I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 244: Chapter 242: Interrogation

"What about the other four people who were at the restaurant with the two victims last night? Do they know anything?" Qi Feng asked.

"They were already questioned at the branch station. The four of them don’t know anything. Apparently, they weren’t very close, just hung out to eat, sing karaoke, and play games. They didn’t even know each other’s full names. We’ll question them again after the meeting."

"What about Huang Chen and Ji Jiabao? Do they know them well?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"They met playing video games. At first, they frequently played together online, then they started meeting up to play offline. Eventually, Huang Chen and Ji Jiabao got scammed out of their money. But as for what the victims actually did for a living, they all said they didn’t really know."

"Huang Chen said that at the beginning, he only knew the two of them. They were very good at the game, very patient, and had a high win rate. They were calm even when they lost and were great at providing emotional support."

"Scammers are always perfect at the beginning. They match your vibe in every way. Then, when you let your guard down, SNAP—they hit you with a big one," Qi Feng said. "Before I came to the municipal bureau, I specialized in fraud cases. I’ve heard a thousand versions of this script. It’s always the same old wine in a new bottle."

"But fraud... would it escalate to the point of murdering someone to silence them?" Chu Xingrou said.

Su Miaoyi glanced at the notes in Chu Xingrou’s hands. She had come in late and didn’t know the full details of what they had discussed.

Seeing her looking, Chu Xingrou moved the notebook closer to her.

As Chu Xingrou’s notebook came closer, Su Miaoyi immediately covered her own.

’You can’t compare these things.’

Chu Xingrou’s notes were too neat; even the punctuation was perfectly aligned. It made her own notebook look like a pile of...

Victim: Xing Chang, male, twenty-four, from Luo City.

Victim: Chang Yong, male, twenty-five, from Yan City.

Both of their parents were migrant workers in Jinghai, which is why the two of them were also in Jinghai.

"Can the tech department trace the two victims’ account information?" Lu Zhishen asked.

"They’re on it," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"They were at the restaurant around eight last night," Su Miaoyi said. "The trip to the hospital was about ten minutes. Neither of their wounds were deep or large; I saw the medical records said they were stitched up under local anesthetic. That shouldn’t have taken too long either. So it’s very likely they told someone about their injuries not long after their wounds were stitched up."

"It must have been someone they knew well. The other person asked about their hospital room and their injuries, and they didn’t suspect a thing, just told them everything," Chu Xingrou said.

"What about the victims’ families? Have they been questioned?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"They’re all at the hospital, admitted for shock. I’ve already sent someone over to see if they’re in any condition to be questioned," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "Any news from Yan Cheng?"

"No discoveries so far. We’ll probably have to wait for the lab results, which should take a day or two," Su Miaoyi said.

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded.

The surveillance footage they reviewed for the case discussion was just the key clips provided by the branch station. After the meeting, they would have to re-watch all the complete footage from start to finish.

Besides the hospital’s surveillance, they also had to check the cameras in the hospital’s vicinity.

Every major intersection and hidden alleyway had to be checked.

"Go question the people from the restaurant fight last night again." Zhuang Yanzheng assigned everyone their interrogation duties.

After the meeting, they all headed to the interrogation rooms.

Su Miaoyi followed Zhuang Yanzheng and asked, "Do I need to recuse myself? Ji Sheng and the others called me this morning."

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at her. "Listen from outside the interrogation room for now. Help with the analysis."

He then added, "How many times have you had to recuse yourself? Why does this always happen to you?"

Su Miaoyi said, "...Maybe I’m just bugged."

Zhuang Yanzheng gave her another look. "Huang Chen’s father also called my father this morning."

"What did he say?"

"He said he’d compensate the restaurant for all damages," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "As for his son, he’s disowning him. Said we should investigate whatever needs investigating and sentence him as the law requires."

"Huh?" Su Miaoyi was shocked.

"He was just saying that out of anger. By tomorrow, he’ll be looking for a lawyer." With that, Zhuang Yanzheng entered the interrogation room.

She went outside and put on the headphones.

The one being interrogated was Huang Chen.

His first words were, "I want to see my dad."

"Didn’t your dad get you a lawyer?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked, already knowing the answer.

Huang Chen didn’t say anything.

Without looking up, Zhuang Yanzheng said, "Your dad has disowned you."

Huang Chen’s eyes widened.

Su Miaoyi’s mouth twitched.

’Is this really the time to say something like that?’

"How did you meet Xing Chang and Chang Yong?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"You asked me last night, you asked me again today, and now you’re asking again? Do you guys have amnesia or something?" Huang Chen said, irritated.

"Just answer the question and cut the crap!" Zhuang Yanzheng said sharply.

As soon as he raised his voice, Huang Chen immediately became more subdued, though his expression remained defiant. "I met them playing games. I hired a play-for-pay gamer. I hired Xing Chang. He said he had a friend who was also really good and asked if he could play with us. I saw he wasn’t charging extra, so I agreed."

"Later, I saw how good they were, so I introduced the two of them to Ji Jiabao and my other friends."

"Were Xing Chang and Chang Yong together often?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"Well, every time I looked for them to play, it was always both of them," Huang Chen said. "When we met up offline, it was also always the two of them. To be honest, I thought they were a couple. I mean, who hangs on each other like that every single day?"

"How did they scam you?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Huang Chen sighed. "I really thought of them as friends. Those two were incredibly nice to us, sometimes even treating us to meals. Then one day, out of the blue, Xing Chang called us, saying Chang Yong got into a car accident and needed money to save his life."

"He even sent a picture of Chang Yong covered in blood. He said Chang Yong’s family was too poor and didn’t have enough money, so they would definitely give up on life-saving treatment. He was crying to us over the phone, and he cried so hard that I felt like I wanted to take on some of Chang Yong’s pain myself. So a few of us pooled some money for him."

"He said the money we scraped together wasn’t nearly enough. He just kept weeping and weeping, whimpering ’What do I do? What do I do?’"

"I didn’t have much money on hand. My dad had already cut off my card because he said I spent money recklessly. The twenty-thousand-something I had was leftover New Year’s money from my grandpa, and I gave it all to Xing Chang."

"He said it wasn’t enough. It was a matter of life and death, and he was my bro! If money could save a life, of course I had to help. Otherwise, how could I show my face? So I went home and begged my dad. My dad’s actually a pretty kind-hearted guy, so he immediately contacted the hospital Xing Chang mentioned. One quick check and he found out I’d been scammed. He was so furious he kicked me out of the house, said he’d never met someone so brainless, and that he wanted to disown me."

"He scammed me and got me chewed out by my dad! When I saw him last night, there was no way I was going to let him off the hook. But they were so damn cocky, acting all self-righteous. They even said that scamming us was to atone for our sins, that we were all sinners. They’re insane!"