Chapter 6, Poppy 06
In the afternoon, in the interrogation room of the Third Precinct.
The girls separated again and sat in silence on either side of the interrogation room. They didn't know that the surveillance equipment had recorded their conversation verbatim and transmitted it to the observation room.
Luo Siwei watched this scene calmly, then shook his head slightly.
Only then did Ni Xiang understand that Luo Siwei had already discovered that there was something wrong with them, so she deliberately left the two of them alone in the interrogation room. Those female students were related to this matter.
Luo Siwei collected some more information and saw that the time was almost up. She finally stood up and said to Ni Xiang, "Call Xue Rong over first." Among the two, Xue Rong was obviously more passive and more guilty, so Luo Siwei used her as a breakthrough point.
Ni Xiang walked to the interrogation room opposite, opened the door, called Xue Rong, and led her to interrogation room No. 1.
Xue Rong didn't know why she was called first. She walked very carefully, not even daring to breathe hard, for fear that she would do something wrong and arouse the police's suspicion.
As soon as she entered the interrogation room, Xue Rong saw the policewoman who had just questioned them. The policewoman was very tall, about 1.7 meters tall, and she was tall and thin. Although she was very pretty, there was no expression on her face.
After seeing her, Xue Rong couldn't help but slow down his pace, adjusted his glasses a little uneasily, and stood there.
Luo Siwei raised his hand and gestured, indicating Xue Rong to sit on the interrogation chair.
Xue Rong then sat down. Her slightly plump body curled up in the chair, her shoulders drooped, her back hunched habitually, and her head lowered.
This was Xue Rong's first time coming to a place like the police station. Even though there were two female police officers sitting opposite her, she still felt nervous.
Especially the female police officer who was presiding over the trial, she was very afraid of her.
Xue Rong silently repeated in her heart what Ye Ruxi had said to her before, "I don't know, I'm not sure, I don't admit it, I don't say anything..." As long as the police have no evidence, they can't do anything to them.
Luo Siwei did not sit down, but stood opposite Xue Rong. From where Xue Rong was sitting, she could see her long legs standing in front of her. If she wanted to see Luo Siwei's expression, she needed to raise her head, but Xue Rong did not dare to look directly into Luo Siwei's eyes.
Luo Siwei didn't rush to speak, and the interrogation room was extremely quiet. Xue Rong felt even more impatient, and she kept swallowing her saliva, trying to make herself feel more comfortable and natural.
During this period, Luo Siwei was still sorting out the information.
Finally, she selected a few pages from the printed conversation records and placed them in front of Xue Rong one by one.
Luo Siwei deduced that Ye Ruxi might be the central figure in the entire incident, while Xue Rong was a cowardly follower. She singled out the conversations that best matched Xue Rong's profile. She even skipped the slow process of setting a trap and directly questioned the female student in front of her with a firm tone.
"Tell me, which of these were sent by you?"
Luo Siwei's voice came to Xue Rong's ears from a high position, as if a heavy object suddenly pressed on her heart.
At that moment, Xue Rong felt as if something in his brain exploded with a bang.
Did the police already know?
It took her two seconds to realize that the policewoman in front of her might be trying to trick her. Xue Rong began to argue and deny.
"I didn't..." Xue Rong's tone was so weak that it sounded like he was admitting his guilt.
Luo Siwei didn't rush to ask her any more questions, but instead stared at the girl in front of her indifferently and silently. She controlled the rhythm of the interrogation, and sometimes appropriate pauses could actually save time.
The interrogation room was so quiet that you could hear the ticking of the second hand of the clock on the wall.
Xue Rong's heartbeat was like a drum, and her mind was racing. What did the police know? Did they already have some evidence?
She swallowed hard, looked at the papers, and her eyes involuntarily fell on the trumpet she used to use and stayed there for a moment.
Luo Siwei had been observing her, and when he saw her gaze stop, he pulled out the printed paper.
"This account?" she asked Xue Rong.
Xue Rong raised her head hurriedly, her face flushed with fear: "...I, I don't know. I just saw these screenshots today. These are people harassing Yu Wanying. How can I know who sent them..."
Luo Siwei's face remained expressionless. She stared intently at Xue Rong, her dark eyes seeming to have seen through everything. "Even if you used a ladder, it would leave traces. For example, on your phone, on your dorm computer, or in the library's usage records..."
Xue Rong trembled, feeling like a small animal that had been cornered. She clenched her hands until her knuckles turned white, then pursed her lips tightly, as if as long as she kept silent, the matter would be resolved satisfactorily.
Luo Siwei carefully observed Xue Rong's expression and said, "The police found Yu Wanying's body today."
"She...she's dead?!" Xue Rong felt a buzzing in her head. She looked up in surprise, and her face turned from red to white.
Luo Siwei deduced that even if Xue Rong's acting was excellent, it wouldn't be so natural. Xue Rong probably didn't know about Yu Wanying's death before the conversation. This was a normal person's reaction to hearing about a friend's death.
Luo Siwei said: "You still have a chance to tell the truth now."
"I don't know... I didn't kill her. Her death has nothing to do with me!" Xue Rong's whole body was shaking uncontrollably. "It's not me, it's really not me..."
Luo Siwei knew Xue Rong was not the murderer, but she might know some information. If she kept hiding it, the police would not be able to find the murderer. She continued to put pressure on Xue Rong: "This is a criminal case, and you may be listed as a suspect."
"But I didn't kill anyone! I don't know anything! It wasn't me." Xue Rong's stiff expression changed subtly when she said this. She finally sorted out some of her thoughts from her panic and tried her best to refute her innocence, "You can check and retrieve the surveillance footage. I was in school these days. I didn't have the opportunity to kill anyone... I didn't have the time to commit the crime!"
"Even if you didn't kill her yourself, you could be an accomplice, or you could have done something that led to Yu Wanying's death." Luo Siwei continued to press, causing Xue Rong to collapse. "Once we confirm your connection to the case, the police will notify your parents and the school later."
Xue Rong just felt that she had thought of an alibi, as if she had grabbed a life-saving vine on the edge of a cliff, but Luo Siwei's words pushed her down again.
Luo Siwei continued to press: "Now, you'd better tell me the truth. Are those harassing messages related to you?"
Xue Rong's face was pale, she had a guilty conscience. She regretted getting involved in this matter.
Xue Rong's mouth moved, and he was on the verge of revealing something.
When she was at a loss and helpless, she suddenly remembered what Ye Ruxi had said to her before. Xue Rong's mind instantly cleared up and she couldn't say it!
She hadn't done it, and the police could prove she wasn't the real culprit. But if the harassment became public, it would have a huge impact on her life. She might not be able to take the postgraduate entrance exam, and she might face disappointment from her parents and criticism from others.
"It's not me." After saying these three words, Xue Rong pursed his lips again, as if pulling up an invisible zipper.
If the police have no evidence, those are just groundless suspicions.
Ni Xiang, who was sitting opposite, stopped writing and looked at the female student sitting in the interrogation chair. She had originally thought that Xue Rong would be a good opportunity to interrogate her, thinking that her confession was on the verge of her lips and they would soon know the truth. But she didn't expect Xue Rong to swallow the words on the tip of her tongue and close her mouth.
Why not say it?
Ni Xiang frowned in confusion. Even she could feel the pressure that Luo Siwei had just exerted.
Ni Xiang was getting a little anxious. As a police officer, she knew very well that Xue Rong's guilty conscience was useless and could not be used as evidence. They had to make her tell the story and pry her open.
Faced with such a stalemate, how will Luo Siwei deal with it?
This is a psychological war without gunpowder smoke.
Luo Siwei paused for three seconds, then changed her strategy. She softened her tone, "I've read your file. From childhood to adulthood, you've always been a good student with excellent character and academic performance. I know you're a good child. Even if you did something wrong, it might not have been your intention..."
Her voice softened, a common method used in daily interrogations: establishing a persona for the person being interrogated.
The voiceover of this passage is telling her: "You are a good person, and there must be a reason for your crime."
This is like giving the suspect a psychological escape route. When the suspect is on the verge of collapse, they tend to take the escape route, attributing the fault to others, or to the external environment or other factors, and thus confessing their crimes.
Facing such a gentle attack, Xue Rong pursed her lips tightly, trying to delay it by keeping silent, but she didn't realize that a crack had appeared in her heart. Xue Rong's mind was involuntarily guided by Luo Siwei's words: "It's not my fault, it's all because of those people..."
Luo Siwei didn't push too hard. She chatted with Xue Rong for a few more sentences, asked some irrelevant questions, eased the relationship between the two sides, and built trust with her again.
After Xue Rong relaxed a little, Luo Siwei continued, "The first person to confess will receive a lighter punishment. You should think carefully about this. If you don't speak up here, will your classmates betray you?"
This is a classic prisoner's dilemma. When two suspects are locked in separate rooms, suspicion arises. Since they don't know the other party's choice, they tend to make choices that are beneficial to themselves.
Xue Rong's expression didn't change on the surface, but she was thinking in her mind, if the police were interrogating Ye Ruxi and promised her a lighter punishment, what would she say? Would she betray her?
Before she knew it, cracks had appeared in her relationship with her companions.
There was a hint of hesitation and fear in Xue Rong's eyes.
Luo Siwei felt this.
But that’s not enough.
After laying the groundwork, Luo Siwei decided to bring out his next trump card.
"You clearly know something, but you refuse to cooperate with the police." Luo Siwei leaned forward, sighed, looked directly into the girl's eyes, and continued to put pressure on her. "I'm very disappointed in you."
Luo Siwei judged that Xue Rong developed a people-pleasing personality in her family environment and during her upbringing. She would ask for other people's opinions when encountering problems and was easy to obey other people's orders. She was always cautious, fearing that she would do something that would displease others.
Sure enough, the suspect in front of him reacted.
Xue Rong's expression changed.
She had heard this sentence many times since she was little. Her mother said it, her father said it, her sister said it, her teacher said it, and Ye Ruxi had also said it to her. She had told herself over and over again not to care so much about what others thought, but in the end, this sentence still felt like a heavy yoke.
She didn't want others to dislike her or disappoint others, so she tried so hard to please others, but in the end, she still got this result.
This sentence became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the girl in front of him.
At that moment, Xue Rong felt her throat blocked and her nose sore, and her tears finally flowed down.
Xue Rong cried. She felt that she had been pushed to the edge of a cliff and was on the verge of collapse.
Looking at the girl on the verge of collapse, Luo Siwei handed her a tissue. After making her final move, she turned her gaze to the information and said lightly, "I'll give you one last chance now."
This is an ultimatum.
If you don't confess, you will lose your chance.
Xue Rong wiped her tears with a tissue, lowered her head, and sobbed softly for a while. She finally said, "It was Ye Ruxi's idea." Then she added softly, "Ever since the beginning of the school year, Ye Ruxi and Yu Wanying's relationship hasn't been good. It was she who came up with the idea for us to do those things."
As a bystander of the interrogation, Ni Xiang lowered her head to take notes, unable to hide her excitement and showing a happy expression.
This was not an evenly matched interrogation. Luo Siwei did not say anything harsh. Her tone was gentle, but she was cautious in every step, forcing Xue Rong to gradually retreat, lose all his weapons, and finally collapse.
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