Criminal Investigation Unit, meeting room.
Several files were placed on Li Zhong’s desk, one of which was about Mo Wenli.
This was a case from four years ago, which documented how Mo Wenli murdered Chen Xuelin, a then-popular genius professor. It detailed how Mo Wenli committed the crime while drunk, and she signed her name on the Confession and Punishment Acceptance Statement.
It was clearly a crime she confessed to, yet she just said she didn’t kill anyone, which is strange.
Meng Yue’s death doesn’t seem as simple as it looks.
Moreover, he felt even more puzzled by Mo Wenli’s words.
“Can a dead person kill someone?” Yang Xiaomin next to him looked at Li Zhong in confusion.
“I’ve never died, how would I know?” Li Zhong shrugged, helplessly.
“I feel like she’s talking nonsense. Although there were no surveillance cameras capturing anyone entering or leaving the alley at the time of the crime, that only proves that no one went in. If someone had gone in and seen her killing, she would definitely have panicked. The way she was just now clearly showed that no one saw her commit the crime.” One of the police officers analyzed.
“Then what about the knife? There were no fingerprints of hers on the knife.”
“She wiped them off.”
“If she knew to wipe them off, why didn’t she just take the murder weapon away? And when the knife was found, it was still stained with blood. If I knew to wipe off fingerprints, would I still leave blood?”
“And the motive couldn’t be just a broken appointment or a quarrel, right? She doesn’t seem like an impulsive person. Her words were sharp when answering our questions.”
“Then it’s impossible that Chen Xuelin killed her, right? That’s impossible!”
“The two people named Chen Xuelin have no connection with the deceased and no time to commit the crime. The only one who is related has been dead for four years, so there’s even less time to commit the crime. What Chen Xuelin is the murderer? That’s completely impossible.”
“It’s impossible for Chen Xuelin to have done it. It’s not like she came back to life and framed a living person.”
Inside the meeting room, the police were also engaged in a heated discussion. Some believed that Mo Wenli was the culprit, but they couldn’t produce any substantial evidence.
Li Zhong was watching the surveillance footage. The two disappeared together in the same shot, and before that, they appeared in two separate shots, separated by a distance.
Based on Mo Wenli’s words, Li Zhong retrieved the surveillance footage from the other side of the alley and indeed found a shot of her walking out of the alley wearing a hat.
Before entering the alley, Mo Wenli was coming out from the other side, while Meng Yue walked out from the side she entered from.
Adjusting to the time when the two appeared, Li Zhong discovered that Mo Wenli came out earlier, but this could still be explained. However, if Mo Wenli wasn’t the murderer, then who was it? Chen Xuelin? A dead man, Li Zhong also found it absurd.
It seemed like Mo Wenli went back and forth to the scene. Li Zhong remembered that he seemed to have seen a man wearing a hat at the scene.
Regarding Meng Yue’s death, her body was still in the forensic doctor’s room, but her family hadn’t come yet.
After thinking it over and over again, Li Zhong made a decision, “Xiaomin, have Chang Yi perform an autopsy on the deceased Meng Yue. I’ll be responsible if anything happens.”
Yang Xiaomin saw Li Zhong’s serious expression, nodded, and walked out of the meeting room.
At the same time, Shi Hua also went to the Criminal Investigation Unit. Upon receiving the news of Shi Hua’s arrival, Li Zhong quickly went out to conduct the interrogation.
Inside the interrogation room, Shi Hua sat in the chair, looking at Li Zhong, and Li Zhong also looked at him. The two seemed to be scrutinizing each other.
Starting with, Li Zhong opened his mouth first, “Shi Hua, a reporter from Jianghe Daily, if I remember correctly, right?”
“That’s right, it’s my honor that Captain Li still remembers me.” A slight smile appeared on Shi Hua’s face, which seemed a little out of place in the interrogation room.
“May I ask, why did the captain of the Criminal Investigation Unit call me over? I should be a law-abiding citizen, right? I almost thought it was a scam call. I didn’t believe I had committed any crime, so I came over to see if it was fake.” Shi Hua said, sitting in the chair, somewhat surprised.
“Whether you’ve committed a crime or not remains to be investigated. But we should have said on the phone that there’s a criminal case that requires your cooperation in the investigation. I hope you understand and cooperate.”
“Okay, what is it?”
“On September 20th, which is yesterday, a woman on Anning Street was suspected of being murdered. After our investigation, the deceased’s name is Meng Yue. May I ask, what is your relationship with Meng Yue?” Li Zhong remembered that Shi Hua was at the scene that afternoon, and thinking about that article, he felt that Shi Hua might have a close relationship with the case.
“Friend.”
“Nothing more than that?”
“Of course.”
“In my opinion, not just ordinary friends, right? We found a large number of communication records between you in her phone’s address book. You called several times a day when you were frequent, and had one or two messages a week when you were less frequent, right?” Li Zhong walked up to Shi Hua. The man in front of him didn’t seem to be panicking at all. There was no ripple in his deep eyes. He felt that this person was not simple.
“Then you’re wrong. We’re just friends, simple friends. Maybe she just has many friends.” Shi Hua smiled slightly when he heard this.
“Many friends, meaning, besides you, there’s only Mo Wenli in the address book? There’s no one else? I’m quite curious about the relationship between the three of you. Would you mind telling me about it?” Li Zhong deliberately didn’t mention the third person on the list.
“The three of us are indeed old acquaintances. You and the two of them used to be classmates. And Mo Wenli and Meng Yue used to be roommates. I first met Mo Wenli, and then I met Meng Yue through her. Isn’t that strange?”
“Besides this kind of relationship, what else is there?”
“Does the police officer need to hear about my old love affair with Mo Wenli? Does that have anything to do with the case?”
“Then let’s talk about the case. Where were you at the time of the incident?”
“Not far away, no, I should say very close, sitting in a coffee shop across the street. If I checked her phone, then I would definitely know that she had a call with you after the incident, which means that she was murdered on the way to find you. So, you do have a responsibility.” Shi Hua suddenly lowered his head and sighed deeply.
“What did she want to see you for?”
“Officer, this is quite funny. Old friends meet to catch up. We can talk about anything. She would talk about things she encountered at work, what would she say, how would I know?” Shi Hua seemed thoughtful. He sat in the chair and fell into thought, with a hint of regret in his eyes.
“You were at the scene at the time, right? I remember you showed me your work permit at the time. May I ask, did you not recognize that the one lying on the ground was her?”
“Is that strange? You didn’t know what she was wearing. You only heard the noise inside and rushed out. By then, it had already been surrounded. Given the situation at the scene, I secretly took a few photos.”
“Keep making it up. Let me show you something.” Li Zhong snorted and took out his phone, flipping through his Moments to find an article. He pointed to a picture in the article and said, “This picture, you took it, right?”
That picture was a word written in blood, and the content was the three words “Chen Xuelin” next to Meng Yue’s body when she was alive.
Seeing this, Shi Hua awkwardly lowered his head and scratched his nose with his hand, “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect you to notice it too. I thought no one read my articles, but I didn’t expect even Captain Li to know about it.”
“I also know that you are a reporter, right? For reporters, first-hand information is very important. If there wasn’t this picture, maybe I wouldn’t have seen your article in my Moments.” Shi Hua looked at Li Zhong, sighed, and continued to explain, “I immediately ran out after hearing the movement, but at that time she…” Saying this, Shi Hua sighed again.
“I immediately checked her pulse and found that she was already dead, and I found these three words next to her. I took a picture of it. I thought there was nothing more newsworthy than this picture, so…”
Before Shi Hua finished speaking, he heard a muffled sound on the table. A female police officer glared at him rather angrily, “You still remember work at this time? People are dead! Do you know that if I come over, I might damage the scene? She’s still my friend, and the first thing I thought of was taking pictures?” Yang Xiaomin had been listening and recording from the side. After hearing Shi Hua’s behavior, she felt that this person was an unscrupulous reporter and slammed the table in anger.
“No, I first made sure she was dead before taking the picture, and I immediately told the people next to me to call the police and maintain the scene until you came, and then I retreated.”
“Then why didn’t I stand up and explain the situation when you went there?”
“Because if I stood up at that time, I wouldn’t have time to write a report, and you wouldn’t be able to see this article, right?” Shi Hua said cautiously.
“Then we still have to thank you for helping us maintain the scene?” Yang Xiaomin snorted coldly.
“Really thankful?”
“You can be!” Shi Hua said with a smile.
Yang Xiaomin was still preparing to get angry when Li Zhong’s voice came from the side, “Okay! Be serious!”
“Then what are your thoughts on the three words she left behind, or rather, do you know what she means by them?” Li Zhong pointed to the three words and asked.
Shi Hua stared at the three words on the screen, and his eyes finally changed slightly, from deep, blurred, to sharp, and finally eased up a bit. He raised his head, “These three words, I remember, he used to be our school’s teacher. If I guess right, I feel like he is the murderer.”
“How is that possible! The person you’re talking about has been dead for four years! A dead person can still kill someone?” Yang Xiaomin retorted.
“Who said dead people can’t kill people?” Facing Yang Xiaomin’s sarcasm, Shi Hua just looked at him and said calmly.
Li Zhong took in Shi Hua’s expression. He could see that when he saw these three words, Shi Hua’s whole emotion changed. Could it be that this dead person killed someone? Is there anything else hidden?
“Then tell me, how does a dead person kill someone?” Li Zhong said, looking at Shi Hua.
Hearing this, Shi Hua snorted and didn’t continue to answer. Seeing this, Li Zhong had no choice but to take Yang Xiaomin out.
“Captain Li, it’s really absurd. How can a dead person do anything? I estimate that Meng Yue should be referring to something else, or maybe someone else related to Chen Xuelin.” Yang Xiaomin analyzed from the side.
Seeing Li Zhong fall into deep thought, “What era is it? There are no ghosts and gods now. You don’t believe their words, do you?” Yang Xiaomin said in surprise.
Why “their”? Because Mo Wenli also said such a sentence.
“You don’t believe it either, but…you don’t have any other clues either. Her contacts only have these two dead people. Maybe it’s like I said, there’s someone else, but this person must be related to Chen Xuelin, otherwise, why would Meng Yue leave these three words behind when she was alive?”
Currently, no connection between the deceased Meng Yue and other people has been found. In other words, if her death is related to anyone, then it’s likely to be people she has contact with in her daily life.
Hearing this, Yang Xiaomin nodded.
“What about him?” She pointed to the interrogation room.
Li Zhong returned to the interrogation room. He asked Shi Hua if Meng Yue had any motive for being quiet. Shi Hua said he didn’t know.
Ten minutes later, Shi Hua left the Criminal Investigation Unit, and Li Zhong’s notebook had an additional name, named: Li Shuxuan
According to Shi Hua, although she and Meng Yue didn’t have a direct relationship, she used to be Chen Xuelin’s wife.
“She might know something. You can pay her a visit.”
Li Zhong looked at this name and then looked at Shi Hua’s leaving figure, his brow furrowing involuntarily.
Shi Hua didn’t rush to leave. After returning to the car, he turned on his phone and sent a message to someone, but he didn’t receive a reply for a long time. He looked at the Criminal Investigation Unit not far away. He could probably guess that that person hadn’t come out yet.
He didn’t leave in a hurry, but took out his notebook from the passenger seat and sat down at the computer to continue his work.
On the other side, after questioning Shi Hua, Li Zhong turned his attention to another person in the room.
“We just saw someone. I think you might know him too.”
“Shi Hua?”
“Of course.”
“It seems like you guys have a pretty good relationship. We checked, and the place you live now is also his house?” Li Zhong said, looking at the information in his hand.
“It used to be pretty good, now…so-so. I do live with him.” Mo Wenli nodded. She recalled some of the past, and her voice was much calmer.
“What is your relationship now?”
“He took pity on me and rented a room to me, that’s all. There’s no more relationship.” Saying this, Mo Wenli also sighed, her eyebrows drooping, and it could be seen that her expression was slightly haggard.
“I’ve seen your previous file. Intentional homicide, and the deceased you killed was named Chen Xuelin. You seemed to have denied it before.” Li Zhong said, looking at her.
Li Zhong could feel that Shi Hua, Mo Wenli, and Meng Huan were all related to Chen Xuelin. The three of them used to study in the same elementary school, and there must be something going on.
Dead people certainly don’t commit crimes, but that doesn’t mean there’s no connection with the deceased.
Since Meng Yue left such information, to investigate her intentions, it’s necessary to investigate the two people in her phone’s address book, and Shi Hua and Mo Wenli are probably the key to clarifying the case.
“Isn’t it clear in the files? What, can Captain Li extend a helping hand to my grievance?”
“I said I didn’t kill him, but it’s written in the file that I confessed and accepted punishment back then.”
“What’s wrong, does confessing and accepting punishment mean that you must have committed the crime? Then there must have been no wrongful convictions in your place, right?” Mo Wenli raised her head and looked at Li Zhong.
Hearing this, Li Zhong lowered his head in silence. Mo Wenli’s words were correct. The way she said it, he could feel Mo Wenli’s hostility towards him, and her words were full of contempt for the judiciary.
Normal people certainly wouldn’t hate the judiciary for no reason, unless there was something hidden in her case back then.
“Nothing more to say? If there are no more questions, let me go earlier. Anyway, I didn’t kill anyone, and I don’t seem to have any information to provide to you.” Mo Wenli said.
Facing Mo Wenli’s affirmative tone, Li Zhong felt that she didn’t seem to be lying.
“One last question, let me ask you about someone.”
“Who?”
“Li Shuxuan.”