Many doubts
"Liu Hao is dead."
"Yes, Liu Hao is dead. The victim died in a wasteland next to a national highway, 80 kilometers away from the city."
Officer Zhao's words were like a thunderclap, exploding in your ears. Upon hearing this news, a chill ran down your spine, and you broke out in a cold sweat. You bit your tongue hard to prevent yourself from screaming.
This is the first time you've seen a corpse, a truly uncensored, bloody corpse, appearing coldly in a photo, right before your eyes. It's as if even the photo itself is cold and lifeless. Even as a picture, you find it hard to accept. Your stomach is churning, and for a moment you feel like vomiting, but you can't.
"Officer Zhao, shouldn't these photos be blurred? You just released them like this. Have you considered my fiancée? Can she handle this kind of shock?" You heard Chen Peiyuan say, his tone serious and cold. The hand covering your eyes was also radiating heat, making your eyes seem to be sweating.
You hear Officer Zhao's voice again, saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm used to it. I'm sorry, Ms. Chen, I've removed it. I promise that nothing like this will happen again."
You pulled Chen Peiyuan's hand away from your eyes. Chen Peiyuan cupped your face in one hand and said, "It's okay, it's okay, Lanlan." He then used a tissue to dab your eyes with the other.
You actually cried, and one corner of the tissue was wet. You felt a little embarrassed and wanted to turn your head away so he wouldn't see, but he held your hand and you couldn't move. You had no choice but to tilt your head back and let him wipe it away.
After wiping, Chen Peiyuan's smile disappeared, and he became melancholy, as if he was worried about your feelings.
You smiled at him, "It's okay, I'm fine, I was just..." But as soon as you opened your mouth, you realized your throat was a little hoarse. You swallowed and said, "I was startled, but I'm fine now, Chen Peiyuan." Your throat was dry and sore.
Chen Peiyuan nodded and didn't say anything more, just silently held your hand.
You turn your head and see Officer Zhao holding the photo, looking at you with a helpless expression.
"Ms. Chen, are you alright? You look terrible, you're all pale." Officer Zhao said apologetically. "How about I stop here for now, and we can talk about it later, Ms. Chen, or another time. I promise this won't happen again. I came from the criminal investigation team, so I'm used to it."
You know Officer Zhao didn't do it on purpose, so you give a weak smile, shake your head, and say, "Let's continue."
After Officer Zhao repeatedly confirmed with you that there was nothing wrong with your body, you also repeatedly stated that you really did not need to rest.
Think about it, since we're already here, there's no reason to stop halfway and not continue.
Thus, Officer Zhao had no choice but to straighten his posture. This time, he took out three more pictures and pasted them on the whiteboard. This time, they were a figure aiming at a white dotted line, a picture of a bag containing a dagger, and the remaining picture showed a bag on the ground, open, with some things on the ground that looked like they had been taken out of the bag and neatly arranged on the ground.
Look at the middle picture. The dagger is only three inches long, covered in a layer of dye, with a large black stain in the middle. It makes your eyelids twitch; it looks like…
“It’s blood, Lanlan, don’t look.” Chen Peiyuan tugged at your hand, frowning, worried that you wouldn’t be comfortable with it.
You shake your head at him and say it's okay, this is much better than the corpse from before, and it's just within your acceptable range.
Then you turned to examine the dagger again, feeling like you'd seen it somewhere before. "This dagger... it looks kind of familiar," you murmured.
A scene suddenly flashed through my mind, and I remembered it—it was the one that slashed my arm when the thugs attacked you in the parking lot that day!
“That’s right, Ms. Chen, this is the murder weapon the assailant used to injure her.” Officer Zhao nodded and continued, “On May 26, we received a report that the complainant said that at 10 a.m. that day, while driving a truck on National Highway 091, his tire went flat. When he stopped in the emergency lane to change the tire, he smelled a strange odor. Following the smell, he found an abandoned car parked in the wilderness, surrounded by many flies and insects. Upon closer inspection, he discovered the deceased.”
That makes it absolutely certain that the thugs you and Xiao Li encountered were committed by the same person.
Officer Zhao picked up the file, flipped through a few pages, and said, "After comparing the DNA of the deceased's blood, it has been confirmed that the deceased is Liu Hao." He paused on one page and placed it in front of you. "The knife was also found at the crime scene."
It was Liu Hao's autopsy report. You blinked; there were too many technical terms, you couldn't understand it. You handed it to Chen Peiyuan.
Chen Peiyuan took it, lowered his head and examined it carefully. His focused expression surprised you. Did he know these things?
"The fatal wound was on the neck. There was a laceration in the middle of the neck. There were no external injuries on the body, and there were no signs of poisoning from any drugs. Based on the shape and size of the wound, the forensic doctor confirmed that the murder weapon was the dagger held in the victim's right hand. The dagger only had the victim's fingerprints on it, which means that the victim cut his own neck with the knife." Officer Zhao simulated the method of the victim's suicide.
"What if someone faked a suicide?" Chen Peiyuan asked, and you nodded in agreement.
Officer Zhao paused for a moment, then pulled out another piece of paper and placed it in front of you. You and Chen Peiyuan both leaned forward to look at it; it was a suicide note.
A quick glance reveals that Liu Hao is explaining what he did, that the police are already searching for him, and that he may be going to jail. He begins to feel afraid and repents for all the mistakes he has made, but the deed is done and there is no way to stop it. He then tries to end it all by committing suicide.
“We made the same assumption, but Niu Ba came to the police station a few days ago and said that he had a letter from Liu Hao that was sent to his home at 3 pm on the 27th. The letter contained Liu Hao’s suicide note. Based on the contents of the letter and the evidence at the scene, all the evidence points to the fact that Liu Hao committed suicide, not murder.”
Officer Zhao took a sip of water. "In other words, Liu Hao, because of his two consecutive failures, was probably afraid of retaliation from his former boss, or perhaps afraid of going to jail, so he ran away. He had a change of heart, wrote a suicide note expressing remorse for his mistakes, then drove to the wilderness and slit his own throat with a dagger, committing suicide." As the cup slammed heavily onto the table, making a heavy thud, the matter was brought to a conclusion.
How could that be? Your first thought is disbelief.
That man, with murderous eyes that night, even managed to escape when the police arrived. You could see that he had a strong desire to live. How could he just commit suicide like that? Besides, 500,000 yuan could buy him to commit a crime. He didn't just give up the money.
You find it hard to accept that this is the outcome.
However, Officer Zhao has already stated that the case is closed, and we have no choice but to accept it.
Then they took you out of the police station.
When you walked out of the police station, your face still showed doubt and confusion.
You turn to look at Chen Peiyuan, "Chen Peiyuan, do you believe he committed suicide?"
Chen Peiyuan frowned and shook his head. "Lanlan, I don't believe it either, but the person is already dead. With such conclusive evidence, it's impossible to prove he was murdered." Now you have no choice but to believe it.
You feel very aggrieved by this result. "We came all this way, and all we know is that he was a person named Liu Hao, a petty thug who is now dead, or rather, he committed suicide. What else do we know? Who took care of him? How did they find him? How did they know our route? I don't know any of these things. Ask Officer Zhao."
All he would say was that the person was dead, all clues were lost, and very little was found.
It means that it's very, very difficult to investigate further; basically, nothing can be found.
You don't believe it, and neither does Chen Peiyuan.
"Officer Zhao, even to someone like me who doesn't know much about this case, there are many suspicious points. Are we really not going to continue investigating?" Chen Peiyuan said coldly.
"Who is his employer? How did he know my fiancée's whereabouts? How did he suddenly appear on the highway all by himself without any surveillance cameras capturing him? Is it really suicide or a fake suicide? Can these cases be closed just because someone dies?" Chen Peiyuan looked at Officer Zhao and finished speaking in one breath.
Officer Zhao was taken aback upon hearing this, sighed, and said with a wry smile, "Mr. Chen, this is not my decision alone. I am just a nobody involved in the investigation. I will do whatever my superiors say. Please don't make things difficult for me anymore."
After saying that, he pursed his lips and silently tidied up the things on the table by himself.
After finishing tidying up, seeing that the two of you were still standing there, he thought for a moment and then said, "If Miss Chen is really not satisfied, we can look for other ways."
You looked up at him, and Officer Zhao smiled. "There are no secrets that stay hidden forever, and there's no such thing as a perfect crime scene."
After saying that, he walked away without looking up. The handsome young police officer came in with a charming smile and gestured, "Please."
We don't know who the mastermind is, what their motives are for wanting to kill you, or even whether it was suicide. They've just closed the case so hastily. It's obvious they're not willing to investigate any further. Does it mean that even you can't shake the person behind this?
The more you think about it, the more suffocated you feel, as if an unnamed fire is burning in your chest.
You sat in the car with your eyes closed, not saying a word.
"Lanlan, don't worry, there will always be a way."
Chen Peiyuan held your hand, looking at you firmly, and you looked at him and slowly nodded.
You look up out the window; it's dusk. Red light falls on the ground, on the cars and people, and you get some of it too, but mostly...
It is darkness lingering beside the light, chilling you, your eyes flickering between light and shadow.
The car started, and a gentle breeze blew in through the half-open window, softly ruffling your hair. You suddenly smiled.
Since that's the case,
They won't investigate things they can't find.
Then you can check it yourselves.
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