Chapter 140 He Deserved to Die
From the moment she got out of the police car to the moment she went upstairs into the interrogation room, Gai Duoduo was subjected to countless scrutinizing gazes.
If a police officer or a family member passing by said even a few words, Gai Duoduo would assume they were talking about her.
Upon entering the interrogation room, seeing Shen Zhenzhu looking over, Gai Duoduo suddenly covered her face and burst into tears.
Shen Zhenzhu carefully observed her figure. Unlike the person wearing the raincoat, that person seemed to be slightly taller than her.
"Tell me, why did you run away?" Shen Zhenzhu began her interrogation.
Gai Duoduo cried so hard she could barely breathe. An agent next to her wiped her face with a tissue, and she finally raised her head, looking disheveled, without a trace of arrogance: "I was afraid you would think I killed someone."
What did you do that made you so scared?
“I…I…” Gai Duoduo didn’t want to say it.
Shen Zhenzhu pointed to the sign behind her that read "Confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be punished severely" and said, "Take a look. I tell every suspect this once when they come in. This is your last chance to make amends."
Gai Duoduo was heartbroken. She said incoherently, "I really didn't expect Ouyang Aihua to be dead."
Shen Zhenzhu accurately grasped the meaning behind her words and said, "Then who do you want to die? Did you write the threatening letter?"
Gai Duoduo shook her head back and forth, saying in a trembling voice, "I...I didn't write a threatening letter."
Her brief hesitation and subtle movements while lying did not escape Chen Zhenzhu's eyes.
Shen Zhenzhu said, "I'll say it again, this is your last chance to confess."
Gai Duoduo hadn't expected Shen Zhenzhu to become so difficult to talk to once she entered the interrogation room. She suddenly burst into tears again, feeling extremely wronged and uneasy.
“I didn’t want to kill her, and I really didn’t write the threatening letter. I… I didn’t.” She sobbed, “It’s almost the 30th, and I clearly gave Ouyang Qing some sleeping pills so she could sleep a little longer and miss Director Zhang’s call. She said that Director Zhang would call her today to arrange a specific time and place to meet, and she was very worried that she would miss it.”
"So your goal was to get the lead role in 'The Epang Palace,' right? That's your criminal motive."
"No, that's her role. I didn't say I wanted to take it." Gai Duoduo cried, tears streaming down her face. This time, she put on an absolute performance, raising her hand and swearing, "If I wanted to take this role, may I go out and get hit by a car and die right now."
“You don’t need to swear in front of me.” Shen Zhenzhu looked at her calmly.
"Section Chief Shen." Lu Xiaobao's voice came from outside the door. He handed over the inspection report for the lunchbox and left.
Shen Zhenzhu looked at the lunchbox report, picked it up and handed it to Gai Duoduo: "It contains a large amount of sleeping pills. If it wasn't you who put it in, who else could it be? Several people have seen you taking food into the suite."
"So what if I did it? I didn't mean to kill him!" Gai Duoduo finally broke down and cried out, "I was going to give Ouyang Qing sleeping pills! I really didn't mean to kill Ouyang Aihua! I even bought him fried rice. He kept saying he was good to Ouyang Qing, who knew he would be taking poisoned food behind his back!"
"So you admit to giving Ouyang Qing sleeping pills," Shen Zhenzhu said.
Gai Duoduo cried again: "I didn't want to kill her. I've said it many times. I just wanted to make her miss Director Zhang's invitation call."
"And then?" Chen Zhenzhu asked, "What are you going to do after missing Director Zhang's invitation call?"
Gai Duoduo stammered, "What could I have done? I didn't do anything. I swore it."
Zhao Qiqi, who had been listening the whole time, couldn't take it anymore and said, "You drugged him and didn't do anything? Ouyang Aihua's death matches the cause of death by sleeping pill overdose. If you didn't kill him, then who did?"
Gai Duoduo covered her ears and said, "Don't yell! I'm really scared. What if he comes looking for me in the middle of the night?"
Shen Zhenzhu said, "If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear. Gai Duoduo, stop making excuses. What did you want to gain by drugging me?"
Seeing that she wouldn't let go, Gai Duoduo finally gave up and said, "Then I'll be honest, I want the role in 'The Epang Palace,' but it's just a role, I really never thought about killing anyone."
Shen Zhenzhu asked, "What if you knew that this role might be linked to your wealth and status for the rest of your life? That's Director Zhang, and all his films are award-winning."
"...So what if she is? Who isn't jealous of her? A woman who came from the mountains, trampling all of us formally trained actors underfoot, and all the directors in Beijing think highly of her, why is that?!" Gai Duoduo shouted frantically, "I'm jealous of her, I just want to fight for a role, am I wrong?!"
"Winning a role depends on talent and reputation, not on resorting to underhanded tactics." After Shen Zhenzhu learned about her motives and heard her admit to drugging her, she felt a little relieved.
"Then who do you think wrote the threatening letter?"
"I have no idea."
Do you have any other accomplices?
"I have no idea."
"Would someone else kill her?"
"I have no idea."
Do you know anyone who has a military green raincoat?
"I... ah?" Gai Duoduo didn't expect the question to jump around so much. She looked at Chen Zhenzhu with suspicion, thinking that she was going to set a trap. After a few seconds, she said, "There are a lot of military green raincoats in the crew, feel free to take them."
Shen Zhenzhu glanced at Zhao Qiqi, who was equally bewildered, and boldly asked him, "Ouyang Aihua's autopsy report hasn't come out yet, but I can tell you that you are highly suspected of committing the crime."
Before Gai Duoduo screamed in a shrill voice, Chen Zhenzhu added, "But it's also possible that the murderer is someone else."
Gai Duoduo stared intently at Chen Zhenzhu, gritting her teeth as she asked, "What do you want me to do?"
Shen Zhenzhu asked, "The external symptoms of sleeping pill poisoning are the same as those of cyanide and carbon monoxide poisoning. Do you know anyone who can obtain cyanide or produce carbon monoxide, such as by burning charcoal?"
“I’ve never even heard of what ‘□□’ is. I only learned about poison, arsenic, because of acting.” Gai Duoduo said irritably, “I don’t know anything about burning charcoal either. Who burns charcoal in a hotel?”
Seeing that Gai Duoduo seemed genuinely unaware, Chen Zhenzhu asked a few more questions before ending the interrogation.
Before leaving, Gai Duoduo said to Chen Zhenzhu, "Please make sure you find out the truth. I don't think it was me."
Shen Zhenzhu said, "I've already said it, there's a possibility that you might also be a possibility."
Gai Duoduo raised her voice and said, "Are you targeting me? I told you I didn't mean to kill her!"
Shen Zhenzhu said to her, "If you have any other clues, please let someone notify me. I hope you can save yourself."
When Shen Zhenzhu returned to her office, she saw Lu Xiaobao come up again.
"What's wrong?"
Lu Xiaobao handed the complete autopsy report to Shen Zhenzhu and said, "Section Chief Shen, the cause of Ouyang Aihua's death has been determined to be carbon monoxide poisoning. He was also using drugs and had a sexually transmitted disease."
"Thank you for coming all this way again." Chen Zhenzhu picked up a box of Wahaha drinks and handed it to him, saying, "Brother Xiaobao, have some to quench your thirst."
Seeing the fully stocked food cabinet, Lu Xiaobao took the Wahaha drink and said enviously, "We also have ice cream in our freezer. I'll get you two to eat later."
"No need for that." Shen Zhenzhu knew all too well what had been stored in their freezer.
Lu Xiaobao smiled, shook the Wahaha drink, and said, "Then I'll go share it with everyone first. Call me if you need anything."
Lu Ye was still engrossed in organizing the other people's testimonies. After he finished, he sat down next to Chen Zhenzhu and called Zhao Qiqi, who had just entered, to come over as well.
Shen Zhenzhu showed them the report and said, "Gai Duoduo admitted that she put sleeping pills in last night's medicinal meal. It was originally meant for Ouyang Qing, but Ouyang Aihua ate it herself."
Because he had taken sleeping pills, he was completely unaware when someone came in to burn charcoal.
"Died from carbon monoxide poisoning?" Zhao Qiqi was confused. "Why not sleeping pills? Could there be another culprit?"
Shen Zhenzhu said, "That's right."
Lu Ye analyzed, "Poisoning can be caused by gas leaks, car exhaust, fires, heating stoves... These are all unlikely to happen in a hotel suite, so what else could it be?"
Zhao Qiqi quickly answered, "They might also burn charcoal."
Lu Ye slapped his forehead: "Yes, it's one of the most common methods chosen by people who commit suicide."
Chen Zhenzhu finally found a reason: "Go and ask the others if they have smelled the smell of burning charcoal. If so, then we can confirm it and continue the investigation based on this clue."
Zhao Qiqi stood up and said, "I'll go ask the makeup artists."
Lu Ye said, "Then I'll be working with the director and the others. Shao Li has someone in charge of the review."
“I’m going to Qingjie’s place,” Chen Zhenzhu said. “I’m really worried about her.”
Lu Ye said, "She's quite strong, she should be able to pull through. Besides, I don't think her brother is that good to her. He even fights over the medicinal food she's prepared for staying up all night. I don't know what kind of hardship this famous actress has been through."
Zhao Qiqi also sighed, "People's hearts have changed. At least Brother Ye left me two pieces of braised pork, and he even gave Sister Qing the cold fried rice. Alas!"
“Even so, Sister Qing still felt that Ouyang Aihua had died in her place.” Chen Zhenzhu sighed and said, “She’s just too honest.”
Stepping out of the office, Chen Zhenzhu was now certain that the real culprit was the man in the raincoat.
She arrived at Ouyang Qing's interrogation room. When Wu Zhongguo saw her, he said, "Sister Qing has been outside the whole time and doesn't know much about what happened inside. She saw it this morning, but others saw it even earlier than her."
Shen Zhenzhu knew this, of course. She first poured Ouyang Qing a glass of warm water and gently patted his back to comfort him.
"Sister Qing, Ouyang Aihua died of carbon monoxide poisoning. I want to ask you, when you went there, did you smell anything other than a foul odor?"
In truth, Shen Zhenzhu had no hope for Ouyang Qing, because everyone else had already gone in when she arrived. None of them, including the director, had smelled anything.
“Yes.” Ouyang Qing slowly raised his head and said, “I could faintly smell the smell of charcoal. Everyone was crowded inside at the time, and I stood at the door for a while before going in. The smell was near the door.”
Shen Zhenzhu said, "You really smelled it? Are you sure it's the smell of charcoal?"
Ouyang Qing said, "I'm sure. I glanced into the living room and thought someone had set the fireplace on fire. The thought flashed through my mind, and then I saw my brother's body. After that, I forgot to tell you."
Wu Zhongguo slammed his fist on the table and said, "Since it was someone close to him who committed the crime, and the death was caused by burning charcoal, we can send people to search the vicinity of the scene to see if there are any hidden charcoal braziers or other utensils that can be used to burn charcoal."
“We’re heading in the right direction,” Chen Zhenzhu said. “We need to hurry.”
Wu Zhongguo said, "Then I'll make the arrangements right away."
"Okay, we will continue to investigate any potential motives that may be involved, to prevent the concealment or destruction of the murder weapon."
"no problem."
After Wu Zhongguo left, Shen Zhenzhu went out and made Ouyang Qing a cup of hot milk: "You can't go on like this without eating anything."
Ouyang Qing leaned back on the sofa, staring at the ceiling, and murmured, "I feel terrible."
"Aunt!" came the voice of a young man at the door. He stood there with a face full of grief, his refined face full of anxiety.
He was decked out in designer brands and looked to be around 20 or 21 years old. He had a dashing air about him and bore a resemblance to Ouyang Qing; he was a handsome young man.
When Ouyang Qing saw Ouyang Hao approaching, he stood up but before he could even speak, tears were already streaming down his face.
Shen Zhenzhu handed her a tissue and stood silently to the side.
"Did you go see your mother?"
I saw it once.
"Where did you come from?"
"I just got off the plane and went to the Starfish Garden Hotel. After settling in at the hotel, I came here."
Ouyang Qing asked, "Did you come from Shanghai yourself?"
“I came here by myself. I was worried about you and my mom.” Ouyang Hao said with red eyes, “My mom said you bought me a house here. I was planning to come back next month, but I didn’t expect this to happen.”
Ouyang Hao went inside, took Ouyang Qing's hand, and said, "Auntie, did my mother misunderstand you?"
Ouyang Qing choked up and said, "It will be alright once the investigation is completed. I never thought I would harm your father."
“Of course you wouldn’t hurt my dad. He’s your own brother, and you’re his own sister. You both want the best for each other.” Ouyang Hao was more rational than Shao Li. He helped Ouyang Qing sit down and said, “I brought you a sandwich. I made it myself. It’s perfect for you to have some. You’re allergic to tomatoes, so I didn’t put any in.”
Chen Zhenzhu also advised, "It's good to eat some with milk, it will take some time anyway."
Seeing that her nephew understood her, Ouyang Qing's emotions eased slightly. She introduced Ouyang Hao, saying, "This is Section Chief Shen. She's in charge of this case."
Ouyang Hao quickly stood up and shook hands with Shen Zhenzhu: "Hello, Section Chief Shen, thank you for taking care of my aunt. My dad... my dad he..."
Ouyang Hao finally couldn't hold back anymore, and tears streamed down his face. He wiped them away with his sleeve and choked out, "Can I see him?"
Shen Zhenzhu nodded and said, "The autopsy is over. I'll have someone take you there in a bit. Please accept my condolences."
Ouyang Hao held Ouyang Qing's hand tightly, their behavior intimate, more like mother and son than aunt and nephew.
Shen Zhenzhu remembered that there were similar gossip rumors in her previous life, saying that Ouyang Hao was Ouyang Qing's illegitimate son.
Ouyang Qing openly admitted that he did not want to have children and raised his nephew as his own son. From the time he was pregnant with him to the time he was born, his education, schooling, studying abroad, and marriage, all the expenses were paid by Ouyang Qing.
Shen Zhenzhu could tell that the two had a very good relationship, and Ouyang Hao's concern for Ouyang Qing was genuine, far exceeding that of Ouyang Aihua and Shao Li.
"Sister Pearl, could you please come over here for a moment?" Lu Ye stood in the corridor, handcuffing a fierce-looking middle-aged man.
Shen Zhenzhu said to Ouyang Qing, "You two talk, I'll go out for a bit first."
Once in the corridor, Lu Ye pointed to the people being held captive behind him and said, "These are loan sharks. Ouyang Aihua owed their company a lot of money before she died."
Chen Zhenzhu raised her chin and said towards the interrogation room, "Send it over first."
After the fierce-looking middle-aged man went inside, Lu Ye said, "We wanted to investigate drug dealers, but we ended up finding them instead. I suspect that the people selling Ouyang Aihua's drugs are in cahoots with loan sharks."
Shen Zhenzhu said, "There are people who deliberately lure others into drug use, offering it for free initially, and then charging exorbitant fees once they're addicted. If they don't have enough money, they'll lend it to the person at high interest rates. By the way, have you found out the source of his STD?"
Lu Ye said, "This person said that when Ouyang Aihua was using drugs, there was always a woman with him. He has already gone to find her. Sigh, he does everything—drinking, whoring, gambling, and smoking. His social relationships are more complicated than you think."
"Tell me when you find them, it might be a breakthrough." Shen Zhenzhu glanced at the loan sharks and said, "I'll go over there in a bit and go find Shao Li first."
Lu Ye said, "Okay, I'll take a look first."
Upon receiving news of the loan sharking, Shen Zhenzhu immediately went to Shao Li's interrogation room.
If Gai Duoduo benefited from Ouyang Qing's departure in her previous life, then Shao Li and Ouyang Aihua benefited even more.
Her vast wealth was sold or transferred on her deathbed. It's hard to imagine how sad she must have felt seeing her brother and sister-in-law like that when she was paralyzed in bed and needed care.
In the end, he refused to even pay for someone to look after her, and after taking all her property, he left her to die burdened with infamy, debt, and pain.
Shao Li was extremely uncooperative in the interrogation room. After she calmed down, she stared blankly at Gu Yanzheng and Chen Junsheng, as if she couldn't hear anything they said.
"Brother Zheng." Shen Zhenzhu called Gu Yanzheng out and told him the news.
"Owed to loan sharks?" Gu Yanzheng said, "Very good, this confirms her motive. I think she may also be the murderer of Ouyang Aihua, but perhaps it was an accidental killing."
His deduction was based entirely on Shao Li's behavior in the interrogation room. She appeared extremely grief-stricken, but she frequently accused Ouyang Qing, perhaps trying to shift the blame for the murder onto him.
The smallest details don't lie, but the problem is that they're all just inferences without any real clues. Borrowing money at exorbitant interest rates involves serious financial issues. Gu Yanzheng said, "If Shao Li's original target was Ouyang Qing, then everything makes sense."
“We still need evidence,” Chen Zhenzhu said. “Finding the charcoal brazier is crucial. Should I just stand by and watch?”
Shen Zhenzhu actually had suspicions about Shao Li as well. Her figure was similar to that of the man in the raincoat. If it really was her who killed Ouyang Aihua... tsk tsk.
"good."
Gu Yanzheng returned to the interrogation room and this time showed the forensic autopsy report to Shao Li.
"How can you still frame someone after they're dead?" Shao Li's eyes were bloodshot as she gripped the test report tightly. "I don't believe he used drugs, I don't believe he had a sexually transmitted disease, and I certainly don't believe he borrowed money from loan sharks. None of that is possible."
Gu Yanzheng said, "Didn't you want to find the murderer who killed him? You don't even acknowledge the truth, so how do you expect us to solve the case? Just by pointing fingers at Ouyang Qing, without any evidence, it's impossible to arrest him."
Chen Junsheng glanced at Gu Yanzheng and said, "Besides, you two are husband and wife. If he has a sexually transmitted disease, you won't be able to escape it either. We can also give you a checkup."
Shao Li frantically tore up the copy of the test report and angrily said, "He contracted the disease while taking a bath at a bathhouse. Who doesn't have some kind of problem these days? Does having an STD mean you have to die? Do you know how much I love him? After he infected me, I'm actually worried about him."
"So, you knew he used drugs?"
"So what if you know? You don't know how pitiful he was. He contracted the disease by dining with business owners to get movies for Ouyang Qing. Do you think those big bosses are so easy to get along with? He often ate and drank with them, and came home vomiting uncontrollably. You can't see this kind of sacrifice. All you know is to grab onto the words 'STD' and 'drug addiction' to say he deserved to die!"
Gu Yanzheng had been setting up a trap step by step, and now he was closing in: "The drug dealers and loan sharks are the same group. So you also knew about his huge debt."
"I...I...What do I know?..." Feeling she had said too much, Shao Li's brain was almost completely fried by Gu Yanzheng.
She instinctively felt that this question was unanswerable, so she pursed her lips tightly and remained silent.
"I just let your son meet you," Gu Yanzheng said. "Does he know about these things?"
"He doesn't know!" Shao Li shouted. "I'm a victim's family member, why are you interrogating me like a criminal?! I'm going to file a complaint against you, I'm going to sue you!"
Seeing Shao Li's performance, Shen Zhenzhu quietly left the interrogation room and gave two officers some instructions.
Shao Li wasn't on set the night of the incident; she said she went home. It's likely the house Ouyang Qing bought for Ouyang Hao.
Disposing of a murder weapon is a high-risk act, and if it is discovered during the disposal process, it can directly become physical evidence. The most dangerous place is also the safest place.
Assuming she is the murderer, if the charcoal brazier cannot be found near the film studio, it might be hidden in Ouyang Hao's house, or perhaps in the shape of other objects, such as an old-fashioned enamel basin.
......
After thinking for a long time, Shen Zhenzhu went to the outside of Lu Ye's interrogation room and watched for a while as he questioned the loan sharks.
The other party was also a cunning old fox. Lu Ye and Tian Yongfeng worked together to pry open his mouth.
“Brother Feng, I know you’re investigating the burial case, but it really wasn’t us.” The loan shark, named Tu Yongqiang, said with frustration and helplessness, “We really wouldn’t dare to sell drugs. It must have been one of our men messing around with Ouyang Aihua for money. Who knew he was a big fish?”
Lu Ye leaned back in his chair, pen in hand: "Tell me more about how this small-scale operation turned into a big fish."
Tu Yongqiang knew that once he joined the Major Crimes Unit of the Criminal Investigation Team, it was better to say some things sooner rather than later, because the more he hid, the more they would dig out.
He added, "Ouyang Aihua has a famous actress sister. He's very generous with money and is willing to try many imported gadgets. Every time he gives a girl he plays with a friend, the tip is either 666 or 888, which is no small amount. Later, he took a mistress who was dressed in gold and silver and bought him a car. She kept saying that she wanted to have a son for him."
How long has this been going on?
Tu Yongqiang said, "It was from the end of last year to the month before last that a big star came to film a movie, and Ouyang Aihua had to accompany him. He told me personally that he was going to travel around with his sister and have sex with all the women in the country. He would hire two or three women to accompany him in each place."
"Was it that woman who got him hooked on drugs?"
"It was another prostitute who said that it would be incredibly pleasurable in bed after taking it, so he tried it." Thinking of this, Tu Yongqiang smirked and said, "That woman was sick. The guys who frequented her didn't like to go to her anymore. I don't know if it was AIDS or an STD. In the end, she could only get people to take drugs and make some money from it to cover her living expenses."
Lu Ye frowned and said, "You said it lasted until the month before last, why did Ouyang Aihua stop?"
When asked this question, Tu Yongqiang sat up straight. Having experience in prison, he raised his hand and said preparedly, "Government, I have something to report."
Lu Ye stopped writing, looked up, and asked, "What's going on?"
Tu Yongqiang said, "The month before last, Ouyang Aihua wanted to hire us to kill someone, and we refused on the spot. We are an economic circulation company, not a murder company. You can tell I was right to refuse?"
Lu Ye asked, "Who should we kill?"
Tu Yongqiang said mysteriously, "Kill Ouyang Qing!"
Lu Ye's spirits lifted, and he asked, "Why did you kill her?"
Tu Yongqiang said, "Sigh, it's all because Ouyang Qing said he wanted to hire a professional accounting firm to manage the finances. Ouyang Aihua couldn't get the money, and he still owes us a lot of money, with interest compounding. He also broke up with his girlfriend and can't afford anything good anymore. That time he cried and begged us to kill Ouyang Qing, and we always thought he was just addicted to drugs. Now that we know he's dead, I feel like things aren't that simple."
Tu Yongqiang thought for a moment and then said, "Oh right, he was afraid of being chased for debts, so he hid in the film crew and wouldn't come out. But a few days ago he suddenly called me and said he would be able to pay back the money soon!"
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Author's note: See you tomorrow, there's a red envelope coming up!
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