Chapter 293 - 293 265 It Can't Be Real, Can It

Words : 2268 Updated : Oct 3rd, 2025

293: Chapter 265: It Can’t Be Real, Can It? 293: Chapter 265: It Can’t Be Real, Can It? As Wang Chuanxing followed Jiang Yuan, he hurried to send a message to his superiors while walking. The case was developing so rapidly that he found it difficult to keep pace. Subconsciously, Wang Chuanxing knew that he had to inform his superiors. What if they encountered the perpetrator and managed to arrest him? What then? Solving a case was certainly a good thing, but if the special case team had no involvement, it would be quite embarrassing. At the same time, Mu Zhiyang also began to feel increasingly anxious. If they really encountered the perpetrator, what should they do? Arresting the suspect was a must, but the murderer in this case seemed particularly vicious. What if there was fierce resistance? How should they handle it? Firstly, they needed to ensure zero casualties; secondly, it would be better if the suspect could be caught unharmed. This required collaboration among several people. One or two officers would need to hold the suspect in the front while simultaneously protecting their colleagues. Other officers would flank from the side or pounce from behind to subdue the suspect. This was the most common arrest procedure in the detective squad. A frontal assault might look impressive, but if someone got injured, the department would have to reflect on it for half a year. They were police officers, but also part of the working force. Who would be able to endure getting injured every half a year on average? Mu Zhiyang couldn’t handle it either; he had just returned from the hospital and didn’t want to smell disinfectant anymore. But upon looking around, he suddenly realized that if a fight broke out, he would be the first to go forward. The others were not options: Jiang Yuan was a forensic doctor and a protected charge by Captain Huang’s numerous exhortations. If he dared to push Jiang Yuan to the front, he would be torn apart if he returned to Ningtai alive. Wei Zhenguo was a mentor, Wan Baoming the leader, Wang Chuanxing from another unit with a high education “sneaky look.” Wang Zhong, who was of a similar age, was a technician and small in stature. It wouldn’t be reasonable to send him first. Mu Zhiyang nervously adjusted his police uniform, ready to face the challenge that was coming. Knock knock knock. The sound of knocking was as if it were hammering on Mu Zhiyang’s forehead. “Who is it?” An elderly voice came from inside the yard. “We are the police, we want to ask you a few questions,” Wei Zhenguo replied very politely. The sound of shuffling came from inside the door. After quite some time, the door finally opened, revealing an aged face. Mu Zhiyang, who had clenched his fists, suddenly felt deflated; if they wanted the suspect to be unharmed, he’d have to turn himself into plush cotton, wouldn’t he? Who would dare to pounce on such a frail old man? And besides, someone that old didn’t look like they would be capable of murder. Wei Zhenguo also seemed to have similar thoughts, his brow deeply furrowed. Jiang Yuan asked a few questions and glanced at the other person’s feet before excusing himself and leaving. Once outside, Wei Zhenguo quickly said, “The residents here seem a bit too old. Could they really commit such a clean murder?” “There must be some who are younger and in better shape. The killer is most likely just one person. We only need to find one person,” said Jiang Yuandao. “A robust old man?” Wan Baoming was beginning to catch on. Regardless of whether Jiang Yuandao’s judgment was right or wrong, coming up with a seemingly correct direction for such a case was already quite impressive. Of course, the special case team had also had a seemingly correct direction once, but it just hadn’t been proven right in the end. Jiang Yuandao just smiled and said, “Let’s conduct a round of interviews first and see if there are any other clues.” No matter how insignificant the pool of blood and footprints seemed, Jiang Yuan was able to glean a lot of information from them, though much of it was conjectural. Conducting interviews would help him reassemble this information. The key now was actually twofold. First, whether the murderer was a local neighbor. And second, whether the murderer had already moved away. The most important aspect was the first one. If that could be confirmed, then the case was essentially solved. The surrounding neighbors, when expanded, only amounted to a few hundred households, which was negligible compared to the amount of investigating needed for a murder. The group knocked on doors one by one. After a while, support staff from the community also came over, having received a complaint from a phone call. Wan Baoming thought ‘this is just right’, and without any courtesy, conscripted them, saying, “You’ll be running around with us today. I’ll speak to your leaders later, but for now, follow us.” The community support staff that had been dispatched were already the weaker part of the community staff and were now even more clueless when ordered by uniformed Wan Baoming. They had no choice but to comply and follow, saying as they went, “There are normally fewer residents here, and we don’t know exactly which houses are occupied... ” “Then you’ll help us call out using the local dialect,” said Wan Baoming. “I can’t use the local dialect, I was an external recruit...” “Then call out in Mandarin, say you’re from the community!” Wan Baoming wasn’t a very influential officer, but he was more than capable of suppressing a young employee. So the group continued to call at doors. A team of seven managed to summon the vigor of an army. Before long, reinforcements from the local police station arrived. The head of the station greeted them with a smile and said, “We’ve received several calls, about disturbing the peace, fake police, scams... you name it.” “Director, please join us in the inspection,” Wan Baoming invited warmly, effectively recruiting the director on the spot. The director hadn’t even had time to react before Wan Baoming pulled him into the lineup, and somewhat reluctantly, he acquiesced. An inspection it was, another homicide case at that, so indeed a serious matter. After another hour of door-to-door visits, they arrived at the end of another row of houses and finally heard a resounding response. Upon opening the door, they saw an elderly man with a ruddy face, wearing a jacket, looking quite energetic. “Uncle Qi, oh, we’ve come to your house. The police are here to inquire about that case from three years ago...” The community worker recognized the man and introduced with a smile, “Uncle Qi is an active member of our community, always pitching in to help.” The red-faced old man smiled and said, “It’s just us old men and women here, I’m still in good health, able to move around, helping out is also helping myself.” Jiang Yuan looked down at the man’s feet and pondered for a few seconds. He was mentally simulating what the man’s footprint might look like. After a couple of glances at the man’s shoes, he turned his attention to the dust on the ground. Wherever someone walked, there were bound to be some traces, but these had to be viewed at an angle with the sunlight. Three years later, a person’s footprints can change. Usually not by much, but changes do happen nonetheless. From what Jiang Yuan could see for now, the size of the feet mostly matched, and so did the age. And with the older man in good physical condition, he warranted attention. “Uncle Qi, do you know Hu Qian?” Wei Zhenguo gauged Jiang Yuan’s expression and took the initiative to step forward. Hu Qian was the victim of case 513. Uncle Qi paused for a moment, then chuckled, “We’re neighbors, how could I not know him?” “Besides being neighbors, there should be some other relationship between you guys, right?” Wei Zhenguo, rarely encountering a robust elderly person, took his chance to probe further with his extensive interrogation experience. His style when catching thieves was always like this. Many thieves have weak psychological defenses and a feeble sense of the rule of law, making them easy to break and expose their mistakes. When the time comes to send them to custody, he would have solid reasons. Uncle Qi, who had never been a thief, fell into deep thought for a moment. A few seconds later, he looked up, smiling innocently, and said, “If you’re looking for another relation, we both served in the military. Does that count?” Both Wan Baoming and Jiang Yuan looked up and over at this. Uncle Qi’s response was actually not quite what one would expect from an average person. When questioned, those who are reluctant to answer or simply don’t want to bother, often use short phrases like “I don’t know,” “No,” or just “No.” There’s no need to consider consequences, nor worry about whether the other party is suspicious. It’s simply a straightforward denial, blunt and direct. Only those who are concerned about the consequences, in an attempt to appear more credible, would cautiously reveal some inconsequential secrets. For instance, “I was out with him, but we didn’t rent a room,” or “I did look at his paper, but I didn’t copy,” or “I did steal, but I didn’t kill anyone.” Uncle Qi could have simply responded with “There’s no other relationship,” or just said “No relationship.” But he chose what he thought was a more credible way of expressing himself, which meant he needed trust. And with Wei Zhenguo’s experience and approach, he immediately discounted Uncle Qi’s credibility and asked, “Did you serve in the same unit in the military?” “Yes. But he enlisted a few years before I did. By the time I got there, he was already a volunteer. We didn’t have much contact,” Uncle Qi still smiled. Wei Zhenguo furrowed his brow and nudged Mu Zhiyang with his elbow, saying, “From the same town, neighbors, and served in the same military unit, that should form a close relationship, should it not? They say when fellow townspeople meet, they shed tears of joy...” Uncle Qi shook his head, “He’s several years older than me. We didn’t play together as kids. In the military, you know, our unit had a lot of tasks, and we weren’t in the same squad, so we hardly ever saw each other.” Wei Zhenguo, listening to Uncle Qi’s explanation, felt alarm bells ringing in his mind. In normal conversation, when someone brings up another person, they usually express a close relationship, like saying, “His brother and I were classmates, we once climbed mountains together...” and such. Those who distance themselves have their reasons. Potential links include past relationships, ambiguous relations, joint solicitations, involvement in crimes, or perhaps, one person having killed the other... Wei Zhenguo’s first thought was the last scenario. They had visited many homes already, and this one fit the profile Jiang Yuan had described best. Plus, his answers were evasive. Furthermore, having served in the military fit the profile of the assailant’s capacity for violence. “I have one more question, and then we’ll be on our way,” said Wei Zhenguo, having sensed that Uncle Qi had little resistance to interrogation. He resorted to the most basic tactic of first relaxing his subject’s guard before delivering a direct thrust, “What were you doing on the day Hu Qian was killed?” “I...” Uncle Qi hesitated for a few seconds but quickly said, “I was taking a nap that day. When I heard the noise, I got up and tidied up a bit. By the time I came out because of all the commotion, the police had already arrived. I went over to take a look at the excitement and then came back to watch TV.” Jiang Yuan extended his smartphone screen forward for Wan Baoming and Wang Zhong to see. On his screen was a record of Uncle Qi’s statement on the day of the incident; since he was not a witness, it only contained a brief couple of sentences. However, reading it over, one would notice that what Uncle Qi had just said matched the statement recorded in the file to a striking degree. As is well known, giving the same expression and keywords when repeatedly answering the same question invariably raises suspicion. Through subtle signs to each other, the police had quietly formed a net around Uncle Qi. “Uncle Qi, you’ll need to come with us to the station. There are some questions that probably require a formal statement,” Wei Zhenguo tried deception first. If deception didn’t work, resorting to force wouldn’t be too late. Uncle Qi, however, showed a warm expression and said, “Alright, let me tidy up the house first.” “Let someone from the community help you with that,” said Wei Zhenguo as he approached and grabbed one of Uncle Qi’s arms. Mu Zhiyang, Wang Zhong, and several other police officers from the station quickly closed in, crowding the man by the door without much finesse. Wang Chuanxing was left behind, watching this unfold with a sudden thought crossing his mind: Could this really be the murderer?

Chapter 293 - 293 265 It Can't Be Real, Can It

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