Chapter 88 Mandala 08
Family refers specifically to people who are related by blood, from parents and children to brothers and sisters, and even husband and wife...
Such a relationship should have been close.
But in reality, this is often not the case.
When a person is murdered, the police will first investigate the murderer based on his social relationships, and the first thing to do is to eliminate the suspicion of his family members.
Luo Siwei had Ni Xiang print out the information on the three deceased. She diligently analyzed every clue. Then, carrying the information, she entered the interrogation room where Zhou Bingcheng was being held.
The boy sat opposite them. He was very tall, with a pair of long legs stretched out, and a somewhat rebellious expression. From his appearance alone, you could not tell that he was a minor.
Luo Siwei observed him carefully. The boy had long bangs that covered his eyes a little, but he looked good. In addition, based on his academic performance from what Luo Siwei had seen before, he was definitely a popular figure in the class. She wondered how many girls secretly liked him.
At the same time, Zhou Bingcheng was also looking up at her. The policewoman in front of him was very beautiful, and her style was completely different from the fierce male police officers who had just interrogated him.
Luo Siwei said, "I'm going to ask you a few questions. Don't be nervous. Just tell me the truth."
This kind of opening is like the preparation before a teacher has a heart-to-heart talk with his students.
Zhou Bingcheng changed his sitting position and relaxed.
The interrogation had already covered the basic information, so Luo Siwei got straight to the point and asked, "Your brother passed away this afternoon. When and how did you learn of his death?"
Zhou Bingcheng didn't sound like someone who had just lost a relative. His voice was calm and his eyes were clear.
"I stumbled across the news online this afternoon. My mom couldn't get through to my brother, and I happened to see the news online about the accident. I had a bad feeling at the time, so I read the news to my parents. They said they wanted to come to the city police station to check it out, and I was worried about their health, so I offered to come along." He paused and explained, "After all, this is a big deal in my family."
This answer is very thoughtful and almost blocks all questions.
Luo Siwei wrote a few words on the paper and flipped through the previous interrogation records of Guo Zhengyao and others.
She decided not to use conventional interrogation methods. She then raised her head and continued, "Do you know what your brother is doing there today?"
Zhou Bingcheng said, "I'm going on a date."
"Who is his girlfriend?"
"I don't know. I don't usually care about his affairs." Zhou Bingcheng's speech and breathing became rapid. "He never wants me to know those things either."
Luo Siwei raised his head and said with some embarrassment: "The police retrieved the surveillance video from the restaurant that day, and we didn't find the so-called date."
Zhou Bingcheng looked aside and said, "It seems like he was stood up. It's normal for someone like my brother to be stood up."
Luo Siwei continued to ask, "Are you so sure he was stood up? Is it possible that your brother lied and actually went to that island to do something else?"
Zhou Bingcheng's jaw tightened a little, and he said, "I don't know, I'm just guessing."
Luo Siwei had a vague assumption in her mind before, that is, the person who asked Zhou Han out might be acquainted with Zhou Bingcheng, or that his going to the island was related to Zhou Bingcheng.
Zhou Bingcheng's nervousness seemed to illustrate this point.
This is a person who likes to be nervous.
Thinking of this, Luo Siwei did not continue to ask him about that matter, but instead asked him: "Do you know Zhong Zining?"
Zhou Bingcheng paused, the lines of his mouth tightened again, then he shook his head and said, "I don't know her."
Luo Siwei uttered an "oh". She could clearly feel the boy's nervousness and guilt.
She pretended to be casual and revealed, "Her relatives were also on that boat. You are from the same school, just in different grades. She is in the junior high school department. I thought you might know each other."
After the first round of probing, Luo Siwei did not ask any further questions and just passed over the issue.
It's not necessarily a good thing to push the interrogator too hard right from the start. They'll become very nervous, and then start to feel threatened, hiding more information. This will make it even harder to get the truth out of them.
Luo Siwei decided to take it slow.
Just like simmering soup.
Then she started asking Zhou Bingcheng about things at school, such as which class he was in, who his teacher was, how many students were in his class, his grades, his favorite subject, and when the sports meet would be held. She even went so far as to ask what events he would participate in.
The two chatted for a while, and when Zhou Bingcheng relaxed, Luo Siwei turned the topic back to his family.
She first asked about Zhou Bingcheng's parents' jobs, how old they were when he was born, where they used to live, who did the housework at home, and how he went to school.
Ni Xiang heard this and felt that this interrogation was different from the previous ones. However, she still didn't understand what Luo Siwei's intention was in asking this question.
The two chatted for dozens of minutes before Luo Siwei turned the topic back to Zhou Han: "How is your relationship with your brother?"
Zhou Bingcheng glanced over and said warily, "I don't like him, but I didn't kill him."
Luo Siwei stared at him with a calm gaze: "Your brother died of asphyxiation caused by drowning. Did you see him when you accompanied your parents to the forensic office?"
Zhou Bingcheng uttered an "oh," his tone and expression so cold that it was as if the person who died wasn't his brother, but a passerby, or even just an ant. However, he still made a subconscious move, reaching out and touching his collar, then quickly lowering his hand.
Seeing this, Luo Siwei let the boy rest for a while and poured him a glass of water.
Facing the suspect today, Luo Siwei changed his strategy. Instead of using a tough tone and general interrogation methods, he was patient, gentle and meticulous.
She controlled the rhythm of the interrogation very well, occasionally closing the distance, probing slightly and stinging Zhou Bingcheng, and then widening the distance between them again, talking within a range where he felt safe and comfortable.
Under this kind of interrogation method, Zhou Bingcheng would sometimes be tense and sometimes relaxed.
His heartstrings were like a rubber band, being played with by Luo Siwei in his hands.
Many of Zhou Bingcheng's answers are not important, but his nervous reaction is very important. His level of nervousness can also reflect many problems. Luo Siwei judges his relevance to the case based on his reaction, and can deduce some conclusions from the side.
At this time, Zhou Bingcheng was unaware of these interrogation methods. He answered most of the questions asked by Luo Siwei honestly.
Luo Siwei thought that such a child was still too naive.
Zhou Bingcheng may have outstanding academic performance and be the best among his age. He thinks he is smart, and smart people are generally a little conceited.
Unfortunately, he is not smart enough.
Luo Siwei guided him, step by step, towards the trap she had set long ago.
"During our investigation, we didn't find any bad behavior by Zhou Han." Her tone was gentle, like a close sister chatting with him.
"That doesn't deny the fact that he is annoying." Zhou Bingcheng said this and clenched his fingers lightly.
Luo Siwei noticed that detail. It was a charged action, indicating that Zhou Bingcheng might have had a physical conflict with the deceased.
She continued to ask, "Has anyone ever liked your brother? Including your parents, your relatives, your former neighbors, his teachers, classmates..."
Zhou Bingcheng snorted disdainfully: "Probably no one in this world would like him."
"Apart from not going out to work, he doesn't seem to have any other major sins. Why do you hate him so much?"
"You don't need a reason to hate someone."
"But... it must be hard to be brothers with someone who is hated by everyone, right?" Luo Siwei's voice was gentle.
The boy didn't seem to expect that a law enforcer would say this to him.
Zhou Bingcheng was touched by these words and blinked a few times.
Luo Siwei continued to ask softly, "Can you tell me what kind of person your brother is? For example, his habits, what does he do at home?"
Zhou Bingcheng seemed reluctant to talk about this topic.
Luo Siwei was in no hurry to urge him. She asked again, "Does he talk to you a lot? What happened between you and me since we were little? You lived together, celebrated birthdays, went out to play, and celebrated the New Year. There must be some things that left a deep impression on you, right?"
Luo Siwei was trying to dig into Zhou Bingcheng's motive for murder. If the teenager was alert enough, he might refuse to answer these questions or make up some nonsense to get away with it.
But after the previous preparation and the guidance of emotions, Zhou Bingcheng wanted to vent at this time.
In Zhou Bingcheng's opinion, he thought that even if he said what was annoying about Zhou Han, there was no direct evidence to prove that he was related to his brother's death.
Answer these questions and he is safe.
Zhou Bingcheng lowered his head and hesitated for a moment, then raised his head and said, "He's a psychopath. He usually looks gentle and quiet, but he'll suddenly explode if things don't go his way."
Luo Siwei, like a psychological counselor, encouraged him to continue: "He is so much older than you, has he ever bullied you?"
Zhou Bingcheng nodded slightly, then he said, "Ever since I was a child, I've felt that my family's situation was different from other families. My parents were always terrified, always afraid of their eldest son, my brother."
"My brother... has some perverted rules. For example, no one is allowed to touch his things wherever they are. If they are touched, he will react violently, sometimes with swearing, sometimes with physical violence. When I was seven, I touched one of his pens while I was doing homework, and he suddenly stood up and hit me. He slapped me so hard that the chair fell over."
"Another time, he beat me up because I drank tomato juice mixed with sugar. My parents couldn't stop him. He was just a lunatic."
"When I was little, what I wanted most was to grow up, become strong, and be taller than him. I often practiced running on the school playground. Only in this way could I defeat him."
Luo Siwei listened carefully, then asked, "Did he ever beat your parents? I see your mother isn't in good health."
Zhou Bingcheng's eyes moistened. "One time, my mother made a plate of steamed fish. He was eating it happily when he suddenly stood up and threw the whole plate of scalding hot fish at my mother. Then he asked why she didn't put any green onions in it."
Zhou Bingcheng lowered his head: "I was terrified at the time."
Luo Siwei has also seen some people like this. They may have mania or some other disease. They look fine at ordinary times, but when they have an attack, they are like a madman.
She frowned and looked at Zhou Bingcheng and said, "It's totally unreasonable to lose your temper like this. How can there be such an unreasonable person?"
Zhou Bingcheng rarely talked about these things in front of outsiders, but at this moment he couldn't help but tell the secret in his heart to the gentle policewoman in front of him.
"Because of this, my brother couldn't go out to work and had to rely on his parents at home. His most recent attack was three months ago. He was getting ready to take a shower when my mom asked him, 'You haven't been downstairs for a week? Do you want to go for a walk?' He didn't know what was wrong, but he suddenly turned around and asked my mom fiercely, 'What right do you have to control me?' My mom didn't dare to say anything at the time. He was only wearing his underwear and suddenly ran over, grabbed my mom's neck with both hands, pressed her against the wall, his face grimacing, and he said, 'I'm going to kill you!'"
Luo Siwei asked, "Was your father at home at the time?"
"Yes." Zhou Bingcheng spoke faster and his breathing became heavier. "My dad tried to stop him, but he kicked him in the stomach. He fell to the ground, and his leg hit the corner of the table. I came out of the room and saw that my mom was almost dying from being strangled. I rushed over and pried his hands apart to get him to let go..."
Luo Siwei said: "You are very brave."
Encouraged, the boy continued, "I had a fight with him. He was like a madman, pinning me to the sofa and hitting me in the face. I kicked him like crazy. After that, my dad couldn't walk properly anymore, and my mom's neck was all purple. My injuries hurt for a long time, too. But I don't regret it. If I had been slower, my parents might have been killed by that madman."
At this point, Zhou Bingcheng's body trembled uncontrollably, his hands clenched into fists, and he closed his eyes for a moment.
"The next night, I couldn't sleep the whole night because of the pain. My hands hurt even when I was doing homework. And that lunatic, like he had completely lost his memory, asked my mom to make him pork rib soup. He also told me that it felt like my parents loved me more, that the whole family was against him, and that he was jealous of me."
Luo Siwei looked at him and said, "It's scary to think about living with someone like this."
Zhou Bingcheng's throat churned. "He's my shadow. I dare not tell anyone I have a brother like this. When I talk to others, I start to fantasize. I'm afraid I'll suddenly explode and throw things all over the floor. Is there a crazy part in my genes?"
When Zhou Bingcheng said this, his voice returned to calm, but the words he spoke were cruel and shocking.
Luo Siwei judged that Zhou Bingcheng was expressing these things with genuine feelings, and that he seemed to have a motive for murder.
But she understood that these alone were not enough. These were not enough to make the young man reckless, take risks, and become the inducement for murder.
There must be someone or something behind this, fanning the flames.
He must be hiding some information.
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