Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Who is the scapegoat for whom?

Chapter 24

Public Security Bureau of Jinhai Province.

Director Xiao Fuchang had been waiting at the door early. When Qin Ye got out of Yu Cheng's car, he immediately greeted him cheerfully: "Hey, Comrade Qin Ye, long time no see, long time no see."

He held Qin Ye's hand, his eyes eager, as if he saw the bureau's soaring crime-solving rate: "Do you like the welcome ceremony the bureau held for you?"

Qin Ye blinked blankly, not understanding what Xiao Fuchang meant: "Welcome ceremony?"

Seeing her confused, Xiao Fuchang realized that Yu Cheng probably didn't follow his instructions. He glared at Yu Cheng several times: "Yu Cheng!"

Yu Cheng jumped out of the car, took out a red and green paper T-board with Qin Ye's name on it from the trunk, and stuffed it into Xiao Fuchang's hand.

He clasped his hands together and bowed to Xiao Fuchang repeatedly, begging for mercy: "Director Xiao, I beg you, please don't torture me anymore. What young people would like this kind of thing? The only time I sang in my life was when I was in kindergarten."

Before he went to the train station, Director Xiao made this ugly piece of cardboard himself, stuffed it into his car, and insisted that he hold it up at the exit to greet Qin Ye.

I don't know which bastard in the bureau suggested to Director Xiao that after receiving Comrade Qin Ye, they could sing a "Welcome Song" to express their welcome.

What's the difference between this and asking him to shout in the street that he is a fool? ! !

Qin Ye learned about the so-called "welcome ceremony" from Yu Cheng, and was speechless for a moment. He forced his lips to smile at Xiao Fuchang: "Thank you for your kindness, Director Xiao."

Fortunately, Yu Cheng didn't listen to Xiao Fuchang.

Otherwise, she would be so embarrassed that she would jump on the train and buy a standing ticket to escape back to Wuning County overnight.

…

"Director Xiao, didn't you say that Wu Xiangming came to turn himself in? Let's go see the suspect first."

Qin Ye changed the subject abruptly.

Fortunately, Xiao Fuchang didn't realize it, and his attention immediately returned to the case of "breaking into and killing Cui Kexing": "Yes, Wu Xiangming turned himself in. The bureau just found out that he was a suspect of murder, and before the police came to question him, he took the initiative to turn himself in."

The case was originally handled by the Criminal Investigation Brigade.

But the backbone of the team went to the capital today to represent Jinhai Province in the quadrennial Criminal Technology Vocational Skills Competition, leaving only two young police officers behind.

The other criminal investigation teams in the bureau all have their own cases to deal with, so it is not appropriate to transfer personnel to assist the two police officers left behind in the first team in handling the case.

When Xiao Fuchang heard from Xu Libai that Qin Ye was going to bring her father to the provincial capital for medical treatment, the first thing he thought of was to second her over.

If Qin Ye can handle this case well, he can also keep her in the province.

Those guys in the Criminal Investigation Team are used to being so arrogant. It’s time to find a capable newcomer to dampen their arrogance!

Xiao Fuchang imagined it happily.

He had no idea that Qin Ye came here simply to help solve the case and had no plans to stay in the provincial capital for the time being.

…

Qin Ye stood outside the detention room.

Through the glass, the suspect Wu Xiangming was seen handcuffed. He lowered his head and did not dare to look directly into the eyes of the two police officers opposite him.

"I like Cui Shu very much. She is the cutest, most gentle girl I have ever met."

Wu Xiangming lowered his head and explained in a muffled voice, "But Cui Shu, she was very afraid of me, and she told her father that I liked her. Her father came to the school and scolded me severely, saying that I was a bastard who wanted to eat swan meat, and that I, a dead loser, was not worthy of his daughter."

At this point, Wu Xiangming gritted his teeth and said, "Cui Shu also echoed me, saying that I was poor and ugly, and she felt disgusted at the sight of me."

"They both look down on others, and they deserve to die!"

At this point, Wu Xiangming suddenly shrugged and smiled, "My dad was a thief. Before he was arrested by you and sent to prison for labor reform, he taught me how to pick locks. The Cui family's door is an old model from many years ago. I pried it open with a little effort. I hid behind the sofa in the living room and waited for Cui Kexing to come back from get off work."

"It took me a lot of effort to subdue Cui Kexing. When Cui Kexing fainted, I tied him to a chair and cut him 108 times with a knife. I wanted him to watch with his own eyes as his blood drained out of his body until he died completely."

Wu Xiangming rolled his Adam's apple, lowered his head and continued: "Later, Cui Shu also came back. I dragged her to the bedroom, and had sex with her on her bed... Hahahaha, she smelled so good and was so soft - I suddenly didn't want to kill her anymore. I wanted to take her away, lock her up, and torture her until she died."

The police officer who was taking the statement couldn't help but curse "scumbag" under his breath.

When Wu Xiangming heard the police scolding him, he raised his handcuffed hands, touched the tip of his nose nonchalantly, and quickly lowered his head again: "I didn't expect that she would untie the rope and run away. I was afraid that she would come to the police station to report the case, so I came here to turn myself in first. After all, I have no money and can't escape to other places."

Two police officers stood up and took DNA from Wu Xiangming, preparing to send it for comparison with the DNA left at the crime scene.

Wu Xiangming was quickly escorted out and temporarily detained in a detention room, awaiting further investigation by the police.

Seeing this, Qin Ye stepped aside from the door of the interrogation room and quietly looked at Wu Xiangming who was about to be taken away.

She estimated that Wu Xiangming was about 1.7 meters tall and thin, which was consistent with the description given by the witnesses.

The other party kept his head down from beginning to end, allowing the two police officers to escort him away without any intention of resisting, and it seemed that he had no intention of defending his crimes.

"Wu Xiangming."

Qin Ye suddenly called out to Wu Xiangming and asked, "When you kidnapped Cui Shu, did you get her medicine?"

She learned from the nurse that Cui Shu had severe asthma and had to take medication regularly every day, otherwise her life would be in danger.

Wu Xiangming paused, obviously not expecting the police to ask this question.

He was silent for a long time.

Just when Qin Ye thought Wu Xiangming would not answer, he heard the other party's hoarse voice: "Cui Shu is not sick at all, she does not need to take medicine."

It was just a simple sentence, but it revealed deep hatred.

…

Qin Ye watched Wu Xiangming being taken away and stood there thinking.

Soon, the two police officers came out of the detention room. The fairer male police officer smiled at Qin Ye first: "Hello, you are Comrade Qin Ye, right? You are prettier than you look in the newspaper. You can just call me Murong."

Some time ago, because Qin Ye solved many cases in succession, the newspaper circulated within the Provincial Public Security Bureau specially chose her as a topic and sent a reporter to Wuning County to interview her.

Before Qin Ye left Wuning County, the county public security bureau had not yet received this issue of the newspaper.

But it seems that the newspaper has been distributed in the provincial bureau.

She smiled back at the two policemen: "I'm Qin Ye. I've also heard the old policemen in the county mention the Criminal Investigation Team 1. They said that the policemen who can join the Team 1 are all top elites."

"Well, the seniors are all elites, but we two can't do that."

The darker and stronger male police officer was called Ning Dasheng. He was straightforward and said whatever he thought. "Look, everyone in the team went to the capital to compete for honors, leaving us two newcomers to handle the case of the doctor's murder."

He had originally wanted to take this opportunity to work with Murong to solve the case. Fortunately, they were able to show off in front of the old police officers in the team, proving that they were not bad at all.

As a result, before he and Murong could show their skills, the murderer came to turn himself in.

"Ning Dasheng, do you think this case is a little strange? I always feel that it's not that simple."

Murong raised his doubts to his partner, "Wu Xiangming's confession was too smooth, as if he had prepared it specially before turning himself in."

Ning Dasheng was stunned for a moment, thinking back to the suspect's performance just now, and didn't think there was any problem.

He was reluctant to express his own opinions. On the one hand, he did not want to have a disagreement or dispute with Murong; on the other hand, he was worried that if his ideas were wrong, he would have to take responsibility.

Ning Dasheng thought for a moment and decided to throw this hot potato to Qin Ye.

So, he showed his standard signature silly smile and looked at Qin Ye: "Public Security Qin, now the public security system in the whole province praises you as a detective, why don't you tell me, what do you think of the suspect Wu Xiangming's surrender?"

…

Qin Ye didn't have so many twists and turns.

Since Ning Dasheng asked, she directly expressed her thoughts: "I think there are indeed doubts in this case, and Wu Xiangming's words cannot be fully believed."

Wu Xiangming said that he turned himself in because he returned home and found Cui Shu had escaped. He was worried that Cui Shu would call the police, so he ran away and turned himself in first.

What about Cui Shu? Where did Cui Shu run to?

Also, when answering her question, Wu Xiangming said that Cui Shu was not sick at all and did not need to take medicine.

The emotional fluctuations when he said this were much greater than those when he was giving his statement just now.

If Cui Shu was really not sick, then why did she have to take medicine every day? In the hospital, everyone who knew her knew her medication schedule.

Why was Wu Xiangming so angry about this matter?

"I think we need to go to Wu Xiangming's house and try to find Cui Shu's trace first."

Qin Ye said, walking out the door first, "Before we find Cui Shu and confirm her life or death, we can't trust Wu Xiangming's words completely."

Murong thought so too. He said wait a moment, ran to the office to get the car keys, and then jogged to catch up with Qin Ye.

Seeing that both of them were preparing to go to Wu Xiangming's house, Ning Dasheng naturally didn't want to be alone, so he quickly followed them.

…

Wu Xiangming's family lives in the most dilapidated urban village in the city, where short and dilapidated houses are stacked together in a disorderly manner.

There are only a few families living in the alley. Those who have a little bit of means have moved out of this slum where even sunlight can hardly be seen.

In the narrow and dim alley, the two people walking side by side seemed to be struggling.

Wu Xiangming's home is at the corner of the alley, with no neighbors around. If Wu Xiangming chose to hide Cui Shu here, it would be reasonable.

Before entering the door, Qin Ye deliberately went around to the back window to take a look.

The window had obvious signs of being broken from the inside, and there was also a shoe print the size of a girl's foot on the wall. Apparently, Cui Shu broke the window and climbed over the wall to escape from the house.

She felt relieved and followed Murong and Ning Dasheng into Wu Xiangming's house.

Wu Xiangming's home is simply furnished with only a table, a bed, and a large wardrobe. There is a pot on the stove next to it, with two empty bowls in the pot.

There was a piece of rope that had been cut into pieces on the bed, which seemed to be used to tie up Cui Shu.

Qin Ye looked around and felt something was wrong. He asked, "How many days has it been since the incident?"

Murong answered without hesitation: "Three days, today is the third day."

Qin Ye walked forward, lifted the messy quilt and took a look. The quilt and sheets were very clean, without any traces left.

She thought about it and walked to the closet, taking out another set of sheets and quilt covers. The bed sheets were worn out but still clean.

According to Wu Xiangming, he kidnapped Cui Shu in order to rape her for sexual gratification. But the bed was clean, without any blood or semen stains from a crime scene.

Qin Ye had encountered similar cases in his previous life. The victims all suffered severe physical and mental trauma, and the crime scene was even more horrific.

Assuming that Wu Xiangming was really responsible for Cui Kexing's death, judging from his brutal methods, his psychology must have been extremely twisted, and it was impossible for him to show mercy to Cui Shu.

Unless Wu Xiangming cleaned the scene carefully before surrendering himself.

But if he had cleaned up the scene carefully, the rope left on the bed and the broken window glass seemed a little too deliberate.

At the same time, Murong and Ning Dasheng carefully checked every corner of the room and found no bloodstains, which ruled out the possibility that Wu Xiangming had destroyed Cui Shu's body in the room.

…

"Comrade Gong, you are the police, right?"

An old lady suddenly appeared at the door. She leaned forward and looked into the house. "I just found a girl in my backyard. She was pale. She said to me, 'Grandma, help me find the police.' Then she fainted."

Qin Ye heard this and took out a photo of Cui Kexing and Cui Shu from his pocket, pointed at Cui Shu and asked, "Mother-in-law, is this the girl?"

The old lady narrowed her eyes, looked at her for a long time, and nodded seriously: "Yes, it's her, it's her."

Ning Dasheng and Murong looked at each other, took the lead and stepped forward to the old lady, and said impatiently: "Grandma, please take us to find her."

The old lady's house is nearly a hundred meters away from Wu Xiangming's house, but it is the closest family living nearby.

As they walked toward the old lady's house, Qin Ye asked, "Mother-in-law, have you seen Wu Xiangming in the past few days?"

"Yes. Three days ago, he passed by my house dragging a big red suitcase."

A trace of confusion flashed across the old lady's face. "Xiao Ming usually doesn't take our route. He likes to take a longer route and go back home. He passed by my house that day and greeted me for the first time. I saw that he was struggling to carry the big suitcase, so I was about to ask my wife to help him, but he refused."

The next morning, when she went to the morning market to buy vegetables, she found the suitcase lying in the garbage pile at the entrance of the alley.

She picked up the suitcase from the garbage dump and found that it was the one Wu Xiangming had brought home the day before. The suitcase was very new, so she dragged it back to her home when no one was paying attention, intending to keep it for future use.

After hearing what the old lady said, Qin Ye felt more and more strange.

Generally, a criminal suspect who has committed a crime will hide from others. Why did Wu Xiangming do the opposite and pass by the old lady's house while dragging the suitcase containing Cui Shu?

It was as if he was afraid that the old lady would not remember him.

…

The group quickly entered the old lady's house.

Cui Shu had already woken up. She huddled in the corner, staring at something in horror, screaming hysterically, "Ah! Don't come over! Don't come over! Don't let it come over!"

Qin Ye followed Cui Shu's gaze and found that what she was staring at was the red suitcase that Wu Xiangming used to hold Cui Shu.

She waved at Murong and Ning Dasheng, and they immediately understood what she meant and quickly took the suitcase to a place where Cui Shu couldn't see it.

Now that the suitcase was no longer in sight, Cui Shu's emotions quickly calmed down. Tears hung on her pale face. She turned her head blankly to look at Qin Ye and asked in a hoarse voice, "Sister, are you a police officer?"

Qin Ye nodded and said gently: "Yes, we are all police officers. Don't be afraid. We are here to save you."

Cui Shu sniffed and her tears flowed even more happily: "But, but... my father is gone. Police sister, I don't have a father anymore, wuwuwu... When I got home, my father was tied to a chair, his mouth was stuffed with a towel, and his whole body was bleeding."

"Then what?"

When Ning Dasheng heard Cui Shu talk about the crime scene, he couldn't wait to ask.

Cui Shu shuddered again. She crawled into Qin Ye's arms, shivering all over: "Wu Xiangming suddenly came out from behind the door with a knife, pointed the knife at me, dragged me into my bedroom, and gave me, gave me..."

She closed her eyes, unwilling to recall the scene.

Qin Ye could clearly sense how scared the girl in her arms was. She shook her head slightly and stopped Ning Dasheng from asking any further questions.

"Cui Shu, can I take you to the hospital? Let's get a physical checkup."

Qin Ye lowered his head and asked Cui Shu in his arms softly.

Cui Shu didn't say anything for a while, as if she was preparing herself mentally.

After a long while, she nodded slowly: "Okay. But Public Security Sister, can we not go to the Provincial Central Hospital? I don't want to see the place where my father worked before he died. I feel uncomfortable..."

Qin Ye was not familiar with the provincial capital, so he could only look to Murong and Ning Dasheng for help.

Murong recalled the coordinates of nearby buildings, and a hospital quickly emerged in his mind: "Tianhai Peace Hospital, let's go there. The medical conditions are good, and it is close to the high school where the victim and the suspect are studying. We can stop by the school and learn some relevant information."

I don’t know if it was Qin Ye’s illusion, but when Murong said he was going to school, Cui Shu’s body seemed to stiffen for a moment.

…

As a woman, it is naturally more convenient for Qin Ye to take Cui Shu for a physical examination.

She accompanied Cui Shu to the gynecology clinic for examination, while Murong and Ning Dasheng were waiting outside.

Before the examination began, Cui Shu suddenly sat up from the bed, bit her lip, and whispered in Qin Ye's ear: "Public Security Sister, my stomach hurts, I want to go to the toilet now."

Qin Ye suppressed the smile on his lips, squinted his eyes and looked at Cui Shu, and keenly caught the traces of guilt in the other's eyes.

But she didn't expose it, nodded, and opened the door for Cui Shu: "Come on, I'll go with you."

As soon as the two of them left the house, Murong came over and asked incredulously, "You finished the inspection so quickly?"

Qin Ye shook his head and motioned for Cui Shu to go to the bathroom first. He leaned over to Murong's ear and whispered, "Go to the back window of the women's bathroom and wait. I suspect Cui Shu wants to escape."

When Murong heard her guess, his squinting eyes immediately widened. He said "got it" and ran out the door quickly.

Qin Ye also took two quick steps to catch up with Cui Shu, who had already kept some distance from her. She watched Cui Shu go into the bathroom while she waited outside.

She would call out Cui Shu's name from time to time, and there would be a response from the bathroom.

About ten minutes later, she called Cui Shu's name again, but this time, Cui Shu did not respond to her.

Qin Ye quickly pushed the door open and saw that the bathroom window was wide open. Cui Shu had already climbed out of the window, with only one hand still clinging to the windowsill.

"Stop! Choi Suk! Where are you trying to run to?!"

Murong's roar came from the other side of the window.

Who would have thought that Cui Shu did not obey obediently, but instead shouted at the top of her voice: "Ah! Help! Catch the hooligan! Someone is peeping into the women's restroom! Come and catch the hooligan!"

Soon, hurried footsteps were heard in the corridor, accompanied by curses against the hooligans.

Seeing that something was not right, Qin Ye took a few steps back, then ran faster, jumped up and grabbed the windowsill, and got out of the window in no time.

She protected Murong behind her, stopped the ignorant crowd from beating Murong, took out her ID, and shouted: "The police are investigating the case! Everyone else, please move away."

After saying that, he pulled Murong and urged, "Hurry up and chase her! Don't let Cui Shu get away! There is definitely something wrong with her!"

…

After all, Cui Shu didn't exercise often, so she didn't run far before Qin Ye easily caught her: "Don't move!"

"Sister Gong'an, it turns out that you didn't believe me from the beginning."

Cui Shu seemed to have accepted her fate. She did not resist any more and let Qin Ye handcuff her. "Okay, I'll tell you the truth. I was the one who killed Cui Kexing. I tricked that idiot Wu Xiangming into going to the Public Security Bureau as a scapegoat."

Her light tone made Murong furious.

Murong covered his face which had just been scratched by the crowd, and was so angry that he couldn't help but say: "How can you be so vicious at such a young age? ! ! You even killed your own father!"

"Pooh!"

Cui Shu spat directly on Murong's face, biting her back teeth and said fiercely, "He is not my father! You men, all deserve to die!"

Murong wanted to say something, but Qin Ye raised her hand to stop him. She looked at the wound on Murong's face disapprovingly and said, "Why didn't you show your ID when the people who didn't know the truth beat you?"

Murong was stunned for a moment, and shrank his neck guiltily: "I forgot about it in a hurry."

Qin Ye: "...Then where did Ning Dasheng go?"

Hearing her asking about Ning Dasheng, Murong cursed him in a low voice, "Dasheng might have a craving for cigarettes again, so he sneaked out to smoke while he had nothing to do."

As they were talking, Ning Dasheng came in late: "Ah? Murong, Qin Ye, why are you two here? Eh? Why is Cui Shu still being tortured?"

Qin Ye: “…”

She seemed to understand why Director Xiao transferred her here to assist the team in solving the case.

…

Cui Shu was taken back to the police station and taken to the interrogation room.

Qin Ye followed Murong and Ning Dasheng into the interrogation room and questioned Cui Shu.

She hadn't planned to speak. After all, this was the provincial bureau, and a team was in charge of investigating the case. The only thing she had to do was to assist Murong and Ning Dasheng in investigating the scene, finding clues and detaining the suspect.

But when facing Murong and Ning Dasheng who were asking questions, Cui Shu kept her head down and said nothing.

Just when everyone's patience was gradually running out, Yu Cheng knocked on the door outside the interrogation room.

Qin Ye knew that it must be the test report she wanted. Just as she was about to get up to get it, Cui Shu's face turned pale: "Public Security Sister, please don't leave, please. I don't want to be alone with a man, I don't want to."

She noticed Cui Shu's fear and disgust towards the opposite sex, and she had some vague guesses in her mind.

She gave Cui Shu a soothing smile and said, "Don't be afraid. I'm not leaving. I'm just going to get something at the door. So, I'll ask them to leave and another female police officer to come in. Can you explain the incident to us?"

Cui Shu clenched her fists, and layers of sweat oozed out of her hands.

Outside the interrogation room, there was another knock on the door. Cui Shu seemed to have made up her mind and finally nodded heavily: "Okay, Public Security Sister, I promise you."

Qin Ye opened the door of the interrogation room, and Yu Cheng handed in the test report: "The result you wanted."

Ning Dasheng's protest followed Yu Cheng's voice: "No! We handled this case together. Why should we replace it with a female police officer? We don't have any female police officers in our team."

Murong stood up: "Dasheng, we have a female police officer in our team. Isn't Wen Tingting helping out in the archives department recently?"

Ning Dasheng sat there motionless, his voice getting louder and louder: "No! We handled this case together, why should we listen to Qin Ye now? ! ! And call Wen Tingting."

Qin Ye didn't expect Ning Dasheng to be so uncooperative in this matter.

She gradually lost her patience and was about to speak when Yu Cheng's cold voice rang out from outside the door: "Ning Dasheng, if you make a scene in the Public Security Bureau again, do you believe I will slash you?"

Ning Dasheng fell silent for a second, even forgetting to take off his police hat. He said he was going to call Wen Tingting and ran away in a hurry.

"Qin Ye, don't mind it. Dasheng is just like that. He just wants to make a contribution."

Murong picked up the police hat for Ning Dasheng and explained to Qin Ye, "Dasheng and I are both new to the Criminal Investigation Team. The team is exclusive and relies entirely on the rate of solving cases. That's why..."

After Murong's explanation, Qin Ye finally understood why Ning Dasheng refused to give in - it turned out that he was afraid that the credit for solving the case would be taken away by her.

She simply said directly: "I have said from the beginning that I came here to assist you in handling the case. The problem you are worried about does not exist. I have never thought about staying in the Provincial Public Security Bureau. At least now, I don't want to stay."

Murong didn't expect Qin Ye to be so frank and directly expose their thoughts. His face became a little embarrassed for a moment: "Okay, then we will wait outside, and you and Wen Tingting will interrogate the suspect."

…

Wen Tingting is a petite girl with a round face.

This was her first time interrogating a criminal suspect after being assigned to the Criminal Investigation Team. When she entered the room, she was so nervous that she walked with her hands and feet trembling.

"Comrade Qin Ye, hello, I'm Wen Tingting."

Wen Tingting bowed very politely to Qin Ye, and her serious look even made Cui Shu laugh.

Qin Ye pulled open the interrogation chair beside him and motioned for Wen Tingting to sit down: "It's okay, don't be nervous."

After Wen Tingting sat down, Qin Ye's attention returned to Cui Shu: "Okay, now there are only three of us women here, you can tell me why you wanted to kill Cui Kexing."

"Because he is a beast in human clothing. He abused me and molested me."

When Cui Shu said the first sentence, her eyes were red. "When I was twelve years old, my mother couldn't stand Cui Kexing's long-term domestic violence, so she secretly ran away to Hong Kong. That night, Cui Kexing broke into my bedroom and raped me. My brother tried to stop him, but he beat him up severely."

"Later, my mother secretly came back and took my brother away. She left me alone with this devil, enduring his molestation. I tried to report the case to the police station, but no one believed me. Because in everyone's eyes, Cui Kexing was a perfect and good person."

Cui Shu gritted her teeth and continued, "Later, I found out that Wu Xiangming in my class liked me. From that day on, I had a plan in my mind. I wanted to kill Cui Kexing and then find Wu Xiangming to take the blame for me."

She raised the back of her hand to wipe away her tears, and looked at Qin Ye with tears in her eyes: "I didn't expect you to take me to the hospital for a check-up. If the body is checked, it can be proved that Wu Xiangming did not rape me, and the lies we created will be exposed. So, I ran away."

Qin Ye flipped through the inspection report in his hand and asked casually, "Cui Shu, is Xiangjiang beautiful?"

"Of course it's beautiful, Xiangjiang..."

Cui Shu was halfway through her words when she suddenly realized something. She quickly covered her mouth and looked at Qin Ye with horror.