Chapter 59 Red Leaves 20
At 9:30 in the evening, the impromptu meeting in the observation room was still going on.
"Why?" Ni Xiang was puzzled. Her experience was so limited that she couldn't figure out what the problem was. "Didn't our test reveal the real culprit? Didn't the others all point to Qi Moxue as the murderer?"
Guo Zhengyao also frowned, and said with a bit of self-deprecation, "If there are still mistakes, then it seems there's no point in bothering with this exam."
"No, the exam is necessary." Chi Li's calm voice formed a sharp contrast with Guo Zhengyao's slightly impatient tone. He carefully flipped through the four answer sheets in front of him, and then further prompted, "Pay attention to these questions."
Chi Li circled a few questions on the answer sheet.
Among the four answer sheets in front of me, the ones from the two old men have more contradictions, while the two from Zhai Yifei and Qi Moxue are basically identical except for two key questions where Zhai Yifei made mistakes.
Huo Cunsheng leaned over to take a look: "This...their answers are worded and stated in the same way on some key points."
"In an exam, if there's no standard answer for a question and students give exactly the same answer, we can't help but rule out the possibility of missing the question or plagiarism," Chi Li analyzed calmly. "Similarly, during an interrogation, if several suspects give identical wording, it can only be a coordinated confession. It's even more problematic when everyone suddenly gives the same answer. For example, the date of Bao Hongyuan's murder was incredibly accurate, and they even provided a lot of additional information, even agreeing on the weather, the route, and the car parked downstairs."
If they were interrogated one by one, this characteristic would not be obvious enough, but under the temptation of Luo Siwei's murderer test, the problem suddenly became apparent.
Ni Xiang flipped through the answers in disbelief. "But didn't they initially claim they were the murderer? What's the logic behind that?"
Guo Zhengyao also realized: "They clearly said they were the murderers before, but during the interrogation, loopholes began to appear... Could this be intentional?"
Chi Li calmly analyzed: "First tell an obvious lie, and then tell a second lie that is difficult to judge whether it is true or not. This approach will increase the credibility of the second lie."
Obviously, after the initial interrogation, those people's confessions were consistent and pointed to Qi Moxue.
If the police had thought about the problem more simply and made a final conclusion, they would have fallen into the trap set by those people.
Guo Zhengyao asked: "Then their purpose is..."
"If there were multiple murderers in this case, they would all be sentenced. So, why not combine the crimes into one person? Her personal sacrifice could be used to exchange for lighter sentences for the others," Luo Siwei concluded. "It seems the person being sacrificed is Qi Moxue."
Everyone fell silent when they heard this, and Luo Siwei looked up into the interrogation room.
Now the police officers have finished the interrogation, and there are only four suspects left in the four rooms. They sit alone in the interrogation room. Everyone has stopped crying and sits there with a blank expression.
Police officers often find themselves alone in interrogation rooms with suspects. During these moments of solitude, they can detect abnormalities in their expressions, movements, and behavior: some may be arrogant, some angry, some crying, and some panicking.
At this time, the four of them had no reaction at all. This scene seemed extremely abnormal, even a little weird.
Chi Li's eyelashes twitched slightly, and he sighed silently: "There is another possibility. Qi Moxue is covering up the real truth, which is her motive for murder."
Even the murderer has not yet revealed his true murderous intentions.
Huo Cunsheng was stunned. "The truth? Qi Moxue has already admitted to murder. What truth could there possibly be?"
"There are some things she wants to hide, things she doesn't want others to notice." Chi Li lowered his head slightly as he spoke, and the light from the observation room formed a clear line at his jaw. "Now, we need to conduct a second interrogation on them based on the results of these 'baseline tests'."
Afterwards, Chi Li had Ni Xiang copy the "answers" and hand them to the officers. His voice was calm and gentle, "Also, I must remind you to put away your compassion. These people may be pitiful, and may have done some good things, but they are sitting in the interrogation room right now. They are undoubtedly murderers and cruel perpetrators. As police officers, we must handle this case fairly and impartially."
The other police officers stood up, but Chi Li stopped Luo Siwei: "Captain Luo, wait a moment."
Luo Siwei hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay."
Soon, the police officers entered the interrogation room again and several interrogations began again.
Chi Li was not in a hurry about this. He took out the pages of Luo Siwei and Qi Moxue's interrogation records and said to her, "Let me ask you a few questions first."
Luo Siwei was not quite sure what Chi Li meant, but she still sat obediently opposite him, like a diligent student.
Chi Li asked her: "If it were you, and you encountered the situation that Qi Moxue is facing, what would you do?"
Luo Siwei hesitated for a moment, then looked up with a firm gaze: "If it were me, I would probably find a way to take care of those elderly people and would not give up."
Chi Li continued to ask: "What do you mean by finding a solution?"
Luo Siwei thought about it carefully: "Find help, find housing to house them, work hard to make money, seek sponsorship from companies, learn about various legal and compliant subsidies, and even find some big self-media accounts and seek help from the public and some charities. Also, contact some community departments and other nursing homes. There are always more solutions than problems."
At this point, she suddenly woke up: "You mean, falsely claiming subsidies, letting the elderly rent together, and killing the landlord, these are all abnormal practices!"
Just imagine, a normal and gentle woman would never do these things even if she was forced into a desperate situation.
Chi Li nodded: "How much ability a person has and what kind of things he can do is something he will learn as he grows up."
After being reminded of this, Luo Siwei discovered that she had sensitively noticed something was wrong during her previous interrogation with Qi Moxue, but she had never analyzed Qi Moxue's real motive for doing so.
Qi Moxue's actions clearly exceeded her limit, but she still chose to do so, which was unreasonable.
A person's personality is influenced by many external factors during the process of growth, including parents, social relationships, and education...
Luo Siwei thought of Qi Moxue's family background and the fact that her parents and family did not educate her well.
Chi Li continued to analyze: "Qi Moxue told you a lot of helplessness, suffering, and the tragic experiences of the elderly. How she helped those elderly people is exaggerated. There are also some things she deliberately concealed. She also lied. You have to find those hidden points. There is the truth. Also, you need to think clearly about why she took all the blame."
In general cases of accomplices committing crimes, few criminals will take the initiative to take all the blame.
Luo Siwei frowned and thought for a moment, then figured it all out: "Qi Moxue...she wants to complete 'self-sacrifice'."
Being sacrificed and self-sacrifice are two completely different concepts.
Chi Li looked at her and nodded slightly.
After hearing Chi Li's hint, Luo Siwei suddenly became enlightened. She felt as if the clouds had suddenly broken and the sun was rising, and all the doubts in her heart were resolved.
Combined with some details the police knew during the previous investigation, the truth came to light and now all we need to do is verify it.
Seeing that she had thought it through, Chi Li stretched out a finger and said, "I'll give you one last chip."
Luo Siwei asked: "What?"
Chi Li said: "Tell her that the police will report to their higher authorities and take good care of those elderly people."
Luo Siwei's brows relaxed. On the surface, this relieved Qi Moxue's worries, but at the same time, it also cut off her last way of retreat. It was like cutting off the source of her trouble, leaving her with no reason to continue lying.
Luo Siwei said gratefully, "Thank you, Captain Chi."
Chi Li looked at her: "Go ahead, I'll watch your interrogation here."
Luo Siwei entered the interrogation room again.
This time, Qi Moxue seemed to feel that the interrogation was different from the previous ones. She sat up straight and looked at the female police officer who had returned.
As soon as Luo Siwei asked the opening question, Qi Moxue bent down and lay on the table as if she was extremely tired.
Her face was pale, and she raised her voice: "Officer Luo, I have a headache. I have already admitted the crime, why are you still asking me? You can take the confession and hand it over. The court will judge me, and the law will kill me and make me pay for those people's lives!"
Facing Qi Moxue's agitation, Luo Siwei's tone remained calm: "I'm still asking you here because those are not the truth. If you tell me the truth, you can go to rest immediately."
Qi Moxue said: "I have told you everything I know."
If this sentence had been able to deceive people before, but now, Luo Siwei would no longer be moved by her words.
Luo Siwei pointed out: "When you described the murders of Niu Liangyu and Bao Hongyuan, you used repetitive language, too many descriptive sentences, and lacked emotional fluctuations. I speculate that these are not the truth, nor are they your true motives for the murders."
Qi Moxue's previous cooperative attitude changed. Her face turned cold and she leaned back in the interrogation chair: "I have already provided my testimony. Whether you believe it or not is up to you police officers."
The air in the interrogation room was so cold that it was almost freezing.
Luo Siwei and her stood in silent confrontation for a few seconds, then she spoke: "You still have concerns, right? I guess one of the reasons you took on all the crimes is because you want them to continue to take care of those elderly people. I promise you, once you tell the truth and report it to the police, someone will be responsible for taking care of the lives of those elderly people."
Luo Siwei chose to cut off Qi Moxue's retreat in the first step, removing the foundation under her feet and making her stagger in the air.
Qi Moxue's face turned as pale as ice and snow. Her pupils moved slightly, and wrinkles appeared on her forehead again. Then she chuckled coldly, "Officer, you're overthinking it. I don't have any concerns, and there's no truth to it. What I just said is all true."
Luo Siwei began to ask her questions directly: "Regarding the date of Bao Hongyuan's murder, several of you gave the same answer. Details such as the weather conditions and the number of cars parked downstairs are exactly the same. Let me ask you, Mr. Bao, was he really killed at this time?"
"It's that date. I remember it very clearly. Since he was the last one to die, it's not unusual for him to have such a clear memory of it." Qi Moxue looked up at her. "What did the others say? Why did they say that? How could I possibly know?"
Luo Siwei said, "The body was thrown into a dry well and was severely decomposed. The forensic doctor could only give an approximate time of death. I think at this point in time, you may have lied."
Qi Moxue didn't say anything, so Luo Siwei continued talking.
"During the search of Bao Hongyuan's home, the police noticed a detail: he would carefully organize the rental contracts, but among those contracts, the recent rental contracts for these two houses were missing."
"Initially, the police suspected someone had taken the two contracts. However, we quickly ruled out this possibility. If the killer had indeed searched his home and only taken these two contracts, it would be a cover-up. Then, could these two contracts have been verbal agreements? But Mr. Bao is a man with a strong sense of law. Since acquiring the house, he has not rented it out to anyone casually. Even when relatives came to stay with him, he insisted on signing a strict rental contract, which caused a strained relationship with them. Why would someone who values contracts so much not sign those two contracts? Moreover, he had previously collaborated with Zhai Yifei and signed contracts. Why were only these two missing?"
Having said that, Luo Siwei paused slightly, raised his head and looked at Qi Moxue: "Then there is another possibility, that is, these two contracts have not been signed yet, and at that time... you were preparing to sign them."
Qi Moxue still didn't speak. She looked at Luo Siwei, but her eyes showed weakness, and then she pursed her lips.
Luo Siwei noticed this detail, which was a sign of the suspect's guilty conscience during the interrogation process.
"Officer, I don't understand what you are saying at all." Qi Moxue came to her senses after a moment and wanted to pretend to be confused and get away with it.
Luo Siwei continued, "You moved the date of Bao Hongyuan's murder to after you moved in. You said you killed Bao Hongyuan because of a conflict between you. But at that time, the conflict between you hadn't even erupted. Another suspicious point is that Bao Hongyuan's blood and pen ink were mixed together."
Qi Moxue was silent for a moment. She did not deny it and looked up and said, "Officer Luo, maybe he just happened to bring a pen that day. The time is not that important."
Luo Siwei said, "Lying about the date may seem like a small lie, but this lie is the key to your concealment of your motive for murder."
The end of Qi Moxue's eyebrows twitched uncontrollably, and her face turned even paler.
"You know we can determine your move-in time by asking the neighbors, and you deliberately said the time of the murder was after you moved in." Luo Siwei spoke, her eyes sharp and her voice crisp and clear.
They described active killing as passive killing.
"You specifically picked Bao Hongyuan because Zhai Yifei knew his situation and knew he had no relatives or friends. After he killed two landlords in a row, you discovered a situation where, once the landlord died, the house would have a safe period. From the time the landlord disappeared until someone discovered it or became suspicious, no one would come looking for him, and no one would collect rent. You and the elderly people could occupy the house and live there happily and quietly, without anyone disturbing you."
Qi Moxue sat silently on the interrogation chair, her eyes gradually turning cold from the initial gentleness.
The author has something to say:
Please comment. If there are many comments, I will update it in the evening.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
