Zhou Yi knew the other officer had just left to call the Nanhu Street Police Station.
But back in ’97, there was no networked records system. Even if the police station confirmed a person named Zhou Yi existed, it wouldn’t prove that the man sitting here was that same Zhou Yi.
Besides, it was the middle of the night. The station would only have one or two officers on duty. Even if they cooperated with the investigation, getting the files to prove his identity would require an application and take time. It wasn’t something they could get in minutes.
He knew this for a fact when the young officer returned empty-handed. Otherwise, he would have brought back a fax of Zhou Yi’s file for the old officer to see. The file would have his ID photo, which would have settled the matter at a glance.
The old officer gave him a suspicious look. "You say you’re a police officer. Where’s your ID?"
Zhou Yi said helplessly, "It’s probably at home. I didn’t bring it."
His mother had dragged him out of bed in the middle of the night, so he hadn’t had time to grab everything. His ID just happened to be on the desk by his bed at home.
SMACK! The old officer suddenly slammed his hand on the table, making the ceramic mug on it clatter.
"No ID? Then how can you prove you’re an officer! I’m warning you, this is a very serious matter! Think it over carefully. Don’t assume you can escape justice by staying silent! We already have plenty of evidence. Don’t even think about getting lucky!"
The old officer’s face was filled with unquestionable authority, as if Zhou Yi were already a convicted criminal.
Then, the young officer spoke in a calmer tone. "But if you confess on your own, it’s a different story. The court will take that into consideration during sentencing."
With that, he tapped his pen on the table. "Think it over."
Zhou Yi felt a wave of helplessness. ’To think I’ve spent most of my life interrogating criminals, only to be interrogated like one on the first day of my new life.’
Besides, he was all too familiar with their interrogation routine: one playing good cop, the other playing bad cop.
The bad cop acts tough to put psychological pressure on the suspect. The good cop acts gentle, making the suspect, who is under intense pressure, develop a sense of dependency and trust. This often makes suspects with weaker psychological defenses let down their guard and cooperate with the interrogation.
It sounded like they had him dead to rights, but in reality, not a single word the old officer said had any substance. It was all just a psychological pressure tactic.
This showed just how experienced the old officer was in handling cases. He had skillfully mastered the techniques and limits of applying pressure, avoiding the possibility of a coerced or entrapped confession.
But this trick wouldn’t work on Zhou Yi, because he knew he was innocent.
The prerequisite for psychological pressure to work is that the person being interrogated is actually guilty.
And although the law emphasizes evidence over confession...
...that’s only if the chain of evidence is complete.
But often, evidence doesn’t just present itself, which is why interrogation becomes one of the most important methods for obtaining it.
Zhou Yi calmed himself and asked a question in return. "Officers, I’d like to ask something first. Was the victim saved?"
The old officer’s expression didn’t change, but the look on the young officer’s face said it all.
Zhou Yi sighed inwardly. ’So, Du Xiaolin’s death is confirmed.’
Zhou Yi said, "Officers, I’m really not the killer. I can prove my innocence."
He hadn’t been able to save Du Xiaolin, but the killer was still at large. Zhou Yi swore he would catch that bastard.
For the eight years before his rebirth, he had worked diligently day in and day out, like a machine, organizing one cold, tedious case file after another.
Sometimes, when he had nothing else to do, he would pull out old case files that had long been shelved and were covered in dust, wipe them clean, and get rid of the mold spots.
Over time, these cold cases became his only pastime, and also his only real achievement in those eight years.
He had read through almost all the old case files stored at the bureau, and the unsolved criminal cases in particular had left a deep impression on him.
But right now, he was just a junior officer at a local police station. Even if he knew a lot, he had no authority to participate in an investigation of this nature.
That’s why the two men in front of him were crucial.
Especially the old officer. Zhou Yi was certain he was a captain or team leader of some sort.
A captain had significant say in who was assigned to a case.
’My identity will be confirmed sooner or later. Before that, I need to prove my innocence.’
’Then, I need to prove my worth!’
That was his true goal right now.
So he didn’t show any aggression or anxiety. Instead, he maintained a sincere and calm demeanor to reduce their hostility toward him.
"Alright. Let’s hear it. How are you going to prove it?" the old officer said with a flicker of interest.
"Okay. I was asleep at home tonight, but because of a phone call..." In a calm, steady voice, Zhou Yi recounted the events of the evening.
How he went to his second uncle’s house, how he took his grandfather to the hospital, and what he did there.
Zhou Yi knew there were plenty of witnesses and physical evidence for these events, making them very easy to verify.
The only thing he concealed, of course, was the fact that he had been reborn.
Seeing him speak so clearly and calmly, the old officer’s expression softened slightly, but he remained highly vigilant.
"What time did you leave the hospital?"
"Twelve-thirty. The hospital’s security guard can prove it. I was driving a three-wheeler, and the main gate was closed, so I had to call out to the guard to open it for me."
"Where do you live?"
"The Second Steel Dormitory, on the street right behind the Second Steel Plant."
"I know it." The old officer nodded, then asked suspiciously, "But you weren’t heading in the direction of Second Steel."
"That’s right," Zhou Yi replied. "I wasn’t going home."
"Not going home? Then where were you going?"
"To my second uncle’s house. He lives on Fengshou Road, east of First Steel. The three-wheeler was borrowed from his neighbor, and I was returning it for my dad."
Zhou Yi’s story was plausible. The route from the hospital to his second uncle’s house would indeed pass by the Shangyang Lane area.
The old officer mulled it over. "Fengshou Road? You would pass through there, yes. But Shangyang Lane is less than a meter and a half wide. It’s not suitable for a three-wheeler, especially in the pitch-dark. Don’t tell me you took Shangyang Lane as a shortcut."
"Also, we didn’t find a three-wheeler or any tire tracks inside the lane. We did, however, find a three-wheeler near the bridge, just outside the lane. How do you explain that?"
’This old officer’s intuition is too sharp.’
However, the three-wheeler that had failed him at a critical moment had now, by a strange twist of fate, become his best excuse.
Zhou Yi quickly said, "That three-wheeler is the one I was riding. It died after I crossed the bridge, and I couldn’t get it to start again no matter what I did. It was pitch-dark and there was no one around, so I figured I’d head back to my second uncle’s for help. That’s why I took the shortcut through Shangyang Lane."
Zhou Yi added, "If you check that three-wheeler, you’ll know I’m telling the truth."
The old officer narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Zhou Yi. They had inspected the three-wheeler, and it had indeed stalled.
Excuse or not, at least the logic held up.
After a long pause, the old officer spoke again. "What happened after you entered the lane?"
Down to the last detail, Zhou Yi recounted everything that had happened in the lane, leaving nothing out.
He especially detailed how, after discovering Du Xiaolin might still be alive, he had bandaged her wound and fought with the attacker.
The young officer couldn’t help but glance at the old officer. Everything Zhou Yi described matched the information from the crime scene investigation.
In particular, the victim’s neck had been bandaged, and the cloth strip used for the bandage matched the torn part of Zhou Yi’s jacket.
But the old officer’s face remained impassive, betraying no emotion. He was like a mountain, exuding an immense, oppressive presence.
The old officer asked, "You just said the deceased might be a nurse from the emergency department at the City Third Hospital?"
Zhou Yi nodded.
"You knew the deceased?"
Zhou Yi shook his head. "No. But I saw her tonight. She reminded me to go pay the fees, so I remember her."
Zhou Yi didn’t directly tell them the deceased was Du Xiaolin.
As a stranger who had only met her once, accurately identifying her and knowing her name under such circumstances would easily create unnecessary complications and suspicion.
So the best approach was to give them a clue and let them investigate it.
It was effortless and seemed natural.
Sure enough, the old officer immediately followed up with several questions about the circumstances under which Zhou Yi had met the deceased at the hospital.
Then he turned and said to the young officer in a low voice, "Call the hospital right now. Have them check the list of nurses who were on the evening shift in the emergency department tonight, and get their home contact information."
The young officer understood immediately, nodded, and left the room.
With the young officer gone, only Zhou Yi and the old officer were left in the interrogation room, facing each other.
The old officer felt his pocket, pulled out a crumpled soft-pack of Daqianmen cigarettes, and extended it. "Smoke?"
Zhou Yi shook his head and smiled. "I don’t smoke, thanks."
The old officer pulled one out for himself, stuck it in his mouth, and asked, "You don’t mind, do you?"
Smoking wasn’t forbidden in the interrogation room, but it usually only happened at a critical moment when a suspect’s psychological defenses were about to break. The suspect would ask for a cigarette, and the officer would either give him one or smoke one with him.
It was rare to see an officer offer a cigarette to a suspect like this. ’He must be a heavy smoker.’
"It’s fine, I don’t mind. My dad loves Daqianmen, too. I’m used to the secondhand smoke at home," Zhou Yi said with a smile.
The old officer took out a lighter, lit the cigarette, and took a deep drag.
But he didn’t exhale immediately. Instead, he let the smoke drift out slowly from his nostrils.
The smoke wafted up along his rugged face, finally gathering above his head into a wisp of blue that vanished into thin air.
Zhou Yi almost wanted to applaud. The way he smoked was so refined it was like watching an incense burner come to life.