Chapter 617 - 647: Where Did Qin Tao Go?
Chapter 617: Chapter 647: Where Did Qin Tao Go?
Qin Zhonghui fell silent, unsure of what to say.
After Qin Jiao asked Li Ming a few more questions, she left with her father. Once they were in the car, Qin Zhonghui kept sighing. "I just don’t understand how Old Third ended up like this."
"You reap what you sow," Qin Jiao said matter-of-factly. Having been reborn and remembering how her parents were bullied in her past life, she couldn’t bring herself to feel close to this uncle.
Hate was too strong a word.
Since she no longer cared, there was no room for hate.
Qin Zhonghui, however, was a bit of a softy. He kept sighing, so much that Qin Jiao was left speechless.
"Dad, what are you sighing about?" Qin Jiao asked.
"I just have this feeling... that he wasn’t the one who did the killing. But if that’s really the case, why would Feng Lan say otherwise? If Feng Lan framed Old Third, why won’t he tell the truth?"
Qin Jiao started the car. "It’s simple," she said calmly. "Uncle is trying to protect the real killer."
"Why would he protect Feng Lan?"
"No, the person he’s protecting isn’t Feng Lan." Something suddenly clicked for Qin Jiao. She abruptly turned off the car she had just started. "Dad, wait here a second," she said to Qin Zhonghui. "I need to go ask that Li Ming something again."
The words were barely out of her mouth before she was crisply getting out of the car and heading back. Li Ming was discussing the case with a colleague when he looked up and saw the pretty young woman returning.
She was pretty, and her poised, candid manner easily left a good impression.
Li Ming immediately asked, "Mr. Qin, what’s wrong?"
"I wanted to ask—now that both Feng Lan and Qin Jiqun have been arrested, what about their child?"
"Their child?"
"Yes. A boy, twelve or thirteen years old, named Qin Tao. He should have disappeared at the same time as Feng Lan and Qin Jiqun."
Li Ming’s expression changed.
Qin Jiao knew at once. When Feng Lan and Qin Jiqun were arrested separately, Qin Tao had escaped.
Li Ming frowned. "You’re right. He would be a key witness. Thank you for the reminder. We’ll send people to look for him right away. He’s probably somewhere near where Feng Lan and the others were staying!"
"Mm."
When Qin Jiao returned to the car, Qin Zhonghui had also figured it out. "Don’t tell me Xiao Tao was the one who killed him," he said, "and everything Feng Lan and Ji Qun are doing now is for his sake?"
Qin Jiao said softly, "Even if it was manslaughter on Xiao Tao’s part, now that Feng Lan and Uncle are both locked up, there’s no one to look after him. He was already turning into such a brat—what will become of him now?"
’He’ll very likely continue down a path of crime.’
Qin Zhonghui was still in disbelief. "How is that possible? Xiao Tao is just a kid!"
"If he really committed a crime, then he has to face the law’s judgment. Being a child doesn’t make him innocent. But he’s still a minor. If it really was accidental, there would have been some leeway." Her brow furrowed as she continued coldly, "Instead, Feng Lan and Qin Jiqun chose the stupidest possible path."
’Covering for him, taking the fall... When the truth eventually comes out, Feng Lan will be an accomplice. And after Qin Jiqun takes the blame for his son, will Xiao Tao even be grateful?’
’If Qin Jiqun takes the fall for this murder, is he confident that Feng Lan will raise the boy right and keep him from going astray in the future?’
It wasn’t that Qin Jiao looked down on Feng Lan; she just genuinely believed Feng Lan wasn’t capable of it. If she had been, Xiao Tao wouldn’t be the way he was.
Thinking of Xiao Tao—who had been a troublemaker since childhood, never doing a single good thing and always bullying and hitting Xiao Shi—Qin Jiao said quietly, "Let’s just hope he doesn’t cause any more trouble."
Qin Zhonghui nodded. "Yes... But what’s to be done about Ji Qun?"