him, officer, I can have someone call him over."

Yuan Hang raised a hand in a "wait" gesture. "We'll get to that later. You said Ye Tongsheng was in that, uh, security department. How was his relationship with his colleagues within the department?"

The muscles in Gao Qihui's cheeks seemed to twitch slightly. "Well... two people quit his department this year. Currently, it's just Ye Tongsheng and an intern."

Yuan Hang's scrutinizing gaze was like the tip of a needle closing in on his pupils. "Explain in detail."

The air sank into a stagnant silence, like slowly dripping and solidifying candle wax. After more than ten seconds, Gao Qihui finally began to explain, "Every internet company needs an information security team. When our company was founded, we established an independent Information Security Department. But in recent years, taking various factors into consideration, the company decided to gradually downsize the Information Security Department, retain key personnel, and merge it with other support departments to further optimize the structure, reduce costs, and increase efficiency..."

Yuan Hang, like someone picking through trash, struggled to pick out useful information from his torrent of jargon. "So you're saying your company is planning to axe the entire security department, is that right? Why?"

Gao Qihui gave an awkward laugh. "Officer, this has nothing to do with Ye Tongsheng's case, does it?"

Yuan Hang was like a sharp, seasoned hunter; the moment his prey faltered, he would seize them and not let go. He said expressionlessly, "The police will determine whether it's related or not. Mr. Gao, please cooperate with our work."

It takes considerable mental fortitude and courage to hide something from a criminal detective. Gao Qihui pulled out two tissues to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, clutching the balled-up tissues tightly in his palm. Under everyone's gaze, he hesitated for several seconds before speaking in a heavy voice:

"Actually, starting from the first half of the year, the company began receiving some complaints. Customers reported frequently getting harassing and fraudulent text messages. The company took this very seriously. The upper management suspected a data leak and had the Information Security Department step up its investigation into system vulnerabilities, but they didn't find any useful results. President was very dissatisfied with their work, so..."

"Did the company punish Ye Tongsheng over this matter? For example, by docking his pay, or advising him to resign?"

"When something like this happens, it's impossible to be all friendly and peaceful. That's not realistic. We're all just here to work, and everyone has to be responsible for their own duties." Gao Qihui said with a wry smile, "But officer, the company really didn't intend to force Ye Tongsheng out, nor were we trying to suppress anyone. The two who resigned both found new jobs smoothly. We are victims in this matter, too."

"What was Ye Tongsheng's attitude toward the company's decision?"

"I guess he probably wasn't convinced in his heart, but he accepted it in the end. The management knew his capabilities and hoped he would stay and continue to work for the company. Ye Tongsheng knew this as well, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed."

"Did he have financial difficulties at home? Would resigning have a big impact on him?"

"I'm not too clear about his family's financial situation, but based on the salary levels in the internet industry, he should have been able to save some money over the years he's worked. He was probably still renting, wasn't married, and had no kids. Even if he resigned, it wouldn't be to the point of starving immediately."

"When you saw that Moments post from Ye Tongsheng, did you sense any suicidal intent?"

Gao Qihui rubbed his face and answered wearily, "On the evening of the 25th, I was out at a dinner party with friends. I got home after 10 and went straight to bed. I only saw the Moments post when I woke up the next day, but I didn't think much of it. People these days get all emo in the middle of the night. Never mind posting 'sorry,' some even post things like 'my corpse is feeling unwell' or 'I'm off to die first.' Later, I heard a body was found over by the Xinliu River, and Ye Tongsheng still hadn't come to work. Yesterday, someone at the company said the deceased was Ye Tongsheng. Only then did I realize something was wrong, and then you all arrived."

Yuan Hang stroked his chin. He had a subtle, indescribable sense that something was off, but he couldn't quite grasp the faint thread. He grunted, "After your company discovered the data leak, why didn't you report it to the police?"

"Well..."

After a brief silence, He Chuan took the initiative to answer, "Because the volume of complaints wasn't particularly large, we determined it was a technical issue. The company decided to first conduct an internal investigation and then decide on the next steps after finding the vulnerability."

Ding Sheng, who had been listening from the side, suddenly spoke up coldly, "The day before yesterday, we received a report. A victim had received a fraudulent text message from someone impersonating your company's software customer service and had their bank card fraudulently charged."

The well-dressed elite opposite him seemed to have been fed a silencing potion. He opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound.

Gao Qihui defended himself with difficulty, "We are victims, too..."

He looked up at Yuan Hang, his tone carrying a hesitant, probing question, "Officer, that Moments post by Ye Tongsheng, it couldn't be...?"

Yuan Hang immediately understood his unspoken meaning. "You think Ye Tongsheng committed suicide because of the data leak?"

"Who else could he be sorry to?" Gao Qihui muttered. "This is too much of a coincidence. Don't tell me we've been investigating all this time, only for the mole to expose himself in the end."

"What do you mean?"

Gao Qihui glanced apprehensively toward the door, carefully considered his words, and spent a long time mentally preparing himself. Finally, as if gathering strength, he built up his resolve and said with extreme caution, "Regarding the data leak, we have some... very personal speculations. There's no proof, and we've never mentioned it to outsiders."

"Explain in detail."

"The company's engineers investigated the system and found no traces of a hacker intrusion. So, is it possible that the problem came from within, or perhaps from... the investigators themselves?"

It was as if someone had pumped liquid nitrogen into the conference room. The air instantly became bone-chilling. Even He Chuan couldn't help but whip his head around to look at Gao Qihui. But Yuan Hang decisively raised a hand, promptly halting any boundless, divergent speculation. "This is just one possibility. Ye Tongsheng's social connections haven't been fully investigated yet, so we can't be sure who his 'sorry' was directed at. We will investigate your claims further. If you discover any new leads, contact the police immediately."

"Okay, we will, we will."

Yuan Hang: "Can we inspect Ye Tongsheng's workstation? Also, the Shen Zhengning you mentioned earlier, and any other colleagues who were relatively close to Ye Tongsheng, could you call them over to talk to us?"

This meant that their questioning was over for now. Gao Qihui and He Chuan both let out a long sigh of relief, their shoulders slumping. "No problem, I'll take you officers over there. Old He, you help call a few people over."

Yuan Hang followed behind Gao Qihui and asked abruptly, "Mr. Gao, were you very familiar with Ye Tongsheng?"

Gao Qihui's neck visibly tensed. He managed to reply, "Reasonably so. He was under my management, so we had a lot of work-related interactions."

Yuan Hang remained noncommittal and added, "If it's convenient, we'll need Mr. Gao to provide his movements on the 25th. We need to verify them."

Even though the air conditioning in the building was more than adequate, to the point of being a little chilly, beads of sweat as large as peas still trickled down his thick, wrinkled neck and into his shirt collar. A flicker of fear showed in his eyes. "Officer—"

"Don't be nervous, it's just a routine confirmation." Yuan Hang pulled out a pair of gloves and put them on. "This is Ye Tongsheng's desk?"

Ye Tongsheng's desk was very tidy. Files were sorted into categories, and on the desk were a potted plant and an opened package of black tea. To-do items were written on sticky notes attached to the edge of his computer monitor. The first impression was that of a very organized person with a high quality of life—at least, Yuan Hang wouldn't separate his mugs for tea and coffee, nor would he buy the kind of thermos that looked expensive at a glance.

The police packed up all of Ye Tongsheng's personal belongings from his workstation to take with them and also checked his work computer. While they were conducting their inspection, He Chuan quickly gathered the witnesses they needed and brought them outside the conference room.

Yuan Hang pushed the door open and entered. Seeing the first person sitting in the conference room to be questioned, he couldn't help but break into the kind of crooked, malicious grin an underachiever gets when they finally see a top student fail spectacularly. "Well, hello there."

The person opposite him looked up from behind colorless lenses. The shape of his eyes was quite beautiful, but even when looking up, his gaze had a piercing, condescending quality that made him seem a bit cold.

However, he was very cooperative and played along with Yuan Hang's act. "Hello, Officer Yuan. I will be sure to tell you everything I know, without holding anything back."

"Thank you for your cooperation." Yuan Hang took out his phone, opened WeChat, and presented his QR code business card to him. "But seriously, running into you here... I'm actually a little excited, my fellow 'Sherlock Holmes of No. 1 Middle School'."