Chapter 51 Rope Murder Case (13) Good Girl

"I don't need to repeat what you have experienced in your previous life." Sang Luo turned his back and gave Hu Die some space to relax.

"Hu Maoshan is a complete bastard. He drinks, beats people, and has no humanity. You are just a minor. You depend on him for everything, so you can't escape from him."

"Even if you really call the police and have him arrested, he will be released in a few days, and then you will face even more terrible retaliation. Only when he disappears from this world completely can the matter be considered over."

"And there's your mother," Sang Luo changed the subject and mentioned Hu Die's mother, "Although she committed suicide, she was also forced to death by your father. As a child, it's impossible for you not to hate Hu Maoshan."

Sang Luo turned his head and looked at Hu Die with burning eyes: "If I were you, I would hate you even more than you do!"

Hu Die raised her head, her eyes turned around, but in the end she didn't say anything.

Sang Luo continued, "You were not born a gangster, you were just born into an unfortunate family. From this perspective, you are also a victim of life."

Sang Luo looked at Hu Die and added softly, "Both of you."

Hu Die raised her head alertly: "Who are you talking about?"

Sang Luo smiled slightly: "You know very well who I am talking about - Lan Yue."

Hu Die's face was full of disgust: "What does her business have to do with me?"

"You really don't understand?" Sang Luo raised his eyebrows, "Or are you pretending to be stupid?

Hu Die was stunned for a moment and didn't say anything.

"I'm not sure what agreement you and Lan Yue have reached, but I'm sure there must be some kind of connection between you."

Sang Luo poured Hu Die a cup of hot water, which made Hu Die relax a little.

"You know, you two are actually very similar." Sang Luo looked at Hu Die, who immediately retorted:

"You're talking nonsense. How are I similar to her?"

Sang Luo: "Although you look and dress differently, you share a similar aura, a faint hatred. You both hate someone."

Hu Die stopped talking, and her expression showed that Sang Luo was right.

"After Lan Jianguo died, we went to visit Lan Yue more than once," Sang Luo also picked up a glass of water and held it in his hand. "Lan Yue gave me a very strange feeling. Although she acted very sad, I always felt that she was acting."

"This may be my intuition as a criminal police officer, or it may be my intuition as a woman."

"Lan Jianguo adopted Lan Yue and worked hard to raise her. After his death, Lan Yue should have been very sad. Why did she perform?" Sang Luo paused. "I thought about it for a long time and finally came up with a possibility - she hated Lan Jianguo, or in other words, she hated Lan Jianguo."

"Why? As an abandoned baby, why would she hate her only relative? What do those characters on the wall of Lan Jianguo's room mean? Can you tell me the answer?"

Sang Luo looked at Hu Die expectantly.

Hu Die shook her head and still said nothing.

Sang Luo smiled and said, "You are quite loyal. You are still keeping it a secret for her at this time. Even if you don't want to tell me, I can guess roughly. If you can't say it out loud, it must be a very shameful thing for her."

Hu Die turned her face away, deliberately not letting Sang Luo see the expression on her face.

Sang Luo waved his arms: "So I deliberately asked my male colleagues to stay away for a while. It seems that my decision was right. You all seem to hate men of this age group."

"When we went to visit Lan Yue before, I noticed that she hated being touched by men. Whether it was a male nurse in the hospital or a male detective from the criminal police team, as long as they touched her skin, she would feel as disgusted as if she had eaten a fly."

"At that time, I vaguely guessed that there was a man who had left a shadow on her."

"But there is one thing you should know. It is not you who should be ashamed, but the people who did these things. An unfair fate has befallen you, and you are just victims."

"This shame should not be borne by you two girls." Sang Luo said to Hu Die seriously, "Hu Die, you are still young and have a chance to start over. This opportunity is right in front of you. It depends on whether you want it or not."

Hu Die blinked her eyes, and seemed to be finally moved. She said, "I did this case. I did it alone. It has nothing to do with anyone else."

"Is it just you?" Sang Luo asked back immediately.

Hu Die said with certainty: "It's me."

"I hope you can think it over carefully before you speak," Sang Luo stared into her eyes, "What is the relationship between you and Lan Yue? Why did you help her get rid of Lan Jianguo?"

Hu Die said stubbornly: "I killed Lan Jianguo just to let the police arrest my father. It has nothing to do with Lan Yue."

"Really?" Sang Luo asked, "Then tell me, how did you know Lan Jianguo's whereabouts?"

"I..." Hu Die was speechless for a moment.

"Before the incident, Lan Jianguo and Hu Maoshan had a conflict, but during that conflict, Lan Jianguo did not reveal his personal information. Even if Hu Maoshan wanted to go back and look for him afterwards, he would not be able to find him."

"Even Hu Maoshan can't find Lan Jianguo's address, how do you know it?" Sang Luo asked.

Hu Die said nothing and looked down at her toes.

Sang Luo continued, "You chose to kill Lan Jianguo in Suzhai Lane, which means you knew Lan Jianguo's daily whereabouts. To do this, you need to follow Lan Jianguo every day, but you usually hang out with that group of hooligans and have no time to follow him in person. So, someone who knew Lan Jianguo directly told you about his living habits."

"Lan Jianguo has almost no friends in Baiyun County. The person who knows him best is his daughter, Lan Yue."

"For some reason, Lan Yue hates her father, and you hate your father too. In this rope murder case, you originally wanted to kill two birds with one stone and get rid of two men at once."

"You are not taking revenge on Lan Yue, but helping her," Sang Luo said closer, "You two have a good relationship, right?"

Hu Die kept her mouth shut and still refused to speak.

Sang Luo was not impatient, but said in a slightly worried tone: "I am really worried about her. Maybe one day in the future, you will meet in prison."

Hu Die frowned: "Who are you talking about, Lan Yue? Why is she going to jail?"

Sang Luo: "Once we convict you, we will release Hu Maoshan. When Hu Maoshan returns home, Lan Yue may start to take action. As long as she commits a crime, she will be sent to jail like you."

"Why did Lan Yue want to kill my dad?" Hu Die was still playing dumb.

Sang Luo gently brushed her hair: "Then I might as well just say it straight -"

"I boldly guess that you and Lan Yue have jointly planned a murder exchange case."

Hu Die pinched her palms with her fingernails, neither admitting nor denying.

Sang Luo: "You may think that exchanging murders is a very clever idea, but in the eyes of criminal police, we have seen these routines many times."

"Now that things have come to this, you have solved Lan Yue's target, but your own target has not been solved. As long as Lan Yue abides by the agreement between you two, she will definitely kill someone."

As a criminal police officer, she must prevent the second murder from happening.

"She won't."

Hu Die smiled self-deprecatingly. When this idea first came to her mind, she thought she was very smart. It turned out that these were just trifles in the eyes of the police.

"She will!" Sang Luo said with certainty.

Hu Die raised her eyes: "Why?"

At this point, she has been completely exposed. As for the exchange murder case, this kind of cover-up is now completely useless. There is no need for Lan Yue to commit murder for an outdated agreement.

"Because I could see it from her eyes," Sang Luo sighed, "After the incident, we visited her more than once, helped her sort out her family's savings, and made plans for her future, but I could see that she didn't care about any of this at all."

"There has always been a hint of death in her eyes. She has made up her mind to die. As soon as Hu Maoshan is released, Lan Yue will take action immediately. Even if the police will immediately find her, she doesn't care. She wants to complete what she promised you."

Hu Die smiled mockingly: "She is a good girl, how can she be so fierce? Officer, you are lying to me again."

"Loyalty is something that you are not the only one to have," Sang Luo reminded, "Don't underestimate her. The quieter a person is, the more terrifying they are when they explode."

After saying this, Sang Luo stopped talking. She pushed the door open and left Hu Die alone for a while. About five minutes later, she returned to the interrogation room. Hu Die had changed her attitude: "Officer, let me tell you."

"I want the whole truth." Sang Luo emphasized.

Hu Die nodded: "What I want to say is the whole truth."

"Hu Maoshan, although he is my father, I really hope he dies," Hu Die sat down, took a deep breath and said, "I have had this idea since I was a few years old. I hope he dies, gets a serious illness, or has an accident. As long as he dies, my mother and I will have a better life."

"When my mother was still alive, he always beat her without any reason. My mother's face was covered with bruises and there was not a single day when she was clean. Relatives nicknamed her 'Big Painted Face'. My mother didn't dare to fight back and could only hug me and cry secretly."

"At that time, I was young and weak. Every time I fought back, I was beaten severely. I thought to myself, if only I could grow up, I would take my mother away from this home."

"But my mother died before I grew up." Hu Die smiled desperately when she said this, with tears in her eyes.

"I went to school that day, and when I came back from school, I saw my mother's body in the yard. Her face was purple. I heard people say that my mother committed suicide, but I was doubting it in my heart. Is it true? You have to know, in this family, anything is possible."

"Before I could figure it out, my mother's body was taken away. They quickly disposed of her body and no one notified the police. I knew I would never get to the bottom of this matter."

"But I didn't plan to find out the truth. I'm not an investigator. Regardless of whether my mother committed suicide or not, she was forced to death by my father. My father was a beast. He forced my mother to death. I will be the next one."

"Sooner or later, I will take revenge on him."

"After my mom left, he became even more violent, but I would not be like my mom and just accept it. If he hit me, I would fight back. If I couldn't beat him, I would call a few more people."

"Since my mom passed away, I stopped studying and became what you would call a hoodlum, but I feel pretty good about it."

"Just like you said, I became a gangster to protect myself. I don't like those stupid guys around me, but I need them. With them around me, my dad actually behaves a little better."

"There is a price to pay for hanging out with them, but I can accept that. I may feel repulsed once or twice, but I'll get used to it after a few more times."

"I guess it's because I have these buddies. He doesn't dare to attack me recently. But I have never given up the idea of ​​killing him. As long as I have the chance, I will definitely kill him. The only thing I care about is how to get away with it after killing him. I don't want to go to jail."

Sang Luo did not interrupt and listened to her quietly.

"It was at this time that I met Lan Yue." Hu Die let out a long sigh and closed her eyes.

"To be honest, when we first met, I really didn't like her. She was the typical good girl, the teacher's lackey, you know? She was always against people like us."

"We met because she stepped on my foot. That day, our gang gathered at the school gate to fight with the gang from the other side. The other students were terrified and wanted to hide three meters away. But she pushed her old bicycle and walked straight into the school as if she didn't see anything, for fear of being late."

"She was walking in a hurry and stepped on my foot. So many people were watching, so of course I had to show my authority in front of her. I stopped her and scolded her. I called her stubborn, stubborn, and ignorant."

"If it was any other student, she would have just been scolded, but she actually dared to talk back like a dean and gave me a lecture instead. The more I listened, the angrier I got. I reached out my hand and wanted to slap her, but she actually caught my hand."

"My brothers saw that I had lost my limelight and rushed over to help me. I quickly stopped them. These young men don't know the seriousness of the matter. If they were allowed to get involved, I'm afraid someone would die."

"I let her go because I was afraid things would get out of hand. Our focus that day was on the opposing gang, and we didn't want to waste time on her."

"After that day, I sent someone to inquire about this good girl and found out that her name was Lan Yue. I remembered her name. If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely regain my prestige in front of her."

"Later, we saw each other from a distance a few times in school, but there were some teachers present and it was not convenient for me to do anything, so I held back. Anyway, I was familiar with her."

"Then there was the incident in the alley. I forgot what time it was that night. I was with two of my brothers at the school gate collecting protection money. This was our job. I wasn't after the money, but I just liked the feeling of intimidating others. Maybe I learned that from my dad."

"Very late at night, two girls came out of the school gate. I recognized Lan Yue as one of them. My little brother asked her for protection money, but she not only refused to pay, but also scolded my little brother."

"With new and old grudges piled up, I decided to teach her a lesson today. My little brother wanted to do it, but I stopped him and said I would do it myself."

"I went up to her and grabbed her hair and dragged her into the alley. That alley was our usual spot. We always went there to beat people up. No one except us dared to go in."

"After I dragged her in, I wanted to hit her. Before my hands even touched her, she suddenly whispered: "Go ahead and hit me. Just beat me to death. If you don't beat me to death, I won't leave today."

"I noticed something was wrong. Her spirit seemed to be much worse than last time. I realized something happened to her, so I withdrew my hand. I felt a little embarrassed and didn't know whether I should still fight her."

"I didn't hit her, but she rushed towards me, pinched my neck and asked me frantically, 'You are so powerful, why don't you hit those who should be hit? Why do you only dare to bully me?'"

"I was confused for a moment. I didn't know who she was referring to, so I asked her. Then I started chatting with her, and I learned what happened to her. Her father was even more of a beast than mine."

"In the eyes of outsiders, everyone thinks her father is a really good man. She was an abandoned baby, and her father adopted her and raised her for so many years. He also paid for her to go to school in the city. It seems that he has treated her very well, but only Lan Yue herself knows that she has a lot of suffering but cannot express it."

"Lan Jianguo didn't treat her as a daughter, but as a wife."

"He was originally a poor man, destined to never get married. Ever since he adopted Lan Yue, his mind had become impure. He treated Lan Yue as his child bride. When Lan Yue was ten years old, Lan Jianguo stretched out his evil claws to her."

"They used to live in the village, but later they moved out because someone fell in love with Lan Yue. Lan Jianguo certainly couldn't stand someone coveting his wife, so he moved away. This was also for his own safety. He was afraid that Lan Yue would ask others for help, so the two of them moved to the city to live, completely cut off contact with others, and didn't have any acquaintances, so Lan Yue had no one to turn to for help."

"Lan Yue has been living like this since she was ten years old. When Lan Jianguo was away, she felt relaxed. When Lan Jianguo approached her, she became depressed, felt extremely sick, and even wanted to commit suicide."

"The night before I collected the protection money, Lan Jianguo had just assaulted Lan Yue, so Lan Yue was so emotional."

At this point, Hu Die looked up at Sang Luo: "You once asked me what the word "正" on Lan Jianguo's wall meant. Now I can tell you -"

"This represents the number of times he and Lan Yue had sex. One stroke represents one time."

"This old man got carried away with success and treated these experiences as treasures. He carved them on his disgusting room. Every time Lan Yue thought of the strokes on the room, she would tremble all over."

"When I heard this, I was so angry that my teeth itched. Although I am also a gangster and have done bad things, people like Lan Jianguo deserve to be cut into pieces!"

"In that alley, Lan Yue confided everything to me. Maybe she was really lonely in this county town and couldn't find anyone to talk to, so she regarded me, the bully, as her lifeline."

"She would never mention something like this to her ordinary classmates. Most people would regard her as an alien after hearing it, but I won't, because we are the same."

"We both have a bastard dad, and I know very well that it's not us who should be damned, it's them who should be damned."

"Lan Yue's initial thoughts were very weak. Although she hated it, she didn't dare to resist. She just hoped that God would take away that beastly father as soon as possible. But I thought differently. I told her -"

"If God's will doesn't come, we'll do it ourselves."

"Perhaps influenced by me, Lan Yue's thoughts have changed. She has made up her mind to kill Lan Jianguo."

"We have a common goal, and the next step is to discuss strategies. After much thought, I came up with a good idea, which is to exchange killings."

"I killed Lan Jianguo and she killed Hu Maoshan. This way, the police won't find us when they investigate our interpersonal relationships, and our chances of getting away with it will be greater. Perhaps, this case will become an unsolved case, and we can be freed."

"That day I dragged her to the alley for a long time. My little brother and another girl were watching outside. They all thought I was abusing Lan Yue in there, but in fact, I had discussed all this with Lan Yue in a low voice."

"In order to conceal my presence, I kept slapping Lan Yue's thighs with my hands to make a slapping sound, so that people outside would not come in."

"We agreed that I will make the first move, and then I will wait for a while to see how the situation develops before letting Lan Yue make the move. A good girl like her is timid, so we definitely cannot let her make the first move."

"After discussing it, I messed up Lan Yue's hair and pretended to be tired from the fight and went out. Her eyes turned red and she pretended to be beaten and dragged another girl away."

"She told the girl that I beat her, and the news spread quickly throughout the campus. This way, everyone would think that we were enemies, and no one would suspect that we were working together to commit the crime."

"Later, we met again in private and discussed the specific method of committing the crime. Lan Yue told me Lan Jianguo's whereabouts every day, and I decided on the specific method of committing the crime."

"The first thing I thought of was the rope, because I have a lot of ropes for killing pigs at home. I wanted to use my father's rope to kill Lan Jianguo and let the police directly suspect my father. This way, maybe I could kill two men at once, and Lan Yue wouldn't have to take action at all."

"I thought about it, but I didn't know if this method would work. I needed to try it out first, so I stole a mannequin from a clothing store. At night, when my dad was out drinking, I rode his electric tricycle out, found a similar scene, tied a rope at the end of the alley, and had the mannequin ride the electric tricycle and crash into it."

"The rope cut the mannequin's neck and the mannequin's head flew out. I was very satisfied with this scene and decided to use this method. Afterwards, I was afraid that the owner of the clothing store would call the police, so I returned the mannequin. Of course, I didn't return it to her face, I threw it in front of her store."

"What happened later was basically the same as what you said, except for one thing you didn't guess - on the night of the 7th, I was standing in Suzhai Lane."

"Huh?" Sang Luo was a little surprised.

"See, I knew you didn't guess!" Hu Die showed a smug look on her face. "That night I tied myself up with a rope and wanted to leave, but I thought about it again and was afraid of hurting innocent passers-by, so I simply walked into the alley and stood in the middle of the alley. It happened that I was wearing black clothes that day, and I completely blended into the night. No one could see me."

"I thought about it. If someone else passed by on an electric tricycle, I would tell them that the road ahead was being repaired and send them away. If it was Lan Jianguo passing by, I would not say anything and just watch him pass by quietly."

"Thank God, Lan Jianguo was the only person passing by after 10 o'clock that night. He was riding his electric tricycle with a load of waste on it. He was easy to recognize. I was sure I had recognized the right person. I felt relieved when I saw it was him. He drove to the end of the alley and I turned around and walked towards the entrance. As soon as I reached the entrance, I heard his screams. Although I didn't see the scene with my own eyes, I knew it was done."

"He was lying on the ground, begging for help, while I was laughing wildly in the distance. After he was dead, I put my hands in my pockets and left. This kind of person does not deserve to be saved. When Lan Yue asked him for help, he never let Lan Yue go."

Hu Die shrugged her shoulders and said, "That's it. This is the whole process of the case and everything I know. I should have told you everything you want to know."

"One more question—" Sang Luo took out the second rope, "Did you put this?"

Hu Die identified it and immediately said, "No, what case is this? It has nothing to do with me, officer, please don't wrongly accuse me. Although I said I want to plead guilty, I only admit to what I did. I will never admit to anything I didn't do."

"This rope was found on the morning of the 9th, which was the second day we were handling the Lan Jianguo case," Sang Luo explained patiently, "Someone tied this rope in Fu'an Lane. If it wasn't you who did it, then someone was imitating you."

Hu Die was incredulous: "Imitating me? What is there for me to imitate? It definitely wasn't me. If it was me, I would definitely use my dad's rope to put all the suspicion on him."

Sang Luo nodded. This was what they had speculated at the beginning. The ropes used in the two cases were too different. This was a crude imitation. The purpose was to make the police think that this was a random serial murder case, thereby misleading the police investigation.

Since it wasn't done by Hu Die, then there is only one person left who can do it -

"It's Lan Yue." Sang Luo said.

"Oh, why did she do that? To help me get rid of suspicion?" Hu Die rubbed her nose, with a complicated look in her eyes, "This guy is really loyal, I didn't expect it!"

Sang Luo closed her notebook. She had asked all the questions she wanted to ask. All she had to do now was wait for Yuan Xiaohu to bring back the test results from the city.

"Do you have anything else to say?" she asked Hu Die.

Hu Die shook her head, but soon regretted it. She said to Sang Luo, "Tell Lan Yue not to be stupid for me anymore. It's meaningless."

"Oh, by the way, and..." When Sang Luo turned around and prepared to leave, she stopped him again, "If we have the chance to meet again, we should really have a drink. I wonder if this good girl dares to drink?"

"I'll convey it." Sang Luo said to her.

At this time, Ma Shi Tu knocked on the door from outside: "Can I come in?"