I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 212: Chapter 210: Someone Assisted in the Crime

By the time they returned to the city bureau, Kang Hong was already in the interrogation room.

Zhuang Yanzheng went straight into the interrogation room.

Yan Cheng went to the autopsy room, and Lu Zhishen went with him, planning to do a facial reconstruction based on the skull.

The search through the missing persons database was underway, while Zhuang Yanzheng conducted his interrogation. Both investigations were proceeding simultaneously.

Su Miaoyi was watching from outside the interrogation room.

Kang Hong was strapped into the interrogation chair. Two days of continuous questioning and the onset of drug withdrawal had taken their toll; he looked to be in a bad mental state.

"I’ve already told you everything I’m going to tell you. My story won’t change no matter where you send me. I’ve made myself clear. I was just out having a good time when a stranger offered me a cigarette. I smoked it, and that’s how I got hooked."

"Where have you been buying it since?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"I’ve told you so many times!" Kang Hong yelled.

Zhuang Yanzheng lifted his gaze to him.

The moment Kang Hong met his piercing gaze, he immediately folded and started answering. "Someone... someone contacted me. They said they could sell it to me, so I’ve been buying from them every time."

"Who is it?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked again.

Kang Hong said, "I don’t know. He always keeps his face covered. He’s the one who contacts me. Whenever I’m about to run out, he shows up."

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at him.

Kang Hong glanced up, but immediately dropped his head after meeting his gaze.

"Who did you live with at Changyue Garden?" Zhuang Yanzheng suddenly asked.

Hearing that name, Kang Hong froze for a second before looking up at Zhuang Yanzheng again. "What Changyue Garden?"

"You don’t know what Changyue Garden is?" Zhuang Yanzheng watched his reaction. ’This is clearly a sensitive topic for him. Those two skeletons were once his wife and child. Mentioning this gets a much stronger reaction out of him than anything else. If I press him on this, his psychological defenses will be easier to break.’ "Your wife, pregnant with your child, was stabbed ten times by you in your home at Changyue Garden."

"I don’t know! I don’t know!" Kang Hong cried out. "I don’t know what you’re talking about, no Changyue Garden, no wife, no child! I’m single! I’ve always been single!"

"Then where did all those watches at your place come from?" Zhuang Yanzheng abruptly changed the subject.

"I’m single! Single! I don’t have a wife!" Kang Hong yelled, only then realizing what Zhuang Yanzheng had asked. He stared at him for a long moment before saying, "I bought them myself."

"With your salary... you couldn’t afford a single one of them even if you didn’t eat or drink for a year," Zhuang Yanzheng stated.

"I... I had a proxy buyer get them for me. It’s much cheaper that way," Kang Hong said.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked down at the file in his hands, at Kang Hong’s statement from the day before. "But yesterday, you said a friend of yours brought them back for you."

"It was my friend." Kang Hong shook his head slightly. "My friend *is* the proxy buyer."

"It looks like his withdrawal is about to hit," Su Miaoyi said from outside.

Zhuang Yanzheng heard her voice and pressed on. "Where did you get the money for the watches? Your bank cards and digital payment accounts show no large expenditures."

"There’s no money in my accounts," Kang Hong said, clenching his fists tightly.

"Then where is your money?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked again.

"No, no, I... I don’t have any money. I don’t have any. I never had any money to begin with."

"If you have no money, then how did you buy the watches and all those designer clothes?" Zhuang Yanzheng stared at him.

"I... I..." Kang Hong’s arms jerked violently, but the interrogation chair held him fast.

Zhuang Yanzheng asked again, "Who was the girl living with you at Changyue Garden? What’s her name?"

"I don’t know, I don’t know anything," Kang Hong started to struggle.

"You don’t know?!" Zhuang Yanzheng’s voice rose. "She was your wife! For you, for your child, she went against her own parents just to be with you, and now you say you don’t know who she is?"

"I don’t know what you’re talking about!" Kang Hong’s eyes grew vacant as he stared at Zhuang Yanzheng. "Help me... help me... Just a little bit. I’m begging you, just give me a little. Please."

Zhuang Yanzheng stood up, walked over, and pinned down his flailing arms. "You killed your wife and your unborn child because you couldn’t control yourself, because you couldn’t quit."

"Just a little, please," Kang Hong pleaded with Zhuang Yanzheng again and again.

Zhuang Yanzheng stared at him. "After they died, they didn’t even get a grave or a headstone! After all this time, do you even remember her name?"

Kang Hong looked at him, his pleading expression shifting to one of grief. "I didn’t want to... I didn’t mean to... I didn’t mean to kill her. The blood... there was so much blood... I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do. I’m so sorry, Lili... I’m so sorry."

As he spoke, he started struggling again. "Just a little. Give me a little. This will be the last time, I swear, just a little is all I need."

Seeing him thrashing about, Zhuang Yanzheng grew worried he wouldn’t be able to withstand it. His attempts to physically restrain him were doing little to calm him. Just as he was about to call for the doctor waiting outside...

Kang Hong suddenly started gasping for air, but his breathing was shallow and erratic.

Su Miaoyi ripped off her headphones and ran to the door of the interrogation room.

By the time she got there, the doctor who had been waiting outside had already rushed in.

Zhuang Yanzheng had arranged for a doctor to be on standby when Kang Hong was first brought in, knowing his addiction was severe.

The city bureau had a doctor on staff to handle medical check-ups for new detainees and provide emergency care for inmates.

From the doorway, Su Miaoyi watched the doctor administer first aid.

Only when Kang Hong’s breathing returned to normal did she let out a sigh of relief.

"Captain Zhuang, I suspect he has an underlying heart and respiratory condition. He needs to go to the hospital," the doctor told Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded.

The doctor explained, "It’s related to his long-term drug abuse. It’s damaged his immune and respiratory systems, and it has a major impact on his cardiovascular health as well. Withdrawal episodes are especially likely to trigger these underlying conditions. It’s safer to send him to a hospital. Their emergency facilities are better equipped, and his condition is quite critical right now."

"Alright, I understand." Zhuang Yanzheng arranged for an escort to accompany Kang Hong to the hospital.

The ambulance took Kang Hong away.

"Are you going to be in trouble for this?" Su Miaoyi asked, looking at Zhuang Yanzheng.

’That was a real scare. If he’d died, it would have been a major incident.’

"It’s fine. Let’s focus on the case," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi fell into step beside him. "From what Kang Hong said, it sounds like someone helped him bury the bodies."

"It does seem unlikely he did it alone," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "The grave was dug quite deep. Even if Changyue Garden didn’t have many residents two years ago, you’d still want to do something like that as quickly as possible. Normally, in that situation, you’d dig a shallower pit to be faster, even at the risk of it being discovered later on."

Su Miaoyi’s thoughts turned to his family. "Should we question his parents?"

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded. "Yes."

"Kang Hong just said ’Lili’," Su Miaoyi added. "Her name might actually be Lili, or at least have ’Li’ in it."

"We’ll start with the missing persons database," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi said, "In that case, I’ll go check on Lu Zhishen."